Murphy's respectful strategy

Interesting to read on Brian Taylor's blog that at the meeting of the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster today Jim Murphy carefully referred to Alex Salmond's administration as the 'Scottish Government', while members of the committee for the most part insisted on sticking to the admittedly legally still correct (but utterly absurd) name 'Scottish Executive'. What intrigues me about this is that it was at a meeting of the very same committee just a matter of weeks before becoming Secretary of State for Scotland that Murphy rather gratuitously went out of his way to 'correct' an SNP member who had dared to utter the words 'Scottish government'. And yet just weeks later Secretary of State Murphy was archly explaining why it was so terribly important to use the word 'government'- mutual respect between administrations, don't you know.

A sinner repenteth is naturally always a joy, but this truly was a Damascene conversion by any standards. And as ever the really interesting question is why such a dramatic change of heart? Call me a cynic, but I'm guessing the word 'strategy' might just have loomed as large in his thinking - dare I say even a touch larger - than the word 'respect'.