Hamish Macdonell - they must be desperate

WITH public interest in the European elections hardly able to raise a blip on the national consciousness, Labour in Scotland have resorted to desperate measures.
According to a press release issued by Labour this morning, the European elections have much in common with tonight's Champions' League Final.
They both demonstrate acute and aggressive national rivalries and the desire to kick lumps out of each other and they both provide opportunities for already well-paid individuals to earn even more money they don't deserve.
Well, that wasn't quite what the Labour release said, it actually said that the European elections and the Champions League showed the importance of working in Europe.
But, you know that when politicians try to attach themselves to something really popular, they are getting desperate. It won't be long before one of the parties attaches itself to Susan Boyle ...
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Hamish Macdonell - A political apprentice

FORGET Boris Johnson, a new name has emerged as a runner in the race to become the next London Mayor - Sir Alan Sugar.
Bookies William Hills have cut his price from 10/1 to 8/1 to succeed Brois, pushing out Ken Livingston to 16/1. Hills are also offering 66/1 that Sir Alan is elected and chooses either Nick Hewer or Margaret Mountford as his Deputy, whilst a TV programme to decide the deputy is a 100/1 shot.
"If Sir Alan decides to run for Mayor he will be a near on certainty, the only reason that you can get 8/1 is that we think he will be too busy with his other business interest to commit to the role," said Hill's spokesman Rupert Adams.
Also: 150/1 Any of the Current Crop Of Apprentices to be Sir Alan's Number Two in the London Mayor's Office.
William Hill London Mayoral Elections 2012: 1/1 Boris Johnson, 8/1 Alan Sugar, 16/1 Ken Livingstone, 16/1 Jon Cruddas, 25/1 Trevor Phillips, 25/1 David Lammy, 25/1 Tessa Jowell, 25/1 Richard Branson, 33/1 Bar.
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Hamish Macdonell - Below the belt?

ONE party leader, who really shouldn't be named, was mulling over the following line for FMQs.
"Why is it, Mr Salmond," they planned to ask,"that you are the only person in Scotland who is refusing to tighten his - rather large - belt?"
The question was dropped after consultation with advisers. A good thing too, probably, as Mr Salmond is not one of those who takes ribbing about his weight very well ...
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Hamish Macdonell - some obscure odds

SOME punters might like to bet on the state of the country's finances after tomorrow's budget.
There are, however, some more entertaining and less gloomy wagers to be had.
William Hill has just published its list of Budget odds, and it includes:

ALISTAIR DARLING IS A 6/4 CHANCE WITH WILLIAM HILL TO WEAR A RED TIE to deliver the Budget - and 20/1 to wear a black one.Hills also offer - 5/2 Pink; 3/1 Blue; 20/1 Black; Green; Grey; Yellow; 33/1 Brown; White. (Predominant colour wins).

Hills are also offering 100/1 that the Chancellor announces his resignation during the Budget speech.

HOW MANY TIMES WILL HE STOP FOR A DRINK?

HILLS offer Even money that the Chancellor will pause for a sip of liquid three or more times during his speech; 3/1 that he does so TWICE; 7/2 ONCE; and 5/1 that he will not do so at all.

Also, the length of 2009 Budget speech
Under 46 mins - 7/1
46 to 50 mins - 7/2
51 to 55 mins - 4/1
56 to 60 mins - 5/1
61 to 65 mins - 6/1
66 to 70 mins - 7/1
71 to 75 mins - 8/1
76 to 80 mins - 10/1
Over 80 mins - 12/1
Last year's was 50 mins 25 secs

CHANCELLOR 5/1 TO SAY 'SORRY' IN BUDGET !
WILLIAM HILL have opened a book on the possible contents of the Budget Speech, and are offering odds of 5/1 that the Chancellor will follow his leader Gordon Brown in using the word 'sorry' during the speech. 'Sorry seems to be the hardest word for politicians, but now that Gordon Brown has used it maybe the floodgates will open!' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.
Mr Darling is 1/9 to remain Chancellor during 2009, and 5/1 to leave the job before the end of the year.

MR DARLING IS 1/6 TO DELIVER THE FIRST BUDGET OF 2010, but Hills offer 2/5 that George Osborne will be the NEXT Chancellor; 4/1 Ken Clarke; 10/1 Vince Cable; 20/1 Jack Straw; 25/1 David Miliband.

Hills also offer 6/4 that cigarettes go up by 12p or more; 6/5 that beer goes up by 5p per pint or more. They also offer Even money that the Chancellor will announce a VAT rate of over 17.5%. 'Most punters expect that booze and cigarettes will again be the Chancellor's targets.' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

How much will the chancellor raise the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes by?
Under 11p - 6/4
Exactly 11p - 9/4
Over 11p - 6/4

How much will the chancellor raise the price of a pint of beer by?
Under 4p - 7/4
Exactly 4p - 5/2
Over 4p - 6/5

What rate will the chancellor set VAT at in his budget speech?
Under 17.5% - 5/2
Exactly 17.5% - 2/1
Over 17.5% - Evs

Will the chancellor say the word "sorry" in his speech?
5/1Yes
1/9 No

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Hamish Macdonell - El Presidente?

ALEX Salmond is not renowned as someone who lacks confidence or needs his ego massaged.
But that message had not got through to one recipient of a health and safety award at the STUC conference today.
Receiving his award from Mr Salmond, the star-struck soul could only reply: "Thank you Mr President."
The First Minister emerged from the hall, his chest puffed out even more than usual, murmuring to himself: "I quite like the sound of that."
If that's not a warning, I don't know what is ...
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Hamish Macdonell - new start for spin doctor

NOT much has been heard about Neil McKinnon, the former spin doctor for the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
McKinnon was a fixture at the Scottish Parliament for eight years before walking away from the party last year.
The Steamie has heard rumours that he might re-surface soon, but instead of politics, he is to move to the arts, as a press officer for the Edinburgh Fringe.
Given the recent travails at the Fringe over ticketing, it may be a much harder job than the general 'herding cats' routine which McKinnon had to do when trying to keep Lib Dem MSPs in order.
But unlike politics, the Fringe only lasts for a few weeks a year.
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Hamish Macdonell - passing the buck

