Cutting a dash

It is one of the annoying things about modern politics that you often are so busy head down and rushing about you sometimes cannot see the bigger picture. This morning as I drank my second coffee of the morning I had a wee reminder of this as I scanned today’s engagements of the European Commission. Look at the red ones (my emphasis)

European Commission

16h00 - Ms Viviane REDING receives Mr Peter HUSTINX, European Data Protection Supervisor

09h30 - Mr Stavros DIMAS receives Mrs Sirkka-Liisa ANTTILA, Finnish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry

9h45 - Mr Joe BORG receives Mr Richard LOCHHEAD, Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of the Scottish Government

13h15 - Mr Joe BORG receives Mr Dacian CIOLOS, RomanianMinister for Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development

17h15 - Mr Janez POTOČNIK receives Mr Matthias KLEINER, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft President (DGF)

12h45 - Speech of Mr László KOVÁCS at the plenary meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU

9h30 - Speech of Mrs Mariann FISCHER BOEL at the CEEV (Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins) conference "Wine in Moderation"

16h00 - Mrs Mariann FISCHER BOEL receives Mr Richard LOCHHEAD, Scottish Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment

11:30 – Mr Peter MANDELSON meets with Mr Alexei KUDRIN, Russian Vice Prime Minister

Mr Richard Lochhead, my old boss at Holyrood, Minister of the Government of Scotland, in Brussels meeting the Fisheries Commissioner and then the Agriculture Commissioner. Look at the company he’s keeping in their other engagements.

No sign of the former cringe of the “Scottish Executive”, “devolved government” or such rubbish, we’re looking and acting like the government of one of Europe’s oldest nations, and we’re being treated like it.

All after 9 months of operation. Not bad, can do better.

And because I can’t resist it, below the latest opinion polls. Much as we pay them no heed when they run against us, let nobody be in any doubt something in Scotland is not qualitatively different to what went before 3 May 2007. And on these figures the tories and LibDems are in bother for a European seat come 2009. But then, they could fall a lot further before then.

Scottish Parliament constituency vote:SNP: 39% (+6)Lab: 31% (-1)Con: 15% (-2)Lib: 12% (-4)Oth: 3% (+1)

Scottish Parliament regional vote:SNP: 40% (+9)Lab: 30% (+1)Con: 13% (-1)Lib: 11% (-)Oth: 5% (-10)