A Bit Late

This edition of the Flag was held over by chance from last night (Wednesday) and so a couple of articles have been added to it on Thursday morning at the last minute - and what a last minute!

Breaking Breaking News

Alex Salmond to Stand Again as Party Leader

Alex Salmond is to announce in Aberdeen later today (Thursday) that he is to enter the race for leadership of the Scottish National Party.

The news is bound to send shock waves through the Scottish political establishment, not least through the SNP itself.

Apparently Nicola Sturgeon will now stand down and contest the depute leader position, while Kenny MacAskill will withdraw from the depute leader race altogether.

There will be lots of questions raised and answers demanded about what caused Alex to change his mind after his strong declaration of a couple of weeks ago that he would decline...refuse...and resign if elected.

There can be no doubt, however, that Alex has placed himself as favourite in the race, while the depute position is possibly as wide open as ever.

For SNP members the next few weeks are certainly going to be fascinating.

Breaking News - What Lord Butler Saw (1)

Devastating report - no-one injured - that was one summing up quoted by the BBC¹s Andrew Marr of the Butler Report, published as I write, today (Wednesday).

No-body according to Lord Butler was to blame, but British intelligence was seriously flawed, and in the infamous September dossier the intelligence was pushed to the outer limit.

When Lord Butler states that the 45-minute scenario warning should never have been used, and that the necessary caveats were not included in the government spin, and when Hans Blix says that the government inserted exclamation marks where there should have been question marks, then it is difficult not to agree with former BBC chief Greg Dyke that somewhere, somehow, someone sexed up on behalf of the government.

So - no-one is injured and in the meantime things go on as normal.  But the government has been seriously damaged and ultimately it will suffer.

And in five years time, or maybe in ten or fifteen, the truth will come out, as it did years after the Suez debacle.  The public will end up wiser and sadder, and the practice of politics will take another hard knock.

What Lord Butler Saw (2)

If Tony Blair thought that the Butler report would put the cap on the Iraq war then he certainly has another think coming, if to-day¹s paper and radio reports are anything to go by.

Former foreigner minister Robin Cook on Scotland To-day pointed out that after the Hutton report the BBC lost both its director general and the chairman of its board of governors.

Yet it seems that after the Butler report no-one is to blame!

Cook also pointed out that after 2001 the intelligence on Iraq did not change but crucially the regime in Washington did change, from Bill Clinton to George W Bush.  Tony Blair went along with the new thinking in Washington and so we ended up going to war.

The Herald is no less scathing.  In a report headed This proves my son went to war over a pack of damn lies, Rose Gentle, mother of the Scottish soldier recently killed in Iraq, call on Mr Blair to resign.

The Herald¹s own leader makes the same point under the heading A fundamental breach of trust it claims the smoking gun could only point to the prime minister.  It will not cease smoking.

It concludes:  In our view this is such a serious matter that the prime minister should be considering his position.  But we have no confidence that he will do so.

I¹m not so sure.

It is Great to be Liked!

Just read an article in The Herald which tells us that the SNP is the most liked political party in Britain.

Well, that¹s one piece of welcome news just as the party goes into a leadership election with all the tensions that involves.

Apparently most parties are actually disliked by more people than like them.  For example, in the UK the like/dislike percentages were as follows:

Labour 32/42 (score -10);  LibDems 24/37 (-13);  Conservatives 24/44 (-20);  Greens 21/41 (-20);  BNP 7/72 (-65).

However, the bad news is that in Scotland Labour still retains a considerable loyalty.  While the SNP has a like/dislike ratio of 45/24 (+21, the Labour party here still manages a positive 47/31 (+16).

A pity  we are unable to transform these positive feelings into votes - at the moment.

BBC Report Equals Government Spin

Many many years ago, when I was young and naive, I remember being particularly incensed by a report on the BBC.

It appeared, according to the BBC, that a British businessman, one Greville Wynne or some such, had been arrested by the Communist authorities while attending a trade fair in an eastern European capital - Budapest, I think.  He was tried and sent to prison for a number of years.

The report was taken up by most British newspapers, righteous indignation was expressed, and the reading public was suitably outraged - as was I.  How dare they!  A British businessman!  At a trade fair, of all places!

Fortunately, Mr Wynne was exchanged just a couple of years later for a real Russian spy.  OK, we thought, it wasn¹t right to exchange an innocent man for a definite spy, but better that than an innocent man should languish in jail.

I thought no more about it until a few years later I noticed a billboard advertising  the leading article in a Sunday paper.  The title of the article:  How I spied for Britain by Greville Wynne.

So it had been true all along!  The Russians had been right!  The British government had been lying in its teeth to the British public!  And the BBC and others had swallowed the government spin hook, line and sinker!

