David Maddox: Only a pawn in their game

Forget Obama, Brown and Gaddafi at the UN, the SNP's plans to liberate Scottish television from the BBC and especially Nick Clegg's speech, the news this week that Garry Kasparov and Anatoli Karpov are to resume hostilities over the chess board to mark 25 years after their first epic encounter was for me the story of the week.

It brought back memories of how as a 10-year-old fanatical chess player (sadly never better than a Norfolk county finalist) I avidly followed what became one of the greatest mental contests in human history (pictured above). As this week has shown it is one that will only end when one of the two grandmasters finds that his next opponent is the grim reaper in a Seventh Seal or, for the less high brow, a Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure fashion.
It also reminded me of a conversation I had with James Mackenzie, the Greens spindoctor and general dogsbody famous for his Two Doctors blog, about board games.
He is a collector of weird and wonderful board games and I believe has one with the aim of nuking the world, which perhaps isn't the Greenest objective.
But he is also a keen backgammon player and is teaching Green MSP Patrick Harvie how to play. Unfortunately he does not like chess and in a recent e-mail to me said: "Chess is a limited game which can be won simply by processing further into the future than your opponent."
A surprising observation for an otherwise intelligent and cultured individual about arguably the greatest test of mental skill ever devised.
But, getting back to Kasparov and Karpov, what has this rematch of the old grandmasters got to do with politics? Well actually quite a lot.
In 1984, five years before the Iron Curtain fell, this was a contest between the old and the new. Karpov was the Communist Party's establishment man, appropriately a strategist who strangled his opponents with carefully worked out positions. Kasparov represented the new Russia, pro-capitalist and pushing for freedom, which again was reflected in his faster, more flamboyant unpredictable style of play.
The two were enemies over the board, personally and politically. Their enmity was such that a board had to be fixed under the table to stop them kicking each other.
Initially, as with the old Communist regime, Karpov had the upper hand, but the match was abandoned when he was 5-3 up because the two were deadlocked in constant draws and there were fears for their health.
Then in 1985 they returned for a rematch and, in what would eventually reflect the new order, Kasparov won easily. He never lost a match to Karpov again although they clashed many times.
Kasparov actually went on to get involved in politics as an opponent of the Putin regime. After he was arrested following a demonstration it was interesting that one of his first visitors in prison was his old rival Karpov, showing that respect for a great opponent overcomes enmity and differences of opinion.
But their contest a quarter of a century ago was not the first to have a political dimension. Before Karpov became world champion, the American Bobby Fischer became the first man to overcome Soviet domination of the chess world when he beat Boris Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972 (pictured below), in contest that was loaded with Cold War politics.
Fischer is the one player who could lay claim to be on a level with Kasparov and Karpov as one of the greatest players ever. But he reportedly went mad and walked away from the game after winning in 1972 only to re-emerge years later apparently supporting the unpalatable Serbian regime in the 1990s.
He once described chess as "war on a board" but was not the only one to give it a dimension of reflecting life and politics.
The former US President Benjamin Franklin said: “Life is a kind of Chess, with struggle, competition, good and ill events.”
Although as Arthur Conan Doyle noted it is not always a good thing. He said: “Excellence at Chess is one mark of a scheming mind.”
Which brings me back to my conversation with James Mackenzie. The Greens have at times shown a certain endearing innocence when it comes to the darker arts of politics, not least in their hopeless budget negotiations earlier this year.
So, taking some Holmesian authoritive advice, perhaps Mr Mackenzie should be teaching his MSPs how to position their pawns rather than relying on the random throw of the backgammon dice.

David Maddox: Going behind enemy lines

Patrick Harvie has today led a delegation of Greens on a tour around Hunterston B Nuclear Power Station in Ayrshire.

It may come as a shock that this is not a "break-in" by anti-nuclear protesters, but a guided tour of the facility which is due to be decommissioned in 2016. Although when I spoke on the phone to his press officer Jame MacKenzie, while he was on the tour, his hushed tones suggested something surreptitious was going on. As we all know the Greens are virulently anti-nuclear.

Apparently they were not expecting to find an Ayrshire version of Homer Simpson (pictured).

Shockingly, it seems that the inveterate twitter Mr Harvie has not added a nuclear power station to his list of unusual places to tweet.

