Holyrood: MSPs pass Budget as expected
Quite right - passing a Budget as a minority government is no mean feat, just consider last year's wobble.
Tonight's vote went largely as expected - there was no fuss, no drama.
Ministers started the day with a theoretical majority, come 5pm they turned that into solid votes.
In order to do so the Finance Secretary John Swinney confirmed a series of spending concessions for the Greens and the Independent MSP Margo MacDonald.
But it was the backing of the Tories that proved crucial and they made no spending demands whatsoever.
That may sound strange given the party's previous successes in extracting, for example, more police officers as the price of their support.
The fact they didn't make any similar demand this year shines a light on the changing face of Scottish politics. This time all the Tories wanted was an independent budget review and the publication of all expenditure over £25,000 - they got both.
But why did they aim so low? The answer is, in part, the looming General Election.
A party that's calling for spending cuts at Westminster can hardly demand spending commitments at Holyrood. In short Annabel Goldie's hands were tied.
But this is just the beginning of a new age of thrift.
Whichever party wins the General Election is expected to hold an emergency budget that will transform the existing spending outlook, and not in a good way.
Both the Tories and Labour are eager to cut the gaping UK deficit - albeit to differing timetables.
The consequence of that will be huge pressure on the Scottish budget. So more cuts are coming - that much we know for sure.
This year ministers axed the Glasgow Airport Rail Link to make ends meet. But what about next year?
Major spending cuts - right across the board - are almost inevitable, and that will transform Scottish politics.
Different parties will want different budgets protected but after years of growing budgets - the politics of cuts have arrived.
So tonight Mr Swinney can celebrate - but if this year's budget felt tough, there's much, much worse to come.
MSPs voted 66-45 in favour of the Budget during the Holyrood vote.
