David Maddox: Where Thatcher feared to tread

After the high drama of yesterday's budget debate we are back to the more mundane issues of the Thursday morning subject debates. These, as we have learnt with the SNP's support for the Green's £1billion free insulation scheme in November and unwillingness to add it to yesterday's budget, have all the meaning and substance of toilet paper being flushed down the lavvy.

But, interestingly, this morning we start with SNP plans to lease out large tracks of land run by the Forestry Commission for 75 years.

The "creative proposal," as Environment Minister Mike Russell put it, came from Rothschilds, the international financiers, historically most famous for lending money to Benjamin Disraeli to fund the Suez Canal.

Labour have pointed out that the same idea was floated by Rothschilds to Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s and she rejected it as "a privatisation too far."

So there we have it the SNP are willing to go where even Margaret Thatcher balked. However, in their defence this far from being a straightforward debate. Mr Russell has made it clear that he watered down the Rothschild proposal and he argues that this is the only way to fund large scale extra forestation needed to meet Scotland's climate change targets.

The trouble with this row is that it is hard to see the wood for the trees.