THE BBC's MAN IN SCOTLAND?

New BBC Scotland Controller Ken McQuarrie certainly hit the ground running during his first week in the job. He wasted no time getting stuck into those who hoped interviews with Holyrood architect Enric Miralles and late First Minister Donald Dewar would be made available to the Fraser inquiry. And as for those of us who persist in hankering after a 'Scottish Six' bulletin of international news produced in Scotland, we were informed that this was 'off the agenda'. So that's us telt, then.

In the post-Hutton BBC, he appears to be seen as a safe pair of hands and gives the impression of wanting to live up to that reputation. Nonetheless, one unexpected item which is on Mr MacQuarrie's agenda is providing more local TV and radio news in Scotland, with a pilot of this likely to take place in the south west of Scotland.

It's almost become a truism to argue that Scotland is ill-served by the boundaries of the ITV franchises. For example, Grampian Television covers a bilingual area larger than Switzerland, from Leuchars in North East Fife across to the Isle of Lewis. 'Scottish' Television, which now owns Grampain, covers an area from Fort William and the Inner Hebrides down to Ayrshire and the Central Belt. Meanwhile, Border Television broadcasts to the Scottish Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, Cumbria, parts of Northumberland and the Isle of Man.

It's a complete hotch-potch, designed around the limitations of central planning and TV transmission in the 1950s, which pays little heed to regional differences. For this reason, the BBC has the opportunity to 'do' local news much better that the ITV companies can at present.

The North East of Scotland could be split away from the Highlands, while the Outer Hebrides Broadcasting Corporation of Naked Video fame could almost become a reality. Edinburgh, Glasgow and their hinterlands could have their own local service, while the Borders and South-West could have a service which truly reflects what happens in areas so often overlooked by under-resourced Glasgow newsrooms.

However, having the 'national' BBC bulletin at 6pm, followed by Scottish news at 6.30 followed by more local news still doesn't address the problem of the main bulletin and its frequent lack of relevance to Scots.

A fine example this week is the reporting of the National Union of Teachers conference, who do not organise to any significant extent in Scotland. Nonetheless, Scots viewers still have to sit through the reports of the conference and listen to the responses of English education ministers who have no writ north of the border.

Sorry, Ken. More local news is a fine idea, but to avoid dumbing-down what is already in place it has to be done in the context of a Scottish Six. If Radio Scotland can set its editorial priorities to cover international and Scottish stories successfully, why on earth can't their television counterparts be allowed to do the same?

WE ALL GO FORWARD TOGETHER

This week, Professor Stephen Oppenheimer, an academic from Oxford University, came to Edinburgh to promote his book tracing the origins of humankind to Africa 80,000 years ago. However, rather than igniting a firey debate between Scottish creationists and those on the side of evolution, what caught people's attention was his claim that cultural differences between the Scots and the English date from 10,000 years before Britain even became an island.

According to Professor Oppenheimer, genetic evidence shows that while the English are closely related to Germanic peoples, the Celts descended instead from south west France, Brittany and Spain. In his view, this makes the English "the odd-ones-out because they are the ones more linked to continental Europe."

All very interesting and no doubt the theory will keep Scottish pub bores going for ages.  However suspect this part of his thesis might be, all publicity is good publicity when launching a book. For that reason alone, we should raise our hats to the Professor's promotional skills. I've always had a problem with the idea of Scotland being a Celtic nation, since it ignores the other diversity of the other cultures that have gone into our national melting pot through the centuries. Similarly, the idea that there is an English race or a single idea of Englishness simply doesn't survive more than a few hours drive down the A1. National identity and a person's sense of place are much more complicated than that.

I remember arguing with a politics lecturer when I was an undergrad at Stirling, who claimed that nationalism was always by definition 'exclusive', because it excluded those who didn't 'belong' to that culture. The idea that a civic, inclusive nationalism could exist which wasn't dependent on ethnicity and which welcomed those who had made a positive decision to belong, simply didn't register with them at all.