MUCH interest along the corridors of (devolved) power about the Scottish Government's decision to do a u-turn on alcohol.
What has got the gossips talking is not the u-turn itself (with ministers deciding to introduce their alcohol plans in a proper bill rather than trying to tag it on to existing legislation), that was expected.
What has caused speculation is the decision to give the whole thing to Nicola Sturgeon, the Health Secretary, rather than to rival Cabinet Secretary Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Secretary.
Up until now, Mr MacAskill has been the government's standard bearer on this issue but now his counterpart at health has been asked to take it through the parliament.
A snub for MacAskill? A boost for Sturgeon? Or is it the other way round because the plans will prove extremely tricky to get through parliament.
MacAskill and Sturgeon are the two big hitters who will be vying for the leadership when Alex Salmond eventually does step down so this is a very interesting scenario.
The real answer, however, could be more prosaic. The SNP holds the convenership of the health committee while Tory Bill Aitken is in charge at Justice. This might have been the extra factor which pushed the Scottish Government to give the issue to health.
It might have had nothing to do with Sturgeon or MacAskill at all ...
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Hamish Macdonell - take the short odds

ONE punter has decided that even the short odds from Ladbrokes on the next election are too good to miss.
But given the performance of the markets, maybe it is not such a bad shout. The unnamed gambler has put £9,500 on there being a General Election next year - at 1/5.
Given that the Prime Minister has to call an election by the middle of next year anyway, all the punter is doing is betting that Gordon Brown is too cautious to call a snap election this year which, given his past form, is probably a good bet.
Ladbrokes also offer the Conservative Party at 1/6 to win most seats, with the Labour Party available at 4/1.
The Tories are 4/7 to secure an overall majority.
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Hamish Macdonell - many questions, double standards

THERE appears to be a clear absence of joined-up thinking from the Nationalists at Holyrood.
Ian McKee has just put down a motion condemning one MSP (Labour's George Foulkes) for putting down so many parliamentary questions.
The Nats believe Lord Foulkes is often mischievous and only asks questions to embarrass the SNP.
Mr McKee reckons that, at a cost of nearly £100 per question, Foulkes has run up a bill of £100,000 so far this session, something he condemns in his motion.
Fair enough, if it wasn't for the fact that the SNP use the device of written questions as a barometer of how well their MPs and MSPs are doing.
The SNP regularly publish graphs showing how many written questions their members have tabled.
Just last month, the SNP press office circulated a table showing the vast number Alex Salmond had asked at Westminster to justify their claims that he was a very hard-working MP.
By the SNP's own calculations, Lord Foulkes is not just a hard-working MSP but probably the hardest working MSP in the parliament.
Surely Mr McKee (and his co-signatories Bill Kidd and Christopher Harvie) should have done some research on the SNP's approach to this issue before condemning it, particularly as the motion ends by saying: we "request all members to consider whether their question is really necessary before incurring yet more public expense".
A great ideal, without a doubt, but have they told Mr Salmond and all their colleagues at Holyrood and Westminster?
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Hamish Macdonell - Interest stateside

GORDON Brown maybe in Washington at the moment, but he is not the only British politician grabbing the headlines.
A piece recently appeared in the Boston Globe, starting like this:
"One of the most interesting politicians in Europe these days is a Scot, and I don't mean Gordon Brown. Alex Salmond is the first minister of a devolved Scottish parliament, a creation of Tony Blair's Labor government designed to take the wind out of Scottish separatist sentiments.
"A few years ago, however, a ranking member of the British royal family, whose members aren't supposed to get involved with politics, committed an indiscretion by telling me that he thought devolved parliaments were a terrible idea because they could break up the United Kingdom. The Welsh would stay with England, and maybe the Northern Irish, he said, but the Scots probably would not. Salmond, the head of the Scottish National Party, is banking on the royal being right."
How fickle the American press is. Mr Salmond got mixed coverage during his recent trip to the States, getting some positive publicity from some quarters and ignored in others.
Now he is back here and getting glowing reports over there. Maybe he should just stay in Scotland.
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Hamish Macdonell - the price of a photcall

WORD has just reached The Steamie of what really went on behind the scenes ahead of the ground-breaking meeting between Alex Salmond and Hillary Clinton in Washington yesterday.
Apparently, officials for the US Secretary of State decided not to release details of the planned meeting ahead of time, just in case Mr Salmond couldn't make it, which would have left Ms Clinton looking desperate.
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Hamish Macdonell - Mike Russell, part II

YOU have to feel just a little bit sorry for Mike Russell.
The new arts minister was pilloried in yesterday's Daily Record for his embarrassing descriptions of parts of Scotland (can't go to Glasgow without stepping over a drug addict, that sort of thing).
Despite his fury at the Record, he then had to go on the BBC yesterday evening to support those very same Record journalists who had given him a kicking in the face of threatened redundancies by the Record management.
Being a minister must be a constant trial ...
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Hamish Macdonell - Salmond's defence of the Union

ALEX Salmond is currently in the United States pushing the case for Scottish independence.
In a speech on Monday he took the time to praise Abraham Lincoln.
This is what he said: "A man whose spirit and example will light America’s path for centuries to come. And a man whose name evokes, in the minds of your friends worldwide, the very highest image of America."
It did not take long, however, for Labour spin doctors to point out that Lincoln was, of course, the one man who did more to keep the Union in America together, even going to war and winning that war to prevent part of the country from separating and becoming independent.
This part of Lincoln's legacy was strangely absent from Mr Salmond's address.
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Hamish Macdonell - The things he said

MIKE Russell, Scotland's new arts minister has had quite an artistic past himself, and that includes his book 'In Waiting: Travels in the Shadow of Edwin Muir'.
Its fair to say that this tome would hardly have been required reading for anybody in politics, let alone the Labour Party, before Mr Russell assumed ministerial office.
Now, though, everyone is reading it or, to be more precise, everyone is going through it to pick out bits which might embarrass the new minister.
So far Labour have found such gems as these:
Russell suggests Glasgow is too dangerous to get out of a car, and that tenement closes were covered with the bodies of unconscious drug addicts
He claims the flag on Edinburgh Castle is "an awful mutant tablecloth"
He bemoans that Dumfries is full of "skinny, ill-dressed women", he brands Aberdeen as "inhospitable" and Stirling as "less desirable".
Such revelations might cause Mr Russell's civil servants a few palpitations but the new minister is made of sterner, and more arrogant, stuff than that.
He is also pugnacious enough to take on any Labour MSP prepared to argue the case on any of these descriptions (he might also be pleased that such interest in his book might add a few copies to the sales figures).
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Hamish Macdonell - Pressure on Smith

