Too patient
Before the 1945 UK general election, Labour candidates in Scotland included a promise of a Scottish Parliament in their manifesto.
When Labour, under Clement Attlee, won that election, Mr Attlee said that, as we now had a Labour government, a Scottish Parliament was no longer needed.
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Hide AdThis gave rise, for a time, to the phrase “doing an Attlee”.
Possibly, he thought Labour would be in power forever – a lasting warning not to assume that any political situation is “forever”.
Mr Laidlaw then praises patience. In the view of many, Scotland has been patient with the Union for far too long and we and the world in general have suffered as a result.
David Stevenson
Blacket Place