SARDINES, MANDOLINES

I had a brief look at what we have on the site; for a start we have the archives with every Flag from Day One, 3 years ago. We also have links to the SNP HQ site, to SNP Branches, to the Scottish Parliament, the Westminster Parliament, the House of Lords, Ian Hudghton MEP, the Scotland Office (for how much longer?) BBC Scotland, Historic Scotland, National Museums of Scotland.... There are 4 pages listing the links!

Under Features, we have the Scots Language, including pronunciation, Scottish Food and Traditions, Scotland - A Concise History, articles by James Halliday, a book about Anthony J C Kerr, Tartan Day celebrations, all of the Oliver Brown Awards, Talking Independence, even my Election Address from Dundee West in 1983 (Not to be sneezed at - we won £500 for the best Election Address in Scotland) and various poems, songs, including the Rebel Ceilidh Song Book, and even obituaries. The Features list only run to 3 pages!

There is also a list of all the events in the Scottish Calendar, and SNP events we have received notification whereof, including the Bannockburn Rally which is this Saturday 21st June 2003. And we even have our own Search Engine.

The "in" word these days to describe the Flag would seem to be "eclectic", leading me to think of what would one do with an eclectic mandoline; the answer would probably be "Tune it.".

WEDDING BELLS

John is 39, and this is his second marriage, his first having ended in divorce when his wife had an affair, which was very messily publicised by the tabloids at the time; Elizabeth is 31, and works for the BBC. When she started keeping company with John she asked the BBC to move her from her role as a political commentator, a very honourable move; in other political parties they just carry on as usual.

The wedding will be in St Peter’s church in Edinburgh, and will be a fairly quiet affair; we wish them both every happiness.

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES...

From an envelope sent to me by Kenneth Fee, our venerable editor, she copied "First Class Male", the ironical explanation of which I will have to keep until she is much older, and then picked up my SNP diary, and puzzled over "Release our Potential". She managed it with a bit of difficulty, leading my wife to ask me if I was trying to indoctrinate the bairn, but it was purely voluntary.

She then followed that up by copying a headline from the Scotsman. It was

"Blair deceived Britain", and I thought to myself, "Well.......!"

OLIVER BROWN AWARD

It is always a very relaxed, social affair, and this year was no exception. I also used the occasion as a mini get together for the Flag, and at our table we had Alastair McIntyre, our webmaster, Allison Hunter, Richard Thomson and myself; we also had Shirley and Alastair Kidd, as it was the latter’s fault I ever got entangled with the web. (That was an unconscious pun, by the way). Tom Preston, almost fully recovered from his heart operation, and his wife Norma were also at the table; Tom makes sure all our bills are paid. The workers on the day, Bill McBride and Alastair Walker were at the table as well. I think, too, that this was the first time for many a year that all the Directors of the Scots Independent were able to attend, although they were all at different tables..

Peter D Wright, our Executive Chairman, was in the Chair, and as usual he conducted the proceedings effortlessly; I think I once referred to his performance as "sparkling", if one could associate Peter as sparkling, but perhaps scintillating would be a better description. The first speaker was Una Ozga, daughter of Oliver Brown, who unfortunately missed it last year, as she was flitting from London to Minto; well it was a long way to come for lunch. I did not make any notes of any of the speeches, as I just sat back and was entertained, so for details of her speech there will be a fuller account in the July issue of the Scots Independent newspaper. I thoroughly enjoyed Una’s speech, which was very funny, and I am sure that some of the stories will appear under the Scottish Wit which Peter Wright compiles. At the conclusion of the lunch, Douglas Henderson, former Senior Vice Chairman of the SNP and MP for East Aberdeenshire from 1974-79, was telling Una about the first time he spoke from a public platform. Every weekend, Douglas, at that time 15 years of age, took the bus from Edinburgh to Glasgow where Oliver Brown spoke in Sauchiehall Street, while his helpers sold Scots Independents to the crowd; another speaker did not turn up, so Oliver said "Right, Douglas, you get up and speak." Douglas said "I don’t know what to speak about", and Oliver said "Just get up and speak about Scotland." And a star was born.

