I have been on holiday, and I left the Flag in the capable hands of Allison Hunter and Richard Thomson, so I had no worries on that score, but I am in business with a friend, and that doesn’t stop; another thing these clever people didn’t cover - the grass grows when you are on holiday. Now there’s stress for you!

The first week I spent four days in Barcelona, a beautiful city which I was very keen to see, and I was not disappointed; we flew from Edinburgh at 8 am on the Sunday morning, and I ran up against one of the problems of the electronic age. Every Sunday I read the Observer, so I was delighted to pick one from from the newstand at Edinburgh Airport at 7am; I queued up with my £1.40 clutched in my hand, but I was unable to buy it. Someone had not entered the receipt of the Observers into the computer, so the paper could not be sold! The lady at the till was most apologetic, but it would neither scan nor open on the bar code; I went back later, but still no joy, as the person who would enter the receipt did not start until 9 am. I could have bought the Sunday Herald, Scotland on Sunday, and any one of a variety of tabloids, but not the Observer. That afternoon I paid 3 euros for the Observer in Las Ramblas, Barcelona, without a bar code in sight.

We saw many sights in Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia, the Olympic Swimming Pool, the Military Museum, Christopher Columbus’s statue, and we took a trip on the tour bus round the city; we were particularly impressed with the Metro, which whisked you from one side of the city to the other in a very short time, and we loved the cable car. Barcelona was the greatest centre of shipbuilding in Spain in the Middle Ages, and the shipyards are now the Maritime Museum; interesting that the very first exhibit before entering the Museum proper is a model of the steamship City of Paris, built in Glasgow in 1866. Small world indeed, although trying to tell the museum attendant that didn’t quite work.

In the second week, in true Scottish old age pensioner globe trotting mode, we went to Turriff, to visit friends; the weather was every bit as good as Barcelona, if not quite as hot.

The couple are away on honeymoon for a fortnight, and we hope that they are forgetting about the problems to be faced when they come back, or that John will have to face as per the next article.

It would be difficult to find any SNP member who is happy with the current state of affairs; we did pick up three additional first past the post seats in May, but we lost one, Galloway, always a marginal, to the Tories, and we lost out on the second vote to minority parties who concentrated on that vote alone. To put it bluntly, it was the best SNP first past the post result since the heady days of 1974, but crippled by the vagaries of a voting system specifically designed to do just that. John Swinney put out a consultation paper within three weeks of the Election; I wonder if Dr Wilson responded to that?

Today it is just three months after the Scottish Parliament Election, and while the consultation papers have been studied, it is far too early for any corrective action, which in any case would have to go through National Council and Annual Conference; claims that Independence has been sidelined do not hold water. Last year, the SNP produced its booklet "Talking Independence", which we serialised in the Flag, and this was a comprehensive analysis of the case for Independence; the last time I remember this being spelt out was when we produced "The Scotland We Seek", back in the late 1960s. All last year, we had Jim Mather and Andrew Wilson putting on the Economics of Independence Road Show; we did not serialise that in the Flag because I could not work out the technicalities thereof! So there has been an emphasis. John Swinney in his televised appearances stressed Independence all the time; as a fundamentalist for the 37 years I have been in the SNP I would have taken exception if he had not. We may have to be gradualists by circumstance, not by choice.

The issue has brought out a lot of venom; one new MSP, defending John Swinney, has been attacked as one of his clique, owing his place on the list to his closeness to John Swinney. Logic does not enter into this argument, as, if John Swinney had any influence on the lists then both Mike Russell and Andrew Wilson would still be in Parliament. Similarly, Jim Sillars has now attacked John Swinney as "weak", presumably as he had the guts to discipline Mrs Margo Sillars, whose place in the lists was determined by the activists, and not by the leadership! And Patricia Ferguson, Labour MSP for Glasgow Maryhill, taunting John Swinney as not having the support of his party; now there’s a funny thing, she would obviously know Dr Wilson, either from his days in the Labour Party, or Maryhill, or both. We also had Gerry Fisher, National Council Elected Member and long time critic of the party hierarchy, pointing out that he could not recall either Dr Wilson, or any of his named supporters ever raising a major issue of policy or discussion at Annual Conference or National Council; Gerry qualified that by saying that he had not been at every Conference or National Council - he missed the Conference in 1988, and we will not go into the tragic circumstances. The point he was making was valid; he was able to raise issues, (and did so continually, at times to the exasperation of delegates) so there was not the "democratic deficit" they claimed.

