David Maddox: Emergency item for the Knesset

On 8 January this year, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, with the support of all parties bar the Tories, led an emergency debate in Holyrood on the crisis in Gaza. This was followed by a letter of protest demanding a ceasefire from the Israeli government, whose citizens were also under bombardment from Hamas missiles. No message was sent to the Palestinian Authority or Hamas and it was the second such communication from the SNP government to Israel.

And this was despite Holyrood having almost no responsibility for foreign affairs.

I wonder, as he stood by Gordon Brown yesterday and watched the British PM field questions on the international consequences of Scotland sending home a notorious Libyan mass murderer and terrorist, whether Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu thought: "We really should have an emergency debate on this in the Knesset (Israeli parliament)." And further noted: "I must send Alex Salmond a letter outlining my government's deep concerns about his government's actions in this international crisis."

For some reason I would be surprised if he did.

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 ...
ends

David Maddox: How booze is affecting senior ministers

The day has been dominated by the Scottish Government's long awaited strategy to tackle Scotland's love affair with booze.
But there was an interesting political aspect to the morning's excitement in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, which had little to do with drink.
The press conference and the launch was led by Nicola Sturgeon (pictured), Deputy First Minister and Health Secretary. Sitting along side her, but very much sidelined was Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, whose baby this booze strategy had been.
His well known brush with the law from his Tartan Army days had made him a passionate advocate of tackling booze culture. Nobody stronger than a sinner that hath repenteth etc.
There are a couple of possibilities to why he was sidelined.
First, it may be a reflection of Alex Salmond's view of how badly Mr MacAskill has sold these measures over the last few months, losing votes in parliament and being pilloried for the under 21 ban. Ms Sturgeon, Scottish Politician of the Year, may have been seen as more capable.
On the other hand, it is no secret that Nicola Sturgeon is Mr Salmond's preferred successor in the (very) distant future for the leadership. Mr MacAskill on the other hand is the most likely figure that any challenge from the so-called fundamentalist wing may gather around, if things were to go pear shaped in the next couple of years. So giving Ms Sturgeon the credit for the biggest social reform the SNP can hope to deliver could have a long term tactical play to it.

hospital parking charges - Eddie Barnes

Ministers might want to get a grip soon on the simmering row over new parking charges at hospitals. Under the rules, staff have been told they can park their cars for nothing for four hours, but that they then have to move them or pay £40. I've heard on the grapevine that nurses have been spotted leaving operating theatres midway through procedures to avoid having to cough up. A few alarm bells should be going off in Nicola Sturgeon's office, I'd hope.

David Maddox: C.Dif will just not go away

The families of the 18 people whose deaths were related to contracting C.Difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital have today lodged a petition demanding a public inquiry into what happened.
So as hard as she might try Nicola Sturgeon (pictured), the Health Secretary, cannot shake off the problem of C.Dif and demands for a public inquiry into the possible problem in Scottish hospitals generally and what happened at Vale of Leven specifically.
Unfortunately, despite what the Scottish Government's staticians tried to tell us last with graphs showing a general decline in hospital aquired infections, C.Dif appears to be on the rise in Scotland. According to Labour, the 18 C.Dif related deaths in Vale of Leven could just be the tip of the iceburg.
So given that background the families of the Vale of Leven victims and their supporters appear to have a strong case for a public inquiry.
Ms Sturgeon has a valid point over the fact that the police have now opened a full investigation into the Vale of Leven and that a public inquiry could prove to be an obstacle to due process in potential criminal cases.
However, she is not helped by her own record of regularly calling for public inquiries when in opposition.