Hi folks! Remember when the Summer was the ’silly season’, when hardly anything would happen and all sorts of stories would be classed as news, just to fill the void? Well, turns out we’re not getting one of those this year. The Glasgow East By-Election has seen to that.

There’s a preview of Thursday’s poll over at Reuters. There’s a prediction at Adopted Domain. Meanwhile, with predictions of victory and a ‘political earthquake’ being issued from SNP HQ, Jeff and Scott both wonder if it was wise to predict victory beforehand.

Certainly, that declaration looked a little ropey following an ICM opinion poll giving Labour a double-digit lead. Or did it? ASWaS, Mike Smithson and Anthony Wells line up to scrutinise the figures.

Elsewhere on the trail, there’s been a reaction to debates held between the candidates from the Big 4 parties. There’s an assessment at Political Dissuasion. Meanwhile, James and Adopted Domain aren’t happy with SNP Candidate John Mason’s comments over the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

Staying with the SNP Campaign, Hopi Sen has examined a picture of the SNP activists at campaign HQ, and has not managed to count the five hundred that were reported to have gone out last weekend. Though in fairness, the campaign has seen footsoldiers receive wounds: IndyGal reports on an injury to BellgroveBelle, who was out flying the flag for the party. And John Mason gets an endorsement from Julie Hepburn. He doesn’t get one from Shuggy, who also has some reflections on the notion of Annabel Goldie in a leotard while campaigning for Davena Rankin. And on the Tories, Jennifer Dunn thinks it’s a bit rich for them to be promoting health and fitness when they’re leaving their campaign leaflets in piles at the bottom of tenement stairs rather than going up and posting them into the flats.

Meanwhile, the Labour campaign has been on the receiving end of pelters as well. Guido notes a photograph showing candidate Margaret Curran MSP meeting a 93-year-old war veteran who turned out to be a 67-year-old Labour activist, while I dipped into the Holyrood Official Report and discovered that her voting record on Iraq isn’t what she claims. However, IndyGal notes that Margaret Curran didn’t know where former Glasgow East MP David Marshall’s Constituency Office was. Oh dear. Elsewhere, Mark McDonald spots a Labour leaflet that appears to be backfiring, Louise notes the plan to abandon an increase in fuel duty in the Autumn and points out that a UK Government U-turn on an unpopular policy didn’t help them to hold on in Crewe and Nantwich. Meanwhile, Alanna asks what 50 years of Labour has actually done for the East End.

On a broader note, this has been the first By-Election in which the Scottish blogosphere has been fully engaged. Andrew Burns is fascinated by the exchanges, but Duncan isn’t impressed. Neither is Stephen Glenn.

One particular row concerns this post by Kezia Dugdale, which has caught the attention of Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who Kezia alleges was asked to leave a shopping centre. Tom Harris MP notes that the incident was filmed but accused the BBC of bias for not showing it. James looks at the incident and wonders what impact it might have on the campaign and the result.

Another row brewing comes from Davie Hutchison, who is not impressed with the new blog, SNP Watch.

But this is also the first Twitter By-Election: LibDem Candidate Ian Robertson is taking advantage of the service.

In other news now, the economic downturn has caused Bill Cameron to produce a thoughtful post, while Jeff looks at the Royal Bank of Scotland’s share price, making comments that resonate with David Farrer. While Mr Eugenides looks at the possibility that Gordon Brown is now pursuing a ’scorched earth’ economic policy.

Staying with administrations facing financial problems, Ideas of Civilisation takes a look at Aberdeen City Council’s fiscal problems and wishes that local politicians would stop blaming each other for the mess and sort it out. Andy, on the other hand, notes Labour’s attempts to blame the SNP for the problems and calls on the local party to fight back.
On the subject of local finance, Edinburgh Council Labour Group Leader Andrew Burns has a post condemning the Local Income Tax proposals.

While we’re in the Capital, A Scandal and A Disgrace notes a fall in room bookings for the Festival.

