I'M SCARED TO LOOK

I'm afraid to look. I'm afraid of what I am sure will be paraded across the media outlets of the world. I'm afraid that Scotland will be treated to derision and disbelief by onlookers and commentators from the five continents. The reason? Tomorrow the Scottish Parliament has been recalled in order to discuss Justice Minister McAskill's decision to release Al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds. What a comic has called 'a wee pretendy parliament' will demonstrate to the world that not only can you not make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, it will show that cannot get rats out of mice.

Holyrood (always mispronounced 'Hollyrood' both by media and inside personnel) right from the start was a haven for local politicians who never in a month of Sundays or Mondays would have got past the police guard at the gates of Westminster. If any proof is needed, just take in the level of debate thoughtfully provided by the BBC and compare it to Westminster's. Chalk and cheese does not describe it. That's why the Leaping Salmond stands out so much in what excruciatingly passes for debate. In Holyrood, he is a big shark in a pool of minnows, while in Westminster, he was a small shark in an ocean of big sharks.

Regardless of this, I think he will take a more active role in the Megrahi Affair debate than he has done so far. His performance has up to now been muted, if in fact he has not been actually mute, leaving K.McAskill to face the flak, protected only by that tartan curtain he emerged from to let us know he was going to spring Megrahi. The Leaping One has re-developed signs of his cocky self-confidence over the weekend, achieved mostly by repeating the same mantra over and over again, and which I suspect will be shouted out in Animal Farm-like sheep chorus by the massed ranks of SNP MSPs. "Due process, clear evidence". The world will see what a devolved parliament can do tomorrow. No Taiwanese punch ups or Spanish gunplay. Just Scots jumped-up local politicians doing what they do best.