Sagacity on Saturday : Last time around

"Interesting, but appears to have misunderstood the question."

Canon Kenyon Wright, chairman of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, offering his teacherly verdict on the Tory government's 'Taking Stock' proposals in 1993. For the uninitiated, 'Taking Stock' was the 1990s equivalent of the vague 'jam tomorrow' promises of the present-day anti-independence campaign. During the 1992 election campaign, the Tories (as the only remaining anti-devolution party) batted away each and every demand for an explanation of how they would address Scotland's democratic deficit with the vague promise that "of course we will take stock after the election". Having unexpectedly won the election, they then spent the next twelve months going through the charade of making good on that promise. And the end result of all that soul-searching? A few extra meetings per year of the Scottish Grand Committee, and an unspecific (and therefore totally unfalsifiable) pledge that the Tory Scottish Secretary would be allowed greater scope to develop a "distinctive policy platform". Yes folks, that's the type of thrillingly transformative constitutional change we can look forward to after September if we put our faith in the snake oil salesmen of the No campaign.