We know very little about the plans for the vast new health board that will run much of eastern Scotland.

But one thing is certain: John Swinney’s government will soon have to decide where to base it.

Dundee should start fighting for it now.

The first minister’s announcement that Scotland’s 14 territorial health boards are to be replaced by just two strategic bodies represents one of the most profound changes to the NHS in generations.

NHS Tayside and NHS Fife will be abolished and exactly what replaces them remains frustratingly unclear.

We do not yet know precisely where the dividing line between the new boards will fall, how much power will remain locally or where either will be run from.

What we do know is that ministers are acutely aware of the danger that this enormous exercise in centralisation is perceived as exactly that.

Lessons from Police Scotland

There has been a strong steer from government that Edinburgh should not simply become the automatic home of the eastern operation.

They are right to be wary of a stitch-up by the capital’s clique.

Scotland has been down this road before.

When I began as a reporter on The Courier, Tayside Police was rooted in the communities it served. Senior officers were based here, decisions were taken here and there was a direct........

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