The key issue of the campaign – just how scary are the SNP? (from April 20)

WITH the SNP still surging in the polls, one man was on a mission to find the most, er, colourful description of the party’s all-conquering leader.

We awoke to newspaper headlines screaming that Nicola Sturgeon is planning to “hold Britain to ransom”, forcing a weak Ed Miliband to cave in to her devious and dangerous demands.

Then Boris Johnson to let rip, likening the SNP leader to….King Herod, a jewel thief, Attila the Hun, Lady Macbeth and “a bunch of voracious weevils”.

In his newspaper column, the mayor of London entertained us with the image of Ed Miliband “peeping from Alec Salmond’s sporran like a baffled baby kangaroo”.

And, for good measure, Mr Johnson added later: “People need to realise that Miliband is in the position of the frog carrying the scorpion on his back.”

Some Conservatives worry this remorseless attack on the SNP threat is putting the Union in greater peril, but No.10 clearly believes it can scare wavering Tories back to the fold.

All we can say for certain is that the polls show no evidence that the tactic is working yet.

The most – only? – interesting twist of the campaign (from April 28)

So what was Ed Miliband doing, being snapped by a photographer, in the dark of night, emerging from the London home of….anti-politics comedian Russell Brand?

After all, it’s not long since the self-styled revolutionary was calling Ed Balls a "clicky-wristed snidey c***” - and being dismissed as a “pound-shop Ben Elton” in return.

Brand also told the BBC: “Don't bother voting. Stop voting, stop pretending, wake up. Why vote? We know it's not going to make any difference."

Could the unthinkable happen? Could ranting Russell do a U-turn and endorse Labour? We will have to wait until the interview runs on YouTube.

Mr Miliband himself said: “Some people were saying the campaign was too boring, so I thought it would make it more interesting,”

Favourite Joke: Nick Clegg, on what he’s thinking during his weekly kickboxing classes. “Well, sometimes Ed Balls might flicker through my imagination.”

Worst Gaffe: David Cameron who claims he is a long-term Aston Villa fan, but told a London audience to…..“support West Ham”.