Plans for a statue of Dr Elsie Inglis have run into trouble and it doesn't reflect well on us, says Mark Smith

Good news. I and some other respectable Scottish citizens have secured a very prominent site in the centre of Glasgow for a new statue. The statue will be 30ft tall and will stand on a huge granite plinth and will honour a person of great worth and historic value. All that remains for us to do is decide who that person should be.

You can see the problem already can’t you? If it was up to me and me alone, my first choice would be a statue to represent the pilots of Glasgow 602 Squadron, the extraordinary group of men who fought in the Battle of Britain. I interviewed one of 602’s last surviving members once, Nigel Rose, and the personal bravery and historical significance of Squadron Leader Rose and his fellow pilots was, is, in my view, certainly worthy of a statue. So that would be my first choice hands down.

I have a couple of other thoughts as well since you asked. For example, it seems extraordinary to me that there are still no plans for a major public memorial in Scotland to Queen Elizabeth II. The site that I and other Scottish citizens have acquired would be the perfect place to put that right: ideally, a statue reflecting the Queen’s love of Scotland, in the robes of the Order of the Thistle perhaps, or on horseback. Yes, that would be grand and would certainly be my second choice.

There are other options too, although they would mainly be to annoy people. Earl Haig for example. Everyone thinks of Blackadder first off but think of the Glaswegians who gathered to witness the arrival of the man in George Square in 1924: the man who argued with the French commanders who wanted to push harder and further; the man who led the transformation of technology and tactics that helped win the war; and the man who fought to promote the interests of ex-servicemen and........

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