Leaders: End poll bickering and let the big debate begin | Rail bid decision must be fast-tracked

That sounds clear, but what no-one, including the First Minister, yet knows is precisely what form this referendum will take.

The big, and completely unsettled question, is whether there will be just one question, which is favoured by the UK coalition government and the main opposition parties in Scotland, on whether Scotland should be an independent country or not. To many, though not all, unionists this seems a clean, clear idea.

However, there are others, including parts of “civic Scotland”, who argue for a second question on some kind of enhanced devolution, the so-called devo-plus or devo-max options, though precisely what the question would be is unclear at this stage. Up until now the Scottish Government has refused to rule out this option, though whether it is in favour of it, Holyrood ministers will not say.

Later this week, there is yet another meeting between the two governments, which will discuss these issues, this time between the Scottish Parliament minister Bruce Crawford and the Scotland Office minister David Mundell, to argue this out. The chances of them coming to a conclusion are remote.

Both sides know the issues involved inside out and backwards. We assume they will bat back and forward the cases – clarity versus possible confusion, a single-issue manifesto commitment against an emerging more plural will, and so on – but as with previous meeting fail to come to a deal.

This is intensely frustrating, not only for the ministers concerned who are, with respect to them, relatively junior, but for the public. It is clear that the big beasts – David Cameron and Salmond eventually will have to be brought in to seal the deal.

Yet it seems inevitable that after talks this week, there will perhaps be talks involving the Scottish Secretary and, say, a more senior Scottish Government minister, before the Prime Minister and the First Minister become involved.

From all the endless negotiating, neither government has yet emerged with a convincing ace card argument that clearly wins the debate. This debate about process rather than about the actual issues involved and what effect they may have on the daily life and economy of Scotland has become tiresome to say the least.

From the public’s perspective, it looks like politicians fighting themselves over who gets the  advantage on the campaign starting grid, rather than about anything which will let voters understand and decide the issues.

It is time for this jostling to end. This is about the biggest decision Scots will ever make in their lifetimes. We need to get the talks over, strike a deal and move on to the big debate.

Rail bid decision must be fast-tracked

IT IS a scenario we are all familiar with: the train service we are waiting for has been delayed for an unspecified amount of time, and further information will be given in due course.

The announcement yesterday that the signing of the West Coast Mainline contract has been delayed because of a legal challenge is an unfortunate development in terms of the roll-out of the service, but it is an understandable response to the process that has been triggered by Virgin Rail’s objection to the decision to award the franchise to rival bidder FirstGroup. The matter remains surrounded by controversy, with 165,000 names attached to an online petition calling for the decision to be reconsidered, and opposition MPs pushing for the deal to be put on hold until it has been scrutinised at Westminster.

There have been doubts raised about the economic viability of FirstGroup’s £13.3 billion offer. But the Department of Transport remains confident that the decision it made was reached after a full assessment of the content and structure of each of the competing bid, and has promised a “robust” defence of the conclusion it reached.

Where the legal challenge could cause unwelcome disruption, however, is in its capacity to cause the kind of extended delay that would start to threaten the timetable for the next contract to start on 9 December. A sustained legal challenge has the potential to drag on for at least several months.

If there is a need to re-examine the process, there is just as great a need to ensure that this is conducted as promptly as possible. No-one relishes being left waiting on the platform.