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Compiled by Jim Lynch
[Issue 114 -
9th August 2002]
TWO STEPS BACK
A great deal of politics is about
perception, and this month’s System Three and its analysis makes the case;
the Herald comment did not think that the Margo McDonald issue had affected
the poll, whereas I think that the issue did adversely affect it.
The SNP has gone back 2 points in the
constituency vote since last month, but remained static in the second vote;
this is despite the fact that the SNP is making all the running at the
moment on prisons and PFI and have the Executive on the back foot, even to
the extent of having the Tories defend Labour, a point noted by the Sunday
Post political correspondent. John Swinney must be furious that all the hard
work being done by SNP MSPs during the recess is being undermined by the
egotistical cavortings of Ms McDonald, but it just shows that nothing has
changed in 20 years. It is worth re-iterating that Ms McDonald was happy
with the SNP ranking system that made her No 1 in the Lothians in 1999, but
critical when the same system made her No 5 in 2002; as the decisions were
made by the SNP rank and file it shows that they passed judgment the second
time on her performance as an SNP MSP, not as a newspaper columnist. When an
individual in one party is praised by other parties, you can bet your bottom
dollar this is not a welcome move. (We did it with Dennis Canavan.) It is
also noticeable that all the comments about her health are innuendo, and
that neither she nor the Daily Record have named names. Did it happen?
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 |
38 |
33 |
28 |
28 |
15 |
6 |
11 |
12 |
7 |
11 |
| Last Month |
37 |
32 |
32 |
29 |
12 |
15 |
12 |
11 |
6 |
14 |
| Now |
39 |
30 |
30 |
29 |
12 |
15 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
16 |
ANALYSIS OF OTHERS
I’m not really highlighting the Others
as a measure of their wonderful achievements, but because I cannot fit them
all into the one line!
| |
SSP |
Green |
Others |
| |
1st % |
2nd % |
1st % |
2nd % |
1st % |
2nd % |
| Election |
n/a |
2 |
n/a |
4 |
3 |
5 |
| Last Year |
5 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
| Last Month |
3 |
8 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
| Now |
6 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
It looks as if the SSP is proving
popular, but then again, as the Tories discovered in 1997, the public hate
divided parties and the press have been busy fomenting non existent splits
in the SNP, and touting unity in the SSP; the latter is not difficult to do,
as the SSP is a one man party, so Mr Sheridan has not fallen out with
himself or his party yet. We wonder what might happen if Ms McDonald joined
him?
Westminster Voting Intentions
| |
Lab % |
SNP % |
Lib % |
Con % |
Others % |
| Election |
44 |
20 |
16 |
16 |
4 |
| Last Year |
44 |
21 |
15 |
13 |
6 |
| Last Month |
46 |
23 |
11 |
15 |
5 |
| Now |
49 |
21 |
10 |
13 |
7 |
It is noticeable that in the first
table the Tories are now overtaken by the combined "Others" for the Scottish
Parliament, but are ahead of them in the Westminster stakes; I do not
believe opinion polls in the Tory case, as they always do better in actual
elections, percentagewise, anyway. This is because people do not like
admitting they are Tories, but also because in a low poll they will come out
to vote, thus putting their share up.
NINTH SYMPATHY
 Scotland
finished ninth in the ranking of the 39 Commonwealth countries taking part
in the Games in Manchester last week; just where we are in the population
stakes, I am not sure, but we won 30 medals, and all praise is due to our
athletes. Certainly
Australia does not have a much bigger population than Scotland, and they
came out top with 82 Gold, 62 Silver and 62 Bronze, beating England with 50
million (?) into second place with 54 Gold, 51 Silver and 60 Bronze. We
congratulate England too.
As commented last week, the First
Minister, Mr McConnell did not interrupt his holiday to welcome the Scottish
athletes to Manchester, nor did the Deputy First Minister, or even the
Minister for Sport have the time; it was left to the Deputy Sports Minister,
Elaine Murray, to wave to her mammy from the TV (well, she would know her).
Other Commonwealth leaders travelled thousands of miles, and the Blessed
Tony even turned out for England, but Mr McConnell waited until the medals
started to come, and then he rushed down to get his photie taken; we are
sure that when the next Games take place in Melbourne in 2006, First
Minister John Swinney will be there at the start.
