BEN THOMSON could fairly be described as an ideas man. He famously resigned as head of a merchant bank at the age of 43 to spend his semi-retirement “making mischief” — which turned out to mean founding a think tank and advocating maximum devolution, or his preferred term, Home Rule.
You may have noted a period of radio silence from him over the last year, since he relinquished the chairmanship of Reform Scotland and did not want to queer the pitch of his successor, Alan McFarlane, but there were signs of him stirring again recently with a personal submission to Holyrood on how full Home Rule could allow links to be maintained to both London and Brussels now that Brexit is going ahead.