I always find it easier to read fiction rather than non-fiction, and I suspect that this is a trait shared by most; however now that I have finished reading "All the First Minister’s Men" by David Black (sub title The Truth Behind Holyrood) I have to confess that some of the facts are so outrageous that they mirror fiction! The public consultation that never happened, the apparent "choice " between St Andrew’s House, Leith, the Haymarket, a kite flown about putting the Parliament in Glasgow, and the subsequent "Surprise, surprise - a site is available at Holyrood!" rabbit being pulled out of the hat.

Before the General Election of 1997 Labour had decided that it would not be Calton Hill, as this might give the Scots ideas above themselves; they might even think they were a nation, for heaven’s sake! Everything was done to frustrate the fact that Calton Hill was the best, cheapest, most logical choice, and it was even named in the literature of the Referendum; I attended the final meeting of the three Party leaders, Alex Salmond, Jim Wallace, and Donald Dewar, accompanied by Sean Connery (not a Sir, but shortly to have his knighthood stymied by Donald Dewar) on the Sunday before the Referendum. Dewar was happy enough to carry on the fiction at that stage; it is also true that if the Scottish Parliament had thrown out the Holyrood option (it passed it by 9 votes as the Liberals slavishly voted for their Mondeos) then Dewar would have had to resign. As the building was to give him more angst than anything else, it is perhaps ironic that if he had had to resign, he might still be alive, but who knows?

As it happens, we are stuck with it despite as the author put it "Short of the deity writing it out on the sky, it would seem that the signs that Holyrood is a bad location for our Parliament are unmistakable." From the original cost of £10 - £40 million, we now expect not much change out of £300 million; Vat alone will be £40-£50 million, and Alex Salmond MP has put down a Written Question asking that this amount be returned by the Treasury to the Scottish Parliament; no response, yet, but don’t go to the shops.

The book includes a fair amount of history about Edinburgh, and quite a bit about architecture, but is mainly about political skulduggery; it is well worth a read.

UNDERHAND UNDERGROUND

And in a far off land , of which we know little, the New Labour Government is proceeding with a further privatisation; I refer, of course, to the London Underground. The Lord Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, whom we disliked until he decided to run for Lord Mayor, has bitterly opposed the Government’s plans for a PFI solution to the London Underground, but the English High Court has now ruled that Mr Blair outranks Mr Livingstone, so tough on you, Ken, although you will get the can if it all goes wrong. This will be the biggest privatisation of all time, and Mr Livingstone and his transport supremo had a different plan, they wanted a bond issue rather than private money, but they’ve been knocked back.

The transport supremo, one Bob Kiley, was chairman of London Regional Transport, until Mr Blair sacked him a couple of weeks ago; this was over management control of the Underground, but Mr Kiley will stay as London Transport Commissioner reporting to the Lord Mayor. The main fault with Mr Kiley is that he knows what he is talking about; he transformed the New York subway, and he was hired for his expertise. Anyway, Mr Blair appointed him as chairman of London Regional Transport until the election was safely in the bag, and then had him fired; Mr Kiley, and Mr Livingstone, and the Transport Unions, and most of the Londoners, think that the Public Private Partnership proposed is a disaster, another version of the railway mess, with fragmented management looking after different parts.

The cost is astronomical; so far £100 million is alleged to have been paid out in fees to financiers alone. After Railtrack the banks do not want to be involved in any rail ventures, so the private companies will have to pay dearer for the money they borrow; oh I forgot, they will pass this on to London Transport who will require even bigger subsidies. As with Railtrack, the private companies are going to receive subsidies so that they can pay dividends to their shareholders.

So what has the London Underground got to do with us in Scotland? We, as taxpayers, will be paying our share of these subsidies; after all it is the capital (at present) and we should be glad to help. The issue with management and finance is one that is common to all the privatisations, whether transport, education or health, and the Government is hellbent on pushing as much money into the private sector as it can. I quote Roger Lyons of the white collar union MSF, one of a TUC delegation trying to persuade Mr Blair of the error of his ways "The motivation for private sector companies to provide health care services is profit. This profit can only be made by reducing the quality of service to patients or by cutting the pay and conditions of staff. Neither method is acceptable to us."