One thing we can expect (I nearly said "Look forward to"!) is that when First Minister’s Questions comes on, Jack McConnell will preface his responses with "Well, Mr Swinney, I have the support of my Party......" and we are going to hear sentiments like that time and time again. This constant dripping will go on and on, and be demoralising, and attempts to demoralise the SNP leader will demoralise the SNP

In his monthly column in the Scots Independent newspaper, Andrew Wilson has a go at the challenge to the leadership, and his comments were quoted by the Scotsman, who were too sloppy to check which challenger; when the Scots Independent went to press, another Glasgow "activist" had been going to mount a challenge, and had said privately that he had no intention of standing, but had had "enormous fun". In the interim, that activist had not proceeded, but Dr Wilson popped up, so the Scotsman assumed that was who Andrew was referring to; it was too late to stop the presses, but Andrew’s comments have additional weight as we see the other parties and the media having a field day at our expense.

What kept Labour out of office for eighteen years, and what put the Tories out of office was the fact that the public rightly perceived them as divided parties, and the people do not like division within parties. I do not believe that the SNP is a divided party, certainly nothing like in the days of the 79 Group, but the public will believe what they read in the papers and see on TV. The action by Dr Wilson, to put it brutally, was stupid, and when I used the word "perhaps" in the second paragraph, it was because I think that he will withdraw his nomination; no doubt he will also think that it was "enormous fun."

THE MODERN ARMY

It is certainly not nostalgia, but 50 years ago I was in the Army, a private in the Black Watch, serving in Kenya during the Mau Mau emergency; it was not an easy life, mainly living in tents, but as far as I can recall our clothing and equipment were all right.

The Army rules and regulations were sometimes nonsensical; for instance if you wore shorts after sundown you could be put on a charge, but walking out dress was the kilt! Just think what the mosquitoes could do there! Anyway, it is not nostalgia, but the sheer idiocy of the Ministry of Defence that is bothering me. We have troops in Iraq who are suffering from heat exhaustion; according to one report, there were tents and air conditioning, but no generators to power the systems. The MOD say they are doing their best to get things moving, but you have to wonder at the general inefficiency; we all knew that there was going to be a war in Iraq. The build up went on for months, transferring troops and equipment to Kuwait, and there were the dire warnings that unless they went in quickly then it would be too hot to fight. So they went in quickly, and they will be there for a long time to come, over three months since "hostilities" officially ceased, but still lacking even the basic things to make life tolerable.

Inefficiency is not new, but neither is warfare, and the British Army has spent its existence fighting in hot places, India, China, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Africa, Korea, just to rattle off a few, so one would think that the MOD would have half an idea about supplying them with the basics. As it is we have had leaky boots, jamming rifles in Afghanistan, infantry boots melting in the heat, radios that did not work in Kosovo, leaving soldiers using mobile phones "Hello, Mum, I’m on the tank", but it isn’t going anywhere because its engine is clogged with dust! Sorry Field Marshall Montgomery, just leave your tanks at Tobruk! And as we commented a week or two back, no shells for the tanks because the South African company which was going to make them cannot produce the propellant, but they’ve shut Bishopton anyway, so tough.

Why then did things work reasonably well during World War II and 50 years ago in Kenya, and in this great MODern world they don’t? 

It is an illusion, fostered by the media, including the Scotsman, that during a parliamentary recess MSPs just swan around; the following is an indication of what they actually get up to, the Nationalist ones anyway!

SNP MSP Christine Grahame and a contingent of disgruntled bus users from Peebles, Maxton and Kelso were in fighting mood on Tuesday 29th July 2003 as they visited Scottish Borders Council to meet with council Leader David Parker and his transport colleagues.

About 60 people made the journey to Newtown St Boswells but on arrival at Council Headquarters Ms Grahame had to do some swift negotiating after the contingent were asked to use a rear entrance to get in to the building.

Ms Grahame said: "Here we had a number of elderly people, including one woman in a wheelchair, who had made the journey by bus to the council and they were expected to enter quietly by the back door. We soon put paid to that though as they all got off the bus and made their way in through the front entrance despite the best efforts of the council to deny them of that right."

Once inside the building the bus users decided against hearing a presentation about the council’s transport policy, preferring to move straight on to the nitty gritty and get some answers.

Although the Peebles town service has been given a temporary reprieve the contingent from the town still had a number of issues to raise, including why members of the public had not been consulted before the council agreed to dip into the Common Good Fund to pay First Bus.

