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Anyway, why I was reminded of that film is that it seems that John Swinney is expected to be like Tony Curtis, the Hero, sweeping all before him, doing all things right and never putting a foot wrong. I have now known five SNP leaders, plus two who were leaders before I joined the SNP; Arthur Donaldson was the Chairman when I joined the Party, then Billy Wolfe, Gordon Wilson, Alex Salmond and now John Swinney. The previous leaders were Dr Robert McIntyre, and James Halliday. All of these were leaders with different challenges, but none had to fight first a General Election and then a Scottish Parliament Election, as the leader of the Official Opposition; Alex Salmond was the leader of the Official Opposition, but he did not shine in the Scottish Parliament, probably because he is too much of an indivualist. Also none of the above had to cope with the Scottish Socialist Party and the Greens, or with a public bitterly disappointed with the first Scottish Parliament and the appalling mess of the Parliament Building project, conveniently dumped on the Parliament itself, rather than Westminster, or with how the SNP itself would manage with the centre of power moving to parliamentarians. This party is on a learning curve, indeed Scotland is on a learning curve, not just John Swinney.

ROSYTH REVISITED

We all want to know the full story behind the mess that has been made, but I can tell you now; Donald Dewar decided that the Parliament would not be on Calton Hill, as this would only encourage the SNP. He did all this at Westminster before the Scottish Parliament was elected, and he and his pals selected the site, the architect, the design and the builder; he only had the vaguest idea of what would be done in the Parliament and he signed an open-ended contract that made the contractors’ mouths water, as this confirmed what they already knew. The building was in the wrong place, the wrong design and too wee, and they foresaw they would make a mint. The Cabinet in London agreed all this.

Now, says you, where does Rosyth come into the equation? Well, the Scottish Parliament Building was commissioned by the Westminster Cabinet before there was a Scottish Parliament, so they made the choice and we get the bill. It just so happens that some 10 years ago, two dockyards put in a bid for maintaining Trident submarines; the contract was a multi-million pound one, and Rosyth was already doing the work. Rosyth put in a bid of £248 million, and Devonport put in a bid of £240 million. At the time, Rosyth said "Hey, wait a minute, something is wrong with the Devonport figures.", but the Minister of Defence, Malcolm (Now Sir Malcolm) Rifkind awarded the contract to Devonport, to a privatised company called Devonport Management Ltd, and the clever MoD apparently thought they had transferred the risk of cost overruns to the private contractor. Sounds familiar, does it not?

At the time, the move was seen as a ploy by the Tories to transfer work from the solid Labour constituency of Dunfermline West to the marginal Tory constituency of Devonport, to stave off losing that seat to the Liberals; I quote from Ian Davidson, Labour MP for Glasgow Pollok and a member of the House of Commons public affairs committee, who said that the inquiry had shown the arguments in favour of Devonport to be spurious. "We now find all those estimates were totally, absolutely, and utterly wrong, giving the cost overruns we now see at Devonport." The cost of rebuilding the submarine refit facility was now £933 million, of which the MoD would have to pay £890 million, and while all the figures being bandied about are a bit confusing, what is fairly definite is that the cost is £300 million over budget. So the Tories put a contract to Devonport, to save £8 million, and it is costing £300 million; sounds like the same type of arithmetic they used for the privatisation of thw railways.

The link is this; the Tory government in Westminster put a contract to Devonport for political purposes, and not only did Scotland lose 10,000 jobs, we are also having to pay our share of the overspend. The New Labour government in Westminster put a Parliament building at Holyrood for political ends, and we Scots are being left with all the costs.

We think that the leader of the Tories in the Scottish Parliament should be taking this one up; as he is a pal of Sir Malcolm Rifkind he will be able to get advice from him. He might also like this little quote from Professor Peter Gripaois of the University of Plymouth, saying the overspend had been good for the local economy. He said "The effect of this spending is pretty widespread over Devon and Cornwall. It gives a much needed boost to Plymouth’s economy and it really does need it. So, the longer this work carries on the better for the city." And never a word of thanks to the generous Scottish taxpayers.

