UNSPUN
DEBATE of the week was on the SNP Government’s woeful Freedom of Information record, when Tory Graham Simpson had the pleasure of telling Nat mega-bore Stewart Stevenson to “stop chuntering”. It earned him the world’s mildest rebuke from Deputy PO Linda Fabiani, suggesting she too had had enough. “I remind members they should always be polite, even when they revert to name calling,” she smiled.
GREEN Andy Wightman used the event to goad several landed Tories by reading out for the sake of transparency, of course - how much they trousered in EU farm payments. Like the £320,000 which went to Peter Chapman’s firm over three years. He twisted the knife by asking Mr Chapman if his latest payments had arrived on time. “You’re a nasty piece of work,” he replied. As if to prove it, Mr Wightman duly posted the remark on Twitter.
MORE bitchiness on Radio 4 on Thursday in an interview with new SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford. His predecessor, Angus Robertson was famous for his self-regard. Asked how he’d be different, Mr Blackford said he greatly respected Angus, before adding: “My style is different. I’m very much a team person.” Watch those claws...
AFTER a cranky FMQs, Ms Sturgeon tried to leaven the mood with a gag at the expense of PO Ken Macintosh. Answering a question from a new dad, she said he had “some way to go to catch up with the PO on this front”, a reference to Ken’s awardwinning loins, from which have sprung six young
Macintoshes. He was not amused. “Am I in trouble?” she asked. Yes, but not that way. It was only a hard stare.
TALKING of babies, there was a blow this week for MSP Ivan McKee, whose mission is “getting reusable nappies more widely used”. Alas, parents don’t fancy washing manky nappies, according to feedback on the Government’s baby boxes. The biggest demand was “removing the reusable nappies, viewed as ‘wasted’ items”. One mission down, one to go...
HAS Nicola Sturgeon finally decided what to do on Indyref2? The FM held a rare evening meeting of MSPs on Wednesday to discuss the election result. However our mole reports MSPs were still none the wiser about Ms Sturgeon’s referendum plans by the end of it.