Wendy's pal - was it Tinkerbelle or Captain Hook?

May I direct your attention to a most interesting post by one of the Bondbloke people on the resurrection of Professor 'Red' Midsummer who has risen from his grave to clank his chains:

Red has now proposed (Scotsman, 12 June) that the Standing Orders of the Scottish Parliament should be changed to enable "...committees to be allowed to make amendments [to the budget] rather than make [non-binding] recommendations". This would, of course, rob the governing party of the right to set Scottish spending priorities to the extent that these did not chime with the majority on any specific committee. But wait - has Red considered the melee that will ensue should his latest attempt to undermine Scottish democracy be accepted? There are to be 15 Committees in the new Parliament, which gives scope for 15 non-coordinated proposals. To say that financial chaos would ensue is to put it mildly.

I agree. Sensible financial administration would be become impossible. Furthermore, such a system would be become entrenched, in that any subsequent attempt to restore the previous system would be opposed on the grounds that it was an anti-democratic transfer of responsibility from parliamentary committees to the Executive. For MSPs to vote away their powers to meddle would be like turkeys voting for Christmas. Does Prof Midsummer really want to impose such a daft arrangement on future administrations, even if those administrations might be of a more acceptable political flavour to his (admittedly atrophied) tastebuds?