YOU’LL HAVE HAD YOUR ‘SCOTTISH SIX’, THEN?

Last week saw the beautiful people and assorted London-based suits propping up the Clans bar in Edinburgh ’s George Hotel . Yes folks, it was television festival time again, in what must be the only city in the world to host such an event when it doesn't have its own TV station.

Broadcasting, how could we forget, is one of those powers which remains reserved to Westminster . This being so, I was more than a little intrigued to read that First Minister Jack McConnell was attending the festival to lobby senior BBC figures. After all, since he has no control over broadcasting, and we must assume that as a good unionist he has no desire to have any, what could he possibly have to say which would be of interest or relevance to BBC executives at an industry conference?

Surprisingly, Jack made a pitch for more BBC network programming to be made in Scotland , specifically children’s programming. His argument ran that at present, Scotland contributes 10% of the overall UK license fee yet only 3% of networked BBC programs are made here. However, when it comes to children's network television, that figure rises to 17%. Since BBC Scotland already excels at making children’s programs, why not make it the main UK centre for this genre?

It’s a great idea. Children’s TV needs presenting, acting and production talent, as well as musicians and animators. It would spawn an estimated 400 new jobs in Glasgow and anchor a creative industry with global reach in Scotland . With growing international interest in Scotland and English being the only truly global language, the merchandising possibilities are huge. And as anyone who tried to book a hotel room in Mull this summer will confirm, programs like ‘Balamory ’ can be great for tourism as well.

So far so good then. But what’s the catch? Well, you can call me cynical if you like, but a dull, machine politician like McConnell seldom does anything as bold as this without having had an ulterior motive suggested by someone brighter than he is. My suspicions were confirmed when one of those ‘impartial’ spokespeople for the Scottish Executive popped up to say that Mr. McConnell believes the BBC should respond to devolution by devolving more "resources north of the border. Scots don't want to separate BBC Scotland from the UK . We just want our fair share from the BBC in the UK ”.

For ‘separate BBC Scotland from the UK ’, read ‘Scottish 6? Over our dead bodies!’ Since one of the arguments driving forward the idea of a Scottish-produced news program to replace the often irrelevant UK version was the lack of BBC spending in Scotland , we can see this as a clear ploy to try and stop any such program coming about.

If McConnell is successful, Scotland will certainly get a fairer share of BBC spending. Just don’t expect to see anything on your screens which might trouble grown-up minds unduly or subject his administration to the kind of uncomfortable scrutiny they take for granted at Westminster .

BACK OFF BERTI

As an Aberdeen supporter, I’ve always been an admirer of Gordon Strachan both on and off the field. Despite this, I still felt it was pretty poor of the wee man to take the bait and say publicly last week that he would accept the job of Scottish national team manager if it were offered to him, even though there isn’t a vacancy at present.

His outburst prompted last Wednesday’s Scottish Sun to launch a campaign to have Berti Vogts replaced, proclaiming on their front page and on t-shirts that ‘We’re backing Strachan!’ Nice to know that nothing more important was going on in the world that day. No doubt this was just the kind of support the Scotland camp was looking for a week ahead of the opening World Cup qualifier against Slovenia , too…

I’d like to be excused at this point to say a few words in defence of the embattled Herr Vogts . For sure, there has been a string of below-par performances in friendlies under his leadership, most recently against Wales and Hungary . There’s also no getting away from the fact that we have stumbled badly against teams that we would normally expect to beat. But before rushing to judgment, let’s look a bit closer at his record in charge.

In his first match, a friendly against France who were then the reigning world and European champions, we were gubbed 5-0 and given a masterclass by the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henri. Shortly afterwards, we were also beaten by Nigeria , although by the criticism which followed you would never believe that they are possibly the best national side in Africa .

More ignominy came Vogts ’ way when we were humbled by South Korea , whom many Scots with a casual racism thought had just turned out to make up the numbers. However, the fact that South Korea went on to force a draw with England only a matter of weeks later, before going on to reach the quarter-finals of that year's world cup, still wasn't allowed to redeem what seemed at the time like an abject Scottish performance.

Despite these ‘setbacks’, on we marched to the European Championship qualifiers, where we were drawn in the same group as Germany . And guess what? When it really mattered, we came within an ace of finishing level with the Germans at the top of the group on points, scuppered only by some dodgy refereeing in Lithuania and in Germany itself.

This isn’t going to be another of these ‘if only’ whinges which Scots specialize in. For even if we had finished level on points with the Germans, goal difference meant we would still have been in the play-off position, which was exactly where the realistic Vogts had said at the outset that he could take us. Now show me the Scots fan or Sun journalist who wouldn't have grabbed that play-off place with both hands before the tournament started and I'll show you either a fool or a liar.

I was at Hampden for the glorious 1-0 victory over the best Dutch side since Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit lifted the Championship trophy in 1988. The first leg atmosphere was at fever-pitch, even before Darren Fletcher’s outrageous backheel to James McFadden allowed the latter to curl the ball deliciously into the net.

