The spirit of Gleneagles .sx THE Scottish Council is a broad church and does not take collective decisions very easily .sx Since the value of its annual forum lies in its unique ability to bring together Scottish public life in all its aspects - unlike bodies such as the CBI which are sectoral - that is not a point of criticism .sx Much of the interest for those who have been attending this year's forum at Gleneagles has lain , as it has always done , in trying to assess the mood emerging from the informal and social events surrounding the plenary sessions .sx Any attempt to do so must necessarily be opinionated and subjective but in this column , at least , the attempt can be made .sx The forum has been confronting the implications of European political and monetary union .sx Despite the difficulties that surround the treaties which it is hoped will be signed at the Maastricht summit next month , the mood music at Gleneagles implied that monetary union and a single currency were inevitable and even desirable ; political changes might take longer and be more problematical but they could scarcely be avoided either .sx What impact will the replacement of sterling by the ecu have on the Scottish economy ?sx It used to be argued that currency alignments were a mechanism which allowed a country to adjust for inherent competitive disadvantages , such as those imposed by distance from the marketplace or by having a small economic mass .sx The mood at Gleneagles was that such doctrines , in the context of a large , powerful and unified market , were unhelpful and self-defeating .sx Devaluation of a currency simply deferred to the evil day when inefficiencies had to be tackled , or stoked inflation .sx Nor was classical regional policy seen as any kind of answer .sx Rather the preference was for full exposure to the rigorous of monetary disciplines in the hope that these would produce a new entrepreneurial impulse and a fresh dynamism even if at some cost in the short term , most probably in the form of unemployment .sx This realism was welcome and refreshing , even if the social dislocation which it implies will in fact demand a more transitional approach .sx But it was accompanied by a wide dissatisfaction about the way Scottish interests are being represented in Brussels .sx Mr Lang's initiative , Scotland Europa , was welcome as far as it went but few felt it went far enough .sx What was really surprising , perhaps , was the extent of the feeling among people in the financial and business communities that devolution was now not only inevitable but even desirable .sx The neglect of vital Scottish concerns , such as salmon fisheries or whisky , were cited as recent examples where the Government , either through ignorance or indifference had failed the Scottish interest .sx And it was acknowledged that sovereignty was already seeping away from Westminster :sx by tieing sic !sx their currencies to their companions in the exchange rate mechanism of the European Monetary System , participating countries , including Britain , had already ceded authority to the Bundesbank , regulator of the lead economy .sx Indeed , the creation of a European Central Bank was seen as a means of regaining sovereignty that had already been lost de facto .sx Highly unfavourable comparisons were drawn between the impact achieved by Scotland in Brussels and that made by countries like Ireland .sx The German Lander , and even the Welsh Office , were regarded as having been more successful than Scottish Ministers working through the UK mechanisms in making themselves as real in European minds as England ( still used everywhere synonymously for Britain) .sx It has been hard , at Gleneagles this week , to resist the conclusion that the Conservatives must put devolution back on the agenda .sx Despite multifarious denials by Mr Lang , reports persist ( the latest again in the Economist last week ) that a group of Conservative Ministers are discussing it , admittedly in no especial spirit of generosity .sx The thinking is that the devolution of Scottish affairs will lead to a reduction in the number of Scottish MPs at Westminster , thus preventing in any realistic scenario the election of a Labour UK Government .sx We do not think that is a proper spirit in which to reform something as important as the Union , but the mood at Gleneagles this week certainly has tended to cast Mr Lang in the role of King Canute .sx Given his thespian gifts , a quick change should present no problems .sx He should reconsider his opposition to parliamentary devolution to accompany the administrative devolution which he already supports .sx Despite the screeches of the diehards , power is ebbing away from Westminster .sx Shadow of the hustings .sx IF different calculations had been made , we would be listening this week to campaign speeches , not debates on the Queen's Speech .sx As it was , the next election cast its shadow over yesterday's scenes in Parliament .sx The legislative programme announced by the Queen was shorter than usual , tailored for a truncated session , and the mood in the House fractious ( not that this is uncommon on such occasions) .sx Not an inspiring start to the new session and not one of British democracy's better days .sx It was not one of Mr Major's better days either .sx This was his first Queen's Speech as Prime Minister , but there was little sense of a new beginning .sx Admittedly the legislative programme was not one that Mrs Thatcher would now be announcing if she had remained in power .sx She would not have been cheerfully giving the final push to the poll tax , conjuring up citizen's charters , or talking about Britain's place in the European mainstream .sx But the ambivalence of Mr Major's Government was in evidence yesterday .sx Perhaps Mr Ashdown put his finger on it when he said that the Queen's Speech was half an attempt to mitigate the past , half an attempt to carry on as before ( as with the emphasis on railway privatisation) .sx Fifty-fifty may not be the accurate ratio but the ambiguity exists .sx The citizen's charter idea , which might have come to the rescue , is falling rather flat .sx The Government is certainly not dragging its feet over the new local council tax - again the shadow of the hustings .sx