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
[Issue 46 - 20 April 2001]

NEW LABOUR TRILOGY - RIGHT HAND, LEFT HAND, UNDERHAND

When the Scottish Parliament was created, it was said "The genie is out of the bottle, and no one can put it in again"; nowhere is this becoming more apparent than in the recent Tartan Day celebrations in America. The Parliament’s broadcasting unit produced a video, "Caledonian Trilogy" for Tartan Day 2001; it highlighted the connections between Scotland and America, with some emphasis on Paisley where there were the cotton mills, and in some sequences it used the tune "Dixie" , ie the land of cotton.. The video was commissioned by the Parliament/Executive and was designed to boost the Scottish tourist trade with America, at a time when the aforesaid tourist trade is wilting under the strain of foot and mouth disease.

The video cost us £30000, and apparently required another couple of thousand to make it available to all American TV stations; first ‘ the story was that this was too much money... and then that it was racist because the tune "Dixie" had pro slavery overtones. The video was given an enthusiastic reception in Washington at the National Press Club, where it was shown at the request of Sir Sean Connery, who had a sequence in it taken from the "Yes" Campaign in 1997.

The man who directed the video, Alan Smart, head of broadcasting at the Scottish Parliament, has had letters in both the Scotsman and the Herald refuting any claims of racism; the film uses clips of Martin Luther King, and the script was cleared by the Martin Luther King Centre in Atlanta, so obviously they did not consider it racist. We on this side of the Atlantic are not aware if there are overtones, or undertones, of racism in this song but also we have never heard Elvis Presley’s American Trilogy referred to as racist, so it is all rather puzzling.

What we suspect is that the official reasons for the scrapping of the distribution of this film are a smokescreen, and that our Enterprise Minister, Ms Wendy Alexander, who was involved in the production thereof, either did not get enough prominence in it (She was sitting in Parliament, not speaking, in a clip showing women in Parliament) or that in her role as Director of Labour’s General Election Campaign she felt Scottishness was not to be encouraged. Unattributed comments heard so far have been "Off message" and "Too Scottish". I have seen the film, it can be viewed at www.tartandaylive.com and it is very good indeed; probably one of the sequences which so irritate the Unionists is the one showing the current Parliament building with the Saltire and the Stars and Stripes proudly flying, and no’ a Union Jack in sight!

It seems that the plug was pulled around the time that the Prime Minister , Mr Blair, was agonising over the date of the General Election, and it could be that New Labour are paranoid about anything that could be seen to make Scots proud of their nation and likely to vote for the SNP; certainly the clip of Sir Sean Connery (or plain Sean Connery at that time) reading from the Declaration of Arbroath could be seen as inflammatory by Unionists like Brian Wilson , even if it was at an all party rally in the Royal High School at the request of the Labour Party! As we stated last week, New Labour have never been slow to use Sir Sean when it suited them, and then stab him in the back, as St Donald Dewar did over his knighthood.

See New Labour! See principles! No’ really!

visitscotland where?

While on the subject of tourism, Shadow Enterprise Minister, Kenny MacAskill. SNP, has received a reply from the Enterprise Minister. Ms Wendy Alexander (Who often acts in the shadows) to a number of written questions he had asked. Kenny asked if the Minister could detail Scottish Tourist Board (Now known as visitscotland.com) staffing levels and expenditure in a number of key overseas markets - such as the US and Germany. The Minister’s non reply said it was an operational matter for the Tourist Board; Kenny said "This body is wholly funded by the Scottish government, it is wholly responsible to the Scottish government, its Chairman and Chief Executive are appointed by the Scottish government, yet the Scottish government is unable - or perhaps just unwilling - to provide the necessary information." The piece of paper did not reply.

And while we welcome the appointment of a new Chief Executive, Mr Rod Lynch (No relation) the timing, and the tardiness of the appointment have also been questionned by Kenny; the post has been vacant since last year, and Mr Lynch will not be taking up the job until June. It looks as if Labour have dithered again, and Mr Lynch will not be able to have any impact this year.

We look forward to the "Caledonian Trilogy" fiasco above being raised on the floor of Parliament when the MSPs return from recess; maybe the Scottish Tourist Board’s staff in the United States can give the Parliament their advice on "Dixie", that is if there are any staff in America, and we also wonder if the visiting American Tour Operators who are being shown around Scotland were allowed to see the film.

 A DULL REPORT

This is the week for written answers, when the government respond to matters they would rather not respond to, and so they do it when MSPs are on holiday; incidentally, we have no condemnation of those Ministers and civil servants who go on holiday abroad, as we do ourselves, and it is a bit rich to expect hard working Ministers to take a busman’s holiday during a crisis, especially when there is nothing they can do to improve things. To put this into perspective, how would you like to tell the weans that they were not going to Disney World, but to Dunoon?

However, I digress, the indefagitable Michael Russell, MSP, Shadow Cabinet Member, had asked how many copies of the Scottish Government’s document "Working Together for Scotland ; A Programme for Government" had been sold? Well, 4000 copies were printed at a cost of £38000, 35 copies have been sold, and 1867 copies have been given away free. Wait, run that past me again---4000 printed, 35 sold and 1867 given away free! Whose bright idea was this, and with half of the run still on the shelf, what steps are being taken to sell these? Another part of the question was how many people had looked at the website, and they did not know.

Strange and peculiar ways they have of spending our money; first a film that is excellent and costs £30000 scrubbed at the time it would have done most good, and now £38000 spent on books that they can’t even give away! No I won’t give you the web address for that.

 IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE

Government spending is on the increase, but this is not the Chancellor, Gordon Brown loosening the purse strings to help the poor and underprivileged; no this is spending on advertising. Recent figures published by AC Nielsen MMS (Media Monitoring Services, of course) have shown that in February this year the government spent £16.4 million; this compares with Unilever, who spent £12.2 million, and Proctor & Gamble who spent £10.2 million. The latter two of course were selling soap, real soap, not soft soap. (I know, that’s terrible.)

Spending over the last four years has been as follows;

1997 £43.8 million | 1998 £58.2 million | 1999 £87.2 million | 2000 £102.7 million

It has to be stressed that the figures for 1997 include money spent by John Major’s government, but after that they had to manage by themselves; we are told that all this advertising is necessary for the government to keep us informed. A New Labour spokesman denied that taxpayers’ money was being used to promote the party’s policies in the run-up to the General Election. (In the words of an infamous political hanger-on "Well, he would, wouldn’t he?") "Each of the campaigns is for the legitimate purpose of imparting important information to the public," he insisted. "There are a number of significant changes in the spring that people need to know about. ---- All governments in the past have advertised what they are doing." As indicated in the preceding contribution, the general public has not always appreciated the money allegedly spent on their behalf!

HIT HENRY HARD!

It looks to the unbiased (well) observer as if there is a campaign running against our First Minister, Henry McLeish. First there was his election, or anointing, as the contest between him and Jack McConnell seemed to be a stitch up; Henry was the preferred candidate of Tony Blair, so he should just have stepped into the job. However, he surmounted the New Labour non election hurdle, although it was alleged that most of Labour’s MSPs did not vote for him and the Party machine saw him through; then he dithered about free care for the elderly, and the Health Minister was left defending the indefensible, until Mr McLeish finally caved in on threats of a revolt. Next item on the agenda was the use of the word "Government" instead of the word "Executive", which caused a stushie (A word not accepted as Parliamentary language) and near apoplexy among Westminster Labour MPs; relations were strained to say the least at the perceived usurping of power from London.

In no particular order, we then have had a new pay deal for teachers which was better than the one in England, a proposed ambassador in Washington to look after Scottish affairs, Mr McLeish attempted to play down the foot and mouth issue by calling it a "little problem" and the fuss about Wendy Alexander refusing the Water portfolio to concentrate on London Labour’s election programme. I particularly liked one headline which said ""Gordon Brown Tells McLeish "Don’t Give Wendy Water!"" which seemed like a good idea. Incidentally, it does look as if Wendy is becoming a wee bit more politically aware, as the churches are up in arms at proposals to charge them very much increased water rates, and Wendy will not have to go and preach from Jeremiah at them the way she did to the STUC!