IF the old adage hat bookmakers never lose money is true, than maybe Home Secretary Jacqui Smith should start packing up in both her houses.
According to William Hill, Jacqui Smith is now odds-on to cease to be Home Secretary during 2009. Hills now offer 4/6 that she will leave office THIS year - and 11/10 that she is still Home Secretary on January 1, 2010.
And Hills have also made her odds-on to lose her seat in Redditch at the next General Election - making her 11/8 to retain the seat, with the Tories 8/15 to win it.
'Ms Smith's travails refuse to go away and she now risks embarrassing the Government, which has plenty of other controversies to deal with. Gordon Brfown may well feel that he needs to resolve the issue and that he can best do so by dumping her' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.
The Conservatives are now 1/7 favourites to win the next General Election with Labour 4/1 - respectively the shortest and longest odds they have been since Margaret Thatcher was in power.
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Hamish Macdonell - toast on trial

HOT news (literally) from the Scottish Parliament canteen.
Canteen staff have suffered from complaints for years that the one product they do not serve is toast.
The problem, apparently, has been that toasters would set off the fire alarms if they were used.
Now though, there has been a breakthrough and the fire alarms have been upgraded hopefully to an extent that they can differentiate between toast and a real fire.
The first slices will be trialled on Thursday. If anyone passing by the parliament sees everyone waiting outside and the alarms wailing, they will know the trial hasn't worked.
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Hamish Macdonell - who is counting II

ONE final aside on the Commons voting records. David Mundell, the shadow Scottish Secretary, hosted yesterday's press conference to blame Alex Salmond for his tardy participation record at Westminster.
Something to do with stones and glass houses comes to mind given that Mr Mundell hardly boasts the best record in this regard.
Over the last four years, Mr Mundell's record puts him in 28th place out of 59, with 288 contributions (questions, motions and so on). To put this in perspective, the leader, the Lib Dems' Danny Alexander made 2,038 contributions over the same period.
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Hamish Macdonell - voting, who is counting?

WITH little going on at Holyrood while the parliamentarians are on recess, attention has been focused on Alex Salmond's participation record at Westminster.
The Tories published the statement which the First Minister still carries on his Holyrood members' register, claiming he is one of the top ten hardest working Scottish MPs at Westminster.
They then contrasted this with the First Minister's record on voting, motions, questions and amendments since he came back at Holyrood in 2007, revealing that, ove the last two years, he has one of the worst records of any Scottish MP.
But the SNP spin machine is nothing if not efficient and Nationalist officials quickly dug up their own record showing that, if the data is taken back to 2005, then Salmond still has an excellent record at Westminster, much better than the Tories claimed.
It was all spin, spin and counter spin, that is until Labour got involved and stated (very off the record) that over the last two years Salmond actually had a worse voting record than their former MP, the late John MacDougall, who died last summer, prompting a by-election.
That was pretty unsavoury territory for Labour, particularly when it was pointed out to them that one of reasons John MacDougall had a decent voting record was that he very graciously acceded to the appeals of his whips on several occasions and made it through the division lobbies of the Commons when he really wasn't very well at all.
I think that's probably enough on voting records for all the parties now, or I hope so.
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Hamish Macdonell - election odds

THE smart money appears to be rallying behind the Conservatives, if the latest odds are to be believed.
Having taken account of the latest polls, which give David Cameron a substantial lead over Labour, bookmakers have cut their odds to win the next General Election to the lowest they have been since Margaret Thatcher was in power.
The Tories are now 1/7 favourites to be the largest single Party after the next General Election. 'At 1/6 they were already red-hot favourites but if the new poll is to be believed they are virtual certainties' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.'We have not seen a significant bet for Labour to win the next Election all year.'
Meanwhile, Hills have lengthened Labour's odds from 7/2 to 4/1 - the longest they have been since Neil Kinnock was Leader, with the Lib Dems at 100/1.
Hills now make the Tories 2/5 favourites to have an overall majority at the next Election, with a Hung Parliament quoted at 5/2 and Labour 7/1 to do likewise.
Hills now believe that it is a virtual certainty that Gordon Brown won't risk a General Election until the last moment, so have cut the odds for the next poll to take place in 2010 from 1/3 to 2/9. They also offer 9/2 that it will be held between July and December this year and 8/1 in or before June 2009.
Gordon Brown is now odds-on to be the first of the three current Party Leaders to stand down - Hills make him a 4/7 chance to be the first to go, with Nick Clegg at 5/2 and David Cameron 9/2. Brown is 8/11 to cease to be PM during 2010; 5/2 during 2009.
Hills make him 4/11 to lead his Party into the next General Election, 2/1 not to.
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Hamish Macdonell - Not playing ball (II)

IT is all getting a bit murky in this spat between the Greens and the SNP.
Now the Nats have hit back by drawing attention to the actual agreement between the two parties which states that the Greens will support "ministerial appointments", not just the first ministerial appointments.
According to the SNP, the Greens have now broken the agreement by abstaining on today's vote on the new ministers.
The Greens insist, however, that the agreement also committed the Scottish Government to favourable treatment of green issues which, they claim, ministers have not done.
Not worth the paper it was written on? Certainly, but it helped Alex Salmond get his government approved back in 2007 and that was all that mattered then, and probably now.
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Hamish Macdonell - not playing ball.

THE Greens really have taken a huff over last week's budget.
They have just decided not to endorse the appointment of the three new SNP ministers. Such votes are usually passed without comment or controversy, but not this time. It really does seem as though the threats of Green non-co-operation over the budget vote (which saw the Greens as the only party to vote against the Budget) with the Scottish Government have come to fruition.
Their decision is all the more surprising, however, given that the Greens actually have an agreement with the Scottish Government to support certain votes, including the appointment of ministers.
The Greens and the SNP signed up to a deal which guaranteed Patrick Harvie a committee convenership in return for Green support for the appointment of SNP ministers.
Now that deal has broken down but, as the Greens were keen to point out yesterday, their agreement only covered the appointment of the original ministers in 2007, not any subsequent votes.
Alex Salmond is probably wishing he never bothered negotiating with them at all on the budget, so difficult have they become.
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Hamish Macdonell - LIT dead? Yes it is, at least for now.

JOHN Swinney has just confirmed he will ditch the LIT until after the next election.
He said: "We cannot put together a stable majority to enable us successully to steer detailed local income tax legislation through this parliament."
And he added: "The Cabinet has therefore decided not to introduce legislation to abolish the unfair council tax and replace it with a local income tx until after the election in 2011."
Mr Swinney did stress, however, that the SNP would fight the next election on a platform of scrapping the council tax and replacing it with the LIT.
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Hamish Macdonell - Local Income Tax dead?

RUMOURS are flying around the Scottish Parliament this afternoon that John Swinney, the Finance Secretary, is about to kick his much criticised local income tax scheme into the long grass.
The plan, to scrap the council tax and replace it with a local income tax set at 3p in the pound, has run into a hail of criticism from business leaders, some unions, student leaders and opposition politicians.
The SNP insisted it would drive on with the scheme, hopefully in partnership with the Liberal Democrats who also want to see a LIT introduced, except they want councils to be able to set their own rates.
There is strong speculation that Mr Swinney told the SNP group today that he had decided to put off the LIT until after the next election.
He apparently is ready to insist he will continue on with his plans, just not in this parliament.
If that is what transpires then it will mean the biggest u-turn in this administration's two-year history and one of the most surprising in the history of the Scottish Parliament.
Watch this space...
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Hamish Macdonell - Ministerial reshuffle (2)

THE full results of the ministerial reshuffle are as follows:
Mike Russell is promoted from the environment to minister for culture external affairs and the constitution, with special responsibility for the planned referendum on independence next year. He replaces Linda Fabiani who is sacked.
Minister for schools and skills, Keith Brown is promoted from the backbenches (possibly as a reward for his leadership of the standards committee which punished Wendy Alexander and led to her resignation).
He replaces Maureen Watt, who is sacked.
Minister for housing and communities is now Alex Neil, (formerly the self-styled minister for Newsnight and someone who said hell would freeze over before Salmond gave him a ministerial job). He replaces Stewart Maxwell, who is sacked.
Minister for the environment is now Roseanna Cunningham, who replaces Mike Russell.
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Hamish Macdonell - Ministerial reshuffle

THE Steamie understands that Alex Salmond is about to reshuffle his ministerial team.
The ministers have been told and the new shape of team Salmond will be unveiled at 11.30am today.
The Steamie understands that while Fiona Hyslop, the Education Secretary, was seen to be in danger of being axed completely from the ministerial team, she is likely to survive.
Stewart Maxwell, the housing minister, however, is rumoured to be a likely casualty, with his workload expected to be given to Shona Robison, the public health minister.
Roseanna Cunningham, who has been languishing on the backbenches, may be in line for a move to a ministerial job, possibly at environment, with another move sideways expected for Mike Russell, the current minister for squirrels, forests and meadows.
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Hamish Macdonell - Brown-ed off

SOMEONE please tell Conservative MSP Gavin Brown about mixed metaphors and how anybody with aspirations to be any kind of public speaker should avoid them.
He has actually just said this: "Labour and the Liberal Democrats are attempting to run the four-minute mile on the road to Damascus."
Worst line of the day? Worst line of the year so far.
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Hamish Macdonell - When its all going your way ...

ON the day when he is poised to record a substantial budget success, nothing, it seems can stop the First Minister.
He took part in a golf photo-call this morning with Sam Torrance. The former Ryder Cup captain had three putts on the icy surface and missed all three.
The First Minister, on the other hand, sank his third, to his obvious delight.
Does he need his ego massaged any more?
So to the budget and a little reminder to Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill that there is a pecking order - Mr Salmond on the top and everybody else somewhere far behind.
Mr MacAskill strode down to the front of the chamber before the start of the debate and sat in the vacant seat next to John Swinney.
At that point Nicola Sturgeon leant over and told him he was sitting in the seat which the First Minister.
MacAskill didn't need a second invitation. He picked up his files and retreated to the backbenches, leaving the seat free for Mr Salmond to occupy.
But if anyone thought today's budget debate was going to be all dull and boring, at least Tory Derek Brownlee decided to spice it up.
In the soundbite of the week, he declared: "At Westminster, the defeat of a Budget would bring down the government. At Holyrood, it seems, it brings down the opposition."
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Hamish Macdonell - Knowledge of economics?

DAVID Parker, the leader of Borders Council, is showing a worrying lack of financial knowledge.
This is what he said, partly to justify the probable loss of 75 jobs in the council because of the straitened economic times.
"If I’d stood up last year when we announced the budget and said that within 12 months our country would be bankrupt, the Royal Bank of Scotland would be privatised ... you would have thought I’d been drinking the funny stuff."
The Royal Bank of Scotland privatised? From where I sit that's progress. Keep drinking the funny stuff David.
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Hamish Macdonell - Tories put a kilt on it, again

HOW to turn even the remotest story to your local advantage, part II.
After their embarrassment in trying to turn the election of Barrack Obama into a story about the kilt and the Royal Mile, the Tories have now decided to use the snow falls across southern and central Britain to make another point, this time about Prestwick Airport.
In doing so, they managed to publish one of the most convoluted statements of the year, here it is, from Ayr MSP John Scott, on Prestwick Airport's busy time in coping with flights diverted from elsewhere.
He said: "It's an ill wind that blows no good, so the heavy snowfall and the unexpected guests it has brought to southern Ayrshire as a result of their enforced diversion has certainly brought a welcome boost to local hoteliers at what would otherwise be a quiet time of the year."
Whether those travellers aiming for Manchester, Liverpool or London who end up in Prestwick instead feel quite the same way is another matter.
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Hamish Macdonell - How the mighty are fallen

GORDON Jackson QC, one of Scotland's best-paid, most well-known and feared advocates returned to the Scottish Parliament today as a visitor.
Mr Jackson was, of course, a Labour MSP for eight years, before being beaten in Glasgow Govan by Nicola Sturgeon in 2007.
He used to stride around the parliament like it was his personal chambers - not any more.
Jackson took his visitors' pass and sat in the press gallery, before being reprimanded, severely, by a security guard and warned he was not allowed to be there as he was not a member of the press.
After pleading for mercy, Jackson was allowed to remain, but only if he made sure the pass with a big 'v' on it was visible to all, including all his former fellow colleagues down below.
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Hamish Macdonell - budget row part II

