As regular Flag compiler, Jim Lynch, warned you he is off this week busy spending euros!  He might return slightly poorer in siller terms but hopefully with an item or two for the Flag.  Indeed, as you will see from the next item, we have a European report this week from the visit of Scots Independent editor Kenneth Fee to Strasbourg in April.

When I last substituted for our skeilie compiler (Issue 88 8^th February 2002), I prophesied that the McLeish Officegate affair would run and run and, as you will see below, so it has.  How Henry McLeish must deeply regret agreeing to the Third Age Charity Group tenancy – in spite of his early pension for his short term as First Minister, which puts even the recent MSPs salary increase in the shade, he has paid a high price politically.  Indeed there have been complaints from the Labour benches that Henry is evading the important role of serving on Holyrood committees.  But that didn’t stop him bouncing back with a newspaper article (undoubtedly well paid) giving advice to Jack McConnell on the position vacated by Wendy Alexander.  As you will recall from last week’s Flag she used to be the Minister of Quite a Lot of Things.  A Labour colleague pointed out that Henry could have made the changes he suggested on Friday whilst in office.  But as the Imperial Westminster Labour Government is still blaming the ‘Wicked Tories’ after being in power themselves for five years, poor Henry had only just over a year as First Minister – no time at all to make any changes!  Incidentally, it has now been revealed that Jack McConnell tried to persuade his Deputy, Lib-Dem Jim Wallace, to become Minister of Quite a Lot of Things, which he promptly declined.  So poor Iain Gray proved to be the fall guy!

And how quickly time flies by – time and tide wait for no man as Robert Burns reminded us in his great cantraip of a poem ‘Tam o Shanter’ and a look at the calendar shows that we have been flying The Flag for almost two years.  As chairman of the Scots Independent, I would take this opportunity to thank the two men most responsible – Jim Lynch and Alastair McIntyre.  Indeed there would have been no Flag without Alastair McIntyre – so a special thank you to our Webmaster.

To celebrate its 75th Anniversary, the Scots Independent newspaper commissioned a special edition CD by top Scots folk duo Gaberlunzie.

To mark the anniversary Ian Hudghton MEP donated a CD to each of his European Free Alliance MEP colleagues and staff at the Parliament in Brussels.

The picture shows Group staff members Eluned Haf, front left, of Plaid Cymru, and the SNP’s own Neil Ferguson, right, being presented with their CDs by Margery and Kenneth Fee who were undertaking a Scots Independent study visit to the Parliament.

How I wish that I had visited the Scottish Parliament last Thursday, instead of Wednesday, and seen the Labour benches angry reaction to Tricia Marwick rightly saying that the Third Age Group organisation, which led to the downfall of First Minister Henry McLeish, was “the template of the worst kind of control by the Labour Party and Labour-Controlled Councils.”  She has rightly pointed out that the Third Age scandal highlighted the need for urgent reform in charity laws and she has demanded the investigation of the organisation by the Scottish Charities Office.  In spite of the countless words spoken and written in the media, I have still to see exactly what this supposed charity body actually did, apart from rental payment to Henry McLeish and wages to Labour Party activists, including a Labour Councillor, as employees.  As a Fife ratepayer I would be very interested to see the full story told but fear that this is unlikely given the Labour Party cronyism . . . and the fact that Fife Council shredded the records.

The Council Chief Executive, Labour Council Leader and Labour Council Convener all understandably want to sweep the whole matter under the carpet, and they obviously resent Tricia Marwick’s desire to discover the truth.

An amazing twist to the tale has surfaced this week when Fife Council’s Chief Executive has admitted to failing to spot the significance of an independent report that revealed social workers were running a pensioners’ charity.  Thanks to the Dundee Courier (Jim might be in Strasbourg but we cannot get away from Dundee) gaining a confidential report into the Third Age Group, which details how social workers began running the group after the management committee resigned in 1998, and that it continued to receive funds from the Council.  The report stated “It (the charity) is now directly managed by social work personnel supervised by social work managers, who in a sense act as both chair and committee with responsibilities for financial accounts and the collection of payments from service users.”  In summary the report concluded “It is clear that the present position is not viable in the long term.  It leaves the department and individual staff within the department holding responsibilities outwith their remit.”  And the Chief Executive missed this in the 1999 report prepared by the RBA Consultancy.  Perhaps he should go for an eye-test!  All credit to Tricia Marwick for keeping the pressure on . . . this story is still far from finished.