Tom Peterkin: The Budget

So the SNP budget has finally secured parliamentary support after an unseemly week of huffing, puffing and posturing. With the support of the Tories, the Lib Dems and Labour, Alex Salmond has once again come up smelling of roses despite his combative approach to minority Government. What about the poor old Greens, who seem to have rejected the deal of the century?
Salmond's original offer of £33 million for home insulation to the Greens was cut to £15 million. At the weekend, Harvie warned that if ministers wanted the SNP/Green relationship to "seriously deteriorate, they will find our position over the next two years much more difficult to try and reach agreement, vote by vote, week by week".
So we're in for two more years of legislative battling - courtesy of two Green MSPs. Unless, of course, Salmond can rely on his new pals in the Lib Dems to keep riding to the rescue as they pursue their shared dream of borrowing powers for Holyrood.

David Maddox: Budget - the end of the affair

Patrick Harvie, the leader of the Greens, is on his feet looking very glum. He has said the SNP "just don't get it" when it comes to carbon emissions.
As mentioned before, poor Mr Harvie is suffering after snubbing the SNP budget last week. Not surprising for a man who has seen his scheme lose £18 million in a week and changed from a free for all to a means tested one, he has said that the budget is "still inadequate."
There was a bitter swipe at the Lib Dems who dropped their £800 million 2p income tax cut for measures worth nothing to back the budget, which in effect ended the Greens chances of getting more for free insulation.
He doesn't care that the two Green votes will be the only ones against the budget today.
"It doesn't matter about numbers," he said defiantly. "There is a wider movement out there" being failed by the middle ground of politics "which the Greens will continue to represent."
According to Mr Harvie President Obama and most European governments are taking not of that movement and bringing in green projects to boost their economies and try to save the planet. Parliament would not even consider his reasoned amendment on the principle of free insulation.
It seems that the close relationship enjoyed by the Greens and SNP for the best part of two years may have come to an end. The only question now is have the Lib Dems supplanted the Greens in the SNP bed?

David Maddox: Budget - Reaction

Patrick Harvie, the leader of the Greens, has said he is "disappointed" with the way the SNP have approached this budget. He says that the matter can be resolved if the Scottish Government can guarantee an extra £11 million for the free insulation scheme.
"It is really a very small ask if you look at the budget as a whole," he said.
He confirmed that it was Mr Swinney's refusal to guarantee the £11 million which led them to vote against.
All the other major players have gone to their bunkers, although one or two stopped by some TV cameras. Fastest of all were Finance Secretary John Swinney and First Minister Alex Salmond who rushed to their offices in the parliament without giving a comment to anybody.
Labour have just told us that the "vote of no confidence" threat was to make sure the SNP do not delay a new budget.
Iain Gray, the Scottish Labour leader is now briefing journalists. He said: "We have got to this position as a direct result of the SNP's own arrogance and incompetence. They have known for weeks what they needed to do for weeks to get a deal with us or the Greens but the have just played these ridiculous games of brinkmanship. It really is very poor."
He has ratcheted up the pressure. If the next budget fails there will definitely be a vote of no confidence.

David Maddox: Budget - John Swinney speaks, yes or no to the Greens?

Green leader Patrick Harvie's amazing piece of brinkmanship was a stunning gamble. If Mr Swinney says "yes" he has won a tremendous victory, but if he says "no" then Harvie and the Greens may go down in ignomy for bringing down a budget and being responsible for the ensuing chaos.
Finance Secretary John Swinney has now spoken. After describing Labour as "pathetic and ridiculous." He had a message for Margo MacDonald and said he has given her what she asked for. She looks less than convinced. He's promised her that he will talk to Edinburgh City Council about pilot schemes on affordable housing.
But here's the key point for the Greens. He "will leaverage in spending
from social partners to increase the amount up to £33 million." Is it enough?
Patrick Harvie speaks: "Can he commit the government will make up the shortfall if the social partners can't?"
Swinney: "The government has said what it has said and will ensure that it happens."
We go into the vote at 5pm still not clear if the Greens are convinced.

David Maddox: Budget - Harvie's twists and turns (3)

The warning of this budget for the SNP is that you should not treat the Greens with contempt if you need their votes, even if there are only two of them and they have offices on the SNP floor.
Apparently Alex Salmond, the First Minister did not bother to contact them today until 2pm and then "only gave them hot air."
The £22 million was then offered in the budget speech, but when the Nats saw Mr Harvie's face, SNP backbencher Tricia Marwick tapped him on the shoulder and passed on a message from Mr Salmond. At that point he left to talk to the First Minister.
Now Mr Salmond and his Finance secretary John Swinney are grimly sitting in the chamber scribbling, possibly working out where they can find £11 million. Half an hour until the moment of truth.

