Well, hello there! It’s time to don your novelty paper hat and offer celebratory greetings. Why? Well, the Roundup has been around for a year this week, with Duncan producing SBR #1 (as it was then) on 1st October.

Since then, it’s the changes at the top that have been the most marked, even if they haven’t been all that surprising. This time last year, Tony Blair was forced into telling the public (well, the Labour Party) that he had made his last Conference speech as Labour Leader. This week, Gordon Brown’s first speech in the role has had people blogging. Richard Thomson produces an elegant summary what the new PM said. Another Richard, this time Richard Havers is also less than impressed. Meanwhile, Mr. Eugenides compares the principles in Brown’s speech with the principles in his policies, while Robert Sharp explains why Brown (or anyone, really) speaking in front of a blue background is a bad idea.

But the speech came in the context of widening speculation that a Westminster election is imminent. Gavin Yates casts his eye over the state of the SNP and Scottish Labour, and how an election would pan out, while Fitaloon notes that Scottish Labour MPs are cautioning Brown against going to the polls any time soon, and Shuggy examines the constitutional niceties of an early election. Tartan Hero, meanwhile, looks at the pros and cons of holding the election this Autumn, IndyGal is sure that it will be held this Autumn, and Jeff has a date for your diaries: November 8. Aileen Colleran has an alternate theory, however… she thinks the next Scottish Labour Conference would be a plausible time and place to announce an election in May 2008.

But whenever the election comes, could Alex Salmond stand in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, in an attempt to unseat Gordon Brown? Perhaps, say sources talking to Iain Dale. No, says the commenter who points out that the SNP have already selected a candidate there, and it isn’t Salmond.

Staying with Labour, but focusing their new Leader at Holyrood, bloggers are looking at her start in the job. Kenny Sheerin wonders if Wendy Alexander is supposed to appear rubbish. Rob Davidson suspects that Labour’s long-term prospects are tied more to how the party changes over Wendy Alexander’s leadership, rather than her speeches or even election results.

But the new her new speech at the Labour Conference did get other SNP bloggers such as Jennifer Dunn talking; Alexander’s apology for Labour’s defeat was criticised by David McDonald, and her claim that Alex Salmond and David Cameron were involved in an unholy alliance raised eyebrows at ASWaS.

One person did publicly agree with Wendy Alexander though, Helen Eadie MSP accused the SNP and Tories of working together in a ‘right-wing’ government. Scottish Tory Boy has the story, and explains what happened next!

Meanwhile, a couple of bloggers have noticed the passing of the You Scotland website, with little fanfare or attention. Richard Thomson has the story, while Duncan provides a cutting obituary.

Speaking of dead websites, the Usmanov saga rumbles on. Tim Ireland now has a temporary blog, while Matt Wardman looks at how the actions of Usmanov’s lawyers, Schillings, have led to more negative publicity, not less; and Mr. Eugenides informs us that the controversy has now been discussed in the European Parliament.

While we’re on the subject of Europe and long-running sagas, Belgium has gone more than 100 days without a government. So far, only Davie Hutchison seems to have noticed. However, he’s also noticed another story on a similar theme: this time, the scene is the Basque Country, and constitutional affairs there.

Staying abroad, and the events in Burma have bloggers impotently wringing their hands – much like governments worldwide. Angus Nicolson has his say, as do Elizabeth Maginnis and Peter Murray.

Elsewhere in the world, The Woolamaloo Gazette reports on Archbishop Francisco Chimoio’s ridiculous assertion that imported condoms are infected with HIV to kill off Africans, and CuriousHamster picks up on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s equally barking mad claim that there are no homosexuals in Iran. Flying Rodent, meanwhile, has some choice words to say about Rudy Giuliani, including his response to Ahmadinejad’s visit to the United States.

Back to more local concerns, and money is never far away from people’s minds: Demea at the Select Society criticises proposals for a Local Income Tax, and David Farrer examines how we define poverty.

Speaking of poverty, Holyrood Watcher tells us that Pauline McNeill MSP now cannot afford a speechwriter, and has to write her own speeches. And while we’re on the subject of our MSPs Bill Cameron looks at a proposal to house them.

Nuclear power comes up as well: Jeff examines the SNP’s position on nuclear, while Michael Greenwell reports on the future might hold for Dounreay.

