Now that the visit of The Donald to Scotland has been confirmed, much of the chit-chat has turned to the cost of hosting the world’s most powerful politician – with the predictable gnashing of teeth over who should and shouldn’t carry the financial burden.

Donald Trump’s 2018 visit to the UK cost policing services around £18 million – with Scotland’s share of that coming in north of £3.2m. Factor in inflation and the heightened security needs, and the cost this time will obviously be higher. Estimates of a £5m-plus price tag for Police Scotland alone seem close to the mark.

The Scottish Government has to be delighted that what is by any measure a personal trip by the man who just happens to be the 47th President of the United States has a meeting with Keir Starmer baked into the schedule. This gives rise to the ludicrous claim this golf trip is in fact a working visit – but it is that label which will allow for to-ing and fro-ing with the Treasury over which government foots the bill, and arguably helps avoid a financial headache for Shona Robison.

Policing in Scotland is fully devolved, and in the ordinary run of events you would expect the burden of policing costs to fall entirely on Holyrood. But whenever an event carries any form of UK badge, the expectation for the Treasury to put its hands in its pockets to pay for it is not entirely unreasonable. That basic........

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