Neil McIntosh Editor of The Scotsman

Dear reader,

Hello from a gusty Edinburgh: it looks quite beautiful outside at the moment, as I type.

But such is a speed with which our weather can change, I'm fully expecting that by the time you get a chance to open this email the weather will have turned quite unpleasant across a swathe of the UK. Maybe a night to hunker down with the TV and fire on.

It's been another busy week for The Scotsman's team. A few big - and slightly grim - stories have dominated proceedings.

Tragedy in the Channel

Migration has returned to the front page in the most tragic circumstances imaginable: the drowning of 27 people, including children and a pregnant woman, was heartbreaking news.

But one of the things we must do as journalists, I believe, is seek people with answers, and that is what Martyn McLaughlin did in the wake of the tragedy, setting out some of the possible solutions to the difficult, treacherous business of migration. Observing the diplomatic exchanges since the disaster, one fears there will be more weeks like this one before any resolution is found.

Closer to home, many are asking what should be done about Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where it is claimed another two children died with life-threatening infections - one of them the same deadly fungal infection suffered by the late Scottish Government advisor, Andrew Slorance.

Labour leader Anas Sarwar demanded sackings and sweeping change in the management of the hospital in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday: the lack of answers over what is going on there, coupled with the justified anger at the apparent dangers for patients, make this another tragic row that is likely to continue.

Vaccine passports and a new variant

Finally, we had a mixed week of news on Covid - hospitality businesses were delighted to hear Vaccine Passport restrictions would not be extended earlier in the week, but the spectre of a potentially dangerous new variant of the virus, emerging from South Africa, is causing concern today. Public health expert Devi Sridhar says it may already be in Scotland. 

In sport, readers spent plenty of time with Graham Bean's comprehensive debrief on Scottish Rugby's Autumn Nations Series performance, where he looked at the biggest concerns and rising stars from the entertaining four games.

And Joel Sked's analysis of Scotland's newest Hampden hero - John Souttar - and his career options also proved a talking point, given his contract at Hearts is up at the end of the season.

In Saturday's Scotsman

Looking forward to tomorrow, we look forward to bringing you some light: Finlay Wilson, who rose to fame as the Kilted Yoga guy, has a new book out and is our magazine cover star. If that's not your bag, Carina Contini is writing about creating new, special memories this Christmas, and singer Jesse Ware talks to us about her hit podcast Table Manners, which she's taking on the road.

Thank you, as ever, for your support. This Black Friday, you can join us for 50% off.

Have a wonderful weekend, whatever the weather does.

Neil McIntosh, Editor