Capital's Adam Smith statue to be unveiled in July

A STATUE of the pioneering Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith is to be unveiled in early July.

Last year the News revealed that the 20ft statue had been commissioned to stand outside St Giles' Cathedral in Parliament Square on the Royal Mile.

It has been created by celebrated Scottish sculptor Alexander Stoddart, who is currently putting the finishing touches to the piece at a studio in Essex.

The director of the Adam Smith Institute, Dr Eamonn Butler, said that it had pencilled in July 4 for its official unveiling.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Baroness Thatcher – two enthusiastic fans of Smith, who helped create the modern discipline of economics – are to be invited to the formal unveiling.

Dr Butler said: "The statue of Adam Smith, which will soon go up in the historic heart of Edinburgh, is taking shape.

"It's currently in the workshops of Morris Singer, the specialist art founders, where sculptor Alexander Stoddart has been adding some finishing touches.

"According to Stoddart, it is one of the best castings he has ever worked with, faithfully reproducing every detail of his original model.

"The statue shows Smith in later life – he spent the last 12 years of his life in Edinburgh, where he had been appointed a commissioner of customs, which might explain his slightly stern look."