ACCUSING Labour of "hysteria", the Tories have hit back about their controversial leaflet.
Derek Brownlee, the Tory finance spokesman, issued a rebuttal, stating: "Far from withdrawing this leaflet, we will be printing more. Every Scot needs to know what Labour's package of tax rises and NHS cuts means for them. Labour's vote last night puts them on the edge of the abyss. Scottish Conservatives will be happy to give them a shove.”
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Hamish Macdonell - budget row spills outside Holyrood

ANYONE who thinks the budget row is confined to Holyrood should think again. The Tories apparently took the opportunity to hand out leaflets waring that the sky would fall in because of the budget defeat.
According to Labour, the leaflet was handed out at railway stations and on the streets, warning of council tax rises and and the slashing of public sector budgets - all because Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens united to defeat the budget.
Labour immediately took issue, accusing the Tories of spreading lies and demanding the party withdraw the leaflet.
"This is despicable and baseless scaremongering with not one iota of truth. The Tories lost the vote yesterday and have egg on their face," said Michael McMahon, a Labour MSP.
Tensions are still running high, it seems.
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Hamish Macdonell - One more vote lost

JOHN Swinney had better make time in his crowded schedule over the next 24 hours to meet Margo MacDonald.
The independent MSP for the Lothians was on side and was preparing to vote for the budget, giving the SNP a little bit of breathing space on the vote.
But that was before she found out that Edinburgh and Glasgow are getting not a penny more for affordable housing on their budgets from last year.
The Steamie understand she is now going to vote against the budget unless that money is increased.
Apparently Margo spent some of today looking for the Finance Secretary, without success. It might be worth him keeping a look out for her over the next day or so, otherwise he might find the budget vote is an awful lot tighter than he anticipated.
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Hamish Macdonell - budget goes down to the wire

THE brinkmanship which has characterised the SNP's budget process for the last two years has got even more tense than usual.
The Steamie understands that John Swinney, the Finance Secretary, rang Andy Kerr, Labour's finance spokesman, twice over the weekend to discuss Labour's budget demands.
Mr Swinney is also due to meet Labour leader Iain Gray tonight to see if the two sides can compromise on the budget.
Labour wants major new investment in skills and apprenticeships in return for its support and the party has made clear to ministers that they will have to be given what they want or they will vote against the budget - they are very unlikely to abstain this year as they did last, to universal derision.
With the Greens also playing hard-ball and refusing to soften their demands for a major investment in house insulation, Mr Swinney needs something to give if he is to get his budget through.
He has apparently promised the Greens £10 million for home insulation when the Greens want £100 million. He will never go as high as £100 million but the Greens want him to raise the £10 million to a more respectable figure before they will consider supporting the budget.
Like Labour, the Greens do not intend to abstain, they say they will vote for or against, but they will not sit on the fence.
It is likely to go down to the last few minutes of Mr Swinney's wind-up speech on Friday. He will try to promise extra in that speech to get one of these two parties in board. If he fails to do enough, the budget may fall.
Then we will be in for recriminations.
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Hamish Macdonell - More Tory splits over Europe

THE Tories and Europe just don't go together, however hard they try.
Consider this publication from Belinda Don, who is second in the Conservatives' list of candidates for this year's European election - and someone with a decent chance of getting elected.
"With over 70 per cent of legislation going through Westminster and Holyrood originating in Brussel's (sic), the influence of the European Parliament cannot be over-stated," she said.
No, Belinda, but neither can the importance of spelling, particularly in election publicity.
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Hamish Macdonell - Government of one?

NEVER let it be said that Alex Salmond would ever pass up on opportunity to take the credit for anything.
The Scottish Government has just approved one of the world's largest wave stations for the Western Isles.
Was the announcement made by the energy minister, Jim Mather? No. Or maybe Richard Lochhead, the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment? No. Well, surely then it would have fallen to John Swinney, the Cabinet Secretary for Sustainable Development? No, again.
The First Minister decided this was only an announcement that could be made by him so he squeezed it in before the start of First Minister's Questions.
His spokesman explained it afterwards by saying that it was an announcement of such importance that it had to be shared with the chamber today.
Given that Richard Lochhead was answering questions on the environment in the chamber just an hour or so after FMQs, any normal person would have assumed that that was the best time to announce such a prestigious environmental decision, not rushing it in ahead of the weekly joust with party leaders.
But what this little vignette does show is that, if you are a minister in Mr Salmond's government, its best not to expect the chance to make any really good announcements, you will only end up disappointed.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Making the books balance

THE deadline passed today for any amendments to the Scottish Government's budget - without any being tabled.
But this is not quite as clear as it sounds. The budget can still be changed right up until the moment that John Swinney sits down at 5pm next Wednesday at the end of the budget debate.
Swinney can introduce late changes himself and amendments can be put down on the budget motion itself, although these have to be general, not specific spending plans.
So Swinney will hold talks with Labour, the Tories and the Greens tomorrow. Labour wants more emphasis on skills, the Tories want town-centre regeneration and the Greens want money for home insulation.
Swinney will do his best to reassure all three without giving too much away. If he agrees to their demands tomorrow, they will come back with more and more demands every day between now and next Wednesday.
This means the brinkmanship will go on until 5pm next Wednesday but ministes believe they will get their budget.
The bottom line is that, in the current economic climate is anybody really prepared to play politics and block a budget which will do things like accelerate capital funding for infrastructure?
SNP ministers are gambling that the opposition will not take that chance but, as usual, no-one will really know for sure until next week.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Tavish TV

SOMEONE should tell politicians that its no good going after the 'youf' vote by adopting what they think are young and trendy communication methods.
Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott is the latest to fall for it, launching 'Tavish TV' on YouTube to get his message across.
It might have worked, had Tavish not decided to sit in his MSP's think pod, with a bright sky behind him spouting a complicated polemic about the intricate details of the Inter Faith Council and whether or not its funding had been resolved.
Lord Foulkes (see blogs passim) started this dubious craze, it didn't really work for him and it is even worse for Tavish.
You Tube? Absolutely.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Too much tartan

THE Tories really don't seem to know when to stop.
Faced with derision this morning when they announced plans to ride in shamelessly on the Obama bandwagon by trying to create an Obama tartan, Tory MSP Gavin Brown has now gone even further.
He has just issued a press release stating: "I am writing to President Obama and I hope he looks favourably on the idea."
It is easy the picture the scene as President Obama enters the Oval Office, West Wing-style, and asks his Chief of Staff: "What's next?"
He is told he has calls waiting from the Presidents of Russia, France and China and, oh a letter from Tory MSP Gavin Brown, which would he like to attend to first?
ends

