I hope you're managing to stay dry and warm despite the decidedly drookit weather - and sky-high fuel price crisis - we're all facing. If you're trapped indoors and looking for some distractions, can I recommend our Daily Puzzles? They're now free to all our registered users.

 

Oddly, from this weekend we'll also have a World Cup to take your mind off the November gloom. I won't bang on about this disgrace of a tournament again this week - last week's email was enough - but I would like to thank the many readers who got in touch with me to offer their views on The Scotsman's coverage.

 

In this email last week I'd asked if we'd taken it too far in highlighting Qatar's human rights abuses alongside our preview of the sporting action. The verdict from you and fellow subscribers appeared to be that we'd either done the right thing, or hadn't gone far enough. It seems you share our sense of outrage that the beautiful game has been sullied by its staging in Qatar.

 

So thankyou for that feedback. It's immensely helpful to get that from you, our most loyal readers, and it always helps calibrate our coverage to your needs. So thanks for your eloquent and thought-provoking emails. You can always reach me and my team at scotsman.editor@scotsman.com.

 

The week has been dominated by the build-up to, and digestion of, yesterday's Autumn Statement from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Millions of us now face a real fall in our standards of living - it seems certain higher taxes will make their way to Scotland, along with cuts to services and a general tightening of the national belt. Our leader column today offers a broad view of yesterday's announcements, and its root causes, but the bottom line is that many in society will find this a very hard winter indeed.

 

It's something we're thinking hard about at The Scotsman, and next time I write I hope to offer up one way we all might be able to help the least well-off in society through the next few months.

 

Other stories that have garnered plenty of attention this week: our exclusive about potential changes to flight paths in and out of Scotland, the news that sales of Buckfast have soared in the first year of Scotland's minimum (alcohol) unit pricing, and another exclusive on the fatal cost of failing to dual the A9, Scotland's most dangerous road.

 

Looking ahead to tomorrow, we're working on an exclusive and highly relevant Scottish health story - sorry I can't reveal more, at this stage - as well as all your Saturday favourites, including Aidan Smith on TV, all you need to know ahead of this weekend's rugby and the magazine - including a celebration of the humble potato, some ideas on what to do with your leftovers, and adventure on Scotland's waterways (although, this weekend, pack your oilskins...)

 

Thankyou, as ever, for your support and feedback - have a great weekend.

 

Yours sincerely