Our athletes won 6 Gold, 8 Silver and
16 Bronze, and there was a feeling among many of our athletes that their
success was achieved without the full support of either the Executive or
sportscotland; Mr McConnell is now saying that more public money has to be
put into sport, and will no doubt come up with that old cliche "the level
playing field". With so many priorities, just how much he will commit is
uncertain, to say the least; noting how he downgraded Scotland’s bid to host
Euro 2008, we would not expect a lot, but with an election in the offing he
has to make the right noises.
We remember the great promises made at
the time of the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986, when former Labour
MP and tycoon, Robert Maxwell, offered to underwrite the cost of the Games
so that they could go ahead; in the end, he got a lot of publicity for
himself, and contributed nothing to the cost at all. Mr Maxwell has now, of
course, passed on, in somewhat dubious circumstances, but his principles are
firmly adhered to in the Labour Party.
ENGLAND UBER ALLES
 As
I was working myself into a fury at the BBC coverage (?) of the Commonwealth
Games, in came a submission from our old friend and former Company Secretary
of the Scots Independent, Russell Irwin, so I decided to print it as he has
hit the nail right on the head.
Having just witnessed the conclusion
of the Empire...... (sorry, it should of course read "Commonwealth")
Games; and having rejoiced at England's successes, commiserated at her
failures, been enlightened by explanations of, misfortunes when her
competitors really should have won...if it hadn't been for the others, and
having endured the most partisan, prejudiced, ludicrously distorted coverage
of an alleged international fraternal sporting event: all of this courtesy
of the ill-named BBC..... I am now looking forward to more placid times,
perhaps only broken by the odd flash flood or so.
What a summer it has been for the
Imperial broadcasters....celebrating the (English?) monarchy, England's
footballing triumphs and disasters, England's marathon cricketing Tests,
England's deceased national heroes and just about anything that would allow
the BBC to indulge in triumphalism. This assertion of superiority over such
assorted spear-carriers as Jocks, Taffs, and Kiwis had little regard for the
accuracy and impartiality which the Corporation once upon a time claimed for
itself. Their Games coverage however, may have had another, unintended,
effect. It highlighted the desperate need for a truly Scottish broadcasting
service which BBC Scotland in its subordination to London and New Labour is
totally unable and unwilling to provide.
This in conjunction with the BBC's
recent acquisition of control over broadcasting on digital channels and
pending mergers in commercial broadcasting, make for a sinister scenario in
which freedom of expression will be the first casualty while the programme
of anglicisation accelerates.
What to do? Aye there's the rub.
All those who still value democracy
could take every opportunity to highlight the common danger, and the SNP to
make this THE prime campaign issue on a par with independence. Unless
there is a lessening of this stranglehold there will be no independence, and
the SNP is the only credible opposition By the way....bloody nuisance those
Aussies aren't they!. They kept on winning Gold, which rightfully should
have gone to "our" team!. Ah, well.
WATER, WATER,
EVERYWHERE...
 "Nor
any drop to drink," to complete the quotation from "The Ancient Mariner", by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and to express the feelings of the good people of
Glasgow these last few days.
Last week,
torrential rain, including the equivalent of a month’s rain in one day; the
drains could not cope, and houses and shops were flooded, particularly in
Glasgow. Traffic was at a standstill, and all trains between Glasgow and
Edinburgh were cancelled; the Glasgow Underground was also closed, and raw
sewage was everywhere. By the end of the week, as people tried to clear up
the mess, there was a further disaster, as the heavy rain had washed
poisonous material into the reservoir serving large parts of the city, and
all water had to be boiled.
Since the problems began, there have
been recriminations flying round; Glasgow City Council blame Scottish Water
for not keeping the channels in good condition, and Scottish Water blamed
Glasgow City Council for skimping on basic maintenance and not clearing
drains regularly. The Met Office said that the heatwave in England had
caused the thunderstorms in Scotland, but we can’t blame that on the
English! What is true is that the water system was neglected, as the Tories
wanted to privatise it, as they did in England, ( we sympathise with the
English on that one), so like the railways they starved it of investment;
the Scottish Executive merged the three water authorities to save costs,
which also cuts jobs. Another correspondent said that car drivers stuck in
floods had only themselves to blame, as their selfish use of cars caused
global warming, and floods; how this should also be visited on the wee
Glasgow woman pensioner that always uses her bus pass was not clear.