It is of course this civic nationalism which lies at the heart of the SNP's philosophy. Whenever someone gets round to writing a biography of Alex Salmond, I'll be astonished if they don't judge one of his greatest gifts to the SNP as being the establishment of groups such as the 'Scots Asians' and 'New Scots for Independence', which promoted the idea that you didn't have to be born in Scotland to want to help turn Scotland into a successful independent country.

Although reaching out to those who had chosen to make their lives in Scotland was clearly the right thing to do, there has also been a political gain for the SNPs stance. We can see the fruits of this in a recent study prepared by Glasgow University, which found that Scotland's 60,000 Muslims are now twice as likely to vote for the SNP as other Scots.

I've been privileged to be asked to play the fiddle a couple of times in recent years at the Glasgow Govan SNP's Burns-Iqbal night, which with a twist to the traditional Burns night celebrations also celebrates Pakistan's national poet, Mohammed Iqbal. There are readings from both poets and the food served is always fantastic, with haggis, neeps and tatties available alongside pakora and chicken curry. As a symbol of cultures coming together in Scotland, I'm hard pushed to think of anything more impressive.

Compare and contrast this easy integration with Labour's flatulent citizenship ceremonies, where incomers are invited to jettison their identity, adopt supposedly unique British values and pledge allegiance to an unelected head of state. It's all pomp and of no circumstance, and ultimately as vacuous as the minds which dreamt the ceremony up.

Although nationality and identity mean different things to different people, I still find the implicit message that immigrants are OK as long as they conform and do things 'our' way a bit sinister. Instead of trying to impose his own idea of Britishness on people, David Blunkett would have been better taking his lead from author William MacIlvanney. His oft-quoted line than 'We all go forward together, or we don't go forward at all' is surely the perfect antidote to the virus of tabloid chauvinism which Blunkett & Co pander to so shamelessly.

PAYING THE PIPER - AN UPDATE

Away back in November 2002 in what was my first 'Flag', I wrote a piece on the financial problems which were threatening to engulf the local Labour party in Jack McConnell's Motherwell and Wishaw constituency. To recap, £11,000 had gone missing from a local party bank account, while lurid tales emerged regarding how the party received and then declared (or rather, didn't) financial donations to their cause.

Strathclyde Police were called in to investigate and this week, Hamilton Sheriff Court heard the former Labour treasurer in the constituency admit charges of embezzlement. As sentence was deferred, a Labour spokesman said: "All I can say is I hope this will bring what has been a difficult episode to a close."

I'm sure he does... However, while this prosecution answers the point about where some of this money might have gone, it doesn't tell us who donated it in the first place and the purposes to which other donations may have been put. Frankly, this isn't good enough. Labour must be made to come clean on who attended their fundraising Red Rose dinners and on how the money raised was spent.

Being a charitable kind of guy, I'll make a start for them. A notorious local drug baron, Justin McAlroy, attended the dinner, allowing him to rub shoulders with Jack McConnell, the then Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid and a local MP, Frank Roy.

There's no evidence to suggest Mr McAlroy donated anything personally to Labour. However, his father, Tommy, a local businessman, did pay £500 for a table before bidding £1,200 for a case of whisky at auction. Curiously, this donation was not declared by Labour at the time, as it was required to be under the laws which Labour had itself introduced during Tony Blair's first term of office.

At the very least, Labour should make public everything relating to their Red Rose fund in Lanarkshire. In the Scottish Executive, Labour have a flagship policy of seizing assets from the proceeds of crime and we all know how a party long in power can begin to blur the lines between its own structures and those of the Government. If nothing else, they need to convince us that in Lanarkshire, they haven't been cutting out the middle man in their desperation to keep winning power.

THE GOLDEN AGE REMEMBERED
by Peter D Wright

A cold but dry day greeted the annual gathering at the Alexander III Commemoration held at Pettycur, Kinghorn, on 21 March 2004. Piper Robert Todd led the march from the Kingswood Hotel to the Alexander III Monument. Fine speeches by historians James Halliday and Ian Scott were much appreciated by those attending. Making their first public appearance for 2004 were some members of the Fife-based Black Serpent Medieval Archery Group and their archery instructor William R MacBride laid a wreath in memory of Alexander III (1249-1286) and The Golden Age of Scottish History.The meeting ended with 'Scots Wha Hae' played by Piper Todd.

