The whole issue of UK / GB / GB and NI / home nations is a fine example of the constitutional confusion which is the UK.

“Another tidbit is that the SNP are actually doing better among women than men!”

There are women ministers in Health and in Education. These are the topics that interest women more than men.

Many years ago, I was canvassing with an elderly Labour party member on the last street of council houses to be canvassed before the poll. Although it was past the time we were due to finish, we decided to complete the task and canvass the last house in the street. My colleague said there would be little point, because this house, which was also part of the street at right angles, was an older, good quality, owner occupied property.

The woman who opened the door, gave us such a critique of how the Conservative government had failed that we realised she would have done the canvassing much better than we had done and that we had failed too.

Now the mistake was to classify her as “Homeowner” when what dominated her life was her two lively pre-school girls. Any classification or classification system obscures the potential of any other classification.

Adam Smith was wrong. The strongest human instinct is not the acquisition of resources and power. That is a male strategy for getting your genes into the next generation.

The half of the population that sits down to pee has a different strategy. It’s called the maternal instinct.

Scottish mothers can see that Fiona Hyslop is the sort of person who will be effective. I’ve met her for about five minutes and if I were a political opponent or civil servant, I wouldn’t dream of obstructing her.

You have heard about “picking fights with Westminster”?

Which Scottish Minister tacitly accepted a rebuff on a proposal for an asylum amnesty?

Which Scottish Minister negotiated an end to dawn raids where agents of the state took Scottish schoolchildren out of their beds in the middle of the night to take them to a jail before deporting them?

Which Scottish Minister gave the same kids the right to free university education?

Then there are initiatives in child health and nutrition including school meals.

So if Scottish mothers and grandmothers are moving to support the SNP, there is no surprise there. I’d be astonished if it were otherwise.

You could call it biological warfare.

http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Breaking-news-Hospital-car-park.4448375.jp

After independence there will be an opportunity for not having WMD and not participating in USA’s wars.

Wouldn’t you agree that would be the upscaling the not-doing which I am predicting?

The SNP needs no other policy than not-doing whatever flavour-of-the-month gimmickry and party dogma comes out of Westminster, whichever party is in power. New opportunities will be presented by a London focused Conservative government with a fresh set of policies risibly inappropriate for the highlands.

It certainly isn’t a sudden flush of enthusiasm for independence that accounts for the SNP’s recent increase in popularity, but not doing is such a rich seam to be digging in you may well be trusted with independence.

You demurred when I said that the SNP had done nothing, and with more experience in office would do more nothing, and do it better.

Now you say:

“in effect they gave a standing ovation to what we are not planning to do as opposed to what we are.”

and “Where Nicola scored with the BMA was in saying that the SNP rejects foundation hospitals, more use of the private sector, PFI/PPP and “megaclinics” ”

Doing nothing doesn’t get any better than that.

Somehow or other your party got on the wrong side of all this and failed to realise that many Scots including the likes of Chris Hoy take exactly the same view about sporting events at GB level as the rest of the country. Yes of course if for example no Scots players appear in a particular Lions rugby team then Scots won’t feel so supportive but having for years watched Lions matches et al in the bar of a boisterous sports club I can assure you that the remarks hurled at the screen when the opposition especially the Aussies commit a foul FAR exceed the comments you’ll hear around Twickenham!!
Stop digging a hole for yourself Peter and retire gracefully from this subject!!
Nick