Certainly, questions have to be
answered; this is 2002, and it generally rains a lot in Scotland; I do have
vague memories of tar melting when I was a boy, but society has come a long
way since then, and technology, forecasting and cleverclogs are all much
more in evidence now. We have also to spend vast sums of money on making our
water up to European standards, and when I think of how we always buy
bottled water abroad, and the awful smells we encounter in hot countries, I
question if the resources are put to the best use. As it is, we are told
what the weather will be two weeks on Tuesday, and when we get a flood
everyone is surprised! We are also inundated with rules and regulations
about where and what to build (rules on double glazing seem to change daily-
or maybe that is just sales patter) but they keep building where flooding
can occur. And now a lot of people in Glasgow will be further hit because
they are not insured for house contents - and the plea is that the Executive
should pick up the tab- but if you drive a car without insurance it is a
criminal offence.
The poison in the water supply is
another matter, and it would seem that although Scottish Water knew about
this on the Thursday, most people seem to have read about it in the Sunday
papers, so there are hard questions on that. The line seems to be that they
did not want to be alarmist, and that the levels of the poison (it is a
virtually unpronounceable word) might have dropped, so they were cautious,
but the impression is too little, too late. Again, there was also a
vagueness about what parts of Glasgow were affected - in other words - a
mess. Scottish Water is a quango, and the man ultimately responsible,
Agriculture Minister Ross Finnie is conspicuous by his absence. (Remember
Water was one of the portfolios Henry McLeish tried to dump on Wee Wendy
last year and she had a tantrum, so Finnie got it along with the foot and
mouth epidemic.) Expect First Minister McConnell, fresh back from the
Commonwealth Games medal pushing, to jump in (not literally, unfortunately)
to help save the situation.
THE MITHER TONGUE
 This
is my good friend, Peter Wright’s domain, but a few things have come up
recently.
The Scottish
film, Sweet Sixteen, directed by Ken Loach, was shot in Greenock, won awards
at the Cannes Film Festival (soon to be transferred to Arbroath, but that’s
another story) and had English subtitles for its Cannes screening. The
distributor, Icon, is apparently considering keeping the subtitles when it
is released in England; I feel a burst of iconoclasm coming on.
We also hear that children with broad
Scottish accents are treated as second class citizens in the classrooms, and
this rings a bell, as even in my schooldays we were expected to speak
"proper" English, so not much has changed there.
What is intriguing about all this is
that in business a Scots accent is assumed to indicate above average
honesty, reliability and an inclination to work harder. The most telling
comment came from Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the International
Accountancy Standards Board, who said "It’s a monumental advantage being
Scottish. Even if you’re talking nonsense the accent makes it sound like you
know what you are talking about. I think if I had a Home Counties accent it
wouldn’t be so easy."
FOOT IN THE MOUTH
NOTES
 The
saying "There is no such thing as bad publicity" is being queried in New
Zealand. In the Bledisloe Cup match between Australia and New Zealand, with
the score Australia 16 New Zealand 14, the latter were awarded a penalty in
the last few minutes; as the New Zealand fly half lined up to take the kick,
he was interrupted by two streakers with "Vodaphone" all over their bodies.
By the time the pitch was cleared the kicker had lost his concentration, and
he missed so New Zealand lost.
The fact
that Vodaphone were the official sponsors of the Australian team was
apparently sheer coincidence.
 Ann
Robinson, of "The Weakest Link", has withdrawn from the election of Rector
of St Andrews University; the remaining candidates are Jeremy Paxman,
Jonathan Aitken and Sir Clement Freud.
Noticeable that the candidates are
all English, as one would expect from St Andrews, but we do not expect any
of them to be as anti Scottish as the current Rector, Andrew Neil, publisher
(for now) of the Scotsman newspaper, and a native of Paisley.
While the Tories have nobly come
out against state funding of political parties , Labour are in favour of it,
but wish all party consensus.
