AS Nicola Sturgeon can’t stand Donald Trump, it’s a pretty safe bet she won’t have read the book that made him famous, The Art of the Deal.
Sure, it’s egomaniacal nonsense. But even a quick skim might have provided some tips on handling a £10bn infrastructure bonanza from a state-owned firm in China.
Eg, If your investor has an appalling human rights record, why not try a cursory background check? Or, If you face the imminent loss of £10bn, pick up the phone - talking can help stuff.
As it was, Ms Sturgeon did neither, so FMQs was devoted to the art of the shambles instead.
Specifically, the collapse of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in March then withdrawn in August by SinoFortone and the China Railway No 3 Engineering Group.
Tory leader Ruth Davidson criticised the intense secrecy around the MoU's birth and death.
Ms Sturgeon ignored the point and went on the attack. It wasn’t her fault the Chinese withdrew, it was the “political climate” in Scotland, she said. Democracy, eh? Tsk.
The opposition had been guilty of an “hysterical, over-the-top reaction” to the MoU, she wailed.
“Scrutiny and questions are, of course, legitimate. However all opposition parties should be careful not to create a climate that is seen to be inhospitable to investment.”
That was just trying to blame everyone else for the “embarrassing saga”, said Ms Davidson.
“I cannot believe the FM persists in saying the Chinese Communist Party pulled the plug because they heard the Scottish Liberal Democrats roar.”
The Terror of Beijing (Willie Rennie) chipped in: “I hope the FM will not mind me asking questions - at the risk of being accused of hysteria - about the collapse of the deal.”
Ms Sturgeon didn’t appreciate the climate of sarcasm either: “I am not trying to blame anybody,” she said with the credibility of next year’s tractor production statistics.
Labour’s Kezia Dugdale brought up Trump again, the “misogynist in the White House”.
Many of his campaign comments had been “deeply abhorrent”, Ms Sturgeon agreed.
“I am never prepared to be a politician who maintains a diplomatic silence in the face of racism, sexism, misogyny or intolerance of any kind.” Only when £10bn is at stake.
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