Meanwhile, in health, Kevin Williamson and Mark McDonald react to news that Scotland has the second highest levels of obesity in the world (The USA occupies the #1 position).

And we can’t let a Roundup go without a look at the media: Mike Power looks at the tabloid frenzy surrounding a picture of a girl who looks like Madeleine McCann. Mark McDonald is exasperated with reaction to news that his colleague on Aberdeen City Council, Depute Provost John West, will no longer be studying for his law degree, and Red Squirrel has a picture for the ‘Just Plain Sick’ archive.

Also, commercialism seems to have run riot: Anastasia Beaumont-Bott is annoyed with dolls, and their marketing, while at completely the other end of the spectrum of human life, Alan Sharp is furious at the price of watching the Scotland rugby team. Staying with sport, Flying Rodent has this post on John Reid’s upcoming appointment as Chairman of Celtic, and this from Hibs fan Kevin Williamson suggests that Reid’s first job might be to teach fans how to spell their club’s name.

And finally, Mr. Smith has a tale that shouldn’t make me snigger, but does.

That’s it for this week… don’t forget to send your submissions for next week’s Roundup in to scottishroundup@gmail.com or via the thingymadoodah on the right. Here’s hoping for many more years of the Roundup!

Hello there.

Pro-independence bloggers have been keeping a careful eye on the situation in Belgium for several weeks now and that has continued this week at Scottish Futures. Plenty are noting that if Flanders and Wallonia decide to go their separate ways, it could set an important precedent as to how the EU will deal with such matters.

Speaking of which, The Scotsman ran a story this week on this very issue. A “senior official” said that an independent Scotland would have to re-apply to the European Union. The problem is that this “senior official” was fisheries commissioner Joe Borg, who has nothing to do with constitutional issues. Adam Smith was a Socialist says that even if Scotland had to re-apply, it would most likely be a formality.

Meanwhile, Tartan Hero has pointed out that the similarity in situations between Belgium and Scotland has still led The Scotsman to report the two situations in radically contrasting ways.

Another story in The Scotsman surrounded SNP MSPs Stewart Stevenson and Jim Mather with apparent conflicts of interest. Ridiculous Politics can take the credit for getting their a few weeks before the MSM did. Given that it is now big news, Holyrood Watcher says it could be the first sign of sloppiness from the SNP.

Were their civil servants asleep on the job?

But whether or not there was a specific warning, the requirements of the Ministerial code are – or should be – sufficiently well-known. It is really not good enough for Ministers to come along four months after their appointment and in effect to say that, now they’ve been found out, they will hasten to build the necessary Chinese walls between themselves and their shareholdings.

New Saltire makes the same point, saying that they should have moved their shares into a blind trust as soon as they became ministers rather than waiting until they were found out five months later.

The British blogosphere as a whole has been getting very wound up about Alisher Usmanov. The Uzbek oligarch who has his eye on Arsenal Football Club has got several prominent political blogs shut down by making legal threats and generally throwing his (ample) weight around. Mr Eugenides has an excellent primer of the situation.

A lot of people have been pointing their finger at UK libel laws. David Farrer has written an open letter to Alex Salmond, suggesting that Scotland could carve itself a competitive advantage by introducing laws to enshrine freedom of speech.

Meanwhile, Will Patterson had a re-think as to what the biggest threat to blogging might be. Bill Cameron responded to that post with some thoughts on ’swearblogging’ and other things he doesn’t like about some blogs.

Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting reckons that Labour now have a full-strength squad. He compares the opposition to the cabinet “in true Sky Sports fashion”.

Kezia Dugdale does a similar thing and finds that the Labour front bench is full of fluffy wuffy bunny rabbits, while the SNP is full of tartan Tories.

Less complimentary is Mr Eugenides, who absolutely rips into the new Labour front bench. It looks like he had fun writing that post!

As for the matter of why Labour now find themselves in opposition, Scottish Tory Boy notes that apparently it’s little to do with the Iraq war.

Meanwhile, The Tired Tory has heard that “open rebellion has broken out in a northern constituency”. Not another rebellion caused by friction between London-based Conservatives and their Scottish counterparts?!

Delving into the history of street planning, Michael Greenwell has a really interesting post on the origins of some of our street names — propaganda.

Richard Thomson passes judgement on the performances of Wendy Alexander and Menzies Campbell during the week. He even goes as far as to suggest that it was Menzies Campbell’s last outing as leader!

