TODAY’S WEATHER

☁️ A bright start across the country but rain will follow later this morning, from around 10am in Glasgow and 11am in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. London will be dry and warm. (Here’s the UK forecast).

THE BIG STORIES
NHS Scotland’s governance must improve, says audit | Sarwar hits out at Farage | Airport strike threat

📣 NHS Scotland’s governance needs to be improved if it is to deliver reform across the country’s 22 NHS boards, an Audit Scotland report says today.

It warns there are weaknesses in the organisation’s oversight at Scottish Government level, and calls for greater use of non-executive directors to challenge decisions and strategy.

The report highlights the combined role of the director-general for health and the chief executive of NHS Scotland. The dual responsibility means one person sets the strategy and operational direction of NHS Scotland and then holds the organisation accountable for its performance.

The Scottish Conservatives said the report was “proof” the NHS was being mismanaged by the SNP. Scottish Labour said an “overcrowded and bureaucratic” structure was hindering accountability. (Holyrood) (Herald) (Read the report)

• Ministers should reduce the number of Scottish health boards, says The Scotsman 

📣 Anas Sarwar has branded Nigel Farage “a poisonous man” after the leader of Reform UK accused the Scottish Labour leader of having “introduced sectarianism” into Scottish politics. "This is a blatant attempt from Nigel Farage to try and poison our politics here in Scotland,” said Sarwar.

The row comes after Reform spent thousands on social media promoting an edited clip of Sarwar encouraging people from south Asian communities to get involved in politics, suggesting his focus was on them rather than voters. The ad is a “very deliberate dog whistle,” said Sarwar. (Daily Record) (Daily Mail)

• Reform claims Sarwar will “prioritise” Pakistani people. But the clip does not quote him saying that. In the video, Sarwar says: “Pakistanis need [to be] represented in every mainstream political party in Scotland and across the UK”. After an edit, he is seen to say: “The days where south Asian communities get to lead political parties and get to lead countries is now upon us.” (See the ad)

📣 Strike action could disrupt Scotland’s busiest airports this summer after ground service crews rejected pay offers. The Unite union said around 600 workers at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports had turned down pay offers of around 4%, and could now be balloted on strike action. (BBC)

IDEAS
A quick rifle through the Substack…

🗣️ Do you remember graduating? For me, at least, it feels like both yesterday and (more accurately) quite a while ago. For thousands upon thousands of American students, it’s a memory being formed this month.

So The Substack Post has taken the opportunity to poll some of its more prominent authors on what they’d advise, were they giving a commencement speech.

A trio of highlights…

• Famed magazine editor Tina Brown offers some advice I love (but which is so counter to the prevailing mood, it should come with a trigger warning): “Tough-skinned, ego-free, work-all-night willingness to do any job is so rare these days, it will instantly mark you out for promotion.”

• Tech guru Azeem Azhar, who writes the terrific Exponential View, says: “You’re graduating into a moment of deep transition. Beyond difficult politics, polarisation, and a climate crisis, is AI. […] The world you’re graduating into is unpredictable, so become adaptable, not just employable.”

• I should follow the advice from writer, editor, photographer, and publisher Lloyd Khan, who thinks AI will lead to a renaissance in practical skills. “I spent every night after work and every weekend building a house. […] As a result, I’ve never had a mortgage, nor have I ever paid any rent. Learn to use your hands.”

It’s a great read - and you’ll discover a few fascinating new newsletters to follow, too. (The Substack Post)

🗣️Blame my heavy head after the awards night: It was remiss not to mention last week that Kenny Farquharson, author of the wonderful Jaggy Thistle Substack, had plenty to celebrate at the Scottish Press Awards, winning Arts and Entertainment Journalist of the Year for the work he’d done on his newsletter.

As he points out, that’s the first time a Substack publication has won in a mainstream UK media awards ceremony.

It was a terrific achievement, demonstrating the rising power of "micropublishers” (you’re reading the work of another) who are trying to offer something different and useful in innovative new ways.

