2004 IS THE YEAR FOR
SCOTLAND TO FIND HER PLACE IN THE WORLD
Shadow
First Minister Mr John Swinney MSP has used his New Year Message to call
for 2004 to be the year in which Scotland finds her place in the world.
"2003 has been a year in
which Scotland's lack of a voice in the world has never been more obvious
and the consequences more serious. Our troops have fought in Iraq, yet
Scotland had no say in whether they should be sent to war in the first
place. Despite wide debate in the international community about the
arguments for war and the impact on international stability, Scotland's
voice was silenced.
"Despite mass opposition on
the streets of Scotland, the Scottish Parliament failed to give voice to
that opposition. People in Scotland want their Parliament to speak on
their behalf and to give voice to their views and concerns.
"2004 must be a year in
which our Parliament speaks for our people, their interests and their
concerns. Our Parliament must give leadership to secure Scotland's
rightful place in the world.
"The coming year will see
some of the most important decisions taken on the European stage affecting
the lives of every Scot. The EU is enlarging, giving ever more nations -
particularly small nations - a seat and a voice at the top table. But
Scotland is not one of those nations. Other nations are forging ahead,
making a place for themselves at the heart of European power, while we are
being left behind.
"And the desperate problems
of the fishing industry demonstrate what happens when we stand back, allow
London to do the talking for us and watch as Brussels decimates one of our
key industries.
"We cannot afford to stand
back. In 2004 we must act to secure a voice for Scotland. In June, there
will be the most significant European elections we have ever faced here in
Scotland. The voters will have the chance to stand shoulder to shoulder
with our fishing industry. They will have the chance to say, we will not
be bypassed, we will not be ignored and we will have our say.
"2004 is the year in which
Scotland must start to move on. It is a time for Scotland to act
confidently as an equal country in the world. It is a time for our country
to build a future based on the internationalist outlook that has been the
hallmark of our past. It is time for Scotland to use her voice and find
her rightful place in the world."
FAN MAIL
We
do get fan mail from time to time, and we also get some criticism;
occasionally we print the criticism (very occasionally) but as we do not
normally print the good fan mail, here is a selection!
Having left Scotland for
Canada 30 years ago, its great that there is a website truly Scottish.
Wonderful features and the jigsaws, jokes and audio are wonderful. Even if
other people can’t understand the language, to Scots, it’s as if we never
left hame.
Keep up the good work and
all the best for 2004.
David Shaw 22 Dec 03
Keep up the good work.
I look forward to my 'FLAG'
every week.
Ellen Cooper - Western
Australia 17 Dec 03
Hello
I have just come across your online magazine and would like to
congratulate you on a great job! Keep up the good work promoting all
things Scottish.
Le meas,
Justin Taylor 26 Dec 03
Thanks, I love reading the
'Flag' from the 'Electric Scotland' link each week. Very Neat.....
Kenneth and Helen Bullard,
Arkansas. 29 Dec 03.
I am English, yet I love
your site, and agree with many of your policies, including political
independence. But I deplore the knee-jerk anti-Englishness of many of your
countrymen, which is ignorant racism pure and simple. About time they grew
up and lost their chippiness methinks. Can't remember the last time I
heard a 'mean Scotsman' joke, about 15 years ago? That's as good a test of
current English sentiment towards Scotland as any. Why do The Scots find
it so hard to let go of these old prejudices? Do you think that
having Scottish MPs voting in Parliament on purely English affairs is
democratic, by the way?
John Austin
BALLAST =
STABILITY??
It has been stated that the
purpose of the Private Finance Initiative is that the contractor takes the
risk; this type of scheme is now called the Public Private Partnership.
In East Lothian, a company
was set up called Innovate East Lothian Ltd, and the partners were:
Ballast Special Projects, Wiltshier Facilities Management, Lloyds TSB plc,
Ballast plc and Noble and Company; they entered into a partnership with
East Lothian District Council to refurbish and manage 6 schools over 30
years. Somewhere along the line, another company called Forth Electrical
Services Ltd seems to have joined in, according to press reports, but I
can find no reference to them on the web, apart from their own website
which shows "Site Currently Under Construction." (Just like East Lothian
Schools.)