A new website, Secret Scotland, takes a look at Scottish public finances and oil money. Holyrood Watcher has a post on the Scottish Government grant to the Govan Law Centre that was awarded, un-awarded, then re-awarded. And Angus Nicolson looks at former Labour MSP for the Western Isles Alasdair Morrison being appointed to the board of MG Alba, the new Gaelic television service.

Staying with the MSM, James notes the resignation of Charles McGhee as editor of The Herald, and wonders if it’s wise to leave the paper leaderless during the By-Election. Duncan, meanwhile, wonders why technology news doesn’t get much coverage, even when it’s important.

While we’re talking about Internet-based shenanigans, Angry Steve discusses the etiquette of mailing lists. And of course, there has been navel gazing this week: Ideas of Civilisation thinks about who’s reading blogs, while Northbritain looks at how many, or rather how few, people are engaged with bloggery in Scotland.

As is often the case, crime and punishment issues get a look-in this week: Man About the House looks at the problem of banning knives outright, while Alastair looks at the fluctuation in the UK Government’s latest plans to tackle knife crime.

Meanwhile, civil liberties get a mention: Mike Smith is troubled by proposals to create a central database which logs our telephone and internet communications, while Alastair looks across the Pond to a watch list which you can’t get off once you’re on.

Speaking of civil liberties, Iain reckons his have been infringed as his status within the Scottish LibDems means that he can’t pass public comment on their Leadership Election. Caron, however, has no such problem, and is endorsing former Rural Affairs Minister Ross Finnie.

Clairwil reflects on housing provision.

If you haven’t already seen it, we draw your attention to Crap Holyrood Chat, which casts a disdainful eye over some of the more appalling examples of political banter from our MSPs.

Oh, and Alastair and Flying Rodent discuss Margaret Thatcher’s funeral plans. Would it be overly distasteful to suggest sending her to a taxidermist, then turning her into a piñata that tours the UK, offering people the chance to beat the living daylights out of her with a big stick? Probably, but it’s worth thinking about.

Finally, Bookdrunk is closing the curtain on blogging. For now.

And on that note of an ending, this is a good time to conclude this week’s Roundup. Remember that Duncan’s here with a special Glasgow East special on Thursday night, and I’m back in the hotseat next Sunday. As always you can send us your suggestions for inclusion to scottishroundup@gmail.com or fill in the twiddlythingummybob on the right. Bye-de-bye!

Hi folks! I’m sure crossword fans will get the post title, but there’s nothing cryptic about what we’re leading with this week, as Wendy Alexander resigned, failing even to emulate the staying power of Iain Duncan Smith. The BBC’s Brian Taylor has a resumé of the tale.

However, the general tone of the blogosphere seems to reflect the lack of a Labour presence in it: hostility seems to be the order of the day. Calum Cashley and Richard Thomson both condemn Wendy for blaming everyone but herself for her downfall. Rhythmaning asks why she went yesterday and not in December. Andy also looks at the timing, and where Labour go from here, but reckons that the SNP wanted her to stay in charge. This is seconded by Jeff, who argues that it’s because he wanted her to stay that she was right to go.

Man About the House argues that her own ego finally did her in, while Bernard Salmon suggests that it wasn’t the donations row that killed her off in the end, but her own poor performance as Leader. Shuggy believes that she’d have been a stronger Leader had she faced a contest, while Angus Nicolson argues that she had the potential to be great, but was surrounded by intellectual pygmies. A similar point is made over at Political Dissuasion, where Wendy is compared to the Tories pre-Cameron, the SNP under John Swinney, the English football team under Steve McLaren and Hearts under Stephen Frail: their own abilities didn’t matter; it was the squad around them that caused the downfall.

There is some sympathy, however. Holyrood Watcher detects an air of self-pity about Wendy Alexander, though doesn’t think it’s unjustified. The Big Beast of Tory Bloggery Iain Dale suggests that it was the complex rules about expenses that are to blame. However, one of the most interesting posts comes from her former election agent, Terry Kelly who does think it’s the SNP’s fault that she’s gone, but shares with us his recollections of meeting her, supporting her and working with her. One of the most thoughtful comes from Alex Massie, who believes that this scandal gets far too much attention, while real scandals, like the state of Scotland’s schools, how public money is spent, and an erosion of civil liberties, get far too little.

