I remember it well, if somewhat bitterly.  At a Parliamentary Candidates' Conference in Stirling before that Referendum, I argued that we should not be supporting a move designed to marginalise the SNP;  I was treated as a pariah by my fellow candidates, just about the equivalent of the black spot!  Later on, I spoke with Billy Wolfe, SNP Chairman, and he persuaded me that we had to support any move to bring any form of government back to Scotland.   My compromise was that I did not use the official SNP literature in my campaign in Central Fife, but leaflets saying "This is not what I want, but it will do as a first step."   The irony of the situation was that Central Fife produced a good result for devolution, despite the Labour Party whose policy it was, sitting on their hands, and my fellow candidates, who had given me the black spot treatment, went back to their constituencies, and sat on their hands as well!  (I had some interesting conversations with Fife Police that day - but that's another story.)
          The result was that although the Yes vote won that referendum, it was wrecked because  George Cunningham, Labour MP for Islington  ( a renegade Scot) had inserted an amendment to the Bill that if 40% of the electorate did not vote Yes, then the result would be invalid.  No other referendum, before, or since, has had that barrier.  People who did not vote, were thus recorded  as voting No,  and Sir Alex Douglas Home, former Tory Prime Minister, urged voters to vote No, as the Tories would bring in a better Bill.  After the result, the government tried to have the Bill passed by Parliament, but refused to make it a three line whip.  In a subsequent vote of confidence, Labour lost by one vote;  this of course still rankles with some Labour apparatchiks, who have no knowledge of the circumstances, and keep bringing it up because they have no other way to attack the SNP.   

            In the subsequent General Election, Margaret Thatcher came to power, and threw the Referendum Bill into the waste paper bucket, to no one's great surprise.  The SNP lost 9 of their 11 seats, and degenerated into internal faction fighting.   George Cunningham joined the Social Democrats, and disappeared from sight.   Oh unhappy days.

           History rolls on, and we now have a Scottish Parliament, which is not yet covering itself in glory, due to a predilection for handing powers back to Westminster;  I think that the Scottish Labour Party is so used to having someone else telling them what to do that they are afraid to take the risk of making up their own minds.

SECOND HAND LIBERALS

            I have to be honest; I quite like Charles Kennedy, leader of all the Liberals;  he is MP for Ross Skye and Inverness West, and comes across as a decent chap.   However, I have always found that Liberals are much nastier than the nicey-nicey image they try to give.  My first personal experience of this was at an election meeting in Telford College, Edinburgh in February 1974; on the platform were Councillor Malcolm Rifkind, Tory, Councillor Robin Cook, Labour, a wispy bearded Liberal, whose name I have forgotten, and myself.  I was quite taken aback at the viciousness displayed by the Liberal;  Rifkind and Cook ( now there's a name for a pop group - and they were great pals) behaved as one would have expected Tory/Labour hopefuls to behave, so nothing surprising there, but the Liberal was something else again.  Put me off them for life.

          This was not my first experience with the Liberals; in 1968 I attended the official adoption meeting of the Liberal candidate for East Aberdeenshire in Peterhead.  There were three of us there to heckle, and the supporting speaker was Jo Grimond, at that time MP for Orkney & Shetland and leader of the Liberal Party.  We in the SNP were delighted that a Liberal was being adopted; we considered that a Liberal vote was a second class Tory vote, and the presence of a Liberal candidate made East Aberdeenshire a winnable seat for the SNP.     We were right;  Alex Farquhar almost took the seat in 1970, and Douglas Henderson did take in 1974. (It is now called Banff & Buchan and is represented by Alex Salmond at Westminster, and Stewart Stevenson at Holyrood.)   Anyway, the punch line that night was when the Liberal candidate, a chap called Hoyer-Millar, was making his acceptance speech, he burbled on about what a wonderful chap Jo Grimond was, and concluded "....and if we cannot have him as the Prime Minister of All-England, then by all means let us have him as Prime Minister of Scotland."  He then sat down to rapturous applause.   Can you understand why the Liberals don't move me?

               So what happened at their Conference?   I watched a bit, read a bit, and for the life of me cannot remember a single sound bite.   But see Alex Salmond's bit under Synopsis.

IRRELIGIOUS DIVIDE

 
         This week a report on the practice of religion in Scotland has been given great prominence.  I looked at the report, then looked at my calendar;  yes, at the time of writing this is 1st March 2005  -  the report is on the Census of 2001 - a mere 4 years ago.

