AN ANTI-FRAUD initiative that has uncovered almost £10million in scams and mistakes is a welcome step on the road to reforming public bodies and ensuring taxpayers’ money is being spent properly.

IT IS THE nature of the men and women volunteers of Scotland’s mountain rescue teams that they rarely criticise those who get caught up in accidents on the hills.

RANGERS may have lost the Uefa Cup last night in Manchester, but they won the respect of European football with their display on the pitch and the loyal backing of their fans.

THERE really was no other solution to the predicament in which Aberdeen City Council had placed itself than the departure of its chief executive, Douglas Paterson. Mr Paterson, who will now retire a year earlier than planned, is regarded widely by his colleagues as an honest, decent man who worked tirelessly for what he believed to be the best interests of Aberdeen. Ultimately, however, that was not good enough and, in time-honoured fashion, he had little alternative but to fall on his sword. The question now must be whether or not he is the only high-profile casualty.

UNION leaders and backbench MPs were queuing up to congratulate Chancellor Alistair Darling yesterday on his solution to the 10p tax rate debacle. It was a crude but effective move to raise individual personal tax allowances to try to redress the balance lost when Gordon Brown scrapped the lower rate in his last Budget.

TODAY is the day when once again a Scottish team has an opportunity to write its own chapter in football history. Rangers fans from all over the world have gathered in Manchester to watch them take on the hitherto little-known Zenit St Petersburg. The football will take care of itself. The Gers are capable of winning and a defeat would not be for lack of effort or ability.

THE impact on patient care and the potential hazards of travelling long distances for hospital care have been well documented. Health services, like post offices, petrol stations and community centres, are a vital part of the social infrastructure of rural Scotland, nowhere more so than in the Highlands.

ONLY time will tell if the moves announced by minister Richard Lochhead yesterday are enough to stave off the threatened crisis in the Scottish fishing industry, but he can, at least, take credit for listening and responding to the concerns of those affected.

HIGH spirits have traditionally marked the last few days of the school year as demob-happy youngsters gear up for life after the classroom.

IT IS TORTUOUS viewing to watch Wendy Alexander writhe in political agony as she struggles to escape from the referendum fiasco with her dignity intact. Dizzy from U-turns, the leader of the Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament must be counting the days until the summer recess and a chance to hide from the intense scrutiny that has built up around this issue.

BRITISH Airways is quick to spread the blame for its questionable performance in recent years. Flights are delayed and it could be weather, strikes or, whisper it, Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

THE days may be numbered for those employees who decide that pretending to be sick is better than a day at work. Lie-detector technology is such that the ability to test an employee may be readily available to companies in the near future.

IN AN interview this week, the prime minster claimed that his sons John and Fraser were keeping him awake at night. No mention was made of the soporific qualities, or otherwise, of the latest opinion polls that put Gordon Brown’s party on just 23% of the vote.

There is no truer saying than you don’t get a second chance to create a first impression. It is something which should be very much to the fore of British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh’s mind as he contemplates the transfer of some long-haul flights from Heathrow’s Terminal 4 to the newly-opened Terminal 5.

Chef Gordon Ramsay has made a very nice living out of opening his mouth before engaging his brain, so it should come as no surprise that he has launched an impassioned, naive and rather hypocritical plea for unseasonal vegetables to be removed from restaurant menus to reduce food miles.

PEOPLE worship many things these days, but going to church is not high on the list, according to the latest Church of Scotland figures. The new moderator, who takes up his role next week, tried to get to grips with this old chestnut yesterday at a news conference ahead of the Kirk’s general assembly.

THE decision to look again at controversial plans to close a forensic science laboratory in Aberdeen is a sensible one by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill. The laboratory serves both the Grampian and Northern forces, so there are major implications to be considered.

THE disproportionate power of celebrity was demonstrated perfectly yesterday when a report revealed that an award was given to Ant and Dec when they had not won the most votes.

THE UK Government’s decision to upgrade the seriousness of cannabis possession from grade C to grade B was designed to send out a strong message on drugs misuse and to acknowledge current public opinion on the subject.

JUST when Wendy Alexander comes within an inch of landing a blow, of sorts, on Alex Salmond, she is pulled out of the ring by Gordon Brown. The desperation of Ms Alexander’s camp to score a point against a rampant SNP has come to the surface this week in the botched referendum announcements from Labour.

DEMANDS for Scots matches to be televised for free will raise a cheer across the country – as long as the national team continues to do well, of course.

EVERYONE has had their say over the Nat Fraser case – from the ordinary man and woman in the street to highly-paid lawyers who created a barrage of legal argument in an attempt to get their man off the hook.

THE only good thing to be said about the financial fiasco at NHS Western Isles is that it now appears to be dragging itself out of trouble.

ROCK star Pete Doherty emerged from prison in exactly the same style as he arrived for his court appearances – somewhat confused and surrounded by a media scrum.

THE 2008 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston provides the perfect platform for the North Sea industry to promote twin aspects of its development which will stand it in good stead during its mature years.

IT IS difficult to remember what we all did before plastic bags came on the scene as part of our instantly-disposable society. The problem was that even although plastic bags could be discarded quickly, they did not actually disappear – they simply clogged up our waste-disposal systems because of their indestructibility.

SKULLDUGGERY and vote-rigging is not just a feature of the modern Eurovision Song Contest it seems. Evidence has emerged that our own Sir Cliff Richard was robbed of the winning song in the 1968 contest when the Spanish entry pipped his number, Congratulations, after General Franco’s fascist regime put pressure on its European neighbours to back Massiel’s La La La.

GORDON Brown launched his fightback yesterday after last week’s disastrous election results, but he was struggling to find the quick fix he needs so badly.

A SURVEY of peers showed that 80% of them thought devolution had damaged the union. Many might argue it is a little too late to worry about that now. That particular genie is out of the bottle – never to return.

ONE must never underestimate the power of the good old British cup of tea. The calming and restorative qualities of a cuppa are well known. People always turn to the teapot in a crisis. It now turns out that tea was also a top priority during the Cold War as British planners tried to work out how the country would survive a nuclear attack.

TWO Scots are at the pinnacle of their political careers, one leading the UK and the other Scotland, yet their fortunes could not have turned out more differently.

THE reality about reality shows on television is that they often end up in tears. It is the nature of the beast. People enter into them with the best of intentions, but it can turn sour all too quickly.

THE latest in a long line of stress-busting claims is, wait for it, Gregorian chanting. Research involving monks revealed that controlled breathing and communal singing lowered blood pressure, increased performance hormone levels and reduced anxiety and depression.