No Scottish Referendum?

It’s not been a great couple of weeks for Alex Salmond, has it? First there was the budget hullabaloo, then the SNP was compelled to abandon (at least for the time being) its plans to replace the council tax with a local income tax and now the leaders of the opposition parties have each confirmed that they will vote against the nationalists’ referendum bill.

As matters stand, then, there will be no independence referendum next year. The Tories, Lib Dems and Labour all say it would be “inappropriate” to have an independence debate in the midst of an economic downturn. Well perhaps it would and perhaps it would be a mighty distraction from more pressing matters. But one can’t help but feel that they’ve got the SNP on the run and that, therefore, this is a good moment at which to pile on the agony. For the first time since the nationalists won power in 2007, they seem a beleaguered, rather than a cocky and confident minority.