A Message from John Swinney
Dear Voter,
The European elections are on 10 June, just
four weeks from now. I am writing to ask you to join me in
making a donation to enable our Party to fight these crucial
elections and to give Scotland a real voice in Europe.
I have deliberately held off from asking for
a donation this year because I genuinely do understand how many
demands the cause of independence makes on your time and money!
I would love to be able to tell you that we
no longer need your money and that you can simply concentrate on
winning that Independence. Unfortunately, however, there is no
pot of gold waiting for the SNP at the end of a rainbow. It is
much more difficult for us than it is for other parties.
The British Unionist Parties have trade union
funds, they have the financial backing of big business fat cats,
they have wealthy supporters.
And the SNP? Well, we only have each other.
But we are nationalists, we are used to our
unionist opponents putting obstacles in our way. And when they
do, we simply find a way round them because we know our argument
is the right one.
The European Elections illustrate exactly why
Scotland needs its Independence. Another ten nations have just
joined the EU. Small nations such as Latvia, Estonia and Malta
are all set to take their rightful place shaping the future of
Europe, while Scotland is relegated to the sidelines – dependent
on London to “look after us”. Independence in Europe has
never been more important.
If you have no money to give, please do not
feel any pressure from me – your commitment alone is very
precious to the party.
If you can afford to make a donation to the
European Election Appeal however, please give as generously as
possible – and as soon as possible. Thank you.
Yours for Scotland,
John Swinney MSP
SNP National Convener
You can donate to the SNP by clicking on the
following link:
http://www.snp.org/index_hires.php?pageName=pyp/donate.php
Why I joined the SNP
Anybody who joins the SNP does so for one
reason above all others – to secure Independence for Scotland.
But I think we can all point to different reasons why we decide
to support Scottish Independence.
For me, I suppose it was a number of factors
which just came together. I was the first in my family to go to
University. When I went to study, it was a period just after the
industrial turmoil of the Thatcher Years and the Poll Tax. The
Iron Curtain had collapsed and all over Europe, historic nations
had reunified or were emerging from the stifling power politics
of the Cold War era. Amidst this, it was hard for me not to
think, if Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia could do it, then why
not Scotland?
At the previous election in 1992, Scottish
voters had rejected Tory policies overwhelmingly, yet Tory Ian
Lang was still returned as Secretary of State off the back of
the Conservative victory in England. Not unreasonably, but
against my developing beliefs, Labour increasingly saw moving to
the right as the best way of beating the Tories in their
heartlands. I saw how Labour’s George Robertson tried to play
down the significance of the 20,000 who marched in Edinburgh in
1992 in favour of home rule at the European summit in December
that year. I also disgusted at how these dignified and
respectable people were smeared by Mr Lang, as he accused them
of disgracing themselves in front of the European leaders who
had arrived for the summit.
Watching Scottish Questions at Westminster
made me realise just how much of an old-boys club it really was.
It didn’t really matter which of the 2 UK parties Scotland had
voted for, because by and large that would be decided by the
votes of our much larger neighbour to the south. It also didn’t
matter who the Secretary of State was – with Scottish Ministers
coming under scrutiny once every five weeks whenever Westminster
happened to be sitting, the Scottish Office could obscure far
more than was healthy – certainly more than was healthy for a
department spending around £20bn of taxpayers money each year.
It seemed self-evident to me that Scotland
was a prosperous country – yet all around there was ample
evidence that not everybody shared in this. We were told by
Conservatives and Labour that Scotland prospered under the Union
– yet they argued simultaneously that somehow we were too poor,
too small or too stupid to manage for ourselves. What was worse
was the sheer number of fellow Scots who without a moment’s
consideration were happy to accept this as gospel and parrot it
endlessly to their fellow countrymen. In contrast, I found the
belief of those who mounted the vigil for a Scottish Parliament
on Calton Hill vigil inspiring and would often take detours in
the car on my way home from work so I could ‘toot’ for Scotland
and show my support.
For me, all of this made for a potent
combination. It gave me a cast-iron belief that the best people
to govern Scotland were those who had chosen to make their lives
here. But what really hit home was that whatever we tried to
achieve in Scotland for our people counted for nothing, unless
we first had the power to do something about it. John Major and
Malcolm Rifkind could talk all they liked about Scotland
punching above her weight in the world as part of the UK. It
counted for nothing if we weren’t even in the ring in the first
place.
Recent
figures show that Scotland is the 8th richest country in the
industrialised world, yet it is a country where 1 in 3 Scottish
children are growing up in poverty. A country where 600,000
adults have difficulty reading. A country where hundreds still
sleep rough every night. A country where we still have fuel
poverty amidst energy plenty. A country where has one of the
lowest life expectancies in the western world. To my mind, the
economic, social and moral imperative for Independence has never
been greater.