             Great emphasis is placed on the finding that only 67% of Scots identified themselves with a religion, compared with 77% in England and Wales;  however, in the small print, the Office of National Statistics say they only asked people in England and Wales what was their religion of upbringing, whereas as in Scotland they were asked if they were currently practising any faith.  So a different question, but the answer ignoring that.  One other oddity I also spotted in the report was that two in five Sikhs and Muslims aged between 18 and 74 had no qualifications, compared with about one third of Scots in the same age group;  surely a bit clearer to say 40% of Sikhs and Muslims compared with 33% of Scots.  Perhaps newspapers like to obfuscate.  (There were no categories for obfuscants.)

                The report indicates that organised religion is on the slide, not entirely unexpected in this modern of TV dominated hedonism, but I can remember reading a comment not all that long ago, that "People who do not believe in God, do not believe in nothing; they believe in anything", or words to that effect.   In America, we are also seeing the revival of Christianity,  with the phrase "born again Christian" very much in vogue, but also may other sects establishing themselves in the name of religion, so people do want to believe in something.  And in fact, this week an English organisation calling itself "Christian Voice" used bully boy tactics against a Scottish cancer charity, Maggie's Centre, threatening to picket its centres if it accepted money from Jerry Springer - the Opera.  Not a very Christian act, that, and in fact I am convinced that many real Christians would have mounted a counter picket against this most unChristian bunch of charlatans.

               This week we also saw a Panorama report on sectarianism in Scotland, concentrating on the Rangers - Celtic divide in the West of Scotland;  I watched the programme, but I do not feel it told me anything I did not know, or offer any way ahead.  I only picked up one error of fact, when the lady presenter said that Celtic was founded by a Catholic priest;  that was incorrect, as Celtic was founded by a Marist Brother, a Catholic, but not a priest.  A trivial point, but evidence of sloppy preparation, so how much else did they get wrong?

            I think the programme was produced for sensationalism, a sort of "Look at the quaint things the natives get up to, and we thought they were civilised."    They did not focus on the quaint things the English get up to , such as "Our future king , who is a divorcee, can marry another divorcee, even though he will be head of our Church of England, which forbids divorce, but none of that matters as long as he does not marry a Catholic."    English laws are always too difficult to change;  they can manage to put through laws that are in direct conflict with the European Court of Human Rights, as this week's detention without trial (scraped through by 14 votes), but not that other anomaly,  the pseudo religious one that no Catholic could inherit the throne.  On the other hand, now that detention without trial seems to be focussed on the Muslim community as the current enemies of the state, can we expect to see the Act of Settlement amended to bar Muslims?  Now how's that for a controversy?  

THE POLITICAL COMPASS

             It is a series of statements to which you agree strongly, agree, disagree strongly or disagree;  probably the kind of test you get when you go for a job filling shelves in a supermarket, in these days of Human Resources.   At the end of it you get a chart showing whether you are Authoritarian or Libertarian;  it also gives you a comparison of how some of our World leaders would have scored.

             I came out quite close to Nelson Mandela, and slightly to the left of the Dalai Lama;  the furthest away from myself was George W Bush.   I accept completely this judgment.  If you want to try it , it is at http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/

                 Well, in a word "No";  I do look at the Scotsman on the Web, but do not often get past their headline stories.  Just the other week, the newspaper was actually delivered through my letterbox;  as we were going away for a few days (Not on cruises, or exotic foreign holidays but to Gretna Green; should have asked them if they could accommodate a Royal wedding!) I took it with me and decided to remonstrate with the newsagent when I returned.  I read the paper, and to my surprise -  my opinion is unchanged - no nostalgia - no feeling of missing something - no interest.  Sad, in a way.

                 Incidentally, I came back to a whole week's newspapers, not delivered by my innocent newsagent, but by someone trying to boost the Scotsman's circulation. 

 The petition will be presented to the House of Commons on behalf of the campaigners by Mr Salmond as well as being handed in to Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. The petition has been backed by Sir Sean Connery. Campaigners will be coming to London from across the United Kingdom including a large number from Scotland.

 On Wednesday 2nd March  Alex Salmond MP  presented the Fisheries Jurisdiction Bill to the House of Commons. The Bill seeks to take the United Kingdom out of the Common Fisheries Policy, giving those powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Houses of parliament (in regard to English waters). The Fisheries Jurisdiction Bill has been backed by MPs from every political group in the House of Commons as well as fisheries organisations from across the United Kingdom.

 Alex Salmond MP said:

 "The Common Fisheries Policy has been a disaster for Scotland fishing communities. The Scottish fishing industry is a vitally important part of the economy and cannot be left to fester under this discredited Policy and failed Brussels micro-management.