I always thought that the silly season for newspapers was in August – but obviously it has come early to the Scottish Press.  Jim Lynch, a few weeks ago, drew attention to the ‘supposed split’ between Sir Sean Connery and John Swinney.  I immediately emailed my friend James Baron in the USA and was able to tell Jim that the newspaper stories were untrue.  Indeed Jim Lynch ran James Baron’s full rebuttal.

This week’s fiction once again involved John Swinney.  His position as SNP National Convener is ‘supposed’ to be under pressure following Alex Salmond’s statement that he intends to return to the Holyrood Parliament via the list system in 2007.  Well two points – from the outset Alex Salmond made no secret of the fact that he would like to return to Edinburgh after bedding in the new SNP MPs in Westminster, when he announced that he would recontest his Westminster seat in 2001 – and two – under the SNP Constitution the Party Leader must be in the Scottish Parliament.  Alex Salmond would clearly not be in a position to restand for the leadership until after the decision by the voters in 2007.  With the 2003 Holyrood elections less than a year away, and the desire to do down the Scottish National Party at every turn, I suppose that John Swinney, indeed, the whole ranks of the SNP, must expect more of the ‘silly season’ type articles to appear.

SLEAZE, SLEAZE, SLEAZE

In opposition New Labour made a great song-and-dance about the ‘Wicked Tories’ and sleaze, and quite rightly so.  But now in government, the holier-than-thou attitude has come back to haunt them as various donations from businessmen have not been exactly squeaky clean.  The latest case concerns £100,000 from porno magnate Richard Desmond, handed over in February 2001 to the Labour Party, thus avoiding a deadline requiring full disclosure of the donation.  [The London Times suggested that the Labour Party could have asked for £200,000 from Mr Desmond and got it].  The donation, of course, did not influence the then Labour Trade and Industry Secretary, Stephen Byers, not to refer Mr Desmond’s takeover of the Express Group to the Competition Commission in the slightest.  Of course it didn’t!  The latest revelation has not gone down well with Labour back-benchers but probably many of them have not, unlike Mr Desmond, been invited round to Number 10 for tea.

Footnote: in 1997 Mr Desmond donated £5,000 to the Tory Party.

On a lighter note Tricia Marwick, a self-confessed Harry Potter fan, took the opportunity to meet his creator J K Rowling.  However the occasion was a serious one of giving support to Multiple Sclerosis issues at a reception held in the Scottish Parliament.  Tricia Marwick has championed MS in the Parliament and sponsored a member’s debate on the subject while Ms Rowling is the patron of the MS Society in Scotland – her mother, Anne, had MS and died just 45.

Tricia Marwick told the Flag the J K Rowling spoke about the work being done to highlight the needs of people with MS and to give them support.  “It was clear” she said “from all the people queuing to get an autograph that they had been instructed by children and grandchildren not to return home without a signature.  Other MSPs, like me, just admitted they were fans and got autographs for themselves.” 

Like my granddaughter Kenzie (aged 8), Tricia Marwick will be disappointed to learn that there is a delay in the publishing of the fifth Harry Potter book.

One of the most enjoyable events of the Nationalist year is the annual Scots Independent Lunch and the presentation of the Oliver Brown Award.  This year’s Lunch will take place on Saturday 15 June 2002 in The Terraces Hotel, Stirling (12.30 for 1pm) and the Oliver Award will be presented to the distinguished Scottish publisher, editor, columnist, broadcaster, author and founder of the Institute of Contemporary Scotland KENNETH ROY.  Falkirk-born Kenneth Roy is no stranger to receiving rewards, adding The Oliver to being twice Critic of the Year in Scotland and in 1994 he was named as Columnist of the Year in the annual UK Press Gazette awards.  Recently retired SNP National Organiser Mrs Allison Hunter will propose the toast to the Scots Independent.

Early booking for the Lunch, £16 per ticket, is advisable.  Tickets available from Scots Independent (Newspapers) Ltd, 51 Cowane Street, Stirling, FK8 1JY.

This week saw the retiral of Administrative guru Irene White after thirty-two years for the SNP.  In that time she has worked in three SNP HQs, worked at twenty-five years worth of Annual National Conferences and provided support to four National Conveners, ten National Secretaries and countless NEC members and members of staff.  In celebration of her long service SNP HQ hosted an ‘At Home’ for Irene, which gave both her work colleagues and many friends the opportunity to wish her well for a long and happy retirement.  SNP National Convener John Swinney made a presentation to Irene and she was deluged with notes and cards of good-wishes.  Over the years, Irene has been a good friend to the Scots Independent and, in thanks, the newspaper presented her with a years complimentary postal subscription.