New Labour members who have
already taken state funding - unauthorised - include Henry McLeish, Nigel
Griffiths and Dr John Reid.
 Executives
of WorldCom have been pictured being led away in handcuffs and this is
indicates how seriously President George Bush views corporate fraud; in the
case of the other massive fraud, Enron, there has not been the same urgency,
although the auditors, Arthur Andersen, have been charged.
Cynics say that this is because
WorldCom gave money to the Democrats, whereas Enron, based in Texas, gave
the money to George.
 From
the Pendennis column in the Observer comes a statement from Sir Stanley
Kalms, prominent anti-euro campaigner, and Treasurer of the Tory Party (a
post previously held by Lord Ashcroft of Belize) "If Britain signed up to
the euro, it would lead to unmitigated disaster."
The column points out that Stan is
also chairman of Dixons; Video recorder London - £89 - same video recorder
Dublin 89 euros (£57); personal stereo London - £29 - same personal stereo
Dublin - 29 euros (£19); he knows a mug when he sees one, but then all Tory
Party Treasurers do.
Vodaphone, well known supporters of
the advertising industry, paid their chief executive Sir Christopher Gent £4
million in the year the company posted a big post-exceptional loss, and its
shares fell from £3.50 to 97p; at the Annual General Meeting, Lord McLaurin
defending the company, said it was misunderstood by analysts and the media.
The loss of £13.5 billion,
equating to £37 million per day, took a lot of misunderstanding;
shareholders were also told that the auditors, Deloitte Touch, were paid £4
million for auditing, and £22 million for consultancy. Should have gone to
Arthur Andersen.
PricewaterhouseCoopers changed the
name of their consultancy arm to Monday, as we commented recently in this
column; some reports said that the re-branding cost £75 million. Now that
the consultancy arm has been taken over by IBM, the name change has been
ditched - after only 51 days.
PricewaterhouseCoopers advised the
Scottish Executive over the closure of Peterhead Prison.
 According
to reports, an independent security force is being recruited to protect the
UK’s nuclear plants from attacks by al-Qaeda; the unit will be known as the
Civil Nuclear Constabulary. Currently, hi-tech closed circuit television
systems, infra red detectors and alarms at all nuclear plants are provided
by a private company called Protec.
20% of the shares in Protec are
owned by Global Security Systems, a company owned by Salah Idris, whose
factory in Sudan was bombed by the Americans because they claimed he was
making chemical weapons for Osama bin Laden; Mr Idris also owns 75% of IES
Digital, which makes and supplies security equipment to the British Army,
the Foreign Office and the Houses of Parliament.
 Apparently
the seven week public consultation exercise on road charging in Edinburgh is
finished but before it was over the Scottish Executive had advertised for a
civil servant to "help implement" plans to charge road users, so they knew
the answer; Edinburgh City Council, a slightly lesser branch of the Labour
Party, said they had issued 250,000 questionnaires, costing into six
figures.
Although this might have been seen
as a contentious issue, the leaflets were not sent to every household, but
were sent to libraries, community and health centres and a range of
organisations; being a car-owning, politically interested resident of
Edinburgh, I knew nothing about it.
SYNOPSIS
A selection of items from the
SNP Daily News over the past week:
MINISTER CONCEDES ECONOMY
IN RECESSION
Wed 7 Aug 02
 Enterprise
minister Iain Gray has conceded the Scottish economy is technically in
recession - but did not use the term directly. Bleak figures earlier showed
the second quarterly fall in gross domestic product (GDP) north of the
border for the first time since the early 1980s. Two consecutive falls in
GDP is defined by many economists as an economy in recession. Manufacturing
was down and foreign investment slumped over the first three months of the
year, according to provisional figures. Meanwhile, separate Executive
figures showed fewer jobs were created in 2001-2002. Speaking on BBC
Newsnight Scotland tonight, SNP shadow enterprise minister said: "For the
whole of the post-war period Scotland's performance has been mediocre
compared to the rest of the UK. What's unfortunate for Iain is that he has
been handed this poison chalice by First Minister who is totally complacent
about the economy right at the time when Scotland is going into recession
for the first time in two decades."
