Helen Keller, the author and activist who became deaf and blind as a baby before going on to write 14 books, said that optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.

There is not much optimism to be found around the Scottish Parliament during this first week back after the summer recess, it must be said. On Tuesday, Finance Secretary Shona Robison outlined Scotland’s ostensibly dismal fiscal position. On Wednesday First Minister John Swinney announced his first Programme for Government, and on Thursday he faced the music at First Minister’s Questions, both in the dark shadow of Tuesday’s gloomy statement.

The general dejection appears not to be limited to the SNP Government. Even the opposition Labour Party is moaning about money (it may not surprise you to hear that they blame the SNP Scottish Government and the SNP blames the UK Labour Government).

Read more by Andy Maciver

I do wish everyone wasn’t quite so melancholy. Those of us who are hard-wired to believe in something better should look at the financial and legislative outlook not with a bowed head of resignation, but with heads held high in search of opportunity. There is plenty to be found.

The very language is immediately negative. When we tighten our belts at home we talk about savings; in politics we talk about cuts. But there are savings to be made everywhere; many, many more than were identified on Tuesday. Scotland’s "billion pound black hole" could be filled by savings in the health budget alone, without........

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