The
capital cost of construction was to be £43 million, spread over 17 months;
I cannot find what the total cost of the contract is yet, but it will be
an awful lot more than that! Anyway the project started in December 2002,
and by September 2003 there was a panic as they were going to overshooot
the budget by £2 million. In October 2003, there were rumours that
sub-contractors had not been paid, and at the end of October, Christine
Grahame MSP was asking questions in the Scottish Parliament as Ballast had
gone into administration; I missed all the newspaper coverage at the time
as I was on holiday in the Mediterranean. (They went into administration
on 15 October). No other MSP seems to have raised the issue, but then it’s
a Labour Council.
The sub-contractors were
extremely unhappy; they had done the work, the Council had paid Ballast,
and the money just seems to have vanished. One company tried to get back
all the furniture they had supplied to no avail, and naturally refused to
supply any more until they did get paid; in total some 1000 jobs in the
building industry have been put at risk. The sub-contractors who are owed
millions, claim that Ballast had stated in 2002 that it was withdrawing
from the UK market, that it had publicly assured everyone in September
that they would be paid, and that although Wiltshier Facilities Management
and Ballast Wiltshier went into administration at the same time with
substantial assets, because Ballast was the main contractor the cash from
these firms will return to the Dutch parent Ballast Nedham.
A demand from the
sub-contractors for an investigation by the Department of Trade and
Industry has been turned down, on the grounds that they have no
jurisdiction in the Netherlands, and so far none of the sub-contractors
have received any money, although according to one report a payment of
£2.9 million had been withheld from Ballast; further outrage has been
caused by the fact that Deloitte & Touche, the administrator, has charged
£1 million for its first month’s work!
The
other victims of this debacle are the pupils; as equipment is not
available, preparation for the examinations this year are being severely
hampered, and school heads have been forced to ask East Lothian Council to
request special dispensations for hundreds of pupils sitting Standard
Grade and Higher exams this year.
It would seem that Balfour
Beatty is going to pick up this contract, and it would also seem that it
is going to cost a lot more money, which the taxpayers are going to have
to stump up. We have heard the tired cry that it is the commercial
companies who are supposed to take the risk, but in this instance the main
contractor walked away with public money, and the people who supplied the
materials and did the work were left empty handed, and more public money
needs to be pumped in, so who is being left with the risk? The
Conservatives are saying nothing, as in the glossy partnership brochure
they said, "The Conservative Group on East Lothian Council are delighted
to support the PPP project." It was their policy anyway.
More than East Lothian was
affected by Ballast sinking; the Strathclyde Police Communications Centre
in Glasgow Govan is now a mass of abandoned scaffolding; maybe they should
contact Interpol.
JACK THE
CABARET
I
have to hand it to the First Minister; it is not really very often that I
burst out laughing at something I read in the paper, but I did with this
one. "If we had a better and stronger opposition that was more
consistent... our reforms would be seen as more radical." he claimed. So,
if more people opposed him he would perform better? What a funny man!
I don’t know if the
interviewer fell about laughing at a politician complaining at getting all
his own way; on the other hand, his Labour colleagues in local government
are furious that he is trying to put proportional representation in to
local government and that will increase opposition to them... the swine!
Probably Mr McConnell is upset that the Opposition is not asking the right
questions, but then any politician wants to be asked a question they can
answer, so his own numpties ask him prepared questions, and these nasty
Nationalists ask him questions he doesn’t want to answer.
What I do find disgraceful,
and I concede that this may not be entirely Mr McConnell’s fault (big of
you) is that the Scottish Parliament is gaining an unenviable reputation
for slipshod finance. According to the Auditor General, some £5.3 million
has been misallocated in the Parliament’s accounts, but when the balance
is struck only about £300 is unaccounted for. The disgrace is that we are
a nation renowned for financial probity; bad enough to have to suffer an
obscure English minister prating on about being shocked by the Parliament
building debacle, a purely Labour one, without having basic book-keeping
seen as shambolic. This gets up my nose, mainly because I am a retired
accountant, and posting items to the right accounts is not difficult. In
addition, the Parliament is delaying payment of its bills, which is back
to basics again, but suppliers have overdrafts, and when Parliament
doesn’t pay, it causes problems; does Mr McConnell think he’s the late
Queen Mother?