I thought of this story when I heard that British troops had strayed into Iranian territorial waters.  The British government said it, the BBC said it, and the newspapers took it up without a second thought.  Rest assured, that is a lie.

I don¹t know what did happen with these british troops, but I am willing to bet my bottom dollar that they did not simply stray into Iranian waters.

That for sure is not the truth.

Cost Comparisons

Dave Hill of Argyll writes good letters to the Daily Record, as should other members of the SNP.

In his latest he says he is fed up with people in the anti-Scottish tabloids constantly complaining of the cost of the Scottish Parliament.

He reminds us that the Parliament will cost just eighty days of of the war in Iraq - quite a thought.

Scotland 2012

My friend Andrew Kerr sends me news of his campaign to bring the European football finals of 2012 to Scotland.

Latest convert to the cause is the Daily Record which points out that three of the next four Open golf championships are to be held in Scotland and asks if we can run these events so well:  Why aren¹t we cashing in on our rich football heritage with a serious bid for the sporting carnival that is the European Championships?

Even the Herald¹s chief sports writer now admits that one of the themes of Euro 2004 is that a small nation can certainly host such a tournament and, having shelled out money, feel the economic benefit in due course.

So ... O mea culpa. Personally, I gave houseroom to the negative thinking about Scotland¹s Euro 2008 bid, and now, having been in Portugal, I regret doing so.

Just a pity that, given that the Irish are now making very positive noises about Euro 2012, the Scottish Football Association seems to have gone off the idea.

Message from Nova Scotia

The Flag has received an email from Steven Graham of Halifax, Nova Scotia who points out that while we celebrated American independence there was nothing about Canadian independence.

Quite right, Steven.  Over here we tend to relegate Canada, which almost certainly has more important lessons for us than the USA.

I  was over in Canada a couple of months ago and intend in my next edition of the Flag to give you my thoughts on it.  In the meantime, see the article below!

Book Corner
 

Fire and Ice
by Michael Adams

The subtitle of this book is The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values.  

If you fail to find it in Scotland or anywhere else try it at www.penguin.ca - this is a marvellous book and should be read by all who believe in the independence of nations and who are concerned about globalisation.

He sums up as follows:

What economists often fail to realize is that values matter most, and it is values, not material possessions once our basic needs are met, that give genuine meaning to people¹s lives.

My reading of canadian values tells me that none has become more important than autonomy - and that autonomy, in the context of interdependence, is valued at every level from the individual right up to the nation.

SYNOPSIS

Monday 12 July 2004

BILL SPELLS DISASTER FOR SCOTTISH ENERGY COMPANIES

SUBSIDY FOR THE SOUTH WHILST SCOTTISH GENERATORS TO PAY THROUGH THE NOSE

Background:

The Government is pushing the Energy Bill through the Houses of Parliament. The Bill will go through its final stages in the House of Commons on Tuesday 13 July . It will grant enabling powers to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to establish a new British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements (BETTA) and thus create a single, unified electricity market across Great Britain.

Ofgem have determined that the new charges for the system should reflect, zonal pricing as a near market signal for where they think power stations should be located. This is already applied to England but an extension of this concept to Scotland would threaten major charges for Scottish generators.

The legislation precedes the detail of the new charges for admission to the system and some proposals still being considered by the National Grid Company (NGC) would:

* Undermine the prospects for renewable generation in the North of Scotland
* Jeopardise the economics of key Scottish power stations such as Longannet and Peterhead
* A system which was designed to assist generators and the consumer by sharing interconnector charges could end up costing the Scottish generators at least £8 million a year net of all benefits.

Detail:

Under one version of the proposals still being considered by NGC charges in the Scottish generation area could rise from £5.44 to £20.69 per kW while charges in central Scotland could rise from £2.45 to £11.28. In the meantime, anyone prepared to build a new station in central or southwest London would gain a subsidy of £7.05 per kW.

As a result, compared say with Cornwall, a small wind farm in Caithness would pay around a £1 million in surcharges while a major new development such as the proposed offshore 1,000 MW Beatrice development in the Moray Firth could end up paying up to £20 million a year extra. The Government has offered amendments, which would protect renewables, for up to ten years, from excess charges, but this is far too short a timescale to make any difference over the lifetime of large projects. The same discrimination would apply to existing stations such as the combined cycle gas station at Peterhead or the coal fired Longannet who would face large new charges and be offered no protection whatsoever.

Scottish National Party MP for Angus Mr Mike Weir and SNP Westminster Leader, Mr Alex Salmond MP, have tabled amendments for Tuesday's debate. Their amendments would a) extend the protection of renewables to all forms of generation and b) extend the timescale of protection from excess charges over the lifetime of projects.

