Positively cordial as Cameron keeps his promise

He met First Minister Alex Salmond, finance minister John Swinney and leaders of the opposition parties, and spoke to the Scottish Parliament. He could not have been more emphatic in his desire for better relations, clearly stating his commitment to the Calman Commission reforms for more powers for Holyrood and offering to return on an annual basis to address MSPs' questions if that is what Holyrood wishes

It was a genuine sounding statement, and while all this may be put down to the first week of the coalition government and earnest good intentions still filling the air, there was no reason for MSPs of all parties yesterday not to doubt Mr Cameron's good faith and to respond in kind.

There is no doubt relations between Edinburgh and Holyrood have been riven with animosity in recent years – and little good it has done either side. Labour politicians were apt to blame the First Minister for his combative approach. Certainly he lacks for nothing in self-assertiveness and an ability to irritate. But it is former prime minister Gordon Brown who must bear a fair share of the responsibility for the negative atmosphere between Edinburgh and London.

Not only was there a difficult relationship between the SNP First Minister and Mr Brown, but the former Labour First Minister Jack McConnell also found him tough going, as, on many occasions, did Henry McLeish. Mr Brown was wont to treat Labour in Scotland as his own fiefdom and to insist on running it as he saw fit. Arguably the bigger change for Holyrood was not David Cameron's arrival but Mr Brown's departure: the elephant that's left the room.

The way is now clear for a different approach and certainly yesterday's meeting at St Andrews House marked a cordial beginning. That may not have been immediately obvious from Mr Salmond's rhetoric, clearly intended for street consumption, that the new coalition had "no mandate" and that Scotland should be protected from public spending cuts. On the mandate charge, Mr Salmond can do the arithmetic as well as anyone: the Liberal Democrat and Conservative vote combined in Scotland in last week's election totalled 878,366, or 36 per cent of votes cast, against the SNP's 491,386, or 19.9 per cent. What part of the gap between 19.9 per cent and 36 per cent does he not understand?

As for spending cuts, he well knows that Scotland, as the Prime Minister made clear, has to bear its fair share. There is much on which they will disagree. But it is the enormity of the challenges ahead on tackling the worst deficit ever amassed in peace time, with bond markets in turmoil, that now demands an open, mature and intelligent relationship.