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South Wales Guardian
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
Voice coaching with Sir Sean Connery was ‘surreal', Nicola Sturgeon says
She initially thought the famous Scottish actor might be joking when he tried to teach her how to deepen her voice. Recalling how he got her to talk with a bit of paper between her teeth, she said this had 'got to count as one of the more surreal episodes in my life'. It was in 2004, when the SNP were still in opposition at Holyrood, that Connery had asked if she would meet him, Ms Sturgeon said. She spoke about her meeting with the film star to the BBC Newscast podcast as her memoir, Frankly, was published. Ms Sturgeon recalled: 'Sean had been in Edinburgh and asked if I would go see him and I went along to New Club, which is one of these old private members' clubs in Edinburgh, and had this one-to-one session with Sean, where he said he thought I could do with deepening my voice in interviews, and he was going to teach me how to do it.' She continued: 'Basically, it consisted of me with a rolled up bit of paper between my teeth where he gave me things to say, and he said this was how he had learned to deepen his voice in acting. 'And it worked while I was doing it. At first I was like 'is he taking the piss'. 'But then it started to work.' However, she said that while the method 'I guess does work when you are filming scenes as an actor', she said she 'would have looked a bit odd' if she was 'sitting in a television interview with my teeth clamped together'. Connery, a high-profile supporter of Scottish independence, died in October 2020 at the age of 90.
Leader Live
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Voice coaching with Sir Sean Connery was ‘surreal', Nicola Sturgeon says
She initially thought the famous Scottish actor might be joking when he tried to teach her how to deepen her voice. Recalling how he got her to talk with a bit of paper between her teeth, she said this had 'got to count as one of the more surreal episodes in my life'. It was in 2004, when the SNP were still in opposition at Holyrood, that Connery had asked if she would meet him, Ms Sturgeon said. She spoke about her meeting with the film star to the BBC Newscast podcast as her memoir, Frankly, was published. Ms Sturgeon recalled: 'Sean had been in Edinburgh and asked if I would go see him and I went along to New Club, which is one of these old private members' clubs in Edinburgh, and had this one-to-one session with Sean, where he said he thought I could do with deepening my voice in interviews, and he was going to teach me how to do it.' She continued: 'Basically, it consisted of me with a rolled up bit of paper between my teeth where he gave me things to say, and he said this was how he had learned to deepen his voice in acting. 'And it worked while I was doing it. At first I was like 'is he taking the piss'. 'But then it started to work.' However, she said that while the method 'I guess does work when you are filming scenes as an actor', she said she 'would have looked a bit odd' if she was 'sitting in a television interview with my teeth clamped together'. Connery, a high-profile supporter of Scottish independence, died in October 2020 at the age of 90.
Scottish Sun
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Nicola Sturgeon's 10 biggest bombshell moments in full from new memoir
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MS Sturgeon's book Frankly hit the shelves this week as the former First Minister hopped from TV studio to radio station promoting it ahead of the official release. Our reporters got hold of a copy and have waded through all 446 pages of the memoir to find the stand-out revelations from the ex-SNP leader so you don't have to. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 12 Nicola Sturgeon's new book has several sensational claims Credit: PA 12 The book features personal confessions to bombshells from her political career Credit: PA From her visits to Balmoral to meet the Queen to her view on her own destiny, here are some of the best bits. The Queen THE late Queen asked for 'gossip' from Nicola Sturgeon about the sexual misconduct scandal engulfing the SNP, she claims. The ex-SNP leader said Queen Elizabeth immediately asked for details about the sexual harassment claims against Alex Salmond after they emerged in 2018. 12 She claimed the Queen wanted gossip on Alex Salmond Credit: PA:Press Association Ms Sturgeon said the Queen 'loved a bit of gossip' and asked about the case at an audience at Balmoral Castle in 2018 which she visited with husband Peter Murrell. And she wrote: 'She asked me about it almost as soon as I sat down. She wasn't being trivial in any way, she wanted to know more of what was going on. 