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SCOTS PARLIAMENT DEBATES MID-EAST CRISIS

In Scotland, just the same as everywhere else in the world, the possibility of war in Iraq has featured high on people’s agenda for many months. The rights and wrongs of a possible conflict are being aired in workplaces, pubs, newspapers and public meetings throughout the country. Families are already seeing sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, called up for possible military action either as regulars or reservists. Scarcely a news bulletin passes which does not lead on the developing crisis.

Clearly then, the Middle East is a matter of great public concern. Given the permanent British seat on the UN Security Council and contribution to the US military build up in the Persian Gulf, you could be forgiven for expecting that Westminster MPs in the British Parliament would be given an opportunity to air their views on behalf of their constituents.

Alas, no. No time has been made available for MPs to debate the issue, and so the conflicting views of the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Defence Minister aired over the last 2 weeks continue to go unchallenged in the Commons. No promise has even been made that time for such a debate will be made available in advance of any military action being taken.

Politics abhors a vacuum as much as does nature, and last Thursday gave the SNP a rare opportunity to choose the topic for debate in the Scottish Parliament. Although international relations and defence are, how could we forget, matters reserved to the grown-up Parliament in Westminster, due to the developing crisis, the party chose the situation in the Middle East as the matter for discussion that morning.

So it came to pass that it was the Scottish Parliament rather than Westminster that was first to have a substantive debate on the military build up. The irony of this was not lost on Westminster’s longest serving Parliamentarian and veteran anti-home ruler Tam Dayell, who remarked dryly on the fact that “the Scottish Parliament can find the means of having a meaningful debate on Iraq while the House of Commons is refused."

So what then of the debate? It would be fair to say that most MSPs rose to the occasion. Deputy Presiding Officer and SNP MSP George Reid made a much praised humanitarian contribution, exactly as you would expect from a former Director of the International Red Cross. Others such as Bill Butler and Elaine Smith for Labour, Tavish Scott for the Lib Dems and the SSPs Tommy Sheridan, made telling contributions from different sides of the debate.

It would also be fair to say that other MSPs plumbed the depths. With the Labour/Lib Dem coalition splitting along party lines and being ever anxious to avoid saying or doing anything remotely interesting, no ministers from the Scottish Executive spoke in the debate. It was instead left to the Labour backbenchers and their new found soulmates in the Conservative party to toe the line being advanced at Westminster.

The refrain, chuntered out by Tom McCabe and Brian Fitzpatrick inter alia was that this wasn’t the right time for a debate (which begs the question when would be?) and that the SNP were being opportunistic in seeking to debate this matter. Indeed, John Swinney had barely got through a minute of his opening speech before Rhona Brankin was on her feet to question the legitimacy of the Scottish Parliament debating a reserved matter.

Just as in Westminster or any other democratic forum, the contributions from MSPs were by turns eloquent, inarticulate, insightful, ignorant, measured and truculent depending on who was speaking. You can judge for yourself by reading the verbatim transcript from the official Scottish Parliament website by visiting www.scottish.parliament.uk/official_report/session-03/sor0116-01.htm. 

Whatever their views on the constitution, it is regrettable that so many Labour and Conservative MSPs seek to condemn our Parliament to parochialism by adopting a self-denying ordinance on reserved matters. Many gave the impression that they would have been happier both constitutionally and intellectually, debating the next item of business on the agenda that day - Stage 1 of the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Bill.

Although Labour won the day by 67 votes to 51 with 3 abstentions, with the SNP, Lib Dems and Independents voting together they had to rely on Conservative votes to do so. With hindsight the margin could have been closer had the SNP motion not spoken about there being ‘an inevitable path to war’, which many war-sceptical Labour MSPs cited as being the reason they had chosen to support their own party’s amendment.

So what then of the bigger picture? The position of the UK Government won the day, thus avoiding any embarrassment for Tony Blair who chose the same day to visit Edinburgh. Although the military build up continues apace alongside the UN weapons inspections, a significant body of opinion from a Western European legislature has sought to uphold the primacy of the United Nations, ahead of the bi-lateralist policy being advanced by Washington and London.

Closer to home, although the debate was on a matter outwith the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, it gave MSPs the chance for a morning to raise their sights and address some issues of global significance. The Pavlovian response of many Labour MSPs to the fact that this was an SNP sponsored debate should be a matter of regret for anyone hoping to see a more mature politics in Scotland, where ideas are debated on their merits, and not on the basis of the tribe from which they originated.

It’s become fashionable to say that the Scottish Parliament has a streak of municipalism running through it. Although no-one could argue that many of Scotland’s most talented Parliamentarians remain in London, any observer could tell you that Westminster has its fair share of dunderheids as well.

However the situation in the Middle East develops in the months ahead, and let us hope it is towards a peaceful resolution, history will show that last Thursday was a good day in the development of a vibrant, outward looking Scottish democracy. It’s time for even the most hardened sceptics of the Scottish Parliament to recognise that it is not short of its own star performers, who can handle grown up politics with the best of them.

