From the archive: Brian Monteith
Saturday, April 19, 2014 at 17:18 In 1997 I was sharing an office in Leith with Brian Monteith.
I was a freelance journalist, Brian was a PR consultant. He was also spokesman for Forest in Scotland.
Two years later I was back in London working for Forest and Brian was a member of the devolved Scottish Parliament.
In summer 2000 I interviewed him for the Forest magazine Free Choice:
GREAT SCOT
Evidence that the Scottish Parliament was beginning to buckle under the self-imposed pressure of political correctness caught even the most cynical observers by surprise.
Months after being warned that Presiding Officer Sir David Steel intended to crack down on smoking ("There should be no smoking within the entire Parliamentary complex and we intend to vigorously enforce this"), smokers were instructed to walk down the street, well away from the building and – wait for it – remove their accreditation badges so no-one would recognise them!
Perfect timing, or so it seemed, to launch a campaign that would stand up for Scottish smokers and poke fun at those pathetic little Hitlers in the puritanical health lobby. One of the MSPs who has agreed to support the campaign is Brian Monteith. OK, so he's a former Forest spokesman but, take my word for it, Monteith is no poodle. He's not even a traditional Scottish Tory.
Born and bred in Edinburgh, he and his family are all state educated (something of a novelty in a city where private schools are ten a penny) and he genuinely loves his football (hunting, shooting and fishing being strangers to him). In 16 years as a PR consultant clients included Budweiser, Fosters, Caldeonian Brewery and at least four Indian restaurants, a fact which may explain his slowly expanding waistline.
All things considered, Brian Monteith is as 'normal' a politician as you could wish to meet. He is also incredibly laid back. Even relegation for his beloved Hibernian in 1998 was met with a shrug of the shoulders and a sense of perspective rare among red-blooded season ticket holders.
Get him on the subject of smoking however and Monteith is as close as he ever gets to fuming. An occasional smoker who enjoys the odd cigar, he has watched with dismay as politically correct politicians of all parties have lined up to lecture his countrymen about the evils of tobacco while threatening to ban smoking in public places.
Quite simply, Monteith believes that the Scottish Parliament's attitude to smoking is all wrong. "There's a danger," he reports, "that the Scottish Parliament will be seen as puritanical and in that sense quite out of touch with ordinary people. Unfortunately politicians are ambivalent and once a bandwagon has been started by a small minority, it's difficult to stop.
"I don't advocate smoking in the chamber where we're debating but if one believes in individual liberties there should be places, including bars and restaurants, which are tailored for smokers as well as non-smokers.
"Smoking," he adds, "may offer a slight health risk to me but getting into my car or playing five-a-side football also offer a slight risk and it's a choice I decide to make. So long as people are tolerant of each other's choices we should be free to make them."
He's unimpressed by organisations like ASH Scotland, a group he dismisses as "humourless and the mouthpiece of government". ASH, says Monteith, represents an outdated presbyterianism that continues to haunt Scottish life. "There is still a sense of guilt, in some quarters, about having any fun."
He agrees the state should regulate the sale of tobacco and educate people, children especially, about the health risks, but is adamant that it should not interfere in an adult's choice of lifestyle, whether it be smoking or drinking. "The warnings on cigarette packets," says Monteith, "are completely meaningless. People ignore them. A ban on tobacco advertising will also make little difference. It's the worst form of gesture politics."
Tobacco taxation? Far too high, says Monteith. "It doesn't discourage people from smoking. It encourages smuggling which creates a thriving black market and makes cheap tobacco readily available to young smokers."
Smoking in public places? Live and let live, he argues. "I see nothing wrong with smokers and non-smokers sharing the same space, so long as it's well ventilated. There is a time and a place for smoking but the idea that it should be confined to your own home, under cover of darkness, is absurd. Yet that is the logic of the anti-smoking argument."
Smokers' rights is not the only 'unpopular' cause Monteith has supported. Indeed, the fact that he finds himself in the Scottish Parliament at all is one life's little mysteries. A former chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students, Monteith was a fierce opponent of a devolved parliament and did everything he could to convince his countrymen that here was an expensive experiment they could well do without.
"Having been involved in the previous referendum in 1979 I felt it was important that the electorate should hear the arguments for and against devolution."
According to Monteith, who devised and led the vociferous 'No No' campaign almost single-handedly, it did relatively well. "We had very little money and the momentum was completely against us from the beginning, but many of the issues we raised have never gone away and have in some ways plagued the Parliament ever since."
One issue was the price of constructing a new building. "We thought it would cost as much as £50 million but it looks like it will cost four times that. We also asked why we should have so many government ministers and were told we wouldn't. We now have 22 ministers costing us over one million pounds a year."
A close ally of Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie, Monteith says, "David is now accepted as being one of the most effective parliamentarians in Scotland. Given that he also has a sense of humour, an interest in things such as football and golf, and likes a cigar, I think he has the common touch and will be a considerable asset for us."
Having the "common touch", he adds, is vital. His greatest fear is that "129 politicians will seek to find things to do and this will mean more regulation, more political correctness and more interference in people's everyday lives."
Today, shadowing ministers on education, culture and sport, Monteith has a chance to promote two of the principles closest to his heart – choice and opportunity. "What we need in education is more choice. The way to provide it is to remove schools from local authorities and create school education boards which can provide different types of education to suit parents or children's needs. Let the parents decide.
"In football I am concerned that the league structure in Scotland is effectively a restriction of practise in that the top 12 clubs can restrict who enters into the Scottish Premier League."
