THE BIG STORIES
Governments need to work together, says Murray | Russia attacks Ukraine hours after Trump call

📣 Scotland needs both its governments to work together to fix its problem with economic inactivity, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray says today.

Writing in the Daily Record, he says “It’s not progressive to see hundreds of thousands of our fellow Scots moving on to welfare with no pathway back to work.” He says 133,200 Scots want a job but are not looking, citing NHS waiting lists, a lack of support for employability and a lack of college places as causes.

He writes in support of Liz Kendall’s package of reforms - and cuts - to benefits, announced yesterday in the House of Commons. (Daily Record)

• Murray’s comments came after the UK Government unveiled its plans to overhaul the welfare system to tackle the “devastating” costs of sickness and disability benefits. (BBC)

• What do the reforms mean for Scotland? (STV)

• The reforms may have a “severe” impact on the Scottish budget, the SNP has warned. (Scotsman)

• Liz Kendall struggled to sell “immoral and devastating” cuts. (Guardian)

• “The bitter medicine Britain needs,” says Allison Pearson (Telegraph)

📣 Russia and Ukraine traded air strikes overnight only hours after Vladimir Putin had offered a very limited promise to de-escalate the conflict by stopping the targeting of Ukrainian energy and infrastructure sites. Ukraine said sites attacked included hospitals. (BBC)

• Trump and Putin agreed a temporary pause on attacks on energy and infrastructure, an initial pact that could be followed by a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and then a full ceasefire. But Russia also wants “the complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence to Kyiv.”(Semafor)

📣 A lovely moment after those Nasa astronauts splashed down last night: their capsule, bobbing in the sea, was surrounded by a pod of curious dolphins. Commentators joked they were an "honorary part of the recovery team". (🎥See the video)

+++ A brief reminder… subscriber special this Sunday, and next week +++

📣 Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver the Spring Statement next week.

The statement will have ramifications across the economy, from benefits to devolved spending here in Scotland, for years to come.

I’ll be covering it in detail for all our readers.

But, for those who want more - and to help you quickly understand the statement's content and reaction to it, I’m planning two special subscriber-only editions: one at midday on Sunday, March 23rd, 2025, and the other at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26th, 2025.

Both will be valuable if you need to brief others, or just want to cut through the noise and understand the implications yourself.

→ They will only be sent to The Early Line’s paid members. To receive yours, upgrade your membership now.

IDEAS
Why you should care about the demise of the BBC’s River City… even if you never watched it

🗣️ The coming demise of River City has caused an outpouring of grief from viewers, actors and Scotland’s beleaguered TV production industry. BBC Scotland has announced the show will end next year.

The residents of Shieldinch have been entertaining Scottish audiences since 2002 and the show has been responsible for launching countless careers (and reviving a few others). Through that run, it managed to attract healthy audiences - in the Scottish context, at least, reflecting Scottish social concerns very effectively along the way.

So why is the show being cancelled? The BBC’s announcement did not go into detail, with Louise Thornton - head of commissioning at BBC Scotland - saying "the media landscape is changing at pace and, as audience viewing habits change, it’s vital we respond to this.” A raft of exciting new productions was unveiled at the same time.

But there was a second paragraph, less widely quoted, which referred to those plans for the new dramas, and offered a further clue: “Our three new dramas, alongside the returning drama favourites, reflect the increasing shift in audience demand for series rooted in Scotland which play to audiences across the UK…and beyond.”

“And beyond” may point to the problem: as TV production costs soar, the BBC needs to be able to partner with other producers and networks to create drama that works at home, but can also be sold Netflix or other streaming services, or work on TV networks abroad. River City wouldn’t travel to those markets as well.

Meanwhile, broadcast TV audiences at home are getting smaller and older, and younger viewers struggle to get in to long-running dramas - especially when there’s so much competition for their attention online.

That, to state the obvious, creates a challenge: can distinctively Scottish drama, or even more experimental work, reliably be surfaced by the BBC if it has to clear a high hurdle of global appeal? How do we tell stories about ourselves, that may not have appeal to foreign audiences but which we care about deeply? And, as Barry Didcock poses in his thoughtful piece in The Herald (£): Why can’t we have both high-impact dramas and a soap which reflects Scottish life?

Industry voices have deep concerns. Trade site Televisual quotes Directors UK CEO Andy Harrower calling it “a killer blow to our members based in Scotland, for whom the last couple of years have been really challenging in terms of having enough work to sustain a living.” Writers’ Guild Chair Emma Reeves also says it’s “devastating news for the writing community.”

And, of course, viewers are upset too - from “superfan” Lorraine Kelly quoted in The Sun (“it deserved a global audience”) to the loyal fans quoted by the Daily Record, sharing their grief on social media.

Yes, it’s only a soap, and I suspect much of decision-making Scotland has never seen an episode. But this is another of those watershed moments in the way Scotland sees itself represented on the small screen… and one that raises some uncomfortable questions for Scotland’s creative sector.

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 A Scot who went missing in Naples for a week has been found in hospital with “broken bones”. (STV)

📣 There are growing concerns someone will die in “an explosion in violence linked to an escalating Edinburgh turf war” after a series of firebomb attacks in the city. (Sun)

📣 Staff working at the Holyrood parliament “do not feel safe” because of the “often disresepectful” tones of discussion, a Green MSP has claimed. (Herald)

AROUND THE UK & WORLD

📣 Israel’s “surprise” bombardment of Gaza plunged Palestinians back into a “hell” they thought they had escaped, reports AP. The attack killed more than 400 people (AP).

• Why did Netanyahu end the Gaza ceasefire? (AP)

📣 Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate has attacked “callous toxic influencers” in this year’s Dimbleby Lecture. "They willingly trick young men into believing that success is measured by money or dominance, that strength means never showing emotion, and that the world, including women, is against them,” he said. (BBC) (🎥 BBC iPlayer: See the lecture)

📣 A trove of more than 63,000 pages of files relating to John F Kennedy’s assassination has been released by the Trump administration overnight. (Mail)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

💰 Scotland is expected to fall further behind London over the next three years, according to the latest research from the EY Item Club, as the capital’s economy continues to perform better than the rest of the UK. (🎁Bloomberg gift link)

💰 Two big Scottish law firms are to merge: Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie is to join forces with commercial law firm Davidson Chalmers Stewart. (Herald £)

💰 Brewdog is on track to replace hundreds of thousands of dead trees at its Scottish “Lost Forest”. (Herald £)

💰 Transport company McGills Group is looking at ways to expand across the UK “and other markets” according to its Chairman Ralph Roberts. (Daily Business)

SPORT

⚽️ David Hirst, son of former England star David, has been talking about how delighted he is to have been called up for Scotland. (He has a Scottish grandfather) (The Sun)

⚽️ The Scotsman has a go at predicting how Scotland will line up against Greece tomorrow in the Nations League play-off. (Scotsman)

⚽️ Vaclav Cerny says the row over his water-squirting celebration during Sunday’s Old Firm match is “absurd”. (Daily Record)