Hunting for opinion from Angus to Alloa

Published on Monday 19 February 2007 00:47

THE Scotsman 300 Nationhood Debate continues its high-mileage tour around Scotland this week, with stop-offs in Angus, Clackmannanshire and Fife.

Today, Louise Gray and Alastair Jamieson are outside the Townhouse in Montrose, from about 11:30am, asking people what they think about Scotland in 2007.

And tomorrow, Jason Cumming and Shan Ross will be canvassing opinion in the centre of Alloa, again from 11:30am.

This week also sees the latest in our series of set piece debates - on Thursday at the Corn Exchange in Cupar, Fife.

The event is almost a sell-out, but there are a few tickets left to hear the views of Henry McLeish, the former First Minister, who advocates a radically reformed Union as the way forward as an alternative to the status quo or independence.

He will be joined on the platform by Independent MSP Brian Monteith, Liberal Democrat MSP Iain Smith and Conservative MSP Ted Brocklebank. The Nationalist representative has yet to be confirmed.

The panellists will not have an easy time as the debate is being chaired by Lesley Riddoch, the broadcaster and writer who does not suffer fools and will certainly not accept weak answers.

The next debate is at North Berwick High School on Wednesday, 28 February, where Independent MSP Margo Macdonald is on the panel along with Kenny MacAskill, the SNP's justice spokesman. Again, tickets are going well, but there are still some left - and for the debate at the Volunteer Hall, Galashiels on Tuesday, 13 March. The debates so far have been highly successful, with audiences packing halls in Glasgow, Stirling, Inverness and Ballater over the last three weeks.

Tommy Sheridan, the Solidarity MSP, enlivened the first debate in Glasgow, taking on Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP's Holyrood leader, and Bristow Muldoon, Labour's election policy manager.

Archie Stirling, the maverick Stirlingshire landowner who will launch his own party next week, was one of the main attractions of the Stirling debate, explaining what he wanted his party to stand for.

Charles Kennedy, the former leader of the Lib Dems, was the undoubted star of the show at the Inverness debate. But it was Linda Stewart, for Labour, who had the hardest time there, trying to stand up for the Scottish Executive in spite of heckles from some hostile sections of the crowd.

The debates will conclude with the leaders' debate in Edinburgh chaired by Jim Naughtie, from Radio 4's Today Programme, on 15 March.

To reserve seats at any of the debates, please e-mail [e-mail] or write to Nationhood Debate Tickets, The Scotsman, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS.