Hiding behind the code

The ministerial code, which Alex Salmond is seeking to hide behind in not revealing whether or not the Scottish Government has taken legal advice on Scotland's position in the EU were she to become independent, does not forbid such a revelation - it simply says that prior consent has to be obtained from the Law Officers if the information is to be made public. Perhaps someone should submit a FOI request to find out if the First Minister has actually asked the Law Officers if he can reveal the information requested by MEP Catherine Stihler's original FOI request. Or perhaps we should all just pray that the Court of Session boots out the Scottish Government's appeal against the Information Commissioner's request pronto. Then Calton can get down to the much more interesting business of dissecting the legal advice (if any exists) to see what it really means for Scotland.