 "It is time to return fisheries back to national control. We must return power over the management of our fishing industry to national control. In particular fishermen and other stakeholders must be included in the management regime.

 "Our maritime neighbours in Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands all operate successful, economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable fishery outside the Common Fisheries Policy.

 "The fishing industry in Scotland employs tens of thousands of people and contributes billions to the economy. Our continued membership of the Common Fisheries Policy is damaging that key industry and withdrawal is a political priority."

 Carol MacDonald of the Cod Crusaders, who was behind the petition said:

 "The fishing industry crisis has affected so many livelihoods the whole length of Britain, so it's only but right that the Queen is notified of what has just been presented to her government.

 "The petition reflects how many people feel outraged by what is currently happening to the industry and yet the plea for National Control is repeatedly being ignored by our current Labour leadership, well its now about time they sat up and listened to public opinion as this must now account for something due to the immanent forthcoming election."

 Sean Connery commented on his support of the petition:

 "Scotland's fishing industry is a vital part of Scottish life contributing billions to the economy and employing tens of thousands of people as well as sitting at the heart of many vibrant communities around our coasts.

 "The Common Fisheries Policy has been a disaster for Scotland's fishing communities. It has failed in every sense and it is time for Scotland to withdraw from the Common Fisheries Policy and for power of fisheries to be returned to Scotland where it belongs.

 "The Cod Crusaders and other campaigners who care deeply about the future of this industry have done a tremendous job standing up for their communities. I would like to wish them every success in their campaign to ensure a secure future for the fishing industry and the communities who depend on it."

        Michael Howard, Tory leader (this month anyway) is proposing that the Speaker of the House of Commons should decide what legislation applies only to England and ensure that Scots MPs neither speak nor vote on these issues.

          Strange that he never raised the subject  when the Tories had hardly any seats in Scotland, but all the English Tories spoke and voted to their heart's content on Scottish issues  -  even attended the Scottish Grand Committee.

            The Queen is hosting a reception at Buckingham Palace this week  for some of Britain's leading musicians, to celebrate their contributions to the nation's coffers;  star guest is Phil Collins, Geneva based tax exile.

               Nothing new there; just a year or so back she knighted the Barclay brothers, proprietors of the Scotsman, and an English newspaper whose name escapes me;  they had given about £30 million to charity, I think.  This, however, was because they pay no tax, being tax exiles living on the island of Sark, so in a sense, they cheated the Chancellor, paid some cash to charity, and were knighted.  Good going, eh? 

             It looks as if the Freedom of Information Act does not apply to Scotland's Tories;  David McLetchie, Scottish Tory leader, and Peter Duncan MP Scottish Tory chairman. lodged 60 boxes of archives in the National Library of Scotland.  When the Glasgow Herald asked for access this was denied.

                 So the Tories lodged files in the National Library (libraries are places where things get read) at public expense,  agreed to let researchers use them, but refused the first request, as the files might be embarrassing.  Now if I had files like that, I would keep them at home, at my own expense, but then I'm not a Tory.

              In a newspaper interview this week, Prime Minister Tony Blair regrets not having spent more time with his family.

                So do we, Tony, so do we.

            It's all about perceptions;  I almost convinced myself that Scotland's poor showing in international football was due to the fact that our children only spent 5% of school hours per week on physical exercise.  Then I read that Irish children only spent 4% of their time on PE.

             As Scotland is ranked 87th in the World football league, and Ireland 12th, I think I've got that wrong.

 Saturday 26 Feb 05

SNP Deputy Leader Nicola Sturgeon MSP today (Saturday) launched the SNP's Pensioners Manifesto and the latest campaign image on the issue at an event in Glasgow.  A separate event will also be taking place in Perth.

The SNP have developed a range of policy initiatives to improve the lives of Scotland's older population which will be key themes in the Party's General election Campaign.  The key policies in the document are:

 -Introducing a non-means tested Citizen's Pension
-Scrapping the Unfair Council tax
-Maintaining Local Health Services

 Ms Sturgeon said: "Since the Tories broke the link with earnings in 1980, the value of the state pension has fallen by a third.  "Labour broke their promise to restore that earnings link. Instead, they extended means testing for pensioners who deserve a decent pension as of right.

 "The SNP will end means testing and pay all pensioners a Citizen's Pension of at least £110 for single pensioners and £168 for couples. We will also restore the earnings link and make sure that every pensioner has a decent amount to live on.

 "Voters should contrast our policy with the other parties. Labour want to means test all pensioners, the LibDems want you to wait until you are 75, and the anti-Scottish Tories are only offering help to English pensioners. With Independence, no pensioner in Scotland will be treated like a 2nd class citizen.

