Alex Salmond's political instincts are usually reliable. He can sense when the time is right to beat the nationalist drum, and when it is better to muffle the sound. On the question of the Olympics, however, he and his party have got things badly wrong. At a time when the entire nation is celebrating Great Britain's extraordinary achievements in Beijing, to suggest that Scotland would be better off competing alone simply fails to recognise the mood of the country.

However galling it may be to Mr Salmond, people are celebrating a British success, rather than just a Scottish one. Scottish athletes have been at the forefront of that achievement, but they have benefited from being part of a larger, better-funded and ultimately more cohesive organisation than Scotland on its own could draw on.

Chris Hoy did his training in Manchester. The lottery funding that has underpinned our Olympic talents, is a British lottery. Why swap fourth place at the Games for the possibility of languishing somewhere near the bottom?

I suspect that most of the Scottish athletes would want to stick with a winning combination and build on that strength. As for a GB football team, why ever not? It might produce something spectacular - and with Alex Ferguson at the helm there is every chance it would.

Mr Salmond should understand that one unexpected outcome of these Games is that the British have got the taste for winning. They want that to carry on, not to be sacrificed on the altar of party politics.

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