New faces, same story at Holyrood

Columnist

Friday 23 December 2011

THE cast has changed, but the song remains the same: "How do you solve a problem like our Alex?"

Custom byline text:

SKETCH Ian Bell

With three new leaders in its chorus of disapproval, the opposition tried three different tactics to end their horrible year. Any joy?

Not if the look on the First Minister's face was a guide. Smugness, the usual word, doesn't cover it. Salmond is never happier than when a critic is spluttering with fury. This is, of course, infuriating.

Johann Lamont, having accepted the black spot for Labour, decided to attempt the proposition that cannot be disputed. It went like this: If even one child dies amid misery and abuse, "something" is wrong with the system. So what, given the death of the toddler Declan Hainey, did Salmond mean to do?Labour wants a public inquiry. That much was made plain by Neil Bibby MSP days ago. The death has outraged many people. As Lamont argued, "Whatever systems are in place, they are not sufficient".Logically, you can't argue with that. Salmond didn't try. He talked of the resources put into inspection and re-inspection, but he was blunt: "There will always be tragic cases". Logically, you can't argue with that, either.Ruth Davidson tried what might be called the counter-intuitive approach. Salmond diagnosed it as a bad case of brass neck. So here we had a staunch Tory quoting the STUC in an attempt to claim that unemployment is basically Salmond's fault.You could call this brave. You could – Salmond did – call it crocodile tears. But it simply allowed the First Minister to accuse Davidson of demanding £250 million in additional expenditure. Would she therefore "tell the chancellor to put the cheque in the post?"The LibDems look less like a party than a small wake nowadays, but Willie Rennie has not given up. Given a shortage of everything, MSPs above all, he conserves energy by asking the same question week after week.He has had three goes at demanding Salmond's support for the "billion pound youth contract" the First Minister claims is worth only £6m a year. Each time the issue comes up, bland assurances follow. Rennie refuses to accept them, and asks his question again."I've been following his tweets on this matter," said Salmond blithely. Just for once, the ugly word was apt. It captured the sound of an opposition confronting the Salmond conundrum. They are in desperate need of a new noise for the new year.

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

New faces, same story at Holyrood

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED