Quintin Jardine's blog

Also on the telly last night was one Michael Kelly, wheeled out for  the cameras to make fun of the aspirations of millions of his fellow Scots that their country should be a nation again.  Thirty years ago, Michael was a famous man in the west of Scotland. He was Lord Provost of Glasgow when an advertising genius called John Struthers came up with the slogan ‘Glasgow’s Miles Better’, three words that helped transform the city when they were allied in a publicity campaign with Roger Hargreaves’ ‘Mr Men’ cartoon faces. The Lord Provost had the good sense to run with it, and that was the highlight of his career. When he left office he became a PR consultant and a newspaper columnist. Fourteen years ago he wrote a piece for a Scottish newspaper which was highly critical of teachers and their profession. My parents were both teachers, as was Irene, my first wife. She had died a few weeks before, and I felt compelled to share my opinion of the article with its author, in a  short, explosive telephone conversation. I shouldn’t have done it, but I couldn’t help myself.

Seeing Michael on  the box last night brought it all flooding back. I regret losing my temper; I should have told him simply that I thought his view was offensive and idiotic, and left it at that. Last night I didn’t come close to blowing up; instead I shook my head at his ineffectual arguments and at what was probably meant to be a wistful smile, but which came across as merely patronising. I even felt a little sorry for him, as I realised that very few viewers who are under forty-five and don’t come from Glasgow would have any idea who the hell he is.

But all that said, this morning I find myself thinking again about his golden years and the Glasgow’s Miles Better campaign, and coming to the conclusion that in the debate that is to come in Scotland, the most important  in our nation in three hundred years, the pro-independence camp would do well to find its own John Struthers.