Anyway, the majority of the
people of Scotland think that the Parliament has done very little to
improve their lives; this is not unexpected, as Labour hyped up a Scottish
Parliament to such an extent in 1997 that many thought we were getting
independence. As it is, the number of reserved subjects is legion; we
cannot affect unemployment, pensions, social security, taxation, defence,
broadcasting, fishing, agriculture, the minimum wage, refugees, to name but
a few, so we are left with what many derisively call a Toytown Parliament.
The press deplores the low status of the Parliament, but treats it with
derision and then complains that people pay attention!
It
has done good things; take for instance the furore over the Parliament
building itself. It is only because there is now a Scottish focus that we
can actually look at what went on; the cavalier and illegal conduct of
both Westminster Ministers and the Civil Service is now being exposed in a
way never possible before, and this is good for the people. Misdemeanours,
coveniently covered up in the miles between London and Scotland are now
obvious; issues, like the war in Iraq, did get discussed in the
Parliament. True, it is a reserved matter, but there were, and are,
Scottish troops involved, so it was right we had a chance to debate it,
and make our views known. Yes, the Parliament did tie themselves in knots
over fox hunting, in my opinion a waste of time in a country where one
third of the children still live in poverty, but this was a Private
Members Bill, brought by the Labour Lord Watson of Invergowrie, an
Executive Minister who spoke publicly against another Executive Bill and
then meekly voted for it! There will always be idiosyncratic people in
politics. Section 28/ 2a was another example, trotted out by a Labour
Minister, Wendy Alexander, who may have known something about economics
but nothing about politics (she was also an adviser to Donald Dewar when
he made the decisions about Holyrood, would you believe!)
It is the duty of the
Scottish National Party to gain Independence for Scotland; towards that
aim we will harass the Executive, push for more powers for the Parliament,
form the Executive, gain Independence, and dramatically improve the lives
of all living in Scotland.
POLICY POSTCARDS
We
continue our publication of the SNP Policy Postcards; we will publish a
new one every week, each one dealing with a different aspect of SNP
policy. The full list can be seen on the SNP website under "Vision" and
"Policy".
Boosting Our Economy
Over the past five years
the Scottish economy has grown at just 1.4% while the UK has grown at
2.6%. If Scotland had kept pace we would have earned an extra £2 billion
to spend on public services.
We need to boost economic growth by enhancing our competitiveness. As a
first step an SNP administration in Holyrood will use savings from the
reform of the local enterprise network to reduce business rates to a level
lower than the rest of the UK.
But the long term solution must be to put Scotland in control of our
economy, rather than London, with the full financial powers of
Independence.
Labour have admitted
that the SNP are winning the economic argument.
A confidential Labour
document admits the SNP’s economic message is "clearer, stronger and
more consistent" than its own.
And a series of
Scotland’s top academics - including the principals of St Andrews
University, Glasgow Caledonian University and Abertay University -
have backed SNP plans for full tax raising and spending powers for the
Scottish Parliament as the only way to secure the future of Scottish
universities, as well as providing extra tools to stimulate Scotland's
economy.
FOOT IN THE MOUTH
NOTES
A bit of the Bad News, Good
News about this one; Dame Shirley Porter, Tesco heiress, no longer owes
Westminster City Council £37 million for forcing Labour voters out and
replacing them with Tories.
That was the Bad News;
the Good News is that with interest charges, she now owes £43 million.
There
is a booming market in the USA for colossal coffins, as conventional
coffins are too small for the growing number of obese people; fast food
companies are apparently considering investing in the business.
No doubt including a
Happy Meal in the deal.
I have long been
convinced that among the first persons to visit the scene of any tragedy
is the local florist; who puts down a floral tribute.
He then goes back to
the shop and orders an awful lot more.