Hamish Macdonell - You can bank on it

THERE is always somebody who says 'I told you so', whatever the situation and today's latest bail-out of the banks has allowed the left-wingers of Solidarity to ride in, claiming they always wanted to see the banks nationalised.
Tommy Sheridan's supporters (in his self-enforced absence) don't quite go as far as praising Gordon Brown for following their policies of nationalising the banks but they come close to it.
They use today's latest gloomy economic news to call what they really want "genuine people's banks", which would lead to the nationalisation of almost everything else, including, crucially, the means of production.
I guess that's the true sign of a revolutionary, take change in your direction any way you can get it.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Putting a kilt on it

THE award for the worst, truly the worst attempt to hitch a ride on the Barrack Obama bandwagon came from the Scottish Tories today.
If asked, President-elect Obama would undoubtedly say: "The Scottish who?"
But nevertheless, two MSPs Murdo Fraser and Gavin Brown, have decided to offer the new leader of the free world his own Obama tartan.
They are even holding a photo-shoot to publicise their event, going to a kiltmaker to discuss the possibility of creating an Obama tartan.
Shameless? That doesn't even come close to the gall of the third largest party in a small, devolved legislature in a distant part of Europe "inviting" the President-elect to Edinburgh to receive his own tartan.
Their justification for this extraordinary attempt to 'put a kilt on' a global story, it is "in recognition of his reported Scottish ancestry, traced back to William the Lion (1165-1214)."
Please, no more.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - What's in a name?

ROSS Finnie had better hope he does not come up before Lord Penrose in court any time soon.
The Lib Dem health spokesman put out a release today welcoming the Judge's appointment to head the Hep C inquiry.
Unfortunately, Mr Finnie welcomed the appointment of Lord Primrose to the inquiry, not Lord Penrose.
It was corrected by the Lib Dem press office soon afterwards but that's the trouble with emails, once its out there its impossible to get back.
A bit like blogs, I suppose.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Labour's car-park gaffe

IN the ongoing war of brinkmanship over hospital car-parking charges (SNP says it will abolish charges in non-PFI hospitals, opposition says it will do more), Labour has taken the ultimate step.
"Labour will abolish hospital car parking," declared the Scottish Labour website today.
And while this decision to axe all car parking completely might appeal to the Green vote, it will probably not go down too well with nurses, doctors and patients who have to take their cars to hospitals because Labour re-located them all to the outskirts of our towns and cities and converted their previous city-centre sites into offices.
I am sure there should have been a "charges" at the end of that headline, but it must have got lost in the system - much like Labour's sense of humour, no doubt.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Tsars, tsars the more

ROLL up, roll up anyone for a tsar?
The Scottish Parliament will be advertising three solid public sector roles tomorrow with weighty salaries attached.
Three of Scotland's army of tsars are to be replaced, Alice Brown as Scottish Public Services Ombudsman - or complaints tsar - Kathleen Marshall as Commissioner for Children and Young People - or children's tsar - and Jim Dyer in his role as Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner - or Holyrood tsar.
Given that the private sector is looking more and more precarious, competition for these state-paid roles is expected to be fierce, particularly as the Salaries range from £83,000 for the complaints tsar to £38,000 for the Holyrood tsar - but that is only for a part-time role.
It also emerged yesterday that take-up of a new public holiday among members of the Scottish Government was very high, at 93 per cent.
Most civil servants and officials took their St Andrews Day holiday a holiday, let's not forget, that only they get.
Not that we're bitter in the private sector, oh no.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - New spin doctors

TALK of the Steamie at Holyrood today is that the Tories have a new Scottish spin doctor.
STV's Mike Crow has gone over to the "dark side" as its known in media circles, by joining the world of PR and spin.
He is to become the Scottish Conservatives Director of Strategy and Communications: quite a job title, quite a job and quite some move for one of the country's longest-serving political correspondents.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - New Year, old battles

MSPs gather back at Holyrood this week for the start of the new term.
This week's parliamentary business appears fairly routine but, hanging over everything is the row between the Scottish Government and the Treasury over the funding of the Forth Road Bridge.
John Swinney, the Finance Minister, is seeking urgent talks with Yvette Cooper, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, in an attempt to persuade her to give him some flexibility in how to pay for the bridge.
The initial signs for Mr Swinney are not good. Ms Cooper has already flatly rejected his plans to spread the payments over 20 years and she is unlikely to move any further, particularly as the two have already clashed publicly over the SNP's local income tax plans.
Mr Swinney may have to find room for compromise somewhere if he wants help from the Treasury, that's how business is done.
Otherwise he had better be prepared to fund the new bridge out of the Scottish Government's rather limited coffers.
There is though, a possible solution for Mr Swinney. The Calman Commission (a unionist plot, according to the Nats) is looking at the issue of government borrowing and may well recommend that the Scottish Government be given borrowing powers.
That would get Mr Swinney out of this Forth Bridge-sized hole but, to do so, he would have to back the Calman Commission and its findings - something no SNP minister has felt able to do so far.
But then again, tough choices, compromises and difficult decisions are what ministerial life is all about ...
ends

Hamish Macdonell - New Year messages

NOT to be outdone by HM the Queen and her Christmas message, Alex Salmond has got a New Year message.
And, as the Queen gets to televise hers, so the First Minister has streamed a video of his - although, at the moment, he is expected to lag behind somewhat in audience numbers.
His theme? Rabbie Burns and Homecoming 2009 will help us get through the tough times ahead.
Whether he will move it to Christmas when he becomes president, nobody seems to know ...
ends

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

Hamish Macdonell - Labour's boy band

LABOUR MSPs took over the whole of their ground floor last night (TUES) for their annual revue.
The highlight of which was a 'boy band' featuring the young, and not so young MSPs Michael MacMahon, Ken McIntosh, John Park and Frank McAveety.
One of those present said afterwards: "That Ken McIntosh, he really can sing."
What was left unsaid about the other members of the band said it all really.
For Frank McAveety, though, the revue has provided a much needed focus for his working life. He spent so long preparing for his role as compere that one of his colleagues said: "I have never seen Frank work so hard at anything, even when he was a minister."
ends

Hamish Macdonell - spinners' spat

THERE is an end of term feel to the parliament, which is perhaps why spin doctors are being a little mischievous.
Faced with a raft of depressing health statistics today, the SNP seized on childhood obesity figures to claim that all the overweight children in P1 to P5 got fat under the Labour Liberal Executive.
They suggested Ross Finnie, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, had been effectively leading the children to the chip van himself.
In response, it was pointed out that more people had gone on to anti-depressants since the SNP came to power.
Roll on Christmas ...