The Public Private Partnership plan for the London Tube will be examined by the House of Commons Select Committee under the chairmanship of Mrs Gwyneth Dunwoody, whom Mr Blair tried to have sacked as well, but as Select Committees do not have teeth this will produce criticism but not change.

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

Somehow we think that Pete Wishart, MP for North Tayside, may be getting a flea in his ear from our Parliamentary Leader, Alex Salmond MP. In a Lobby In a Lobby Briefing last week, Pete referred to the SNP Parliamentary team as the "Famous Five." Now as every football afficionado (of my generation anyway) knows, the Famous Five were Smith, Reilly, Ormond, Turnbull and Johnson, and they played for Hibs; Alex Salmond is a Hearts fan, and they had a famous inside trio of Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh. This was all before Alex’s time, but it’s in football folklore. Oh well, Alex would rather have five than three, and he, like the rest of us, would have liked more.

The move to bring the European Football Championship to Scotland has been welcomed in the North East of Scotland, and Mrs Irene McGugan, MSP, the SNP spokeswoman for sport has submitted Parliamentary Questions to the Scottish Government asking that appropriate funding be made available, "as we do not want to see a repeat of the troubles that engulfed the new Hampden." Irene also pointed out that the benefits of any new development must not be restricted to the short term, and that consultation should take place with fans; the possibilities are of a new stadium for Aberdeen FC, a move which may not be welcomed by Aberdeen fans, and a joint stadium for Dundee and Dundee United ! (One of my brothers - in law would be severely restricted by the latter move!) Changes would also be required to the infrastructure of both Aberdeen and Dundee, and while Sarah Boyack the Transport Minister is going to spend £680 million over three years on Scottish road improvements, only £4 million of that is allotted to the North East; the North East accounts for 8.7% of the Scottish population and 11.7% of Scotland’s GDP (gross domestic product) so should get somewher between £60 and £80 million.

It may be all in vain, this 2008 plan; amidst all the hopes and dreams, Scotland’s two largest football clubs, Rangers and Celtic, wish to play in the English Premiership. Like the move to play the games on Saturday at teatime, designed for TV coverage, and who cares about the fans anyway, this is all about money. Football teams now are like the medieval city states who had to preserve their status and importance by importing mercenaries to fight for them, as their own citizens were either unable or unwilling to do their own fighting. There has been a mixed reaction to this proposal; Arnold Kemp, writing in the Observer, sees this as a betrayal of Scotland, and that the preponderance of foreign players is already driving the native game into impoverished mediocrity. Jimmy Reid, writing in the Scotsman, suggested that Rangers should base themselves in Belfast and Celtic in Dublin, as that was where their support was concentrated; probably more interesting if Celtic went to Belfast and Rangers to Dublin. Well, maybe not. The most telling comment came from Scotland Yard, they would be completely opposed to it, as it would mean 5000 drunken Scotsmen invading England every week (10000 if they were both away at the same time) and fighting pitched battles with Chelsea and Liverpool. Considering the behaviour of English football supporters in general, this might seem an odd attitude, but as Scotland Yard is based in London savages begin at Watford.

What no one has noticed is that while FIFA ruled out the proposal, this may not be the end of the matter; if the two teams were to persist, and have their proposal accepted, another prospect opens. FIFA might well take the view that if the country could not support its two largest teams then there was no need for a Scottish Football Association, and no need or right for a Scottish Football Team; Arnold Kemp could be right.

THE DEFENCE OF WHICH REALM

Colin Campbell, MSP, SNP defence spokesman, has been trying to dig out how much is spent on defence research in Scotland, and is finding it the Parliamentary equivalent of being "wandered up a close". He has been digging through Hansard trying to identify figures from questions asked by SNP MPs , but has found that they all refer back to 1999.

