The Flag in the Wind
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CAMPAIGNING FOR SCOTLAND
(Owned, Edited and Printed in Scotland since November 1926)
"Promoting all that is best in Scottish Nationalism and all that is best in Scotland."

Compiled by Jim Lynch
[Issue 69 - 28th September 2001]

It was a simple instinctive gesture, not one of martial intent, or vainglory, but it said "Here we stand, and we will survive, and no one will take away our freedom." The flag has been much in evidence since, whether blossoming in the financial heart of New York, as it re-opened after the tragedy, and all over America. The American nation love their Flag, which is a symbol of their nation, so what they are really saying is that they are proud to be Americans, and we admire them for that.

In other countries, particularly in the poverty stricken Middle East, the Stars and Stripes is seen as a symbol of oppression, and is ritually burned; this is strange, many of these countries were conquered and occupied by Britain, so we would expect that it would be the Union Jack that was being burned. Maybe memories are short, and Britain is no longer a world power, so who cares; America is the superpower, so guilty in their eyes.

Here, in Scotland, we cannot even get the Scottish Executive to fly our flag, the oldest in the world, over its administrative buildings, or even to stipulate what the correct colour should be; it may be that they are not proud to be Scots, or that they are still so enamoured of the Union Flag that they haven’t yet noticed that the rest of the world ignores it.

WINNING THE PEACE

It is recognised that there is no point in creating more innocent victims, so it looks as if indiscriminate high level bombing will not be done. The problem is that whether the Taleban are sheltering Osama bin Laden, or not, they seem to be a particularly odious and oppressive regime, and their demise might put Afghanistan back on a more humane path; according to reports they are not Afghanis, but mainly Pakistanis, and have their own interpretation of the Koran.

It is to be hoped that some good will come out of the tragedy; the people of the countries involved have very poor standards of living, and we in the Western world have a duty to see that they have freedom and justice, and health and prosperity. We only have one world. One other initiative is that proper attention is at last going to be given to the movement of money; the OECD was very keen to clamp down on tax havens, offshore banks and alleged money laundering, but the United States was not in favour of these curbs. We are now in a different ball game and the United States is looking again at the situation; the attack on the World Trade Centre could generate an all out attack on crime, and the criminals who buy the opium from the Taleban (which is funding their regime) will be under pressure. When we know that organised crime in London is generating illegal profits of around £25 billion a year from drugs, cigarette smuggling and illegal immigrants, all that money is in banks, as it’s not exactly for the hip pocket, so a concentrated crackdown could have far reaching results.

And one other point; don’t imagine that what you read in the newspapers and watch on television is what is actually happening or going to happen. I read in the Glasgow Herald "Top Secret base in Yorkshire listens in on bin Laden’s phone calls", which conjures up the mental picture of one of his lieutenants phoning up "Hey, Osama, have you seen today’s Herald?" The military will do what they have to do, and we may hear about it, or not at all; publicity puts our own troops at risk, so there won’t be any.

SNP CONFERENCE DUNDEE 2001

The Conference was subdued, as indeed it was expected to be after the events of 11th September, but it had its bright spots, and I came away quite happy at the end of the day. As is my wont, I only attended for the major speeches by the Party leaders; as one of my friends asked me if I didn’t go in during debates as I’d heard all the speeches before, my response was that not only had I heard them all before, I’d made them all before. You get through a lot in 35 years in the Party!

In the speech from Margaret Ewing MSP, Convener of the Scottish Parliament Group, she referred to the events of 11 September, which were alleged to be in the interests of justice and humanity, and reminded us that we as a Party had eschewed the path of violence; our touchstone was the Ballot Box, and she recalled the late Dr Robert McIntyre, our first MP, saying that the Party had never received the recognition for that principled stance.

Margaret said that we were a truly international party and that we had led the way in raising international issue; the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, the realities facing the emergent nations of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and the development of international organisations attempting to bring peace and stability to our complex world. She said that the Scottish Executive was paralysed at the prospect of taking any action, or even passing comment on international issues; they let London do their talking for them. She also said that we had to keep emphasising the distinction between the Executive and the Parliament, and reminded us that it was the Labour Party in London which decided where the Parliament should be built, not the Parliament itself. (She refrained from mentioning that it was really Donald Dewar’s decision which is costing a fortune.)

