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Day, April 6th, USA & Canada
Compiled by Jim Lynch
[Issue 109 -
5th July 2002]
GREETINGS
 Our
best wishes this week to our Canadian cousins, as they celebrate Canada Day,
commemorating their Independence from Britain of 1st July 1867; well, I
don’t have any Canadian cousins now, but I do have Canadian friends and a
Canadian daughter-in-law and two Canadian grandchildren, so that should
count.
 We
also send best wishes to our American cousins, and I have quite a few of
them, on their Independence Day, 4th July; while Scotland was never a
colony, we feel that we have been treated as one, and look forward to the
day we attend the United Nations in our own right.
BANNOCKBURN RALLY
The usual lively crowd
attended the Annual Bannockburn Day Rally in Stirling on Saturday 22nd June
2002; the weather was mixed with some sunshine on the march, but a bit of
rain thereafter.
March through Stirling
Addressing the Rally, SNP
leader, John Swinney, said "I am delighted to have all our candidates in
place for next year’s Scottish Parliamentary Elections. The selection
process is now behind us ; the job now is to get on with winning
constituency seats. That’s the fight we must take to every constituency and
every community in Scotland." John also said that the SNP had a positive and
upbeat campaign that promotes the policies that will deliver social and
economic justice to Scotland, and we have constructed the most powerful
election machine in Scottish political history. This twin track strategy
gave him confidence that the SNP could deliver success in 2003.
John and Annabelle laying the wreath
Dr Winnie Ewing, MSP, Party
President, was unable to be present, but Fergus Ewing, MSP, spoke on her
behalf; the wreath was laid by John Swinney, MSP, and Annabelle Ewing MP,
while the financial appeal was made by Bruce Crawford MSP. Two
presentations were made at the Rally, one to Robert Campbell, retiring after
many years as the Rally Organiser, and one to Allan Robertson, for 30 years
as the Standard Bearer. These were organised by Stewart Hosie, National
Secretary, with on the ground execution by Peter D Wright, SI Chairman
(30 years as the Assistant Standard Bearer) and he solved the problem of
ensuring the recipients were present throughout by telling Robert Campbell
that Allan Robertson was getting a surprise presentation, so could he make
sure he didn’t wander off, and by telling Allan Robertson that Robert
Campbell was getting a surprise presentation so could he make sure he didn’t
wander off! It worked a treat.
John and Annabelle in front of memorial
The pictures show
John and Annabelle laying the wreath, John and Annabelle in front of
memorial, with Robert Campbell just behind John, and Allan Robertson peeking
over his shoulder; our genial Chairman, Peter D Wright is in the background
between John and Robert. The other picture is the march through Stirling,
during one of the sunny intervals.
A SMIDGIN OF COMFORT
The System Three Opinion Poll
published this week shows the SNP constituency vote up 3 points on last
month, and the second vote steady at 29% ; Labour are down 3 points on the
constituency vote and 2 points on the second
vote.
The big surprise seem to be
that the others, ( which works out at Greens 2% on first and 4% on second,
SSP 3% on first and 8% on second, and other (Canavan) 1% on first and 2% on
the second) appear to be heading for more representation. According
to the headlines, Sheridan’s Socialists are heading for massive gains, but
as in the last local by elections, held in early May, the aforesaid SSP only
polled 64 votes, 39 votes and 52 votes, in Fife, Ayrshire and Stirlingshire
respectively, maybe the pundits are a wee bit optimistic, or Sheridan’s
Socialists too good a headline to miss! There is no doubt that Tommy
Sheridan is a great publicist and his Free School Meals campaign struck a
chord, but his party is very much a one man band, and it is time that the
SNP concentrated some fire upon him (as well as on the wishy-washy party,
the Liberals) particularly on his claim not to take all his wages, while at
the same time ensuring that his one-man SSP got the money instead.
Scottish Parliament Voting
Intention
| |
LABOUR |
S N P |
LIB DEM |
TORY |
OTHER |
| |
1st % |
2nd % |
1st % |
2nd % |
1st % |
2nd % |
1st % |
2nd % |
1st % |
2nd % |
| Election |
39 |
34 |
29 |
27 |
14 |
12 |
16 |
15 |
3 |
11 |
| Last Year |
40 |
31 |
31 |
32 |
14 |
18 |
10 |
8 |
4 |
10 |
| Last Month |
40 |
34 |
29 |
29 |
14 |
15 |
10 |
10 |
7 |
12 |
| Now |
37 |
32 |
32 |
29 |
12 |
15 |
12 |
11 |
6 |
14 |
Westminster voting shows
again that the Scottish voters have become more sophisticated; Labour are
down 3 points from last month, but are at 44% compared with 37% in the
Scottish Parliament, the SNP are at 23% compared with 32% in the same; the
Tories are at 15% compared with 12%. It indicates that the Scots are fearful
of the English voting Tory again and back to the Thatcherite doctrine,
completely oblivious to the fact that New Labour is privatising parts that
Thatcherism couldn’t reach. However we are still some way off a Westminster
election, and the deliberate talking down of their importance by the SNP is
a thing of the past.
Westminster Voting Intentions
| |
Lab % |
SNP % |
Lib % |
Con % |
Others % |
| Election |
44 |
20 |
16 |
16 |
4 |
| Last Year |
50 |
24 |
12 |
11 |
3 |
| Last Month |
49 |
21 |
13 |
13 |
5 |
| Now |
46 |
23 |
11 |
15 |
5 |
As John Swinney said at the
Bannockburn Rally, the SNP has its candidates on place, those who fell down
the lists will get over their huffs (he didn’t say that) and the policies
are in place, so it is up to the party to get campaigning; this time, the
Labour Party have already admitted that they do not have the troops on the
ground and will have to import foreign mercenaries - from England- so we
will be watching their election expenses very closely indeed. Labour are
holding their Annual Conference in Glasgow in February, and will no doubt be
expecting the Queen to incorporate a visit to that as part of the "Union of
the Crowns" non-event - maybe we should ask for both of these occurrences to
be added to Labour’s election expenses.
A GET OUT OF JAIL
CARD
 In
the game of Monopoly which passes for coalition politics in Scotland, the
Justice Minister, Jim Wallace, will probably be eternally grateful for the
"Get Out Of Jail" Card handed to him by the Justice 1 Committee in the
Scottish Parliament.
The Justice Committee
have been examining in great detail the proposals by the Executive to build
3 new private prisons, which Mr Wallace said would save the public purse
£700 million; the Report on the Prison estates Review, which was passed
unanimously by the all party Committee is scathing and one member described
the review as "little more than a politically motivitated exercise designed
to deliver the answer the Scottish Executive wanted - the privatisation of
Scottish prisons."
I have had a brief look at
some of the Report, not all of it, as it is on the Internet and my printer
would pack up at the number of pages required, and some of the points are so
elementary that the mind boggles. For instance, on Barlinnie: Overcrowding "
HMCIP’s Annual Report for 2000-2001 stated that in 1999-2000 HMP Barlinnie
was overcrowded by 18%. This rose to 32% in 2000-2001. The probable reason
cited for this almost twofold increase was seven establishments being closed
or rationalised." So because they shut some jails they had to put the
prisoners somewhere; basic management practice might have foreseen that and
not closed jails until there was an alternative. On another page, Alex
Spencer, Director of Rehabilitation and Care at the Scottish Prison Service
said of Peterhead Prison that the buildings were of no use and should be
"pulled down and something else built." HMCIP (Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector
of Prisons, Clive Fairweather) said he was surprised , as he had visited
with a building adviser who assessed the buildings as sound and suggested it
would be worthwhile "conducting a cost benefit analysis before writing
Peterhead off"; the Committee requests a detailed survey be carried out by
an independent firm of surveyors in order to establish the state of the
buildings. In both Peterhead and Barlinnie, the Estates Review had provided
no financial information on the cost of refurbishment, again a very
elementary step, one might have thought.
The evidence submitted by
Tony Cameron, Scottish Prison’s Chief Executive, was decsribed by the
Committee as "extraordinary and unconvincing", and he admitted that when the
contract for Kilmarnock was established projections were made covering a
forecast horizon from 1998 to 2005 (No I don’t know what that means but it
sounds impressive). However, no work had been done by the Scottish Prison
Service to establish whether the cost structure and staffing levels over the
4 years had worked out, as it was "the market price that determines whether
the SPS is getting the right quality and price balance. The Executive does
not monitor the rate of return received by the operator." To put it simply,
they made a deal, and have done nothing to see how the deal is going, but
they have now decided to do vastly bigger deals! I wouldn’t let that lot run
a chip shop, never mind a jail!
 So
where does that leave the Justice Minister? Well, Michael Matheson, MSP, a
member of the Committee, attended all the evidence sessions; he said "This
is a very thorough report which highlights serious flaws at the very heart
of the Executive’s Prisons Estates Review. The report will make
uncomfortable reading for the Justice Minister and the head of the SPS. He
also said that as Scotland had the highest prison population in Europe, he
was amazed that a Justice Minister who is supposed to be in favour of penal
reform had not acknowledged that in the Review.
Speaking prior the the
Report, Christine Grahame, MSP, the Convener of the Justice Committee,
commented on the fact that there had been an underspend of £50-60 million
over the past three years; this would have been more than enough to end the
practice of slopping out, but the SPS had not even costed this out for
themselves. She wondered why this had not been done, and had come to the
conclusion that it was all about smoothing the path to privatisation.
The summary of the summarised
conclusions is as follows:
-
HMP Peterhead should be
kept and refurbished.
-
Slopping out should be
eradicated as soon as possible.
-
There was not sufficient
financial information on various options for them to say what was the
right way forward.
-
The Estates Review was
undertaken in a vacuum, and took no account of penal reform.
-
The Committee would need
more evidence before being convinced of the need for three new prisons.
Membership of the Committee:
Christine Grahame, SNP, Convener, Wendy Alexander, Labour, Lord James
Douglas-Hamilton, Tory, Donald Gorrie, Liberal, Maureen MacMillan, Labour,
Deputy Convener, Paul Martin, Labour, Michael Matheson, SNP.
DEVOLUTION
DISILLUSION
I sometimes feel that if I
read another Scotsman editorial saying "We have always been supporters of a
Scottish Parliament", I will throw up; between the Scotsman and the Daily
Discord, it is a toss-up as to which of them hates it most.
As it is, the main reporting
of the Parliament in the Scotsman is done by Rab McNeill in his diary
column, all very fine if you like a laugh, but he pillories all the parties
and the institution; I think we should send him to Westminster, where there
are real buffoons just begging to be sent up, but times are tough at the
Scotsman and they can’t afford it.
Anyway, a political think
tank, the Scottish Council Foundation (No I don’t know who they are) has
spent the last three years conducting off the record interviews with MSPs to
see what they think of the devolution settlement; the answer would seem to
be "Not much." The MSPs are disillusioned, and the high hopes they had of
changing Scotland are now in the dust; they feel that the Parliament is
"depressingly mundane" and that there is no inspiration. This is not
unexpected, as when the Parliament was set up, the expectations were high
all round; really, the hype was such that the people thought we had been
given independence, and MSPs were no different. What they have is typical
Labour cronyism, and a slavish adherence to the London line that denies the
right solution for Scotland; be critical of Henry McLeish, and we have all
been in the past, but there is now free personal care for the elderly in
Scotland, despite the Blessed Tony being against it. It will now happen in
England, a poll tax in reverse, if you like, as the southern electorate are
used to getting a better deal than the Scots and don’t like it when they
seem to be missing out.
At the time of the 1999
Election, I opined that I did not want the SNP to form the first
administration, as a lot of things would go wrong and there would be loads
of teething troubles, and we would be accused as "wreckers"; watching the
colossal foul ups that the Labour Mafia have made, I concede I might have
been wrong. However, the media have had a great time, misrepresenting the
Parliament, denigrating all and sundry, and not giving any credit to a lot
of the hard work that individual MSPs have done. The Parliament is not full
of incompetents, although quite a few of the Labour apparatchiks, including
the female ones, leave a lot to be desired. And as to the standards as
compared to Westminster; Dennis Canavan was adjudged by the Labour Party to
be good enough for Westminster but not for Holyrood, Ian Davidson,
Westminster MP for Glasgow Pollok, and Michael Connarty of Falkirk East also
were similarly treated; perhaps that was not so much to do with standards as
with the personal animosity of St Donald Dewar, but you get the idea.
The media love the new
Parliament building, and are highly critical, but this was a Westminster
decision before the Parliament was elected, and brutally, it was a bad
decision; there was an opportunity to abandon it in the early days which
only failed by 2 votes, as it would have been a vote of no confidence in the
aforesaid St Donald. As he has avoided the criticism, we can all see the
pointlessness of that action, "The evil that men do lives after them",
although he did not believe he was doing evil. In any event, we are stuck
with the building, so we have to make the best of a bad job, and not skimp,
irrespective of how the media like to play it, as they all fiddle their
expenses.
Then we had the medals row,
which had nothing to do with the MSPs, the salary row that should have been
sorted before the Parliament opened, and a further salary row, when the MSPs
had to vote on their own salaries, and were pilloried for taking the money
by a lot of holier than thou greedy b.......ds, another situation which
should not have arisen. Constituency MSPs are always complaining about List
MSPs tackling local issues, but if they did not they would then be accused
of not pulling their weight; what this means, and this is what really bugs
the Westminster MPs in particular, is that someone else is getting their
publicity!
The real problem is this -
the "settled will" of the Scottish people doesn’t work, and no amount of
huffing, puffing and cosmetic tinkering with the Scotland Act is going to
satisfy the voters; one MSP said that the voters must have expected "McEwan’s
lager flowing down the High Street", and while that may be a gross
exaggeration, they got a meringue, known colloquially as a "cheat me guts",
instead of a pie. I would like to think that an SNP administration would
have been bolder and more radical, and would have forced more confrontation
with Westminster, but we’ll have to wait for next year for that.
THE GRATE DEBATE
 Well,
it might have been a Great Debate for the SNP, but the Labour Party was not
so happy; the debate was "The Future of Scotland - Devolved or Independent",
and it was held in the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Sauchiehall Street,
Glasgow
The Saltire Society and
the Herald are twin pillars of middle-class intellectual responsibility and
debate chairman Paul Scott in his opening remarks hoped that this would be
an occasion of civilised dialectic exchange which would cast light rather
than ordure on the Scottish political scene.
It started off in a highly
civilised manner, the four speakers calling each other by their Christian
names as if they belonged to the same trade union. Alex Salmond had clearly
decided that Douglas Alexander II was not going to get away with projecting
his planned image of a nice guy. Was it not this poison dwarf, after all,
who had written a secret, but leaked memo that Labour’s job in Scotland was
to generate fear in the breasts of the Scottish populace? Wee Douglas
refused to comment. Alex hounded and hounded him throughout the debate. The
professional advocate was the equally poisonous dwarf "Brian" Fitzpatrick,
but it was Alex Salmond who towered over him in cross-examination. "Was it
you or was it not you who wrote that memo, Douglas ?" Over and over again.
The packed audience of 175 for the debate turned out, when the chairman
called for a straw poll, to be overwhelmingly pro-independence, and as the
discussion progressed, overwhelmingly antagonised by Douglas Alexander’s
weasled refusal to own up.
 Brian
Fitzpatrick’s membership secretary had brought along his SNP membership card
from the late 1970s. What had made him a Labourite now? For goodness
sake, he pleaded, I was only 15 and my parents joined as a family... you
really don’t want to know why we all left thereafter. And he was as
non-forthcoming as his colleague.
Members of the audience said
they felt the case was too predicated on economics. Ironically, it was the
fast-talking evangelical Party Treasurer, Jim Mather, albeit there to make
out a case for fiscal and business independence, who supplied the heart-felt
pleading for Scots to step free of their chains as fast as they could now;
and he matched Alex Salmond’s eloquent case over the two hours of fine
debate.
Contributions were also taken
from the floor, sometimes to the discomfiture of the platform, as when
Labour was accused as being supported by the West of Scotland voters, but
still leaving them at the bottom of the heap. The chairman, Paul Scott, was
also suitably abashed, when he took a question from a member of the audience
"Oh good, we haven’t had a contribution from a lady until now", only to be
told by the very long haired Labour academic, male, "Are you blind?"
TALKING INDEPENDENCE
 Having visited the
European Parliament in May, as reported in Issue 103, I have to confess I
was impressed, even if that admission caused an anonymous person to email
"Traitors", and I remind myself of the wise words of James Halliday, eminent
Nationalist, historian and contributor to the Scots Independent; "We will
have exactly the same amount of independence as every other nation in the
European Union." - a situation which does not exist at present.
Scotland in Europe and the world
Isn’t Independence in Europe just exchanging one union
for another?
The SNP recognises that Europe is a forum for independent
countries to work together. It is certainly not a unitary, centralised state
like the UK.
Nobody would seriously say that EU states like Finland or Italy are not
independent countries. But as part of the UK, Scotland has no Independence.
There is no comparison between the centralist structures of the UK, and
those of the EU, where member states co-operate but retain their
sovereignty.
For instance, the Scottish Parliament, even were it to
use all the tax powers available to it, would still only control 5% of its
revenues. If we were an independent country, we would control 99% of them –
everything except our EU receipts. There is clearly no comparison between
these two kinds of union.
The fact of becoming independent in Europe doesn’t give
any power away to Brussels – at present Scotland doesn’t have any
sovereignty at all. In fact Independence in Europe gives Scotland a say in
Brussels it has never had before. That will allow us to play our part in
ensuring that the EU acts as a buffer to the excesses of globalisation, as
well as stands up for the economic and environmental issues that matter to
all of Europe’s citizens.
Though the SNP is a strongly pro-European party, like
most people in Europe, the SNP wants national governments to retain control
over many key issues like their countries’ taxation, spending, and
constitutions.
Won’t everybody lose their sovereignty anyway when the
Euro comes along?
In fact, as an independent country in the Euro, Scotland
would have more say over its currency than it does at present. There are no
representatives of Scotland’s Government on the Monetary Policy Committee of
the Bank of England, and Scotland’s Parliament has no say in UK currency
policy.
It is also the case that the economic cycle in Europe is
more stable and more in tune with Scotland than the overheating boom and
bust economy of the south of England, to which economic policy in Scotland
is presently tied. For instance, interest rates in the rest of the EU have
been lower than in the UK for the whole of the last 25 years, apart from one
six month period.
The SNP believes that the people of Scotland should be
consulted in a referendum, so that the decision to choose or reject the Euro
lies with them.
How will Scotland's relations change with England, Wales,
and Ireland?
The SNP believes that Independence is in the interests of
better relations between Scotland and England. Ending our political union
does not mean ending the social union and friendships between the two
countries.
Scotland and England are always going to share strong and
valuable social and trading ties, and those will be enhanced when the two
countries are finally equal partners in Europe. Independence is about
redefining and improving the relationship between Scotland and England, not
ending it.
The SNP also welcomes the potential which the proposed
Council of the Isles has to play in the Irish Peace Process. The SNP would
see Scotland’s role in the Council continuing and developing after
Independence, in partnership with the governments of the UK and Irish
Republic and other assemblies.
Will I need a passport to get into England?
No. Customs checks at internal EU borders are illegal,
and even passport controls have gone on most frontiers. The SNP supports the
free passage of people and goods between Scotland and the remaining UK.
Although the UK is not a signatory to the Schengen agreement, which seeks to
ensure such free movement throughout the EU, there is no reason why Scotland
and England should not agree to have no passport checks between the two
countries. Already, there are no passport checks between the UK and Ireland.
How will Scotland's place in the world change?
With Independence, Scotland will at last be able to
represent itself to the world on international bodies like the United
Nations. The SNP wants to see Scotland as an enlightened, outward-looking
country, with its own role to play in working for increased international
co-operation, particularly in standing up for the rights of the developing
world. Experience has shown that small countries have often had a diplomatic
role to play in brokering international deals on peace and reconciliation,
and this would be another opportunity for Scotland to act in the wider
international good.