'I think she was also trying to put me at ease.' She also told how at Balmoral, Prince Philip would cook her and hubby Peter Murrell barbecues, with the Queen packing leftovers into Tupperware. Sean Connery NICOLA Sturgeon wrote that she was trained to speak with more 'authority' by Sir Sean Connery. The late James Bond actor gave the ex-Nats leader voice coaching in 2004 around the time she was elected deputy leader of the SNP. She wrote how the pair met at the glitzy New Club in Edinburgh where he advised her to deepen her speaking voice. Nicola Sturgeon admits mistake on gender ID battle in bombshell TV interview She said: 'There I was, under the instruction of 007 himself, pacing up and down the library of the New Club, with a folded piece of paper between my teeth, repeating sentences chosen, it seemed, for their particular combination of syllables, consonants and vowels.' 'My voice slowed and deepened. 'The trick, in future, he told me, was that whenever I wanted to project authority I had to speak as if I had a piece of paper between my teeth.' 12 She said Sean Connery trained her to speak with more authority Credit: Getty Prince William THE future King finds himself on the receiving end in Ms Sturgeon's memoirs. She wrote that 'almost all' of her interactions with Royals have been 'positive', saying: 'I know it is part of their 'training' ('breeding is probably the more accurate term), but they are always engaged and engaging, polite and courteous.' 12 She admits feeling aggrieved towards Prince William Credit: Getty But she writes that after a 'cordial' meeting with Prince William in Edinburgh in 2021, she found out he'd held a separate private chat with ex Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown during the same trip to Scotland. And this was the 'one occasion when I had cause to feel slightly aggrieved towards a senior royal'. She wrote that a comment from the Prince's office on the reason for meeting Mr Brown 'was, to put it mildly, disingenuous', adding: 'The thrust was that he had wanted to talk to politicians from across the political spectrum, obviously meant as code for both sides of the independence debate.' Ms Sturgeon also moans in the memoir that she 'couldn't get a break' after news that William and Kate were expecting their first child overshadowed a 2012 speech she made on independence. Eco legacy SCOTLAND'S reputation as a global leader on climate change is in danger of being 'squandered', Nicola Sturgeon claims. In a thinly veiled swipe at her SNP successors, the former first minister insisted 'every new oil or gas field under exploration sucks in money, labour and expertise that should be devoted to developing and deploying green alternatives'. She said: 'We were well and truly on the map as a climate pioneer…unfortunately, it's a position I fear Scotland is now in danger of squandering.' 12 She reckons Scotland's rep as an eco world leader is being squandered Credit: Getty Ms Sturgeon said 'north Sea reserves are running out' and 'Within just a few years, production will be a tiny fraction of what it is today'. First Minister John Swinney ditched Sturgeon's 'presumption against new exploration' shortly after taking office last year and backed new fields that meet 'climate compatibility and energy security' criteria. In April, he said: 'There is no hostility in this Government to oil and gas. 'We are committed to a rational transition to net zero that enables us to fulfil our climate objectives. We will have to rely on elements of oil and gas for some time to come.' The Lockerbie Bomber THE release of the Lockerbie bomber could have spelled the end of Nicola Sturgeon's career and the fledgling SNP government, the former first minister revealed. Ms Sturgeon claimed she was not involved in the controversial decision to free Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in 2009 and only learned about it from BBC's Newsnight. 12 Ms Sturgeon claimed she was not involved in the controversial decision to free Abdelbaset al-Megrahi Credit: PA And she said Alex Salmond washed his hands of it too despite being obsessed with Scotland's image on the world stage – and left the decision to then Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill. Ms Sturgeon recalls bereaved constituents who lost loved ones in the attack informing her that they would see the release of Megrahi a 'betrayal of their loved ones' memories' and she says she did not support his release or transfer. She said: 'The opposition could have united to bring us down, but they didn't. I could have resigned, given my deep misgivings, and I did consider it. But I opted instead to accept collective responsibility.' Indy promise SCOTTISH nationalists' insistence that the 2014 referendum would be 'once in a generation' was 'a warning not a promise', Nicola Sturgeon has claimed. The former SNP leader, who was in charge of referendum strategy during the campaign, said repeatedly that an independence referendum was a 'once in a lifetime' event. 