In a clear bid to win over female voters, who opinion polls show are markedly more hostile towards independence than men, the First Minister said support for childcare could rise dramatically to levels "commonplace across European countries".
For whatever Unionist critics might say about independence - economic uncertainty, oil price volatility, the strictures of a currency union - Yes Scotland can now turn and point to the epic failure of Osborne’s economic policy and ask: "Would more of the same really be better?"