Summary by The Heralds Tom Gordon: Bold Baillie fails to strike blow against Salmond THE Swiss ambassador was in the gallery for First Ministers Questions; it made a nice change from all that peace and neutrality. Johann Lamont was away applying her best Politburo scowl to Tony Benns funeral, leaving Jackie Baillie to defend Labours corner, but the feuding never skipped a beat. Ms Baillies strategy was, as they say, bold. No, scratch that. Not bold, barking. And doomed. And hopeless. And probably on fire as well. It was - get this - to ask the FM to apologise. Oh how we laughed. She wanted him to admit hed been wrong about Ed Milibands plan to freeze energy bills. Seriously, why not put in a demand for a pair of space unicorns while youre at it? With no prospect of Alex Salmond complying, the proceedings turned enjoyably frivolous instead. Ms Baillie accused the FM of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with David Cameron. The SNP backbenches exploded. Ms Baillie, they recalled, is a director of the Better Together campaign. Mr Salmond could scarcely believe his luck. When youre in a Better Together campaign, not just shoulder to shoulder, but hand-in-glove, umbilically linked to the Conservative Party, its not the best idea to come along to this chamber and try and associate people with guilt by the Conservative Party, he crowed. Ms Baillie never recovered. By the end, she was asking feebly: Is sorry simply the First Ministers hardest word? Was it ever in doubt? Returning to that Lab-Tory umbilical link, Mr Salmond gingerly held up a piece of paper. I have here the Argyll & Bute Conservative Party website, he announced, before quoting from a recent notice. The Cowal Conservative lunch club. Venue Argyll Hotel. Secretary Pamela Bellaby. Lunch, tea and coffee £10. Speaker - Jackie Baillie MSP. As Ms Baillie did her best to shrug through the gale of laughter, some Nat MSPs looked on the brink of incontinence - the far brink. Ive heard of shoulder to shoulder, the FM galloped on, but I should tell the Labour Party, if you sup with the Tory party you should use a long spoon. At least Ms Lamont can rest assured Labour standards were maintained.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:31:31 +0000
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