Dear Flag

Donald Dewar was an honest man with some admirable qualities of character, but that in itself is hardly sufficient to justify a statue in his honour. That sort of memorial demands a record of concrete achievement. There is a parallel here with the no doubt worthy but long-forgotten Mr. Oswald whose statue, if my memory is correct, used to grace George Square in Glasgow.

Before any further mythology can develop, let me point out that one thing Donald Dewar did not achieve was to get the Scottish Parliament re-established. He was a purely passive participant until he came up with the idea of that expensive white elephant at Holyrood, and even that was for party reasons.

The Scottish Parliament was recalled because the existing method of governing Scotland was endangering the democratic security of the whole of Europe. The diplomats who were trying to convert the former communist countries to Western standards of democracy were appalled when they learned of the pseudo-democratic autocracy prevailing in Scotland under the Scottish Office. There was no way that the Council of Europe, the EU, OSCE and NATO could place pressure on Russia and the other Eastern countries while simultaneously tolerating that skeleton in the cupboard of an existing Western member state.

If Tony Blair’s government had not given the devolution programme priority immediately on assuming office, then the UK would certainly have been subject to international sanctions under the already existing rules of the Council of Europe, which are the standard for all the other European institutions. If Margaret Thatcher had still been in office she would have been faced with exactly the same situation.

Tony Blair described the situation as “a damnable nuisance”, and the underhand methods used by the Labour leadership in their attempts to kill the whole idea of devolution are a chapter in themselves.

The Labour Party, like any church, needs its saints. By all means honour Donald Dewar for the good man he was on a personal level, but let us not dishonour him by misusing his name for party-political propaganda. His contribution to the restoration of the Scottish Parliament, like that of John Smith, was precisely nil.

DR. JAMES WILKIE

AUSTRIA

What have Malcolm Chisholm, Calum Macdonald, Wendy Alexander, Jackie Baillie, Iain Gray and Margaret Curran got in common?  Answer: all six have been ministers in charge of Scottish housing since Labour came to power just over five years ago. Back in May 1997 one of Shelter’s campaigning goals was an improvement in security of tenure for tenants.  Maybe Labour politicians should back that campaign personally.

One thing is for certain: Tony Blair sees himself as a mixture of John Wayne and Luke Skywalker, fighting inequality and intergalactic terrorism wherever he finds them.

You cannot explain to me how a pompous, upper-class twit like Blair could possibly be a Labour prime minister.  That is illogical.

Stephen Byers, a man who clings to office with all the maddening effrontery of chewing gum on the sole of your shoe.

He (Richard Desmond) strikes me as a slightly unsavoury gentleman: I would like to have nothing to do with him.

SNP REVEALS "RADICAL" NHS PROPOSALS

The SNP today unveiled its "radical" proposals to shake up the NHS, including plans to publish death rate league tables for individual surgeons. The party's new policy paper on the NHS also called for directly elected members on health boards, through national elections and the abolition of NHS trusts. SNP shadow health minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said the party also wanted a national health watchdog with the power to prosecute NHS managers in cases of negligence. Speaking at the party's headquarters in Edinburgh she said: "Firstly we want to remove road blocks in the way of improving the NHS and create a system where more of the money invested in the health service gets to the front line, gets to patients. Secondly we want to shift the balance of power in the NHS away from politicians and bureaucrats and in favour of patients. And thirdly we are determined to build capacity in our health service, capacity that will allow us to improve patient care and cut waiting times for patients." She said the party also wanted to publish annual clinical outcome indicators "including for example death rates for individual surgeons" - a proposal which she said had the backing of the British Medical Association Consultant Committee. Ms Sturgeon said the arty wanted to abolish NHS trusts and plans to shift the balance of power centred around the "exciting" idea that health boards and local health care co-ops should be partly elected. She said the party also wanted to appoint a "powerful and independent" new national health inspectorate to set, inspect and enforce standards. "These are radical proposals we are putting forward well in advance of the election next year to engender debate about how we take our health service forward," she said. SNP shadow deputy health minister Shona Robison said the document would form part of a consultation exercise with staff, the public and patients' groups in the run up to next May's election.

SCOTS TORIES "GOING NOWHERE" - JOHN SWINNEY

Scots Tory leader David McLetchie today admitted the Conservatives must lose their uncaring reputation if they are to be taken seriously. SNP leader John Swinney later attacked Mr McLetchie's speech, saying the people of Scotland would not be fooled by the Tories' new direction. He said: "Right wing Thatcherite economic policies destroyed Scotland's manufacturing base and ultimately destroyed the Tory Party in Scotland. David McLetchie's problem is that the Tories are even more right wing under Ian Duncan Smith than they were under Thatcher, Major or Hague despite his claims to the contrary, which is why they are going nowhere in Scottish politics."