On culture he believes that questions must be asked about the relationship between the arts and the state. "We should ask, for example, if state funding actually undermines artistic credibility. I wouldn't expect these questions to be asked by socialists. They look for the smothering arms of the state to support the arts because it means they can control it."
More importantly, he believes the country needs to sell itself as a high quality destination for people from outside Scotland. "We need fewer tourists who spend more money. The concept of us trying to cater for large numbers is a false one because I just don't think our roads, for example, can handle them.
"You can't sell the tranquility of the glens to coachloads of people. Increasing access to the hills might be great for the health of the nation but it makes it less of an experience than it's meant to be."
Quality hospitality also means smoking and non-smoking facilities. "If we restrict choice we will drive people away." Political correctness, he argues, could damage the nation's economic health.
Realistically Monteith accepts that the Scottish Conservative party faces at least twelve, probably more, years in opposition. Undeterred he draws on his cigar, exhales lustily and declares, "This gives us time to develop policies that will be popular, have a bit of fun, and show our Scottish credentials. We've started with a blank sheet of paper so we've everything to build on. It's a great time to be in Scottish politics."
Let's hope he's right.
Postscript: Brian stood down from the Scottish Parliament in 2006 after seven years as an MSP. He currently writes a weekly column for the Scotsman and is regular contributor to Conservative Home. He also writes for and edits Forest's Free Society website.
In 2014 the Scottish Conservative party has one MP and 16 (out of 129) MSPs. It is no closer to power in Scotland than it was 14 years ago.
Reader Comments (7)
I always liked Brian Monteith, I live in England now but was born and grew up in Glasgow and spent much of my adult life there too. I loathe the puritanical politicians that seem to have fallen under the spell of any crank organisation that wants to ban everything that makes life enjoyable. I would be sorry to see Scotland leave the UK and I suspect if they do they will soon tire of their political class, perhaps giving a right of centre party a chance though not in Glasgow.
I'll be very sorry to see Scotland go too but we must face it because it will happen. You can't make someone love when they don't and Scotland hates the English and England.
Maybe when it breaks away, the puritanical zeal will fade from here too as politicians don't see a need to out ban each other. I hear an independent Scotland means that Labour will never win in England again. If true, that is the greatest parting gift that Scotland can leave us.
If an independent Scotland also means that Scottish MPs get thrown out of the English partliament that would be good too. I've always been uncomfortable with the Scottish puritans deciding law for the English who can't decide law for the Scottish.
"... an office in Leith with Brian Monteith."
Ooh, Simon. You're a poet and you don't know it!
I view Scotland's potential departure with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it would be good to see the back of all those meddling Scottish MPs voting on English issues which don't affect any of their own voters - affording them the luxury of being able to vote for as many unpopular measures as they like without any risk of any voter backlash - and I also suspect (although I realise this may be hotly disputed by the Scots), that England would be rather better off financially as a result (always assuming, of course, that our lily-livered MPs don't strike some deal whereby we continue to give "aid" or "financial assistance" after the split, which is always a possibility, bearing in mind that we are still giving "aid" to the now-booming economy of India!) And of course the prospect of Labour never being able to gain a majority in Westminster ever again, as Rose says, would be a massive bonus which could only be good for England.
On the other hand, we have been one country for many centuries now and although there's always been a bit of bickering and squabbling, by and large, we've worked pretty well together. My impression from most of the Scottish people that I speak to (admittedly, of course, these are the ones who are living south of the border) is that anti-English sentiment is somewhat over-exaggerated by some very vocal minorities (a bit like anti-smoking is spearheaded by just a few zealots), and that the majority of Scottish people tend to favour keeping things the way they are.
I think in many ways, there is probably actually a higher percentage of English people who would like to "give" Scotland their independence than there is a percentage of Scottish people who want to claim it. Maybe the "Scottish Independence" activists would do their cause more good if they started pushing for a "do we keep Scotland or not" referendum south of the border! Now, that would be an interesting ploy ...
Whoops! Sorry Pat, I meant you, not Rose!
I fear Scotland's departure will lead to departure from Ireland and Wales, eventually, and then we would be four tiny countries hating each other and targets for any big countries like Russia, the EU without us, or America.
The job has been done. I think it's what Labour and Bliar wanted. They hated Britain - England specifically - and they set out to ruin us. They must now be smiling at the devastation they have caused but as long as they can keep screeching RACIST! at Ukip supporters without caring why their own voters have turned against them, then I suppose that's OK.
Like smokers and vapers, I think if the UK wants to be strong and a world leader, we are better together but sadly we have centuries of history behind us that means generations have been taught to hate England which is seen as the bully of the Union.
I agree Pat, it was Blair's patently unfair devolution that really started all this, before that the SNP was just a small party and not many wanted independence. Now I find most people I speak to in England say good riddance, the Republic of Ireland doesn't really want the North except as a vague romantic notion. I was there last week and asked again, same answer as in the 60s. I don't think many people care much about Wales though. Still miss your blog are you starting another?
I find it really strange that Salmond is taking such a risk in gunning for independence. I'd have thought it safer to incrementally secure further devolved powers so that Scotland is independent in all but name (leaving aside the fact that you can hardly be called 'independent' when you're ruled by Brussels). Perhaps his cunning plan is to do a deal on the QT with Westminster (using the threat of independence as leverage) then announce that there's no need for a referendum because Scotland will now be, in effect, if not in name, independent. Faces saved all round.