Another row has broken out over the rightful home of the Stone of Destiny after claims that it should be moved from Edinburgh Castle back to Perth.
Murdo Fraser, the MSP, said yesterday that proposals to convert Perth City Hall into a cultural attraction offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring the historic crowning stone of Scottish kings back to its place of origin.
The hall has been under threat of demolition since a modern concert venue was built nearby and Perth and Kinross council is looking at “all options” for the building.
It is thought that officials favour converting it into a “cultural attraction” to counterbalance the upcoming V&A Museum of Design at Dundee. Mr Fraser, the Scottish Conservatives MSP for Mid-Scotland & Fife, said the Stone could be the centrepiece of the revamped hall where Margaret Thatcher gave her first speech as prime minister.
“There would be a fantastic opportunity to breathe life into this concept of a cultural centre at the heart of Perth city by bringing the Stone of Destiny back to its rightful place,” he added.
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“For years the future of the Stone of Destiny has been debated and I, along with many other locals, have argued that it should be located in Perthshire.”
Mr Fraser said that the Stone “could bring tens of thousands of visitors right to the heart of Perth” and have “substantial economic benefits”.
Debates about the rightful home of the red sandstone block have raged for hundreds of years.
The Stone of Destiny, or Stone of Scone, was used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, and later the monarchs of England and the Kingdom of Great Britain.
It was kept at Scone Palace, Perth, but was captured in 1296 by Edward I as spoils of war and taken to Westminster Abbey, where it was fitted into a wooden chair — known as King Edward’s Chair — upon which most subsequent English sovereigns were crowned.
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It was stolen by a group of Scottish students, who held on to it for more than year in the 1950s, before being returned to Scotland on St Andrew’s Day in 1996. The Stone is now displayed alongside the crown jewels of Scotland in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle.
A spokesman for the Scottish government said that any decision to lend or relocate the Stone would be made by the Commissioners of the Regalia under the terms of the Royal Warrant by which it was returned to Scotland.