CONFERENCE 2003

Looking through the Agenda was a trip down memory lane, as 20 years ago and more, I was generally on the Standing Orders and Agenda Committee every year; my first task, on receiving the Provisional Agenda, was to go through it and list the number of resolutions from individual Branches and Constituency Associations. That gave me a head start on many of the Agenda Committee members, because when a Branch or Constituency cropped up too often, I could say "Conference will be fed up seeing so and so at the rostrum"; everyone knew who had put up the resolution just by looking at the Branch or CA! Not being pure as the driven snow, I would also look after my own Branch resolution, if we had one! I am sure that nothing has changed. And of course, we also see letters in the press from people who just happen to be standing for office of some kind or other; did that as well.

There are 41 Resolutions, covering everything from road safety to the new European Constitution, planning, Council Elections. trafficking of women, drug misuse, school behaviour, fair trade, maritime strategy, Sewel motions (see last week’s Flag), taxation, pensions, central membership system, the Strategic Transport Authority and legacies; there is even one on greyhound racing, with the emphasis as much on the welfare of the animals as on the regulation of the sport. Resolutions on refugees were conspicuous by their absence, but then Dungavel was not high profile when the resolutions were submitted; this will be rectified by Topical Resolutions. I plead guilty to the introduction of Topical Resolutions; away back, we always had Emergency Resolutions, but I was concerned at the length of time between the Branch/Constituency submitting a resolution, the winnowing out and then the printing and publication of the Agenda, and events unfolding that were not emergencies but needed discussion. Ergo, we adopted Topical Resolutions, to cover issues that had not emerged earlier, so could not have been on the agenda.

I could pass comment on some resolutions, or even give a synopsis, but there are too many, and it is for the delegates to listen to the arguments and decide each issue on its merits; some of the resolutions I might not treat kindly! The Agenda can be viewed here!

CONFERENCE FRINGE

Again this year, the Scots Independent Newspaper will be sponsoring Paul Scott’s Book Launch, in conjuction with the Saltire Society; it will take the form of a discussion between Paul and Professor Neil MacCormick MEP on "Scotland Resurgent", "Saltoun Papers" and "The Scottish Postbag". This event will take place on Wednesday 24th September 1730-1830 in the Eden Court Stalls Foyer, and wine will be served!

In an idle moment I counted the number of Fringe Meetings, and there are 50! They range from Workshop Meetings run by HQ staff at 9 am, to the full blown drinks and buffet at lunch time and in the early evening; a careful delegate could eat his/her fill and get pie-eyed for free! I will not be able to go to Conference myself this year, but one Fringe Meeting I might like to have gone to is "Should Trade Unions Fund the SNP?" This is a topic dear to my heart, as the political levy paid by all union members goes to the Labour Party, unless the member opts out, and this is a long and complicated process. The speaker will be the Scottish Convener of the RMT, and he might also pass comment on how the RMT in London scuppered the agreement reached with Caledonian MacBrayne, but then, that dispute is settled now, so it might be better to let sleeping dogs lie.

On the positive side, the Donaldson lecture at lunch time on the Saturday will be given by Bill Speirs, general secretary of the STUC (Scottish Trades Union Council); this is seen as a significant step forward by the SNP and is also being interpreted as a signal to Labour not to take the support of the unions for granted.

No SNP leader has ever addressed the STUC; in 1992, an invitation to Alex Salmond was withdrawn by the big unions, but two years later they invited a Tory minister, just to show solidarity with Tweedledum and Tweedledee. In addition, Campbell Christie, STUC general secretary, had addressed a Scottish Tory Party Conference in the eighties, but contact with the SNP has been frowned upon. The irritating thing is that the SNP is much closer ideologically to the Trade Unions than New Labour, but this keeps getting obscured.

DUNGAVEL - DONE IN

The fact is that Dungavel is in Scotland, but it is run by the Home Office, whose writ does not run in Scotland, and should in theory be run by Cathie Jamieson, the Injustice Minister, whose remit includes all the prisons. There has been a tremendous outcry in the press and demonstrations, as children are locked up in Dungavel; we have published last week and also last month, pleas from prominent individuals, including churchmen and Bill Speirs of the STUC, against this practice. The first Minister, jack McConnell (Yes, lower case - freudian slip) has consistently maintained that this has nothing to do with him, and refused to discuss it in the Scottish Parliament.

To get some kind of action, John Swinney, leader of the SNP, used the SNP’s allocation of debating time to raise this subject; the text to be debated was as follows:

On the face of it, this is an unambiguous declaration of principle; it was there to allow a subject of great humanitarian concern to be aired in the Scottish Parliament, in the same way that the SNP had debated the declaration of war against Iraq, again outwith the remit of the Parliament but allowing debate. Naturally, issues of principle sit uncomfortably with the Establishment, and then the Tories, shouting about the SNP using Dungavel as a wedge to split open the United Kingdom, put in their politically pure amendment (joke for those who do not appreciate irony) which said:

"deplores the operation by Her Majesty's Government of an inadequate and ineffectual policy on asylum and profoundly regrets the policy implications of such deficiencies for asylum seekers in Scotland."

At least they left in the words "That the Parliament...", although I suppose that if they had attempted any more it would not have been an amendment; as it was, this was defeated by 108 to 17, with no abstentions. It is never hard to disagree with a Tory, but it was remarkable that all the Tories voted for it; there was some comment during this debate as to which sparsely populated/uninhabited island the Tories wanted to put refugees on, but the Tory spokeswoman said that that was just a proposal from an English Tory spokesman, and was not party policy. Only a matter of time, Miss Goldie (for it was she.)

Digressing, as is my wont, I came across this quote in a book by Colin Dexter, creator of Inspector Morse. It is attributed to Ambrose Bierce- The Devil’s Dictionary:

"A Conservative is one who is enamoured of existing evils, as distinguishable from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others"

And thus we come nicely to the Liberal amendment to the simple notion, cobbled up in a smoke filled room with Labour the night before, and designed to get Labour off the hook; in true Liberal fashion, never use 10 words when 100 will do. Their amendment read, if you have the patience:

"reiterates its strong support for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; believes that decisions affecting children whose parents are to be detained should be made in the best interests of the child; notes that the issue of asylum and immigration policy is reserved to Westminster but welcomes the significant progress made by Scottish Ministers to improve services and support for asylum seekers and refugees in the community; notes that Dungavel is one of eight UK removal centres operated by the Home Office throughout the United Kingdom; notes the reports by HM Inspectorate of Prisons and HM Inspectorate of Education on the educational provision made for the children detained at Dungavel; calls on Her Majesty's Government to take immediate action to implement the recommendations in the two reports and to end a system of detention of children at Dungavel which denies them access to social contact and to educational and other services in the local community, and calls on the Scottish Executive to convey the Parliament's concerns to Her Majesty's Government."

The Liberals also left in "That this Parliament....."; same reason as the Tories, but somehow omitted Mom and apple pie and be kind to animals (on whose behalf the Scottish Executive have already acted, but then pussycats and puppies are much more endearing than grubby immigrant children) and please God and the river don’t rise. This woolliness worked, and their amendment was passed by 65 votes to 41 with 19 abstentions; the abstentions were all the Tories plus Robin Harper and Shiona Baird of the Greens. Those against were all the SNP MSPs, 5 Greens, 5 SSP , plus Dennis Canavan, Margo MacDonald, Dr Jean Turner and John Swinburne, all independents; the 41st was Elaine Smith, Labour.

Elaine Smith Labour MSP submitted her own amendment, which read:

"recognises that there are widespread concerns regarding the care and education of children detained in Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre and calls on the Scottish Executive to engage in communications with Her Majesty's Government to seek to end the detention of children and their families at the centre and to develop a more humane alternative to this practice."

This was quite a reasonable one, and would have been supported by the SNP, but because the Labour/Liberal mealy mouthed amendment had been passed, it fell.

At the end of the day the amended resolution was passed: For 71, Against 33 Abstained 21; the Against included 26 SNP, 4 SSP, Dennis Canavan, Margo MacDonald and Elaine Smith, Labour. Dr Jean Turner and John Swinburne voted for the resolution, and the abstentions were all the Tories plus 4 Greens; all the other Labour MSPs voted for, as did all the Liberals, even the normally independent minded Donald Gorrie, plus 3 Greens, and Rosie Kane of the SSP, who we think hit the wrong button.

