The first four weekly cycle is over, and I have mixed emotions; in the first instance I am delighted to have such a varied and talented team doing the Flag, but I have missed the weekly rush of adrenalin, the jousts with Kenneth Fee, and the pressure of hitting the deadline. That said, I have no regrets, as three years almost solo was not sustainable, and the last year with Allison and Richard taking turns was much better, but symmetry has now been arrived at, before cemetery took its place.

So here I am, a wee bit rusty, although I have been monitoring the SNP press releases to stop me from wearying (Tsk, tsk - sarcasm).

The Sewel Convention was created as it was seen that there would be a need for a procedure where Westminster’s ongoing legislation would have to be dovetailed with legislation going through Holyrood. This meant that Westminster legislation impacting on devolved issues would be nodded through Holyrood , thus saving time. However, when Lord Sewel introduced the convention, he foresaw perhaps a couple of issues a year, but in fact there have been more than 50 in the first five years. Opposition parties, and Lord Sewel himself (a Labour peer) are seeing this as a means of sidetracking difficult issues, by leaving them to Westminster, and then saying "It wisna me!"

Sometimes it is understandable that the Executive might wish to avoid controversy; in the first year of the Scottish Parliament we had the abominable mess when Wendy Alexander blithely announced to the gay community that she was abolishing the Section 2a (Clause 28) regulation for schools. This led to an outburst of moral indignation, culminating in a privately funded referendum which took the opposite view; ever since the Executive has been running scared of any contentious issue. While this may be acceptable to the apparatchiks of the Labour Party, we do need to face and debate these issues in Scotland, and not have the decisions taken elsewhere; if Labour has not matured, then that’s their problem.

Like many other issues, I wonder if the Executive would have been quite so cavalier if the Westminster Government had been of a different political complexion; can you imagine First Minister McConnell handing over the NHS Reform and Health Care Professionals Bill to the tender care of Prime Minister Michael Howard - or Prime Minister Sir Malcolm Rifkind for that matter? Especially when the Executive hands them over before Westminster has even started to amend the legislation; the Tories support the idea unequivocally, while the Liberals support it equivocally, as they do everything else.

We know that Tony Blair really upset everyone when he referred to the Scottish Parliament as just like a parish council, but it looks as if McConnell’s time in local government has given him that mindset.

Some thoughts about this; where are the lines between broadcasting in the public interest, and sensationalism to get more viewers? I did not see the programme, and have very little knowledge of the Airborne project, except that it has echoes of "Bring back National Service" - a panacea for unruly youth- which did not quite work either. However, a report from the Executive’s own inspectors dated 20th December 2003 said the scheme was working very successfully! Perhaps a case of the BBC not considering the wider public interest?

In any event, the Executive decided to withdraw the funding, £600,000, as from the end of March, and did not bother to inform their Liberal "allies"; the SNP put forward an amendment to delay the withdrawal of funding until the matter had been fully discussed in the Parliament. The Initiative had been featured in the Liberal Party manifesto as a way of reducing re-offending, and Liberal MSPs Donald Gorrie and Robert Brown were vociferous in their support for the SNP amendment; come the day and the debate - and at the end of it all the Liberals, with the exception of Keith Raffan, voted solidly with the Executive to defeat the SNP amendment! In a weak attempt to justify their actions, Donald Gorrie said that the Executive had made up its mind anyway, and that if the Liberals helped defeat the Executive this could have dire consequences; the Labour Party Conference was on in Inverness and they would be debating proportional representation for local government, so any vote against the Executive could result in considerable embarrassment and a defeat at the Conference for this most precious principle.

All very slick, except that the devious Labour Party allowed a debate on proportional representation at their Conference, but in true Labour democratic fashion they had an impassioned debate - but no vote! All delegates could have their say, but while they would be listened to, no one would pay any attention, as the matter was decided. The Liberals were also rather ingenuous in that they said the Executive had made up its mind, and who cared what the Parliament decided; that this may be the case is only possible because the Liberals cave in at the first hint that they could lose any power. Two years ago, the Executive was defeated on the fishing issue; they re-ran the vote, and the Liberals duly caved in.

One little thought for them - as they tell us how they can change the world; Labour claim to have delivered 144 of their 146 manifesto commitments - how many of the Liberal manifesto commitments have they achieved? Please don’t let them try the abolition of student tuition fees canard, deferment and abolition do not mean the same; going back to the National Service comment above, any young man learning a trade was not called up at 18, but was deferred until he had finished his time, normally about 21. National Service for painters, plumbers and engineers was not abolished, only deferred - like tuition fees for students.

