It took decades of campaigning and two referendums to create a Scottish Parliament. Holyrood is now so firmly established it’s easy to forget how long the battle was to see it built.
As far back as 1979, a majority of Scots voted in favour of powers being devolved from London to Edinburgh. The Conservatives then spent 18 years trying their hardest to ignore the growing campaign for devolution.
The party also called for Scots to reject it when a second referendum was finally held in 1997. So the suspicion lingers that many Tories would gladly shut down the Scottish Parliament, given the chance.
Tory grandee Lord Frost recently called for some aspects of devolution to be reversed. The party claims his comments don’t reflect their position.
But anyone listening to Rishi Sunak’s speech in Glasgow yesterday would quickly realise he is not a supporter of Holyrood either. He blithely dismissed any suggestion of the Scottish Parliament being handed more powers when asked.
Sunak also described the parliament as a “devolved assembly”. It suggests he views Holyrood as little more than a jumped-up parish council. The PM prefers his government to hand cash grants for local projects directly to local authorities.
But, as the most recent round of Levelling Up awards showed, it helps if you live in an area represented by a Tory MP. Devolution isn’t perfect but it has made Scottish politics more accountable. Few Scots want a return to direct rule from London.
The Prime Minister would be wise to remember that.
End the strip-off
Replica football tops have always been overpriced. Some fans seem to accept it and pay through the nose because they want to wear their team’s colours.
But perhaps it is no surprise that many are tempted to fork out far less for fake jerseys. As our investigation shows, a strip we bought from China for a fraction of the cost of the original looks like the real deal.
But the trade in copycat gear could be funding organised crime and compromise safety. The jersey we bought is a rip-off of an official commemorative Scotland top that retailed for an eye-watering £90.
No wonder fans are tempted to pay a fraction of the price for a copy. The best way to keep the crooks’ greedy hands off supporters’ hard-earned cash is to make replica strips more affordable.