As an indication of the problems faced by the Parliament, she reminded us of the vote on the Fishing Tie Up Scheme; the Parliament voted for a compensation scheme after a proper debate, but the Executive did not like it, so they ran the vote again on another day, with the connivance of the Liberal Non Democrats, and overturned the first vote! A shabby decision that made a mockery of the Scottish Parliament, but Labour in Scotland are used to one party fiefdoms, and are uncomfortable dealing with democracy. The full text of Margaret’s speech can be seen at www.snp.org/news/September01/2103.htm 

That afternoon, it was the turn of Alex Salmond to address Conference, in his capacity as Leader of the Westminster Group; Alex also spoke of America, which he said was a great Scottish invention, and cited the fact that nine of the first signatories of the Independence Declaration were Scots (there was a Lynch there too) and that 15 American Presidents have been of Scots or Scots/Irish descent. Alex was in Washington earlier this year when Sean Connery received the Wallace Award, and Sean quoted the lines from an old song made famous by Paul Robeson:

"What is America to me?
A name, a map, the flag I see
A certain word, a democracy
That is America to me."

The point Alex was making was that America was very much founded on Scottish ideals, and that if we criticised America, we did as members of the same family, and that as we counsel America, we also do that as members of the same family. He said "None of this is an excuse for inaction. It is rather an explanation of why action should be proportionate, reasoned and effective - to make the world a safer place not an ever more dangerous one."

Alex went on to praise President Bush for being a steady hand on the tiller, and emphasised that violence was not the answer; he also reiterated that the SNP had always pursued peaceful means to Independence, and that in the course of an entire century not one single person has lost their life arguing for or against Scottish self government. The full text of Alex’s speech can be read at www.snp.org/news/September01/2102.htm  (I could get to like this.)

On Friday afternoon, John Swinney , MSP, gave his first speech as Leader of the Party, and we were both reassured and inspired by it; he said that he had faced many challenges in the year since he had been elected, but they were dwarfed by the challenges faced by some of our fellow human beings after the atrocities in the United States the previous week. This was always going to be a difficult speech, as we all knew that the international happenings would trivialise anything said, but John moved effortlessly from the world stage to our place on it, and spoke constructively of the SNP approach to international affairs. He went on to address the problems of Scotland and the Scottish Parliament; among the actions of an SNP Executive would be: the abolition of the voucher system for asylum seekers, which he styled "Robin Hoods in reverse", a well funded publicly provided health service, well funded publicly provided education service, no more nuclear power stations, and an end to child poverty, even if it meant raising taxes.

Strong stuff, and stirring stuff - increased taxes for public services - the Labour Party are squirming in their troughs. The speech was very well received, and the warmth of the ovation was genuine; the Party likes John, and it trusts him. The press and TV were generally complimentary, apart from the Scotsman, who had a headline "Swinney sets out to inspire party as standing slips", which was followed up the next day, in very small print, in the BU box (Think about it) with "Our report (21 September) about the conference speech by the SNP leader, John Swinney, appeared under the headline "Swinney sets out to inspire party as standing slips". The opinion poll on which the report was based showed that Mr Swinney’s approval rating among the public had actually risen by 10 per cent since February. We are happy to clarify the position." As I had only glanced at the Scotsman, I had been left with the impression that John’s standing had slipped; I saw the BU box, but how many other people did not.

The full text of John’s speech is at www.snp.org/news/September01/swinneyspeech.htm 

The STV programme on Sunday night (at 11.30) was also very fair; Bernard Ponsonby did his best to trap John into a Nato commitment, and John just laughed at him. In the same programme three activists were interviewed on their impression of John; one James Halliday, columnist in the Scots Independent, and a former Party Leader was asked about criticisms of John. He replied that all party leaders had their critics, but he felt John was doing a very good job. (When James was Chairman, somebody threw a jug of water at him, so perhaps we are more civilised!) One of the other activists, David Kerr, by election candidate in Falkirk West last December, summed it up very well, "The Party likes John Swinney, and trusts him; when the people of Scotland learn to trust him then we will be knocking on the door of Independence." Shirley Anne Sommerville, the youngest member of the trio, was in full agreement with the other two.

