In partnership with

In your briefing today:

• A double manhunt is underway - and a big political row brewing - after two more men were accidentally released from Wandsworth jail.

• This year’s Bonfire Night passed more quietly than last year, with fewer calls amid a huge police operation.

• Columns of note: what impact will Reform have on the push for independence? And what does Dundee need to thrive as a tourist destination?

📣 A double manhunt is underway after two prisoners, including a convicted foreign sex offender, were released in error from Wandsworth jail.

David Lammy, the UK justice secretary, is under growing pressure because the mistakes were made only days after he had introduced stringent checks on prisoner releases, after another man - an Ethiopian who had arrived on a small boat and later sexually assaulted a 14-year-old - was accidentally set free.

Lammy’s position was made doubly difficult because he was standing in for the Prime Minister at yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions when news of the accidental release became public. He refused to answer multiple questions about new accidental releases in a bruising and chaotic parliamentary session. (Guardian) (BBC) (Independent)

• Jon Craig: Feeble and inept - prison release fiasco is yet another political crisis (Sky News)

• Lammy had a difficult time - but his Tory opposite number also fouled up his gotcha moment by failing to count to six correctly, notes John Crace. (Guardian)

• Lammy turned up without a Poppy, prompting farcical scenes as one was donated from the backbenches. “Lammy told MPs 'we will never forget' but he bleedin' forgot his poppy, didn't he?” notes Quentin Letts. (Mail)

📣 There was disorder across Scotland last night during Bonfire Night, with incidents in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Clydebank and Blackridge. One man was injured when a firework smashed through the back window of his car, and there were two arrests. (STV)

But, overall, the early assessment of Police Scotland’s Operation Moonbeam, and new Firework Control Zones, is that the measures worked: Police Scotland said there were 37% fewer calls this year over the 24 hour Bonfire Night period.

“While police were required to deploy into various areas and address certain incidents arising, there has been a notable and welcome reduction in both the number of serious disorder offences,” said Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs. (Police Scotland)

• Parts of England were less quiet: in Liverpool, firefighters tackling a tower block blaze were targeted with fireworks. (Mail)

📣 A company linked to Michelle Mone owes £39 million in unpaid taxes, according to company documents.

PPE Medpro, which was found last month to have supplied useless protective equipment during the pandemic, was put into administration on 30 September.

The total debts of the company are £188m, nearly all of which is owed to the public purse, either through tax or the £148 million paid for the unusable kit which a court ruled should be paid back. (Guardian)

Master ChatGPT for Work Success

ChatGPT is revolutionizing how we work, but most people barely scratch the surface. Subscribe to Mindstream for free and unlock 5 essential resources including templates, workflows, and expert strategies for 2025. Whether you're writing emails, analyzing data, or streamlining tasks, this bundle shows you exactly how to save hours every week.

Subscribe for Your Free Bundle

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 Over at my day job, The Daily Record is launching a campaign to reduce the number of teen suicides. The Save Young Lives campaign is being backed by Susan Hart, whose son Jordan took his life aged only 16.

She’s been volunteering at schools in Scotland, providing free mental health training: a goal of the campaign is to get that sort of suicide prevention education in every school in Scotland, as it is in England, and to get political parties to commit to reduce mental healthcare waiting times. (Daily Record)

📣 Angus and Perthshire Glens MP Dave Doogan is considering a bid to lead the SNP at Westminster next year, as current group leader Stephen Flynn attempts to move from Westminster to Edinburgh at the next election. (The Courier has the exclusive)

📣 KT Tunstall has been pictured at home with her enormous - and I mean enormous - Irish Wolfhound. (Mail)

AROUND THE UK & WORLD

📣 The Chancellor is expected to hit electric vehicle owners with a new road charging tax in this month’s budget - an additional 3p per mile, on top of other road taxes, according to Treasury sources. (Mail)

📣 Donald Trump has railed at Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s mayor-elect, calling his acceptance speech “angry toward me” and “very dangerous”. (Independent)

📣 The US Government shutdown is starting to have a wider impact: authorities have ordered a 10% cut in flights to and from 40 major US airports, citing safety concerns. (Reuters)

📣 Yesterday’s USP plane crash claimed 12 lives, after an engine fell off the plane which then crashed on an industrial estate. (AP)

📣 Japan is deploying its military… to contain a spate of bear attacks. (AP)

SPORT

⚽️ It’s a big night for Scottish clubs in Europe - in the Europa League, Celtic could probably get away with a draw in their game against Midtjylland, but Rangers really need a win against Roma at Ibrox. In the UEFA Conference League, Aberdeen travel to AEK Larnaca - who beat Crystal Palace in the previous round - also needing a win.

