DOUGLAS ROSS IS WRONG.

In a recent article in The National, Douglas Ross proposesing that Holyrood have an Upper House, a House of Lairds in response to “a succession of bad laws passed in Holyrood”.

Actually isn’t so bad in theory. Numerous democracies around the world, have a senate acting as a handbrake to stop parliament doing things which are really stupid. Almost anything you can think of which is really bad : Religious war. Slavery. Racism; all were, in their time, really popular with one public or another. and what stopped them happening was a bunch of elders assisting the youth with their wisdom, or the powerful bringing order to mob hysteria. We get it Douglas. ‘But Stendahl’ I hear you ask, ‘What would be the “Wrongological” approach?’

Well. We already have an upper house ready to countermand our legislation. It’s called Westminster. The most unpopular laws coming through right now are the GRA reforms and what is most likely to stop them is… Rishi Sunak. This just makes the Scots who oppose the laws wonder why we are relying on Tories to deliver good policy. Because there has been another massive “succession of bad laws”. From Westminster.

Far from collective will being guided by experience, we are watching two overbearing institutions fighting with each other for their own reasons. Imagine telling a breakfast waiter you want your eggs scrambled. Then he drops off the check with the kitchen. Then you hear one chef shouting ‘He’s no getting fried eggs. He’s too fat!’ and another chef shouting, ‘There’s no meat on him. Can we not give him scrambled?’ You listen to all this hoping they aren’t talking about you, until the waiter arrives apologizing, “I’m afraid we don’t have any fried eggs today. We have decided to give you poached eggs. If you don’t like them, there’s a complaint form in the hallway”.

This is what it’s like. If anything good happens, that’ll be an accident. What would Salvo propose? Kind of the opposite. We need a great deal more representation of good laws, which are both popular and wise. Like action on poverty. Or road repairs. Or, god help us all, Independence. A brake on legislation not based on the votes of the rich and powerful, but on the natural rights of all. That could be done if we restore the Claim of Right. We need a Lower House, outside of government, to make sure the wise guidance to those who pretend they are giving us wise guidance.

Stendahl.