Meanwhile, there’s also talk about how this affects Gordon Brown. Ewan Watt suspects that he was actually the one who told her to go. Fitaloon hopes that Brown’s resignation is next.

Speaking of Gordon Brown, it’s now one full year since he took office as Prime Minister, and the talk is generally negative. Shuggy isn’t impressed with Brown, or Alistair Darling, but reckons that attempts to blame the fact that both are Scottish are wrong. Jeff takes a look at how Brown is, erm, celebrating the anniversary. Over at Ideas of Civilisation, there’s a detailed look at why things have gone wrong for the PM.

And it’s not been a good anniversary after the Henley By-Election, where the Labour candidate lost his deposit and came fifth, behind the Greens and BNP. Scottish Tory Boy notes the LibDem optimism prior to the poll, while Bernard Salmon thinks his party’ campaign wasn’t great, but notes that talk of it has been eclipsed by Labour’s dreadful showing. While over at Two Doctors, James celebrates the result for the Greens.

And it’s not over yet for Gordon Brown: there’s now likely to be a By-Election in Glasgow East, with sitting MP David Marshall’s health getting the better of him. David Linden reckons that the SNP can win the seat, overturning Marshall’s five-figure majority in the process. Grant notes that the Tories won Crewe & Nantwich on a 17% swing, so a 22% swing isn’t beyond the realms of possibility, while Jamie Hepburn MSP thinks that in the current political climate the SNP can ‘poll very well’ and speculates that this is the ideal opportunity for Jack McConnell to resign his seat at Holyrood in advance of heading to Malawi. ASWaS argues that whatever the outcome, it won’t look good for Labour, while Jeff wants the SNP to select Elaine C. Smith as the Party’s candidate. Despite being a Unionist, Mountjoy wants an SNP victory and thins that any other result would be crazy. However, Kez flies the flag for Labour, arguing that the party doesn’t fear a By-Election, and belives that descriptions of the Labour Party as ‘in turmoil’ are wide of the mark, with the situation in Zimbabwe being real turmoil.

Speaking of which, Stewart McDonald argues that the UN have to go in and arrest Robert Mugabe for crimes against humanity. Jennifer Dunn notes South African President Thabo Mbeki’s inaction.

Back to more local matters now, and Harriet Harman’s proposed Bill to enforce positive discrimination. Ewan Watt believes it’ll fuel resentment, while at Political Dissuasion, we are reminded that positive discrimination is still discrimination.

There’s a dismayed look at the standard of Scottish political discourse over at Ideas of Civilisation, while Boxthejack wonders why Christians describe themselves as politically apathetic. That’s a tag that certainly not be applied to religious activists in Romania, who, as Cabalamat reports, are mounting a legal challenge to a Government decision allowing an 11-year-old rape victim to have an abortion.

On lighter matters, Jeff looks at how a row between Scottish Labour spin doctor Simon Pia and STV reporter Michael Crow highlights the poor relationship between Labour and the press. However, Polly Toynbee is still clearly ‘on-message’, as Cassilis reports. Meanwhile, Julie Hepburn looks at Labour’s decision to hire a psychiatrist to analyse their performance at Holyrood.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the Wendy Alexander frenzy, we’ve overlooked the fact that one Labour Group does now have a new Leader: Andrew Burns is now the Leader of the Opposition on City of Edinburgh Council. His predecessor Ewan Aitken offers warm congratulations, while we have this post from the man himself. He also gets a warm welcome at Matt’s Mic.

Speaking of Edinburgh, the trams are one again a talking point. Over at A Scandal and A Disgrace, the talk is of local businesses suffering, while Calum Cashley has some questions for the people in charge, but they don’t appear to have any answers.

Staying with public transport, Scott tried to work out how to get from Annan to Glasgow Central with the ‘help’ of the National Rail website, while ASWaS waxes lyrical about the new Stirling-Alloa line.

