David Maddox: Question - When is a principle a non-principle? Answer - When it's a Lib Dem principle

The Lib Dems have dropped their demands for a 2p reduction in income tax in the Scottish budget.

This is after months of their chief whip Mike Rumbles (pictured top right) corridors of Holyrood berating opponents for denying their constituents a tax cut.

The volte face also completely torpedoes their economic strategy as well as their 2011 election strategy. The idea was that they would sell themselves as the party which would leave more money in people's pockets.

Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott (pictured left from his days as a mad viking) hinted at the change on the radio this morning, but senior colleagues have now briefied journalists to confirm it.

So what has changed?

Well, after yesterday there is a new budget to fight for and the Lib Dems see the chance of influencing it. Mr Scott and his finance spokesman Jeremy Purvis have meetings scheduled with Finance Secretary John Swinney this afternoon.

The irony in all this is that the Greens, who in a fit of pique brought the budget down yesterday when they had all but won £33 million in next year's budget to start their free insulation scheme, may now get muscled out by the Lib Dems and get nothing.

David Maddox: Budget - Brownlee speech

Having spent most of the time lampooning Labour for voting against the budget, Derek Brownlee, the Tory finance spokesman, has confirmed that his party will support the SNP today and claimed his party has won "a quarter of a billion pounds" of Conservative policies for Scotland.
As I blog, Jeremy Purvis, the Lib Dem finance spokesman, is saying that the measures in the budget is not enough. If you remember, the Lib Dems wanted a 2p income tax cut through the Tartan Tax variation powers, this would cost £800 million. So that's 63/62 for John Swinney at the moment.
Mr Brownlee has just asked him if all the Lib Dems have achieved is a "zero point zero zero per cent."
We are all waiting for Green leader Patrick Harvie now to see which way he and Robin Harper will go.

David Maddox: Lib Dems get ready to Rumbles

There used to be a rule among English cricket selectors that they should always pick bowlers to the suit the conditions for swing, spin or pace. It did not stop them losing with a monotonous regularity but somehow it made sense.
The same could be said of Tavish Scott's apparently strange choice of personel in his budget negotiations with the SNP. Instead of sending in his spinner - finance spokesman Jeremy Purvis - to weedle out a clever agreement he decided to rely on the less subtle tactics of his chief whip Mike Rumbles, who, if he were a bowler, would have a stock delivery of bouncing the ball at pace straight towards his opponent's chin.
Now I understand that Mr Purvis was not best pleased to be sidelined, but it was clear for all that the Lib Dems had no intention of striking an agreement with the Nats, thus the choice of Mr Rumbles.
The issue at stake here is that Mr Scott announced in his first week as Scottish Lib Dem leader that he wanted a 2p cut in income tax using the Scottish variable rate. This would mean a cut of £800 million in the budget which the SNP have made clear they will not countenance. It also means the Lib Dems cannot ask for new money for new projects so there was really little to discuss.
Mr Rumbles has been striding around Holyrood for weeks now berating opponents for not supporting the cut, so will have relished the chance to wag his finger at Finance Secretary John Swinney.
It may be the training he received in the army where he became a major, but his usual style made it difficult for most of us to believe the earnest pleas of the Lib Dem spin doctors that "he went into the meeting willing to be constructive."
I understand the meeting was short and went as planned for the Lib Dems: MR entered. MR demanded that JS accepted a cut in personal tax. JS said no. MR stormed out. Job done.
But even though Mr Scott may have picked the right bowler for this particular wicket, the question is, like the old England cricket team, will they still end up losing?