Leader: A referendum on the trams could run and run…

Steve Cardownie, SNP deputy leader of Edinburgh City Council, has put forward a novel proposal on how to resolve the council's dilemma over whether to scrap the stricken tram project or plough on and extend the line to St Andrew Square: He has called for a referendum. But, as the SNP well knows, a referendum is not the simple option that it seems.

By The Newsroom

Published 27th Jun 2011, 16:32 BST

Updated 28th Jun 2011, 22:54 BST

For example, would the result be binding or advisory only? How many options would there be on the ballot paper - one, two or three? If three, is that "Tramline Max" (going all the way to Leith); "Tramline Lite" (stopping at St Andrew Square); and "Full Independence" (work abandoned and the line left to disintegrate along Princes Street)?

Who gets to vote is another thorny issue. Should the poll be Scotland-wide, or confined to the capital? And does that include the outer suburbs or just the Disaffected Central? Should there not be a residence qualification for voting, based on the number of hours stuck at traffic lights? Who gets to count the votes?

And might we have to wait until the end of the parliamentary term (or the anniversary of Bannockburn) before a vote is called? Who wins if there is a majority for spoilt papers? And if the result displeases, when will the next one be? Tram neverendums, anyone?