One small step

Published on Sunday 26 August 2007 00:56

SOMETIMES it was hard to see who Jack McConnell turned to for advice, or how the Scottish Executive's multi-million-pound PR budget was spent.

His pledge to "do less, better" was followed by the declaration that Scotland was "the best small country in the world". Neither was a visionary statement of intent - though, to be fair, they set the tone for McConnell's cautious approach to government. The nation's motto could as easily have been "Let's not get above ourselves" or "... but I'm only wee".

McConnell would argue that he was merely a realist who understood Scotland's place in the world and hoped to build on it, albeit quietly. No one who has watched Alex Salmond's political trajectory would expect him to follow the same low road. Our fourth First Minister is a different beast altogether, and the fact he likes to set sights high is apparent in all that he says and does. His backers would say this is embodied in his oft-repeated aim to make Scotland independent; his critics would say the same, but with a comparison to Icarus.

So it's no surprise to learn that McConnell's "best small country" motto is to be allowed to fade out of use, at airports and on ads. This is fair enough - to the victor goes not just the spoils but also the right to come up with his own gimmicks and slogans. The fact that we will all end up paying for any new promotional materials is the price of living in a democracy - and a particularly interesting one too, at this point in the history of our country (however small).