Tom Peterkin: Are cracks opening on the path to referendum for Salmond’s slick machine?

The damp squib of a launch of a distinctly light weight Yes Campaign was closely followed by last week’s lamentable showing at First Minister’s Questions – a performance that was all the more noteworthy because it was so unexpected.

It is true that Salmond’s opponents have been finding the way that he dodges questions tiresome and frustrating, but his passionate and pugnacious style has meant that he has made a habit of seeing off his rivals at Holyrood.

Last week, however, was different. His total failure to answer basic questions, added to the impression that there could be cracks opening up in the Scottish National Party’s dominance of Scottish politics.

That impression is enhanced when one takes into account Labour’s recovery in last month’s local elections. Six months after Johann Lamont was elected Scottish Labour leader, she is managing to inflict some blows on Salmond.

When one considers the dismal Labour leadership contest that was to end with Lamont (with the help of the unions) taking over from Iain Gray, the new leader has so far surpassed all expectations.

She has also surrounded herself with a savvy backroom staff, which is no longer routinely outsmarted by the slick SNP machine and has landed some telling blows of its own.

Labour might be feeling tempted to give itself a pat on the back. But any self-congratulation would be foolish in the extreme.

After all, these first signs of a turnaround in Labour’s fortunes since last year’s humiliation in the Scottish elections is not cause for celebration.

The defeat at the hands of the SNP was the result of years of Labour complacency and the sort of back-slapping, which must now be avoided if Lamont’s party is to convert this promise into a more lasting pattern.

For Salmond and the SNP, the events of the last ten days or so have been damaging and there are more challenges on the immediate horizon. Next week Salmond has to negotiate the Leveson inquiry.

That ordeal might appeal to his love of the big political occasion, but it is difficult to see what good can come out of a ferocious examination of Salmond’s relationship with Rupert Murdoch for the SNP. But there are still more than two years before the independence referendum by which time Salmond’s current discomfort might seem a distant memory – especially if Labour fails to build on recent progress.

If, however, Labour can continue to make hay, people may look back on recent events as a tipping point in the constitutional battle.

So, for both parties, there is still everything to play for.