Ms Grahame said: "As well as their concerns regarding the Common Good, the Peebles folk are concerned that the types of buses being used are inappropriate. One woman who came on the bus is in a wheelchair and made a very valid point. The bus company is cutting services here there and everywhere because they are not profitable but perhaps if they made the buses more accessible for disabled, elderly and those with pushchairs more people would use them."

Those from Maxton and Springwood Village near Kelso have been without any bus service for a week after First cut the No. 62 service between Kelso and St Boswells.

Ms Grahame said: "There are 80 houses at Springwood Village, the majority of those are occupied by retired people who have no means of transport in order to get to vital services or to visit the swimming pool or to go shopping. One local Councillor asked a woman why she didn’t just get a taxi, which is absolutely outrageous. These people deserve to have access to services and in the case of Springwood Village there is no streetlighting at the roadside so although it may be perfectly feasible for some people to walk over a mile to Kelso it may not be safe."

Although pleased that the council had agreed to meet with the delegations Ms Grahame was concerned that they had been "flannelled" by council officials. She added:

"There was a great deal of flannelling and covering old ground but the people who travelled on the Battle Bus now know that they have been heard and will expect the council to do something about the points they raised.

"When the consultation the council are currently carrying out starts I would like to think the points raised today will be taken into consideration and that the wider Borders public will also be given the chance to air their views. When this is done and the council form a strategy I will give them as much support as they need to get funding from the Lib/Lab coalition to ensure there is a bus service to be proud of in the Borders."

It is not the favourite airline for their staff at Heathrow.

We just wonder how much they gave to the Labour Party.

Tesco is moving some 350 jobs to India; 30 of them will be from Dundee.

The Indian workers will not be buying their groceries in a Tesco supermarket, will they?

Despite the millions paid to their pals since rail privatisation, none of the rail companies’ are participating.

A deafening silence on the proposal to make Robin Cook the top UN man in Kosovo, or maybe I just couldn’t get a Scotsman or Herald in Barcelona.

A by-election in Livingston would do the SNP a power of good.

Maybe it’s a secret.

Why does that remind me of the expression "Of course I’ll still love you in the morning"?

Tony Blair’s speech to the United States Congress was rapturously received just a week or two back, with statements that if he was an American citizen he would be President.

Perhaps not exactly a compliment; they do have George Bush.

Speaking prior to the meeting, Mrs Ewing said; "Both myself and Angus have consulted with members of the fishing community across the constituency so that we can take their views to the heart of this consultation exercise.

Mr Robertson added:

"Many of the points we will raise at this meeting have been in the public domain for sometime however it is essential that the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit have a full understanding of the implications of recent cuts to the Scottish fleet, especially Moray.

INGRAM REPLY ON DARA SHOWS "NO SENSE OF URGENCY" OVER JOBS THREAT
Wed 30 Jul 03

AND COMPLETE SILENCE FROM SCOTTISH SECRETARY

Following her letters of 21 July to the Armed Forces Minister Mr Adam Ingram, and Scottish Secretary Mr Alistair Darling, seeking meetings regarding reports that the Ministry of Defence may be about to ditch the "Operation Red Dragon" military jet repair scheme - threatening hundreds of jobs at the Defence Aviation Repair Agency [DARA] in Almondbank, Perth - Scottish National Party MP for Perth Ms Annabelle Ewing MP said that she had received an "inadequate" reply from Mr Ingram, and no response from Mr Darling. Ms Ewing said today "The response from the Government to the threat to the 345 DARA jobs in Perth has been extremely disappointing, and totally lacking in urgency.

"I requested an early meeting with both the Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram, and the Scottish Secretary Alistair Darling, seeking their support for the campaign to safeguard these jobs.

"But Mr Ingram only offered to contact me about a meeting at an 'appropriate' time, which clearly means not now - and there has been not a word, not even an acknowledgement of my letter, from Mr Darling.

"Mr Ingram's reply was entirely inadequate - and Mr Darling's non-reply is a gross discourtesy to the DARA workers and the people of Perth, who deserve to have this issue treated as a priority by the man who claims to be the Secretary of State of Scotland.

"The fact that Mr Darling is also the UK Cabinet Minister for Transport - and still failing to resolve the problems of our road and rail networks - perhaps explains why he has been unable to give any time to securing the DARA jobs, or even replying to a letter about it.

"All I want is for the Government to stick to their assurances about these jobs. As recently as June, Adam Ingram said in answer to a Parliamentary Question that: 'the Red Dragon Project represents a clear commitment to the future, and I was pleased to be able to agree to those proposals.' (Hansard, 23 June 2003).

