A 300m [pounds sterling] monument to MPs' vanity: David J. Black charts the scandalous rise of the Scottish Parliament building. (Scottish Issue).

SO FAR, so good. The iconic Scottish Parliament building may have notched up vertiginous budget overruns, but it is a devolved matter, and UK ministers can relax. The Scots voted for devolution and, if they mess up, what's it got to do with London? For Tony Blair, the Holyrood project, like its Cardiff equivalent, is strictly a hands-off show.

The problem with this comforting view is Holyrood's London dimension. Consider, for example, the role of the BBC. When the new Scottish Parliament at Holyrood is ready next September, expect to be treated to a 600,000 [pounds sterling] documentary, The Gathering Place, which will tell the story of the building. The company responsible is owned by Newsnight diva Kirsty Wark and her husband. Ms Wark was a member of the selection panel which chose the design of the late Enric Miralles. If this suggests that the editorial balance of the programme might be skewed, it could equally be argued that it will inhibit general BBC coverage of what is, by any measure, a big political story. Wark is one of the BBC's top current-affairs assets, and, human …