The start of something?

Mr Murphy, the new Secretary of State for Scotland, may be more astute than I had realised. An interesting article in The Times explains:

The Scottish Secretary, who took over his new role only last weekend, wrote to the First Minister offering to promote issues that Mr Salmond believes should be on the agenda for the Prime Minister's new National Economic Council.
Mr Murphy went further by suggesting to the First Minister that they meet for “a summit” next week, along with the CBI Scotland and the STUC, to discuss specific Scottish issues arising from the turmoil gripping the world economy.
...
Mr Murphy's “hug them close” approach to Mr Salmond and his SNP ministers is a departure from that of his predecessors, who viewed the SNP government with deep suspicion. However, it also placed Mr Salmond in the position of having to accept the new cordial spirit of the Scotland Office for fear of appearing petty and partisan if he did not.

For once, and perhaps for the first time since he became Prime Minister, it is not Mr Salmond who is setting the agenda. From Mr Murphy's point of view, even if his approach may not be entirely successful, it at least indicates that Labour may be recovering from the doldrums they have been in since losing power in the Scottish Parliament.