Take note: Commissioners never take notes

Date: 02/05/1996

European Commissioners have to be ever-vigilant in the face of almost daily temptations to bribery and corruption.

Entre Nous is pleased to report that Economics Commissioner Yves-Thibault de Silguy has done the decent thing and handed back two of the three sets of Scottish bank notes he was recently given by campaigners determined to ensure that Scotland keeps its own notes when the single currency is in place, even if the UK government does eventually decide to join.

It is not that the Scots share the English suspicion of the Euro. Far from it. It's just that the three Scottish banks would like to preserve the right to issue their own notes with denominations ranging from £1 to £100, not least to keep history alive through the noted profiles of Robert Burns, Robert the Bruce and Walter Scott.

It was Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond and MEP Winnie Ewing who offered de Silguy a presentation pack from each of the banks - Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale Bank - containing one genuine, pristine note of each denomination issued from £1 to £100, total value £508.

But de Silguy declined the offer, fearing a slur on his upright reputation. He hung on to one of the three gifts, however, just for a few days.

Apparently he wanted to read the accompanying literature - looking for good ideas, perhaps?