Grey Day.

Courtesy of Drumlanrig, "Edinburgh Castle was the venue for the party of the week when Jamie McGrigor celebrated his Tartan Register Bill receiving Royal Assent. The passage of the bill has been a long road for Jamie, who seems to have spent much of his political life working for a National Tartan Register.The booze-up in the Great Hall was a fine affair with most of the guests rigged out like extras from Brigadoon. The success of the event was no thanks to Alex Salmond, who could not decide whether to come or not. His indecision led to a two-week delay in the invitations being sent out. When the invitations did arrive, dress code was described as "Tartan" – a fact ignored by Jim Mather, the Tourism Minister, who arrived in a grey suit."

Blah.

"Blah! It is probably what Scottish Government ministers would like to reply to persistent interrogation from opposition MSPs. And such honesty was on display yesterday, as Jim Mather answered a written parliamentary question from Tory leader Annabel Goldie. She had asked: "How many drug finds were there in each prison in each of the last five years, broken down by type of drug?" The reply she got back from Jim Mather was succinct. "Blah," it said."

The sad but true thing is that this response is about as typically informative as they usually are when they are supplied by Ministers to the Scottish Parliament. Freudian slip? Blah!

Parliament Says No.

From Atticus, "Charity begins at the parliamentary fees office, according to some MSPs' expenses claims. Alex Fergusson, Holyrood's £95,000-a-year Presiding Officer, appeared to be all heart when he placed an advert in his local paper congratulating the Dumfried and Galloway Befriending Project, a charity for disadvantaged children, on its 10th anniversary. When he tried to reclaim the £132.78 costs from taxpayers, parliament officials refused to pay. Him Mateher, the £80,000-a-year enterprise minister, tried to claim £28.91 for Christmas cards he had sent. He, too, was told where to get off."

Very enterprising Mr Mather. Mr Fergusson really should just know better.

Atticus also highlights that Matthew Marr, the former spin doctor to Scottish Labour Leader Wendy Alexander who was forced to resign after calling First Minister Alex Salmond MSP a "c**t" has decied on a change of career and has started training to become a teacher. He really didn't have anywhere left to go in public affairs.

And another one ...

Mr Smith is beginning to wonder if any of our MSPs have actually read the Scottish Parliament's and Scottish Government's rules in relation to the disclosure of MSP interests. The latest of our elected representatives to be caught out is MSP Jim "mind mapper" Mather.

"THE ENTERPRISE minister Jim Mather was accused of breaching the ministerial code of conduct, after it emerged he had failed to notify Scotland's most senior civil servant of his shareholdings when he joined the Scottish Government. Mr Mather had a portfolio of £350,000 of shares – £100,000 in the Glasgow IT company Integrated Environmental Solutions and £250,000 in Optos, a Dunfermline eye-care company – when he took office last May. He still owns them."

Ignorance of the rules is no excuse. It's just a pity that a few more of our MSPs don't seem to have realised that.