David Maddox: Budget - Harvie speaks at last

Patrick Harvie has said he cannot vote for £22 million a year for free insulation. He is furious that the SNP have kept him waiting for their final offer until the debate. He has demanded an extra 50 per cent, £11 million, as a bare minimum. He says nothing less than £33 million would allow them to make even a start on the scheme.
He says the Greens will vote against at the moment. That's 64/63 against Swinney. Even with Margo MacDonald's vote the budget will fall on the Presiding Officer's casting vote.
Amazing brinkmanship from Harvie.

David Maddox: Budget - Harvie's twists and turns

Green leader Patrick Harvie has left the chamber in a rage and has been talking to another hack about the perfidious SNP. Apparently he thinks that with £22 million next year and a long term commitment to his free insulation scheme he is being fobbed off.
Bruce Crawford, the SNP's business manager, has just told my colleague Hamish Macdonell that they don't know if they have a deal yet. The smiles are flickering at the edges and giving way to worried expressions.
Green spin doctor James Mackenzie looks like he has never known stress like this in his life.
But the feeling among the parliamentary hacks is that for having only two MSPs the Greens have been offered a fantastic deal and it would be suicidal for them to vote this budget down.
The bottom line, though, is that there is no deal yet and it looks like Mr Harvie may throw a fit and take Holyrood into the unchartered territories of a failed budget.
As I write, he's walked back in.... what is he going to say?

David Maddox: Budget continues....

I wonder if Alex Fergusson, the Presiding Officer, is being deliberately tantalising. We are all desperate to hear Patrick Harvie, the Green leader, to find out where the two crucial Green votes are going.
But he is yet to get his feet. Ahead of him are some particularly dull and rambling contributions from MSPs like James Kelly (Labour) and Nigel Don (SNP).

David Maddox: Yet more budget latest

And now we think we know why the SNP are all smiles. The rumour is that the Greens have been offered a £30 million a year free insulation programme over 10 years.
This is yet to be confirmed and, as I blog, the top brass of the Greens, all three of them (MSPs Patrick Harvie and Robin Harper and spin doctor James Mackenzie) are ensconced in a meeting to finally decide what to do.
Keep checking the blog folks. We'll tell you as soon as the rumour is confirmed or refuted.

David Maddox: More budget latest

If anything sums up the pressure mounting on Green leader Patrick Harvie then the sight of him eating his soup alone in the canteen with a Newsnight camera pointed a few inches above his bald pate does it. It underlines that his vote and that of his colleague Robin Harper will be crucial. To be fair on Mr Harvie he somehow managed to pretend the camera was not there. Cool under pressure.
But the emotions are beginning to show in other parties. Labour are obviously nervous that this budget may fall. Their group meeting at 12.30pm confirmed that they will vote against and they are busily trying to make sure they are not blamed for the ensuing chaos that will follow a defeat for the Scottish Government.
One Labour spin doctor has just spent most of lunchtime briefing me that SNP Finance Secretary John Swinney may be "deliberately trying to sabotage the budget" in the hope it will damage oppositon parties.
However, if the smiles on SNP faces and their spin doctors is an indicator to go by, then all may be well and a deal may have finally been struck with the Greens, not that they are letting on.
John Swinney will get to his feet to start the budget debate in just under 45 minutes. We will hopefully know then what is happening before the big vote at 5pm.

David Maddox: The strange goings on of budget day

As it seems more and more likely that the two Green MSPs will make or break the SNP's budget this afternoon with their demands for a £1 billion free insulation scheme, all eyes have been on them this morning to see what they will do.

All eyes? Well, of course, that is if they can be found. The lack of evidence of Greens in Holyrood this morning did lead to some speculation that Finance Secretary John Swinney may have taken a note from the book of Queen Elizabeth I's spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham who, according to the recent film, locked up some of the Queen's opponents "for their own safety" so they could not vote against her in parliament.

However, I have just exclusively received a picture that reveals that the Green leader Patrick Harvie was apparently making a getaway on an electric scooter this morning, possibly from the press, more likely the SNP. The only question is whether car coming up fast behind him is being driven by Finance Secretary John Swinney.

But stop press! I gather Mr Harvie has returned and will enter crucial final talks with Mr Swinney some time in the next hour and a half.