MINISTER FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Are we alone,  we wonder,  in thinking that,  after the nationalists' recent conference in Perth,  Wee Alex has decided to give Nicola a backward shove and  replace her with Ms Hyslop in a much more public role?

 

We say that because almost every time we  switched on the wireless or the telly all week we saw Ms Hyslop,  rather than Nicola,  propounding the nationalist cause.  We cannot say we blame him either and it may well have dawned on The Wee Man that Nicola is far too abrasive,  aggressive and belligerent to pursue the nationalist cause further.  In other words,  Nicola causes a stairheid rammy wherever she goes and repels more voters than she attracts.  While Ms Hyslop is equally steely in attitude,  she is much less aggressive and that must help.

 

According to the website,  Ms Hyslop is 'Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs'.  But which 'Culture', we wonder,   - north,  south,  east or west and what does she know about our own very specific West Highland crofting culture up here?  We would guess that for a metropolitan like Ms Hyslop the answer is 'nothing'.

Is 'External Affairs'  The Wee Man's equivalent of the Foreign Office?   If so, it seems rather premature and we cannot but wonder out loud what they make of those grandiose nationalist gestures in Moscow and Bejing?