So, it official. For years Scots thought secretly that their elected representatives had amended their accents to make themselves more acceptable in the Big Pond of the Palace of Westminster, but now we have official research to prove it.
In today's Scotland On Sunday, they suggest "top Scottish politicians barely know their rolled Rs from their elbows due to the pressure of the Westminster hothouse. A study of the speech of major political figures has shown that senior Scots at Westminster have changed their accents to sound more akin to their English counterparts - dropping their pronounced Rs and changing their vowels. Those who have altered their speech include Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former Tory Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind and Lib-Dem leader Menzies Campbell. However, the study shows that SNP leader Alex Salmond has not changed his accent, despite spending two decades in the Commons."
But never mind, at least we now have devolution and our MSPs don't have to bother. It just means that their Scottish consituents still won't be able to understand what they are saying in Edinburgh, never mind London.
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