"The fact that neither Mr Ingram nor Mr Darling are able to meet with me now to reiterate this pledge indicates that we will need a strong local and national campaign which forces the Government to show good faith, and retain this important facility."

GDP FIGURES SHOW EXEC IS MAKING NO PROGRESS
Wed 30 Jul 03

SCOTS KIDS EDUCATED FOR EXPORT SAYS MATHER

SNP Shadow Enterprise and Economy Minister Mr Jim Mather MSP has today (Wednesday) accused the Scottish Executive of making no progress towards economic growth. GDP figures have confirmed continuing zero growth in Scotland and a 10% contraction in Scottish manufacturing coupled with several developments in London and the South East. Mr Mather said:

"With the announcement of GDP and manufacturing figures, we have further proof that the Scottish Executive is making no progress towards their top priority of economic growth.

"Meanwhile the rest of the UK, in particular London and the South East have continued to grow at a rate higher than the Scottish average for the past 30 years, widening the gaps in terms of average weekly incomes and population levels.

"In his Euro Speech last month, the Chancellor effectively called Scotland a 'contracting region' and trailed his intention to sanction higher public sector pay in London and the South East and this new GDP data combined with the recent UK ministerial announcements, suggests that government policy will condemn Scotland to contract in both economic and population terms.

"The Scottish Executive's growth targets now lie in tatters as we educate our children for export to the South East and Scottish lecturers, policeman, nurses, teachers and other public sector workers are attracted South with increasing numbers of private sector employees.

"Quite simply the arithmetic is against them and they need a dramatic change of policy that will allow Scotland to compete. If they allow the current situation of a declining population, low participation in the labour market and low productivity to continue any anticipation of meaningful economic growth is pie in the sky and an act of wilful national deception.

"Unless, we see policies in place that are fair to Scotland, such as the power to compete, Scotland will remain on a disastrous trajectory that shames the Scottish Executive."

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SCOTTISH FOOD, TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS
(if you have any suggestions on what you'd like us to include email peter@scotsindependent.org

See our Scottish Food, Traditions and Customs in our Features section

DATES IN HISTORY

SING A SANG AT LEAST
(compiled by Peter D Wright)

"That I for poor auld Scotland's sake
Some useful plan or book could make
Or sing a sang at least ........"

- Robert Burn

Tim Finnegan liv'd in  Walkin Street,

A gentleman Irish mighty odd.

He had a tongue both rich and sweet,

An' to rise in the world he carried a hod,

Now Tim had a sort of a tipplin' way

With a love of the liquor he was born,

An' to help him on with his work each day,

He'd a drop of the craythur ev'ry morn.

 

Chorus :

 

Whack fol the dah, dance to your partner

Welt the flure, yer trotters shake,

Wasn't it the truth I told you,

Lots of fun at Finnegan's Wake.

 

One morning Tim wa rather full,

His head felt heavy which made him shake,

He fell from the ladder and broke his skull,

So they carried him home his corpse to wake,

They rolled him up in a nice clean sheet,

And laid him out upon the bed,

With a gallon of whiskey at his feet,

And a barrel of porter at his head.

 

His friends assembled at the wake,

And Mrs Finnegan called for lunch,

First they brought in tay and cake,

Then pipes, tobacco, and whiskey punch.

Miss Biddy O'Brien began to cry,

'Such a neat clean corpse, did you ever see,

Arrah, Tim avourneen, why did you die?'

'Ah, hould your gab,' said Paddy McGee.

 

Then Biddy O'Connor took up the job,

'Biddy,' says she, 'you're wrong, I'm sure,'

But Biddy gave her a belt in the gob,

And left her sprawling on the floor;

Oh, then the war did soon enrage;

'Twas woman to woman and man to man,

Shillelagh law did all engage,

And a row and a ruction soon began.

 

Then Mickey Maloney raised his head,

When a noggin of whiskey flew at him,

It missed and falling on the bed,

The liquor scattered over Tim;

Bedad he revives, see how he rises,

And Timothy rising from the bed,

Says, 'Whirl your liquor round like blazes,

Thanam o'n dhoul, do you think I'm dead?'  (Your soul to the Devil)

See the SING A SANG AT LEAST in our features section

A KIST O FERLIES
A Keek at the Guid Scots Tung

By Peter & Marilyn Wright 
(Note: All words underlined in this section are RealAudio links)

See Scots Language in our Features Section
for other poems, stories, songs, sayings, jokes 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. 44 AUGUST 2003
[Click here to bring up the crosswords]