Spending review: Actions speak louder and clarity for Acorn is now vital - Scotsman comment

For Scotland, investments were reeled off from the Dispatch box including the headline-grabbing increase in the Block Grant (the SNP, of course, immediately questioned why it was not higher).

But that apart,you could have been left with the impression that things were very rosy indeed after the Chancellor sat down.

A U-turn on £750 million in funding for the creation of a supercomputer at Edinburgh University which could be one of the most powerful in the world, £250m for the Royal Navy's nuclear submarine base on the Clyde, increased funding for the NHS and house building which will trickle down to Scotland. And one of the well-trailed announcements was the support – at long last – for the huge Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire.

“Today, I can announce support for the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire, supporting Scotland’s transition from oil and gas to low carbon technology," said Reeves.

“A challenge and an opportunity well understood by the leader of Scottish Labour Anas Sarwar and the Scottish Secretary.”

All good so far, but what about the detail? It is not clear from the 136-page document released by the Treasury how much funding the project will be given, indeed it later emerged a final investment decision will be taken later this parliamentary term, subject to "project readiness and affordability”.

For a vital project in the North East’s transition and one which has already been long-delayed, clarity is important as soon as possible.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar praised the spending review as “game-changing”, and said the plans, including Acorn, would bring billions of pounds of investment to Scotland.

Actions of course speak louder than words, and the task for Labour on both sides of the Border is to prove it.

For Mr Sarwar, any time before next May would be desirable.