DON’T PANIC!

“Don’t panic! Don’t panic!” as Home Guard Corporal Jones still says on repeats of the ever-popular BBC series ‘Dad’s Army’ – in spite of Jim Lynch taking a well earned weeks rest (actually off on business in deepest rural Scotland), The Flag will still fly!  But there should be plenty panic in both business and political circles from the continuing out-fall from the Enron scandal; in Fife the McLeish Officegate affair continues to boil along; and all those in Public Service must be alarmed at recent statements by David Blunkett and Tony Blair as they seem determined to be more Thatcherite than the Iron Mistress herself. 

PUBLIC LOSS: PRIVATE GAIN

I am prepared to admit that, in Tony Blair’s words, I am a ‘Wrecker’, I must have been, as I was active for many years in a Trade Union (at that time NALGO now UNISON) and believed in the Public Services.  During my time in Local Government, I have taken part in Trade Union Demonstrations against the policies of the Westminster Government of the Day, both Labour and Tory, and taken strike action e.g. on behalf of Nurses’ pay and conditions.  A Labour Council considered taking disciplinary action against me on that occasion!  Now we have a Labour Prime Minister echoing the words of Mrs Thatcher and attacking ‘the enemy within’.  New Labour has obviously spent too much time cosying up to big business (and been rewarded with suitable donations) and are now obviously following a Tory course of – private companies good; Public Services bad.  Following Tony Blair’s comments to a Labour Party Spring Conference in Cardiff that he would use “all available means to modernise the public sector” and the political battle was “reformers versus wreckers”, SNP Leader John Swinney was swiftly into the debate and told ‘The Flag’ –

“Listening to Tony Blair’s speech it becomes obvious that the Tories have not disappeared but only changed their name to New Labour.  Tony Blair seems determined to destroy the whole ethos of public services in his haste to accommodate his friends in the private sector.  He talks about modernising public services but what he really means is privatising public services.  Make no mistake what Tony Blair says today the Scottish Executive will be saying tomorrow.  I am committing the SNP to provide world-class public services here in Scotland.  As today’s speech shows, New Labour is choosing to put private shareholders before the pupil, the patient, the passenger, the victim of crime.”

John Swinney branded the Private Finance Initiative as immoral and warned that it would drive more cash out of public services and saddle the next generation with enormous debts.  “The use of PFI has increased eight-fold since New Labour came to power.  In hospitals this means for every ten beds there are today, only eight will be left in the future.  The rest of the cash has gone to private profit – and that’s not just stupid, it’s immoral.

“The battle lines are now clearly drawn for the Scottish elections in 2003 between the SNP, who will safeguard public services, and New Labour, who want to destroy these services forever.”

The determined tone of John Swinney’s “people before profits” places a clear message to the Scottish electorate in the run-up to the 2003 Holyrood elections.  Protect public services through voting for the SNP or go down the privatisation road of milking the public service for profit as proposed by New Labour.  A choice of real public services or private greed.

WAKEHAM THE FIRST!

Tory peer Lord Wakeham appears to be the front-runner in the political casualty stakes arising from the Enron bankruptcy scandal.  He has been forced to resign from his £156,000 part-time (2 days a week) job as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission in order to defend his actions as chairman of the Audit Committee for the Enron European operations.  For this part-time task he received £80,000 in the last year but it is a position that he might well be regretting that he ever accepted.  Only a complete cynic (I am) would see any connection between the award of a £700 million government contract to Enron when Lord Wakeham was Energy Secretary and his resultant £80,000 per year job.

Not that Lord Wakeham will be the only casualty arising from the largest company bankruptcy in history.  The Enron collapse in a cloud of debts and questions about its finances and accountancy practices in December promises to be a messy affair.  It is now under investigation by nine Congressional Committees, the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Labour Department in the USA.  But here, as Alex Salmond pointed out, only SNP Perth MP Annabelle Ewing raised the question of Enron in the House of Commons.  Both Tory and Labour appear to have closed ranks as both have enjoyed donations from Enron.  Enron Europe has, for example, donated £36,000 to the Labour Party.

Enron’s accountants Arthur Andersen, who conveniently shredded important documents and admit that there were serious flaws in the Enron accounts for the past four years, have close ties with New Labour.  Very close ties both before and after New Labour came to power.  Andersen’s have been a major beneficiary of New Labour’s Private Finance Initiative.

