Three days ago Remembrance poppies were on sale in the shop where I pick up The Guardian most days. This was again before I spotted any poppies on TV.

The poppy appeal’s formal launch was yesterday. It makes sense for the shops to have them before then.

I’ve been away over the weekend so wasn’t able to post about this sooner.

The death of former SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, came as something of a shock. He was only 69 and looked as if he still had many years. Then again, his girth suggested he wasn’t averse to the good life.

The outstanding Scottish politician of his generation, it is perhaps safe to say that, without him, the cause of Scottish independence would not have progressed in the way that it did, though that central purpose of his political life now seems as far away as ever – even if almost half of Scots still support it.

It is traditional at times like this not to speak ill of the dead but his reputation suffered latterly from the revelations that twelve women made complaints about his behaviour towards them when he was in office. It was this I suspect that caused the rift between him and his political protégé – and successor in both posts – Nicola Sturgeon.

Alexander Elliot Anderson (Alex) Salmond:  31/12/1954 – 12/10/2024. So it goes.

Last week in the shop where I picked up my newspaper I noticed on the counter a collection box for the Poppy Fund. That was nearly a month before Remembrance Day though.

This is the second year in a row where I have seen poppies available to the public before I saw any on the television, but I have since seen one sported  by a member of the public in a TV audience.

Thankfully the politicians have not yet got into the act.

Two well-known Scots have gone recently.

Winnie Ewing, who died last week, will go down in Scottish political history as the person who brought the prospect of Scottish independence into mainstream politics. Her win in the Hamilton by-election in 1967 shattered the hegemony of unionism, made more likely the election of future SNP members to Parliament and indirectly led to devolution and the re-introduction of a Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

Winifred Margaret Ewing: 10/7/1929 – 21/6/2023. So it goes.

Craig Brown left us on Monday. His biggest impact on Scottish life came through his appointment as manager of the Scotland football team in 1993. He led the side to two major tournaments and was the last Scotland manager to steer the side to World Cup qualification, 1998 in France, where the team played Brazil in the opening game. His 71 games in charge overall is still the record.

James Craig Brown: 1/7/940 – 26/6/2023. So it goes.

If the UK Government had set out to underline Gary Lineker’s comparison with Germany in the 1930s it could hardly have done so any better than by leaning on the BBC – albeit indirectly – to remove him (even if that is only temporary) from his position as host of Match of the Day.

It is one of the signatures of an authoritarian government that it tolerates no dissent, no criticism.

Linkeker is not a political journalist, does not appear on political programmes and is, moreover, not a direct employee of the BBC. He appears on other TV channels and his social media posts are quite obviously his own personal opinions and not to be taken as reflective of a BBC stance on anything. Other such BBC presenters have in the past been defended by the corporation on precisely those grounds.

The media frenzy that has been whipped up has been deliberately misconstrued to make it seem as if Lineker has said something objectionable. He has not.

It is a deflection of attention typical of right wing politicians to seize on something a critic has said as being unnaccceptable in order to move the focus of any debate away from the point at issue.

As a matter of fact Lineker did not compare the Government to Nazi Germany. He said the language the Government was employing was similar to that of Germany in the 1930s. And in that he is correct. The government has undoubtedly been using language which demonises people. We know where that leads. There are too many historical instances (not just those in 1930s Germany) of derogatory language acting as a precursor to something much worse.

And how can the BBC be considered impartial anyway when its chairman has donated money to the party in government, facilitated the provision of a loan to a former Conservative Prime Minister and only gained his position precisely because of those links?

It has in any case been obvious for a long while from its political coverage that the letters BBC in fact stand for Bending over Backwards to the Conservatives.

There has been a large outpouring of appreciation for former football commentator John Motson, who died last week.

Noted for his meticulous preparation, with a multitude of facts and statistics to hand, he was a mainstay of BBC TV’s Match of the Day for decades. His retirement was much regretted by viewers.

I remember reading about one player for a lower league team whose match Motson was covering relating his pre-match experience with the man. Motson had asked the team to line up for him and went along the line scrutinising each one. This particular player, it seemed, received a more intense scrutiny than the others. In the aftermath he said wonderingly to his teammates, “I’ve just been eyeballed by Motty!”

John Walker Motson: 10/7/1945 – 23/2/2023. So it goes.

The position in history of Betty Boothroyd, whose death was announced today, as first woman Speaker of the House of Commons, cannot be surpassed. Her career trajectory was unusual. There aren’t many former Tiller girls who became MPs, let alone Speaker. And unlike most politicians she presented a human face to the world.

Betty Boothroyd: 8/10/1929 – 26/2/2023. So it goes.

Mirabile dictu!

My first sighting of a poppy being worn this year was on a member of the public when I went to pick up my paper this morning.

I had, though, seen them on sale in that same shop late last week.

I suppose those in Westminster have had other things on their minds this year to bother with the usual unseemly rush to sport a poppy.

But no doubt they’ll be all over the TV soon.

William Hague

Iain Duncan Smith

Michael Howard

David Cameron

Theresa May

Boris Johnson

Liz Truss

These are the succesive leaders of the Conservative and Unionist Party of the UK since John Major lost the 1997 General Election.

The first three thankfully did not get the chance to inflict mayhem on the country but got progressively more hopeless and right wing. (Though it is a toss-up between Smith and Howard for both those dubious accolades.)

As for the last four, words fail me. Each much worse than his or her predecessor, but all inflicting enormous damage on the country.* An accumulation perhaps unparalleled in its history.

And they say this is the natural party of government?

*In Truss’s case that is yet to be fulfilled but I have no doubt it will be.**

**Note: I composed this post in early September. The damage wrought by Liz Truss has come to pass much sooner than even I expected.

When I saw this photograph in Monday’s Guardian it reminded me of something.

See below for our reptilian overlady.

Dear God.

What have we done to deserve this?