For long enough now, finding lasting peace in the Middle East has often seemed easier than getting the big nobs of Scottish football to hang out in a room together and make some proper decisions for the greater good.

Self-interest, internal politics, petty bickering, playing to the gallery. All of it — and more — has tended to get in the road down the years. It can be like trying to get consensus from the chimps on the right kind of petit-fours to serve at their tea party.

However, when it comes to Rangers’ request for a meeting between all top-flight clubs to address the inadequate standard of officiating in the national game, both on the pitch and in the VAR room, there can surely be no reluctance from their rivals.

From this vantage point, it looks like everyone has had more than enough of incomprehensible errors. There is a three-way fight for the Premiership title playing out in the most exciting season for decades and, as predicted here not so long ago, a danger now exists of it being consumed by rage, wild allegations and weapons-grade whataboutery over match-changing calls that end up being shown to be bang wrong.

Just look at Friday night’s edition of ‘The VAR Review’ — refereeing chief Willie Collum’s monthly look back at contentious incidents — for proof.

Three major mistakes in matches involving Celtic and Rangers highlighted — and not even any mention made of the fact Hearts were denied a stonewall penalty in their 1-0 loss at Kilmarnock last weekend when Claudio Braga was fouled by Robbie Deas and tried to stay on his feet rather than do the dying fly act.

Mikey Moore was scythed down by Cammy Kerr… but Livingston ended up with a goal kick

It’s not going to get any better as the temperature rises around the title race either. Going by that TV show on Friday night, VAR teams nationwide are regularly disappearing down the rabbithole, losing all track of what’s right and what’s wrong and what end is up.

Liam Scales has his shirt pulled in the area by Jack Iredale in Celtic’s recent home loss to Hibs. Everyone on the VAR team sees it. Talks it through at length. Yet, no penalty is given following a discussion about the fact, clearly to Collum’s chagrin, that it is somehow ‘not enough’ to make the call.

Mikey Moore charges to the edge of the area and prepares to release a shot as Rangers endeavour to turn a 2-2 draw at Livingston into a win and is brought crashing by Cammy Kerr. It’s clear from the pictures that the referee is wrong in thinking Kerr touched the ball.

As Collum admitted, it’s an on-field review, a red card for the Livi man for denying a goalscoring opportunity and a free-kick. What happened? The VAR team get sidetracked over whether or not Moore was fouled in the box and the game restarts with the home team having possession.

Then, we come to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain seven minutes into Celtic’s 3-1 win over Motherwell last Saturday.

Had Motherwell won at Parkhead, we’d be talking about a four-way title battle. Oxlade-Chamberlain fouled Elijah Just and copped a booking from referee John Beaton, which, in the ground, looked understandable.

Willie Collum’s VAR Review show isn’t helping to show Scottish refereeing in a good light

It doesn’t look that way when you study all the angles, though. Oxlade-Chamberlain should have been off. His studs go down Just’s leg to the extent that they pull his sock down.

The incident is repeated over and over again. Yet, in the audio, VAR Kevin Clancy can be heard expressing the view it is a ‘boot on boot’ challenge. Beaton even goes on to question that theory by pointing out Just has a mark on his shin, but it is duly dismissed.

Lord knows what Collum thinks he is achieving in his analysis by branding it ‘an orange card’. He admits there would have been zero disagreement if a red had been given. So, should it have been a red or not?

In what was surely a great fillip to those at Rangers, the show was broadcast just hours after the minutes of a meeting between club officials, including then interim CEO Fraser Thornton, and their fan advisory board were made public. It just gave so much more weight to the Ibrox club’s desire to pull together a pow-wow with other clubs and get a plan together.

‘It was explained that the club has proposed the convening of a wider meeting involving SPFL Premiership clubs in order to discuss refereeing standards and potential structural improvements to officiating within the Scottish game,’ read the minutes.

‘The intention of such a discussion would be to focus on long-term improvements rather than individual match incidents.’

Only a matter of weeks ago, Celtic were complaining about decisions and explaining they were in touch with the SFA. It seems fair to say that no club is happy with the status quo. Why, then, wouldn’t they all see worth in getting together and putting some concrete proposals forward to the national association?

Celtic midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was very lucky not to see red against Motherwell

If it can go ahead, one thing they shouldn’t do early-doors, though, is actually get the SFA involved. This isn’t about improving relations of fostering respect. It’s about trying to come with ideas to fix a system that is evidently failing to deliver and has had ample time to look within for answers.

SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell, if you recall, chaired a pow-wow involving clubs, managers and referees back in 2019 at McDiarmid Park after a host of unfathomable decisions — along with the interventions of the SFA compliance officer (remember when that was thing?) — had taken unhappiness over officiating to breaking point.

From memory, not a massive amount came of it other than a general view that following the rest of the developed world and bringing in VAR might be an idea.

Brendan Rodgers, then Celtic manager, commandeered the headlines by demanding the introduction of full-time referees — but that, as always, drifted into the ether with everyone at the top of the game trying to pretend they hadn’t heard it.

Maxwell also got involved after last season’s Premier Sports Cup final when Rangers were denied a potentially match-winning penalty after Scales had clearly pulled Vaclav Cerny’s shirt in the area and VAR officials Alan Muir and Frank O’Connor failed to spot it.

It was an embarrassment in a showpiece fixture. Maxwell, however, effectively brushed it off as nothing to get in a flap over. ‘Human nature,’ he said. He then made some bizarre comment about 20 fans in a room coming up with 25 different opinions when this was really only ever about about three Grade One officials in a video suite making a roaring mess of it.

And as ‘The VAR Review’ shows, they keep making a mess of it month after month after month.

SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell should be kept away from discussions between the clubs

To many, required alterations are clear. Full-time officials would be a start, but that’s never going to go down well with guys topping up the moolah from their day jobs by coining it in from doing games on top.

Refereeing here also feels like an old boys’ club and Collum is part of it. He’s too close to it all, dealing with ex-colleagues both still involved in taking charge of games and others working as supervisors.

This needs someone capable of stripping it back and starting again. In the immediate term, an independent pair of eyes might be an idea to come in and offer an impartial opinion on what has gone so wrong.

What is needed before all that, though, is a collective will from major stakeholders to force change through.

Rangers haven’t been terribly good at winning friends and influencing people since ‘The Journey’ back from oblivion, but chairman Andrew Cavenagh and new CEO Jim Gillespie represent a new broom.

If they can overcome the politics, the bad blood and all the rest of it to get their rivals round a table and deliver a cohesive blueprint to make refereeing better, they’ll be doing everyone a favour.