Those drawn into the Enron web range from the Hanoverian Prince Charles (£800,000 donation from Enron to the Prince’s Trust) to US President George Bush, who was backed by millions of Enron’s dollars in his 2000 election victory.  As Senator Byron Dargan, chairman of one of the US Senate Committees investigating Enron’s collapse said “Clearly some things have happened that are going to put some people here in real jeopardy.”  It was not surprising that former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay declined to attend Monday’s Committee hearing.

Many, on both sides of the pond, will await the outcome of the investigations into Enron with great trepidation.  A story that will run and run…..

‘OFFICEGATE’ OUTFALL

Another story which won’t go away is the Glenrothes ‘Officegate’ affair, which resulted in the resignation of Henry McLeish as Scotland’s First Minister.  Poor Henry (well, not quite, as he receives £36,000 per year pension for life for his one year as First Minister) had to endure his former spin doctor Peter McMahon spinning his version of events as reported by Jim Lynch in last weeks Flag, on top of which came revelations regarding his former tenant, the charity Third Age.  This was the rental for his office, while a Westminster MP, which brought about his resignation.  No sooner had Henry made a clean breast about his five tenants in fourteen years when it was revealed that he had a sixth tenant – yes – the Third Age charity.  Perhaps it was the contacts with the Labour Party, which made Henry McLeish reluctant to mention his sixth tenant.  It turned out to be an organisation run by Labour activists, given grants by a Labour controlled council and paying rent to a Labour MP.  On top of that it was revealed that Fife Council paid £40,000 to the charity after the group’s Management Committee had folded.  Is it just a coincidence, shades of Enron’s accountants Arthur Andersen, that Fife Council, after only three years, has shredded documents relating to the grants to Third Age?  As well as the Council’s own audit group who are preparing a report on the matter, an investigation by the Accounts Commission is to be carried out.  Their reports should make for interesting reading.  What activity did the charity carry out?  What happened to the £40,000 after it folded?  Was it just another example of Labour cronyism? – the very cronyism that the third First Minister in Scotland in two years has promised to eradicate.  Don’t hold your breath!

WESTMINSTER MUSICAL CHAIRS

The long awaited announcement that thirteen Scottish Constituencies at Westminster will be abolished under the latest Boundary Commission review has been confirmed.  A long heralded change brought about as a trade off for Scottish Devolution.  The Party most affected by the changes will be the Labour Party although both the LibDems and the SNP are affected too.  Now I won’t lose any sleep worrying about the dogfight between sitting Labour MPs as they squabble over gaining a nomination for the remaining seats in the Westminster musical chair game.  Involved in this squabble will be government ministers such as Gordon Brown, the Chancellor; John Reid, the Northern Ireland Secretary; and Alistair Darling, the Work and Pensions Secretary, who will all see their seats disappear in the radical redrawing of the Constituency map.  We should live in interesting times as New Labour pour the proverbial pint into a half pint pot.  ‘Old’ Labour MP George Galloway has already threatened to stand as an independent candidate if not reselected.  Ploys such as a seat in the House of Lords and large redundancy payments for sitting MPs who stand aside will be used by New Labour to solve their problem. 

However I would, humbly, suggest an even bigger cull of the Westminster seats than the Boundary Commission proposals – abolish all 72 in Scotland.  Let’s do away with all the unnecessary ties with Westminster and have a real independent Scottish Parliament.

REMEMBERING DR MCINTYRE

It is now four years since the death of Dr Robert D. McIntyre, the founding father of the modern SNP, and the Party’s first ever Westminster MP.  Former SNP National Chairman, James Halliday, pays tribute to Dr McIntyre’s invaluable contribution to the National Cause and the Scottish people in the current issue of the Scots Independent.  James Halliday draws attention to the proposed stone in memory of our friend Robert and, as usual, Flag visitors can read his article in The Flag’s Features Section.

Robert McIntyre firmly built the Scottish National Party on strong democratic constitutional lines – he sought, in the words of his late friend, the poet, George Campbell Hay, to win freedom by peace.  The verse by George Campbell Hay appeared in the November 1976 Scots Independent.

[Suas gun Sios]

Suas gun sios, buaidh gun bhualadh

Bunnachd gun chall, gun dith;

Ni ur a th’ann san t-seann shaoghal

Buidhinn saorsa le sith.

[Up with no Down]

Up with no down, victory with no blows struck,

Gaining with no loss of deprivation;

It is a new thing in the old world,

Winning freedom by peace.

INDEPENDENT SCOTS CD

The CD ‘Independent Scots’ recorded by premier Scottish Folk Duo GABERLUNZIE to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of the Scots Independent (founded November 1926) has proved to be an outstanding success.  The demand from SI readers, Flag visitors and Gabs fans has ensured that a further run of the CD is now being produced.