DEVIOUS BUGGERS

Every country has intelligence services, every country eavesdrops where and when it can; when we have an independent Scotland, we will have an intelligence service, and we will also eavesdrop where and when we can. To do otherwise would be foolish in the extreme, and put our country at risk. Whether this is honourable is purely academic, as we do not live in an honourable world, and it is up to us to look after our own nation first.

There have been some highly amusing comments on the issue; I particularly liked one letter which said that as Tony Blair said his would be a listening government, how could we complain when it did just that? I can also recall a former SNP Vice Chairman for Publicity, Colin Bell, publicly stating "If MI5 are not bugging meetings of the SNP National Executive, then I, as a British taxpayer, will complain that they are not doing their duty" - or words to that effect.

So a load of hypocritical waffle about bugging the United Nations and Kofi Annan, while no comment on the fact that the United Nations will also be bugging each other, and Kofi Annan will be kept reliably informed; he also needs to know where threats are coming from. What is the difference?

DEWAR’S FOLLY- A PIG IN A POKE

This week, it has been the turn of the builders, Bovis Lend Lease, to face the questions; the fairly direct "question" from John Campbell QC, that awarding the contract to Bovis was already fixed and that the competitive tendering was just a formality, would indicate that Mr Campbell knows more than he is admitting at this stage. Bovis, who naturally denied the charge, chose to highlight the number of design changes to the building as their main defence. As there have been 15,000 design changes, and they are not yet finished, this may appear legitimate, except that they could not satisfactorily explain why they had not called a halt until things were clearer.

The late Donald Dewar was the man who picked the site, the architect, the plan and the contractor, long before the Parliament was elected. The site was ruled out as unsuitable, the architect was ruled out as unsuitable, the builder was ruled out as unsuitable - so we ended up with all of them! As for the plan, as soon as we heard that Enric Miralles had a vision of upturned boats as a typically Scottish theme we should have run a mile; upturned boats generally sink, and Miralles had seen them from the train - in England! Not a good omen, that.

Despite all this obvious evidence as to where the blame lies, we still have letters in the press bleating about these MSPs , changing everything at great expense to provide themselves with a palace to loll about in, lording it over the rest of us, and being handsomely paid. In fact, the very scale of the changes, and the fact that they are not yet finished, shows how ill judged the whole project was from Day One, and the fact that the project could have been stopped, thought about, and properly analysed could have saved vast sums, heaps of bad publicity, and a lot of time and angst.

Enric Miralles seems to have had in mind something like the Gaudi project in his native Barcelona, which I have visited, where the architects are making it up as they go along, which may never be finished, and the purpose of which is unclear to say the least. Starting with the aforesaid upturned boats theme, he did not supply proper plans, and when he did supply plans they were late and vague; by this time the Secretary of State for Scotland, on the advice of the civil servants, had signed the open ended contract and the builders were rubbing their hands with glee; they could not believe their luck - a dripping roast and a lifetime job at the same time!

What were all the design changes? Well for a start there was the debating chamber; while the one required was a horseshoe shape, Miralles designed one that was rectangular, like a lecture theatre; perhaps an elementary look even at the European Parliament would have given him a clue, but the change to the original concept cost more than £30 million to fix . I can remember in my working life an office being built in a temperature controlled chamber where the window was 6 feet off the ground; the builders were a bit embarrassed when we asked how were dockets to be issued to drivers through the window, when the staff and drivers could neither see, hear or reach other? The problem there was that the builders/architects had not spoken to the operators. Now that was in a fairly standard distribution warehouse, and not a large and complicated Parliament building designed for a site with plenty of room for expansion, and not the shoe-horned place it finished up, so one can imagine some of the monumental cock-ups the architects and builders were faced with, because it was rushed and no one talked to the operators, but then there were no operators when it was designed!.

However, while we are still being denied the films of the late Donald Dewar and Enric Miralles sniggering away as they screwed everything up, perhaps our much maligned intelligence services have tapes of these conversations? We would hate to think that they omitted to bug this saga.

