The Bank of China's bid to take over HBOS has been called off. The reason that China's second biggest bank walked away was apparently because of a cold shoulder from the Treasury who seem to be the only people still keen on the original, now stalled, Lloyds-TSB deal. Even the Lloyds-TSB board aren't as keen as the Treasury regarding their intitial proposal. The Treasury have denied this...

Just announced on the I'm 4 Ros website is the news that the immediate past leader of the Lib Dems across the UK and current Scottish leader are backing Baroness Ross Scott for the post of Federal Party President. Ming Campbell MP and Tavish Scott MSP back Ros 17 Oct 09:00 Sir Menzies Campbell MP and the newly elected Lib Dem leader, Tavish Scott MSP have today both announced their support...

As I typed yesterday the 4 of us the Lady Caron, Mister Pinkfish, Mister Stephen and myself found ourselves facing Mister Viking Leader over a cup of coffee or Earl Grey tea. Having long been a fan of the pachyderm school of blogging I was longing to get into my first political interview. However, I found myself a little tongue tied and left the asking of questions to my three human...

On Saturday the Lady Caron, Mister Pinkfish, Mister Stephen and myself sat down in Beanscene across the road from the Scottish Lib Dem conference venue with the new party leader Mister Viking Leader. The other three bloggers were so talkative I couldn't get an word in edgeways although I was dying to ask why he chose to wear an tie honouring the colour of that Westminster based dog....

Mister Pinkfish has arranged an bloggers' interview with our Viking Leader at the meeting of the hoarde in Dùn Èideann next month. Mister Stephen is going and promises if I am a good panthera leo I may be allowed to follow in the fluffy pacyderm footprints of my blogging hero to be the cuddling blogger of that event.Wonder if I'll get my own pass like the many on Mister Stephen's...

Looking around the blogosphere Tavish's call for tax cut such has really got their hackles up. Whether it's calling him a Tumshy and an eejit, asking him to stop havering or just to urge care. Even Alex Neil seems unwilling to admit that the government as like the people should find ways to tighten their belt in difficult financial times. While their Westminster business and energy...

"It's time the government got off people's backs. They take too much of our money and it's time they started giving it back." The words of John McCain on the US Presidential campaign trail? Actually, no.Instead this is the basic gist of what the new leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Tavish Scott said at the Liberal Democrats conference in Bournemouth when he called for an immediate 2p cut in income tax through the Scottish Parliament's tax-varying powers. This is in response to current personal economic problems people face.In many ways Scott deserves some praise for this - it is at least a new and clear idea. I've always been amazed that no-one - least of all the Tories - has sought to implement such a plan before. Doing so would seem to be an easy way of sending a clear message...

At the weekend down at the Federal Party conference down in Bournemouth Tavis Scott challenged the Scottish Government as well as fellow opposition parties to really help people by cutting 2p of the level of income tax. He said that with fuel costs up by 50% and the average food bill up £30 a month and inflation soaring we could not let this go on, adding. "We can't turn our backs. We've got...

There is a profile of the new leader of the Scottish Lib Dems in the Sunday Times:it is interesting that the only thing for which Tavish Scott, the newly elected leader of the Scottish Lib Dems, is renowned is bringing a troupe of “Vikings” from his native Shetland to the opening of Parliament last year.“They came in full Viking regalia,” he says, “gave three cheers for the Queen as they walked past the box, which you’re not meant to do, found a buffet, scoffed the lot and drank the bar dry.”The so-called Jarl Squad presented the presiding officer with a Jarl Squad tie, and he’s clearly proud of them. Have the Liberal Democrats finally found somebody with a bit of spunk?Time will...

It was a bold not tim'rous beastie that faced the Scottish CBI yesterday in Glasgow. The Prime Minister referring to the Calman Commission said: "The Scottish Parliament is wholly accountable for the budget it spends, but not for the size of its budget. "And that budget is not linked to the success of the Scottish economy and that's why we've asked Calman to look carefully at the...

It is a testament to just how anonymous the Lib Dems are that when I was talking about Tavish Scott becoming leader this week, that the person I was talking to thought he had taken over from Nick Clegg in the Commons.Just for the record Tavish has become leader of the Lib Dems in the Scottish Parliament, not Westminster, taking over from that bloke you can't quite remember...apart from the fact that you think he may have had two first names. [And that is as memorable a fact as you will find amongst Lib Dem politicians - except for perhaps that one who was in the Olympics last century, the one who had a drinking problem but was still the best leader they could have hoped for under the circumstances, the one that dated a cheeky girl (but doesn't anymore) and that one who danced with...

Well the other parties in Scotland had been writing off the Lib Leadership Election as an irrelevance but it is interesting in some of their statements just what they really think. As I'm currently reading Barak Obama's 'The Audacity of Hope' one thing that is equally apparent in US as well as UK politics is that you don't use negative campaigning unless you are worried and in a tight...

There is a famous Aesop's fable called 'The dog and the bone'.A dog walks along a river with a bone in his mouth. On seeing his reflection he believes it to be another dog with a juicier bone and so drops his own one to get it. However at that point his own bone falls into the river and he ends up with nothing. The moral is of course that people should beware of greed and wanting more for fear of losing that which they already have.As Tavish Scott takes over as the new leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats he would do well to bear this story in mind because it neatly sums up the conundrum facing the Lib Dems in Holyrood.In recent years the Lib Dems have had mixed (and largely declining) fortunes. For a while they were on the up; across the UK they stood out as the main party to oppose...

