Speaking to the Institute for Government last week John Swinney said that Scotland and England were moving in "significantly different" political directions.

The First Minister depicted Scotland as something of a social democratic haven as he told his audience that Nigel Farage 's populist right wing party, Reform UK , while a presence, was not a real threat to the over-riding left leaning consensus as he suggested it is in England.

I couldn't help feeling that Mr Swinney was presenting a more tolerant image of his country to the London audience last Wednesday than is currently the reality.

My instinct appeared to be confirmed as news events developed in the days that followed the First Minister's conversation with the IfG senior fellow Jill Rutter.

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