Poor vision

I OFTEN wonder if spending time at the top of the political establishment should come with a health warning, given its effect on one’s sanity. Witness Tony Blair’s denial that our incursions into Afghanistan and Iraq were a disaster, Nigel Lawson’s denial of the effects of global warming and Lord Robertson’s comments on the cataclysm that Scottish independence would rain down on the world.

Having read Brian Wilson (Perspective, 19 April), I have started to worry whether his brief membership of the political establishment has had an equally unfortunate effect. I’m not sure how many people bother to read his contributions to the independence debate.

However, he took a slightly different tack this week by introducing a new definition of “vision”, which apparently is “little more than pious hopes and bogus guarantees”.

Given he chaired the Labour Party’s No to Devolution group in the late 1970s, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by his dislike of “vision”. After all, vision only gives people hope, inspiration and desire. Who on earth would want that? 

Andrew S R Gordon

Craiglockhart View

Edinburgh