Yesterday Tavish Scott did win the nomination to be leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats with 59% of the vote. From where I was sitting he was advocating a great deal of continuity, had the backing of most, though not all, of the establishment of MPs and MSPs etc in Scotland. However, 41% a sizable minority, did still vote for the other two candidates who advocated some sort of change...

Contrary to rumours which Jeff at SNP Tactical voting was starting to circulate Mike Rumbles is not the new leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. That honour with 59% of the first preference votes goes to Tavish Scott. Ross Finnie was second with 21.3% with Mike Rumbles on 17.9%. On a 61% turnout of party membership I hope that the winner does take onboard some of the issues and...

Yesterday I covered the opening speeches of the 3 candidates Mike Rumbles, Ross Finnie and Tavish Scott. Today I'll look at the answers they gave to the 10 questions that ended up being put to them from the floor. Plus take a brief look at the impact this hustings seemed to have on some of the people present. (If the question setters are reading this and I haven't totally accurately reported...

This morning the Scottish Liberal Democrat leadership candidates were addressing the members in the central belt, Edinburgh in the morning and Glasgow this afternoon. I attended the Edinburgh event armed with pen and not book to take copious notes in order to blog how the three fared in what I hope is a balanced way. The order in which they spoke was drawn by lot and after their 15...

OK I realise that tomorrow is the Edinburgh Leadership hustings for the leadership of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and I've so far been fairly quiet on that front. (Although there are 4 unpublished drafts back here which you lot can't see) Bernard Salmon has asked his questions and got his answers from the three aspirants. Both he and J. Arthur McNumpty also point out the sad state of...

This is the first leadership campaign during which I've had a facebook presence, so I'm quite intrigued that this time instead of my email it is my facebook inbox that is getting the requests to support various candidates. Ironically this is despite me already pinning my colours firmly to the mast of another candidate and joining his Facebook group. Obviously my Facebook Scottish Liberal...

Somebody surfed through to here last night looking for the meaning of Tavish. So my curiosity was spiked so I decided to look up the meaning of the three Liberal Democrat leadership candidates names. Tavish is of Irish and Gaelic origin. A variant of Thomas therefore possibly 'twin', or may also be linked to 'teeve', an Irish word meaning hillside. Ross is of Scottish and Gaelic origin, and...

Tavish Scott today was the least surprising entrant into the contest to succeed his close friend Nicol Stephen as leader of the Liberal Democrats. He said in Shetland today: "The Nationalists have formed their first government - and have shown themselves to be as opportunistic in office as they always were in opposition." "Labour is sinking under the weight of its own internal strife - and...

Ross Finnie said he had received a "very good measure of support" when he announced his intention to stand in the Scottish Liberal Democrat leadership election to succeed Nicol Stephen. He joins Mike Rumbles as those who have already thrown there hat into the ring. He set out his stall by saying: "I think that far too many people that I see and speak to began to wonder 'what is the Liberal...

Well it looks like when I wrote this I was three quarters right. Later today it is widely expected that Tavish Scott and Ross Finnie will both announce that they will be contesting the election for the leadership of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. They will join Mike Rumbles on the ballot paper for the STV one member one vote election which closes on 26 August....

What a week to leave Scotland. First Wendy goes. Then David Marshall resigns (more of that later). Now Nicol Stephen is doing what many people called for earlier this year: resign so that Tavish Scott can formally become Leader.It's been the worst kept secret of Scottish politics that Tavish Scott has been the de facto Leader since the Scottish elections. We've had the decent period of time from being booted out of office to the point where 'spending more time with the family' is appropriate.Meanwhile, Labour's woes just get worse. It's all a bit odd that Labour can leave John McDougall on his sick bed for months for fear of a by-election defeat in Glenrothes but can risk a bigger defeat in Glasgow East. Well, looks like the truth behind Mr Marshall's ill-health is the worry caused by his...

I'll admit last night the news that Nicol Stephen had stepped down as leader of the Scottish Lib Dems still leaves me stunned. Most of the recent leadership changes had not been out of the blue like this one. Jim Wallace had led a decent campaign into the 2005 General Election but felt it was time to go, Charles was a long drawn out affair which came to a head like a raging bull even though...

It's more and more talked about that neither Labour nor the Tories are likely to form a majority government at the next election. Brown will do badly either way. Cameron has too much to do to gain outright power. So what happens then?Well one or other may think they can do a Salmond in Westminster. I think Cameron would be better at that than Gordon. The largest party may seek to form a coalition and Nick Clegg has certainly been making the overtures about how nice the Tories really are - provided they deliver on certain policies. Now imagine how the de facto Holyrood Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott would view this? Daily he berates the Tories for helping the SNP. Now his British uberfuhrer may want to strike a bigger deal. Is that why the Holyrood Lib Dems backed Huhne? Maybe they saw this...

…for the time being? According to the BBC, the Liberal Democrats are refusing to go into coalition with the SNP for the time being. The stumbling block is, of course, the independence referendum. I am quite surprised. As the campaign went along, both the Lib Dems and the SNP seemed to be leaving wriggle room for compromise. To suddenly shut the door on a deal is surprising. This is the second time in less than twelve hours that the Lib Dems have ruled out a coalition deal. Tavish Scott was on The Politics Show this afternoon and when he was asked if a coalition deal with Labour was on the cards he said confidently and without hesitation, “No.” Perhaps the Lib Dems have figured that they have nothing to gain from making another coalition deal. They are getting a bad...