Scotland very much in the picture as David Cameron sees the sights

SELDOM can one man have prostrated himself in front of so many examples of Scottish iconography in such a short space of time. Photocalls by the Forth Bridge, Edinburgh Castle, Arthur’s Seat and even a shot of him tucking into a bowl of porridge all featured on David Cameron’s carefully choreographed expedition north of the Border.

In fact, all that appeared to be missing from yesterday’s tartan-themed whistle-stop attempt to save the United Kingdom was the tartan.

As he sought to lay down the law on the most important question facing Scotland for 300 years, the Prime Minister began the day with a question of his own.

“What’s on in the canteen?” he asked workers at the Quaker Oats porridge factory in Cupar, Fife. “Porridge,” was the unanimous, straightforward, legally binding and bleeding obvious answer to Mr Cameron’s fair and unambiguous but utterly guileless question.

For the sake of the Union, his supporters must have hoped such naivety would not be on display when he met the SNP’s wiliest fox, Alex Salmond, later in the day. But after he finished his porridge, Mr Cameron regained his composure and outlined his referendum negotiating position in advance of his summit with the First Minister.

From the porridge factory, the Prime Ministerial party moved through Fife before alighting at South Queensferry – a stop that offered another instantly recognisable, if slightly cliched, image of Scotland.

There, beneath the cantilevered splendour of Scotland’s great feat of Victorian engineering, Mr Cameron said he would be prepared to look at offering Holyrood more devolved powers, assuming the nation rejected independence in the referendum. Mr Cameron stressed the independence issue had to be settled first, with a single, straightforward question.

He said: “We have to settle that question before going on and asking, quite legitimately, is there more we can do to improve the devolved settlement?

“Are there other powers that can be devolved? How can we make the United Kingdom work better?”

It was a remark that would set the political agenda for the rest of a day, which, through its obsession with Scottish landmarks, bore all the hallmarks of Craig Oliver, the former BBC journalist who replaced Andy Coulson as Mr Cameron’s media adviser.

“The pictures are now the big thing,” admitted another London-based Tory spinner.

Mr Oliver’s liking for visual theatre next came to the fore when Mr Cameron arrived at the Apex Hotel in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, where he was to address leading business figures.

High on the fifth floor, the Prime Minister stood behind a lectern that had been carefully positioned to ensure the television cameras had the best possible view of the stunning backdrop offered by Edinburgh Castle.

As anti-capitalism protesters gathered noisily outside, Mr Cameron began his Scottish charm offensive in earnest by recalling a visit to Murrayfield – a trip that had ended in defeat for England. “I stopped off at a chip shop,” the Prime Minister recalled. “As soon as I got through the door, I was asked what I was eating – humble pie?

“It is in that spirit that I come here today.”

The impressive battlements and spires of Edinburgh’s Old Town that loomed in the background were acknowledged by the Prime Minister as he began a keynote speech that made an emotive plea on behalf of the United Kingdom, by emphasising Scotland’s contribution to one of the world’s most successful alliances.

“Edinburgh’s cityscape is studded with monuments to memories – Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and John Knox,” Mr Cameron said, skilfully managing to drop in a few more Scottish references.

On the subject of great Scots, it wasn’t too much longer before he had mentioned Adam Smith – no surprise there – David Hume, John Reith and even those heroes of the left, James Maxton and Keir Hardie.

Despite his Clan Cameron roots, the Prime Minister was not tempted to suggest that he might actually be Scottish.

“I am proud to be English,” he proclaimed. That may be so, but yesterday, all his patriotic fervour was for the United Kingdom.

“Our Union isn’t some antique imposition,” he said. “It is living free and adaptable. It’s admired around the world as a source of prosperity, power and security.

“Just think for a moment: could you explain to someone in America or France or Australia what was so intolerable about Great Britain that we decided to build artificial barriers between our nations?”

Never mind explaining that logic to the Americans, French and Australians, Mr Cameron was now faced with the much stiffer test of explaining it to a Nationalist First Minister of Scotland.

So, to St Andrew’s House, a venue that appealed to Mr Oliver because of the excellent filming opportunities against the backdrop of Arthur’s Seat. It was then that the day of photocalls had its only hitch. The photo opportunity outside St Andrew’s House was disrupted by those anti-capitalism protesters.

After entering by the back door, Mr Cameron was met by a bullish Mr Salmond, who asked the Prime Minister to put a bit of “beef” on his suggestion that more powers could be devolved after the referendum.

At this point, one half expected Mr Oliver to produce a herd of Aberdeen Angus sweeping down from Salisbury Crags for the cameras.