Salmond agrees to meet Brown

I am informed that Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, has agreed to meet Gordon Brown to discuss a wee problem concerning petrol supplies when his Eckness is nearby in any case.

It made me wonder about what reception he would get as FM rolling up to the door of Downing Street (in a car). It took me back to a speech made by a Tory dude of the name of Hague on The 21st of January this year - one of the cast has changed, but the chagrin is still the same - do I want to meet him:

We can all picture the scene at a European Council sometime next year. Picture the face of our poor Prime Minister as the name “Blair” is nominated by one President and Prime Minister after another: the look of utter gloom on his face at the nauseating, glutinous praise oozing from every Head of Government, the rapid revelation of a majority view, agreed behind closed doors when he, as usual, was excluded. Never would he more regret no longer being in possession of a veto: the famous dropped jaw almost hitting the table, as he realises there is no option but to join in. And then the awful moment when the motorcade of the President of Europe sweeps into Downing street. The gritted teeth and bitten nails: the Prime Minister emerges from his door with a smile of intolerable anguish; the choking sensation as the words, “Mr President”, are forced from his mouth,