2 June 2009

Roll up! Roll up! Calman Reports! Get them while they're lukewarm!

Here's a date for your diaries. Apparently the phalanx of worthies and placemen plucked from Civic Scotland and squeezed into the Calman Commission on Scottish Devolution have found the work easier going than was expected. The happy windfall of this simplicity is that they will miraculously generate their final conclusions with the queasy rapidity of a premature ejaculator two weeks from now, on June the 15th.

One can amuse oneself by guessing what concrete proposals lurk inside the broad generality of Calman's characterisation of the report:

“Since our second phase of evidence-gathering came to an end, we have been working hard to develop our conclusions and recommendations. By the time of Thursday’s meeting, it was clear that we had made sufficient progress to confirm 15 June as our launch date. Invitations to the event are now going out, and we very much look forward to presenting a package of recommendations that we believe will strengthen Scottish devolution within the Union, improve the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament, provide a better framework for intergovernmental relations and strengthen the Parliament as an institution.”

Per the Herald and the "senior Whitehall source" quoted, the report promises to be "more radical proposals than people might think".

Oh dear.

1 comment :

  1. The excitement may prove to be too much and I may have to take to my bed for the next 13 days. Doubt if I'll bother to put a bottle of bubbly in the fridge either.

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