Nearly 15 years on from the political
revolutions in Eastern Europe which woke my interest in
politics, many of those countries have just joined the European
Union as member states in their own right. After all this time,
I still find it hard to reconcile the way the Labour party rolls
out the red carpet for these nations, nearly all smaller than
Scotland, yet still tries to slam the door in the face of
demands for Scotland to enjoy the same status.
Yes, we have a parliament now. But it’s only
a job half done. Our politicians and civil servants are now much
more accountable. But when it counts, as it does over the common
fisheries policy, the war in Iraq or running the Scottish
economy in our interests, we’re still the invisible nation.
On June 10th, we have another chance to start
to change this when we vote in the European elections. These
elections, of course, will include the new entrants to the
European Union. A vote for the SNP can help to ensure we join
those dining at the top table. A vote for any other party will
continue to leave Scotland a bit like Banquo’s ghost – the
phantom at the feast.
Euro Campaign Launch
Last
Saturday, I had an early start down at Valvona & Crolla,
Scotland’s finest delicatessen. Valvona & Crolla is a family
business, established in 1934 to serve the immigrant Italian
community in Edinburgh. The queues each day in the shop serve as
a symbol of the positive impact which immigration has had on
Scotland.
It was there, over coffee, that European
election candidate Alyn Smith launched the SNP’s Euro campaign
in the Lothians. We went on to do a street stall in Dalry and
from there, to Edinburgh’s student-dominated Southside. We
finished the afternoon at the Foot of the Walk in Leith before
heading back into town and to Czech bar Pivo.
Our choice of venues symbolised the
contribution which old, and increasingly, new Europe are making
to Scotland. It also took place on the day of the Eurovision
Song Contest, although most of us passed on watching that
dubious pleasure in favour of a few pints of Staropramen at the
day’s end.
If the SNP had approached central casting to
find the ideal Euro–candidate, the party couldn’t have done
better than come up with Alyn. A passionate Scot brought up in
the Gulf, he studied English and German law at Leeds before
taking a masters degree at the College of Europe in Warsaw,
Poland. Alyn also spent time working in Brussells before coming
back to Scotland to work as a lawyer. He then joined the SNP
research team at the Scottish Parliament. With great symmetry
for his campaigning role in the weeks ahead, he held
responsibilities for fishing issues working under Richard
Lochhead MSP.
The campaign itself has hotted-up in recent
weeks – just witness the recent spat between First Minister
McConnell and veteran Labour MP George Foulkes over fishing.
McConnell’s hostility to a deal between the SNP and the Foreign
Office to secure SNP backing for a ‘Yes’ vote in the forthcoming
referendum contrasts with his comments last week that fishing
issue could undermine any ‘Yes’ campaign in Scotland. His latest
musings invite the pretty obvious response that if the prospect
of a low yes vote concerns him, then he should get right behind
the SNP campaign to remove exclusive competence over fishing
from the proposed EU constitution and get Scotland out of the
CFP.
But before we get too carried away, let’s not
forget that international, including European Union relations
are powers reserved to the grown-ups at Westminster. Presumably
as a good unionist, McConnell wishes for this to remain so.
Therefore, it is quite in order for SNP to bypass him and speak
direct with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on this. I’m sure that
deep down Jack understands why on this issue, the SNP will be
speaking with the organ grinder and not the monkey.
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".
GM
The widespread
introduction of genetically modified crops in Scotland would fly
in the face of public opinion, introducing a product which
consumers do not want, as well as threatening Scotland’s high
quality natural environment. The effects of releasing
genetically modified materials into the environment could have
unknown health implications and long-term devastating
environmental consequences. Once the GM genie has been released
it cannot be put back into the bottle. The damage is
irreversible.
Economically, the
use of GM organisms will damage Scotland’s reputation for
producing high quality foodstuffs.
Scotland doesn’t
need genetic modification to increase agricultural output. To do
that we could return some of the 13% of Scottish farmland
currently under set-aside to production.
The UK Government
is trying to lift the five-year moratorium on GM food products
in Europe, against the wishes of their own electors.
The SNP will
fight in Scotland and in the EU, to ensure that, from tractor to
trolley, Scotland stays GM-free.
SYNOPSIS
Shadow
Minister for Education and Children Ms Fiona Hyslop MSP has laid
out a five point plan to tackle the crisis in child protection
workers as part of the Scottish Parliament's debate on Children
Hearings.
"Demand for social workers is out stripping the supply and the
Executive are complicit in creating this environment. Time and
time again we come back to this - yes we have fast tracking for
social work trainees but we must look to more creative and
inventive ways to recruit and train and some basic commonsense
measures. These should include:
"1 - Improved training provision to allow people working in the
social care arena to transfer into child protection.
