CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE

• Speaking at the party’s conference this weekend, Ruth Davidson said the whole of the UK should benefit from government jobs, arguing that the UK is too ‘London-centric’.
• David Mundell will today warn the First Minister that she must take a second independence referendum off the table once and for all.

BREXIT

• Theresa May has said she will speak to the First Minister in a bid to end the Brexit deadlock between the two governments.

POLITICS

• Henry Bolton has been elected as the new leader of UKIP.

• Nicola Sturgeon has said she is “increasingly concerned” about images from Catalonia as Spanish police tried to halt an independence referendum on Sunday.

ECONOMY

• The Governor of the Bank of England has indicated that interest rates could rise in the “relatively near term”, possibly as soon as November.

JUSTICE

• More than 900 people in Scotland have been warned their partner has an abusive past as a result of the new “Clare’s Law” legislation. Police Scotland revealed 2,144 requests had been made under the new Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse in Scotland.

HEALTH

• The Scottish Government has announced a U-turn on sepsis awareness campaign just three weeks after it said it did not think such a campaign was “necessary at this time”.
• The Scottish Conservative’s Shadow Health Secretary Miles Briggs has called for stereotypes to be challenged to encourage more men to pursue a nursing career.
• In a response to Monica Lennon’s campaign to end period poverty, Glasgow Airport is to provide free sanitary products for female passengers.
• The Bank of Scotland Happiness Index has found happiness in Scotland continued to grow, with the average happiness score increasing by 8% from last year. Those in Mid Scotland & Fife were most happy, while Glasgow residents were the least happy.

ENERGY

• The Sunday Herald has reported that the Scottish Government is set to announce a ban on fracking this week, replacing a moratorium started in January 2015.

TRANSPORT

• Lothian Buses has launched the first fully electric public buses to serve Scotland’s capital.
• Business leaders have called for significant improvements to be made to Waverley Station to befit its status as the main rail gateway to Scotland.

 COMING UP

• The Scottish Parliament will begin recess this week, 7 October, and will return on the 23 October.
• The SNP conference begins this weekend, Sunday 8 – Tuesday 10 October in Glasgow.