Commenting at a press conference in Aberdeen, Alex Salmond MP, said:

The current proposals could turn into a disaster for Scottish generators and consumers and hole the drive for renewables below the waterline.

This mumbo jumbo from Ofgem is nothing more than a cover for a subsidy for the south while Scottish generators are asked to pay through the nose for the privilege of producing electricity.

How dare these biased boffins attempt to undermine the economics of Peterhead, the most efficient gas station in the whole of Europe and sabotage hopes of great offshore wind projects such as Beatrice.

Mike Weir MP, who took part in the Committee stage of the Energy Bill, said:

The Government are insane to even give this nonsense the time of day. As things stand, only the amendments proposed by the SNP can prevent the effective sabotage of the Scottish electricity industry.

It's time for Labour MPs from Scotland to start putting their country first and their party second.

---

Tuesday 13 July 2004

66 PERCENT OF THE PUBLIC WANT MORE POWERS FOR SCOTLAND

STRONG PARLIAMENT ESSENTIAL TO DELIVER A BETTER FUTURE - MATHER

Shadow Economy and Enterprise Minister Mr Jim Mather MSP has welcomed the findings of the State of the Nation survey by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust that 66 percent of Scottish people want more powers for the Scottish Parliament.

Commenting, Mr Mather said:

This report from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust proves that the majority of Scots want more powers for the Scottish Parliament and as such it makes devastating reading for Jack McConnell and the Scottish Executive.

For it now only proves that the vast majority of Scots want the Scottish Parliament to have the power to produce better results for Scotland but it also signals the people's appetite for a mature approach to running our country.

As such, this is a clear warning to the Scottish Executive that the legitimate aspirations of the people of Scotland are not being met. It also says that most voters of every political hue in Scotland are warming to the SNP's compelling proposition.

This is particularly heartening as it establishes that in spite of the Holyrood fiasco, much trivial legislation and debate and vast amounts of misinformation the people of Scotland still appreciate that a strong parliament is essential to deliver a better future for them and their families.

The clock is therefore continuing to tick: counting the time and the damage that accrue while the Scottish Executive continues to tinker with the limited powers of the Status Quo and the economic and social problems that ensue.

The longer they fail to react the worse will be the outcomes and the more damage individuals and families will suffer. However, on the positive side, the passage of time will build up a powerful reservoir of resentment that will surely end this unnecessarily protracted period of inaction and lost opportunity.

If the Scottish Executive didn't know the strength of feeling on this matter before, they know it now. It is therefore time for them to recognise and react to this data and also question the dubious economic statistics and the resultant complacency that has so obviously failed to dupe Scotland. Scotland deserves nothing less.

---

Monday 12 July 2004

BIG DISAPPOINTMENT FOR SCOTLAND

NO GUARANTEES OVER FUTURE OF REGIMENTS

On Monday 12 July 2004 Chancellor Gordon Brown presented the government's Comprehensive Spending Review setting out public expenditure over the next three years.

Speaking from the House of Commons, Scottish National Party MP Mr Angus Robertson MP, said:

Today's announcement is another big disappointment for Scotland. While in England health spending will increase by 6.5% and education by 5.2%, Scotland is set to receive only a 3.5% increase in its public spending. While Gordon Brown talks these figures up, it remains the case that due to the Barnett squeeze, Scotland's public expenditure as a proportion of the UK is decreasing every year. If the Scottish Executive is so flush then why are they being forced into privatising schools and hospitals?

In addition the Chancellor could be receiving an extra £4.5 billion from Scotland over the next two years as a result of increased North Sea oil revenues. This is on top of existing North Sea revenues of about £5 billion a year. Instead of benefiting from this additional cash, Scotland will have to wait for the Chancellor to give us our money back at a paltry 3.5% per year.

Furthermore, the Chancellor gave no assurances for our historic regiments. The Conservatives were never forgiven for their assault on Scotland's regiments in the 1990s and Gordon Brown will face the same fate if these plans are realised. Today as Scotland's regiments are fighting Blair's war in Iraq we need guarantees for their future now that their skills are needed as never before.

---

Monday 12 July

SNP SLAMS JOBS CUT FIASCO
 

TREASURY AND SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE LET PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS DOWN

The Scottish National Party has slammed the Treasury and Scottish Executive, describing their announcement of 20,000 devolved and local government job reductions as a botched fiasco.

Earlier in the House of Commons Chancellor Gordon Brown said that efficiency and evaluation exercises by the Scottish Executive were as ambitious as those in England and together with other  devolved and local government authorities would lead to a reduction of a further 20,000 (Civil service jobs).