The legislation is likely to have a troubled passage , with the Opposition fighting for improved rebates , with possible administrative complications as the councils prepare for another about-turn , and with public controversy about the banding system .sx But it's the things that can't be legislated for that are likely to cause the most noise in the run-up to the election - the economy and Europe .sx Nor is there any legislation that can prevent Mr Major being something of a lame duck leader , lacking total authority within his own party , during a parliamentary session which is his own choice .sx Divisions of conflict .sx THE CBI and the Government are not on the cosy terms that would normally be expected this close to a General Election .sx Far from closing ranks they are drifting further apart not just over domestic policy but on Europe , as was clear on the opening day of the CBI conference in Bournemouth .sx The confederation blames the Government for the recession and the consequent slump in investment .sx It disagrees with the Government over the timing and extent of economic recovery .sx It believes the Chancellor's Mansion House speech was too bullish in its claim that business confidence was at its highest level for 17 years .sx The confederation's chief economic adviser , Professor Doug McWilliams , has scathingly observed that " seasonally adjusted confidence is difficult to understand , let alone explain .sx " Since Mr Lamont's optimism had been based on the CBI's own survey , which recorded less gloom than there was at the previous count , this put-down might seem unfair .sx But the Chancellor hyped the figures much more than most economists , no doubt in an excess of anxiety to welcome the long-forecasted end to the recession .sx From the CBI's standpoint , though , there are still hard times ahead for many businesses even if the recession is drawing to an end .sx In these circumstances the approach of a General Election does not automatically restore sweetness and light despite the energetic efforts to paper over the cracks on the eve of the conference .sx Above all there is no hiding the fact that the CBI is particularly unhappy with the performance of the Department of Trade and Industry , which it feels is not doing half enough to promote manufacturing industry .sx Mr Lilley , faced with the difficult task of addressing the conference yesterday , did his best to defuse the criticisms .sx His Government , he said , was banging the drum for British industry and the DTI was banging the drum for the CBI at every opportunity - in Cabinet , in the Commons , in Brussels .sx Indeed , if you believe Mr Lilley , the department is now " very close " to the confederation and the two are really working together .sx That's not how things look from the CBI's side of the fence and it was unsurprising that Mr Lilley's emollient words failed to turn aside the wrath of some delegates .sx According to one speaker the Trade and Industry Secretary has not cared enough about manufacturing and worse still has not understood it .sx Probably there was no way that Mr Lilley could have deflected criticism , short of conceding one of the main recommendations in the CBI's recent report on manufacturing industry - a strengthened DTI taking a more active role in encouraging industry .sx Mr Lilley's lack of sympathy with such ideas is a reminder that pockets of Thatcherism remain in Mr Major's Government .sx Mr Lilley is very much a non-interventionist Industry Secretary , taking the view that structural changes would not solve any problems .sx The point is that structural changes might accomplish much if accompanied by the political will to be " down on the pitch playing " as Mr Banham puts it .sx Mr Lilley clearly lacks the will ; a better bet would be Mr Heseltine , who addresses the conference today , whose interventionist inclinations are stronger and who is sympathetic to the idea of building up the DTI to the point where it can stand up to the Treasury .sx This approach would appear to be more in keeping not just with CBI thinking but with the general tenor of Mr Major's leadership and with the national interest as the UK faces the prospect of a sluggish and uncertain recovery .sx Even if the CBI and the Government were really as much of one mind as Mr Lilley claimed , there would still be differences over Europe .sx The CBI wants economic and monetary union to be placed at the top of the agenda , though Mr Banham believes that if the price is too high the Government should walk away .sx His remarkably savage attack on the French was hardly calculated to promote Euro-understanding , but then the CBI are cool on political union , fearful that it may prove a distraction from the important business of economic convergence .sx This must be true of the full-blown federalist formula , from which the Dutch themselves have now retreated ; and there are flaws in even the Mark 2 version .sx But too negative an approach to moderate proposals for political unity might also obstruct the economic union for which the CBI longs .sx How to make the headlines .sx FEW social skills are as elusive as the confident wearing of a new hat .sx The secret , according to some experts , is to wear it first in heavy rain , which not only makes it appear necessary , but causes slight shrinkage , thus averting the indignity of a chase .sx To most older men , of course , headgear is normal , having been worn at school .sx Yesterday's polite boy not only raised his cap to his parents , but to his sisters , a ceremony which today would doubtless produce ribald feminist laughter .sx The school cap had a vital function in sport , the peak keeping out the sun , and highly coloured specimens were often awarded to the giants of the first eleven .sx In later life hats were a signal of social class .sx The top hat remains in use at the most exclusive English public schools , and proceeds from there to the royal enclosure at Ascot .sx The bowler , by contrast , may have derived from the eponymous hat-maker in London's Nelson Square , but has had mixed fortunes ever since , a billycock being worn variously by bookmakers , pre-war foremen , riders to hounds , participants in Orange Walks , and , with umbrellas , by ex-Army officers in mufti .sx