12 She claims she wrote much of Scotland's Future, the independence white paper, single-handedly Credit: Alamy Ms Sturgeon said she wrote much of Scotland's Future, the independence white paper, single-handedly with little help from Alex Salmond. "The opening paragraph said the referendum was a 'once in a generation opportunity to follow a different path'. In her book, she admitted these comments 'came back to haunt her' when she pushed for a second referendum just three years later. She said: 'Our opponents claimed it meant that I was going back on my word. In their shoes I might have done the same, but it was a gross misrepresentation. 'Once in a lifetime / generation' was a warning, not a promise. I hadn't said I would never argue for another referendum.' School bullies BULLIES beat up Ms Sturgeon at primary school where she was targeted for being a bookworm, she says. Ms Sturgeon writes that she was 'occasionally bullied' and 'always felt different' and she 'worried that people would think spending hours with my head in a book was a bit weird'. She said there were some girls with 'dominant personalities' in her class who ended up 'battering' her on two occasions after school in Dreghorn, Ayrshire. 12 Ms Sturgeon told how she was beat up in primary school Credit: Getty She wrote: 'They followed me down Dreghorn Main Street, taunting me all the way with what was about to happen and then, just before I was due to turn into my street, one of the girls, who was tall, heavyset, and who weighed much more than me, jumped on my back and pummelled me with kicks and punches. 'The first time it happened, I kept it from my mum and dad, but the second time, one of my other classmates ran to get them. 'My parents then complained to the school and the girl got into trouble. Even though I wanted the bullying to stop, I remember being mortified that my mum and dad had got involved.' Ms Sturgeon said that as a result, she's now 'instinctively drawn to anyone who might be struggling to fit in'. 'Gnasher' jibe A MALE MSP who repeatedly called Nicola Sturgeon 'Gnasher' will remain anonymous as he would 'enjoy the notoriety', the former First Minister said. Ms Sturgeon said she was 'subjected to some nasty bullying' in the early years of the Scottish Parliament by a male MSP of another party who called her the name to others and even to her face. 12 An MSP in Holyrood referred to Ms Sturgeon as "Gnasher" Credit: PA:Press Association She said: 'At first I didn't understand it.' But she said that eventually, she 'discovered that it was a reference to a story being spread around that I had once injured a boyfriend' during an intimate moment. Ms Sturgeon said she 'cried in the toilets in the Parliament' when she heard the story but his behaviour escalated. She wrote: 'I can still visualise the gleeful sneer on his face. He seemed to revel in my discomfort and I became quite scared of him.' Ms Sturgeon said in an interview yesterday that she would not name the MSP as 'he would enjoy the notoriety'. Her 'destiny' THE ex-First Minister claimed she realised as a child it was her'destiny' not to be 'ordinary' in life. She wrote: 'From as far back as I can recall, I didn't just have an ambition to go to university but, rather, a certainty I would do so. 12 She claimed she realised as a child it was her'destiny' not to be 'ordinary' in life. Credit: PA:Press Association 'No one else in the history of my family had ever studied for a degree, so it is hard to know where that came from. In fact, back then I was a walking contradiction. 'Alongside shyness, a crippling lack of confidence and fear of failure, was a burning ambition, a drive to succeed, a craving to be 'seen'. 'I had - at risk of sounding daft a very strong sense of 'destiny'; a feeling that whatever I did would not be 'ordinary', that it would attract attention." The future THE United Kingdom will completely dissolve in less than 20 years and the monarchy will be gone within a century, Nicola Sturgeon claimed. Writing at the end of her autobiography, she said: 'I predict that in 20 years, perhaps sooner, the UK in its current form will no longer exist. What will emerge in its place will be stronger, healthier and more democratic. 12 She reckons the UK will be dissolved in 20 years Credit: Alamy 'An independent Scotland, a more autonomous Wales and reunified Ireland will join England, enjoying the benefits of the home rule it will gain as a result, in a new British Isles confederation of nations.' She added the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 was 'the beginning of the end' of the British Royal Family. And yesterday, she said in an interview: 'I'm not saying it will be ten, it could be 100 years. 'But…over time perhaps the absurdities of monarchy will start to come to the fore much more without the personality of the Queen to keep it going.'
