Darling turns Standard's map upside down

Paugh Waugh, who works for the local newspaper down here, is all upset that the country is apparently being run from Edinburgh instead of London for the next 24 hours while Chancellor Alistair Darling is in charge of the ship.

"Now you know what it feels like," we chorused when Mr Waugh walked into Room 2 (the Scottish and Welsh room) in the Westminster press gallery to annouce that the Tories were taking the bait. More on that in the prints tomorrow.

Mr Darling, who will be looking to have a quieter week than Lord Mandelson and Harriet Harman, is in Glasgow today on official business and will be in London before nightfall so that worried Standard readers can sleep easy in their beds.

PS: I have been asked before about Paul Waugh and, no, he is no relation to Evelyn Waugh, the author. Paul is northern, working class and a brilliantly witty diarist, journalist and blogger while Evelyn just happened to be the privileged son of a noted editor and publisher.