LONGANNET DIRECTORS POCKET
1 MILLION POUND PACKAGE
Wed 7 Aug 02
 Mining
Scotland, the owner of the defunct Longannet deep mine, paid nearly 1
million pounds in fees to companies part-owned by three of its directors as
the heavily subsidised business suffered a 34 million pounds loss one of the
biggest deficits ever recorded by a private Scottish firm. Mid Scotland &
Fife MSP Bruce Crawford said the move "added insult to injury" for redundant
miners. "I am renewing my call for a full public enquiry into the use of 41
million pounds of taxpayers money to prop up the deep mine operation at
Longannet and into the collapse of the mine itself," he said. "The public
need to be reassured that taxpayers money has not been siphoned off into
directors firms pockets and the miners who have lost out on redundancy money
and pensions need to know why they are being treated so shabbily."
NURSES AT NEW ERI IN
PARKING ROW
Wed 7 Aug 02
 Talks
are under way to ease the plight of student nurses having to pay to park
their cars at the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary site. The issue was raised
with hospital chiefs by Lothian MSP Fiona Hyslop after one of her
constituents complained about the additional hardship the charges were
bringing to student nurses. Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust has now
entered talks with the educational bodies in a bid to resolve the problem.
The SNP MSP said: "One of my constituents called me about his daughter who
is a student nurse and has to undertake duties in the new hospital as part
of her course. She found out that student nurses are required to pay for car
parking at the new site. I think requiring student nurses to pay day after
day from their limited funds is quite ridiculous. Since the nature of
nursing requires shift patterns, public transport is not always an option."
Ms Hyslop has written to the trust which has begun moves to reduce or even
remove the financial burden facing students.
LABOUR DONATIONS PLUMMET
Tue 6 Aug 02
 Donations
to Labour have plummeted by 83 per cent over recent months, figures revealed
today. The party raised just 591,052 pounds between April and June, down
from 3,379,641 pounds in the first quarter of the year. The latest Electoral
Commission figures will come as little consolation to Labour, which is
currently facing the worst funding crisis in its history. Membership is down
and the party is understood to be 6 million pounds in the red. The dramatic
fall in donations follows a series of damaging rows over Government links to
major Labour donors. "Donors are being put off giving money to Labour
through a combination of sleaze and an ongoing abandonment of its
principles," SNP election coordinator Nicola Sturgeon said. "With less than
nine months to the Scottish elections, the outlook is bleak for a party that
is bankrupt of ideas, has a leader without vision, and will be bereft of the
funds required to conduct a campaign." Meanwhile Scottish Socialist leader
Tommy Sheridan has caved in to pressure to come clean about his party's
financial affairs. The latest figures also reveal personal donations from Mr
Sheridan last quarter totalling 9,389.60 pounds. The party leader had
previously failed to declare those donations to the electoral watchdog, and
denied he had to make any declaration. The SNP today welcomed the fact the
SSP were now complying the reporting requirements of the Electoral
Commission. "What it clearly shows is the SSP is a one man band in terms of
both political leadership and financial donations," said an SNP spokesman.
SNP SLAMS LABOUR OVER
SLUMP IN TOURISM FIGURES
Tue 6 Aug 02
 A
senior SNP MSP has slammed the government for failing to support Scotland's
tourism industry. Speaking on a visit to Glasgow Science Centre today, SNP
shadow minister for parliament Fiona Hyslop said recent figures from
VisitScotland show a 24 per cent fall in overseas tourist numbers. She said:
"These latest figures from VisitScotland show that since Labour came to
power in 1997 the number of overseas visitors coming to Scotland slumped by
half a million - a fall of 24 percent. This has cost the tourism industry
277 million pounds in revenue and an untold numbers of jobs." The Lothians
MSP said Labour's failure to support tourism, together with Government
policies that make Scotland a high cost destination, have played a major
part in the fall in the number of overseas visitors. "Glasgow Science Centre
is a prime example of what can be done in terms of innovative tourist
attractions," she said. "But more people need to know about the wonderful
attractions that are found throughout Scotland."
