Western

Isles Nationalist MP Angus MacNeil began his New Year with a snarling contest with a sleeping seal. Alongside a photo of the confused animal, Mr MacNeil tweeted: ‘This wee guy asleep on beach. So woke him up – when he saw me he snarled, so I snarled back. The wee tyke bowed his head then shut up.’ Dog is not surprised: for years the standard SNP response to an intervention from Mr MacNeil is head bowed in stony silence.