Organiser of the annual event Peter D Wright told 'The Flag' that next year's Golden Age Commemoration will be held on Sunday 20 March and historian and author David R Ross has been invited to be among the guest speakers. In August 2005, David R Ross is to walk the route taken by Sir William Wallace, after his capture by the English at Robroyston, to his judicial murder in London. The walk will march the 700th anniversary of Wallace's murder by Edward Langshanks of England on 23 August 1305.

See Golden Age Remembered for more pictures of the event

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".

Better off British? Women and children last

The UK has the biggest gender pay gap in Europe and the most expensive childcare, acting as a barrier to work for many women, and keeping them, and their children, in poverty. With an ageing and declining population, Scotland needs to deliver equality of pay for women as well as a high quality, affordable and accessible childcare system, so we can offer families a route out of poverty and give our children the best possible start in life. The Scandinavian countries have done it-an independent Scotland could do it too.

The average British woman earns 22% less than her male counterpart. The average gender pay gap in the EU is 16%. (Source: Eurostat 2003).  And most UK parents still have to meet the majority of childcare costs themselves, compared to just 15% in Finland or 17% in Sweden. (Source Institute of Fiscal Studies).

SYNOPSIS

Minister must publish Reliance contract - Sturgeon

Cathy Jamieson must publish the Reliance Security contract and the results of the internal inquiry into the prisoner release fiasco, Shadow Justice Minister Ms Nicola Sturgeon MSP said : "Cathy Jamieson must make a full statement to Parliament on the Reliance security fiasco, but more than that, she must publish both the contract and the inquiry report".

SNP tells Labour MPs to "butt out"

Commenting on the role of Scottish Labour MPs such as Ian Davidson in seeking to change the Scottish Parliament's proportional representation voting system, the Scottish National Party's Chief Whip at Westminster Mr Pete Wishart MP said that Westminster Labour MPs should 'butt out' of interfering with the Scottish Parliament's voting system.

Spanish fountain gaffe - Hudghton seeks solution

SNP MEP, Ian Hudghton, has asked the British Consulate in Malaga to help resolve an architectural gaffe which is infuriating Scots who visit the Andalucian town of Nerja.

The MEP's request comes as many Scots make plans to head off in search of some Mediterranean sun, and centres on an otherwise perfectly innocent fountain erected to commemorate Spain's EU presidency. But the fountain contains a glaring error and this is what is prompting Scots tourists to contact Mr Hudghton's office. While all the other stones are inscribed with the names of the member states, in their own language (eg Deutshland, Italia, Espana and so on) the United Kingdom stone is inscribed ENGLAND! There are no stones for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Speaking from his Parliamentary office in Brussels, Mr Hudghton said: "I have absolutely no quibble, and indeed would be quite delighted to see England become a member of the EU in its own right - so long as Scotland was independent in Europe too. Until that day dawns, it is gaffes like this which just get Scots' backs up and it is up to the UK authorities to put it right".

Aberdeen airport needs funding for worldwide links

Scottish Executive route development funding should be switched from the withdrawn Aberdeen-Groningen flight and devoted to providing a new route to a hub airport such as Frankfurt or Brussels, Shadow Transport Minister Mr Kenny MacAskill MSP said. Speaking after it was revealed that the new Groningen route was mired in controversy following the withdrawal of Eastern Airways, Mr MacAskill said: "Aberdeen is already well served by its link with Amsterdam. It is the fifth busiest scheduled international route from any airport in Scotland, with over 200,000 people a year using it. It's beyond me why the Executive now want to prioritise taxpayers' cash on a route to Groningen - less than 2 hours and just 114 miles from Amsterdam. Whilst any new route is welcome what Aberdeen and her economy really need are links to other major European hub airports".