 SCOTLAND’S GOLDEN AGE

Those who wish tickets can phone 0845 3000 656; alternately, pick up the leaflet "Your BBC, Your Say" in the public library. Further information can be obtained at www.bbccharterreview.org.uk, and your views can be expressed by writing to BBC Charter Review Consultation, Department for Media Culture and Sport, 2-4 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5DH, or emailed to : bbccharterreview@culture.gsi.gov.uk All responses should be sent by 31st March 2004.

By the way, the current Royal Charter comes up for review on 1st January 2007; it is reviewed every 10 years, and was last renewed in 1996, which will make it 11 years, but who’s counting?

Mr McIntosh’s letter notes that it is a considerable distance for readers to travel from Oban to Edinburgh, and I look forward to further illuminating information in his letters to the Scotsman and the Herald.

POLICY POSTCARDS

 Waste

Scotland is currently the dirty man of Europe. Radical action is required to bring waste management in Scotland up to acceptable levels. Instead the Executive has relied on rhetoric. Scotland should be moving towards sustainability but this will only be achieved with real leadership. Only the SNP has the vision required to deliver a clean, green independent future for Scotland.

As an addendum to the above, a recent study has shown that Scotland produces enough waste for everyone to fill one and a half bin bags every day of the year; as in this household we struggle to fill the bin once a week, there must be some really prolific wasters out there

At the same time, we are being urged to stop smoking, eat healthier food, and take more exercise - so that we can live longer.

Advocates of congestion charging should take note of what is happening in Indonesia; the authorities have banned cars carrying less than three people from the city during the peak period. So "car jockeys" stand by the roadside, get a lift into town and a few bob, then walk back and start again.

Now if they implemented the same system here, pensioners could do that, using their bus pass to get back for a second shift; just the job for augmenting the pension.

I was somewhat abashed at a recent cost comparison between Britain and average EU prices for a list of products; the items featured were Coca Cola, Pringles (crisps not sweaters) Marlboro Light cigarettes, Veuve Cliquot champagne, MacDonald’s hamburger and a bus ticket.

The only item on my shopping list would have been the bus ticket, and as a pensioner I travel free. Note - must widen my horizons.

It would be interesting to know this particular company’s response; Ballast Wiltshier had a £43 million joint venture with East Lothian Council to build and refurbish secondary schools, a project launched with great fanfare and glossy brochures. They went into administration (polite word for bust) last year, bankrupting many sub contractors, who supplied the materials and did the work, while Ballast took the money and ran.

Cold calling with a difference; I answered the phone to hear a recorded message : "We are sorry to have disturbed you. This message was intended only to be answered by an answering machine. Thank you."

How did it know I was not an answering machine?

These programmes are shown everywhere, including to patients in hospital, who normally have jaded appetites, anyway; what a disappointment for those in hospital in Edinburgh, for starters, when they get tasteless scrambled eggs - trunked up from Wales.

 SYNOPSIS

A selection of the press releases put out by our elected representatives over the past week. It is not possible to do a lot; there were 42 press releases between Thu 26 Feb 04 and Wed 3 Mar 04.

Speaking from Parliament in Brussels today, the MEP said:

"The European Union has a duty to protect public health through legislation to harmonise regulations on exposure to electromagnetic fields. The current guidelines are hopelessly out of date and yet the UK Government is forging ahead with its TETRA programme quoting regulations which predate this system. We just can’t allow this programme to run on unchecked when we can’t put our hands on our hearts and say "It’s safe".

"The Commission’s rules lay down that it’s the Member States who bear responsibility for ensuring that adequate health protection measures are taken. This has not happened and it’s not good enough. This is why I’ve asked the Commission to exercise its duty of care in stopping the UK Government in its tracks until proper testing is done."

Perth and Kinross SNP Councillor John Hulbert, who recently sought to have the health implications posed by TETRA masts taken into account in planning decisions, welcomed Mr Hudghton’s actions.

TETRA is being introduced in the UK to serve the Police and emergency services. It operates at ultra high frequency (395 Mhz) pulses of around 17.6Hz, a frequency which has been shown as causing damage to the nervous and immune systems in human beings. The UK Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones in their Government commissioned study of 2000, the Stewart Report, said that modulation around the frequency of 16Hz "should be avoided" because of possible health impacts.

OVER 200 JOBS TO GO AT AA
Wed 3 Mar 04

Following the announcement today (Wednesday) that the Erskine Branch of the AA is to close, affecting over 200 jobs Shadow Economy and Enterprise Minister Mr Jim Mather MSP and Shadow Transport Minister Mr Kenny MacAskill MSP have labelled the decision as a massive blow to Scottish workers and a clear indication that the Scottish Executive is not working with employers to keep jobs in Scotland.