In celebration of both the SI’s 75^th anniversary and the release of the ‘Independent Scots’ CD, Bannockburn Branch of the SNP are hosting a Folk Night featuring Gaberlunzie in the Terraces Hotel, Stirling on Friday 15^th March at 8pm.  Tickets £6 are available from Alistair Walker, 114 Davidson Street, Bannockburn, Stirling, FK7 0NF (Tel 01786 814523) or from Terraces Hotel, Melville Terrace, Stirling. 

It should be a night to remember!

THEY SAID IT FOR US

“Do you know who I am, children?  I’m Cherie, wife of Tony – he’s the Prime Minister of England, don’t you know?”

-part-time lawyer Mrs Cherie Blair on a recent visit to Independent India.  If only she had been right and Scotland had the same status as India.

“You didn’t get where you are today by answering questions, did you?”

-Sir Jimmy Young to the ‘English’ Prime Minister Tony Blair.  His disciple Henry McLeish used the same tactic in the Scottish Parliament.

“ There has been a corruption in public life under this government, quite cynically introduced on a scale which would have seemed incredible under the last Conservative administration.”

-Lord Heseltine, former Tory deputy Prime Minister, on the Enron affair.  A case of the kettle calling the pot black!

“Boasting, self-revelation and self-promotion are in.  Modesty, discretion and humility are out.  The truth is that Britons have never been so self-obsessed or so self-promoting.”

-Jonathan Aitken, disgraced former Tory Cabinet Minister.  Another case of kettle and pot!

“The whole idea of golden jubilee celebrations is out of date.  It is part of the myth of Merrie England – cheerful cockney sparrows doing the Lambeth Walk and the lads and lasses from Lancashire clog dancing.”

-Labour peer Lord Hattersley.  Time for a rewrite of the Scottish Folk song ‘Coronation Coronach’?

“The last time I heard a Prime Minister use language like this was when Thatcher talked of the enemy within.”

-Bill Spiers, General Secretary of the STUC.  Surely it is time for all Trade Unions to review their support, financial and otherwise, to New Labour.

SYNOPSIS

A selection of items from the SNP Daily News over the past week:

ALASDAIR MORGAN SEEKS MEETING OVER POST OFFICE CLOSURES

Galloway and Upper Nithsdale's MSP is seeking a meeting with Consignia bosses over the possible closure of 8,000 UK post offices by 2007. SNP's Alasdair Morgan said he is concerned some of the offices could be in Dumfries and Galloway which has already lost several over the past five  years. As vital community resources, they need support from Consignia and the government, he said.

NORWAY FLIGHTS TAKE OFF

The low-cost airline, Ryanair, is launching a new service from Prestwick Airport to Norway. The Irish carrier, which has just ordered 100 more planes to add to its fleet, will fly to Oslo's Torp airport. SNP shadow transport minister Kenny MacAskill welcomed the announcement but simultaneously attacked the Scottish Executive for their lack of coherent strategy for Scotland's air links. "Ryanair has received no assistance whatsoever from either the Executive or Scottish Enterprise despite the fact they are providing crucial links for Scottish business," he said.  "Scottish business is losing out due to the lack of a coherent national strategy and Ryanair has shown the Executive up for their lack of ambition and lack of action."

JOHN SWINNEY FIGHTS FOR EURO FREIGHT ROUTE

More than most countries, Scotland's economic prosperity depends on the performance of our exporters, argues John Swinney. The SNP leader today used his weekly internet broadcast to highlight the threat hanging over Scotland's vital direct rail freight link to Europe. A stand-off between the British and French governments over asylum seekers attempting to gain entrance to the UK has led to many direct trains to the Channel Tunnel being cancelled. EWS, which operates the Eurocentral rail freight terminal in Lanarkshire, is making substantial losses due to the cancellations. The Eurocentral terminal was meant to give Scottish goods a direct route to Europe. The terminal, located close to the M8 midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh, aims to take more freight off the roads and onto the railways. But services have been shelved as rail companies now have to pay fines for asylum seekers smuggled through the Channel Tunnel. The SNP leader visited terminal yesterday and is now demanding the Scottish Executive puts pressure on the UK Government to sort out the immigration problem and save Scotland's only direct freight route to Europe. The North Tayside MSP is frustrated by Labour's failure to act. SNP leader John Swinney said: "I want Labour  ministers in Scotland to argue strongly to protect this vital industry and safeguard our jobs."  Mr Swinney said the independent nations of Europe would use every avenue available to promote their national interest. "If we want to compete we must do the same," he said.