RAIL LINK PLANS HIT BY NEW
CASH BLOW
Mon 5 Aug 02
 One
of Scotland's flagship transport projects appeared to be in serious trouble
today following the disclosure that both the Scottish Executive and Scottish
Enterprise remain unsure that the scheme should receive public sector
investment. Supporters of the proposal to reinstate a 35-mile section of the
Waverley railway line from Edinburgh to Galashiels at a cost of 77 million
pounds were angered to learn of setbacks which threaten the financial
viability of the entire project. The return of passenger trains to the
Borders after a gap of 33 years is said to be vital for the well-being of
the regional economy. The apparent lack of commitment from the Lib-Lab
coalition has also fuelled a fierce political row, with opposition claims
that the Borders will have to overcome a strong west of Scotland bias if the
railway is ever to be rebuilt. Leaked correspondence between Iain Gray, the
Scottish transport minister, and John Scott, the Liberal Democrat leader of
Scottish Borders Council, reveals damaging splits between the partnership
promoting the rail link and government ministers who stand accused of
blocking progress. Copies of the letters have been passed to SNP MSP
Christine Grahame, who also chairs the parliamentary cross-party group on
Borders rail. Ms Grahame said she was astounded by the contents of Mr Gray's
letter. The call for further studies was merely a stalling exercise on the
coalition's part, she claimed. She said: "How can ministers justify 12
million pounds in government aid being given to Viasystems, the American
electronics company which destroyed 1,000 Borders jobs when they refuse to
support a project which will create 900 new jobs?"
MSP SLAMS GOVERNMENT OVER
ILLEGAL MEAT IMPORTS
Mon 5 Aug 02
 SNP
MSP Richard Lochhead has launched a furious attack on government ministers
for failing to put in place safeguards to prevent the illegal importation of
meat products into Scotland. The MSP, who travelled from Hong Kong via
Bangkok and London to Aberdeen on Friday without any check of his hand
luggage for meat products, wants more inspectors and resources to crack down
on illegal meat. Speaking at the Turriff Show, Mr Lochhead said: "Given that
I was returning from South East Asia, I expected to see sniffer dogs or have
my luggage checked by customs officials. The lack of safeguards after all
this time is an absolute disgrace and no wonder farmers are tearing their
hair out over the lack of government action." Spot checks on passengers
luggage have been few and far between but when they have been carried out
they have turned up more than 5,000 kilos of illegal meat. Earlier this
month the government launched a campaign called Don't Bring Back More Than
You Bargained. The move comes after the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (Defra) declaring the source of last year's foot-and-mouth
virus was probably imported meat.
LABOUR's NET FIRM IN
TAX DODGE
Sun 4 Aug 02
 Labour
are embroiled in a new donations scandal after an internet company quit the
UK for tax reasons. The party's website was hosted until recently by
Freeserve and the company's software disks were given to all 350,000
members. The internet firm also provided the computer connection between all
constituency offices and Labour's Millbank HQ in London. The SNP claim those
donations in kind were worth between 500,000 to 1 million pounds. But last
week, Freeserve said it was set to move its AnyTime internet service to
Madeira. The island's cheaper VAT rate will save the company 4.5 million
pounds. In turn, that will deprive the UK Treasury of the 17.5 million
pounds the firm pays in VAT. The SNP denounced Labour's links with Freeserve,
calling on party bosses to dump the internet giant. SNP shadow finance
minister Alasdair Morgan said: "This is hugely embarrassing for Labour.
Beset by donor scandals, now we have one of their donors dodging tax."
CONTROLLERS WARN OF AIR
SAFETY RISK
Sun 4 Aug 02
 Air
traffic controllers have warned of a "very real risk" to safety if the
financial crisis afflicting the National Air Traffic Service is not
resolved. In a letter to Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, controllers'
union Prospect called for "immediate government intervention" to resolve
problems with funding and staffing at the part-privatised service. "There is
a very real risk that the combination of financial pressures and operational
overload will lead to air traffic safety being compromised and service
levels degraded," said Prospect's national secretary David Luxton, in the
letter, which was obtained by the Independent on Sunday newspaper. SNP MSP
Adam Ingram said: "Privatisation of air traffic control was an ill-conceived
idea from the start," SNP MSP Adam Ingram said today. "The Government were
told this by its own members, by the trade unions and by opposition parties
but they carried on regardless. It's time for Labour to abandon its
ideological commitment to private sector efficiency and restore security to
vital public services." Mr Luxton's letter came a week after the influential
House of Commons Transport Committee issued a scathing report on the
part-privatisation of Nats, which it said threatened to do "terminal damage
to United Kingdom's aviation industry and national interest". The Government
- which owns around half of Nats - has already announced it is ready to
match proposed investment of 65 million pounds by airports operator BAA. The
service is also awaiting a decision by the Civil Aviation Authority on its
application for permission to raise prices by more than inflation.
