THE BIG STORIES
Starmer’s support for Zelensky | Huge delays for serious court cases | Rangers takeover discussions

📣 Sir Keir Starmer phoned Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to offer his support last night after an astonishing attack by Donald Trump, who accused Zelensky of being a dictator. The US President also said Zelensky needed to “move fast” or he “won’t have a country left”.

The US leader’s outburst, on social media, came after Zelenskyy had suggested Trump was trapped in a Russian “disinformation bubble” after he suggested Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s invasion. Elections in Ukraine, planned for May, have been cancelled because the country is at war. (BBC)

• Truth Social: Read Trump’s outburst

• Trump’s comments stunned many Ukrainians, who saw it as a blatant betrayal. (New York Times £)

• Starmer will travel to Washington next week carrying an Anglo-French plan for a “reassurance force” made up of European military forces placed far from today’s front lines. (Daily Mail)

📣 Long delays in Scotland’s justice system are resulting in some victims of serious sexual crimes asking for their cases to be abandoned, support groups claim. The median time for some sexual offence cases stands at 1,034 days - close to three years - while sheriff and jury cases face a median wait of 657 days. The Scotsman has the exclusive.

📣 Rangers are in “advanced” discussions over a takeover by a US sports group, the Daily Record reports today. The consortium includes Leeds United chairman Paraag Marathe, who oversees 49ers Enterprises - the investment arm of NFL franchise the San Francisco 49ers.

Rangers fans will be excited at the potential financial muscle of the new investors, after several seasons of underperformance on and off the pitch. The Ibrox club has refused to comment. The Daily Record has the exclusive.

IDEAS
Can Findlay get a hearing for his “common sense” agenda?

🗣️Having looked at Sarwar’s Labour yesterday, it makes sense to cast an eye over Russell Findlay’s Conservatives today. Like Labour, who they lag by only 1% in the last big poll, the Scottish Tories needs to make a little political weather to get their message across over an unhelpful din from their Westminster colleagues.

Russell Findlay, the Scottish Conservative leader, was attempting just that when delivered a speech yesterday condemning Scottish Government waste and calling for “our own version of the Department of Government Efficiency” (a reference to the Trumpian DOGE, led by Elon Musk).

Demanding the SNP”s “big-state circus” be brought to heel - with jobs including “Senior Policy Advisor Ethical Digital Nation” and “Our Story Service Lead” - allows Findlay to continue on his “common sense” agenda: a lightly populist appeal to the national raised eyebrow at Holyrood’s excesses.

It comes as stories about the cost of our quangos gradually gain traction, with tales of big bonuses and generous claims on expenses catching the eye. It’ll seem to many to be nice work if you can get it.

Findlay’s approach is also more measured than that of the UK leader Kemi Badenoch, who is prompting some worried conversations among Tories down south. Is she already a dud? A former cabinet minister offered a deadly dry verdict on her first 100 days: “All the things we thought she’d be good at, she’s not. And all the things we thought she’d be bad at, she is.”

She does have the hardest job in politics: leaders of the opposition have to simultaneously build a coherent policy platform while also making opportunistic attacks on the government. It can be hard to sound coherent, even if you are.

Her performances at Prime Minister’s Question Time have also left colleagues worried, while there’s an urgent need for the party to develop stronger messages around immigration, especially, where Reform have made such great inroads.

On his Substack last night, Alex Massie offered a withering critique of the national party’s cosying up to Trump’s MAGA world. He sees it as a moral failing. “Too many Tories are failing what should be a most straightforward test. Worse still - if that is possible - many of them seem incapable of noticing that this is a test and a kind of proving ground.”

Ian Johnson in today’s Scotsman agrees: “It may be tempting for the Conservative leader to ape the US President and his acolytes, but it is a fundamental mistake that could, ultimately, destroy her party,” he writes.

Just like Sarwar, then, Findlay will be held back - not helped - by his London colleagues. And just like his Labour rival, what else he does to get the Scottish party, and a distinctive agenda, noticed will define his success at the polls next year.

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 John Swinney has said he does not regret backing changes to gender recognition rules, after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and his deputy Dame Jackie Baillie reversed their views on the legislation earlier in the week. (Herald)

📣 Anas Sarwar is backing away from plans to replace council tax saying he won’t “make a promise we can’t keep.” Speaking to The Scotsman’s The Steamie podcast, the Labour leader would only commit to “a fair funding settlement for local government”. (The Scotsman)

📣 The Scottish Government is in discussions to buy the privately-owned Ardrossan Harbour, transport secretary Fiona Hyslop has confirmed. (STV)

📣 A woman, aged 74, has become the first person in Scotland to be arrested and charged under new abortion protest laws. (STV)

AROUND THE UK

📣 Parts of the UK (including Scotland) will be under a weather warning tomorrow, for heavy rain and wind, ahead of a weekend in which parts of the UK will be warmer than Greece. (Independent)

📣 The diaries of Simon Hart, the Conservative Chief Whip under Rishi Sunak, have caused a huge stir, shedding light on a series of scandals involving several (mostly nameless) MPs.

One particular claim has sparked particular speculation: who was appointed to Sunak’s cabinet despite the then-PM rating them as “f***ing useless”? The diary only limited clues: it was one of three women promoted to cabinet simultaneously. The most senior was Kemi Badenoch, but Michelle Donelan and Lucy Frazer also stepped up. (The Times £)

📣 A huge sinkhole in Surrey is only getting bigger. (BBC)

AROUND THE WORLD

🌎 Germany goes to the polls on Sunday amid turmoil at home and abroad. Semafor previews the three big themes of the election: the far right, US-German relations and - of course - the German economy. The vote will have repercussions for the entire continent. (Semafor)

🌎 The SS United States, once the largest passenger ship made entirely in the US but latterly a rusting hulk in Philadelphia, is being towed to Alabama where she’ll be sunk to form an artificial reef. (🎥See the video).

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

💰 Wood Group’s chief financial officer has resigned after it emerged his professional qualifications had been wrongly described in public statements from the Aberdeen-based oil services company.

Arvind Balan had been referred to as a chartered accountant, rather than a certified practicing accountant, in what he called an “honest oversight”. The company’s share price fell 55.6% last week after a weak trading statement. (Daily Business)

💰 The Scottish Government’s pledge of £25m for Grangemouth has been welcomed. But the FT reports that “people close to the plans for the site” had warned was only “a drop in the ocean” next to the billions required to transform the oil refinery into a renewable energy hub. First Minister John Swinney has urged the UK government to “at least” match the Scottish funding. (FT £)

• “Starmer’s inaction on Grangemouth sabotaging Sarwar” (Herald £)

SPORT

⚽️ Manchester City crashed out of the Champions League last night, beaten by an outstanding Kylian Mbappe hat-trick. Even a City on form would have struggled with the French forward: they are far from being on form. (Guardian)

• Guardiola said “we’ve been the worst” this year, but insisted he wanted to stay in his job. (Guardian)

🏉 Scotland face England at Twickenham this weekend, and the hosts have decided to name their team early. Marcus Smith remains at full-back despite his troubles against France. Ollie Chessum comes in for George Martin in the only change. (The Scotsman)

• Fraser Brown thinks there will be changes in the Scotland team to “freshen up” the side for Twickenham (The Scotsman)