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JACK McConnell will tomorrow follow in the footsteps of Tony Blair by appearing on Blue Peter. But rather than going on the show to give an insight into the world of politics, the First Minister will donate his shoes.

Mr McConnell has been filmed for the programme at his official residence, Bute House, Edinburgh, handing over a pair of brown brogues for the Blue Peter Shoe Biz Appeal.

His staff has collected a total of 200 pairs of shoes for the appeal, which aims to raise money for children in Malawi who have been orphaned by AIDS and HIV.

Just as Mr Blair was filmed welcoming the Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq into 10 Downing Street, Mr McConnell has been filmed showing Konnie around Bute House.

Speaking on the programme, Mr McConnell said: “I am delighted to support the Blue Peter appeal, and I am confident it will reach its target.

“I would urge everyone to donate a pair of unwanted shoes - their small contribution can make a big difference.

“The links between Scotland and Malawi are more than 150 years old, since the time of David Livingstone.”

Yesterday, staff at Bute House admitted that McConnell has been a lifelong Blue Peter fan. They revealed he had actually won a Blue Peter badge while he was at school, but said they did not know what he had done to earn the award.

A spokesman for Mr McConnell said: “The First Minister was delighted to be part of the show when he heard about the appeal.

“Producers of the show got in touch and said they were travelling across the United Kingdom collecting shoes for their appeal, and asked if the First Minister would like to be involved.

“Mr McConnell has close links with Malawi, through the special Scotland fund which was set up for the country last year. He was more than happy to be involved and was also delighted to hand over a pair of his own shoes to the appeal.”

Mr McConnell allowed filming of the show to take place shortly before Christmas.

The Prime Minister appeared on Blue Peter in October last year.

He described his home in Downing Street as being like a “Tardis” and admitted he could only cook a “sort of spaghetti bolognese”.

Related topic

- http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1331
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1331

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 at 4:54 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

JACK McConnell will tomorrow follow in the footsteps of Tony Blair by appearing on Blue Peter. But rather than going on the show to give an insight into the world of politics, the First Minister will donate his shoes.

Mr McConnell has been filmed for the programme at his official residence, Bute House, Edinburgh, handing over a pair of brown brogues for the Blue Peter Shoe Biz Appeal.

His staff has collected a total of 200 pairs of shoes for the appeal, which aims to raise money for children in Malawi who have been orphaned by AIDS and HIV.

Just as Mr Blair was filmed welcoming the Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq into 10 Downing Street, Mr McConnell has been filmed showing Konnie around Bute House.

Speaking on the programme, Mr McConnell said: “I am delighted to support the Blue Peter appeal, and I am confident it will reach its target.

“I would urge everyone to donate a pair of unwanted shoes - their small contribution can make a big difference.

“The links between Scotland and Malawi are more than 150 years old, since the time of David Livingstone.”

Yesterday, staff at Bute House admitted that McConnell has been a lifelong Blue Peter fan. They revealed he had actually won a Blue Peter badge while he was at school, but said they did not know what he had done to earn the award.

A spokesman for Mr McConnell said: “The First Minister was delighted to be part of the show when he heard about the appeal.

“Producers of the show got in touch and said they were travelling across the United Kingdom collecting shoes for their appeal, and asked if the First Minister would like to be involved.

“Mr McConnell has close links with Malawi, through the special Scotland fund which was set up for the country last year. He was more than happy to be involved and was also delighted to hand over a pair of his own shoes to the appeal.”

Mr McConnell allowed filming of the show to take place shortly before Christmas.

The Prime Minister appeared on Blue Peter in October last year.

He described his home in Downing Street as being like a “Tardis” and admitted he could only cook a “sort of spaghetti bolognese”.

Related topic

- http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1331
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1331

This entry was posted on Monday, February 12th, 2007 at 12:33 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.