If the Tory message was as strong as the party's wristbands, this election would already be in the bag.

Audience members attending the party's Scottish manifesto launch were tagged with near-indestructible bracelets, complete with prominent Conservative branding and a Union Jack, as they arrived at the Emirates Arena yesterday morning.

Despite intensive efforts to ditch them, the hordes were later turfed out into the East End of Glasgow, an area not known for its affection for Tories or, indeed, Union Jacks, with the wristbands stubbornly intact.

Was a song that was earlier blared over the venue's loudspeaker, Keep on Running by The Spencer Davis Group, intended as advice?

//

As the hacks and politicos approached an SNP campaign event with John Swinney, held at an architectural practice at historic Lamb House in Leith, they were all struck by a huge red, white and blue flag on a pole in the grounds.

Had Unionist saboteurs got there first? Was it a calculated insult to the DFM? Great was the disappointment among the media when it turned out the flag was not the Union Jack but the national one of Iceland - Lamb House doubles as the consulate.

\\

UKIP's David Coburn was given a thorough grilling by STV's Bernard Ponsonby, with an extended interview broadcast on Wednesday night.

It was not widely hailed as a success for the MEP, who when challenged over how he would plug a £1.5bn pound hole his party would blow in the Scottish budget next year, later rising to £5.5bn, suggested cutting the First Minister's £135,000 salary.

Many observers described it as a car crash interview, but not the man himself. "I think it went very well actually," he said, explaining that his interrogator is a "tough cookie."

//

In perhaps the most shocking news of the campaign so far, women have apparently started "perving" on Ed Miliband.

Critic and columnist Caitlin Moran said that a few months ago, her friends arrived at a consensus that a "particularly clever cat" would have outperformed Ed as Labour leader.

"But in the past month or so, there's been a sudden... stirring," she observed. "I'm not saying this election will finally be decided on unlikely female lust for Ed Miliband. But I'm not saying it won't, either."

\\

The LibDems have really gone all out with their latest strategy - talking up the possibility of a right wing "Blukip" coalition.

The party has even gone to the effort of producing a parody website, complete with key policies that they see The Tories, UKIP and the DUP adopting, should the parties share power.

"Reinstate the death penalty" is one, with "scrap benefits for under 25s" another. No mention of tuition fees, though.