The Scottish are well known for their sunny disposition and the ability to Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, so it was something of a surprise to hear one member of the clan tell another to "cheer up".

Yet that's exactly what Scottish secretary Michael Moore (not the documentary maker) said to infrastructure secretary Alex Neil after the latter claimed that £68.8m was a "disappointing" figure to roll out broadband across Scotland.

"The Scottish government needs to be more upbeat. It takes a rather sour outlook to turn nearly £70m into a setback. Cheer up for goodness' sake and get on with delivering the improvements to our rural communities," Moore told the Press Association.

Neil, always keen to look for humour in a situation, responded by attacking Moore's apparent ignorance over the size of the nation he is responsible for at Westminster.

"We do find it funny that Moore, as secretary of state for Scotland, appears unaware that this funding allocation doesn't reflect the fact that Scotland has a third of the UK landmass and some of the most remote areas in these islands," he quipped.

Such feuding and barbed witticisms are not what the Scotch people need now. What they need is for everyone to pull together so they can fight the hated English and ... wait, too much Braveheart? ... pull together to deliver broadband for all. Ahem.

23 Aug 2011