With our combination of quicksilver attacks and stout defending for the rest of the game, qualification seemed within touching distance as the team crossed the North Sea . Even the Sun seemed to think so at that point, splashing on their front page with the thigh-slappingly funny headline ‘Edam Busters’.

Sadly, though, it wasn't to be. The Dutch had clearly decided to accept that it just wasn’t going to be their day at Hampden, knowing that they could probably settle matters in their favour in the second leg at the Amsterdam Arena. Fired up by a hostile Dutch press, they did so emphatically, routing a depleted Scots side with a ferocity and purpose rarely seen in the international game.

So the dream ended and the grumbling started again. But how much of it is justified? There’s certainly a Jekyll and Hyde character to Berti Vogts ’ teams. Competitive games seem to present no problem, but his tendency to experiment in friendlies makes our performances erratic, which only serves to annoy fans and journalists alike.

But isn’t that what friendlies are for? He could have taken the easy route, playing the same old warhorses that turned out for Craig Brown and racking up rugby scores against minnows like Trinidad and Tobago or San Marino . Instead, he chose to give younger players their chance, blooding them in friendlies against top-class opposition and letting them learn against the best. And before we forget, when was the last time that a Scotland team managed to fill Hampden on a regular basis like Berti’s boys have managed?

Its also now much, much tougher to qualify for these tournaments. Scotland qualified for 5 world cups in a row between West Germany 1974 and Italy 1990, creating an expectation that a place in the finals was ours by right. However, with the emergence of the former Soviet states, there are now many more teams struggling to qualify for the World Cup and the European Championships. If even the mighty Dutch had to suffer the indignity of a play-off to qualify for Portugal 2004, should we really be giving ourselves such a hard time about not qualifying this time round?

So there rests the case for the defence. The only questions we should be asking are 1. Does Vogts have better players available than those he picks and 2. Could anyone else do better with the resources available? On both counts, the answer is a resounding ‘No’ and for these reasons, I’m still right behind
Vogts and the teams he puts out.

Still, it wouldn’t do to let the facts get in the way of a good tabloid witch hunt, and if Vogts gets hounded out of his job, then who really cares? After all, newspaper sales are all that really matter. If people are daft enough to be taken in by this nonsense and force a man to lose his job and reputation in the process, then its all just part of the game, isn’t it?

Well, it doesn’t have to be. I really hope the Tartan Army, and by that I mean the ones who actually pay their money to follow the team rather than breeze into the hospitality boxes with their press passes, treat the Sun campaign for what it is – a baseless and shabby campaign to sell more newspapers. Vogts deserves better than this and I look forward to telling the first Sun representative I see outside Hampden next Wednesday night exactly what they can do with their free ‘I’m backing Strachan’ t-shirt.

IN YOUR OWN TIME
by Lachie Munro

Across the wide and dusty plains of Africa , a party of big-game hunters was desperately trying to reach the coast to catch their steamship home. The journey had started well, but as they got nearer their goal, progress inexplicably slowed. Inducements were offered to the native bearers to walk faster, and things improved, but soon, they were reduced to a crawl. Further inducements were offered, but again, after a good start, the pace of the bearers slowed. In exasperation, the leader of the hunters confronted the chief bearer and asked why he and his men would not walk faster, to which the chief replied - “WE’RE WAITING FOR OUR SOULS TO CATCH UP.”

Over the last few months, when I’ve spoken to fellow Nationalists, that story has crept into my thoughts, for a miasma of gloom and frustration seems to have settled on the SNP membership. Recent electoral setbacks, leadership problems, and perceived slow progress towards Independence , have left many members feeling deflated, but we are acting as if all this is something new -
it isn’t.

Worse still, we seem to have forgotten our remarkable achievements over the last 40 years, for make no mistake, if there had been no resolute and powerful SNP, there would be no new Scottish parliament, and although this is only a half-way house for us, it was achieved without winning outright victory - such is the power of determination, commitment, hard work, but above all, fortitude and patience.

Many years ago when I was a member of London Branch SNP, I met an old Nationalist called Tom Maxwell. As a young man, Tom had been involved with the National Movement from it’s earliest days, and he kept up his involvement even when he worked as an engineer in Africa . Tom died in his 80s, he didn’t live to see Devolution, let alone Independence, nor did he ever get back to stay in his beloved Scotland, until we scattered his ashes on the Abbey Craig, but Tom never for a moment lost his faith in the rightness of our cause, nor that one day Scotland would take its place among the free nations of the world.

The Unionist parties play a political football match, each season they fight to win the cup, but whoever wins, the result is the same. We however are playing a much longer game, nothing less than the peaceful dismantling of the British state, so we shouldn’t be surprised that the nearer we get to our goal, the slower the pace seems to get. The stakes are high, because when we win - we get to keep the cup.

Let’s not forget that more has happened in the last 5 years to further the cause of Independence than happened in the previous 300; the genie is out of the bottle, and will not go back in; the horizon looks calm, but under our feet there’s a slow but sure avalanche of change, the outcome of which none can predict.