The last set piece speech was on Saturday afternoon, by the SNP President, Dr Winifred Ewing MSP; I will only quote one part of it, but you can read the full text at www.snp.org/news/September01/2202.htm

The Flag. A recent incident concerned the Union Jack. This was not flown in our Parliament for Heads of State from South Africa and Nigeria. But for the Irish Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, there was a Union Jack. The Foreign Office was blamed and even the relevant Consul. Both wrong, and I still await an explanation.

A perk I still enjoy is to meet foreign visitors on your behalf. Recently at a reception on board a French Warship in the Port of Leith, the Russian Consul (who I consider a friend) said about the flag that his fellow Consuls and he had agreed that I was right. "We are not appointed Consuls to the UK. We are appointed Consuls to Scotland." 

Cosla sent us 2½ pages telling us when and how to fly the Saltire. The Saltire is the flag of Scotland and we will fly it wherever and whenever we like. The SNP echoes the words of Parnell who said: "No man can set the boundaries to the march of a nation. No man can say to his country this far and no further."

So, at the end of the day, a good Conference, although we had some fears, as our cause was overshadowed by events in America, but there was a general consensus that the leadership was right to shelve the Nato debate; a few of the din raisers objected to this, sotto voce, but the body of the Party was happy enough. Sadly, I was not pleased at the location, although Dundee is my home town. I have happy memories of the Caird Hall; I heard Beniamo Gigli, Joan Hammond, the Vienna Boys Choir, Paul Robeson (magic), Jimmy Logan, and umpteen concerts. However, the hub of every Conference is the tea room, and also the bar; in Dundee these were woefully inadequate, so most people left the hall and went to bars and restaurants in the town, which meant that it was difficult to meet people, so I did not see everyone I wanted to, although I knew they were there. So, black marks on that score.

NOT EVEN FIRST THOUGHTS

And there was Kenny MacAskill, MSP, the SNP tourism spokesman, saying that there is no expected slump - it is already here. Visitor numbers in the Highlands are down between last August and this August, as follows:

In Edinburgh, Holyrood Palace is down 22%, and our beloved Queen is going to the bankers for an overdraft, and Edinburgh Castle is down by 21%, and the Scottish Incoming Golf Tour Operators’ Association said bookings are down 20%. So the meeting was rather late , as these problems have been with us all year, but as it only lasted half an hour, they are not all that interested, so what’s new? And while Her Majesty will have no trouble getting an overdraft, well her mother already has an enormous one, smaller businesses involved in tourism may not be so lucky; Kenny MacAskill pointed out that the Highland Tourism Funding Package came with too many strings and excluded many of the smaller businesses which were not members of the Tourist Board, and could not afford to be involved in the Investors in People scheme. He said "The focus of the Executive money to date seems more pre-occupied on preserving its own institutions rather than saving those on the ground who are the bedrock of our tourism industry. A hardship fund is essential to give viable businesses the necessary support to save them from bankruptcy on the face of the forthcoming crisis."

The Scottish Executive has always had a very ambivalent approach to tourism; earlier this year it commissioned a video for the American market, called the "Caledonian Trilogy". The video was shown to journalists in Washington at a press reception for Sean Connery, and was then dumped; it cost us some £30000, was enthusiastically received by the Executive, but then perceived as being "Too Scottish". So as foot and mouth disease ravaged Scotland and the tourism industry faced bankruptcy, Labour apparatchiks, under orders from London, kicked them when they were down; The Scots Independent newspaper followed up the story, even phoning the British Embassy in Washington, but met a blank wall. However, the video is till on the Internet; I looked at it yesterday on www.tartandaylive.com 

And as an afterthought (we have forethoughts too) we note a survey by Collins Road Atlases to establish the most attractive locations for visitors in Britain; an eight strong panel had to award points, maximum of ten, across a range of categories , assessing factors such as road provision, flora, fauna, and entertainment. Top of the list was the Highlands with 79 points; Devon was next with 55, then London with 48, and Argyll and Bute with 42.