Daily Record
7 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Record
Nicola Sturgeon book: 7 bombshell revelations we learned from reading ex-SNP leader's memoir
Chris McCall, the Record's deputy political editor, reviews the most eagerly anticipated Scottish politics book of the year. Sturgeon says that 'at heart I am a republican' The former first minister writes warmly about the late Queen, who she met many times in the course of her job. But Sturgeon also reminds readers: "At heart and by instinct, I am a republican". She was also less than impressed after learning Prince William held a private meeting at Holyroodhouse with former Labour PM Gordon Brown. Sturgeon writes the nature of the meeting, in the wake of Brown setting up an 'anti-independence think tank' had 'inevitably raised questions'. Queen asked for 'gossip' about Salmond The late Queen asked for "gossip" about the Alex Salmond sex allegations, Nicola Sturgeon claims. She describes the monarch as "an incredible woman" and claims she immediately asked for details about Salmond when the women met at Balmoral Castle a few weeks after misconduct claims against him first emerged. Sturgeon wrote: "She asked me about it almost as soon as I sat down. She wanted to know more of what was going on." Salmond considered dumping currency plan before IndyRef Sturgeon, who served as deputy first minister during two-year campaign leading up to the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, is critical of her political mentor Alex Salmond over several key issues. In the wake of a poor TV debate performance in August 2014, she claims the then SNP leader considered dumping the Yes campaign's currency plan, which was being received badly. She writes: "He wanted to shift to a position of Sterlingization, using the pound but not as part of any formal arrangement. John (Swinney) and I looked at each other in horror and told him in no uncertain terms he could not do this." Salmond announced his intention to resign as First Minister in July 2014 Salmond announced his intention to resign as First Minister the day after the Yes campaign lost the independence referendum in September 2014. But he had already told Sturgeon - who would succeed him in the top job - in July that year of his intentions if independence was rejected. "To be frank, I didn't take him seriously", says Sturgeon in her memoir. Sean Connery gave Sturgeon voice coaching In a surprising twist, Sturgeon reveals that Sean Connery - a committed supporter of the SNP and Scottish independence - gave her voice coaching in 2004, when the pair met at the posh New Club in Edinburgh. The acting legend advised her to deepen her speaking voice. "There I was, under the instruction of 007 himself, pacing up and down the library of the New Club, with a folded piece of paper between my teeth, repeating sentences chosen, it seemed, for their particular combination of syllables, consonants and vowels," she writes. 'My voice slowed and deepened. The trick, in future, he told me, was that whenever I wanted to project authority I had to speak as if I had a piece of paper between my teeth." Salmond 'froze' Sturgeon out as referendum campaign entered final stretch Sturgeon claims that in the final weeks of campaigning before the 2014 IndyRef, there was a 'strange dynamic' between her and the then first minister. She says this may have been down to his 'resentment' at what he saw as her 'hogging the limelight'. And she claims this saw her "frozen out completely' of prep for his first TV debate with Alistair Darling - an event that was a "disaster" for the Yes campaign. UK media was 'palpably imbalanced' in how it covered the IndyRef Sturgeon is less than complimentary about the media during the 2014 referendum campaign. She writes: "There was a palpable imbalance in how the British media, the BBC in particular, covered the referendum. I am not claiming that journalists were biased. The problem was more subtle, structural, systemic."