David McDonald looks at ‘popcorning’, one of the less known (but no less terrifying) aspects of nuclear missiles, while Bishop Hill makes the case against recycling. Scott looks at the proposed Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Bill and thinks it’s more to do with the Government wanting to be seen to be doing something than anything else.

Elsewhere, Fitaloon is horrified that Government plans to tackle binge drinking could spell the end of the free dram at the end of distillery tours. Clairwil is sick of benefit claimants being demonised.

Kez speculates at what a Scottish Cabinet reshuffle might look like, and Holyrood Watcher looks at the proposed changes to Westminster expense rules and isn’t impressed.

Meanwhile, Misssy M reflects on the joys of taking her young daughter to the cinema, and Gordon McLean has a brush with beverage-related death. Cat deals with the etiquette of a crush, while Kez was preparing for a fancy dinner and wasn’t sure what to talk about.

She should probably avoid talking like the women described by Alastair, who also brings us tales of an unfortunate typo. A less unfortunate, but no less amusing, typo is spotted by John.

And no Roundup is complete without a spot of navel-gazing. Flying Rodent compares bloggery to a rather charming image, while Big Rab looks at why he blogs.

Finally, bloggers might fancy registering with the Local Blog Directory.

That’s your lot for this week. Stephen Glenn will be in the hot seat next week, and you can nominate posts by e-mailing scottishroundup@gmail.com, or filling out the shawaddywaddytwiddlydee on the right. Bye-de-bye!

Hi folks! Following last week’s brief outage, the Roundup is back to its Sunday slot, and bouncier than ever.

Anyway, we start this week’s trawl through the blogosphere with plans for a Britishness Day, as put forward by UK Immigration Minister Liam Byrne. Byrne suggested that it could be tied in with an existing holiday, earmarking the Summer Bank Holiday at the end of August. Unfortunately, this isn’t a Bank Holiday in Scotland, where it’s more common to take a day off at the beginning of the month, so it pretty much defeats the purpose of a ‘British’ Day. Fitaloon points out that even the first Monday isn’t necessarily a Public Holiday everywhere in Scotland, with some parts of the country opting not to take a day off then. Alex Massie, meanwhile, suggests that the actual date doesn’t matter: it’s just not British to flaunt your Britishness!

However, there were some local festivals this week, and Ewan Aitken reflects on the presence of a market at the Leith Festival, while Julie Hepburn reports on Condorrat Gala Day.

Meanwhile, some commentators have suggested that ‘Tax Freedom Day’ – the point at which we’ve earned more money in a year than we’ll pay in tax – should be a holiday. Cassilis explains why it doesn’t mean much.

On the subject of money coming into Government coffers, Kez takes a look at SNP policy on oil money, and doesn’t like what she sees. While on the subject of spending that money, David Farrer notes that Frank Field has got confused between free personal care – which Scottish pensioners get – and a free place in a care home – which Scottish pensioners don’t get, while Jeff challenges the notion that everyone in Scotland gets free education. And Clairwil has a book recommendation on the subject of government spending.

Staying briefly with monetary policy, Alyn Smith MEP reports on the Danish Government’s plans to hold a referendum on joining the Euro, though following the scandal involving Tory MEPs this week, perhaps “Filthy Lucre” wasn’t the best post title to use.

And on the subject of votes taking place in other countries, we finally have a Democratic nominee for the US Presidency, in the shape of Senator Barack Obama, who has fried my spell-checker. Anyway, Bookdrunk isn’t overly impressed by former Tory spin-doctor Amanda Platell’s criticisms of the Senator from Illinois, Robert Sharp takes a look at Obama’s internet-based fundraising approach, suggesting that it could be a model for future campaigns which never quite repeat the success of the original.

Meanwhile, while we’re thinking about politics online, Simon Dickson at Puffbox takes a look at the presence of UK political parties on the Net. And Holyrood Watcher takes a long, hard, unimpressed look at the new Scotland Performs website, which judges the state of the nation against 45 indicators.

