IAN BRUCE,
Defence Correspondent
Glasgow Herald
June 16 2005
THE government is to mount a "Catch 22" legal defence to prevent veteran soldiers from derailing plans to amalgamate two of Scotland's oldest regiments, The Herald can reveal.
Military sources say lawyers representing the Ministry of Defence will argue that any action to block the merger of the King's Own Scottish Borderers and the Royal Scots next year would have to be taken by serving rather than former soldiers.
The catch is that serving soldiers are forbidden under Queen's regulations from challenging government policy in the courts.
The KOSB's Edinburgh association, representing veterans of the regiment, lodged a petition at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in February claiming it was "outwith the competency" of a Whitehall government to merge or disband a unit raised in 1689 by an independent Scottish parliament.
Alexander Moffat and Co, the Edinburgh firm specialising in constitutional law, acted for the campaigners at a preliminary hearing in May, arguing that new primary legislation would be required for any change to the regiment's status.
Since then, the issue has become a political hot potato. The initial writ was served on Dr Linda Clarke, QC, advocate-general for Scotland, as Westminster's senior legal representative north of the border.
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A senior serving officer told The Herald: "The Scottish Office immediately passed the buck to the MoD, who have been flailing around trying to find a way out of the dilemma. Everyone on the government side of the fence has been acting as if someone has just lobbed them a grenade with the pin pulled out."
The case has been continued until August 4, ruling out official comment by either plaintiff or respondent in the meantime.
However, a source close to the regimental campaigners said yesterday: "If the Catch 22 ploy is the best the MoD can come up with, then they're obviously struggling."
"The KOSB association's legal people researched the issues involved for months before the decision was taken to mount a challenge. They did their homework, but the MoD appears not to have exercised the same prudence."
The proposed amalgamation of the two regiments was announced in December as part of a wider restructuring of the British infantry.
The bitterly opposed plan for Scotland is to merge the KOSB and Royal Scots and incorporate the new incarnation and the four other Scottish regiments into a single unit, the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
Campaigners say this will wipe out centuries of tradition and have a disastrous effect on recruitment in Scotland's military catchment areas.
. . . . .read more on the background to this issue.
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