Hollow chamber

AS A Scot living in England, I occasionally find the time to watch debates in the Edinburgh parliament. Taking in Iain Gray this week as he gave his reply to the new legislative programme, it struck me how uninspiring, anaemic and inappropriate the parliamentary chamber is as a serious debating space.

The arrangement of the MSPs, all sitting at lidded desks, is like that of school pupils in an old-style classroom, leaving poor Mr Gray looking like an unfortunate asked to address the dominie. On the occasions when he did twist to speak directly to the opposition, he would have seen a motley group slouching and smirking. The sad thing is that the quality of Gray’s contribution belied his reputation as lacking in oratorical skills.

The problem seems to be the design of the chamber itself. After the wartime destruction of Westminster, Churchill insisted the adversarial character of parliament be retained in the reconstruction. His wisdom is substantiated in the intensity of debates at Westminster, in stark contrast to Holyrood. Surely something could be done about this?

Rev Adam Hood

Edgbaston

Birmingham