Hamish Macdonell - Christmas party mixup

LIB DEM MSP Alison McInnes should be a little more careful with her corporate friends.
She agreed to sponsor the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation's Christmas reception in the garden lobby of the Scottish Parliament tonight.
But it is now obvious Ms McInnes had not paid cloee enough attention to that august body's views on the flagship Lib Dem policy of local income tax.
"Local authorities face a gaping hole in their funding under proposals to introduce a local income tax in Scotland, " the IRRV said in response to the Scottish Government's consultation.
The Steamie wonders whether Ms McInnes will have the courage to bring this delicate matter up tonight when she sups wine and mingles with her friends from the IRRV.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Sunday stories

DOOM and gloom for the most part in the Sunday papers, with predictions of two million on the dole by Christmas and depression in the Scottish financial services maket following the HBOS takeover vote.
No wonder then, that Gordon Brown is away in Pakistan and Alex Salmond is in Catalonia.
One story to brighten up this cold and wet winter though, Tommy Sheridan is reported to have been lined up to star in the next Celebrity Big Brother House.
While his profile has dipped somewhat in the last year or so and he needs a fillip, does he really want to go down this route?
After all, look what happened to his comrade George Galloway.
Miaow ...
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Party season

INVITATIONS are being circulated around the media for the First Minister's annual Christmas drinks do in Bute House next week.
These have changed somewhat over the years. Henry McLeish and his wife Julie wanted to be as friendly as possible so invited political correspondents and their partners, for the one year they hosted the event.
Jack McConnell treated this part of the McLeish legacy much like the rest and ditched it, inviting only political correspondents.
He did though, dress down and drop his tie on several occasions, hoping others would follow his lead, which they didn't.
Alex Salmond has not invited partners, nor has he dropped his tie but he has introduced his own innovation - he serves curry.
He obviously thinhs the Holyrood press pack is easily bought. He might just be right.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - new bridge, old money.

SO now we know. The Scottish Government has just announced that there will be a new Forth Bridge, but it will be a much smaller version than planned, it will cost less to build and the existing bridge will be pressed into action as a public transport bridge.
The crucial part of this is the funding. The Scottish Government believes that, because it has scaled back on the size of the new bridge, it can now pay for it through the Scottish block.
The new bridge was going to cost £4 billion. Now it will cost £2 billion.
It does seem that the SNP government has pulled a rabbit out of a hat - if it can do what it says it can.
But crucial questions remain. First, where is the Scottish Futures Trust? If the SFT, the SNP's flagship funding mechansim cannot be used for this project, then will it ever be used? Is it now dead?
Second, if the existing bridge is not up to the task of carrying public transport (buses) then the new, cheap, bridge will not be up to the task of carrying all the traffic crossing the Forth. This is a gamble, a huge gamble.
One more thing, though, Stewart Stevenson, the transport minister, said he was thinking about putting trams on the old bridge to take people to Fife. For a government which has been absolutely hostile to trams, this is something of a conversion, on the road to Lochgelly maybe?
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Union rules

HOW times have changed for Britain's unions.
Dave Watson, Unison's Scottish organiser, is currently giving evidence to Holyrood's Finance Committee on public sector pay.
During an intricate and not entirely riveting session he did, though, let slip a little insight into the modern way deals are negotiated.
"There were no beer and sandwiches, but we did get a nice choccy biscuit at St Andrew's House (Scottish Government headquarters)," he said.
"Although," he added, "That wasn't so bad. I have been at negotiations where we didn't even get a cup of coffee."
Times really are tough, it seems.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - money, money, money

EVERYBODY in the parliament is aware of the main business of the week, taking place tomorrow, the publication of the Scottish Government's transport package for the next ten years or so.
The key issue is the replacement Forth crossing, how much it will cost and, crucially, where the government is going to get the money from. Is it to be financed out of the block grant (hugely expensive and unlikely), the PFI (massively unpopular with the SNP) or by the Scottish Future Trust (untried and untested and subject of intense criticism)?
But there is another event tomorrow which will be more for political anoraks but is nonetheless important - the Finance Committee's report into the Scottish Government budget plans for next year.
This will not make amendments or anything else but it will set the agenda for the budget discussions and, importantly, it will start the intense budget process which will see bartering and brinkmanship from now until February as the SNP tries to concede as little as possible and the other parties try to get the government to accept as much as possible.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Second time lucky

MARGARET Curran has just announced she is to stand for Westminster at the next election, for Glasgow East, the seat she lost in this year's high-profile by-election.
Ms Curran stands a very good chance of unseating the SNP candidate John Mason in the election and gaining some, limited, revenge for the disastrous by-election defeat for Labour which precipatated the most serious problem for Gordon Brown of his premiership.
"I am a fighter. I said during the by-election that if you want a job done properly, ask a busy woman to do it. There is a job to be done in the East End of Glasgow and that’s why I am putting my name forward again," she said.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Hovercrafts

ITS nice to know that Scottish Government officials seem immune from a sense of irony.
An announcement was made today of the launch of a special, emergency Red Cross hovercraft in Moray, commissioned to help in crisis times of flooding.
"The event will take place weather permitting," said the official, without even a hint of a smile.
ends

Hamish Macdonell - Fun with Sir Sean

NEVER let it be said that the Tories pass up an opportunity to have a dig at Scotland's most famous absentee Scotsman and Nationalist, Sir Sean (Bahamas) Connery.
Former Tory leader David McLetchie took the opportunity in a debate this morning to praise the James Bond actor for taking part in the Homecoming advert for VisitScotland.
The he added: "I am sure we would all look forward to the permanent homecoming of Sir Sean Connery and no one more so than John Swinney, in that the resumption of tax residence in Scotland by Sir Sean would go a long way to plugging the gaping financial hole in his local income tax plans. Could Sir Sean once again ride to the rescue of the Scottish National Party in its hour of financial crisis? On this occasion I don’t think so, but you never know."
Ouch.