WITHDRAW TOURISM "SLUR"
DEMANDS SNP
Sat 3 Aug 02
 A
survey of the "Seven Wonders of Britain" has been branded a "slur" on
Scotland after it failed to list any attractions north of the border. The
Scottish National Party has called for list of top seven "must-see" tourist
attractions, compiled by Yellow Pages, to be withdrawn. The party said the
study, which lists the Houses of Parliament and Stonehenge as the Britain's
greatest wonders, was "flawed" because it showed a "complete ignorance of
the rest of the UK". The body responsible for tourism, VisitScotland, said
it was a "pity" that the survey had not listed any sites in Scotland. The
SNP's environment spokesman Bruce Crawford said: "From Edinburgh Castle to
Glasgow Science Centre, from the standing stones at Callanish to the Forth
bridges, from the Wallace Monument to the Falkirk Wheel, Scotland has many
wonders which would surpass the list that has been produced." He said that
the survey gave a "blinkered" view of Britain's attractions. "We are asking
the people who compiled this survey to withdraw it because it casts a slur
on the Scottish tourist industry," Mr Crawford said.
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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)
For well over a century the most widely covered sport in the Scottish
media, even in the close season, has been football. On 13 March 1873 seven
Scottish Football Clubs - Queen's Park, Clydesdale, Vale of Leven,
Dumbreck, Third Lanark Volunteer Reserves, Eastern and Granville - met in
Dewar's Hotel, Glasgow, to form the Scottish Football Association.
Kilmarnock sent a letter stating their willingness to join. The clubs
agreed to form themselves into an association for the promotion of
football according to the rules of the Football Association and to play
annually for a challenge cup. Rules and regulations thus came into effect
to change football from the crude version which had been played in
Scotland for centuries and can still be seen in the annual Ba' Game in
Jedburgh. The 'mob' form of the game was dangerous to life, limb and
property. indeed in the 15th century various attempts were made to ban 'fute-ball'
( and 'golfe' ) which interfered with the Nation's defence which required
archery practise! In the first Parliament of James 1, King of Scots, 'Halden
at Perth the XX1 day of Maii, the year of God, ane thousand foure hundreth
tuentie foure ziere, it was ordained - That na man play at the fute-ball,
under the paine of fiftie schillings, to be raised to the Lord of the
land, als often as he be tainted or to the Schireffe of the land of his
ministers, gif the Lordes will not punish sic trespassoures.' A Parliament
of James 11 held in Edinburgh in 1457 decreed that 'the fute-ball and the
golfe be utterly cried down'. In 1491 a Parliament of James V1
decreed,'that in na place of the Realme there be used fute-ball, golfe, or
other such unprofitable sportes'. Football and golf unprofitable - tell
that to our over-paid footballers or America's Tiger Woods!
Five hundred years on and football is still the number one attraction for
Scots. Clubs have come and gone and the season which kicked off on
Saturday 3 August 2002 was no exception as two new clubs entered the
Senior Scottish Leagues. Airdrionians ( founded 1877 ) went into
liquidation at the end of last season, the first Senior Scottish club to
fold since Third Lanark in the 1960s, but a revived Airdrie United vied
with several other non-league clubs to take the place of Airdrionians. The
vote went to Border team Gretna, who have for over 50 years played their
football in England, to fill the vacancy in the Scottish Third Division.
Meantime in another twist Airdrie United took over the financially
crippled Clydebank and thus secured a position in the Scottish Second
Division thus ensuring the town of Airdrie a continuing place in the
senior game. Airdrie United made a winning start to season 2002/2003 and
Gretna made a stunning start to their 'Scottish' Senior career by scoring
after only 19 seconds through Matthew Henny. Their opponents Morton,
another Scottish club who have seen better days, equalised five minutes
later to secure a draw at the end of 90 minutes. But for the little town
of Gretna, more famous for weddings, some 5,000 last year alone, a little
bit of history had been made as their team's Scottish League presence was
handselled in front of 1,800 spectators.
