SCOTTISH LABOUR LEADERSHIP

• Anas Sarwar and Richard Leonard have announced their intention to stand for Scottish Labour leadership following the resignation of Kezia Dugdale last Tuesday. The party’s executive committee will meet on 9 September to set out a timetable for a leadership election.

POLITICS

• The Scottish Government is expected to scrap the controversial public sector pay cap this week when it ‘relaunches’ its strategy following recess this week.
• The SNP has been accused of ‘airbrushing history’ as the party’s year in review failed to include its announcement to hold a second independence referendum.

 HEALTH

• A call for a national campaign to raise awareness of sepsis, previously backed by the Scottish Parliament’s public petitions committee, has been rejected by the Scottish government.

 ECONOMY

• Plans have been launched for a £250m development at Rosyth, Queensferry One. The proposals include office and industrial space, plus roadside services and a budget hotel.

 EDUCATION

• One of Scotland’s leading experts on education has warned that the Curriculum for Excellence could be “disastrous” for school pupils, claiming the programme could widen the attainment gap, not close it.

PR

• James Henderson, chief executive of Bell Pottinger, has stood down amid claims his PR firm stirred up racial tensions in South Africa via the media campaign it ran for the wealthy Gupta family.

 TRANSPORT

• The new Queensferry Crossing has been officially opened by the Queen today. Over the weekend, 50,000 people walked over the new bridge, described as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.
• The City of Edinburgh Council has been urged to put plans to extend the capital’s tram line on hold until an inquiry publishes its findings on the previous project.
• New figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives have revealed one in seven trains on the new Borders Railway have been cancelled or delayed since the service opened.

 COMING UP

• The Scottish Parliament will return from recess this week. The Scottish Government will announce its new programme for government on Tuesday. A cabinet reshuffle is expected as part of a previously announced “refresh”.
• The Edinburgh tram inquiry will begin public hearings this week