I
came across an interesting anachronism last weekend; apparently it is
still a criminal offence to be within 100 feet of a reigning monarch
without any socks on.
Probably it doesn’t
apply to dogs; bitches?....one would need to ask Princess Anne.
A report in Scotland on
Sunday over the festive period said that all 16 MSPs who lost their seats
in May 2003, plus 10 who decided not to stand again, had been paid £24,500
resettlement, as specified by law; as most of them are still unemployed,
it would have been idiocy not to have applied
We can be quite sure
that noble Westminster MPs would spurn any such redundancy cash, although
in the same circumstances they could claim more than £28,000 each.
Ex Ministers receive proportionately more - ask the noble Lords Rifkind
and Forsyth.
Among
the many critical comments on the cancellation of the Hogmanay
celebrations in Edinburgh, one writer plaintitavely commented that the
torch-lit parade started late and that "the torches had an irritating
tendency to go out."
Edinburgh, Scotland,
Hogmanay, 31st December - winds? How unfair.
The Marquis of Linlithgow
is selling four baronies, West Niddry, Keith Marischal, Kilpunt and
Winchburgh; he has already sold the baronies of Paistoun, Byres and
Crawfurdmuire for £50,000 each.
No property is
involved, just the title; could be a very snobbish way of money
laundering.
And some one-liners culled
from various publications, and none:
A
country cannot become rich simply because its citizens buy houses on
borrowed money.
The older people become,
the older they want to be.
It has been said that the
Bourbons learned nothing and forgot nothing; coventional wisdom now has it
that Japaneses economists learned nothing, and forgot everything.
All drivers are
pedestrians, but not all pedestrians are drivers
SAID AND DONE
I have been lamenting for
some time about Press Releases; until May 2003, we had shorter versions in
the SNP Daily News, and these fitted in to the Flag fairly well. We lost
this facility, and have been using a few press releases each week, but
press releases are designed for newspapers and do not readily fit in with
the web. So now I have decided to bite the bullet and abbreviate the press
releases myself, with apologies to our hard working SNP Press Officers;
the good bit is that I can use more!
HOME OFFICE MUST BE HELD TO ACCOUNT
OVER McLEAN
Tue 30 Dec 03
The
Scottish National Party's Westminster Home Affairs Spokesperson Ms
Annabelle Ewing MP said today that the SNP will table an Emergency
Question to the Home Office when Parliament resumes, demanding to know the
reasons why drug dealer Roderick McLean was switched from a Category B
prisoner at Saughton to Category D at an open prison in England - when he
still had years of his sentence to run, and from which he subsequently
escaped.
Ms Ewing said:
"It was extraordinary for a
prisoner like Roderick McLean to be transferred to an open prison, and the
Home Office have a great deal of explaining to do as to why they
authorised it.
"He was guilty of extremely
serious offences, and still had years of his sentence to run"
BOVIS LINK- HOLYROOD & MUSEUM.
Sat 3 Jan 04
Mr
Fergus Ewing MSP, the Scottish National Party's Shadow Minister for
Finance, wrote to the Auditor General asking that they should, in their
work on the Holyrood Inquiry, probe whether there was any "linkage"
between the award of the Scottish Parliament contract to Bovis, and the
Museum of Scotland contract, also awarded to Bovis.
The Auditor General's
office has now confirmed that they will be taking account of this. Mr
Ewing, MSP for Inverness East Nairn and Lochaber, and persistent critic of
the Holyrood fiasco, said:
"The Holyrood Inquiry heard
evidence from Barbara Doig that she first represented the Scottish Office
at a meeting on the 2nd December, 1998, when Bovis were to be dropped from
the candidates for the construction management contract for the Parliament
building. She then did a U-turn, and demanded that they be brought back
in, despite their bid being around 1 million pounds more than the lowest
tender of McAlpines."