So this week we celebrate Gretna's new footballing status with a Gretna
recipe. The recipe for Gretna Mould was originated in the town's Gretna
Hall Hotel - a hotel which, alone, saw some 1,134 entries of marriages
between 1825 and 1856, before the Marriage Laws in England were changed.
Gretna Mould is a meal fit for a 'new' Senior team or indeed a wedding
feast!
Gretna Mould
Ingredients : 1 lb ( 1 kg ) lean stewing beef, minced fine; 8 oz ( 225 g )
ham, minced fine; 8 oz ( 225 g ) breadcrumbs; 1 egg; a little chopped
parsley; salt & pepper; nutmeg
Mix all well together and steam for two-and-a-half hours in a mould or
basin covered with greased paper. Serves 4.
See our
Scottish Food, Traditions and Customs in our Features section
DATES IN
HISTORY
9 August 1757
Birth of Thomas Telford at Westerkirk, Dumfriesshire, engineer of roads,
canals, bridges and harbours. He was the first President of the
Institute of Civil Engineers.
11 August 590
Death of early Celtic missionary St Blane, who was active in Bute,
Lennox and in the Dunblane area.
15 August 1500
William Dunbar, formerly a priest in government service, was appointed
court poet to James IV, King of Scots.
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
JAMIE FOYERS
Traditional
Far distant, far distant, lies
Scotia the brave,
No tombstone memorial shall
hallow his grave.
His bones they are scatter'd on
the rude soil of Spain,
For young Jamie Foyers in battle
was slain.
From the Perthshire Militia to
serve in the line,
The brave Forty-second we sailed
for to join.
To Wellington's army we did
volunteer,
Along with young Foyers, that
brave halberdier.
The night that we landed the
bugle did sound,
The general gave orders to form
on the ground.
To storm Burgos castle before
break of day,
And young Jamie Foyers to lead
on the way.
But mounting the ladder for
scaling the wall,
By a shot from a French gun
young Foyers did fall,
He leaned his right arm upon his
left breast,
And young Jamie Foyers his
comrades addressed.
'For you, Robert Percy, that
stands a campaign,
If goodness should send you to
old Scotland again,
Please tell my old father if yet
his heart warms,
That young Jamie Foyers expired
in your arms.
But if a few moments in Campsie
I were,
My mother and sisters my sorrow
would share.
Now, alas, my old mother, long
may she mourn,
But young Jamie Foyers will
never return.
Oh! if I could drink of Baker
Brown's well,
My thirst it would quench and my
fever would quell.'
But his very life-blood was
ebbing so fast,
And young Jamie Foyers soon
breathed his last.
They took for his winding sheet
his ain tartan plaid,
And in the cold ground his body
was laid.
With hearts full of sorrow they
covered his clay,
And, saying 'Poor
Foyers', marched slowly away.
His father and mother and
sisters will mourn,
But Foyers, the brave hero, will
never return.
His friends and his comrades
lament for the brave,
Since young Jamie Foyers is laid
in his grave.
The bugle may sound and war drum
may rattle,
No more will they raise this
hero to battle.
He fell from the ladder a hero
so brave,
And rare Jamie Foyers is lying
in his grave.
Footnote : This song comes from the Peninsular War and it is ironic to
think that while many Scots who took the King's Shilling to fight
against the French in Spain, back in Scotland their families were being
cleared from their land. The great songwriter Ewan MacColl wrote a song
with the same title to commemorate the Scots who died in the Spanish
Civil War which will be added to 'Sing A Sang At Least' next week.
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)
He hes tane Roull of Aberdene,
And gentle Roull of Corstorphyne ;
Twa bettir fallowis did no man sie :
Timor Mortis conturbat me.
In Dumfermelyne he hes done roune
With Maister Robert Henrisoun ;
Schir John the Ross embrast hes he :
Timor Mortis conturbat me.
Complete Poem
Grandfather tells the children
the story of the Great Flood
by Francis Kerr Young
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.
32 AUGUST 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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