Also not too complimentary about the Lib Dems is Will Patterson, who compares the party’s policies on referendums on Scottish independence and the EU. It is a bit of a honking contradiction.

Clairwil has taken some time off from attacking politicians, so she is making up for it here. On her radar is people who think that 24 hour drinking licenses and smoking should go.

Angus Nicolson has a thing or two to say about the long-winded tendering process that Caledonian MacBrayne had to go through.

Pete Murray outlines why getting rid of the tolls on the bridges was a bad idea.

This week we learned that most Americans associated Scotland with Groundskeeper Willie. Prompted by this, Cursed Tea recounts some of her encounters with ignorant Americans.

Following the sacking of council workers for surfing the internet too much, Gordon McLean is not too impressed with Union officials who have blamed the employers for “putting temptation in their [the employees'] way”.

Ahead of the UEFA Cup fixture, Craig warned of embarrassment ahead as he discussed his support for Aberdeen Football Club. (Luckily for him, he was wrong in his prediction.)

Billy the Kid wants to know why Pot Noodle have reduced the salt. He’s losing the horn, and we wouldn’t want that.

If all of that wasn’t enough for you (pah!), then why not check out the Islay Blogging Roundup? Who knew there were so many blogs in Islay?!

That’s it for this week. Will Patterson is in the hot seat next week. I’m off to buy some party poppers. Scottish Roundup will be one year old next week. So make sure you get those nominations into scottishroundup@gmail.com, or the hassle-free magical form on the right.

Another week, another roundup, this time from the the ‘man behind’ Scottish Blogs. Before I continue I will state up front that I won’t be including one of my own posts, despite the continued insistence of doctorvee. So, without further ado let’s kick off with our old friend, money.

George Foulkes is a poor man, overworked and underpaid and has asked for more money. Angus Nicolson is one who isn’t too happy about this as, like me, I’m pretty sure these poor people understood the pay and benefits when they took the job. However, Anne McLaughlin makes the point that, as MSPs are usually, locally, available to their constituents, that yes they DO work harder.

As ever, discussion of wealth and politics proves a thorny issue. And that’s before you consider Gordon Brown’s proposed pregnancy payment which has the Reactionary Snob in a bit of a lather (sorry, couldn’t work a second alliteration in there).

But, without your health, money is useless so obviously the smoking ban has been a godsend. Recent studies suggest that to be true but The Devil’s Kitchen quickly slices, dices and flambés the report, suggesting, as does Holyrood Chronicles, that it will take a lot longer than one year to prove, or disprove, whether the smoking ban has made Scotland a healthier place.

Sport next, and we find that Tartan Hero isn’t best pleased that the London Olympics will be paid for by everyone else in Great Britain. No surprise there I guess but, as ever, there is suggestion of coverup. Sometimes I wonder why we have politicians at all, when is Guy Fawkes again?

Stepping away from politics and politicians (for, let’s be honest, they’ll continue to talk amongst themselves) let’s look back at a the sporting week. With the Rugby World Cup kicking off, hopes of the continued resurgence of the national team were bolstered by what was a “professional” display against the Portugese. We scored 56 points against them, the All Blacks all but doubled that score, making us, in Scottish sporting logic, half as good as the best team in the world. Considering we won a second game of football against World Cup finalists France, then I think it is safe to say that our national football team is now the best in the world.

Now, without wanting to get ahead of myself as I’ve already skipped forward to Guy Fawkes, apparently Christmas isn’t all that far away either. You may well be advised to read up on misspelled Misssy Misssives who reminds us that Christmas is a time of embarassing faux pas and cringing.

And, to close, I’ll leave you with some the burrowing bees of Berneray, and some poetry. One good, one very bad.

As always, you can send your submissions for inclusion in the next Roundup to scottishroundup@gmail.com, or send us a message via the dooberry on the right.

doctorvee Update: Just updated this post to give it a title (and therefore a permalink!).

Hi folks! It’s the start of another term at Holyrood, and that means, I hope, lots of blog fodder. It’d be tempting to say that regular service can now resume, but firstly, we’ve had lots to post about over the summer, and secondly, current affairs in Scotland can be gloriously irregular at times. Which, thankfully, gives us plenty to blog about.

