More money for politicians? These spongers. They should be put on the average wage so that they understand what it’s like for the rest of us. Give it to the nurses! Etcetera.

We’ve heard it all this week, as the salary of an MSP rose to £75,000. It is true, as detractors say, that this is around double the average salary in Scotland. But it is also utterly irrelevant, unless you believe that all workers should be paid the same.

I do not. And, reader, let me warn you early in this column in case you want to stop reading now – I think politicians should be paid more. Much more. In fact, I would double all political salaries in Scotland, from local authority councillors all the way up to the First Minister. Yes, I am calling for MSPs to be paid £150,000 a year, and for the First Minister to take home £350,000 a year. These are not typos.

Let us go back to the start. I have been in and around the Scottish Parliament in a professional context for most of its life; since 2002. I am an ardent supporter of devolution in concept; indeed I would favour more power being passed from Westminster to Holyrood, and in turn would support substantial powers being passed from Holyrood to local authorities.

Read more by Andy Maciver

However it has become impossible for me to pretend that devolution has improved the lives of the majority of Scots in any meaningful way. Can we credibly say that our economy performs better as a result of devolution? No, indeed there’s decent data to suggest it is worse as a result. Is the NHS better than it would have been without the Scottish Parliament? There is no evidence in favour........

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