Scotsman
10-07-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
How left-wingers are dooming Keir Starmer to be one-term Prime Minister
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There they were, four, maybe five of them lined up outside the Ann Summers shop on Edinburgh's Princes Street last weekend, a no-frills protest against 'privilege'. 'Fund our Future' said one placard, 'Fund Communities not Billionaires' another, and most succinct of the lot, 'Pay Up'. It was more Father Ted than Ten Days that Shook the World, but the brothers and sisters were not targeting the Gold family, owners of Ann Summers, or indeed the Gold brothers of tartan souvenir fame, but the New Club and its unassuming main door, on the presumption that everyone entering is a tycoon or approves of tycoonery. Maybe someone like, say, STUC general secretary Roz Foyer who, on account of her burgeoning property portfolio, was described as such in this week's Herald newspaper. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad New Club members, of which I'm one, come from many backgrounds but as a law-abiding bunch I'm pretty sure one thing which binds them is that they pay their taxes. And now the spectre of an increasing burden looms large in the wake of the Labour government's humiliating capitulation on welfare reform, which has punched a £5 billion hole in its budget, and an Office of Budget Responsibility warning that the government is living well beyond its means. Keir Starmer's attempts to ensure the government lives within its means are being undermined by those on the left (Picture: Stefan Rousseau/pool) | POOL/AFP via Getty Images Reform UK on the march Backed this week by ex-leader Neil Kinnock, there is a belief that whacking a two per cent wealth tax on everyone with notional assets of more than £10 million will rake in over £10bn a year, which would not just plug the benefits gap but potentially fund the £3.5bn cost of lifting the two-child cap, as demanded by the Labour welfare rebels, so no wonder left-wingers can't see the downside. But a wealth tax will need an expensive and ponderous new system, both to value assets and administer, and that would give those in the firing line plenty time for evasive action. Many may follow the 25,000 non-doms who left the UK in 2024 before their special tax status was abolished. That £10 billion looks like a fag-packet calculation. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The alternative approach, of taxing all assets including pension funds, might raise the required amount but would hammer the middle classes without the mobility of the very wealthy. As well as ending any hope of spurring economic growth and sounding the death knell of aspiration, it would be political suicide, especially in Red Wall seats where both working-class aspiration and support for welfare reform are strong and Reform is on the march. Taxes heading for post-WWII record The third way, conspicuously not ruled out by the Prime Minister this week, is continuing to freeze income tax and national insurance thresholds until 2030, set to bring an extra £39bn a year by 2028, when the total tax burden as a percentage of GDP will be a post-war record, beating 1948-49 when there was still rationing. Even higher taxes might have been inevitable without the benefits retreat because of the new commitment to raise defence spending, and a few on the right argue higher tax is not necessarily bad if the revenue is used for targeted investment. If there was a plan for investment, driven by a nimble private sector to transform the economy in tandem with meaningful public sector reform, they argue, higher taxation could help generate capital and economic activity. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But there isn't. All Labour can do is tax to patch up a bloated and now unreformable welfare system which disincentivises work and regards any assessment of fitness for employment as an affront to human dignity. Over a fifth of working-age people are economically inactive and whatever new tax raid Labour devises will hit the rest. But as a fifth of those in employment are in the public sector, it means the burden of generating the wealth to pay for it all falls on around 60 per cent of the workforce. Poor returns on state investments Nor is government-directed investment guaranteed to produce promised returns. HS2 anyone? After the SNP ferries embarrassment, this week it was revealed its Just Transition Fund, a ten-year, £500 million scheme to replace oil and gas jobs, has only created 110 new jobs in two years following an outlay of £43 million. Not all its investments have been poor; £325,000 in Moray's Cabrach distillery helped create 12 jobs in a remote community, but that just suggests the other £42.5m has produced fewer than 100 new jobs. Yes, it 'safeguarded' 120 other posts, but it hardly indicates the remaining £450m will be as transformative as boasted. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Digital technology and artificial intelligence are undoubtedly transformative, leading to UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting's jibe this week that First Minister John Swinney was an 'analogue politician in the digital age' because of the SNP's failure to develop an NHS Scotland app, six years after NHS England's service was launched. Stuck in the Steam Age But the UK Government can't keep pace with technological change either, the Competitions and Markets Authority having taken five years to produce a system to compel tech giants to strike fair deals for content use, just as AI, particularly Google's 'AI Overview' system, has completely changed the landscape. But for some, the landscape is unchanged and if John Swinney is stuck in the analogue age, public sector unions are back in the Age of Steam like it's 1978, epitomised by the far from poor 'resident' doctors who have thanked Labour for their 22 per cent, no-strings pay increase by voting to strike for 29 per cent more.
