Unpopular Front takes on Salmond

Columnist

Friday 13 January 2012

IT was Johann Lamont who uttered the immortal words.

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SKETCH Ian Bell

"Surely the First Minister agrees with me," she said, "that we can resolve this without rancour."

In a good week, Labour and the SNP can't agree the time of day. The notion "the most important decision Scotland has faced in 300 years" can be reached without fuss is one you would struggle to call forlorn.

That's the style of things for now. No one hates anyone's large intestine. No one is seeking – and perish the thought – party advantage. Everyone wants only what's best for that eternal constituency, "the people of Scotland".It leads to uncommon sights and sounds. One of the latter involved Labour's new principal asking, "Will the First Minister accept the responsibility to be a national leader?"A tough one. Do you think Alex Salmond might? Could he, just possibly, be persuaded to overcome his deep-dyed natural modesty?It wasn't what Ms Lamont meant, of course. It was the opposite of what she meant. First Minister's Questions was a continuation of the morning's debate by other means and she was calling on Mr Salmond to accept her party's surrender terms. Sorry: "motion for cross-party talks". It was one element in the assault from the Tory-Liberal-Labour – call it the Unpopular Front – alliance. Ms Lamont would demand access to the referendum-forging process and batter the idea of a multi-choice vote. Ruth Davidson, for the Conservatives, would attack Mr Salmond for declining the services of the Electoral Commission.At one point it led to a demand from Ms Lamont: "I ought to be part of the process of shaping the thinking on what the referendum will say." A first draft, then: "Do you fancy the truly hellish idea of independence, or are you far too sensible?"Ms Lamont was a bit more subtle. The First Minister, she argued, was offering "a false prospectus" by suggesting the only choice lies between independence or the Tories. Suddenly we had a multi-option vote after all: Labour max devo plus.Ms Davidson was bolder, or louder: "Does he want to impugn the reputation, impartiality and neutrality of the commissioners and the Electoral Commission?"No, "he" didn't, not in public, at any rate. In public, emollience covered every surface. He just wanted a referendum commission stamped Made in Scotland, like every other aspect.His answer to every other question was everyone should wait for his consultation document. That's due, Mr Salmond said several times, in "a couple of weeks". Ms Lamont would be pleasantly surprised; Ms Davidson's mind would be put at rest. So satisfactory would this document be it was hardly worth calling a referendum.The First Minister didn't actually say that. But nor did he say why we're all waiting when he seems to know every word in this famous pamphlet. Remind me: the week beginning the 23rd? Isn't there something about some poet on the Wednesday night? A coincidence, surely.In truth, Mr Salmond is reviving the strategy of the old devolution campaigners by attempting to build the biggest extra-parliamentary body of support he can. He invoked that inchoate thing, "civic Scotland" – to you, the great and good – time and again. If Mr Salmond is worried, I'd hate to see him confident. In case no-one noticed, he has declared Holyrood's independ-ence: that's what the week has been about. Now there's the small matter of getting voters to agree.

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Unpopular Front takes on Salmond

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