Alison Rowat: SNP finding out there are traps on the road between rhetoric and reality

Nor could it have been assumed that Whitehall was harbouring one of the great comedy writers of the age, namely the chap, or chapess, who decided to follow the paper's title of "Scotland in the United Kingdom" with the phrase "an enduring settlement". As far as the Scottish Government was concerned, this settlement was about as durable as a tissue after a night in a puddle.

For those just joining this debate (enjoy your stay on the International Space Station?) Mr Cameron's presence in Scotland was the culmination of efforts to win over swithering voters on the eve of the independence referendum. Or at least that is what he presumably thought.

The "vow" of more powers for Scotland, as woven by Gordon Brown, was to be a large, soft, security blanket, a comforter for those voters who wanted more powers for Scotland but did not want to risk independence. To put it less delicately, it was a bribe, a constitutional backhander.

Many a voter knew it, and trousered it in the spirit with which it was intended. This was tactical voting - or rather tactical polling, given it was a survey showing the Yes camp ahead which led to the concessions - at its most sophisticated and ruthless. It took a degree of nerve, particularly when words and phrases like "dupes" and "sold a pup" began to fly later, but the Smith Commission charged with delivering the vow duly convened, with all five parties participating; the public submitted its views; the proposals were published; and here we are today. In the middle of another shouting match.

While all of this is catnip to political reporters, commentators, and other anorak wearers, how is the wider public faring under this state of permanent constitutional revolution? How are you doing out there? Invigorated or bored silly? Energised or exhausted? There is more, much more, of this to come, between now, the General Election, and the days and weeks after. The Command Paper itself promises/threatens to host events around Scotland to "ensure everyone has the opportunity to have their say". Haud you back? Come on, don't be like that. There might be free biscuits.

Before starting on this new phase of the neverendum, it might have been wise for the Scottish Government to at least convey the impression that it would give the new powers a hearty go. Instead, the exercise is being generally dismissed as not good enough, a waste of printer ink, even before it has begun. This is despite two SNP MSPs being on the Smith Commission and signing off on its proposals. The slight chill emanating from the Scottish Government on publication of the Smith plan has now become an arctic front. It is a stance that is about as predictable as it is depressing.

As the paper states, "For the first time, the majority of the money spent by the Scottish Parliament will come from revenues raised in Scotland". That surely is worth a modest cheer. Looked at fairly, this is a chance for the Scottish Parliament to do more of what it was set up to do - tailor spending and policy towards Scottish needs. The powers to do so may not be there to the extent that some might wish, but there is plenty of scope for a bold, enterprising, innovative government to show what it can do. If vetoes are feared, why not bring forth a proposal anyway (properly costed of course) and call Westminster's bluff? If the fiscal powers are not enough, why not show voters how adept you are with the existing and proposed powers? That would be the best way to make the case for more.

Then again, given what happened with the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, one could understand the Scottish Government being a tad nervy around radical reform. There was John Swinney, seemingly striking a blow for fairness when it came to property taxes, only for the UK Treasury, announcing its own proposals, to force the Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary into a U-turn so sharp it would have left him with a new parting in his hair if he had enough to part. In the end, this most managerial of governments turned out to be just like any other and put pragmatism first. They might be prepared to spook the horses gently, but putting the wind up the middle classes is a step too far.

The Scottish Government is not the first administration to find the land between rhetoric and reality can sometimes be a boulder-strewn place. It will not be the last, but it hardly suits this particular Government to be viewed in the same dim light as the rest of the (now discredited) political establishment. The image it has punted is that of the outsider government, out to do things differently. That it has been the establishment in Scotland for two terms now has done nothing to dent that image (miraculously so, in the case of the EU legal advice that never was). Now the dings and scratches are becoming more apparent. Never more so than with Nicola Sturgeon's proposed scrapping of the self-denying ordinance of SNP MPs in the Commons when it comes to voting on English matters. This, like the "once in a generation" referendum, turns out to be a moveable feast after all. It was not okay last year, it was not okay last month, but it will be okay in future for SNP MPs to vote on English laws pertaining to the NHS. So far it is just the NHS - on the grounds that reforms to the system in England and Wales might impact on the block grant - but how long will it remain just the NHS?

One realises why such a kite is being flown. It is done in the hope that the pretty colours will catch Labour's eye and, should the party be short of a working majority in the Commons after the next General Election, lead them to ask SNP MPs for their support; support which, naturally, will come at a price.

These are complex, risky manoeuvres in which the SNP are engaging. They have sotto voce encouraged supporters to do to Labour in Scotland what was once done to the Tories, but at the same time they are giving the impression they would not be totally averse to helping out Ed Miliband in his hour of need. These are the kind of nifty moves that might pass muster at a script meeting for Ms Sturgeon's beloved Borgen, but in reality voters are likely to think they are something else beginning with B: bogus. Mr Cameron was not the only sales person to call on Scotland this week. While examining his wares carefully, let us not take our collective eye off what else we are being offered.