Get ready to Rumbles.

Mr Smith reads that that former Army officer and now Member of the Scottish Parliament, Mike Rumbles, has apparently been asked whether he is prepared to return from retirement to support efforts in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"A politician has criticised the armed forces after being asked if he would consider serving abroad - some 13 years after he retired from the Army.West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MSP Mike Rumbles, who was a major in the Royal Army Education Corps, received a letter from the Ministry of Defence asking if he would consider putting his name forward as a volunteer to serve on foreign soil.He turned down the offer, which would have meant he might be called upon to leave his post in parliament and return to the Army, possibly in Iraq or Afghanistan."

Mr Smith makes the point that never minding supporting the fight for democracy in Iraq or Afghanistan, sending Mr "let's get ready to " Rumbles away from the Scottish Parliament would probably be doing Scottish democracy a bit of favour as well.

Clutching at threads.

If this really happened as described in the Herald, then Mr Smith thinks that Team Salmond need to think seriously about picking their battles more carefully. This one comes across as a bit of a joke.

"Alex Salmond complained to the Defence Secretary that basing Scottish infantry soldiers outside Scotland will undermine attempts to boost the population. The First Minister yesterday wrote to Des Browne saying it is "regrettable", as it "seems destined to lose Scotland, through marriage and other reasons, many of its young men who we would have hoped would make their long-term future after service life in Scotland". The SNP leader's concerns were dismissed by a Whitehall source as "the best demonstration we could have of somebody manufacturing a grievance"."