This will show the blethering classes

The Scotsman has been making the news recently, not just reporting it. Critics claim the 180-year-old institution is deep in crisis. Not the best time for a relaunch, then? On the contrary, says Andrew Neil

Daily newspapers, by their very nature, are in a state of constant evolution: editors are offered a fresh start every day to introduce better ways of covering the news and to react imaginatively to the changing demands of readers. In the British newspaper market, probably the most competitive in the world, those who fail to grasp such opportunities will soon find themselves presiding over declining publications - or out of a job. There are times in every newspaper's life, however, when piecemeal change is not enough, when fundamental reform is required to prepare the paper for changing circumstances and to raise its horizons towards finer possibilities. This time has come for The Scotsman.

Daily newspapers, by their very nature, are in a state of constant evolution: editors are offered a fresh start every day to introduce better ways of covering the news and to react imaginatively to the changing demands of readers. In the British newspaper market, probably the most competitive in the world, those who fail to grasp such opportunities will soon find themselves presiding over declining publications - or out of a job. There are times in every newspaper's life, however, when piecemeal change is not enough, when fundamental reform is required to prepare the paper for changing circumstances and to raise its horizons towards finer possibilities. This time has come for The Scotsman.

The new Scotsman, launched yesterday and with a new cover price of 20p, represents such a step change in an ancient and venerable institution. Like all such entities, no matter how distinguished their pedigree, they risk going belly up if they fail to change with the times. I have no intention of letting The Scotsman go the way of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders. The trick, however, is to reach out to new readers without switching off the core readership. I believe the new Scotsman will achieve that.

As we told readers of The Scotsman yesterday, everything that has given the paper its reputation for journalism of the highest quality throughout its long and eminent history remains; but new dimensions have been added to broaden its appeal and widen its agenda. Regular readers will find the usual authoritative and reliable coverage of Scottish and British politics, international affairs, business and sport in the main, expanded broadsheet section, but more finely focussed than before with increased emphasis on original stories and features generated by our own staff and less reliance on recycled wire copy, thanks to the extra resources being devoted to news.

In the age of multi-channel broadcasting and the internet, however, newspapers cannot live by news alone: readers expect to be informed about new developments in health, lifestyle, eating, technology, entertainment and the arts. Such concerns are far removed from party political discourse and traditional current affairs; but they are often more important to the lives of readers in an age in which people find the relentless banter of politicians increasingly sterile and irrelevant.

Our new tabloid section, S2, is designed to cater for such concerns in an attractive, easily accessible format. New readers who have had the erroneous impression that The Scotsman was a paper only for Edinburgh lawyers, bankers and civil servants will be pleasantly surprised; this is now a paper for all parts of Scotland and people of all walks of life. The new section takes nothing away from The Scotsman's seriousness of purpose when it comes to the major issues of the day but recognises that in this post-ideological age man (and woman) does not live by politics alone.

The London-based nationals recognised this a long time ago, which is why their expanding Scottish editions have made such inroads into the circulation of Scotland's indigenous broadsheets: over the past two decades sales of The Scotsman and the Glasgow-based Herald have been in slow but steady decline while sales of the London-based nationals have risen. It cannot be healthy, especially with devolution, for Scotland's national debate to be disproportionately influenced by what are, in effect, regional editions of London newspapers. It is time to repel the invaders.

The new Scotsman will match (and often better) anything the London papers can provide with the added advantage for Scottish readers that it sees the world through Scottish eyes. This is not a matter of parochialism, simply a matter of perspective. The view from the Thames is always interesting but not always relevant to Scottish needs and aspirations. The Scotsman offers a view of Scotland, Britain and the world from the perspective of the country in which its readers live; what happens in London will remain a matter of the utmost importance to most Scots and will continue to be reported in our pages; but that does not mean all events have to be seen through a London-centric filter.

It follows that the new Scotsman is pitching itself against the London-based nationals, not the Scottish big-city dailies. The enemy is The Times, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail. If you live in Glasgow you should buy the redoubtable Herald; the same goes for the Courier in Dundee and the Press & Journal in Aberdeen. It is good to support your local newspaper. But if you also want broader reporting, more in-depth analysis and more informed interpretations of Scottish, British and international events, then we believe you should also take The Scotsman.

New times demand new ideas as well as new formats and The Scotsman will be in the forefront of the new thinking Scotland needs for the 21st century. The Scotsman has always been a liberal paper: a belief in tolerance, humanity and progress have been hallmarks of its editorial policy. These will remain our hallmarks, but it is time to junk the ideological baggage which holds Scotland back in the information age.

The new Scotsman will attempt to wean Scotland's political culture away from its lingering collectivist love affair with big government (with the high taxes and inefficient state spending that go with it) in favour of a market economy with a social conscience. The paper's agenda will be rigorously independent of any party and emanate from the radical centre. It will embrace the market economy more fully than before and espouse the sort of market-based solutions and social spending which will make Scotland a fairer, more prosperous land of opportunity for all. Yesterday's "mission statement" editorial said as much and the paper also carried an article by Gordon Brown on his agenda for Scotland: it would be hard to slip a cigarette paper between them.

So much, so uncontroversial, you might think. But not as far as Scotland's blethering media classes are concerned. The launch of the new Scotsman has been accompanied by an unprecedented degree of sniping and scuttlebutt, against the paper in general and me in particular. Some of it comes from those whose ambitions to edit The Scotsman exceed their abilities to do so, some from those who have recently departed our employee. Most of it comes from competitors who do not always have our best interests in heart.

To reposition and revamp The Scotsman in such a critical climate has been invigorating: it is always fun to take on established opinion and beat them. My previous experience includes the creation of the multi-section Sunday Times, the launch of Sky TV and the relaunch of Sunday Business - all of which opinion said could not be done. I have no doubt the new Scotsman will be a similar success and that we are creating a Scottish newspaper of world-class quality - something in which Scotland can take pride. But lies and distortions, if peddled often enough, can have an insidious influence. So let's shoot a few down.

First, sales of The Scotsman have not been in freefall. They dipped about 4 per cent around the turn of the year because the paper was stuck in a rut; but that slippage has already been reversed prior to the relaunch: the new Scotsman starts life from a base of 80,000, which is roughly where the paper has been for several years.

Second, the recent substantial turnover in staff, far from provoking some mythical crisis, has been almost entirely beneficial. It has allowed new blood to reinvigorate the paper and existing talent, suppressed by old ways, to flourish. Any process of rapid change involves losing a few people you would prefer to keep. But that is a small price to pay for an overdue revolution in staffing as we attempt to create a new culture and new attitudes for the new Scotsman. Hiring replacements of ability and reputation has not proved a problem, as the next few weeks will demonstrate.

Lastly, and most absurdly of all, the word has been put about that I am somehow anti-Scottish. For someone who was born, brought up and educated in Scotland - and who has always emphasised his Scottish roots - this is laughable. It is spread by those in the country's liberal-left establishment, which remains stuck in a collectivist time warp and fears the power of new and more progressive ideas.

But nobody who surveys the consequences of these outdated attitudes - the appalling quality of so much of our housing stock, the poor standards of too many schools, the inefficiency of town hall services, the lack of an entrepreneurial business culture - can be satisfied with the status quo. Not to demand radical reform in these areas would be the ultimate betrayal of Scotland and the new Scotsman will never be a traitor to what it believes to be in the country's best interests.

So the new Scotsman is locked in a battle of ideas as well as circulation. The outcome will be determined by the marketplace, not the poisonous ramblings of the disaffected. I am confident the newspaper will win both battles. Both The Scotsman and Scotland will be the better for it.