A darkened room

Clearly key members of the political parties need time in one right now: Gordon Brown is busy suggesting that the SNP and the Tories are working together to bring down the Union, and his point is supported by his Constituency neighbour, Menzies Campbell - this is a shape of things to come at Westminster the 'two old men from Fife' working together to run the show. That'll really put the West Lothian Question to bed, eh? Anyway, this is the daftest accusation of the year so far, and it puts him in early contention for the 'Comical Ali' award. Firstly, the SNP's refusal to have anything to do with the Tories is a firmly established Party policy and doesn't look like changing any time soon. Secondly, leading Tories (at least in Scotland) have floated the idea of propping up a minority Labour administration, to stop the SNP from getting in. Brown needs to check his facts.

On the other side, Alex Salmond seems to have lost his rag with regard to Douglas Alexander: he accuses the Scotland Secretary of never having had a job in his life, and compares him to a Sunday School pupil. Seeing as the SNP are supposed to be running a positive campaign, I'm surprised that someone as politically savvy as Alex Salmond can let himself appear so wound up.

And the thing is, the Election is still three and a half months away. If the pelters are this heavy in January, what are they going to be like in April?