Scotland will also continue to be bound by existing
international treaties and agreements such as the European Convention on
Human Rights. The SNP favours membership of the Commonwealth on
Independence.
That’s the EU
question out of the way, and next week we will be on to "Getting From Here
to There" - not an extract from Lord of the Rings, or even a ScotRail
timetable, but how we proceed from our current state to that of a fully
fledged independent nation.
FOOT IN THE MOUTH NOTES
 New
Labour in Scotland is issuing 100,000 postcards appealing for new ideas for
the party’s manifesto for the 2003 elections; this will cover about 3% of
the population, and the point is being made by opponents this is to cover
the shortage of money and party workers as well as ideas. According to
reports the return postcard says "Dear Jack, during Labour’s second term you
should.............." followed by a blank space.
How tempting.......but I don’t suppose they’ll send me one.
British Energy have confirmed that a lightning strike
at Torness Nuclear Power Station shut down both reactors for 5 days.
Apart from the obvious safety implications, no one
seems to have asked how we would have managed if the nuclear industry was
the only source of power. No reactors, no electricity generation, no power.
 In
1997, the Royal Bank of Scotland bought a train leasing company, Angel
Trains; since then, this business has provided them with £245 million
profit.
Should we be grateful that it’s a Scottish bank
benefitting from the unholy mess that is the privatised British Rail, or
query whether one Tory ex Cabinet Minister, John MacGregor, Transport
Minister who privatised it all, helped out another Tory ex Cabinet Minister,
Viscount Younger, who just happened to be Chairman of the Royal Bank of
Scotland at the time?
After the defeat of the Free School Meals bill in the
Scottish Parliament, Mike Russell of the SNP claims he was spat at by an SSP
supporter, despite the SNP’s support for the Bill. SSP leader Tommy Sheridan
is vehemently protesting that the incident did not happen, although he was
not involved.
Mr Sheridan is always very conscious of how to
manipulate the media, and is obviously doing his best to avoid a "Spitting
Image."
Steelworkers employed by Caparo are going on strike
because the company is going to ditch the final salary pension scheme in
favour of a money purchase scheme which would give them much reduced
pensions. The company is owned by Lord Swarj Paul and his 3 sons, who
between them are worth £330 million; Lord Paul has given almost £400,000 to
the Labour Party.
Lord Paul’s shares in Caparo are held in a company
registerd in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, an offshore tax haven;
because he was born in India, he is "non-domiciled" for tax purposes, which
means he can avoid income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax on the
millions he holds offshore.
 The
events at Enron, WorldCom, Qwest and Xerox have given rise to a new term in
the American financial vocabulary; it is called the "cockroach" syndrome.
As one Wall Street trader put it "You walk into a
kitchen and see a cockroach - you are pretty confident that it is not the
only one around."
It looks as if the Government’s proposal to fine and
jail parents for their children’s misdemeanours has bitten the dust; it
seemed like a paraphrase of rather than "The sins of the fathers will be
visited on the children" to "The sins of the children will be visited on the
fathers."
More likely on the mothers.
 Last
week we commented that Express Dairies was trying to cherrypick business
mail in the big cities from the Royal Mail; they intended to deliver
it along with the morning milk.
Latest accounts from them show that they lost £10.7
million last year, and have net debt of £130 million after selling off their
UHT business; not very good at their own business, then.
SYNOPSIS
A selection of items from the SNP Daily News over the
past week; as the Scottish Parliament is in recess, it is possible that this
might be a bit thin over the summer, assuming we get one!
MAJOR CHANGES URGED IN REPORT ON NHS DOCTORS
Wed 3 Jul 02
 Far-reaching
changes in the way that doctors work within the health service in Scotland
were today recommended by a top level report. A review of the traditional
hospital career and the present training grade structure is needed,
according to the report by Professor John Temple, president of the Royal
College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. His report, on how Scotland's medical
workforce should evolve over the next 10 years, calls for a nationally-led
planning process. The SNP seized on the absence of firm figures in the
report to attack the Executive. "The report fails to answer two key
questions how many doctors are we going to need and when are we going to
need them," said shadow health minister Nicola Sturgeon. She claimed
Labour's lack of a clear "vision" for the NHS had hamstrung the report's
authors. "They had the impossible task of trying to plan doctor numbers
without a clear picture of what it was they were planning for," she said.
"As a result of Labour's lack of vision, the report could go no further than
say we need more doctors."
INDUSTRY SLUMP SETBACK TO ECONOMY
Wed 3 Jul 02
 Scotland's
dramatic manufacturing slump is likely to mean slower growth in the economy
as a whole over the next two years, a leading think-tank said today. The
Fraser of Allander Institute, based at Strathclyde University in Glasgow,
revised its economic forecasts downwards in the wake of a manufacturing
recession which has led to thousands of job losses. Its latest Quarterly
Economic Commentary predicts the Scottish economy will grow by 0.9% this
year down from the 1.2% growth forecast in its last report three months ago.