The First Minister took no part in the debate, leaving Margaret Curran, the communties minister to speak for the Scottish Executive; in her speech she said "As a result (of a report by the schools inspectorate) the Home Office have stated that they want to work with Scottish ministers and South Lanarkshire Council to take forward the recommendations on that report......" Her words were contradicted before lunch time that same day, by Beverley Hughes, an English Home Office minister who said "I don’t think that bussing them out to school every day for a very short period of time is actually going to get them the stability they need before they are finally returned home." Translated "Get lost."

The row spilled over into First Minister’s Questions, where Mr McConnell tried to pull a fast one on John Swinney; he said something to the effect that John Swinney had never done anything about Dungavel when he was a Westminster MP. John came back to point out that Dungavel was not in use as a Detention Centre when he was at Westminster. He countered with a question for the First Minister "Does the First Minister believe it is right to lock up children? Answer Yes or No". Answer there was none.

FOOT IN THE MOUTH NOTES

Mr Livingstone feels that this prospect is unimportant in light of the benefits that the Olympics would bring to London. Quite.

I was rather surprised to see a headline during the month of August "British soldiers to get protection." The article went on to say that all troop movements in Iraq would be accompanied by an armed escort.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a soldier as "a member of an army", and an army as "an organized force equipped for fighting on land."

Last month north eastern America had a power blackout that had everyone one in a justifiable panic as it was assumed to be terrorist activity; after investigation which pointed the finger at electricity companies cutting back on back-up systems, the real reason was identified.

A tree touched a power line in Cleveland.

From Item 7: "We may ask for immediate payment of the full amount you owe if:

# you break this agreement repeatedly or in any significant way.

# you die.

In the event of the second, would I be caring?

However if you responded to any of the mainly Nigerian scams promising you vast sums of money for letting them use your account to facilitate the transfer of millions of dollars, your accounts would be emptied before you could say "Individual Savings Account." Strange that.

BEAVERING AWAY

Some of the things our elected representatives have been busy with.

TRANSPORT SCOTLAND LAUNCH
Wed 17 Sep 03

MORE BUREAUCRACY BUT NO MORE FUNDS OR POWERS

Commenting on the Scottish Executive announcement of the launch of Transport Scotland today (Wednesday) Shadow Transport Minister Mr Kenny MacAskill MSP said;

"A Strategic Transport Authority is fine in principle but this one won't work out in practice. It's more bureaucracy and more Civil Servants but no more powers and no more funds.

"Creating an additional tier of Government Bureaucracy simply adds to not detracts from Public Transport difficulties"

"The problems in Scotland cannot be addressed without enhanced powers and increased funds. A Strategic Transport Authority for the delivery of a concessionary bus fares scheme is absurd. What is needed is the granting of powers for railways in Scotland.

"Without the funds from and the powers currently with the Strategic Rail Authority all that has been created is a Strategic Roads Authority. Its another wasted opportunity as Scotland's rail network runs into the buffers on a siding to nowhere."

ONE IN FIVE ARE 'ECONOMICALLY INACTIVE'
Wed 17 Sep 03

CURRENT POLICIES ARE CAUSE OF POPULATION DECLINE 21.5%

One in five Scots are jobless according to the latest official figures, despite the Government's headline figure showing just 5.6 percent unemployment.

The Labour Market Statistics released today (Wednesday) by National Statistics show that 673,000 people of working age, or 21.5 percent, were 'economically inactive' in the period March to May, up 12,000 on the first quarter of this year.

Commenting, Shadow Economy Minister Mr Jim Mather MSP, said:

"The headline unemployment figures that the Government continue to quote hides the real number of people who are jobless in Scotland. Just over twenty-one percent Scots are economically inactive. Put simply that means that one in five Scots are jobless.

"In some parts of the country, such as Glasgow and Clackmannanshire, the figure rises to a shocking one in three.

"More importantly, this latest survey indicates that 35 percent of the "Economically Inactive" want to work, and as they represent 7.5 percent of the total workforce that means that real unemployment is more like a truly shocking 13.2 percent.

"But that is not the whole story. In addition to that we have the people who have been forced into reluctant early retirement and the increase in the number of people who have had to leave Scotland to find work.

"These figures prove that current policies cause poverty, family fragmentation and the export of young people, all of which result in the rapid decline in Scotland's population.