"SCOTTISH
EXECUTIVE MUST PUT AN END TO SHIRLEY'S NIGHTMARE NOW"
Wed 24 Dec 03
The
family and supporters of former policewoman Shirley McKie have hailed
today's court ruling from Lord Wheatley, in which he decisively rejected
arguments from the Scottish Executive which sought to have most of her
case dismissed, as a "massive step forward" and they have called on the
Executive to move very speedily to a settlement of the case which has put
Ms McKie under tremendous pressure for almost seven years.
Issuing his opinion today
after three days of legal argument in October, Lord Wheatley has ruled
that the Executive cannot rely on witness immunity to shield fingerprint
officers from the Scottish Criminal Records Office from giving evidence
and being cross examined. He has also ruled that testimony from former
senior police officers who investigated the actions of the SCRO in the
McKie case and who recommended prosecutions of fingerprint officers for
criminal conduct - a recommendation not acted on by the Lord Advocate and
Crown Office - should be heard in court.
Former MSP Michael Russell
who has continued to work with Shirley and her family said: "Shirley has
been forced to go to court against a government elected by the people in
order to get justice. Incredibly that government has continued to delay,
obfuscate and deny in order to deprive her of her right to discover the
truth. Today Lord Wheatley has made it clear that the Executive has no leg
to stand on."
POSTCODE LOTTERY FOR
SCOTS ALZHEIMER'S PATIENTS
Wed 7 Jan 04
Following
reports today (Wednesday) from Pfizer about postcode prescribing of drugs
to help patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease in Scotland Shadow
Health Minister Ms Shona Robison MSP has called on the Scottish Executive
to investigate why NHS postcode lotteries are being allowed to continue.
Figures show that:
* Alzheimer's disease drugs
spending across all pharmaceutical manufacturers, per head of over-65s in
Lanarkshire was 8.77 pounds in 2002/03. This compared to 44 pence in
Lothian, a difference of 1893 percent, and 83 pence in Shetland which is a
956 percent difference.
Commenting, Ms Robison
said:
"Malcolm Chisholm has said
that postcode lotteries are at an end in Scotland, but it is clear from
these figures that his rhetoric does not match the reality.
"Alzheimer's disease has a
huge impact on the lives of sufferers and their families and it is vital
that enough funding is made available for the best possible treatment so
that a better quality of life is available to people across Scotland for
the longest possible time."
SCOTS BOATS BANNED -
FOREIGN BOATS FREE TO FISH
Wed 7 Jan 04
Foreign
fishing boats will be free to fish in Scotland's traditional Haddock
grounds while Scots boats will be banned under the latest EU fishing deal,
Shadow First Minister Mr John Swinney MSP said today (Wednesday) as he
called for the deal to be renegotiated.
Under the deal agreed by
Fisheries Ministers in December, Scots boats are banned from huge swathes
of the North Sea Haddock grounds once around 20 percent of the quota has
been caught.
Bizarrely, foreign boats
will be free to take their entire catch from these fishing grounds,
irrespective of the impact on other stocks such as cod.
Note:
Under the new fisheries
deal a ban will be imposed on Scots boats fishing within the "Cod
Protection area". This will apply once UK boats have caught 10,162 tonnes
of the 50,811 tonnes available under the UK Haddock quota.
LOCAL AUTHORITIES BEING
FORCED TO USE PPP IN SCHOOLS
Wed 7 Jan 04
Shadow
Education Minister Ms Fiona Hyslop MSP has today (Tuesday) called on the
Scottish Executive to rethink their plans to limit funding for non-PPP
schools in Scotland after it was revealed in Parliamentary Questions that
local authorities will not be supported by the 190 million pounds Schools
Fund which is intended for investment in improving and maintaining school
buildings and estates if Prudential borrowing schemes are used instead of
PPP.
Commenting, Ms Hyslop said:
"What is becoming clear is
that local authorities will be unable to use the much promoted Prudential
borrowing scheme when it is introduced in April together with the Schools
Fund. This means that local authorities are being railroaded down the PPP
route.
"This is blatantly unfair
and reflects the Government's obsession with the extremely expensive PPP
investment option for schools.
"Prudential borrowing was
announced before the 2003 council elections as a pre-election promise but
is turning out to be a hollow option for school investment."