Meanwhile, official communication wasn’t at its finest this week, with the Scottish Government accidentally telling journalists that Enterprise Minister Jim Mather’s answer to a question on drugs in prisons was “Blah”. Well, these things will happen when Mercury is retrograde! Anyway, Andrew Burns raises a smile, though wishes that responses from City of Edinburgh Council were that informative.

But communication has been a big thing at Holyrood, with Environment Minister Mike Russell being surprisingly honest about a Parliamentary debate, as noted over at Ideas of Civilisation. Such a blatant display of truthfulness is rare in politics, however, and Calum Cashley notes Labour’s assertions that a row has broken out between the Scottish Government and CoSLA over ring-fencing. As Calum tells us, this came as news to many people, particularly the Scottish Government and CoSLA.

While we’re in the realms of the process stories, Scottish Tory Boy reports on a Labour adviser who may or may not be quitting, there’s a discussion at Ideas of Civilisation about possible changes to expense rules turning Regional MSPs into ’second-class’ parliamentarians, and Ewan Aitken gives us a good insight into some of the things politicians come up against in their day-to-day lives. And the Councillor himself gets some praise from Fay Young, for his part in bringing about Poetry in St. Andrew Square.

Meanwhile, Midlothian Council got its brief day in the sun, with LibDem Councillor Katie Moffat defecting to Labour, giving them a majority in the Council chamber. Andrew Burns wishes that a LibDem on Edinburgh Council would follow suit, while I wonder what state the LibDems must be in when they’re losing Councillors to Labour. Staying with the LibDems, Bernard Salmon notes that Nick Clegg has described the party’s candidate in the forthcoming Henley By-Election as “excellent”, a description given to LibDem candidates in practically every By-Election for the last five years, making him wonder just how you define “excellent” in those circumstances.

In other news, Lesley Hinds looks at how demand for Council housing appears to have shot up, with a massive rush of applicants for the sort of flat that the Council couldn’t give away a couple of years ago. And UK Transport Minister Tom Harris MP wonders why SNP MPs were voting against Crossrail for London.

Staying with Westminster, and Bill Cameron attacks the ‘just in case’ defence for extending the time limit for detention without trial to 42 days, while Stephen Glenn notes that Gordon Brown doesn’t want to make this policy an issue of confidence in the Government.

Meanwhile, Stewart McDonald takes a baffled look at Dunkin’ Donuts’ decision to pull an ad featuring chef Rachael Ray, following complaints that it’s an endorsement of terrorism, on the grounds that she’s wearing a keffiyeh, and Yasser Arafat used to wear them.

On asylum, Jacq Kelly wonders why NHS Scotland can’t make itself available to asylum seekers when NHS Wales can, while David McDonald notes that a lot is being done to make life better for asylum seekers, but there still needs to be more.

Elsewhere, Niall wonders if banning knives will actually solve violent crime, while Mr. Eugenides takes RMT Secretary Bob Crow to task for blaming Boris Johnson after the party to mark the last night of alcohol being allowed on the Tube led to RMT members being spat at. And Shuggy lists the reasons why Guardian columnist George Monbiot’s plan to perform a citizen’s arrest on former US Under-secretary of State John Bolton at the Hay Festival was just plain daft.

And that marks the beginning of MSM time: Flying Rodent trails the launch of Standpoint magazine, while Alex Massie explains why Gary Lineker is an idiot, a tag which you’re apparently not allowed to give to commenters on the BBC’s Have Your Say site, according to FR.

Meanwhile, Richard Havers is baffled by the priorities given (or not given) by BBC Scotland to various stories, when economic issues like the future of the textile industry in the Borders even manage to get noticed on ITV Lookaround, but don’t get even a mention on Reporting Scotland. And Reluctant Hero suggests that Labour complaints about how the media are treating them now are a bit rich when only a year ago, the Sun was depicting the SNP emblem as a hangman’s noose.

And finally, let’s wrap things up with a bit of bloglove from Jeff. We love you too.

That’s your lot for this week. You know the drill by now: you can nominate posts for next week using the flibbertywotsit on the right, or by sending a message to scottishroundup@gmail.com. Bye-de-bye!