If you believe some of the critics and elements of the press, the Scottish Government has been humiliated over its named person policy and John Swinney caught out in his bid to install 'state snoopers' in every classroom.
But, answering questions from MSPs, the deputy first minister did not appear defensive or overly chastened by the supreme court ruling which has caused him to delay implementing the controversial plan until August next year.
The scheme will appoint a named teacher or health visitor to be a central point of contact to ensure the wellbeing of every child in Scotland.
In an impressive performance updating the Scottish Parliament, he revealed the new start date - effectively a year's delay. He accepted the need to look again at the clarity regarding what information about a child can be shared, and when, by those appointed to the role of named person.
He restated the government's commitment to the overarching policy Getting it Right for Every Child (Girfec) which lies behind its strategy, and the importance of identifying children facing difficulties early enough to intervene before significant harm is done.
He also conceded the need to look at thresholds and the need to ensure the policy is proportionate. Although open to Labour's proposal to remove 16 and 17 year olds from the scope of the scheme, his counter - that Childline receives high number of calls from such teenagers - was persuasive.
The named person scheme as a policy is more sensible and balanced than many of its opponents. But it is no bad thing for the Government to be forced to fine-tune it.
Mr Swinney appears to realise that simply addressing the concerns logged by the Supreme Court may not be enough. Those concerns are fixable, but the policy as a whole will not be if the education secretary cannot take families, political opponents and public sector staff with him.
In this context, Mr Swinney's conciliatory tone and pledge to look to build consensus were as important at this stage as the changes he proposed.
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