Hamish Macdonell - post-budget slumbers

THERE have been better debates in the Scottish Parliament than this afternoon's on the pre-budget report - more than a week after the fact.
John Swinney churned out numbers for the SNP, Andy Kerr bolted through his speech as if he was in a race to get it finished and although Derek Brownlee for the Tories was as rousing and caustic as he could be, he suffered the worst indignity of all.
Just when he was at his loudest and most passionate, one of his fellow MSPs fell soundly asleep.
It would be un-gallant to mention the member's name because it could be said that he showed remarkably good taste, falling asleep just when Mr Brownlee had reached his umteenth almost identical attack on Gordon Brown.

Hamish Macdonell - Sport and politics?

ONE interesting little tibit from the sports pages today which will spill over into politics.
It ahs emerged that the Scottish Football Association is in tentative negotiations with its Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts over a joint bid for the 2016 European football championships.
This should be a gift for the nationalists but many will remember Scotland's ill-fated joint bid with Ireland for the 2008 tournament.
This leaves them with a dilemma, their hearts will say 'go for it' and they will want to throw everything behind it, their heads will say, 'wait a bit' and see how far it goes before committing government support.
Should be interesting to see how this develops. Watch this space ...

Hamish Macdonell - GB goes into cyberspace

ALWAYS one to follow The Scotsman's lead, Gordon Brown is about to go into cyberspace too.
Just a day after The Scotsman launched The Steamie, it has emerged that the Prime Minister is to stream a special Scottish video feed on the web.
So, just in case the Queen's Speech wasn't enough, or the debate afterwards, which usually lasts several days, or the party political broadcast by the Prime Minister tomorrow night, or the responding PPBs in the days to follow, just in case there is anybody out there who still wants more, the ebullient Mr Brown will put a video of his thoughts on the Scottish Labour website too.
Can't wait? Thought not.

Hamish Macdonell - Calman (part 2)

MUCH wailing and teeth gnashing in the media at the lack of solid recommendations in the interim Calman report today.
There were never going to be any real conclusions but Calman still managed to dodge almost everything.
One SNP researcher dismissed the commission as "deciding what colour of beige to re-paint the Scottish Parliament".
Only to face the retort from another: "It hasn't got that far, it has only got as far as considering which range of beige colours to consider re-painting the Scottish parliament."
Sir Kenneth Calman did fire an aside at the lack of co-operation from the Scottish Government. John Swinney, the Finance Secretary, wants borrowing powers. This is being looked at by Calman but Swinney has refused to give evidence.
The First Minister's spokesman dodged around this issue and confirmed that the government will not help the commission by giving evidence.
Isn't it amazing how Alex Salmond can lambast Labour for failing to come up with evidence to the consultation on Local Income Tax (FMQs last week) but then the Scottish Government does esactly the same and fails to give evidence to a commission it doesn't like?

Hamish Macdonell - Calman (part 1)

TOMORROW sees the launch of the first report of the Calman Commission.
There had been hopes that Sir Kenneth would set out some definite views in this first, interim, report, after all he has been taking evidence for months on the future of devolution.
But all that is expected is a series of general themes, setting out the areas the commission will look at in more detail.
It will certainly not give ammunition to the fiscal autonomites by recommending full-scale devolution of fiscal powers to Scotland but it should give those who look closely an indication of where the commission will end up, next summer.
One of those who gave evidence was Andrew Hughes Hallett, an economist. He complained bitterly in Scotland on Sunday that the commission had ignored his views and taken a solidly pro-Labour line.
But I understand that the commission was not as enthusiastic about Mr Hughes Hallett's evidence as he was. There was some chat over lunch among the commission members and they agreed that none had been impressed with Mr Hughes Hallett's evidence on the virtues of 'the more the better' in terms of fiscal powers and small countries.
Watch out for allusions to this in the report tomorrow ...

Hamish Macdonell - no rest for the faithful.

IT may be St Andrew's Day and the Scottish Government may be on holiday tomorrow (even though nobody else in Scotland seems to be getting the new holiday) but some of those in the political process never rest.
Labour's spinners fired off a whole series of releases today, claiming of a "crisis" in education because of a lack of teachers, warning about the Scottish Government's desire to lease some of Scotland's forest estate, and claiming there was a housebuilding crisis.
The Nationalists hit back, dismissing all the Labour charges and attacking with accusations of their own.
A lot of effort expended, many emails sent out and for what? There may be some coverage tomorrow in some of the newspapers but I guess if they didn't, and some story did take off without their comments, they would not have done their job.
There will no doubt be more of the same tomorrow, much more.
One item which will dominate the news agenda though, home reports. They are introduced tomorrow, a government holiday and a quiet news day. Expect a lot of coverage, very little of it favourable to the SNP government.

Hamish Macdonell: Sunday - spin and speculation.

WELCOME to The Steamie.
Its St Andrew's Day, its a Sunday so that means politics and patriotism fuse in the Sunday papers.
Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, is having a go at the Nats over the oil price and Alex Salmond is having a go back over the proposed £500 million cut to the Scottish budget in 2010-11.
Oh, and Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie is claiming Salmond and the SNP have hijacked the saltire for their own ends.
So far, same as usual then except that there is one political event this week which is casting a shadow over all this political posturing - the publication of the Calman Commission's interim report on Tuesday.
There is a piece in one Sunday paper today, reporting outrage that the Calman interim report will not come up with anything of substance and will not recommend the transfer of new tax powers to Holyrood.
Well, no, it was never going to. Kenneth Calman himself has made it clear for months that this interim report will just set the scene, setting out which areas he will look at more closely in his final report, so its probably best not to get too obsessed with that issue.
Of more import is the report in Scotland on Sunday quoting economist Andrew Hughes Hallett, one of those who looked into the tax powers question. He accused the commission of effectively "tempering with the evidence" by skewing the report towards the status quo. That is a much more meaty story but, again, this argument will not come to a proper end until the final Calman report is published next summer - so expect a lot more spin, counter-spin and accusations until then.
The other big political story of the weekend, and one which is sure to run and run, is the extraordinary arrest of Damian Green. There are unconfirmed reports today that the young Home Office civil servant who was arrested for leaking material to Green claimed he was persuaded to do so by Green. With Speaker Michael Martin now involved, and calls for investigations as well as acres of opinion pieces warning of the death of democracy, this will one will only gather pace through the week.
As, I have no doubt, will The Steamie ...