It’s time to cast away the gloom, it’s time to move forward - our souls are catching up.

MIKE MURGATROYD

We are saddened to report the death of Mike Murgatroyd , who passed away in the early hours of Monday this week. Mike, a former National Treasurer of the SNP, was a long-standing activist and our thoughts are with his family at this sad time. More details will appear in next week’s Flag.

POLICY POSTCARD

Prisons

The Lib-Lab Coalition is selling out the prison system to private profit. The Prison Estates Review is an inadequate solution to the problems of over-crowding and slopping out in Scotland ’s prisons. Rather, it is based on projected growth in prison numbers and gives the green light to private prison companies hoping to make a profit from crime.

Our prisons are a vital part of the criminal justice system, and not just warehouses of prisoners to be sold off for private profit. The SNP wants build a prison system that aims to cut prison numbers, through better rehabilitation and lower re-offending rates. With Independence , we would have the powers and resources to make the necessary investment in Scotland ’s prisons.

Under the Lib-Lab prison privatisation plans the Scottish taxpayer will be ripped off to the tune of £144 million.

The SNP forced the Scottish Executive to make a dramatic U-turn over the closure of Peterhead, and we are calling on the Lib-Lab coalition to abandon their unpopular privatisation plans altogether.

The Scottish Executive has failed to tackle appalling prison conditions, with a quarter of prisoners still slopping out and the number of prison officers falling from 3091 to 2800 between 1999 and 2001.

The SNP would deliver real investment in our prisons, through not-for-profit-trusts, as a means of building an effective prison system committed to reducing re-offending rates.
SyNoPsis

SYNOPSIS

SNP HAIL HIGH TURNOUT FIGURE IN LEADERSHIP ELECTION

SNP National Secretary, Dr Alasdair Allan, has welcomed the turnout in the elections for Leader and Depute Leader. Initial figures after the close of polling at 12 noon today (31 August), showed a turnout of 79.4% in the election for Leader, and 79.2% in the election for Depute Leader.

Dr Allan commented:

"I'm very pleased that so many of our Party members have taken this opportunity to participate in the selection of our new Leader and Depute Leader. This was our first ever election using One Member One Vote and it has caused a good deal of excitement in the Party, with large audiences at many hustings meetings, and a healthy debate in many of the letters pages of national newspapers.

"It shows that democracy and debate in the Party is very much alive and kicking, and members are looking forward to getting out and about with the new Leader and Depute and campaigning for Independence ."

SIX THOUSAND PATIENTS WAIT MORE THAN A YEAR TO SEE CONSULTANT

South of Scotland SNP MSP Ms Christine Grahame today (Wednesday) published details of a Parliamentary Answer (S2W-9744) from the Health Minister which reveals that nearly 6,000 people are waiting more than a year for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant. Ms Grahame said:

"This Scottish Executive has presided over surging waiting lists and has consistently failed to tackle the problem of waiting times in Scotland 's hospitals.

"They have claimed however that they have met their target of ensuring that no-one waiting for in-patient treatment will have to wait more than 9 months after seeing a consultant.

"This is all very well but what they have failed to point out is that nearly 6,000 people across Scotland are waiting more than a year even to see a consultant in the first place - and 30,000 are waiting for more than six months.

"What is also very concerning is the fact that this information is not in the public domain and was only made available after I asked a Parliamentary Question. Even then the Executive's attempts to hide these facts from the public continued as they did not publish the information in the usual manner but placed a copy of the document in the Parliament Information Centre.

"This is completely unacceptable and I am now calling on the Health Minister to make sure that this information is made readily available in the future. The scale of the waiting problem in Scotland 's hospitals must not be hidden from the public - Scotland 's patients deserve no less."

SNP MPS PRESENTS MOTION TO PARLIAMENT TO OVER FUTURE OF SCOTLAND 'S REGIMENTS

Scottish National Party MPs for Perthshire Pete Wishart and Annabelle Ewing today presented a Commons Motion in support of the Black Watch and the other historic regiments in advance of next weeks return to the House of Commons.

The motion asks the Ministry of Defence to give an assurance that the Scottish regiments will remain intact and to reject all suggestions of the amalgamation of Scottish regiments

Perth and North Perthshire Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Pete Wishart MP said:

“The House of Commons returns next week and I want the debate about the future of our regiments to be at the top of the political agenda. This motion is the first step in galvanising all party Parliamentary support to save our regiments.

“It is the Westminster Government that will make the final decision on the future of our regiments and my SNP colleagues and I will be doing everything at our disposal to put the case for the retention of the Black Watch and the other Scottish regiments.”

Annabelle Ewing added:

“The campaign to save the Black Watch has shown that the people of Perthshire are determined to save our historic regiment. They recognise the special contribution they have made and appreciate the close ties they have with our community.

“We must force the Westminster Government to listen to these voices and to give an assurance that the Black Watch will remain intact. This motion is the first in a number of Parliamentary tactics we will be deploying to make sure that the future of the Black Watch and the other Scottish regiments is secured.”