We have a beautiful country, with a fascinating history and culture, spoiled only by the narrow minded parochialism of our Unionist politicians.

In his first year, the bill for all his expenses, including hotels, was £1434, and apparently he hasn’t yet counted what was spent in 2000-2001; bet he’s working like mad to inflate his expenses!

The much publicised Glasgow housing stock transfer (brainchild of Wendy Alexander- until it becomes unstuck) has been delayed yet again, as a new report will be given to councillors this week showing that it is not best value.

Highland Council, which has the largest debt per council house in mainland Scotland (£11500) has now discovered that the best option is to keep its housing and has scrapped all plans to transfer it to a housing association; sauce for the Highland goose must also be sauce for the Glasgow gander, but will the Labour Party care?

At its Annual Conference, the SNP stated its implacable opposition to the voucher system for asylum seekers, as this made them second class citizens.

The company which runs the voucher scheme, UK Detention Services, a subsidiary of the French catering company Sodexho, has now got the contract to run the new detention centre for asylum seekers at Heathrow; they have been given permission by the Home Office to pay refugees 34p per hour for cooking and cleaning, rather than the minimum wage. Not even treated as second class citizens.

                              SYNOPSIS

CONFERENCE 2001: "NO BACK BURNER TO INDEPENDENCE" - CUNNINGHAM

Delegates headed home from Dundee this evening in no doubt that the party focus is now on the 2003 vote. In a close-of-conference address, deputy SNP leader Roseanna Cunningham asserted the importance of the Scottish Parliament elections in driving Scotland forward to independence. "There is no back burner on which independence can be put," she said. "Independence is at the very heart of everything this party does. It underpins every one of our policies." She also paid tribute to SNP leader John Swinney, who on Friday said he would be honest with the public over tax, end the privatisation of public services and create a nuclear free Scotland. Mr Swinney told the conference: "I may be faced with a choice between asking people to pay more in taxation or asking children to wait long periods for vital hospital treatment. Let me make it clear, I will not turn my back on Scotland's children.'' Today Ms Cunningham said Mr Swinney had spoken with "honesty, passion and commitment" in his leadership address. Criticising present levels of child poverty she said: "This party will not fail Scotland's children. We will not abandon Scotland's future." Ms Cunningham's speech came at the end of a conference overshadowed by the American airliner atrocities and the still unfolding consequences for the world. Planned debates on Nato and international affairs were cancelled, to be held instead next year, and John Swinney has ordered a policy rethink for the whole subject of international affairs and defence cooperation.

NURSING SUMMIT ANNOUNCED, SNP CRITICISE DELAY AND "FAILING" MINISTER

The Scottish Executive has announced the date for its special nursing summit to boost the number of people entering the profession. Opposition politicians have criticised the delay in setting up the event and accused the minister of "failing Scotland's NHS and its nurses". The announcement comes days after confirmation that the number of NHS nurses in Scotland has fallen to record levels, and nursing vacancies have increased by 50 per cent in the last year. Shadow health minister Nicola Sturgeon criticised the delay in announcing the date of the summit, which will not now take place until November 19. She said: "In June Susan Deacon promised to hold a nursing summit to tackle the plummeting morale of NHS nurses, initiate measures aimed at bringing former nurses back, and plug the worrying rise in nursing vacancies. But it's taken her three months to set the date, and it will a further two months before anything happens." The SNP MSP believes that the fall in nurse numbers, coupled with a recent RCN report showing that morale is far worse amongst Scottish nurses than their counterparts in England, represents a damning indictment on the Executive and the health minister. "We need to address plunging morale amongst NHS nurses by improving terms and conditions. Equally, it is imperative that former nurses are encouraged and helped to return to hospital wards. It is abundantly clear that New Labour is continually failing Scotland's NHS and its nurses."

