Freedom come all ye

After some merry badinage regarding Jo Swinson's strangled vowels and ever shifting accent, we get down to serious business. The BBC has come under fire over Wreathgate, we discuss just what might have happened and the "robust" defence of the BBC position by Rob Burley. Lesley wonders if you can get away with anything, if your accent is posh enough. Coverage of this debacle seemed to have crowded out the non publication of the report on Russian interference in UK politics.That is until Hillary Clinton's intervention this morning.And if anyone should know about Russian interference in the democratic process, it's Hillary. Electoral pacts, standing aside, and tactical voting have grabbed election headlines this week and we examine the implications of all three across both Scotland and England.Lesley also takes the opportunity to criticise not only our archaic First Past the Post voting system but also Holyrood's version of PR. The latest Spanish elections saw the Socialists emerge as the largest party but with no overall majority. But this second election in just seven months has seen the emergence of Vox, an avowed fascist party, as the third largest in the Spanish lower house. It was the centenary of the birth of the great Hamish Henderson on Sunday and,as I try and give some sense of his importance as poet, folklorist, and radical intellectual,Lesley shares some very personal memories.