Dearie me
Oh dearie, dearie, me.
There was the kernel, the substance of . It has, to say the least, gone somewhat agley.
Firstly, to thrive, the Scottish Labour Party needs to demonstrate a degree of autonomy. It needs, on occasion, to stand out against Westminster, including its party colleagues.
That is because Alex Salmond's single biggest pitch is that he stands for Scotland, on every occasion, on every issue, without qualification.
That has a powerful appeal for voters in . . . guess where. Successive Scottish Labour and Tory leaders have sometimes struggled to combat that.
They have donned kilts, they have quoted Burns. But they have also glanced nervously over their shoulders to see what London was thinking and altered their behaviour accordingly.
Jack McConnell knows that, for the good of his soul, he should have picked a few open fights with London.
Corageous defiance
He should, for example, have protested long, loudly and in public when attendance allowance was withdrawn by Whitehall in response to the introduction, by Holyrood, of free personal care for the elderly.
He calculated there would be other fights, other issues. He calculated that, in itself, the introduction of free care represented a courageous act of defiance.
Wendy Alexander came to office as leader of Labour in the Scottish Parliament determined to up the ante on autonomy. She wanted that to include Scottish party HQ in Glasgow.
Grand plans have since been somewhat diluted.
But Ms Alexander remained - and remains - keen to assert her political independence. Snag is she chose the issue of Scotland's independence as the battleground.
It is not, in itself, a problem that the issue of the constitution is reserved to Westminster. Arguably, a serious fight will only occur over a reserved or mixed issue - because it is now accepted in practice that Holyrood has control of fully devolved matters.
Patronising tosh
It is not, in itself, a problem that Ms Alexander sought to pursue a path that might be uncomfortable for MPs, including the PM.
Those who say, privately to the newspapers, that Ms Alexander lacks Westminster know-how are spouting patronising tosh. Are we back to seeing Holyrood as "a wee pretendy Parliament"?
The problem was the precise topic - and the timing. The future of the United Kingdom is, I would argue, a matter of passing interest for the prime minister of that United Kingdom.
Yes, Ms Alexander may have become frustrated by what she saw as indecision on the part of Gordon Brown when, demonstrably, he had been considering the topic, partly at her pressing.
But she was wrong, tactically and politically, to act without explicit sanction from the PM.
She should have acknowledged he was in trouble for other reasons, he was certain to face challenges on this at a UK level and that, further, he remains vulnerable on the subject of testing popular opinion because of his refusal to sanction a plebiscite on the EU Lisbon treaty.
It is at least arguable that, given proper planning, the challenge of holding an early referendum might have put the SNP on the back foot as Ms Alexander wished.
Under-harried
What's that, Mr Salmond? You want a referendum, just not now? Why? Scared you'll lose?
There are answers to these questions - not least pages eight and 15 of the SNP manifesto. But they are, potentially, good questions nonetheless.
Ms Alexander is adamant that, as in 1996 when Tony Blair announced a pre-legislative referendum on devolution, her strategy will ultimately be proved right.
Maybe - except that was a referendum announced by a UK Labour leader, not sprung upon one.
Wendy Alexander must hope - does hope - that once the fuss dies down the focus will return to harrying Mr Salmond. To repeat, right now he looks under-harried.
Finally, where are we? The campaign for an early referendum is over before it began. Alex Salmond says no. So do the Tories and LibDems.
Ms Alexander now accepts in practice her focus shifts to the Calman Commission review of devolution.
And 2010? A Scottish Government sanctioned referendum? Labour now say they will have to study the terms although, to be fair, Ms Alexander never offered a blank cheque, whatever comments were made by others.
If she remains leader by then, however, it seems to me it would be very difficult for the party group in Holyrood to turn down the chance of testing popular views on independence.
If he remains prime minister by then, would Gordon Brown be any more persuaded?
PS: All the best to Rangers on Wednesday. Here's hoping they bring back the UEFA Cup for themselves and for Scotland.
PPS: Bet they're wishing they could take Mike McCurry with them as referee, after his supporting role at Ibrox on Saturday.
Here's an idea. Why doesn't football copy the rugby practice of using TV monitoring - by an unnamed official - to assist the ref when he's unsure or unwilling to take a decision?
I'm 
Comments
or to comment.