THE

controversy over Nationalist MSP John Mason’s tasteless comments on women should be put into a certain context. He has said them before. Some years ago, he compared a referendum on Scottish independence to asking a woman to marry you. If the woman said ‘no’, he said, you keep on asking them until they say ‘yes’. It should be noted that Mr Mason is a bachelor who has never been married. He may not know how to woo a woman – or win independence – but at least he, himself, has managed to remain outwith a union.