Anyway, the saga of what would have been the Edinburgh school closures has got people to their keyboards, with the SNP turning against their LibDem coalition partners in the City and withdrawing their support for the plans. Anne at IndyGal supports the decision, noting the SNP’s commitment to reduce P1-3 class sizes. Edinburgh Labour Councillor Andrew Burns welcomes the decision, but is exasperated at how the whole affair has been handled. Meanwhile, Justified Spinner has a bone to pick with the city’s LibDems, as he contrasts their stance on the school closures with their support for the tram network. On the other hand, Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting is troubled by the whole course of events, and is concerned that either the SNP group’s decision to allow the proposals to get this far in the first place was rash, or their decision to kill the current plans off now is a mistake.

Anyway, moving on from school closures to school-yard insults, George Foulkes, Labour MSP for Lothian, isn’t accusing the SNP of stirring anti-English racism, but thinks they ought to stop saying things in a way that stir up anti-English racism. Kezia Dugdale takes a stand, putting Foulkes’s comments into context and wonders why stories like this only pop up when Alex Salmond has an off day. Mike Power looks at the issue of anti-English prejudice. On the other side, Mr. Smith isn’t impressed and wonders if this is as potent as Labour attacks on the SNP are going to get. Tartan Hero applauds SNP MSP Ian McKee (born and raised in England) for his response to the remarks, and accuses Foulkes (and other Unionists) of stirring up anti-Scottish feeling in England. Here’s my take on the matter.

From name-calling to name changes, the Scottish Executive has now opted to call itself the Scottish Government. “Treason!” is the cry over at Devil’s Kitchen, while Duncan is a great deal calmer, but no more impressed. Nosemonkey compares the situation to the history of Canada, which steadily gained more powers from the UK from 1867 to 1982. At the Mushkush Miscellany, it was always called the Scottish Government anyway, and BellgroveBelle looks at the varying terms for the various bodies that call the shots in Scotland.

And it’s not just the Government that’s being talked about. The Scotsman has been reporting on a poll looking at people’s attitude towards Holyrood: 20% of respondents think that the Parliament has achieved ‘a lot’, compared with 8% three years ago. Richard Havers and Mr. Smith both find the paper’s claim that Holyrood is bouncing back in the eyes of the public slightly ridiculous.

Still, say what you like about MSPs, they can still arrange for at least some form of government to come into being within a month of elections, which is more than can be said for their Belgian counterparts, who after three months, are no closer to doing so. Seeing as tensions between Flanders and Wallonia appear to be at the root of this, both David Farrer and Richard Thomson draw comparisons with the UK.

Meanwhile, back in Blighty, a proposal to create a national DNA database with everyone’s details on it has been mooted. Richard Leyton and Reactionary Snob are horrifed.

And do you remember the promises of how Scotland would benefit from London getting the 2012 Olympics? Holyrood Watcher does, and has noticed that they haven’t materialised. Still, any visitors to the Games who made a detour to Edinburgh would probably end up crushed under the weight of parking tickets: The Woolamaloo Gazette has noticed the tactics of Edinburgh traffic wardens.

From despair at the Blue Meanies to despair at the Liberal Left: Shuggy is exasperated at its behaviour.

And on a grim note, the Madeleine McCann story has taken a dramatic twist, with the naming of the missing girl’s parents as suspects. Kevin Williamson scrutinises their behaviour.

On a lighter note, Kenny Sheerin is sick to death of supermarket food and health scares. And Edinburgh Council has come under fire for more closure proposals: Angry Steve is less than impressed at their idea that pubs should close earlier. Meanwhile, Flying Rodent comes up with various measures that might discourage smoking. And from one vice to another, Kinglear looks at the value of marriage. The monetary value, that is.

And that’s it for this week. Next week’s Roundup will be brought to you by Gordon McLean. As always, you can send your submissions for inclusion to scottishroundup@gmail.com, or send us a message via the dooberry on the right. Bye-de-bye!

As I mentioned in the last roundup, I was on Radio 5 Live to talk about a couple of stories that made it to the roundup. One of our regular fixtures and guest contributors, Mr Eugenides, was also there to talk about the Britblog Roundup which he edited this week.

If you’re interested in hearing it, the podcast is available here. The relevant bit is about 27 minutes in. Or, if you don’t want to listen to the whole programme (although that is what I would recommend), Matt Wardman has got audio of relevant bit here. Show notes are here.

And my reflections, excuses and apologies are here!