Leading with his chin

Not for the first time, the ex-First Minister sticks his neck out, only for the present First Minister to deploy a rather effective chopper. From FMQs yesterday (here):

Jack McConnell: ...
However, he [Mr Swinney] then left the chamber and told the waiting media that the Edinburgh airport rail link project was "dead"—that it had "had it". He increasingly sounded like John Cleese in a "Monty Python" sketch. Will the First Minister tell him that if he continues to mislead Parliament in such a way, his credibility will cease to be? It will expire. It will be no more. It will pass on, and John Swinney will be an ex-minister. Was John Swinney's statement to the Parliament true, or was his statement to the media true?

The First Minister: There is only one dead parrot in this chamber.

Mr McConnell needs a new script-writer.