This non-existent milestone in the referendum period provides an ideal opportunity to assess the performance to date of the Scottish party leaders on the independence question.
How fortunate then that we have been given exclusive access to the secret referendum report cards of Holyrood’s high heid yins…
The First Minister, Rt Hon Alex Salmond MSP
In his own words, Alex has had another outstanding term here at Holyrood. By his own admission he stands head and shoulders above his peers, even when he is sitting down, since onlookers are obliged to prostrate themselves before him. (“Like in The King and I.” as he describes it.)
There is no doubting Alex’s ability. He is a natural born leader and often takes charge in the playground, sorry, Chamber, saying; “It’s my ball and you’re all playing, whether you like it or not. Etcetera, etcetera.”
Alex proposed the independence referendum project and has turned in consistently high quality work on this topic. It is difficult to find fault with Alex’s performance and his grasp of the material is impressive.
However, he will have to be careful not to fall in with the wrong crowd, particularly that older boy Rupert who got caught up in the scandal about the school magazine.
All in all Alex has had an excellent term, though he may have to guard against becoming over confident.
Johann Lamont
Johann is a real character who, as she says herself, “does not miss you and hit the wall.”
As the new Labour house captain she has brought some much needed vivacity and common sense to the schoolroom, sorry, Parliament.
However, she has struggled to make friends with other leading lights of the unionist club. As a result Johann participated rather reluctantly in their presentation “Stay and Play in the UK”.
However, she controlled herself admirably and let little Ruth Davidson speak without interruption. Or just about anyway.
Johann shows promise on the independence issue and will perform well if she can curb her natural tendency to hate Tories.
Willie Rennie
Willie is a lovely lad with a nice speaking voice who means well.
There is no doubt, however, that he has suffered from his association with other Lib Dem boys like Nick Clegg, who behaved so badly over that business with the school nurse, sorry, the NHS Bill.
Willie wrote a splendid essay about how the Lib Dems had wanted home rule for 100 years and guaranteed to change things for the better.
There were some cruel jibes about how this would be achieved when the Lib Dems struggle to get elected to the school council, sorry, Holyrood, but Willie ploughed on regardless. Bless him.
Willie takes great care with his work which is very much to be commended, especially since so few people seem to care.
Ruth Davidson
Ruth had a rough start to the term finding it difficult to make friends. This has been most obvious in her failure to find a partner to work with on the independence project.
Ruth is to be admired for her conviction, but let’s face it, being a young Tory is a one-way ticket to pariah status and she really should have learned that at school.
It has also been difficult for Ruth to fit in since she has been fast-tracked through the system and now finds herself the only pre-teen in a Parliament of grown-ups. Well, adults.
Ruth is a good all rounder who has done her best with the cards dealt her, but may continue to struggle as long as she is a member of the Conservative Party.
Patrick Harvie
Patrick is a credit to his party, he is very good at sharing and tries hard to see the best in others. He is one of the few who supported Alex in the referendum project, even though Patrick is not in his gang, sorry, party.
This has meant that he has perhaps been a little in Alex’s shadow when it comes to rousing speeches about Scots being proud that Scotland is Scottish for the Scots and all that jazz.
It is to be hoped that the recent unseasonably warm weather will provide an opportunity for Patrick to make more of an impact with his environmental project. Patrick has the ability to go far, but it’s not easy being green.