However, within hours the Scottish Executive said that it has no job cut plans.

Speaking after the confusion emerged Moray SNP MP Angus Robertson said:

This is an extraordinary botched fiasco by the Treasury and Scottish Executive which nails the lie of joined up government. Thousands of public sector workers in Scotland have been made to worry about their jobs by Gordon Brown, and since then the Scottish Executive have been running around like headless chickens.

If this farce weren't so serious it would make for a poor comedy. Public Sector workers have been let down by the Labour government and are being treated appallingly with threats of job reductions which then can't even be confirmed by the Scottish Executive.

This situation underlines the need for Scotland's finances to be decided on in Scotland like other normal countries. Leaving important public policy up to London-based government costs jobs and tax revenue, and Scots should not put up with it.

During his 2004 Comprehensive Spending Round statement Chancellor Gordon Brown today said:

And with, in addition, the Devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales and the Northern Ireland Office also having announced that they are engaged in Spending Review efficiency and evaluation exercises as ambitious as those in England --- with reductions also in back office and related areas; and with the 2.5 per cent annual efficiency savings applied to the settlement for local government in England, this allows for - in addition to the 84,150 posts - a reduction of a further 20,000.

---

Tuesday 13 July 2004

IRELAND COMPLETES DIRECT AIR LINKS TO ALL NEW EU STATES
 
SCOTLAND BEING LEFT IN THE SHADE - LOCHHEAD

SNP MSP for the North East Mr Richard Lochhead has  revealed that Ireland has recently completed the establishment of direct air links to all ten of the European Union's newest members.

Scotland with a bigger population has only one direct link to any of the new EU members which is the successful route to the Czech capital Prague.  

Mr Lochhead has claimed that Scotland has been left at the starting blocks as Ireland seeks trading and tourism opportunities in new EU members such as the biggest accession state Poland as well as Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus and Malta. Mr Lochhead said: 

Once again, when it comes to overseas promotion, the outward looking Irish have left Scotland in the shade. We are still on the starting blocks and the Irish are racing ahead and forging strong links with the 75 million citizens that joined the EU in May.

The EU's ten new members offer tremendous trading and tourism opportunities for countries like Scotland but we are doing next to nothing to build links and it is embarrassing. The Irish are getting in early as they realise the huge benefits that can be gained through establishing direct air links with the ten new states whose combined GDP is currently more than 784.9 billion Euros and is set to rise dramatically in the coming years. 

It appears there are no plans by the Scottish Government to even test the feasibility of direct air links to the new EU members all of whom are countries that are one day soon going to be economically transformed and valuable trading nations. I am calling on Scottish Ministers to take immediate action and investigate the potential for building new direct air links. The irony is that Scotland is immensely popular in the accession states given our historical links and we would be welcomed with open arms so instead of napping we must wake up to the opportunities.    

"Our lack of flights to many of these countries also jeopardises the First Minister's Fresh Talent initiative and makes life more difficult for our higher education sector given that it is becoming increasingly easy for young Poles or Hungarians to travel to London or Ireland and indeed just about everywhere except Scotland.

No wonder Ireland is booming and its population increasing, whilst Scotland's population is declining and our economy falling behind.

---

Tuesday 13 July 2004

PRIME MINISTER REFUSES TO GIVE SNP EQUAL ACCESS TO BUTLER REPORT

PARTIES WHO FUNDAMENTALLY OPPOSED WAR DENIED EARLY ACCESS

The Prime Minister has blocked early access to Lord Butler's review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass destruction for the SNP / Plaid Cymru group in the House of Commons. Although the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are to be granted early access to the report, it has been denied to the SNP / Plaid Cymru Group.

Joint Leaders of the Group, Mr Alex Salmond MP and Mr Elfyn Llwyd MP had written to Lord Butler and the Prime Minister seeking early access. Lord Butler wrote to the Leaders underlining that the decision lay entirely with the Prime Minister.

Speaking from the House of Commons, the Leader of the SNP at Westminster, Mr Alex Salmond said:

This is an entirely undemocratic decision and typical of Blair's abuse of power. It seems absurd that the two parties who were most fundamentally opposed to Blair's war in Iraq are to be denied access to this important report. It stinks of a Westminster stitch up.

Mr Blair is too scared to face his strongest critics over the war in Iraq and the false pretences over which he took us to war. He is a feartie, scared of being held to account for that disastrous decision.

It is not only the responsibility of the Liberals and Conservatives to hold the government to account, we too have a duty to those whom we represent. Once again the Prime Minister is being deliberately evasive when an important report is due to be published.