The Mirror Crack'd

Humza Yousaf has won the Leadership of the Scottish National Party (SNP) by the now seemingly mandatory 52-48% split and, barring some unforeseen mishap, will be elected Scotland's First Minister by the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood tomorrow. As a 'Sassenach' I've long supported the concept of an independent Scotland but now I hope Mr Yousaf fails in his efforts to take Scotland out of the Union. I'll come on to my reasons in due course but firstly, to allay any suspicion of Islamaphobia or racism, I'd like to address the much-discussed issue of Mr Yousaf's religion and ethnicity. I genuinely rejoice that people of colour, and adherents of faiths other than Christianty, can become leading politicians in our democratic system, even where I don't agree with their politics - or, as an atheist, their religion. I deprecate Rishi Sunak's politics while celebrating the fact that it is possible for a Hindu of Indian descent to aspire to, and win, the highe

And that's just the way Alexander Boris de Pfefel Johnson likes it. He'd rather be deplored than ignored (I'm sure he'd be able to rustle up a neat Greek or Latin aphorism to underscore the point) so today's long-anticipated televised appearance before the Commons Committee of Privileges to answer charges of misleading parliament must have come as a welcome release from the rustication of his new backbench existence. Where other less egomaniacal MPs would have found this ignominious situation shameful, Johnson (who doesn't do shame), seemed, rather, to relish the attention. He had obviously come well-briefed - for £222,000 of Legal Aid and all this time to prepare one would hope so - and was bullish and completely unapologetic throughout. He was once again the centre of attention, for good or ill, and determined to milk it for every last drop of self-publicity. Someone had obviously taken the trouble to run a brush through his normally tousled blond mop and knot

At today's meeting between UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and French President, Emanuel Macron, the entente could hardly have been more cordiale -  short of Gallic cheek-kissing, that is. Thankfully, we were spared that extra layer of carefully choreographed bonhomie but still had to watch excruciatingly prolonged handshakes, and mutual backslapping of the embarrassingly literal variety. The touchy-feeliness of it all amounted to a positive love-in between the two leaders. But let's see how long the bromance lasts when harsh reality kicks in - which it will, and sooner rather than later. Of course, the announcement by Sunak of a sweetener to the tune of a cool half-billion of your Great British Pounds could only have endeared himself to the French leader. Macron was quick to reciprocate with an offer of matched funding so his  amour propre was maintained.  The two brothers-in-arms also agreed to coordinate deployments of aircraft carriers in regions of shared interest. Int

Protesters in Tbilisi, capital city of the nominally independent state of Georgia in the Caucasus, are attempting to halt the government's perceived 'Russification' of the country, adding an extra dimension to Vladimir Putin's expansionist agenda. Putin's invasion of Ukraine a year ago has tended to focus world attention on his previous territorial aggrandisement in Crimea and the Donbas region in 2014, whilst his partial invasion of Georgia in 2008 has largely been forgotten. This is despite the fact that Georgia is in line to join both the EU and NATO.  The Georgian Dream Party has led the government for the past ten years during which time, in its own estimation at least, it has negotiated a delicate relationship with its neighbour, the Russian Federation. Protesters, however, feel that the government is mired in corruption and is drawing ever-closer to Russia.  Now, its latest move to force NGOs in receipt of foreign funding to declare themselves 'foreign ag

When the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, allowed himself to be persuaded by the mayor of a little fishing town on the Costa Blanca that the development of a beach resort to attract European package holidaymakers would benefit the Spanish economy, he cannot have imagined he was opening the floodgates, creating an inundation which has since become a deluge. Franco was hardly renowned as a fun-lover but he seems to have taken to the young Pedro Zaragoza, who had been elected mayor of Benidorm in 1950 aged twenty-eight. He was a tireless promoter of his resort and embarked on a nine-hour journey across Spain on a Vespa to lobby Franco in person to support his plans. Franco was apparently amused by the young man who arrived in Madrid with oil on his trousers to see the feared Caudillo, the dictator of Spain.  Zaragoza gained Franco's support and his chutzpah paid off when, two years later, he created an enormous scandal by allowing women to wear the newly-fashionable bikini, not onl