excuses from Mr Salmond's office about why he had to miss the two most recent meetings. It was not as if he had been doing anything particularly onerous on the days in question, claimed Labour. On one of the days he stayed away, he had been attending a reception at Edinburgh Castle and on the other, he was at a reception in Stirling Castle. (At this point, the casual observer might well ask: What is it about this guy and castles? Does he have delusions of grandeur, perhaps? Answers on a postcard, please.) It was obvious that Mr Salmond was stung by this cheeky piece of decent research by Labour because he went into his favourite havering mode. He blustered about nothing in particular and tried to ask questions of Mr Gray, when it was he who was supposed to be answering them -- a point underlined by Alex Fergusson, the presiding officer. To be fair to him, Mr Salmond made the point that he may not have been attending FiSAB meetings but he had been talking continually with the principals in the banks and finance houses about their situation, as well as with the Treasury in London. And while he may not have meant to give this impression, I got the feeling from what he said that it was much more important for him to talk to such people than to turn up at FiSAB. But what do I know? The First Minister did not do especially well, either,