Lesley Riddoch

Labour needs to face home truths of what devolution means

Once again, you couldn't make it up. A political party trying to prove itself capable of government selects a man who spectacularly fails to deliver. How could Boris Johnson have made such a mistake? Tory troubles, of course, don't prompt the same levels of salivating media attention as the endless troubles of Labour. But the fall from grace of Boris Johnson's deputy – along with the unexpected resignation of Nicol Stephen – suggest Labour is not..

The Murray Mint Aftermath

This week's Aftermath meanders around leadership, Murray Mints, trains and finally arrives at cycling as Sean, Richard, Greg and Lesley relax and reveal. Click here to listen and download 'the Murray Mint Aftermath

'Scot free' votes are alright by us

They used to say it was the Conservatives who did constitutional reform. Overseas anyway. They pushed through the Lancaster House agreement on Zimbabwe, imperfect though it was, that liberated the Commonwealth. They had realised the days of empire were done and took us into Europe. Then they stalled. Margaret Thatcher's general position on constitutional reform within the UK was "no surrender

Riddoch Questions, Friday 4th July, BBC Radio Scotland 1.15-2pm

On this week’s Riddoch Questions Lesley will be joined by Christine May, former Fife Labour MSP, Robert Crawford – Clyde Gateway Regeneration Chairman, former Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise and SNP candidate for North Ayrshire and Arran – and the Herald’s Scottish Political Editor, Douglas Fraser – soon to join BBC Scotland.

The headlines so far this week include –

• EVERYONE’S RESIGNING – Wendy Alexander’s stepped down as Labour leader after a turbulent nine months in the job and now Nicol Stephen’s giving up the Lib Dem leadership to spend more time with his family. Is party leadership such a poisoned chalice? And who should get the vacant “top” jobs?

• ECONOMIC SLUMP – house prices have stalled, Taylor Wimpey’s cutting 900 jobs, Pringle’s shutting its Scottish knitwear plant, and retail giant Marks and Spencer’s sales are dropping too – are we on the brink of recession? Or did we spend so frantically in the last decade that things are now getting back to normal?

• TRAINS – a new report says walk-on rail fares can be five times more expensive than advance bookings. As oil prices stay high why can’t we get better value from rail travel – and information systems that actually work?

• ANDY MURRAY – the tennis champ is out of Wimbledon but seems to have won a place in the British public’s hearts. Has he helped or hindered the stereotype of the sullen Scot in the UK?

Email your questions on these stories now to riddoch@bbc.co.uk. Add your phone number if you want to put the question in person. On Friday text your views to 80295 and call 0500 92 95 00.

The Prisons Commission Reports

The Prison Commission Reports

After six months work -- the Prisons Commission report was launched today at the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The speech given by Commission Chair Henry McLeish was a tour de force (but maybe I'm biased) listing the cocktail of problems that have given Scotland a prison population more like an emerging Soviet Republic than a modern Western nation.

There were 23 recommendations -- and I was glad I wasn't one of the hacks sight-reading the 82 page report and trying to figure out which one should make the headline. Will the tabloids describe us as deluded, do-gooding lefties (Sheriff Alistair Duff would never live that down!) or over-ambitious... or might Scottish institutions use this report to tackle troubled citizens instead of locking them up?

If you want to read the report email business.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk or call Blackwell's Edinburgh bookshop on 0131 622 8283.

Writing Course - Westray - October

Along with Ron Ferguson, I will be part of the creative writing course in Westray from Friday 10  to Monday 13 October - click on the poster and it will enlarge to give you all the contact details you need to book a place ! Hurry the places are limited and filling fast.