Sign of the times

A CULT of personality appears to be sweeping the Scottish Parliament.

First came reports that SNP MSP Fulton MacGregor asked Finance Secretary Derek Mackay if he would be prepared to sign a copy of his budget speech, which announced a number of cuts to public services.

Now it seems Alex Rowley, Scottish Labour’s second-in-command, has been elevated to hero status within his party.

At a meeting of the Labour group in Holyrood this week, Elaine Smith MSP jokingly requested if Rowley could add his autograph to a copy of a speech he’d penned for the press launch of Labour’s local elections campaign last week.

Gallows humour is not thin on the ground, it seems.