Best small country in the world no longer

Published on Sunday 26 August 2007 00:56

IT'S official: Scotland is no longer the best small country in the world. Three years after Jack McConnell first claimed the title for the nation, the former first minister's slogan has been officially ditched.

SNP ministers confirmed last week that the much- maligned slogan which has been plastered all over the nation's airports and railway stations for the past three years will now be torn down.

Posters will gradually be withdrawn and officials at the Scottish Executive have been told to no longer use the slogan in promotional material.

The death of the slogan was long expected after First Minister Alex Salmond railed against it while in opposition, arguing that it summed up the limited ambition of his predecessor's reign.

Salmond also claimed it managed to combine the worst of two Scottish characteristics the "'Wha's like us' bombast and the debilitating Scottish cringe".

Culture Minister Linda Fabiani confirmed last week: "The Scottish Executive is no longer actively using this promotional slogan. Any promotional materials containing the phrase are being replaced over time".

The decision brings to an end one of the more controversial slogans to have been produced in recent times.

Used to promote Scotland abroad and during the 2005 G8 summit, it was criticised, according to one commentator, for making Scotland look like "a pygmy nation hanging on to the coat tails of the global big boys".

McConnell vehemently defended his choice of slogan during the election campaign in April, claiming it had been responsible for boosting tourism levels and investment.

Few people yesterday appeared willing to insist that ministers reverse the decision.

A spokesman for Salmond said: "To be fair, the campaign was coming to a conclusion anyway.

"We never saw the need to have a qualifier. Why not just aspire to be the best country in the world?"

Labour MSP Charlie Gordon said: "I do not mourn its passing."

One Labour source added: "There were never many fans of this. Small in that context was not the kind of message we wanted to put out."