And so we ended much as we began. This session of the Scottish Parliament went out with a rampant SNP, a worthy but dull Labour leadership, a gallant but failed Tory intervention and a clip round the ear for the Liberal Democrats.

Quite how Alex Salmond has managed to stay so completely on top when all around him his policies are crumbling and his minority status prevents him from moving even the most mildly contentious legislation, may say more about our political climate than it does about the man himself.

Yesterday was a perfect illustration of the state in which Scottish politics currently finds itself. Iain Gray, the Labour leader, who has had time now to hit his stride, moves slowly. He positions himself well, if predictably, in the middle lane, and is then, routinely, overtaken.

He chose a worthy theme yesterday — the aftermath of a report into the Brandon Muir case. He wanted to know whether Mr Salmond would order an inquiry into the state of social services in Scotland. He somehow implied that the estimated 20,000 children growing up with drug-taking parents required the personal protection that only Mr Salmond could offer.

“We don’t need to count them, but to find them, and find them quickly so we can protect them,” he said.

Deftly, the First Minister pointed out that Mr Gray was implying that social services were not up to the job. “We have the most systematic and strenuous system of inspections, certainly anywhere in these islands, and perhaps anywhere in Europe,” he answered in a voice which suggested that he stood shoulder to shoulder, not just with the social workers of the land, but the children as well. “Not just in one tragic case where an inquiry is pending . . .this Government and I hope all of this Parliament applaud the action being taken to make the children of Scotland safer.”

It is hard, of course, to counteract this kind of approach. Mr Gray’s technique is to hunch his shoulders just a little, and doggedly pursue his point. It is not a success. One senses that he is not going to score a substantial point — nor does he.

Were he a more devious and perhaps a more self-assured figure he might have chosen a better subject: the grotesque amount of money required to fly Mr Salmond’s economic advisers across the Atlantic, perhaps; or the absurdity of his Health Secretary’s demands that Westminster stumps up for Scottish swine flu vaccination. But then Mr Gray is who he is.

As indeed is the Tory leader, Annabel Goldie. She was robust as ever — chiding the First Minister for breaking his promises and for being more interested in scoring points against London than in running the country. She had a little list of failed policies and she read it out.

But Mr Salmond, of course, had a rather longer list — of stunning SNP successes — which he also read out. It was a case of Annie Get Your Gun — the number that goes Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better, only in this case it was Anything You Can List, I Can List Longer, I Can List Anything Longer than You. No you can’t, yes I can, no you can’t. Except that Alex Can.

It was now up to Tavish Scott, the Lib Dem leader, to do better. But Mr Salmond stuck out a foot and tripped him up almost before he had got going. Mr Scott thought that the First Minister had mispronounced the word internecine.

Quick as a flash, Mr Salmond riposted that internecine warfare depended on having enough party members to have a war in the first place. He doubted if the Lib Dems could muster enough.

The sound of a chamber laughing uproariously must be the pleasantest sound a political leader can hear. Mr Salmond will face the summer with it ringing in his ears.

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