Dogs Will Not Lie Down With Cats.

I’m fonder of wacky political hypotheticals than the next fellow but even I draw the line at Sunder Katwala’s assertion that some people can see a path towards a Labour-SNP coalition in Edinburgh. This is splendidly creative but also, alas, untethered to reality.

The party leaders – apart from the Green’s Patrick Harvie who has been excluded, perhaps unfairly – gather for their first debate tonight. You can, my friends, watch the drama here. You will notice that Labour-SNP relations are chilly. There is not the slightest reason to suppose that either party would have any interest in governing in partnership with the other. Who is going to tell Iain Gray that despite being, perhaps, the larger party Labour will have to settle for the Deputy First Minister’s position? Then again, neither Alex Salmond nor Nicola Sturgeon will serve under Mr Gray.