 "You can trust the SNP to restore dignity to Scotland's pensioners." 

Friday 25 Feb 05

SNP Leader Alex Salmond MP today published a dossier of Liberal Democrat failures, exposing the coalition partners at Holyrood as untrustworthy  puppets of the Labour administration. The announcement accompanied the publication of the SNP's new campaign poster exposing the puppet-like nature of Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Jim Wallace.

 
Mr Salmond said:  "A vote for the Liberals in the General election is just another vote for Labour.  With Jim Wallace no more than Jack McConnell's puppet at Holyrood, voters in Scotland know that they just cannot trust the Liberals to stand up for Scotland's interests either in Edinburgh or London.

 "On a whole range of issues they say one thing in opposition and another when in Government.  They opposed top-up fees in Westminster, but are implementing them at Holyrood.  They vote against ID cards down south, but cannot even be bothered voting when push comes to shove in the Scottish Parliament. 

"Liberals in Scotland are even bending over backwards to bale out the Labour-led Executive by agreeing to keep the Council Tax until 2011, although Charles Kennedy claims to support the abolition of this unfair tax.

 "With all this in mind it's no wonder that it has been revealed in a leaked private memo that Charles Kennedy wants to avoid appearing in Scotland.  The memo said that his "preference is to face studio audiences outside the metropolis - and avoid Scotland as well".  If I had his record of duplicity, I'd avoid all contact with voters at all!

 "All this adds up to show that if Scotland matters to you, you can't vote for the Liberal Democrats in May.  Only the SNP can deliver a consistent and principled alternative to Labour and the Tories in Scotland."
 

Thursday 24 Feb 05

 The Leader of the Scottish National Party, Mr Alex Salmond MP, has condemned the BBC decision to broadcast the 'Gathering Place' programme about the building of the Scottish Parliament. The BBC has confirmed that it will be broadcast between 10 and 22 March in spite of the looming General Election.

 The BBC is subject to strict criteria on the run up to the General Election covering its impartiality. It last year withdrew a programme, 'Gutted' about the Scottish fishing industry on the run up to the European Election. The 'Gathering Place' has caused controversy as the programme's producers only interviewed those involved in the decision making progress over Holyrood Project and not its critics.

 Alex Salmond was the Leader of the Opposition in the Scottish Parliament at the time the decision was taken to go ahead with the building of the Holyrood Building Project, and a key critic of the Project, was not interviewed.

 Alex Salmond MP said:

 "The whole saga of the 'Gathering Place' programme has been handled disgracefully by the BBC. The extraordinary decision by Ken MacQuarrie to screen the programme on the run up to the widely expected General Election shows that they do not pay attention to what is in the public interest and are acting as a fully paid up subsidiary of the Government in Scotland.

 "Details given by Stuart Greig, the programme producer, demonstrate that it is impossible for the programme to be politically balanced because it excludes critics of the controversial Building Project. The decision not to screen interviews with critics but only with 'participants' renders it impossible to make a balanced programme.

 "It is bad enough for the BBC to broadcast a programme that by definition is unbalanced but to do so in the run up to the General Election is ridiculous. The transmission of the programme between 10 and 22 March, with the people of Scotland having it inflicted on them twice a week, and immediately before the Representation of the People Act kicks in is incomprehensible, even more so, considering their refusal to grant Lord Fraser access to the BBC tapes regarding the Holyrood Project."

Thursday 24 Feb 05

 Mike Weir MP, SNP Westminster Spokesperson for Rural Affairs, has slammed the UK government's "callous indifference" to the future of rural postal services. Speaking at Business Questions in the House of Commons Mr, Weir noted that Postcomm had announced the opening up of postal services to competition ahead of schedule.

 Mike Weir said:   "It is worrying that the reaction of Royal Mail has been to seek, in effect, cost reflective charging. The two things together could have a serious impact on the future of postal services, particularly in rural areas."

 Mr. Weir demanded a Commons debate on the subject and was scathing at the response of the Leader of the House.

 "The response that everything would be OK because of the universal service obligation shows the government's callous indifference to the future of postal services. The whole point is that Royal Mail would be the only company which would be affected by it and they clearly wish to be able to charge different costs to different areas to compete in the new market. Such a process would clearly undermine the principle that mail should be delivered to every area at the same price.

 "Between then successive Tory and Labour governments have destroyed the once great postal service. This latest move could lead to serious problems with rural services."
 

