Cameron: "I'll run away with every fibre of my being"

I've explained before why there is only one person Alec Salmond could go head-to-head with in a televised debate on the independence referendum, but I'll summarise the main reason here.

1.   Who's who. In my book, folk should debate their opposite numbers. Therefore the debating opponents should be:

Office	Scotland / Yes Scotland	UK / Better Together
Head of Government	Alec Salmond	David Cameron
Referendum Lead in Governing Party	Nicola Sturgeon	George Osborne
Chair of Campaign	Denis Canavan	Alistair Darling
Chief Executive of Campaign	Blair Jenkins	Blair McDougall

2.   Who he?  What possible weight could a washed-up, opposition backbench MP, a serial expenses cheat and house flipper who rarely bothers his backside to attend parliament preferring to trough it with Health Privatisation Companies at £12,240 a time like Alistair Darling carry with the electorate of Scotland?

David Cameron has now written to the Scottish Government that he will not engage in a head-to-head debate with Alec Salmond, despite previously having vowed to fight to preserve the Union "with every fibre of my being". He doesn't have the heid, hairt or hingers for the fight. Click that last link - you'll laugh your socks off. Is Cameron a coward or just incompetent and lazy? All three I'd say.

Derek Bateman (my new favourite #indyref blogger) covers Cameron's cowardice expertly in Who will fill a coward's grave. He recommends that Salmond should now debate Darling. While I have no doubt whatsoever that Salmond would wipe the floor with Darling, even before being able to pray in aid the points thrown up by Cameron's cowardice that Derek Bateman enumerates, I hae ma doubts that it would be a good idea.  

Salmond tries desperately not to laugh as he runs rings round Cameron at every turn.

Appearances are important and Alec Salmond needs to show that Scotland can be a mature, independent democracy. The Head of the Scottish Government engaging with a non-entity like Darling would be like a Heidmaister kicking seven colours of shyte out of the school bully in the playground.  However satisfying it would be to watch at the time, the after-taste left behind would be by no means edifying for the Heidmaister.

In my book, Alec Salmond either debates his opposite number or no-one. I have little doubt that Denis Canavan could deal more than adequately with the flea on the back of the Tory organ grinder's monkey that is Alistair Darling.