The Flag in the Wind
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CAMPAIGNING FOR SCOTLAND
(Owned, Edited and Printed in Scotland since November 1926)
Compiled by Jim Lynch
[27 October 2000]

THE FLAG NOW FLIES

As indicated last week, we sent an emissary, at great expense, to Methil Public Library (Methil, as in Methil, Fife, home of East Fife FC) and we can now confirm that the Flag is Flying in Methil; it may be a wee while before we receive reports from Assisi, Biarritz, Isle of Man and San Francisco, but if you do not have a Flying Flag tell the Webmaster.

Our Executive Chairman, Peter D Wright, has a weakness for East Fife FC (It could only be a weakness) and our potential First Minister, Henry McLeish, used to play for East Fife; one of our supporters was given a trial for East Fife, and offered a signing on fee of £25, which he spurned, because he was in the show business. What a fool, he could have really made a name for himself as a footballer instead of becoming Sir Sean Connery.

AND HOORAY FOR HENRY - PERHAPS

After all the furore about Henry McLeish campaigning before Donald Dewar was buried, while Jack McConnell preserved a dignified silence, the aforesaid Jack was in his Campaign HQ at 7am the morning after the funeral, and had organised trips around Scotland to speak to every Labour MSP; amazing how he managed to put that together in the few short hours - but that’s how political miracles are worked - when nobody’s looking.

The anointing of Henry didn’t quite come off, and those who regarded his election as a foregone conclusion got a nasty shock. The closeness of the vote 44 for Henry 36 for Jack was a surprise to many, and if it had been a secret ballot, as promised, the outcome might have been overturned. Imagine, the electors had to write the name of the candidate they were voting for on a ballot slip; even I, with a very rudimentary grasp of computers, could have rustled up a ballot slip with the two names and a box for the X, so where was the much vaunted Labour machine? Perhaps the fact that writing could be identified was a factor, but maybe that’s being unduly suspicious; and a wee bird told me that Henry made his first visit to Westminster since being in Holyrood, to cast his vote for Michael Martin as Speaker, again nothing to do with the fact that Michael’s son Paul is a Labour MSP. .

There was also a story being floated that the SNP were more afraid of Jack McConnell than of Henry McLeish, which was probably generated by the SNP just to help the general confusion; in politics, as in life, things are not always as they appear. Be that as it may, it is appropriate that John Swinney, as Leader of the Opposition, challenged for the post of First Minister, as a matter of principle, as there has only been a Labour carve up for the post of leader of the Labour Party, conducted with unseemly haste, and the post of First Minister is First Minister for Scotland. Now if that election was by secret ballot, just think how that might turn out as Henry McLeish did not get even half of the MSP vote!

Mr McLeish tenure as leader of the Labour Party got off to a bad start, with his ham fisted attempt to involve his backbenchers being rightly perceived as an attempt to politicise the Civil Service, a noble (nobble?) try in the best traditions of Tory and New Labour; this, of course, let David McLetchie get in on the act as he decided to run for First Minister, although he cannot claim to have the moral support of the opinion polls, but then again, moral is not a word in the Tory dictionary.

MEANWHILE - BACK IN CENTRAL FIFE

There was a council by election, and although there was supposed to be a moratorium on campaigning in the period up to Donald Dewar’s funeral, this was broken by - yes - the Labour Party, in Henry McLeish’s seat. Tut, tut, shame, and an official complaint from SNP MSP Tricia Marwick. However, it did Labour no good for the result was:

It is very good to see Alf Patey back as a Councillor; he was a Regional Councillor for a long time, and he was member of my Campaign Team when I contested Central Fife at the 1979 General Election. It does not augur well for Labour that they lost a seat on the day after Donald Dewar’s funeral, when they should have expected a sympathy vote; incidentally, when Henry McLeish was first elected as a Westminster MP, the council seat he vacated was taken by the SNP. Aye, Fifers can put folk in their place (They did it to me as well).

Interesting footnote: the SNP councillor for South Parks from 1967-70 was none other than Peter D Wright, our Chairman, whose dulcet tones you can hear in "A Kist O’ Ferlies".

TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF TRIBUNES

The unhappy saga (If you are a Labour supporter) of Peter Mandelson continues; Geoffrey Robinson, who lent Mr Mandelson £375000, which Mr Mandelson did not declare to the Britannia Building Society when he asked them for a loan, has now written a book, called "The Unconventional Minister". In the book, his version of events differs from the one that Mr Mandelson gave to the Commons Standards Committee; Mr Robinson says that Mr Mandelson asked him for the money, whereas Mr Mandelson says Mr Robinson offered it to him. Whatever the truth, it is a fact that Mr Mandelson has been re instated, if getting the Northern Ireland job can be considered that, and Mr Robinson is still out in the cold; however he has a book to sell. What made the loan so risky is that the Department of Trade and Industry was investigating Mr Robinson’s companies at the time, and Peter Mandelson was in charge of that department, but doesn’t seem to have considered he compromised himself! Mr Robinson also states that he did give money into Tony Blair’s blind trust, a claim refuted by Baroness Jay, a trustee, just over a year ago; he said he was asked for that money, too. A bit of a shame, all this falling out, since Tony Blair was given the use of Mr Robinson’s Tuscan villa; Tony has had to find alternative accommodation since the spat.

In any event, the Tories have been having a field day, calling on the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Elizabeth Filkin, to investigate; there is no doubt that the Tories know all about Parliamentary Standards! Ms Filkin now has a little bit of time on her hands; she has just completed her report on Dr John Reid, he who may remain as Secretary of State for Scotland. He was being investigated after claims that he used his MPs expenses to fund a Labour election campaign against Parliamentary rules. The claims centred on three Labour campaigners, allegedly listed as Commons researchers but paid for from the public purse, who worked for Labour during the Scottish Election Campaign in 1999; one of the people was John Reid’s son, Kevin (of Lobbygate fame) and another was Chris Winslow, a special adviser to the late Donald Dewar.

The report has now gone to the Standards and Privileges Committee, who will decide what action, if any, to take; by the way, the DTI investigation into Geoffrey Robinson’s companies has been concluded, and the West Midland fraud squad has stated "Following an investigation by the West Midlands Police Major Fraud Unit, and after consultation with the Serious Fraud Office, it has been decided that there is insufficient evidence to justify prosecution of any individual or company as a result of the allegations made concerning grants allotted by the DTI to Transfer Technology Ltd or associate companies between 1986 and 1989". That’s all right then.

THE LOUD SPEAKER

Our congratulations go to Michael Martin, Labour MP for Glasgow Springburn, who has been elected Speaker of the House of Commons; Mr Martin is anti devolution, a stance we cannot argue with, as many in the SNP were also anti devolution, if for different reasons.

It is our pious hope that Mr Martin, who is the first Scottish MP, or rather the first Scottish MP for a Scottish constituency, will also be the last Scottish MP to be Speaker; independence would see to that! We are also pleased that his seat will be contested by the SNP at the next General Election, in defiance of the English Parliamentary convention that the Speaker is unopposed. If you think that Parliamentary conventions are sacrosanct then consider that there was such a battle for the post of Speaker because acccording to the Parliamentary convention it was the Tories’ turn and they were miffed; also Sir Thomas Dalyell (Bart) of the Binns, better known as Tory Tam the Labour man, says that he will not nominate Mr Martin as Speaker next time round. Tam will be the Father of the House, as the longest serving MP, and it is the convention that the Speaker is nominated by the Father of the House; Tam is also miffed at something Mr Martin has done. Anyway, having to vote 11 times to elect a Speaker is more than a bit archaic, but it no doubt pushes up the Commons voting averages.

Some of the comments in the English media, about Mr Martin’s accent, about him being another Scottish MP, and about Scots in general have been almost racist, and if they had been uttered about a coloured person would have been actionable. It is not the Scots fault that there are too many Scots in positions of power, but perhaps our fault for being too talented!

Mr Martin is a fluent Italian speaker (small s) and is also an accomplished piper; it is a bit rich for the English to complain about his accent when the statement that he is a piper would have them thinking he was the Daily Mail.

BY ELECTION (S)

It has been announced that the Scottish Parliament by election in Anniesland will be on 23 November, and it is anticipated that the Westminster election will be held on the same day. This time there will be no repeat of the SNP being expected to take a Labour safe seat, as was the case when Donald Dewar won it as Garscadden in 1978.

So far, also, there is no word on a date for Falkirk West, but Dennis Canavan has yet to resign, or apply for the Chiltern Hundreds, another archaic convention. We could wonder if Dennis hopes for an eleventh hour reconciliation with Labour, now that Donald Dewar is no longer there, or if he is holding off so that there will be only one by election on his day, since there might be by elections in England on 23 November as well. However, the SNP have selected as their candidate for Falkirk West, former FSN Chairman and BBC Editor, David Kerr.