The toast to the Scots Independent was given by Ian Hudghton MEP, and he informed us that his very first job when he joined Forfar Branch of the SNP in 1967, was as the Scots Independent agent; after his successful first year at that, he was allowed to be Alba Pools agent as well for his second year. The wee twist to this story is that the person he took over from was Arthur Donaldson, who was at the time Branch Chairman, and also the Chairman of the Scottish National Party! We worked our office bearers hard. This continuity runs right through the Party, as witness the tale from Douglas Henderson, and last year’s SNP speaker, Allison Hunter, was taught by Oliver Brown. Ian Hudghton also quoted from some old SIs (It’s what we call the paper) going back many years, and they included headlines on the neglect of fishing by Westminster from 30 years ago, and "What is the Scottish Secretary For?", peculiarly apt in the current circumstances.

The presentation of the Award was made by Kenneth Fee, Editor of the Scots Independent. Kenneth and his wife, Margery, had just returned from a holiday in Stockholm, where they had gone to see a production of "Carmen"; according to Kenneth, sung in Swedish, and all the cast in see-through dresses (even the women). Peter Wright was disappointed that Kenneth had not brought back any Swedish lapdancers to enliven the lunch, but Margery said there had been a breakdown in communications and they could not find any Lapplanders! This international world, where Kenneth has discovered the benefits of Ryanair, but was unsure as to whether they flew to Baillieston or not.

As I said, I did not make any notes of any of the speeches, but Kenneth sent me Iain Anderson’s notes, to which my response was "Thank you for that". Iain made a wide ranging , highly entertaining speech, managing to include quotes from John Steinbeck, Hugh MacDiarmid, Charles Stewart Parnell and of course, Oliver Brown. He highlighted the Scottish influence in North America and Canada, and hoped that Tartan Day would level up the balance in both these countries between St Andrew and St Patrick, and also how a revival of culture in a nation heralded a political renaissance. He finished with the lines "For we hae faith in Scotland’s hidden poo’ers, the present’s theirs, but a’ the past and future’s oors."

You can see the picture gallery here!

DEWAR’S FOLLY

He has told them that while we have to pay for all the building costs the consultants’ gravy train money has stopped. He has also declared that the cause of all the angst and the cost goes right back to the decision taken by Donald Dewar; he chose the location, the design, the architect, the contractor, and he signed an open ended contract. Any attempt to withhold payment from the contractors would be illegal, but the consultants can be tackled, because every time the bill went up, their fees went up. Nae mair!

All sorts of people are crawling out of the woodwork now that these facts are being made public; on BBC TV on Sunday I watched Sam Galbraith going on about how Scotland was a "blame" culture, with everyone looking for someone to blame, and that this was totally wrong. Utilising the selective amnesia that is so common among politicians he managed to avoid mentioning the Scottish Qualifications Authority shambles he presided over, and steadfastly denied any responsibility for, but said that one of the reasons the cost of the Scottish Parliament went up was because the SNP raised objections to it, so we must have been to blame! According to him, he advised Donald Dewar not to go for an old building - obviously the Nationalist shibboleth, the Royal High School, but to go for a new building under the Private Finance Initiative, a system he had been deriding during all the Tory years!

No doubt because at that time the only PFI project in Scotland, the Skye Bridge, was receiving a lot of bad publicity, Donald Dewar was reluctant to go down that road, and apparently ministers advised against it (apart from the irresponsible Sam Galbraith, who was a Scottish Office Minister.) To recap on the Skye Bridge it was to cost £10.5 million, it actually cost £23.6 million, and the Bank of America will rake in £128 million under the terms of that very juicy piece of Tory chicanery. On that basis our grandchildren’s grandchildren would be paying for the Scottish Parliament. Anyway, Dewar wanted the building project up and running, very likely because any delay in starting would increase the likelihood that the Parliament would see sense, cancel it, and go to the Royal High School.

The Tories’ role in all this is very questionable indeed; they refused to put anyone on the Progress Committee. Now as the Tories consider themselves to be the party that knows business, one wonders why they could not have contributed some expertise to help control the building costs? It could be that they are modern day courtesans, except that they have no power and will accept no responsibility; a courtesan is of course just a well-dressed whore.

To sum up, as someone said in one of the papers, the Parliament was the wrong shape, the wrong size, and in the wrong place; to further complicate things, it was the wrong contract, signed at the wrong time, before the Parliament had met, and it was built where it is for political reasons. We await with interest all the witnesses who will be called before the Inquiry; there is no doubt that this is a Westminster Labour mess, and that the Scottish taxpayer is going to pay the price, but we may know whose fault it is, at the end of the day.