ROW OVER FUND FOR MOTOROLA's AXED WORKERS

Wendy Alexander came under attack today after she admitted only 400,000 pounds had been spent from a 10 million pound fund set up to help give axed Motorola workers a future. The American-based electronics giant announced in April it was closing its Bathgate mobile phone plant with the loss of 3100 jobs. But today Ms Alexander faced opposition demands to explain why so little of the money intended to help the redundant workers had been spent. SNP enterprise spokesman and Lothians MSP Kenny MacAskill said the sums were "pathetic". "A lot was trumpeted by the Executive about what they were going to do for Bathgate, but in reality they have done very little," he said. "They pledged 10 million pounds and they have spent 400,000. It would not buy you a striker for a Premier League football team, never mind sort out an area devastated by the loss of Scotland biggest single-site employer." He said many of the former workforce at Motorola were disillusioned. "This 10 million pounds was all hype and spin. They have not spent anywhere near what they had available. And I have had numerous complaints from people that they couldn't get on courses and that they found jobs themselves rather than having any assistance. They have not funded the opportunities people wanted, which was to upskill. And many people have taken whatever jobs were available, whether or not it was the right job for them, because they didn't want to be left on the shelf."

EXECUTIVE DENY CARE CASH "TURF WAR"

The Scottish Executive claims it is having "constructive dialogue" with the Department of Work and Pensions on whether money at present paid for an attendance allowance can be used for personal care, health minister Susan Deacon told the Scottish Parliament today. The minister's comments came in a statement to Parliament where the SNP opposition will tomorrow launch a debate on the personal care controversy. SNP MSPs plan to press an attack on how the Executive's plans for free personal care in Scotland will be funded. Under the plans, announced on Monday, Scotland's elderly people will be entitled to free personal care from next spring. But talks are ongoing between the Executive and the Department for Work and Pensions over what should happen to an attendance allowance of 55 pounds a week which is currently paid to those elderly people paying their own way in residential homes. The Department for Work and Pensions, however, argues it should keep the saving and that what is being proposed by the Executive would break a long-established principle. With Scotland Office Minister George Foulkes sitting in the visitors' gallery, SNP shadow health minister Nicola Sturgeon warned that "Westminster is watching". She said: "The commitment to provide free personal care is a victory for Scottish pensioners but let's make no mistake, it's also a victory for the independence and persistence of this Scottish Parliament. The minister has confirmed that without the agreement of Westminster on benefit agreements, the Executive will required to find an additional 21.7 million pounds." She called on the minister to insist that attendance allowance given to Scottish pensioners "must as a matter of principle continue to be paid".

SNP FEAR FOR JOBS AS WATER AUTHORITY BILL EXPECTED

The Scottish Executive will tomorrow publish its Bill to set up a single, publicly owned water authority. SNP shadow environment minister, Bruce Crawford, attacked the Bill as "backdoor privatisation" which threatened thousands of jobs. Mr Crawford called for an employment watchdog to safeguard jobs in the water industry and warned against price hikes in the East and West of the country. He said: "The Government claims this Bill is about preparing the water industry for competition but basically it is backdoor privatisation which could lead to the loss of 2000 jobs. There is no need or desire in Scotland to follow the privatisation route." Mr Crawford said he had written to the environment minister last month calling for a water industry employment guardian to keep job losses to a minimum. But he complained about not receiving a reply and cited it as evidence of "the scant regard this Government has for the future employment of thousands of workers." He said there were "a number of important questions"  about future charges under the new regime. He said it was right to cut the high bills in the north of Scotland but warned that equalising charges should not lead to immediate and large increases for others. He said: "The Government should if necessary provide financial support to allow the effects of the increases to be dampened for a period of up to three years to ensure water charges are affordable." The main aim of the Bill is to establish Scottish Water as the successor to the three water and sewerage authorities set up by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1994. Under the provisions of the Bill, Scottish Water will have a different board structure from the existing authorities and wider powers to engage in commercial activities. It also provides for the appointment of a drinking water quality regulator for Scotland to ensure compliance with laws on drinking water quality.

