The master of the Holyrood sketch is back from his rural retreat, where he was oddly wasted as a TV reviewer, and Parliament is whole again. No-one else has ever captured the depths of mediocrity to which the place can rise, nor the occasional shafts of quality. Carry him shoulder-high, wreathed in copies of the Business Bulletin.
I still think of First Minister's Questions as Hamster Wars, although the title was more fitting when Jack McConnell, Leader of the North Britons, used to take on John Swinney, Chief Executive of the Pictish Nation.
During yesterday's business, his Unofficial Report notes that Helen Eadie "stumbled over her prepared speech like a haddock walking a tightrope."
Perfect. Time for a few of my favourite Rab moments.
I remember a duel from last session which he recorded roughly as follows: "Margaret Curran and Nicola Sturgeon circled each other like crabs and started nipping."
The much-missed George Reid raised the cause of Blairingone in Parliament, a village suffering from serious pollution, and Parliament came together to fix their problem. Rab noted that he "had brought Parliament into repute."
When some bright Ministerial spark promised to build a new Scotland, Rab warned it would have to built right next to the existing one, with all its problems.
If the Scotsman website was better it'd have a special Rab section, easily found, where you could see what really happened at Holyrood, 1999-2004, 2008- . It's hidden away, but I've found it for you.
