LIVING IN THE PAST

As if to demonstrate just how utterly and completely the Conservative Party are living in the past with their Scottish policies, Phil Gallie, the Tory MSP for Scotland South, lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament seeking a royal pardon for William Wallace (aka Mel Gibson). Gallie wants Scotland's legendary liberator from the yolk of English oppression, to be granted an official pardon from the British Government and the charges of treason for which he was hung, drawn and quartered, be lifted forevermore.

Designed no doubt to show how in tune with Scottish feelings and pride he and his chinless cronies are, Mr Gallie is fooling nobody, and instead of fuelling patriotic fire into the hearts of his Scottish constituents, his little publicity stunt has largely backfired and made him look rather foolish, which of course he is anyway.

For those that care, no pardon for Wallace is required for the fundamental reason that Wallace was never a traitor in the first place. It's impossible for him, or anyone else for that matter, to be a traitor to a country he did not belong to. Instead, to put it bluntly, he was murdered by what was at the time a foreign government. Any pardon, now or anytime else, is as meaningless as the initial charge was illegal.

For the most part though, nobody really cares, and would rather their MSP's concentrated on contemporary issues that might actually affect them in some small way.