Here’s to more success now Kenny’s got the party started. (The Jaggy Thistle)

🗣️Finally, Scottish-American historian Niall Ferguson offers an entertaining but throaty attack on Harvard via his Substack.

You’ll have read in Early Lines passim, and indeed today, that the University is having vast amounts of federal money withdrawn - and its charitable status threatened - over claims of unchecked anti-semitism on its campus.

Ferguson builds a case to say that while we might feel, instinctively, we should sympathise with Harvard, facing up to the bully in the White House, it turns out that Trump… may have a point.

I’m not sure it works - an awful lot of Ferguson’s core argument seems to come back to rest of that most unreliable of factsets, the graduate survey. And there’s a strong sense of “yes, yes - but he would say that wouldn’t he,” because Ferguson is setting up his own University in Austin, Texas, which he defines as the anti-Harvard.

But it is a counterpoint worth hearing if you’re at all interested in the continuing conflict on American campuses, which now threatens the institutions themselves. (Niall Ferguson’s Time Machine)

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 NatWest Group - once a swashbuckling Edinburgh-based giant known as Royal Bank of Scotland - is preparing to chart its own course, free of government ownership, for the first time in almost two decades.

• Bloomberg offers a long read on the trials and tribulations of the group, which ran into such trouble during the financial crisis but now claims stability and the potential to grow again. (🎁 Bloomberg - gift link free to read)

• The Herald offered its own look back at the history of RBS, including its dramatic takeover raids in the 1990s and 2000s. (Herald)

📣 A Scottish actor says ScotRail’s new AI announcement system is using her voice without her permission. She wants the imaginary character “Iona” removed from the trains. But tech firm ReadSpeaker says it has already addressed her concerns. (BBC)

📣 A young Scottish actor has been cast to play Harry Potter in a new HBO television series. Dominic McLaughlin has previously appeared in a production of Macbeth at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, opposite Ralph Fiennes. (STV) (BBC)

AROUND THE UK

📣 The alleged driver of the car that hit fans during Liverpool’s Premier League title celebrations has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and drug driving. Police say he “followed” an ambulance past a roadblock. (Guardian)

• There were 65 casualties, with 50 treated at hospitals. By Tuesday afternoon, 11 were in hosptial with all stable and “recovering well” (Liverpool Echo)

• How chaos unfolded - maps and video (Guardian)

📣 Tens of thousands of households will receive compensation after the forced fitting of prepayment meters during the cost of living crisis. As well as payments of up to £1,000 each, they’ll also see debts wiped out. (BBC)

📣 Shoppers are mocking Tesco’s “VAR” self-service checkouts, which show action replays of failed attempts to scan items in an attempt to reduce shoplifting. (BBC)

AROUND THE WORLD

🌎 The US is pausing student visa interviews worldwide while it establishes new processes to review prospective students’ social media posts. It’s the latest move in the Trump administration’s clampdown on elite universities, which he accuses of permitting antisemitism and pushing “woke” ideology. Foreign students are big business for US education: there are 1.1 million foreign students in the US, including 10,000 Britons, spending $43 billion a year. (Mail)

🌎 Israel is coming under increasing pressure from international allies over its actions in Gaza. Germany has now joined France and the UK in saying Israel’s actions “can no longer be justified” after Israel’s latest offensive. (Semafor)

• As the Trump administration tries to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, there are concerns Israel could upend the talks by attacking the country’s nuclear enrichment facilities. There’s been “at least one” tense phone call between Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. (🎁 New York Times)

🌎 A SpaceX Starship span out of control during a test flight. (BBC)

SPORT

⚽️ No actual news on a new Rangers manager, with the process thought to have ended its final stages. Fans want Davide Ancelotti, the departing Real Madrid Coach, over former Southampton Russell Martin, although thought to be in the frame. (Daily Record)

⚽️ Pope Leo XIV welcomed the title-winning Napoli squad, including player of the year Scott McTominay, to the Vatican for an audience, praising their dedication and team spirit. He also hinted he was not a Roma fan. (OSV News)

🏉 Glasgow Warriors have named the eight squad members leaving this summer. (The Offside Line)