• Martin O’Neill: “This is where Celtic should be aiming to be, to be playing in big, big games” (BBC) (5.45pm, TNT Sports 2)

• Danny Rohl: “We know what we have to do” (BBC) (8pm, TNT Sports 3)

• Jimmy Thelin: “We are going to give everything” (BBC) (5.45pm, TNT Sports 3)

⚽️ English clubs continued their dominant week in the Champions League:

• Manchester City beat Borussia Dortmund 4-1, with Phil Foden netting a double and Erling Haaland scoring again (🎥 Highlights)

• Newcastle beat Athletic Club 2-0, with Dan Burn scoring an excellent header (🎥 Highlights)

IDEAS
Columns of note: Reform and indy | NHS money ‘won’t touch the sides’ | Actors up in arms | No idea for Dundee

🗣️ The meaning of Reform UK’s rise, and specifically its impact on Scotland’s never-ending constitutional debate, is being hotly debated among politicos at the moment: the subject breaks cover in Rebecca McQuillan’s column, where she argues independence won’t vanquish the right, as John Swinney has tried to claim recently - but could be the making of it.

“Independence would be a recipe, in the short- to medium-term, for economic turmoil,” she writes. “We don’t have to imagine the political backlash that would almost certainly follow: we’ve been through it,” she writes, pointing to Brexit.

Mix in the “toxic issue” of immigration, which would suddenly become Edinburgh’s problem to fix in an independent state, and the fact that - indy achieved - the SNP would lose its unique selling point, and McQuillan sees the ground prepared for right-wing success. (Herald)

🗣️Euan McColm takes aim at the SNP’s extra £25.5 million for the Scottish NHS, intended to reduce waiting times. “To the vast majority of us, it’s an eye-watering sum of money,” he writes. “But look into the detail and the First Minister’s cash pledge starts to look like the most expensive sticking plaster in history.

“More than a third of the SNP Government’s £60billion annual budget - £22bn, to be precise - goes straight to health and social care.

“In this context, it’s very difficult to disagree with the Scottish Conservative Party’s view that the much-trumpeted new investment will ‘barely touch the sides’ of what’s needed.

“Despite grave warnings from experts on the front-line of the service that investment and reform are urgently needed, the SNP shows no sign that it has either the imagination or the willingness to put in the hard work needed to bring about real, meaningful and, most importantly, necessary improvements.” (Mail)

🗣️Brian Beacom thinks it’s no wonder Scottish actors are up in arms at former MSP Mhairi Black landing a job on a new BBC drama as a police detective. “The question being asked by thousands of Scots actors right now is why cast someone with no formal training?” he says. “To do so laughs at the very notion of learning the skills required not just to appear in front of a camera, to hit marks etc, and to learn how to work the camera.” (Herald)

🗣️There’s a laudable plan to make Dundee “Europe’s best emerging city break destination,” writes Steve Finan. The problem is the plan - all 7,142 words of it - contains no big idea. “The plan leaves plenty scope for a big idea. It’s begging for a big idea. But it doesn’t have one,” he writes. “It’s an advertising strategy that’s not sure what it’s advertising.”

He notes no councillor chose to front its presentation, suggesting they don’t believe in it either. “Or they are too cowardly,” he wonders, “to field difficult questions like how much will this cost, how will it be paid for? How will you clean up the city centre, remove the thugs and beggars, and fill it with vibrant shops, bars and restaurants to maximise revenue from all these tourists?”

One of his ideas is a football grounds museum, which is a big idea I love. (Courier)

👍 That’s your Early Line for the day

Sent this by a friend?