Figures for 2003 and 2004 are also lower than previously forecast at 1.3%
and 1.4% respectively. SNP shadow economy minister Andrew Wilson MSP accused
First Minister Jack McConnell of managing relative economic decline as
Scotland's economy moves from mediocrity to crisis. Mr Wilson said: "This
latest report confirms what almost everyone outside of government already
knows that the Scottish economy is moving from mediocrity to crisis. Our
potential is huge but our performance is awful. Jack McConnell either
doesn't care or is happy to accept that he doesn't have the tools to do the
job. With the forecast growth in the Scottish economy being revised
downwards, this report confirms that Scotland is being held back as part of
the Union." He said Scotland needed "independence in order to equip
ourselves with the powers to place our economy at a competitive advantage to
the rest of the UK and deliver a national consensus behind the need to grow
Scotland's economic strength".
LABOUR BACKS ID CARD PLAN
Wed 3 Jul 02
 Everyone
in the UK could be issued with a form of identity card, if proposals floated
by Home Secretary David Blunkett become law. Introducing a six-month
consultation period, he said he favoured introduction of so-called
entitlement cards. The move could herald the first ID scheme in the UK since
wartime identity documents were abandoned over 50 years ago. SNP home
affairs spokesperson Annabelle Ewing said: "The SNP are opposed to identity
cards on civil liberties grounds, and fear that the introduction of a
voluntary scheme would be the thin end of the wedge towards compulsion. The
SNP at Westminster will insist on this being a devolved matter, and in the
Scots Parliament we will stand with other parties against ID cards."
IRENE MCGUGAN CALLS FOR A REDUCTION IN CLASS SIZES
Tues 2 Jul 02
 Speaking
on a visit to the Dundee Project of One Parent Families Scotland today
Shadow Deputy Minister for Children and Education, Irene McGugan MSP
highlighted the SNP's policy to reduce class sizes, "The SNP will put
children as our priority. A range of studies have shown that children
benefit most not just from a general reduction in class sizes, but also from
specific class sizes. The SNP will therefore introduce a phased reduction of
Primary 1,2 and 3 class sizes to 18 or below, initially targeting areas of
social deprivation. This will be done by increased investment in teachers,
schools and materials."
SNP DUO CALL FOR SECURE STATUS FOR GAELIC
Tue 2 Jul 02
 Speaking
on a visit to the Gaelic College Sabhal Mor Ostaig in Skye today Shadow
Minister for Lifelong Learning, Andrew Wilson MSP called for secure status
for Gaelic and pledged to back the plans for a Gaelic Bill to achieve that
aim. Mr Wilson said, " It is shameful that the Scottish Executive have
refused to honour their promises to Gaelic over the last three years however
I am pleased to be able to support the Gaelic Bill being introduced by my
colleague Michael Russell which will provide secure status for Gaelic." Also
on the visit was SNP Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Ross, Skye and
Inverness West, David Thompson who added, "Secure status for Gaelic was the
first recommendation in the recent report of the Ministerial Advisory Group
on Gaelic chaired by Professor Meek. That status is now within our grasp and
the only thing that could derail it would be a refusal by the Lab/ Lib
Scottish Executive to back it with votes in the chamber."
CHANCELLOR MUST COME CLEAN ON SCOTS SPENDING CUTS - JOHN
SWINNEY
Mon 1 Jul 02
 SNP
leader John Swinney today said the growing number of reports suggesting that
Scottish spending is to be cut made the need for the Scottish Parliament to
win financial Independence a real urgency. Commenting on media speculation a
"specialist team in the Treasury" is secretly planning a change in the
method of allocating public spending in the UK, which would have the effect
of cutting Scottish public expenditure by 600 pounds per head or over 3
billion pounds per year, Mr Swinney said, "This would decimate Scottish
public services. Gordon Brown must come clean on who this 'specialist team'
consists of, what its remit is, the work that they are doing, and for all of
this information to be placed in the public domain immediately." Mr Swinney
said his Westminster colleagues would be tabling questions to the Treasury
on this vital matter, and demanding answers. "Scotland generates a financial
surplus for the Treasury, yet our share of spending is already being cut by
the Barnett Squeeze. It would be intolerable for our spending to be cut even
further and faster. The need for Scotland to win fiscal freedom so that we
can invest properly in our public services is now set to be a dominant issue
in the Scottish election campaign."
LIDDELL SCORES NEW LABOUR OWN GOAL ON EUROPE - ANGUS
ROBERTSON
Mon 1 Jul 02
 Scottish
Secretary Helen Liddell drew criticism today when she used a reception to
mark the 10th anniversary of Scotland Europa as an opportunity to attack the
SNP. Moray MP Angus Robertson MP said, "With the SNP breathing down New
Labour's neck in the polls, Helen Liddell clearly feels that the SNP's
message is hitting home otherwise, she wouldn't use this occasion to indulge
in her feeble 'Nat-bashing', paid for by the public purse." Mr Robertson
also said Mrs Liddell's attack was a "New Labour own goal" because when she
criticized the SNP as 'nit-pickers' who point out the lack of Scottish input
into European decision-making, Mrs Liddell also criticized the
Labour-majority House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee, which
published a report two weeks ago criticising Westminster Departments for
failing to share European information with the Scots Parliament and other
devolved administrations. Mr Robertson added, "Scotland needs a direct voice
in Europe with Independence, so that our vital interests can be protected
and promoted - instead of neglected and sold-out by Westminster."