Thursday 24 Feb 05

 SNP Europe spokesperson Ian Hudghton MEP today welcomed a vote in the European Parliament which demanded a rethink on the European Commission's proposal to send decommissioned fishing boats to tsunami hit countries. A series of amendments to the Commission's proposal - including key paragraphs proposed by the SNP - were adopted by the parliament. The amendments allow for the transfer of fishing boats to South East Asia - but only as a part of a wider aid package and only if affected countries request it.

 Mr Hudghton said: "The European Parliament has today challenged the Commission to rethink its strategy on tsunami aid. Europe's fishing communities have much to give the people of tsunami hit areas to help them rebuild their fishing industries. It would be ludicrous if skills, boats and equipment were thrown on the scrapheap if they could be used elsewhere. 

"There are concerns, however, that the Commission's plans are little more than gesture politics. We have also seen gesture politics in the European Parliament where some people voted against major improvements to the EU plans.

 "The vast majority of MEPs however voted to allow the possibility of the transfer of fishing boats - but only if the people of the Indian Ocean want it. Europe has a lot to give the communities destroyed by the tsunami in terms of money, equipment and skills - but, of equal importance, we must also give these communities our respect, and allow them to choose how to rebuild their lives."
 

Thursday 24 Feb 05 

 SNP MP for North Tayside, Mr Pete Wishart, has today backed a campaign by the Tartan Army to have part of the new Wembley stadium named after Scotland football legend, Jim Baxter. He has submitted a motion in the House of Commons to have the bridge named after the football legend in recognition of the genius of 'slim Jim'.

 The London Development Agency is undertaking an online vote to choose a name for the footbridge at the new Wembley Stadium. The Tartan Army are campaigning to have the bridge named after Jim Baxter.

 Pete Wishart MP said:   "The online vote to name the new bridge at Wembley is a great opportunity to acknowledge Jim Baxter's enormous contribution to football. He is already in the Wembley Hall of Fame and this would be an appropriate and suitable way of marking 'slim Jim' and his genius.

 "Jim Baxter's audacious display of 'keepy uppy' on the turf of Wembley is the stuff of legend. It is great that this initiative has the support and backing of the Tartan Army, who are getting behind Jim Baxter in yet another campaign and more success at Wembley!" 

Editor's Note:

 Pete Wishart MP has submitted the following motion to Parliament which has appeared on the Order Paper of the House of Commons today [24 February]:

 THE JIM BAXTER BRIDGE – EDM 767

 This house notes the on-line vote to name a foot bridge at the new Wembley Stadium; believes that there could be no more appropriate and suitable name than the "Jim Baxter Bridge" in acknowledgement of the genius of slim Jim; remembers when he humbled world champions England in 1967, with his audacious displays of "keepy uppy" on the Wembley turf; notes the "tartan armies" support for this campaign and calls upon all football fans, regardless of nationality to honour this piece of impudent genius.

Responding to today's announcement that Scotland's fishermen can keep the three extra days at sea given to them in an apparent error but only until Brussels bureaucrats get the paperwork together to reverse the decision, Shadow Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead has attacked the Common Fisheries Policy for yet again tying the fishing industry in bureaucratic knots.

 He commented:  " Fishermen have literally geared themselves up to qualify for the extra three days and are now being told that they can keep them but only for a couple of months. This will go little way to appease an industry that has been treated shabbily and that has gone to great expense with the expectation that would gain the extra days. Ross Finnie should be pressing Europe for a better deal.

 " After all, Sweden is getting to take advantage of these extra days for the whole of 2005 and they didn't have to half the size of their fleet for the privilege! The Scots who have made huge sacrifices are the ones being penalised.

 " The Common Fisheries Policy never fails to spring surprises on our fishing communities and this latest blunder must leaving our fishermen in state of despair."

Tue 1st March 2005

 Speaking today following the publication of the new Licensing Bill, Shadow Finance Minister Alasdair Morgan MSP welcomed the publication of the Bill as a first step towards combating Scotland's drink shame.

 He said:   "The SNP welcome any move towards addressing Scotland's binge drinking culture.  The problem we have in this country is one of over indulgence by individuals, and so we welcome any moves to introduce a legislative framework which will allow us to combat this serious issue. 

 "We need to work in partnership with Local Authorities and the licensed trade to ensure that we go beyond casting blame on one part of the sector for the excesses of individuals and really attack the roots of the problem.  Scotland's drinking culture is a national disaster, and so we must all move forward together to address both the supply and demand for alcohol especially amongst the young.

 "The personal and social cost of excessive drinking carries an even higher price than the 1.1 billion pound price tag placed on this epidemic only yesterday.  I welcome this Bill as a first step towards combating this national tragedy, and hope that it is followed by further action to attack the demand for drink."