Talk of the Town: Reds will hope that Hester plays ball

THERE is new proof that bank boss Stephen Hester's influence stretches far beyond Gogarburn as he has been named as the 59th most influential person in the country – not in banking, but in sport.

The RBS chief executive is sandwiched between heavyweight boxer David Haye and music mogul Simon Fuller in a national newspaper's list of the 100 most powerful people in British sport.

He has fallen 27 places in the last year but maintains a place in the top 100 for holding the key to Liverpool FC's survival, with his bank holding the 240 million loan taken out by the club's owners.

No silverware for city's very own Scottish Cup

HE HAS been given the unfortunate nickname of the "Scottish Cup" by some colleagues.

Councillor Tom Buchanan, the city's economic development leader, may have hoped to get his hands on some silverware of his own when he travelled to a property awards ceremony and real estate fare in France.

However, he may have been disappointed to find that Edinburgh's award for 'best small city' in Europe at the Financial Times' fDi magazine awards was not a trophy, or even a paperweight, but merely a certificate.

These are hard times.

Cold shoulder for Porty

WE may just be emerging from the worst winter for decades, but Alex Salmond and his colleagues are already thinking ahead to the summer and planning another cabinet tour of Scotland. For the past two years, the Scottish Government has held cabinet meetings away from Edinburgh during July and August, usually combining their visit with various ministerial engagements and a public meeting.

So far the cabinet has been to Dumfries, Inverness, Pitlochry, Skye, Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, Stornoway and Melrose. The list for this summer is still being finalised. Perhaps somewhere by the sea? But one insider confided: "It won't be Portobello."

Where the XXXX?

THE people of North Berwick can give themselves a big pat on the back for their generosity in raising funds for victims of the Haiti earthquake. The Disasters Emergency Committee sent out a nice press release thanking them for their help in raising the huge sum of 7.5 million in Scotland.

It seems they forgot who they were thanking by the end of it, though. The statement read: "The XXXX public's generosity means that the DEC members have funds for short-term emergency aid in Haiti, but money is still needed for crucial longer-term work."

Obviously there are so many big-hearted Scots out there, it's easy to get confused.