Commenting Mr Mather said:

"This is the latest in a depressingly long line of companies moving jobs out of Scotland either south of the border or overseas. And it begs the question, "What exactly is Jim Wallace doing to improve our country's economy?"

"A steady leakage of quality jobs with mainstream companies is a huge issue, yet it is becoming increasingly clear to everyone that the Scottish Executive is incapable of doing anything about it.

"There is no doubt that Scottish workers want something done about it. This country will never accept the Eddie George scenario, which said that we should be a compliant buffer-zone to protect the economy down South."

Speaking later Mr MacAskill said:

"The AA has served both Scottish motorists and our job market well in the past and this decision will come as a massive blow.

"The parent company Centrica owns both the AA and Scottish Gas and after dismantling the AA in Scotland, they still intend to market themselves to customers as a wholly Scottish company with Scottish interests and this is a slap in the face for AA employees."

HAPLESS GREENS VOTE AGAINST FISHERIES CONSERVATION IN KEY VOTE
Wed 3 Mar 04

Shadow Fisheries Minister Mr Richard Lochhead MSP today (Wednesday) promised to take the SNP's opposition to December's fisheries deal to the full parliament following the defeat of his motion to annul the controversial Days at Sea legislation at the meeting of the Environment and Rural Development Committee.

Mr Lochhead's motion was defeated by six votes to three. Mr Lochhead provided examples of how the deal not only discriminates against Scotland but goes against fisheries conservation by forcing fishermen to dump healthy fish overboard even though they have quota. Despite this, the Greens decided to support the fisheries agreement. Mr Lochhead commented:

"The committee vote was a key opportunity to stop the fisheries deal becoming law in Scotland. As expected, the Labour and Lib Dem members of the committee were whipped into defending Ministers, but the Green Party decided to drop their policy of promoting fisheries conservation and that will disappoint people who voted for them in the last Scottish elections.
 

The Greens proved today that they are no friends of the sea and no friends of the fishing industry. Their decision to support the Government threatens the future of the fish stocks in the North Sea."

"The complex and draconian fisheries deal limits the now much smaller Scots fleet to a mere fifteen days at sea when despite there being fewer boats and more fish in the sea. Bizarrely it also forces Scots fishermen to dump their haddock overboard when catching cod and dump cod overboard when catching haddock even though they have legitimate quota for both these stocks. None of the new restrictions that give rise to this ridiculous situation apply to other foreign vessels fishing the same waters for the same stocks".

PARAMILITARY PRISONERS TO BE EXPORTED TO SCOTS JAILS
Wed 3 Mar 04

The Scottish Executive is planning to railroad a plan through Parliament that will see the compulsory transfer of "disruptive prisoners" - from Northern Ireland to Scotland, Shadow Justice Minister Ms Nicola Sturgeon MSP revealed today (Wednesday).

Speaking as she revealed details of a Scottish Executive Sewel Memorandum laying out the plan, Ms Sturgeon said:

"By the Executive's own admission, Scottish prisons are already heavily overcrowded. Into our packed prison cells, ministers now propose to accept Northern Irish prisoners who are deemed to be disruptive. In effect, they want the power to import some of the UK's worst terrorists into Scottish jails.

"If that is a part we can play in the peace process then it is something we should consider. What Ministers are trying to do, however, is railroad it through Parliament using the controversial Sewel motion system.

"Instead of having an open debate, looking at whether we have the room for these people and their likely impact on our own jails, they are attempting to sidestep democracy by kicking the issue down to London. That is an abdication of responsibility.

"Sewel motions have become an abuse of Parliament. Time and time again they are used to avoid making difficult decisions. It may be that Scotland should take these prisoners but it must be Scotland's decision. Anything else is political cowardice."

PENSIONS BILL DEBATE IN COMMONS Tue 2 Mar 04

"The Secretary of State said that we must not prejudge the issue of those who have already lost out in their pension - and that is just not good enough.

"This Government have been in office for nearly seven years. Why has it taken so long for them to start examining the plight of those thousands who have lost out through no fault of their own in their pension entitlement? Surely the time to bring this sorry saga to a close is in this Bill?

"The Pensions Bill should extend compensation to employees who have already lost out in recent fund collapses. What we have at present is a watered down bill which leaves people who have contributed to failed pension funds with nothing".