Gavin Yates (Edinburgh, GYMedia): Whilst Gordon Brown marched his troops to the hill and marched them down again over the weekend, I have been in Lochaline in the north west of Scotland doing a bit of scuba diving and getting the mood of some of the locals. Whilst the PM's decision not to go to the country heavily exercised the lobby both at Westminster and Holyrood, the view in the Lochaline Social Club in Morvern was more laid back.
"It doesn't matter what happens in London or Edinburgh, we always get ignored. I couldn't care less about independence unless it meant a better deal for places like this," said one of the guys. Another told me that he'd voted for the LibDems at the last Holyrood election in March but said he doubted if he'd bother voting again. He also wasn't impressed with the then electoral brouhaha. "A waste a fecking time, if you ask me." Was this a representative sample of rural Scotland? Probably not. But I think it is indicative of a long standing disconnect between ordinary folk and the political classes.
Back in Edinburgh the SNP used Brown's climb-down to describe the PM as a ‘feartie' a wonderful Scots word to describe an easily scared person. It remains to be seen if the Brown reversal is about running scared or being prudent about the real electoral situation. Meanwhile Nicol Stephen, leader of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland, used it to call for fixed term elections. "The solution is for the House of Commons to have a four year fixed-term, like the Scottish Parliament," he said.
Now the election elephant in the room has been sent off to bed with nae tea, interest instead turns to the Comprehensive Spending Review. The SNP's line of attack is that the increase to just over £30 billion has fallen behind increases to UK spending departments. The budget is double the original 1999 budget but there is no doubt that there will be a squeeze. The interesting thing will be if the budget is tight and local authorities are also forced to adhere to the SNP pre-election promise of no increases in council tax - then what will have to change in local authorities?
Finance Minister John Swinney will have some key decisions to make in the coming weeks. Many of his cabinet colleagues will be keen to get on with delivering the SNP's key manifesto commitments but will have to persuade Swinney that they can be afforded.