The latest this week is that 67% of men, but only 45% of women, know that he is the First Minister; the overall recognition factor was 57%, which is an improvement on January when only 38% knew him. Perhaps the hatchet job which the Daily record did on him helped, although that was not necessarily their intention. What we may be seeing, in all these events is the "Genie out of the bottle" referred to in the first article; we now have a Parliament, and in the ways of the world, it will attempt to increase its powers, to the petulance of those who have held them heretofore, and also it must come up with Scottish solutions to Scottish problems. England and Wales may have similar problems, but they can work them out to suit themselves, and not have us as in the past having to accept an English cure for a problem we do not have.

WE’LL DIG A TRENCH ALONG THE BORDER

The above was a well-known Nationalist song around the Seventies, but somehow never made it into Angus MacGillveray’s Rebel Ceilidh Song Book , and while it was a comical song to "Sail away frae England wi’ the SNP", the prospect of a border control is fast becoming a likelihood. The reason, referred to in previous issues, is the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease, and the efforts to control it.

Shadow Rural Development Minister, Fergus Ewing MSP, is so concerned about the issue of vaccination that he has written to the European Commissioner responsible for Foot and Mouth, Mr David Byrne, requesting he define the criteria and conditions for a "disease-free status " for Scotland , if vaccination is introduced south of the Border. Fergus pointed out that there are no plans to introduce vaccination in Scotland, but if it is introduced in England, in Cumbria for instance, where the situation is much worse, this could undermine Scotland’s disease free status and prevent Scottish exports.

Fergus wrote "It has been suggested that this would require the Scottish/English Border to be closed to livestock movements, and the creation of a cordon sanitaire. The National Farmers Union of Scotland have further stated that the 10 kilometre surveillance zone required by the EU would have to be set up on the English side of the Border, in order to protect Scotland’s disease- free status." He concluded "The needs of Scottish agriculture, and its ability to return to vital export markets, must not be jeopardised by a London-based policy designed for England." Pace the previous article.

It would seem that the arguments for and against vaccination are raging back and forward, and as a non-agricultural and non-scientific journal we have to listen to those who know what they are talking about; while agriculture only employs about 39000 people, this is not the most important criteria, as it has long been our contention that a country that can feed itself is well placed to prosper in the long term. In any event, anything which lessens our food production is of concern, and while imports can substitute in the short term, being net exporters of food gives us tremendous advantages in a starving world, so let’s not throw this blessing away.

CONTRACT WITH SCOTLAND

This week, John Swinney, SNP Leader, published his "Contract with Scotland" and pledged to take its message direct to the voters of Scotland in the run up to the election. The Contract will be signed by every SNP candidate standing for Westminster, and will be direct mailed to half a million voters during the campaign.

The Contract commits every SNP MP to;

• Drive Scotland forward to Independence:

• Protect Scotland from the worst failings of Westminster rule, and

• Deliver the best deal for Scotland.

In launching the document, John was accompanied by Stewart Hosie, the SNP National Secretary, and the PPC for Dundee East. Stewart said "Let me give you just one example of why we need a strong SNP voice at Westminster - to make sure that London no longer gets away with short-changing Scotland.

"Currently all money spent in Scotland is controlled by Westminster, and Westminster has decided that we should be given less and less.

"Spending on Scotland’s schools and hospitals is growing more slowly than south of the Border. London Labour and William Hague’s Conservatives support that policy. We don’t. We think it is unfair and we will make the case loudly and clearly - for Scotland’s wealth to stay in Scotland."

One reason for the Contract is that the voters mistrust politicians; this is because they have been used to being lied to and deceived, and as the reputations of politicians have fallen it should be noted that this applies to Labour and Tory, with the Liberals latching on to the Labour coat-tails. The SNP gets tarred with the same brush, but we have never cheated the electors, nor have we disguised what we stand for - INDEPENDENCE.

A report in the Scotsman said that the National Bank of Australia was stalking the Bank of Scotland with a view to acquisition; the report was accompanied by a picture of Sir George Mathewson, Fred Goodwin and Viscount Younger, looking very cheerful despite this threat.

They had reason to be cheerful; they work for the Royal Bank of Scotland, as the Scotsman shamefully admitted the next day.

The financial press is tipping Associated British Foods PLC as a buy; they have a pile of cash to invest, and one of their Non Executive Directors is John MacGregor, Agriculture Minister at the time it was discovered that BSE was due to animal feedstuffs, a finding he forgot to tell his Continental counterparts.

