Hamish Macdonell - Not much peace or goodwill

THE final bout of First Minister's Questions of the year always has a rather rowdy, end-of-term feel to it, and so it proved today.
Alex Salmond was pinned down on the Scottish Futures Trust by Labour's Iain Gray, on the lack of action on fraud by Tory Annabel Goldie and on the credit crunch by Lib Dem Tavish Scott, but he was ready.
Clutching a survey from The Big Issue, the First Minister lambasted Gray and Scott over their Christmas wish lists (each had been asked to say what they wanted for Christmas).
Salmond deflected Gray's attacks by revealing the Labour leader wanted Barrack Obama style sunglasses and that Scott wanted a seat in the House of Lords.
What Salmond did not say was that he had told the Big Issue he wanted a year's supply of Lucozade for his Christmas (what no Irn Bru?).
However, Miss Goldie was the only one to fight back, in her own inimitable way, scolding the First Minister as if he were a wayward schoolboy.
"Stop talking drivel!" she snorted.
The jousts resume in January.
ends