Well, the no’s won. Alex Salmond will wander off into the sunset and the shambles can begin.  The devolution promises, made by panicking politicians on the basis of one threatening poll, will have to be delivered. The existing unfairness between England and Scotland will widen and the political fudges will start. Miliband is already tap dancing around the situation because he needs the votes of Scottish Labour MP’s, while ‘all talk’ Cameron hints that the same group won’t be able to vote on legislation affecting only England. Nigel Farage must be laughing all the way to the pub.  Immigration and the EU remain as major issues for voters and now English constituents have another bone to chew on; an open goal for Nigel and he doesn’t miss many.  Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon smiles quietly and looks forward to Scottish rule without the need for a ‘yes’ vote.  Ain’t our politicians wonderful?

    Andy Murray nailed his Scottish colours to the mast with a snide ‘yes’ tweet just prior to the vote, forgetting Wimbledon comes round every June.  How long before he backtracks?  Federer, Djokovic and Nadal are likely to gain extra support if Murray makes it to the last eight.  Mind you, on current form he’ll be about as successful as the Scottish football team!  He might not have aided his mum’s cause either, as she shakes a leg on Strictly Come Dancing.  We’ve got a feeling they’ll both be on the receiving end of another ‘no’ campaign. 

    Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall has put the cat amongst the pigeons so to speak, by telling the media his son shoots grey squirrels for the table.  Some animal rights campaigners have predictably got hot under the collar. Michael Stephenson of The League Against Cruel Sports says parents “have a responsibility to teach kids to respect wildlife”.  Already responsible for reducing the red squirrel population, greys also damage young saplings and destroy bird nests to eat eggs and nestlings; wildlife in the raw.  So Hugh’s son can quite reasonably be applauded for protecting the bird population!  But eating them is a different matter.  I don’t think there will be a rush to taste it if Pam puts squirrel on the menu at the pub.

    As Obama seeks air strike support from UK allies against IS fanatics, Tony Blair can’t resist adding his thoughts about the situation in Iraq, including the possibility of putting troops on the ground.  He’s probably still worried about WMD’s! When in a hole, stop digging springs to mind.  Saddam Hussain was a monster but is the current situation better?  RIP Chilcot! 

    François Hollande probably thought things couldn’t get worse.  With his reputation in tatters thanks to Valérie Trierweiler’s book, he must have hoped for a quiet period, no more bad news.  Then who should take to the air but Nicolas Sarcozy.  Super Sarko turned up on prime time television to make his pitch for leadership of the UMP party.  Having stated he wasn’t there to attack Hollande, he promptly did just that. Even so, 60% of French viewers seem to disapprove of Sarcozy’s comeback according to research.  At least Hollande had the courage to approve the use French air power against the IS terrorists.  We’ll give him full marks for that. Watch Cameron follow his lead.

    The BBC has been running stories on line about discrimination in the workplace for those with tattoos. Having spent a couple of weeks around the sunny Mediterranean with Adrian, bikinis and shorts the order of the day for sun worshippers, we’ve seen every sort of body decoration. One lady scored top marks. She had a vine creeping up both thighs before disappearing into her bikini bottoms.  Wine lovers both, we didn’t check the grape variety!  Small and or discreet seems a thing of the past but do they mean the wearers can’t do a useful job?  Probably not, but Dale Carnegie’s comment that ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’ may hold sway. Rightly or wrongly, interview decisions are often made in the first few minutes of meeting and visible tattoos must influence the interviewer.        

    More female ‘celebrities’ are complaining that nude pictures of them have been hacked from their computers and placed on the internet.  We’ve never heard of most of the complainants, Rihanna the exception, and wonder how the hackers came to target them?  Maybe a hint from the ladies in question that the pictures existed was all that was needed!