Associated British Foods PLC is a major manufacturer of animal feedstuffs; do you think the financial experts have noticed that sheep and cows are being burnt?

The Army has rightly been praised for assistance in dealing with the foot and mouth outbreak, and are working hard to help the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with the slaughter policy.

Perhaps an oversight that the Ministry of Defence had to send the Ghurkas, who are mainly Hindu, and to whom the cow is sacred.

In the aftermath of Easter, it is worth remembering that there is a legend that Pontius Pilate was born at Fortingall in Perthshire, where there is also the oldest tree in Europe; according to the legend, he was the son of a Roman ambassador and a local woman.

This would mean that there would still be relatives around somewhere, most probably politicians prone to wash their hands of problems.

The Treasury is about to introduce legislation to curb excess profits that companies are making under the Private Finance Initiative.

It has taken them a few years to admit what any moderately competent person already knew - that excess profits were being made.

SCOTTISH FOOD, TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS

See our Scottish Food, Traditions and Customs in our Features section

DATES IN HISTORY

SING A SANG AT LEAST

"That I for poor auld Scotland's sake
Some useful plan or book could make
Or sing a sang at least ........"

- Robert Burns

Scotland has a wealth of song. Angus McGillveray's "The Rebel Ceilidh Song Book" has served as an excellent introduction to that richness for visitors to "Flag in the Wind" as well as paying a small tribute to his memory. Angus liked nothing better than a song, a dram ( or two ) and a crack with his many friends. "Flag in the Wind" cannot supply a dram but we can continue delving into the wealth of Scottish song. Angus would have liked that.

As a hauflin, my favourite songs were Cornkisters, Scottish and Irish rebel Songs indeed any Protest Song, and I discovered through the burgeoning Scottish Folk scene, in the early 60s, that many others shared my enthusiasm for such songs. At that time, inspired by people such as Dr Hamish Henderson, Folk Clubs were opening up all over Scotland. I joined the Rothes Folk club in Glenrothes and did a weekly report for the Glenrothes Gazette. I still remember the week when I upset the manager of the Club's venue, The Golden Acorn, by reporting that over 300 people had attended an evening with The Corrie Folk Trio - well over capacity!

Among the songs being popularised were those learned at my mother's knee - "Mormond Braes", "Bogie's Bonnie Belle", "The Bonnie Lass o Fyvie, "Nicky Tams" ( see The Rebel Ceilidh Song Book ) or those that I had heard on the wonderful collection of old 78 records by Willie Kemp belonging to my grandparents. I was a folk fan before the folk boom!

The folk song revival marched hand in hand with the rise of the Scottish National Party. From the 1962 West Lothian by-election through to Winnie Ewing's magnificent 1967 victory in Hamilton, Nationalist supporting songwriters fuelled the feeling of Scottishness. Songs such as Roy Williamson's "Flower of Scotland" seized the public imagination and although the number of Folk Clubs has dropped considerably, the seeds planted in the revival have borne a rich harvest. In the General Election of 1959 the SNP only contested 5 seats, by 1974 every Westminster seat in Scotland was contested. The Folk Song Revival more than played it's part in that change.

Over the coming weeks I will bring you a selection of the Scottish songs popularised in the folk boom with the occasional Irish Rebel Song thrown in for good measure. Starting this week with perhaps the most beautiful of our Cornkisters "Bogie's Bonnie Belle", we can together enjoy the wealth of Scottish Song.

Peter D Wright

BOGIE'S BONNIE BELLE
Traditional

See the SING A SANG AT LEAST in our features section

A KIST O FERLIES
A Keek at the Guid Scots Tung
By Peter D Wright
(Note: All words underlined in this section are RealAudio links)

See Scots Language in our Features Section
for other poems, stories, sayings and words in the Scots language

THE MONTHLY PRIZE CROSSWORD

Each month the Scots Independent Newspaper offers a prize crossword and we're now offering this online in the Flag in the Wind as well.   Should you complete the crossword by the deadline you can fax it over to the SI and the first correct one opened on the closing date will win a £10.00 book token.

SI Prize Crossword No. 16
[Click here to bring up the crossword]