SYNOPSIS

FLAWED GERS TELLS US “NOTHING ABOUT INDEPENDENCE”

The Scottish National Party this morning published a new economic document – "Moving Scotland Beyond the Subsidy Myth: why economic growth is what matters" – which coincides with the publication of the Scottish Executive's Government Expenditure & Revenue in Scotland [GERS] paper. The SNP document demolishes the myth that Scotland is subsidised by the London Treasury – by showing that Scotland had a 1.2 billion pounds budget surplus in 2000/2001. And in commenting on GERS, SNP Shadow Economy Minister, Andrew Wilson MSP pointed out that a senior Scottish Executive official at the news briefing today said of GERS that: "it tells us nothing about the situation under Independence".

Mr Wilson said, "GERS is now a totally discredited exercise, based by its authors' own admission, on flawed figures. And with senior Scottish Executive officials saying that: "IT TELLS US NOTHING ABOUT THE SITUATION UNDER INDEPENDENCE", this blows apart New Labour 's bogus and economically illiterate attacks on the SNP. The reality for 2000/01 is a Scottish surplus of 1.2 billion pounds – based on such factors as Scotland's North Sea revenues, and a much more robust method of allocating income tax

OVERHAUL OF LAND OWNERSHIP "LONG OVERDUE”

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament today during the concluding debate on the Land Reform Bill, which was later passed overwhelmingly, the Shadow Minister for Justice and Land Reform, Roseanna Cunningham MSP, said, "This Bill has been something of a marathon effort for the Parliament. We should remind ourselves that it simply would not have happened at Westminster. Despite the fact that the general principles of land reform have long been supported by my own party, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats. And that support reflects the views of the vast majority of the Scottish people despite some of the nonsensical assertions I hear and read. The proposals for legislation on access were an utter dog's breakfast but were thankfully significantly improved and have now been further improved in the last few months and indeed days. The right of responsible freedom to roam on the land of Scotland is a right long asserted and dearly held by the Scottish people. I am glad that we have taken steps to secure that right."

NO CASH FOR FISHERMEN

Fishermen hit by severe cuts to quotas will not get cash aid from Europe because the Government blocked compensation, it has been claimed. Foreign Office officials persuaded ministers not to chase compensation over fears the cash would be taken from the UK's annual rebate from the European Union. Instead ministers from the UK and Scotland, where the industry is mostly based, have offered fishermen funding from their own administrations. The Herald newspaper claims it had a copy of an e-mail from a senior civil servant, which raised fears over how possible compensation would affect the amount of money returned to the UK. Ian Hudghton, a Scottish National Party MEP who sits on the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee, confirmed he had received the e-mail. He said all four Scottish MEPs on the committee were sent a copy of the document in early December last year, before cuts were agreed by European ministers, from a senior official warning that EC cash aid would not be sought. "It was a sort of confirmation of what we have long known about the UK situation, namely that they don't even apply for EU funding in many circumstances because it would have an affect on the UK rebate," Mr Hudghton said. Meanwhile SNP MSPs and MPs stepped up the pressure on the government over its refusal to block any new cash. North Tayside MP Pete Wishart demanded that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw make a statement clarifying reports that UK Ministers would block EU cash being given as it would be deducted from the annual UK rebate.

WILSON CONCERNED AS UNIVERSITY FUNDING CRISIS GROWS

Shadow Minister for Life Long Learning, Andrew Wilson MSP today said Scotland was being left powerless by the decisions of the Westminster government. His comments came following a meeting between the Executive and University Chiefs in which they expressed their concerns about the spending gap opening up between Scottish and English Universities. Mr Wilson said the recent decisions taken by the London Education Minister has had a negative effect on Scottish education leading to a "double whammy". "Not only will they be penalised by the introduction of top up fees south of the border, they already face a funding gap of £85million identified today by the Association of University Teachers," said Mr Wilson. "What happened to devolution?" Mr Wilson said solutitons must be found but there was no point trying to plug the gaps in policy left by a lack of financial power. "The bottom line is that this potential crisis highlights the fact that it is not sustainable to devolve policy without devolving financial power. Scotland's universities are absolutely central to the aim of a Smart Successful Scotland. The truth is without the financial power to solve the funding crisis for ourselves such slogans and programmes will be left as empty rhetoric."

WAR ON TERRORISM MUST BE CONSISTENT, EFFECTIVE AND JUST

SNP Westminster Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Angus Robertson MP, today demanded that the Government adopt a "consistent, effective and just approach" to dealing with the war on terrorism and 'rogue states'. Speaking in the House of Commons today at a 'Stop the War' lobby of parliament, he said, "Iraq should not be a special case when it comes to ensuring that international obligations are met. It's important that all countries are made to adhere to their responsibilities as set out by the UN and that applies as equally to Israel and North Korea as it does to Iraq". Mr Robertson also said it was important that whatever path the government takes, it was backed by international law. "In the case of Iraq, it is only justifiable if backed by a specific Resolution by the UN Security Council."

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