MSPs UP IN ARMS AS CITY BYPASS LEFT ON THE SHELF

North-east politicians have attacked the Executive for failing to fund an Aberdeen bypass following an invitation for firms to bid for one of Scotland's biggest road-building projects. First Minister Jack McConnell yesterday opened up the tendering process for public-private partnership (PPP) contracts to upgrade the A77 between Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire and to build the Glasgow southern orbital. The tendering process will take about 12 months, with construction starting in early 2003 and finishing in 2005. MSPs lined up yesterday to vent their fury at the North-east being left out in the cold. North-east SNP MSPs Richard Lochhead and Brian Adam were the first off the mark. Mr Lochhead said: "There will be fury in the North-east that two huge projects in the Central Belt have been given the green light and that the ongoing campaign for the western peripheral route (WPR) has been left on the shelf." Mr Adam said Mr McConnell's statement that the projects would make a real difference to the travelling public would make no difference to motorists in the North-east. "Aberdeen desperately needs cash for the WPR, with its third bridge across the Don, if the Executive want to be believed when they talk about making a difference to the travelling public, especially those in Aberdeen and the North-east," he said.

ALEX SALMOND ON THE "STINK OF CORRUPTION" HANGING OVER LABOUR

New Labour and the Tories are stuck deeply in the smelly stuff, writes Alex Salmond. The SNP MP believes there's still something very rotten fouling up the atmosphere at Westminster. Writing in today's News of the World, Mr Salmond condemned the "conspiracy of silence" between the London-based parties on the Enron affair. The US energy company recently went bust in the world's biggest ever bankruptcy - amid a host of allegations of corruption and malpractice. New Labour and the Tories have failed to draw a line under the row, which has dominated the headlines since it was revealed the allegedly corrupt company gave tens of thousands of pounds to both. "The whole thing stinks to high heaven," Alex Salmond said. "Blair promised to clean up Westminster, but New Labour now look every bit as bad as the old Tories."

CONCERN AS MMR REPORT IS DELAYED

The publication of a report looking at concerns surrounding the triple vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella is to be delayed. The findings of the group of Scottish experts should have been made public at the end of this month. However, the Scottish Executive last night said that this would now be delayed by "a matter of weeks." SNP shadow health minister Nicola Sturgeon voiced concern over reports that the group was likely to make a majority recommendation to continue to give parents no alternative to the triple vaccine. The expert group was set up last year following a recommendation by the Scottish Parliament's health committee. A petition from a campaigner who believes his grandson developed autism after being given the MMR jab sparked the MSPs' investigation. There have been reports that the group was deeply divided over whether to offer parents a single vaccine in the face of a drop in MMR inoculation rates across Scotland. Ms Sturgeon said it was "unfortunate" that the report had been delayed. "What is even more concerning is the suggestion that the report is going to be nothing more than a whitewash and it is going to recommend the status quo should remain despite considerable parental concerns. What the report must do is build confidence in the immunisation programme," she said. Meanwhile the Executive has defended the expert group set up to examine the MMR jab after it emerged some of its members have financial links to a pharmaceutical firm which makes the vaccine.

CLASH OVER HOLYROOD ACHIEVEMENTS

A senior SNP MSP and Executive figures today publicly clashed over what has been achieved so far by Scotland's devolved administration. The clash came at a conference in Edinburgh where minister for parliamentary business Patricia Ferguson said legislation was already making a difference to the lives of Scots. She told a Hansard Society conference that 25 Executive Bills had already passed by Holyrood, along with four members' Bills and one committee Bill. But speaking at the same conference, SNP shadow education minister Mike Russell accused the Executive of a lack of vision and delivery. While individual MSPs had done "some very good work" in Parliamentary constituencies and Holyrood committees, little had been achieved by the Executive, he claimed. "At least Labour in its original manifesto promised little. That is certainly what they have delivered," said Mr Russell. "But even the things they promised have not happened - waiting lists are longer and class sizes are not much smaller. Instead of setting out a radical and accessible agenda they prefer hype and spin." He complained of an "excessive reliance" on a convention which enables Scottish legislation to be passed at Westminster, and accused Liberal Democrats of abandoning their manifesto commitments. "The Scottish Parliament was envisaged as a break with the past and the dawn of a new way of doing things," said Mr Russell. "In reality whilst many in the Parliament still want to see those things achieved, the coalition has delivered none of  them."

