Last Light

Didn't see much daylight today, working on my computer, with my view of the wall. It was Budget day in the Scottish Parliament and there appears to have been all manner of political posturing one the Green Party support for the minority SNP government's proposed budget. The Greens claim they managed to get some extra money for local government, which the SNP appear to acknowledge. Labour say that the Greens were (a) conned over the amount of money on offer and (b) should never have caved in anyway as the SNP budget remains not left wing enough for the Greens avowed political position. The Tories on the other hand claim that the Greens have forced the SNP further to the left than is good for the Scottish economy. Not quite sure what the LibDems think but they are probably a little put out that they have allowed themselves to be replaced by the Greens as the party of compromise. I guess there are many ways of reading the figures and therefore difficult to work out who's telling the truth. It is a parliament elected by PR and with a minority government so there is room for negotiation, which, by definition, means not getting everything you want in return for getting something that you want. Which I guess is where the Greens would claim a success. Not quite sure how far Labour expect they could go by simply blocking the budget. At least the SNP have compromised to the left, rather than the right. Thinking aloud, that's probably why Labour are miffed with the Greens. If the budget vote had gone against them, perhaps the SNP might have considered a deal with the Tories to get the budget through. Enabling Labour to challenge the SNP claim to be a party of the left.