"Tens of thousands of people who want to work; are eager to work; but can't find work are trapped on benefits. This is the price we are paying for our lacklustre economic performance.

"These people are ignored by the headline unemployment rate and I only hope that the Executive's new found commitment to economic recovery means that they will not ignore them as well."

EXEC COMPLACENCY THREATENS HIGHER EDUCATION
Tues 16 Sep 03

The Smart, Successful Scotland strategy will be fatally undermined if Higher Education funding is not addressed as a matter of urgency, Shadow Education and Lifelong Learning Minister Ms Fiona Hyslop MSP said today (Tuesday) as she welcomed Glasgow University Principal Sir Graeme Davies's call for an all Scotland approach to a Higher Education strategy.

Speaking as the Association of University Teachers and Universities Scotland highlighted the danger posed to Scotland from top-up fees south of the border, Ms Hyslop said:

"There is a broad consensus that Smart, Successful Scotland is the right strategy for our long term future, but it will be fatally undermined if we ignore the threat to our Higher Education system.

"Sir Graeme Davies has hit the nail on the head. If we don't jettison the Scottish Executive's complacency and develop a national strategy for use of research grants our universities will not be able to compete.

"There is a real danger that this Executive's complacency will see Scotland squeezed out of the market for research grants by universities south of the border. At the same time, top-up fees could price Scotland out of competition for the brightest and best research teams.

"This threat is a clear and present to the future of our higher education system, but it also threatens the Executive's core economic strategy. This is about much more than simply how much money our universities need. At stake is the smart, successful Scotland economic strategy we all want to see succeed. Without a through review of the whole funding structure, it is under very real threat.

"We need an all Scotland solution which funds Scottish Higher Education for a future which relieves it of the threat of unwanted top-up fees. By doing so, we can by-pass the consequent Barnett squeeze and face up to the real and practical responsibilities of Scottish taxes directly funding Scottish Higher Education with financial Independence."

WAVERLEY STATION DENIED UPGRADE
Mon 15 Sep 03

SCOTLAND MUST TAKE CONTROL OF RAIL NETWORK - MACASKILL

Shadow Transport Minister Mr Kenny MacAskill MSP had today (Monday) called for the Scottish Executive to have control over the rail network in Scotland following the failure of the Strategic Rail Authority in London to improve services in Scotland. Mr MacAskill said;

"Scotland is getting a raw deal from the SRA. We were promised change and major improvements to rail services and all we have received is the brush off.

"We need to have a rail authority based in Scotland so that we can look after our own best interests; because it is clear that the system as it stands is not working.

"The postponed upgrade of Waverley Station is the most recent disaster in a long line of failures at the hands of the SRA which is why we need to take control of our own rail network.

"The best option is for the Scottish Executive to take charge of rail travel in Scotland so that we can ensure that the much needed upgrades are completed. The Strategic Transport Authority to be announced by the Executive must have control and funding over rail otherwise it is a sham and rail in Scotland will be left to rot.

"We have been denied the upgrade of Waverley Station and we must make sure that any work on the rest of our rail network does not go the same way."

TORIES SUPPORT SCOTTISH FINANCIAL FREEDOM
Sun 13 Sep 03

SCOTLAND MUST TAKE CHARGE OF ITS OWN FUTURE - MATHER

Following reports that the Conservative Party supports the idea of financial freedom in Scotland Shadow Economy and Enterprise Minister Mr Jim Mather MSP has today (Sunday) questioned their motives for backing the campaign. Mr Mather said;

"In recent months the SNP policy for financial freedom in Scotland has gained vast support from the Scottish business community, and now we see the Conservative Party have also realised the strength of this argument.

"I do however have reservations as to why the Conservative Party has decided to wholly support the idea now when they were so dead against the concept of devolution in the first place.

"The SNP has campaigned for financial freedom so that Scotland has greater control over its own finances which will benefit our economy, Scottish business and the general public.

"It is time for Scotland to take charge of its own future instead of having to go cap in hand to the Government at Westminster.

"I hope that this change of heart from the Conservatives will open the flood gates for other parties to support SNP policy and admit that the best way forward for Scotland is to have control of our own economy."

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