Latest developments in the SNP’s financial situation make some of the front pages. The Daily Record leads with the resignation on Wednesday evening of the party’s treasurer Colin Beattie. Mr Beattie was released without charge after being questioned by police on Tuesday. The paper says the 71-year-old left his party role and also stepped back from Holyrood’s public audit Committee.
The Scotsman points out that the SNP has been left with no party treasurer, no auditors and a leader accused of being a “lame duck” after recent events. It also reports that First Minister Humza Yousaf has been criticised for failing to sack his party colleague. Another story on the page covers claims of a Russian spy ship gathering intelligence in the Moray Firth.
Thursday’s i leads with the “crisis” in the SNP after the resignation of Colin Beattie. The front page bullet points highlight Humza Yousaf’s praise for Mr Beattie for his decision to step down and comments from his deputy Shona Robison saying that the “culture of shutting down scrutiny” was partly to blame for the party’s current predicament.
The Courier takes a local angle, reporting on Angus-born Mr Beattie’s resignation. It focuses on Dundee-based Humza Yousaf taking over the SNP’s finances in the interim, quoting his as saying a national treasurer will be appointed in the coming days.
“An excruciating day” is how the Scottish Daily Express describes the events of Wednesday. It claims First Minister Humza Yousaf is “like a rabbit in the headlights” after Mr Beattie’s exit. The headline asks: “Why didn’t Humza suspend him?”
An attack by Rishi Sunak on what it calls “Sturgeon’s toxic legacy” is the lead story in the Scottish Daily Mail. The PM accused Nicola Sturgeon of leaving Scotland and her party “in a mess” during prime minister’s questions at Westminster. The paper says Mr Sunak “taunted” the new SNP leadership saying: “If they can’t fix the mess that Nicola Sturgeon left their party in, how can they possibly fix the mess that she left the country in?”
The National leads with the publication of the Scottish government’s legal challenge against Westminster’s block of gender recognition legislation. The paper says the 22-page petition challenges the Section 35 order on four counts and that Scottish Secretary Alister Jack made a “material error of law”, that his concerns about safeguards were “irrelevant”.
The Herald’s top story claims workers at Ferguson’s shipyard are being “scapegoated” over the ongoing ferry building “crisis” which has seen two ferries delayed by five years. One worker, who has been with the yard for more than 40 years tells the paper that the shipyard “must no longer be used as a political football by careerist ministers and incompetent managers”.
Judges will no longer be able to block migrant deportations, according to the Times. The paper says Rishi Sunak’s government will amend its Illegal Migration Bill to allow ministers to ignore interim injunctions from European judges and UK courts that attempt to stop a deportation flight.
Britain is facing “ideologically motivated” cyber attacks by Russia-aligned hackers, the Metro reports. The paper says the National Cyber Security Centre has issued an official threat notice to critical infrastructure operators.
Russian spy ships are plotting to sabotage Britain’s critical infrastructure, the Daily Telegraph reports. The paper says the “ghost ship” missions, some focused on the North Sea, are believed to be targeting internet cables, offshore wind farms and connectors carrying electricity and gas pipelines.
The Scottish Sun’s splash claims police issued a public appeal to find a missing man, but did not mention that the man was a convicted rapist. The paper says Dogan Atik disappeared after being freed early from prison, breaking strict licence conditions.
A dramatic carjacking incident is the lead in the Glasgow Times. The paper reports that a man threatened to shoot a driver in the episode.
The publication of a list of top paid council employees makes the lead in the Edinburgh Evening News. The paper says the capital has the most employees earning more than £100,000 of all the local authorities in the Scotland.
“Aberdeen’s shame” is the main story in the Evening Express after racist notes were posted across the city. The story says the messages claimed to be from the council and police are now investigating.
Highland Council has been accused of keeping a report on the extent of the region’s “pothole menace” secret from the public, according to the P&J. Campaigners have asked for it to be released but the authority says it is still carrying out “analysis”.
A resident has been forced to use a local swimming pool to have showers after her bathroom floor fell through, says the Evening Telegraph.
And the Daily Star of Scotland reveals that a conspiracy theorist’s £16,000 experiment discovered the Earth is not as flat as he thought.
