Due to a very busy schedule yesterday evening (chiefly involving a business Lord and eight entertaining contestants), I never did get to see the Holyrood battle over SvR. Given that probably keeps me in line with the majority of Scots and there’s little else to be said on the matter, I’m not going to worry too much about it (particularly as my chance to view it tonight is scuppered by going to watch Andy Murray at the O2!)

I am concerned however about the noises the Swinney’s problems will have consequences for the budget. That’s a dark road where only trouble and strife may lie, for the Parliament and Scotland as a whole. Ironically, it is Patrick Harvie, the only party leader who actually wanted to use the tax-varying powers, who has made the clearest call from amongst the Opposition parties to move on from the issue and look forward afresh. Iain MacWhirter is in delightfully scathing mode about the petty games being played –

““The greatest act of political sabotage since devolution,” according to Andy Kerr. Get a life.” Indeed.

There’s a pattern in business that many like to employ where you do a bit of planning, do a lot of work and then stop and ‘take stock’. I reckon that’s the stage that the Scottish Parliament should be approaching, if not today on the highly-charged First Minister’s Questions, then at least Friday or over the weekend.

Scotland has an economy that is lagging behind the rest of the UK, unemployment going up when the rest of the UK’s is going down, a huge opportunity with renewable energy if it can just find some investment capital, a big decision to make over how the next generation of graduates is funded, a growing reputation as a tourism hot-spot and a huge looming debate over how it funds its devolved self. I’ve no doubt only scratched the surface of where Scotland is and what it should be talking to itself about but I do hope I’ve at least made the point that SvR should be way, way down the list of priorities.

Let’s just hope that, against the backdrop of a nerve-jangling election contest, enough MSPs can push beyond partisan temptations and deliver a top drawer financial plan for the year ahead that will stand us in good stead for the next parliamentary term to come. More back-scratching and less back-stabbing.

There’s no avoiding a budget being quid pro quo, but it shouldn’t be tit-for-tat.

(I can’t speak for my fellow editors but I suspect this’ll be my last post to touch on SvR)