LABOUR's "SNP PARANOIA" BLOCKS YELLOW SPEED CAMERAS

Moves to paint speed cameras yellow are being resisted by the Scottish Executive, which said today they could be confused with SNP advertising material. The Strathclyde Police force area is one of several parts of the UK taking part in a pilot scheme in which police and councils get to keep the revenue from speed cameras. The pilot also involves repainting the grey cameras to make them more visible. But while the Department of Transport is recommending that the cameras are painted yellow throughout the UK, the Executive is holding out for a red-and-yellow combination. A spokesman agreed today that the traditional use of the colour yellow by the Scottish National Party was a factor in the Executive's reasoning. SNP deputy leader Roseanna Cunningham said: "This just shows the level of paranoia Labour feels about the rise and rise of the SNP."

STANDARDS WATCHDOG TO PROBE MSPs

Legislation to create a watchdog to investigate complaints against MSPs has been published by the Scottish Parliament. The new bill would give the Scottish watchdog more powers than its Westminster counterpart, Elizabeth Filkin. The Standards Commissioner Bill, which would give the investigator statutory rights to call witnesses and demand evidence, is expected to become law by the end of the year. Members of the Scottish Parliament's Standards Committee hope the bill will re-assure the public about the honesty of politicians. Tricia Marwick, the deputy convener of the Standards Committee, said the method of appointing the Scottish commissioner will ensure he or she has the backing of MSPs. She said: ``The standards commissioner for Scotland will be appointed by the Parliament itself which is different from Westminster, where the MPs did not appoint Elizabeth Filkin and so she did not from the beginning have the backing of MPs. "The commissioner appointed by the Scottish Parliament will have the confidence of MSPs." Mrs Marwick also said that the two-thirds majority needed to remove the Scottish commissioner would ensure that he or she could not be kicked out of their post without very good reason. Mrs Filkin had also clashed with a number of high-profile MPs, including former Europe minister Keith Vaz, who refused to appear before her.

TROUBLED SCOTS FISHING INDUSTRY GETS 7 MILLION POUND BOOST

Several hundred jobs will be created as a result of a multi-million cash injection for the fishing and fish-farming industry. European and Scottish Executive grants worth 6.8 million pounds aimed at improving and modernising fisheries and aquaculture were announced yesterday. SNP shadow fisheries minister and North East MSP Richard Lochhead said: "This announcement is good news for the industry at a time when good news is scarce on the ground. Hopefully, this investment can inject some optimism into the industry."
 

MSP HITS OUT OVER LAND BILL

Highland MSP Fergus Ewing has accused ministers behind the Land Reform Bill of distorting the opinions of members of the public who made written submissions setting out their views. Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, the SNP MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber said his own analysis showed that a massive majority of the 3,587 responses were opposed to denying the right of access to outdoor activity providers, such as mountain guides and climbing instructors. In a reference to foot and mouth disease, he said: "These are the very people who, during the months of March to May last year, lost all of their income but nonetheless behaved responsibly and stayed off the hill in accordance with the voluntary code." Mr Ewing said Rural Affairs and Environment Minister Ross Finnie had refused to remove the provision in the bill which denies them access.

PRESSURE GROWS TO ABOLISH POST OF £118,000 SCOTTISH MINISTER

Calls have been renewed to abolish or reform the post of Scottish Secretary Helen Liddell after claims that she worked just three full days last week and spent an hour of one afternoon learning French. The value of having a Secretary of State for Scotland in the Government at Westminster has been questioned since the Scottish Parliament opened in 1999. The Airdrie and Shotts MP, who receives a ministerial salary of £117,979 in her role as Scottish Secretary, was excused from voting in House of Commons divisions on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the diary, which also contained an hour-long French lesson for Wednesday afternoon. Responding to the report, SNP leader John Swinney renewed his party's call for the post to be abolished. He said: "Many people have been asking what exactly Helen Liddell does with her day - now we know the answer is very little. She is meant to be fighting Scotland's corner in Westminster, but her time seems to be split between long lunches, Labour Party meetings and learning French."

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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)

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

DATES IN HISTORY

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

See the SING A SANG AT LEAST in our features section

A KIST O FERLIES
A Keek at the Guid Scots TungA Keek at the Guid Scots Tung

By Peter & Marilyn Wright 
(Note: All words underlined in this section are RealAudio links)

See Scots Language in our Features Section
for other poems, stories, songs, 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. 25 JANUARY  2002
[Click here to bring up the crosswords]