NICOLA Sturgeon’s Programme for Government took three times as long to deliver than the average Queen’s Speech. Although packed with detail, the address was more notable for what was not in it, and the order of what was.
Being the first Programme for Government since the SNP and Greens forged a co-operation agreement, you might have expected the smaller party to be thrown a few carrots early on, if only to be polite. Yet it took the First Minister till the final section of her speech to mention specifically Green policies.
Did Ms Sturgeon want to build up to a rousing, COP26-themed conclusion, or was keeping the green stuff till last a way of showing the junior partner, plus sceptics in her own party, and the country, who was in charge?
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