So far, Sam Galbraith has blamed Donald Dewar, coveniently dead and thus unable to rebut whether he ignored his advice or not, assuming it was given in the first place, or the SNP; members of the progress group have blamed the Treasury; Wendy Alexander has blamed Jack McConnell and Angus Mackay; Jack McConnell has blamed Lord Steel of Aikwood, and the Tories just blame democracy; who invented that?

ANOTHER FINE MESS

It would seem that a lot of the reason for the chaos is being heaped on Alan Milburn, the English Health Secretary, who resigned, apparently quite genuinely, to spend more time with his family. However, Mr Milburn’s resignation was the only unexpected event; the whole debacle about the Lord Chancellor, and the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales was already planned and ready for publication, and it is not the Milburn issue that exercised the House of Commons, but the Lord Chancellorship. This should give us more than one pause for thought; we are continually hearing and reading about the Lord Chancellorship’s rule having lasted for 1400 years. No one, to my knowledge, has as yet pointed out that the Parliament of the United Kingdom has not yet been in existence for 300 years; it would seem axiomatic that the United Kingdom Parliament is the English Parliament ongoing, however much they try to conceal that fact.

We also had the very unusual step of the Speaker of the House summoning the Prime Minister to explain his changes to the House of Commons, an action which did not please Mr Blair, who feels he is above these things. At the end of the day, the Speaker, Michael Martin, was not present in the Chamber, as he was receiving an honorary doctorate from Glasgow University, an accolade which the Tories did their best to frustrate, and the Deputy Speaker was in the chair. He had to remind the Prime Minister that he was present in the House to answer questions, not to ask them; in any event, Mr Blair saw off a lacklustre Iain Duncan Smith, not a difficult job at the best of times.

The abolition, or non-abolition of the post of Secretary of State for Scotland has now given the English Transport Secretary, Edinburgh MP Alastair Darling, a big problem; he is unable to attend the French lessons that Helen Liddell, the Secretary, had paid for. To clarify matters, when I refer to someone being the "English Secretary" this is not a racist, or even nationalist, comment, but accurate; Health is a devolved matter, so Malcolm Chisholm is the Minister in Edinburgh, and the writ of John Reid, Scottish Labour MP for Hamilton and Bellshill as the English Secretary of State for Health does not run in Scotland. Similarly, Nicol Stephen, Liberal MSP, is the Transport Minister for Scotland, and the writ of Alastair Darling, Labour MP for Edinburgh Central as the English Transport Secretary does not run in Scotland either, although as he is now also the Secretary of State for Scotland, on his good days, we are not quite sure what effect that will have.

It would also seem that when Mr Blair "abolished" the position of Lord Chancellor he had to make a hurried reversal, as the House of Lords was unable to sit until it was officially convened by - the Lord Chancellor! So his chum, Lord Charles Falconer, was slotted in as Lord Chancellor; he is in charge of constitutional affairs including the Scotland and the Wales Office, and can apparently represent them in the Cabinet, but not in the House of Commons, as he is an unelected peer. In the House of Commons, Alastair Darling can answer for Scotland when he is not answering for England on Transport, and Peter Hain can answer for Wales, when he is not answering as Leader of the House. And Anne McGuire, Labour MP for Stirling, and former deputy to Helen Liddell, and now deputy to either Alastair Darling or Lord Falconer, or both, or neither, stoutly defending the position on radio and TV and saying everything was quite clear, but these awfully stupid interviewers, and listeners, couldn’t make head or tail of it. As many Labour MPs are describing the reshuffle as a dog’s breakfast, it seems a place just had to be made for Tony’s Pedigreed Chum.

Just wonder if he was writing in a private capacity, or if he is still the Assistant to the Secretary General of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce.

Mapeley Steps who purchased all the Inland Revenue offices from the Treasury, have just made a £23 million profit by selling one of the London tax offices; as the company is based in Bermuda the profit is of course tax free.

The deal to sell the tax offices in the first place was part of the Private Finance Initiative inherited from the Tories; looks like the private financiers certainly used their initiative.

Strange episode where the English Education Minister was robbed on a train; apparently a woman sitting next to him lifted his wallet, emptied it, and slipped it back into his pocket.

Obviously trained by the Treasury; Mr Clarke’s Cabinet colleague, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is anxious to make her acquaintance, with a view to offering her employment.

The new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was built on a greenfield site (using the Private Finance Initiative) and the residents round about it have their streets lined with double yellow lines. Plus ca change.