BED BLOCKING STILL ON INCREASE - NICOLA STURGEON
Fri 28 Jun 02
Commenting on today's publication of the latest bed blocking figures
which highlight an increase of 2.3% over the same period last year shadow
health minister Nicola Sturgeon said that the number of beds blocked remains
unacceptably high. "I do welcome the slight drop in the number of beds
blocked over the previous quarter, but the overall trend is still moving in
an upwards direction," said Ms Sturgeon. "These latest statistics confirm
that bed blocking remains a serious problem in the Health Service across
Scotland. On April 2002 a total of 2,951 beds were blocked and 1,957
patients were waiting outwith the six-week planning period. Despite the
propaganda from this Executive the number of beds blocked remains
unacceptably high and so far they have manifestly failed to actually tackle
this problem."
And could there possibly be a connection with the next
item?
TOP LEVEL TALKS IN BID TO FIGHT HOSPITAL BUGS
Fri 28 Jun 02
New measures to combat hospital acquired infections - believed to take
up 1400 hospital beds a day in Scotland - were being put forward today at a
conference in Glasgow. In the first convention of its kind in Scotland,
health experts were meeting at Caledonian University to come up with a plan
to improve infection control in hospitals and care homes. Their suggestions
will form the basis of a plan to tackle the problem throughout the country.
A study by Glasgow University earlier this year claimed more than 500,000
bed-days in Scotland's health service were taken up treating
hospital-acquired infections. Shadow health minister Nicola Sturgeon said
HAIs were "one of the most serious causes of preventable death" in
Scotland's hospitals. "There is a clearly understood link between these
infections and low standards of hygiene, and it is a scandal that Labour
continues to insist on a policy of tendering out cleaning services when we
know that this leads to a drop in standards," Ms Sturgeon said.
SNP REACT TO CAL MAC TENDER ANNOUNCEMENT
Thu 27 Jun 02
 Following
the announcement of the new tender arrangements for Clyde and West Coast
ferry services, SNP spokesman for the Highlands and Islands, Duncan Hamilton
MSP said that the fact that the announcement was made at noon on the last
day of the Parliamentary term before the summer recess was a nonsense. Mr
Hamilton commented "These services impact on the lives of people all across
the Highlands & Islands and the fact that MSP's will have to wait until
September to cross-examine Ministers is pathetic."
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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)
Last year many outdoor summer events in Scotland were badly affected or
cancelled due to the foot-and-mouth outbreak. Thankfully that is now past
and a full programme of events for 2002 is going ahead. The only drawback
has been the weather - it has been 'owre blashie' as we would say ie too
wet and windy. A Dundee Courier editorial summed it up well this week with
the headline 'Dreich Days' and went on to say ' It takes a certain
stoicism to enjoy a gala day under an umbrella. Almost as much phlegmatic
acceptance is required to organise outdoor events in the first place. Not
many fortunes are being made in the ice cream business. Yet supporters do
turn out; demonstrations of loyalty without which many summer events would
be lost.' When you consider that in June rain fell in Glasgow every day
except one ( Friday 28 ); in Edinburgh every day but two; and in Aberdeen
every day except four, you can see what inspired the Courier's comments.
Rainfall in all three cities was double the average for June. It does take
a certain stoicism to enjoy a Scottish 'summer'. But enjoy it we do -
whether it is the local Gala Day, Highland Games or Agricultural Show,
local events are well supported in spite of the weather, but a little more
dry days and sunshine would help. Hopefully the many events over the
coming months will enjoy better weather than those held in June. All those
who voluntarily give of their time and labour organising events deserve at
least that.
Fortunately it doesn't rain in the kitchen and we can always make a tasty
titbit to cheer up the dreichest of days. This week's recipe for Doughnuts
will certainly do just that.
Doughnuts
Ingredients : 1/2 lb ( 500 g ) plain white flour; 2 oz ( 50 g ) butter; 1
egg: a pinch of salt; 1 teaspoonful baking powder, neither heaped nor
level; 1 tablespoonful castor sugar; 1 tablespoon milk; 3 drops vanilla
essence
Beat the egg well, add the milk and the essence to it. Sift the flour,
salt and baking powder and add the sugar. Rub in the butter until the
mixture is like fine breadcrumbs and mix to a firm dough with the egg and
milk mixture. (It may take a little more milk but this is unlikely). Roll
out the dough, fairly thick, on a floured board. Cut into rounds with a
cutter and with a smaller one cut out the centre.
Have a deep frying pan almost half full of cooking fat just at the faint
blue smoke stage and with a frying basket for preference. Place as many
doughnuts as the basket will hold without crowding and lower it into the
fat. Turn them from time to time until they are a golden brown all round.
