British politics appears to be on a mission to alienate every last voter in the country.
Since 2016, the party leaders have tried to outsmart each other while only managing to slowly tie themselves in knots.
The various moving parts are now so tightly bound, it is hard to see how this mess can be unravelled.
The SNP and Lib Dems are now trying to slice through the knot with the .
But that risks ushering in a big Tory majority soon, perhaps delaying the inevitable for a bit longer.
The tactic still risks heading to a no-deal dead end at some stage.
And it leaves Nicola Sturgeon exposed to charges she is paving the way to a Tory victory to maximise a pro-independence backlash.
Boris Johnson wants an election three days later than Sturgeon, on his terms and with no-deal still firmly on the table.
Labour says it wants an election but knows the path to victory is littered with massive traps – and potential disaster at the ballot box.
One thing is clear – an early election will be seen as a proxy referendum.
The Commons might be reshuffled with no obvious way of untying that complicated knot.
The UK needs to decide a clear way out of the Brexit maze – then boot Johnson as far from Downing Street as possible.
Josh is real deal
is the genuine article.
The Tartan Tornado is Scottish and among the absolute best in the world.
No snatching glorious defeat from the jaws of victory here. The East Lothian fighter holds three titles at once – and he earned them with every painful jab.
He might look like Popeye with that souvenir shiner. But after that long slog he says he feels like Rocky.
Now he’s already planning what would be a tremendous next step, fighting in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle.
Wherever his next encounter takes place, he’s well on his way to being established as the greatest ever Scottish fighter.
Inspiring mum
has a message which more than puts life’s minor obstacles firmly in their place.
The 28-year-old single mum was given two months to live after her second daughter was born. Her open letter, in today’s Record, is a reality check – but it’s also an emotional message of inspiration.
As she writes: “If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t waste a minute. Nobody knows what’s around the corner.”
