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Of all Scotland’s rotten burghs, none merits greater scrutiny than the quango system – a shameless closed shop of court favourites whose essential qualification for any position that happens to be going is a record of silent compliance in the previous ones. Our arms-length public bodies used to be essential pillars of Scottish democracy. They were led by big people who did not fear to speak out in order to challenge any government of the day. This was particularly true of our two great development agencies – HIDB later HIE and SDA later Scottish Enterprise. The chairs of these organisations were household names who had forged reputations in other aspects of Scottish life – such as Bob Grieve, Ken Alexander, Jim Hunter in the Highlands; Bill Gray, Donald MacKay, Ian Wood at the SDA. Big people, big organisations, big visions for the Scottish economy and these powerful agencies worked pretty well.

Glasgow cityUnited kingdomOrkney islandsKen alexanderBob cowanDonald mackayBill grayMichael kellyMike cantlayJim hunterIan woodScottish funding councilAirports ltdScottish officeCouncils of advisersBob grieve