Turn the doughnuts out on a piece of greaseproof paper on an ashet then
toss them quickly in castor sugar or cinnamon. Yum.
See our
Scottish Food, Traditions and Customs in our Features section
DATES IN
HISTORY
5 July 1974
Scottish football referee Bobby Davidson returned home 'sickened' after
FIFA replaced him with an English referee ( Taylor ) for the West
Germany - Holland World Cup Final. West Germany won the Final 2-1.
Scotland had qualified for the Finals for the first time since 1958 and
although undefeated in their group lost out on goal difference from
proceeding to the second round.
7 July 1548
Treaty of Haddington signed between Scots and French at Haddington, East
Lothian, where their joint forces were laying seige to an English
garrison. The treaty confirmed the betrothal of Mary, Queen of Scots, to
the Dauphin of France and provided for French assistance in driving the
English out of Scotland.
10 July 1914
Suffragette Rhoda Fleming leapt on the footboard of the king and queen's
limousine at Perth and tried to break the windows. Police saved her from
an angry crowd who threatened her with a 'rough handling'.
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
A WEE DRAPPIE O'T
Robert Tannahill
This life is a journey we a' hae to gang,
And care is the burden we carry alang,
Though heavy be oor burden and poverty oor
lot,
We'll be happy a' thegither owre a wee
drappie o't.
REFRAIN
Owre a wee drappie o't, owre a wee drappie
o't,
We'll be happy a' thegither owre a wee
drappie o't.
The trees are a' stripped o' their mantles
sae green,
The leaves o' the forest nae labger are
seen,
For winter is here wi' its cauld icy coat,
But we're a' met thegither owre a weee
drappie o't.
Job in his lamentations said a man was
made to mourn,
There's nae such thing as pleasure from
the cradle to the the urn.
But in his meditations he surely had
forgot
The pleasure man enjoys owre a wee drappie
o't.
Footnote : Another song from the cotton-weaver bard of Paisley, Robert
Tannahill ( 1774-1810 ). Although his work led to growing fame, Robert
Tannahill commited suicide in the Paisley Canal at the age of 35, probably
due to depression.
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)
The festival'll sune be
awa' again and there'll be a wheen determined to murder some o' my
plays nae doot - but there's nae guid o' me bein' angry wi' them for
the puir sowls dae their best. (There's naebody does bad if they ken
hoo tae dae guid - and that I think, gets to the core o' the hale
thing - damned ignorance). But nae doot some o' them'll blame my
plays, and in some cases they'll be justified. But what does it
maitter. A hunner year efter this there'll be nane o' us here. Of
coorse there's aye the chance that Auld Nick rins a dramatic club -
a body never kens. If he does I'll ask to get to Heaven oot o' their
road.
frae
a letter by the poet and playright
Joe Corrie to his
friend J Archibald Henderson, the producer/director of the Shotts
Miners' Welfare drama Group written on 25th November 1949.
Complete Poem
IT WASNA HIS WYTE
by Charles Murray
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.
31 JULY 2002
[Click here to bring up the crosswords]
AND
AS WE CONTINUE...
If you read our first issue of The Flag in the Wind you will know that
this is a weekly Internet commentary on the Scottish political scene; if you desire
further erudition click on Archives.
SOME OF OUR FEATURE
SECTIONS....
About Us
Our mission is to fight for an Independent Scotland and to promote its history,
heritage and culture. Learn all about us here.
Events
A running event guide to what's on in Scotland.
The Scots Language
A great introduction to the Scots Language, produced by Peter and Marilyn Wright,
and added to each week both in text and RealAudio. Enjoy listening to words, poems and
stories told in a real Scots accent!
The Rebels Ceilidh Songbook
An excellent introduction to traditional songs from Scotland.
Sing A Sang At Least
Our collection of Scottish songs. A new song is added to the collection each week.
Scottish Food, Traditions and Customs
Enjoy our collections of recipes and our comments on them.
The Prize
Crossword
Each month the newspaper edition produces the Prize Crossword and you can now try it for
yourself with this online edition. We carry previous copies here as well.
Notable
Dates in History
Each week we add three new notable dates in history building this into an historic
timeline for Scottish history.
Features
Lots more stories, recipes, historical articles and even whole books are added here on a
regular basis.
The Oliver Brown Award
An annual award given to an outstanding Scot(s) each year. Also included picture
galleries from the annual lunch.
THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY
The Scots Independent Newspaper is independent of the Scottish
National Party, but we support the Party in its drive for Independence; while space
precludes us commenting on all the issues raised by the 35 MSPs, 5 MPS and 2 MEPs, also
the Party Office Bearers, we have provided a link to the SNP Website.
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
The above was the title of a book written in the early Fifties by John
MacDonald MacCormick, one of the founder members of the Scottish National Party in 1934.
The sub-title was "The Story of the National Movement in Scotland". His comment
in the book said "It is perhaps in the symbols which men use that their deepest
sentiments are most readily expressed. Flags as well as straws show which way the wind is
blowing". A fuller account appears under
Features.
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