MSPs PUBLISH REPORT ON FERRY SERVICES

Highlands & Islands MSP Duncan Hamilton is demanding urgent answers on the future of ferry services for remote islands in Scotland. The SNP MSP today echoed fears expressed by many communities about what happens if a private operator goes out of business or fails to maintain a route. The Scottish Parliament's environment and transport committee today published its report on Executive proposals to put out ferry services in the Highlands and Islands to tender, a move made necessary by European rules on state aid for sea transport. Mr Hamilton is calling on the government to give unequivocal assurances on the secure status of routes. He said CalMac provided good services for its present level of subsidy and compared the prospect of putting the services out to tender with the reality of what had happened with rail privatisation. He said: "From the start, this process has been flawed and has alienated many of the communities served by Cal Mac. It is now a matter of the utmost importance that the government answer all of the points raised in this report if we are to have any confidence in her stewardship of these negotiations."

SNP MSP IN MOBILE PHONE LAW BID

A bid to scrap a new planning regulation covering the construction of new mobile phone masts was today defeated by MSPs. The bid was made by Fiona McLeod, SNP MSP for West of Scotland, who argued the new regulation relating to a 14-day transitional period was defective and lacked clarity. She argued that the absence of a proper definition, in the regulation or elsewhere, had led to "anguish, pain and cost" for at least four local authorities, hundreds of local people and telecommunications companies who were now facing the prospect of court wrangles over some masts. She made her attempt to annul the regulation at a meeting today of the Transport and Environment Committee, arguing this was the only parliamentary procedure available by which she could press ministers to come up with a clear definition. Today's row stemmed from new planning controls brought in for ground-based masts on July 23 and a 14-day period of grace allowed in the regulations to determine which new masts were treated as completed before the deadline and which were not. Under the system, all new ground-based masts come within the planning control system and there are new restrictions of masts located on buildings. The legislation was brought in to curb a free-for-all in which new mobile phones masts were mushrooming up throughout Scotland. Ms McLeod argued that different forms of wording in official circulars complicated problems of definition, planning guidelines and the 1984 Telecommunications Act.

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SCOTTISH FOOD, TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS
(if you have any suggestions on what you'd like us to include email peter@scotsindependent.org)

Continuing on from last weeks harvesting theme, there were great celebrations, in the past, when the last sheaf was cut. The last sheaf was called a maiden if the harvest was early and the cailleach if it was late. There was a variety of customs associated with this important sheaf. Often it was dressed like a maiden with ribbons and finery and took pride of place at the Clyach or little winter feast, held to celebrate the completion of the cutting and before the Kirn, and toasts were drunk to her. Part of the sheaf, a fertility symbol, was kept until the first horse was foaled as it was thought to represent new life, and another part might be buried beneath the first furrow ploughed so that the fertility might be transferred. The hairst is a reminder that oatmeal was an essential part of the Scottish diet in days of auld langsyne. Oatmeal was used in a variety of recipes including desserts - cranachan is a lovely way to enjoy oatmeal and raspberries.

Cranachan

This is a cream crowdie, made from toasting 2 heaped tablespoons oatmeal lightly, then mixing it into 1/2 pint cream which has been whipped until frothy, but not stiff, and sweetened to taste. It can be flavoured with rum, vanilla (vanilla sugar can be used for sweetening) or 1 cup fresh raspberries (or other soft fruit), and makes an excellent dessert. Vanilla ice-cream can be used instead of cream. (serves 4)

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

DATES IN HISTORY

28 September 1396
Thirty of Clan Chattan, with the loss of 19 men, slew 29 out of 30 of the Clan Kay or Quhele, in a battle on the North Inch at Perth in the presence of Robert III.

2 October 1263
The Battle of Largs resulted in a victory by Alexander III over the Norsemen, leading to cessation of the Hebrides and Isle of Man to Scotland.

4 October 1911
Death of Dr Joseph Bell, Edinburgh surgeon and prototype for Sherlock Holmes.

See Dates in History in our Features Section

SING A SANG AT LEAST
(compiled by Peter D Wright)

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

- Robert Burns

SI Prize Crossword No. 21 SEPTEMBER  2001
[Click here to bring up the crosswords]