David Maddox: The kitchen cabinet secretary

A freedom of information request was published on the Scottish Government website last week which went largely unnoticed probably because there was so little in it.
The subject was an old favourite for journalists - ministerial gifts.
Only five are listed and only one of those was even vaguely interesting - a cook book by Scottish celebrity chef Nick Nairn which was pocketed by Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead in June last year.
Most gifts are even given to staff or kept by the government on display or stuck in a library or storage, however, clearly Mr Lochhead enjoys his food and plans to take on a few tips from the cooking master.
Mr Nairn has been a great supporter of SNP ministerial initiatives such as breakfast clubs.
But, hopefully, with his new book Mr Lochhead has got past the bit about cooking toast (see the Lochhead, left, and Nairn, right, picture above) and on to some more complicated cuisine.