Eddie Barnes - Getting nasty

Labour MP Tom Harris has kicked up a stink on his always interesting blog by referring to the SNP conference in Inverness as "a hate-fest". He also declares that the SNP is "the nasty party" of Scottish politics, pointing to "the poison" which drips from the keyboards of Scotland's army of anonymous 'cybernats'.

Certainly, there were a few incidents at the conference which will give succour to those who feel nationalism is animated by "hate". Most people picked up on the comments by Plaid Cymru's Helen Jones, who described Gordon Brown as "a sorry excuse for a Scotsman" before asking "do you ever as a nation wonder what you will do with the likes of him after independence?" But as someone who spent three days in Inverness, I would say that the tone of the conference was basically very similar to those which I attended in Brighton and Manchester this year. In other words, for a few days, lots of active, interested, interesting people all got together to listen, talk and drink too much. Rather than a hate fest, Labour should be considering the more worrying reality- for them- that the SNP conference has become a venue to do business. Inverness was filled not with much fierce fist-pumping but rather with public affairs consultants and lobbyists all clammering for their few minutes chat with SNP Ministers.

While Tom concedes that the modern SNP may have changed, he still feels able to conclude that they are a 'nasty party' because of the undoubtedly unpleasant missives written by some of Scotland's 'cybernats'. But can we conclude that the 'poison' which leaks from their pens is representative of the party as a whole (or, indeed, even among those Nationalists who blog)? Or is it just a case of a few kids who don't sleep enough?

Answers on a postcard, please.