"2 - Strategic partnerships with the voluntary sector to allow
secondments and career development..
"3 - It is recent Government policy and legislation which has
created these vacancies - leaving the few social workers left in
child protection fire fighting. Financial Memoranda for such
legislation and policy should spell out the national recruitment
implications and resource them accordingly.
"4 - Government should lead a recruitment drive for caring roles
and child support and education roles in the public services
generally..
"5 - There should be a McCrone style review of social work
conditions and remuneration.
" These proposals
are offered constructively from an opposition who wants this
Parliament to work together in the interests of Scotland's
children."
SNP
MSP for the West of Scotland Mr Stewart Maxwell has welcomed the
results of the evidence received for his Prohibition of Smoking
in Regulated Areas (Scotland) Bill which shows that 79.3 percent
of submissions to the Health Committee are in favour of a ban on
smoking in public places.
The evidence that was received included submissions from members
of the public, health organisations and cancer charities, plus
one from Thomas Frieden on behalf of the City of New York which
stated that bar and restaurant staff had an 85 percent reduction
in their nicotine levels, a by-product of tobacco smoke, since
the ban came into force in New York.
The
Tories track record speaks louder than their election rhetoric,
Shadow Fisheries Minister Mr Richard Lochhead MSP has said.
Commenting on Tory leader Michael Howard's speech to the
Conservative Conference, he said:
"After foisting the disastrous CFP on our fishing communities,
the Tories expect Scotland to believe they are now the
fishermen's friend when every Tory Government has been the
fishermen's enemy. The Tories can't escape the fact that track
record speaks louder than their election rhetoric.
"Tory Leader Michael Howard has not even raised fishing once at
Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons and no
fleeting trip to Scotland is going to hoodwink the fishing
industry into believing that saving Scotland's fishing
communities will ever be a Tory priority."
The
Westminster leader of the Scottish National Party Mr Alex
Salmond MP has tabled a Parliamentary Motion in the House of
Commons on the planned auction of the papers of Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, calling on the Arts Minister, Estelle Morris, to
intervene in the case and prevent the sale.
The text of the
Early Day Motion is as follows:
That this House
objects to the planned sale and break-up of the papers of Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle by private auction at Christie's on 19 May;
calls on the Minister of State for the Arts, The Rt Hon Estelle
Morris MP, to intervene in this case and delay the sale until
she can report back to the House regarding the dispute that all
of these papers should have been lodged with the British Library
rather than be auctioned; and in the disappointing event that
the sale does go ahead urges that public resources, such as
Lottery funding, be used to save this extraordinary and
invaluable collection for the public and academic scholarship.
Jack
McConnell has been totally humiliated after what was supposed to
be a historic speech to the Church of Scotland's General
Assembly turned into a damning indictment against Labour's key
policies on Dungavel and the war in Iraq.
Shadow First Minister Mr John Swinney MSP has praised the
Assembly's decision, saying the "Kirk is doing what the First
Minister should have done; speak up for the people of Scotland".
Commenting Mr Swinney said:
"This is a totally humiliating day for Jack McConnell. He has
delivered what was meant to be a historic speech to the Church
of Scotland's General Assembly and instead of receiving praise;
he has had to leave with his tail between his legs.
"Scottish Labour's policy on the war in Iraq and the jailing of
children in Dungavel is appalling, and that has been rightly
recognised by the Kirk."
"It's time for Jack McConnell to realise that being the First
Minister of Scotland is not about bowing to Westminster's every
whim. It is about standing up for the rights of people in this
country and for Scotland's national interests, which he seems to
ignore at every available opportunity."
SNP
Clackmannanshire Councillor Mr Keith Brown has been elected
President of the European Alliance group on the EU's Committee
of the Regions - the first SNP member to preside over an EU wide
political grouping.
Cllr Brown praised the Irish role in the Presidency of the EU
and said:
"The Irish Presidency gives us an indication of the influence of
a small country in the EU. I cannot wait for the day that
Scotland will be able to finalise discussions on Scottish issues
with EU Member States. I will work closely with Ian Hudghton,
MEP in ensuring that we move towards achieving this goal."
The Committee of
the Regions was established by the Treaty on European Union as a
consultative body in order to involve local authorities
(regions, cities and municipalities) in the process of Community
policy-making. The mission of the Committee's 314 members
includes representing the interests and views of local
authorities on Community proposals before the other institutions
of the EU.
The European Alliance group is composed of Committee members
from Fianna Fail, Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru, Spirit
(Flanders), PNV (Basque), Union Valdotaine (Valle d'Aosta);
L?dová Unia (Slovakia); Eestimaa Rahavaliit (Estonia)