SQA 'CAPPING AMBITIONS OF STUDENTS' SAYS HYSLOP
Wed 18 Jun 03

SNP Shadow Education Minister Ms Fiona Hyslop MSP has today (Wednesday) criticised the Scottish Qualifications Authority following their announcement that they will be capping the number of student appeals, which will cap the ambitions of students in an attempt to save on paperwork. Ms Hyslop said:

"Peter Peacock must step in now to prevent the SQA capping the ambitions of Scotland's school children. It is obvious that the motivation here is the SQA trying to ration appeals to save on paperwork.

"I had hoped that we were to see the Scottish government moving away from setting targets to suit their own needs rather than those of the pupils, and the education minister must step in now to ensure that appeals can be lodged for every pupil whose teacher considers that they have a valid case.

"The fear has to be that teachers beginning a new school term will be faced with a tide of pupils looking for appeals and having to inform those pupils that their right of appeal has been restricted. That hardly sets the scales off on the right foot for the new school year.

"There can be no justification for the minister to be sitting on his hands when the first indications of a problem appear. That's how the SQA fiasco came about in 2000 and we must do everything we can to avoid another similar disaster."

EWING TO CALL FOR INQUIRY INTO WATER CHARGES
Tue 16 Jun 03

FSB BACK CALL FOR PARLIAMENTARY PROBE

Deputy Convener of the Finance Committee Mr Fergus Ewing MSP will tomorrow (Wednesday) press for a parliamentary inquiry into water charges after the Federation of Small Businesses backed his plan for a probe.

Water charges have gone through the roof in recent years with Scottish businesses now facing amongst the highest bills in the UK. Commenting ahead of the Finance Committee meeting in which he will push for a formal inquiry, Mr Ewing said:

"Scottish businesses are facing some of the highest water bills in the country. There is massive inefficiency in the system, hundreds of jobs are being shed and customers are being ripped off.

"I will be pressing hard for the Committee to launch a full inquiry. Parliament has a duty to get the bottom of how our water system has become such a shambles.

"I am particularly pleased that the FSB have backed my call for an investigation. Hopefully this will convince Labour members such as Wendy Alexander, that this is a vital step in reducing the burden under which Scottish businesses labour.

"At the last meeting of the Committee, she maintained that quangos such as Scottish Water is transparent and accountable. Hopefully the FSB's intervention will convince Labour members to abandon their complacent attitude and accept that the time for an investigation has come."

Commenting on the publication of the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee report published today [Monday] on: "The Convention on the Future of Europe and the Role of National Parliaments", Scottish National Party Committee Member Mr Angus Robertson MP welcomed the inclusion of the section that opposes exclusive EU competence over fishing in the proposed European Constitution.

Mr Robertson proposed this amendment, and it was accepted by the whole committee. The relevant section, (paragraph 55) reads:

"We are concerned about the prospect of exclusive EU competence in the 'conservation of marine biological resources under the common fisheries policy' and how this might affect the manager of marine resources at all levels."

The Committee is chaired by Scots Labour MP Jimmy Hood.

Mr Robertson said:

"I warmly welcome the inclusion of this section in the report, and the agreement of MPs across the parties to my amendment that exclusive EU competence must come out of the proposed Constitution.

"I hope that we can build on this consensus, and ensure that the UK Government insists on this vital change at the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference."

EWING CALLS FOR BEATTIE MEDIA CONTRACT TO BE VETOED            
Sun 15 Jun 03

HOLYROOD INQUIRY MUST BE FREE OF LOBBYGATE SLEAZE                

The Scottish Parliament’s Corporate Body must veto the appointment of Beattie Media as PR company to Holyrood contractors Bovis, SNP MSP Mr Fergus Ewing said today.

Speaking after it emerged that the contractors had brought in the PR company at the centre of the Lobbygate scandal, Mr Ewing said: "The Holyrood Inquiry cannot afford to be tainted by the sleaze of Lobbygate. The First Minister, a former employee of Beattie Media, made a clear election pledge that the Inquiry would be full and frank.

"The involvement of an organisation with such well known links to the Labour Party will only lead to the suspicion that they are up to their old tricks of spin, media manipulation and backroom deal between political cronies.

"The Corporate Body has clear contractual control over whether Bovis speak on the Holyrood Project. It’s time to get tough and exercise that control. Beattie Media’s involvement must be vetoed.

No Change

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