Holyrood : the inside story / Susan Bain.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bain, Susan.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Scotland. Parliament--Buildings.

Scotland.

Scotland. Parliament.

Public buildings--Scotland--Edinburgh--History.

Public buildings.

Buildings--Scotland--Edinburgh.

Buildings.

History.

Scotland--Edinburgh.

Physical Description:

xiii, 302 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2005]

Summary:

Since 1998 Susan Bain, as part of the film team for the hard-hitting TV documentary The Gathering Place, has been one of the only outsiders to be granted full and exclusive access to the inside story of the new parliament building at Holyrood. This book tells that story.

Holyrood has become far more than the tale of a building. It is an exploration of Scotland's long-anticipated new democracy, hamstrung by its own incumbents and wrecked by the egotism and ingrained agendas of politicians, sections of the press and other 'interested' parties.

Almost everything which has appeared in the public domain over the past five years has been inaccurate - the result of misinformation, wrong information and deliberate untruth. Even the Fraser Inquiry was unable to uncover the true extent of the situation. And all this has had a profound impact on how the parliament building - intended as a physical manifestation of the new Scotland - has unfolded. What Holyrood reveals is a nation profoundly self-divided.

Powerful, thought-provoking and thoroughly researched, the book explores in great depth the story of Holyrood itself: the first years of devolution and the nature of modern Scotland - stories for which the Holyrood building has become a potent and revealing metaphor. This is the definitive story of a crucial period in Scotland's history and the controversies that have shaped it.

Contents:

1 There Shall be a Scottish Parliament 1

2 But Where Should it Be? 12

3 Client and Costs 28

4 The Architect 43

5 I'm so Sorry, he's from Barcelona 55

6 Mixed Messages 68

7 An Independent Review? 82

8 The Spencely Debate 94

9 All Change 107

10 Farewell, Enric 122

11 Spiralling Out of Control 135

12 Who's in Charge? 148

13 A Penny Saved is a Penny Gained 159

14 With a Little Help from our Friends 173

15 Did he Jump or Was he Pushed? 182

16 Who Rules the Roost? 193

17 Blame the Builders 201

18 Sacking Barcelona? 210

19 Access all Areas 222

20 An Impossible Building 233

21 Foot to the Pedal 245

22 Election 257

23 Taking Control 267

24 The Fraser Inquiry 278

25 The End? 289.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0748620656

OCLC:

61234315