OFFICERS QUITTING OVER ILL HEALTH RISES 50%

Early retirements on health grounds among Lothian and Borders police officers have soared by more than 50 per cent over four years. SNP Lothians MSP Kenny MacAskill claimed the figures, revealed in a parliamentary answer from Justice Minister Jim Wallace, proved the need for more resources for the force. And he said figures showing a rise in complaints against the police backed up the case. The number of officers from Lothian and Borders Police who retired early on health grounds rose from 22 in 1997-98 to 35 in 2000-01. Meanwhile, complaints against the police rose from 385 in 1997-98 to 625 in 2000-01. Mr MacAskill said: "The numbers leaving through sickness are up by 50 per cent or more, so we are losing frontline officers. These are officers facing injury or stress and bailing out when we need them most. This is clear evidence of the need for more resources and more officers."

4000 JOBS AT THE HEARTLAND OF 200 MILLION POUND PLAN

Up to 4000 jobs could be created under a 200 million pound plan to transform a West Lothian mine into two championship golf courses, housing, offices and factories. Backers of the Heartlands development claim that the project will regenerate Whitburn by offering "a new way of life". Their plans include adding a junction from the M8 at nearby Cowhill, a luxury hotel, a bus terminal with park-and-ride and at least 1500 new homes at the former Polkemmet Colliery site. The once-prosperous town of Whitburn has suffered since the pit was closed after the miners' strike in the mid-1980s. Local politicians today embraced the ambitious Heartlands project, which if approved this summer could be under way by October. SNP Councillor Jim Dickson, who represents Whitburn, added: "I am happy that something is finally happening. We are finally getting rid of an environmental disaster."

REGIONS TO WIN FINANCIAL POWERS

Labour walked into a political storm last night after announcing plans to give English regional assemblies more financial powers than the Scottish Parliament. In the final plank of Labour's devolution programme, John Prescott unveiled proposals to establish a new tier of regional government.  But, to the amazement of MPs, Mr Prescott, the deputy Prime Minster, said the revenue-raising powers of the English authorities would exceed those of the Scottish Parliament, with the ability to raise near-unlimited taxes and borrow for capital expenditure. The move was seen as a major snub to Holyrood which has the right to levy the so-called "Tartan tax" but has never been entitled to borrowing powers. Shadow economy minister Andrew Wilson said the plans underlined the need for Scotland to have financial independence: "Good financial management requires you to be able to borrow for capital investment for the long term and the fact Scotland is not being allowed to do this makes the current financial situation totally unsustainable."

PFI SUCKS HALF A BILLION FROM NHS BUDGET

SNP leader John Swinney today claimed Labour is removing at least 617 million pounds from the NHS in Scotland because of its obsession with privatisation. Mr Swinney said money earmarked for health was in fact being creamed off by the private sector through expensive and damaging private finance initiative schemes. Publishing new SNP research, Mr Swinney said the SNP would ensure that new hospitals were built on a not-for-profit basis. "The SNP has been championing the idea of building new hospitals through a not-for-profit trust - something which could be established within the current powers of the Scottish Parliament," he said. The North Tayside MSP said SNP intends to expose Labour's privatisation of public services as a key campaigning issue over the next 12 months. "Whether it is the crazy outright privatisation of Scotland's prison service, the privatisation of hospital cleaning services or the use of the Private Finance Initiative Labour is putting profit before people in our public services. The SNP's alternative vision for our public services means an end to privatisation But it also means services which are more accountable to the tax-payer, which are locally-delivered and that put the user of the service first."

INQUIRY DEMAND OVER RAIL CRASH

Pressure is growing for a public inquiry into the Potters Bar rail crash, despite Transport Secretary Stephen Byers promising an interim report "within the next few days". Mr Byers confirmed to MPs that a faulty set of points appeared to have caused Friday's train crash in which seven people died. During a House of Commons statement Mr Byers said 800 other points across the UK had been checked and no problems found. SNP MP Mike Weir said: "Whatever the facts, there is clear uncertainty about where responsibility for these crucial matters lies. The current scrambled system breeds a culture of confusion and buck-passing." The Angus MP believes the opportunity exists to develop a much better integrated rail network. "The loss of life and injury at Potters Bar was horrendous, and has done untold damage to public confidence in the railways.  There has to be a re-think throughout the UK about how to create a safer and better rail network, and in Scotland that means a Scottish railway structure and the devolution of all rail powers from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament."

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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 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. 29 MAY  2002
[Click here to bring up the crosswords]