David Maddox: Who turned the lights on?

There is an international conference on climate change going on in the main chamber at Holyrood today chaired by Louise Batchelor (pictured right), a former BBC environment correspondent who was known at the Corporation as "the Tree Fairy" for her fondness of doing stories on saving trees from chainsaws.

But one speaker has noted that while people from around the world have been blethering on about saving energy to tackle the problems of climate change, he has been "blinded" by the vast array of lights on in the chamber even though "it is a sunny day."

A slightly embarrassed Presiding Officer, Alex Fergusson, who is also chairing the meeting, had to explain that the lights were needed for the live broadcast and podcast of the event.

"Otherwise we would all seem to be sitting in darkness," he added.