25 Reasons Why 'The Scotsman' Is Rubbish, And 1 Reason Why It Isn't

The Scotsman, as part of the stable's protracted girnfest about the Local Income Tax, today gives us 25 reasons why LIT would be a bad idea. Suffice to say, most are complete twaddle, and I'll be rebutting every single one later this evening when I have time.

However, it's difficult to be overly critical when they also have the stout good sense to publish letters such as the first one here.

Sir Kenneth Calman says of his commission of the great and the good: "It is quite wrong to imply we are not interested in engaging with all shades of Scottish opinion" (Letters, 2 September).

The annexe to the commission's first set of minutes, from 28 April, 2008 and available to all on its website, states that "the commission starts from the position that Scotland should remain a distinctive part of the United Kingdom", which rather contradicts the statement in the next bullet-point that "the commission will consider the distribution of powers between the Scottish Parliament and Westminster without preconceptions".

Indeed, it even goes on to suggest that any change to these bounds for deliberation would "be justified only if it serves the people of Scotland better and secures the continuation of the Union".

There you have it. No preconceptions at all, except perhaps for those it already had when it began. Extraordinarily, given the commission's conceit of being "evidence-based", we learn that even if it could be proven beyond all doubt that independence would serve the people of Scotland better, that option would be discounted instantly by the commission because it does not secure "the continuation of the Union".

Since we must assume these minutes represent a true and accurate reflection of proceedings, it is clear that nationalists need not apply, at least not if they want their views to be considered in any meaningful way.

So, is Sir Kenneth being deliberately disingenuous in his claim that he wants to engage with all shades of opinion or does he genuinely not understand the contradiction at the heart of these statements? I must say, none of the possible explanations bodes particularly well for the quality of the final outcome of his deliberations.

RICHARD THOMSON
Western Avenue
Ellon, Aberdeenshire

I really couldn't have put it better myself. Oh, wait a minute...