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👋 Good morning! It’s Saturday 21 March 2026. I’m Neil McIntosh, editor of The Early Line, and it’s great to have you here.
📣 You’re reading the weekend edition of The Early Line. Paying subscribers get the full version, with six talking points and film, TV and sporting recommendations for the weekend.
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Have a wonderful weekend, all!
☀️ The weekend’s weather: Great news: today, for most of us, looks a lot like yesterday: there’s bright sunshine in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, although Inverness is overcast. Tomorrow is going to see a bit more cloud, and some isolated showers in the north. London is set for a fine weekend. (Here’s the UK forecast).
SIX THINGS TO TALK ABOUT
Trump talks about “wind down” while planning ground operation | Remembering grand Dame Jenni | Why are Scotland’s brewers failing? | Bezos’s robot plot | Don’t worry (after 6.30pm) | A great Gourock home
🍸 Another morning, another wave of contradictory statements about the US and Israel-led war with Iran, while the impact of the war continues to threaten us all through the global economy.
Taking to Truth Social while we slept, US President Donald Trump said the country is considering “winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran”. And he says the Strait of Hormuz will “have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it - The United States does not!”.
But he has also told reporters he does not want a ceasefire, with CBS News reporting overnight that he is considering deploying ground troops into Iran to seize Iran’s nuclear stockpiles - something the New York Times had mooted earlier in the week, and which was covered in depth in the Early Line on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, anger is growing among members of the UK cabinet at the cost of the war to the UK. While Trump brands the UK and other Nato allies “cowards”, “senior members of the government are in despair about the potential effects on the economy, with experts warning of higher energy prices and increased mortgage and borrowing costs.” (Guardian)
Lowering speed limits and encouraging working from home are measures being considered to curb UK oil demand. (Guardian)
Editorial: Iran has figured out exactly how to play off Trump against his allies (Independent)
Merryn Somerset Webb: War reminds markets why material trumps ethereal (Bloomberg - gift link)
Upgrade to read the full Party Line, including tributes to former Women’s Hour presenter Dame Jenni Murray, a look at the reasons so many Scottish craft brewers are failing, a method to stop worrying about things in the evening, and a truly remarkable house for sale in Gourock.
PLUS: find top TV, film and sporting picks for the weekend.
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