City collaboration - '£600k spent with little to show for it'

THE inevitable rivalry between Scotland's two biggest cities has taken both humorous and serious turns.

We in Edinburgh have long held our collective noses - just in fun, of course - at those in the west, and when Glaswegians claimed their home was "miles better" we all knew what was the intended point of reference.

Where the rivalry has really counted is when the two cities have competed for the money and kudos that comes with business investment or the location of centres of public importance - most recently (sorry, Glasgow) of the Scottish Parliament.

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Politicians have long complained that more could be done if the two cities worked better together and it was this sort of thinking that gave birth to the Glasgow Edinburgh Collaborative Initiative.

Unfortunately, its workings have proven as cumbersome as its name and, having spent 600,000 of public money with little to show for it, it is to be quietly retired.

Good. Collaboration is, of course, a good thing, but then so is the agility that tends to come with having to compete with a determined rival just a few miles down the road.

The cities will still be able to work together when it benefits both to do so, but in these tough economic times it makes no sense to throw more good money at something which sounds frightfully nice but delivers nothing of great value.

Heroes are home

WE don't get too many chances to show our gratitude to those who have been prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to serve their country.

But that's what we'll be able to do when many of the 400 soldiers of 1 Scots who have just returned from a gruelling deployment in Afghanistan parade through the city.

They lost a comrade there, Lance Corporal Joseph Pool, and they all put their lives on the line trying to improve the situation in Helmand.

So, whatever our views on the rights and wrong of their mission, we can all welcome the rest home safely. Hopefully thousands will turn out to applaud them in their various homecoming parades, culminating in one down the Royal Mile a week on Saturday.

Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Herbert says he couldn't have asked for a "more dedicated, hard-working or courageous group". Who are we to disagree with that?