How Winston Churchill became a friend of SNP founder and backed Scottish home rule

More than half a million people in the UK have been vaccinated against Covid-19, Boris Johnson said, as he moved to soothe concerns the country risked being effectively cut off from parts of Europe and beyond following the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus. [View email online]( [Subscribe]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [The Scotsman] Dec 22, 2020 Good morning, Welcome to Tuesday's daily newsletter from [The Scotsman.]( Thank you for your support this year. If you've not already, consider taking out a digital subscription with us [from just £3 a month for unlimited access.]( Alternatively, you can now give the gift of a digital subscription to a loved one here. Readers of this newsletter can get a 20% discount [on gift subscriptions]( with the promo code SCOTGIFT20. Sir Billy Connolly in retirement: Legendary Comedian feels 'happy in his skin' The Big Yin has been making audiences laugh around the world for decades now, but one of the world's most famous stand up comedians said he's feeling 'happy in his skin' following a decision to retire in 2018. He said it's "been nice" to talk about his career, though he feels "strange talking about a thing of the past". [Read Sir Billy Connolly's full quotes here, as he discusses his life since leaving the stage.]( Winston Churchill was a good friend of SNP founder - and backed Scottish home rule You may not believe our columnist Alistair Stewart when he says former Prime Minister Winston Churchill was friends with SNP founder Andrew Dewar Gibb and backed Scottish home rule... However, take a read of the piece from Alistair Stewart that he debunks the 'universal myth' that Churchill disliked Scotland and tell us what you think. [Have a read of the full piece here.]( Scottish government spend thousands on popular footballing simulation game campaign It's one of the most popular games of all time, and this financial year the Scottish government spent almost £20,000 as part of their Safer Young Driver campaign on Football Manager after research pointed them in the direction of the popular game. A FOI request revealed that £18,642 had been spent on ads in Football Manager 2019 and 2020. [Find out why the Scottish Government was told Football Manager ads would benefit their campaign.]( Thanks for reading, more stories are below, Graham Falk [Coronavirus: Prime Minister aims to reassure public over UK being cut off from Europe]( More than half a million people in the UK have been vaccinated against Covid-19, Boris Johnson said, as he moved to soothe concerns the country risked being effectively cut off from parts of Europe and beyond following the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus. [{$escapedtitle}]( [Article Image]( [Clydebank house incident: 25-year-old man dead and second man fighting for his life in hospital]( Police have launched a murder inquiry after a 25-year-old man died and another was left fighting for life after an incident in a house in West Clydebank. [Article Image]( [Christmas Gift Guide 2020: great ideas to delight people of all ages, for all budgets]( We’ve rounded up presents to please everybody, be it a secret Santa gift or a luxury present to spoil your beloved. Here are all of our Christmas gift guides for 2020 in one place. Promoted by The Scotsman [Article Image]( [Let’s finally beat heartbreak forever in the UK - James Jopling]( I was delighted to join the British Heart Foundation (BHF) team in January 2020. I knew about the amazing progress made to tackle heart and circulatory diseases – much thanks to BHF-funded research – but also the devastation these conditions cause, and I was looking forward to the challenge of helping beat heartbreak in Scotland. Then came a year nobody expected. But thanks to medical research, we can anticipate to a brighter 2021. [Article Image]( [Not enough done during pandemic to help blind and partially sighted people - Mark O'Donnell]( As we look towards Spring and the hope of a return to a more normal life and society, at Sight Scotland we look back at a year which has been hugely difficult for us all but particularly for blind and partially sighted people. Thousands of visually impaired people throughout our country spent months unable to leave their homes, to go shopping, to be accompanied by sighted guides and even faced problems getting basic provisions such as food. [Dave Lewis]( [Sports Personality of the Year 2020 winner announced - who else won a BBC sports award?]( Tyson Fury refused to take part in the awards this year, calling himself ‘the people’s champion’ [Dave Lewis]( [Harry Potter steam train to run seven days a week for entire seven-month season next year]( The Harry Potter steam train will run seven days a week next year – after only a third of its usual 700 passengers were allowed on board this season due to covid restrictions. [Dave Lewis]( [Aidan Smith: "If I can’t get to see a game in the raw soon I may go off the whole idea completely"]( Did you see that story about Deveronvale supporters getting round Covid by watching their team from ladders? It made me smile until I read the last line. “It’s disappointing that some fans have done this,” said the Highland League club’s president. [Dave Lewis]( [Livingston appoint David Martindale as manager full-time at Tony Macaroni Arena]( Interim Livingston manager David Martindale has been appointed to the role with the first team until the end of the season. [Dave Lewis]( [Lee Westwood named European Tour Golfer of the Year for the fourth time]( Lee Westwood has been named the 2020 European Tour Golfer of the Year, winning the prestigious annual award for the fourth time in his distinguished career. [Dave Lewis]( [Ex-Gretna coach criticises Hearts for lacking 'respect' in not applauding Celtic]( Davie Irons has criticised Hearts’ defeated cup final stars for not applauding Celtic as the quadruple-treble winners went to collect their trophy. [View more news]( You have received this email as you are opted in to newsletters from The Scotsman, published by JPIMedia Publishing Ltd. To manage your individual newsletter preferences with us, please [click here]( and log in to your account. 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