Dress minister

Delayed flights from a promotional trip to the United States meant Scottish education minister Brian Wilson had a wild dash from the airport to speak at a Scottish Office-Scottish Higher Education Funding Council conference on widening access. Despite the overnight flight from Atlanta, Mr Wilson was looking particularly natty in a striped T-shirt under a smart dark jacket, contrasting with the surprisingly casual appearance of the shirt-sleeved Graeme Dickson, head of the Scottish Office's higher education unit.

"I am always grateful to the civil service," Mr Wilson began. "I am particularly grateful to Graeme Dickson for lending me his jacket."