A good mate of mine, a fellow newspaperman, and I, have a perpetual ding-dong whenever we meet about who we think is the the greatest-ever Scottish sportsman.

He argues Andy Murray and I argue Chris Hoy. I find it hard to criticise Murray because he has been a phenomenal athlete and would have been decorated much more fulsomely down his career had he not co-existed with Federer, Nadal, Djokovic et al.

But for me tennis is just a bit too repetitive, with balls being battered back and forth until someone caves in. And there's too much grunting as well, but that's my problem and not tennis's problem and it's a story for another day.

I counter to my pal that Chris Hoy is the best Scottish athlete of all time because he has won six cycling gold medals at three Olympic Games, spanning eight years. That's an amazing tally which shows the  dedication, fitness and stamina of a remarkable athlete.

But we now know that he is facing the biggest human challenge of all, with a diagnosis of terminal cancer.

It is difficult to imagine the awfulness of the situation. And harder still to comprehend 
that his wife Sarra was diagnosed with MS at roughly the same time.

With two young children, the 48-year-old faces a gut-wrenching last few months of life. He's been quoted as saying: "We all live and we all die. It's part of a process." 

His stoicism is an inspiration to us all and surely worthy of a hundred gold medals and more.

Were I so inclined, I would take a job crafting the messages of a political party.

I'm not, so don't worry, because I've had my day in the sun and couldn't stomach the stress, and well, people. And the colour of the rosette is irrelevant. They could  all use a bit of work.

I have to admit that the cups were rattling in the saucers here at Schloss Edwards at the pronouncement from Health Secretary Wes Streeting, that the slimming drug Mounjaro was being trialled among the unemployed in Manchester to try to get them back to work.

Was somebody just thinking out loud or did their tummy rumble and mouth open concurrently?

Linking obesity with unemployment is surely a double stigmatisation. And this from Labour, purportedly the party of the people whose aim was once to help those who were struggling, not experiment with them.

One wonders what Nye Bevan, the founder of the NHS and a luminary of the Labour
movement would have thought of it all.

Motoring organisation the AA has come up with quite a radical plan designed to save young people's lives and I would have to say it's a winner with me.

They are calling for new drivers under the age of 21 to be banned from carrying passengers of their own age for six months after they pass their test. The idea is to cut down on showing off, which leads to horrendous accidents, and save 60 lives a year and prevent serious injuries to nearly a thousand people. 

It's not an issue for us here in Helensburgh because country roads are never far away, but I'd add a line to the proposals. If it was down to me I'd change the test, or make it a post-test condition, that new drivers are instructed in how to drive in the country, particularly at night.

If that happens then tragedies on our roads involving new, young drivers would be dramatically reduced.