Drumlanrig: Willie gives party the cold shoulder

THE personal codes by which West Coast Scottish Labour operates sometimes would make residents of Corleone blanche.

City refrigeration boss and former Labour donor Willie Haughey, below, has recently published a website on his life and times which includes a section setting the record straight on various news stories about his links to the party. In it he tackles last year's revelations about former Glasgow City Council leader Steven Purcell. It was claimed back then that the pair were thick as thieves. But, declares Haughey's site with brutal finality: "They were never close." Remember that fellow Labour travellers: once you're out, you're out.

AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAD NOT COME

NOT a promising sign of things at the Scottish LibDems. The other night at the Scottish Parliament, a reception was being held by the Hansard Society and the Centre fo Scottish Public Policy. Ross Martin, the CSPP's policy director, was in ebullient form and regaled guests about his work. The CSPP was all about ideas, he said, and - unscripted - he decided to throw it open to everyone there. "Who's got an idea?" he declared. At that very moment Scottish LibDem leader Tavish Scott made his excuses and walked out.

NO SUCH THING AS A FREE HOLIDAY

MEANIES at North Ayrshire Council have decided that none of their staff will get the day off on 29 April to celebrate the wedding of Wills and Kate. The reason, it seems, is the cutbacks.

A spokesman says: "The financial implications of an extra public holiday are estimated at 750,000." Three-quarters of a mill for one day? In not even all of Ayrshire? How much is this going to cost the rest of the country? Maybe Wills and Kate need to call it off.

TORY GETS MEASURE OF LABOUR FINANCE

ANDY Kerr, Labour's money wizard, should be trying to position himself as finance-secretary-in-waiting as election time looms. Yet a rather unconvincing performance during last week's budget debate means that he still has a bit of work to do.

After one contribution, the Old Fettesian Tory Gavin Brown reminded the chamber that Kerr, above, has been studying for an MBA, so surely he should know that "if you increase spending in one portfolio, you have to decrease it in that portfolio or in another portfolio."

Brown went on to say that Kerr's "big clarion call" was "we don't do half measures we offer full measures".

The Tory added that MSPs had not heard much about "full" measures before wondering how Kerr was spelling the word "full".