The question was "How much is spent on defence research and development in the United Kingdom, breaking down the Scottish total into the Defence Evaluation Research Agency’s own research, and research funded in academic and non-DERA sites, and what the names of these non-DERA sites were." The reply, given on 25th January 2001, was that the information requested was not held centrally; however a previous answer in 1999 to the same question revealed that Scotland’s share of defence spending was 0.42%.

Colin points out that in 1998-99, the total expenditure was £395.6 million, and that we got £1.7 million of this; we were charged 8.6% of the £395.6 - £34 million, so we subsidised England by £32 million in that year. The updated total figure is now £457.8 million, so the English subsidy goes up to £37 million.

The last set of full (fool?) figures for 1998-99 are as follows:

Isn’t it nice that they balanced things out by letting us keep Trident at Faslane; it’s known as risk management- they manage and we take the risk.

THE INTERNET GAP

Scotland is lagging behind the rest of the United Kingdom as far as connecting to the Internet is concerned; only 19% of Scots are connected, compared with 31% for the UK as a whole. Maybe if we had some of the defence research expenditure as above, this could make a difference. In Germany, 32% are connected, in Sweden, 50%, the USA 56%, and in Slovenia, not all that long out from behind the Iron Curtain, it is 20%; I suppose the Slovenians only had the Russians ruling them, we still have the English.

The Government’s own plans are well behind schedule; in December 2000 they launched a strategy called "Information Age Government in Scotland". The first item was to have a single Government site or portal which would give Scots access to each Government service available online; this would be launched in parallel with the UK website, but despite the UK website being well established there is still no sign of a Scottish Government site. (Have they never heard of Alastair McIntyre of Electric Scotland?) There was a commitment to publishing a study by the end of 2000 to map current and future facilities for access to the web, and Government proposals; no study and no Government action.

Every local authority had to bring forward an e government implementation plan by March 2001; done in England, not done in Scotland. No plans either of how to increase access for those currently excluded from the internet; this includes from remote geographical areas like the Highlands & Islands, those who cannot afford access from home, and many older people who are not familiar with IT. No wonder Scotland has just 19% connected.

Just as a matter of interest, I thought that I would check (on the web, of course) who was responsible for the Internet in the Scottish Government; my first thought was correct - yes - it’s Wendy Alexander. Now why did I think that ?

FALSE PROMISES

The heavily trailed news that NEC are making 600 people redundant in Livingston is another blow to the area, and to the electronic industry in Scotland. Following hard on the 3000 job losses at Motorola it is obvious that some corrective action must be taken by the Government; I did see the Minister responsible, Wendy Alexander, wringing her hands on TV, but her comments, delivered in best managementconsultantspeakmachinegunstyle, were not understandable.

Last week, the SNP published an internal Benefits Agency memo which throws doubt on the promises made to the Motorola workers who lost their jobs. The memo is from the Director of Field Operations (Scotland and North) and indicates that the assurances given to the workers by the Minister for Enterprise, Wendy Alexander, are highly questionnable. Benefits Agency lawyers are currently studying the scheme and staff have been instructed "not to provide advice or give any commitments to the Scottish Executive or Scottish Enterprise....until the position is resolved."

Shona Robison, MSP, SNP said "The Minister has been guilty at best of misleading and at worst deliberately deceiving the workforce of Motorola. To make a statement of support for the workforce before the legal position is resolved is highly irresponsible and calls into question every statement by the Minister in the wake of redundancy announcements.

The Enterprise Minister offered to implement a scheme that would pay ex employees of Motorola "a 50% of their salary while pursuing higher education or training".

Shona said that the Minister should not have promised the laid off workers financial assistance that she has no control over and is determined by London Ministers, a policy the Minister agrees with; Shona also wondered why this package was offered to the Motorola workers, and not to the ones in Dundee and Glasgow who were sacked last week.

How unfair of Shona to point out that Motorola was in Robin Cook’s constituency and the closure was just before the General Election.

THE LANDLESS GENTRY

This week saw the publication of Burke’s Landed Gentry, a publication now on the Internet with the aid of our good friend and webmaster Alastair McIntyre; the launch event was held at Prestongrange Mining Museum in Prestonpans on Wednesday 1 Aug 01. The book, which is not the same as Burke’s Peerage, now includes all prominent Scots, including our noble editor (by nature not lineage) as it does all the Scottish newspaper editors; it also includes all MPs and MSPs.

I was listening to Tommy Sheridan, MSP, being interviewed on radio, and his reaction made me ask if people had been consulted about their inclusion; the response was that everyone was sent a copy of the information which would appear to which they could object on grounds of accuracy. I did not catch all the reply, but Mr Sheridan’s name was mentioned which prompted my thought that he was "secretly flattered but publicly embarrassed." What is true is that there is a great deal of interest in genealogy, it is the second most popular subject on the web, after sex, so there is obviously a market for information.

Incidentally, the Scotsman report said quite a lot about the publication, and quoted fairly extensively from Harold Brooks-Baker, the general publishing director. Mr Brooks-Baker was not present at the press conference for the launch, but then neither was the Scotsman; in the words of Max Boyce, "I know, because I was there." Let’s face it, Prestonpans is a wee bit far for a Scotsman reporter to travel, even if there is a corporation bus passing the Prestongrange door!

FOOT IN THE MOUTH NOTES

The Airline Group negotiated a £35 million discount on the amount they paid the Treasury; the rip off started earlier than usual.

Labour councillors in Edinburgh have been instructed to use text on their mobile phones rather than talk, as it is very much cheaper; councillors going abroad are advised to tell their families to text them rather than phone their mobiles.

The action became necessary after one councillor ran up a bill for £932 while on an official trip to the Ukraine; while we always regarded politicians as blethers, we wonder why an official trip to the Ukraine?

Jeffrey Archer has just been sent to jail for his principles.

The Daily Record, that scourge of the Scottish Parliament and democracy in general, has publicised a report from the financial website Motley Fool that Scots have £288 million stashed away in jam jars; according to the Record this would be enough to pay for our Parliament.

Trinity Mirror, publishers of the Record, have announced 800 jobs are going due to falling profits; time to look in their own jam jars.

Executive pay in Britain has risen over the past two years by 29%; the average pay for a chief executive is now £509000. This is £201000 more than in Germany.

In 1998, 1.2 million people were paid less than the minimum wage (£3.70 per hour or £7696 annually for a 40 hour week); this dropped to 580000 in 1999 and 300000 last year. The reason for the drop is not the "I’ll wait till they catch me " attitude of many employers, but the fact that the Inland Revenue is charged with enforcing compliance with the minimum wage. Blessed be the Tax Collector.....

FOLLOW IRELAND'S TOURISM LEAD, MACASKILL URGES

The SNP today called on the Scottish Executive to take a leaf out of Ireland's book by spending more money on attracting tourists. Kenny MacAskill, shadow enterprise minister, said tourist figures in the Republic of Ireland were rising while the Scottish tourism industry was in decline. He blamed the difference on the fact that the Irish Tourist Board spends £45 million a year, while VisitScotland is given a budget of £25 million by the Executive. Mr MacAskill wants the budget increased so that VisitScotland can devote more resources to marketing Scotland in "key areas", such as the USA, Canada and throughout the Continent. He said: "Irish tourism is prospering while the industry in Scotland is in decline. Scotland must learn from Ireland's success. Ireland spends more on marketing than we have as an entire budget, so there is clearly something wrong. The government has neglected tourism for too long and Scotland has paid the price." Mr MacAskill pointed out that while visitors can fly directly to Ireland from more than 30 destinations, only a dozen countries offer direct flights to Scotland. He said: "If we're to compete with Ireland, the Executive must give the body charged with selling Scotland abroad the resources to compete."

