Drumlanrig

Snippets from the past week in the political sphere

Fancy a scoop of Ben and Jerry’s devo-plus?

The launch last week of the devo-plus campaign – calling for far greater powers at the Scottish Parliament – is now going by a new catchier name thanks to the two men leading it, former Lib Dem MSP Jeremy Purvis, and businessman Ben Thomson. “Ben and Jerry’s” devo-plus has a far catchier sound to it all round. The only issue to be resolved is what exactly to call their product. Having rejected devo-max, clearly Ben and Jerry are not offering a full-fat double cream version of devolution. Readers are asked to send in their own ideas.

Prolonged engagement before gay marriage

The Scottish Government’s controversial plans to create gay marriage is currently somewhere within the bowels of its St Andrew’s House office. More than 50,000 responses have been handed in to civil servants and a paper on what exactly everyone makes of the plans is being prepared. But opponents of the moves believe this will not emerge until well after May’s local government elections. They smell a rat, and believe ministers are hoping to bury the moves in the knowledge that, in Glasgow in particular, further publicity might not be welcome. However, officials inform us that the consultation responses will be published in “the spring” and that any suggestion of any election-inspired delay is “wrong”. That’s that then.

Swinney’s the man of independent means

Speaking of matters inside the Scottish Government, one well-placed source gives a running update on how the day-to-day business of actually governing the country is going.

With Alex Salmond fully engaged in the strategy and tactics of the two-year referendum campaign, the insider notes that the job of running St Andrew’s House has passed fully to Finance Secretary John Swinney, right. Is the well-liked Swinney’s elevation to the post of Scotland’s accidental First Minister the first of the many windfalls promised with independence?

Labour’s malt teaser sweetens the French

Should polls be correct in France, then the Auld Alliance looks to be in good stead. Socialist candidate Francois Hollande was in London last week to meet Labour leader Ed Miliband and his shadow cabinet. In honour of the historic ties between Scotland and France, the likely next president of France was handed a bottle of malt whisky – Macallan to be exact.