New Scottish Parliament: expensive talking shop or progressive legislator?

Sometimes it never rains, but it pours. Just ask British Airways. The airline's shiny, new Terminal Five opened on time and on budget, but has been beset by luggage handling problems.

Similarly, the new Scottish Parliament on the Canongate, at the foot of the Royal Mile was dogged by problems. Chiefly, to begin with concerning cost. Visitors to Edinburgh can discover the history of the new Scottish Parliament from its official opening by the Queen in 2004 (the Scottish Parliament reconvened after a gap over 290 years for the first time in 1999) with a Walk Talk Tour mp3guided tour. The new Scottish Parliament at the foot of the Royal Mile cost more than ten times its original budget of £40 million and took three years longer than planned to complete. The final taxpayers’ bill was £414.4 million.

The architect resposible for designing the new parliament, Enric Mirrales, purpotedly based the windows of the Scottish Member of Parliament's offices on the shape on Raeburn’s painting of Reverend Robert Walker ice skating on Duddingston Loch. Tourists or curious natives of Edinburgh can see the painting if they take the Old and New Towns tour, which takes in the National Gallery of Scotland, on its route from outside Edinburgh Castle to Charlotte Square. For more information about the Old and New Towns tour click here

Sadly, Miralles died before he could see his overall design come to fruition. The Scottish Parliament also lost its First Minister, Donald Dewar, who was elected to the post in May 1999, but sadly died a year later. Dewer's memory lives on in the Donald Dewar room in the ground floor of Queensberry House. Queensberry House is the oldest part of the Scottish Parliament and it has a gruesome tale to tell, which you can hear on the Royal Mile & More Walk Talk Tour visitor guide.

Thankfully, the SMPs seem to be a civil bunch. Critics 'Doon South' claim that the Scottish Parliament subsidises a whole manner of activities from university education to care for the elderly thanks to higher capita spending over the border. Supporters of the Scottish Natonalist Party (SNP) led by current First Minister, Alex Salmon, want Scotland to become fully independent (though no date has been set for when this might be attainted). SNP supporters believe that independence could be financed - to a large degree - by North Sea oil reserves that lie in Scottish territorial waters. Currently, revenues go to the Treasury in London.

Come and visit Edinburgh; let Walk Talk Tour be your city guide and you can reach your own conclusion about the Scottish Parliament. To hear an audio sample from the Royal Mile & More tour click here.