WATCHDOG PLEA OVER WATER BILLS

Concern at the rising cost of water services has led to calls for a water industry watchdog in Scotland. The Scottish Consumer Council is appealing to the Scottish Executive to introduce a tough, independent body to champion the interests of householders. It fears consumers' interests are being ignored in the executive's Water Services Bill, which will see Scotland's three water authorities merged into one. Water bills have risen sharply over the last two years as the industry upgrades to meet European regulations. Bruce Crawford, shadow environment minister said the Executive's confusing position had to be clarified first because there was duplication between the role of the water commissioners and the regulator. "At the end of the day it is the consumer who is paying for the investment in water industry," he said.

PRIVATISATION ROW SPARKS LABOUR ROW

Labour's controversial proposals to give the private sector a greater role in running the public services came under scrutiny at a meeting of the party's National Policy Forum. The forum, made up of 175 party representatives ranging from councillors to trade unionists to MPs, met this weekend at the party's Millbank HQ in London. Trade union leaders oppose the proposals, but the Labour leadership says the panel - which shapes party policy - will not be able to change them. John Swinney agrees with the unions that Scottish public services are under threat from the plans, warning that Scotland's share of UK public spending is already due to fall by 2 billion pounds over the next three years. He said: "Tony Blair is hell bent on privatising the public services - going much further than even Maggie Thatcher dared. Only with Independence or even full fiscal freedom can Scotland avoid the damaging consequences of Blair's privatisation plans, and secure the necessary resources to invest properly in our public services."

FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE - SCOTTISH EXPORTS MUST BEGIN AGAIN

Highlands and Islands MSP Fergus Ewing has today demanded the ban on Scottish Lamb exports be lifted as soon as possible now that Foot & Mouth has been brought under control. The purpose of a slaughter and containment strategy was to ensure farming exports could be restored as quickly as possible. Now the outbreak has been controlled in Scotland the Scottish Government must prepare the way with the European Commission for renewed Scottish exports. Mr Ewing said "I first raised this issue in March, and we are still no wiser as to what progress the Scottish Government have made - but what is clear is that Scotland is well behind Northern Ireland and The Netherlands in restoring our export markets, even though exports are twice as important to the Scottish agriculture than to the UK as a whole."

HEAD IN SAND ATTITUDE FROM GOVERNMENT OVER JUNIOR DOCTORS' HOURS

Glasgow MSP Nicola Sturgeon, Shadow Minister for Health and Community Care, has today blasted the Scottish government for failing to reduce the number of hours worked by junior doctors. As the deadline to comply with the new strict limit of 56 hours work and education a week for junior doctors passed, the remained an 87% rate of non-compliance which Ms Sturgeon described as "disgraceful, but not surprising." She continued, "Staffing levels in the NHS in Scotland are in crisis, and now one professional group - junior doctors - are in a position to sue health boards who ask them to work beyond the terms of their contract. The minister must therefore prepare a long term plan for educating, recruiting and promoting medical and nursing staff in the NHS. It is imperative that this be initiated to ensure the future stability of the NHS in Scotland."

ARROGANCE FROM ENTERPRISE MINISTER OVER PUBLIC BODY ACCOUNTABILITY

Lothians'' MSP Kenny MacAskill has today called on the Enterprise Minister Wendy Alexander to explain why she has refused to detail the cost of the severance payments to the outgoing directors of VisitScotland. Mr. MacAskill said "The minister's refusal to provide details of the severance payments made to the outgoing directors of VisitScotland and the costs involved in recruiting the new directors is just another example of the arrogance emanating from this Scottish government. It is a matter of major public interest to know if our tourism budget is to be further diminished in order to fork out the costs of the gross mismanagement of the industry by the Scottish government. "