BACK TO NORMAL

Well as near normal as my life ever gets.  I went in to SNP Headquarters in October last year to help out with preparations for the Westminster General Election, stayed on to help during the campaign and, now that election agents have made their official Returns to the appropriate authorities I am once again a retired woman.  Not really, of course.  I am an incurable volunteer and have taken on tasks within the SNP that will keep me busy till the next Election - for the Scottish Parliament this time – in May 2007!  

I meet many folk of my age who are into volunteering and assist an amazing number of charities and voluntary and community organisations in all sorts of ways.  They bring the administrative and organisational skills of their past employment and those, together with their life experience, enable them to make an enormous contribution to the area they have chosen to work in. 

Political Parties are heavily dependent on volunteers to undertake all sorts of tasks.  I love working with them.  They are there because they want to be – not because they have to be.  They tend to be enthusiastic and raring to go.  Many work above and beyond the call of duty during an election campaign.   It cold be said that there aren’t enough of them – but we’re working on that!
 

ANGUS MACNEIL MP

It was wonderful to see Na h-Eileanan an Iar – Western Isles – brought back into the SNP fold.  The late Donald Stewart won it in 1970 and held it until he retired from politics in 1987.  It’s taken us till 2005 but Angus MacNeil won it back from Labour on May 5. We have all had to learn how to pronounce it properly in Gaelic.  Within the SNP’s Westminster Group Angus has been given responsibility of the portfolios for Transport, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.  An onerous task given that travel to and from his constituency is far from easy.   There follows a synopsis of Angus’s maiden speech made in the House of Commons on May 26. 

"A neach labhairt san a tha e a toirt toileachas dhomhsa an diugh m'oraid a thoiseachadh ann an cainnt m'oige, caint a thug m'athair dhomh is san tha mi a nis fior thaingeil gu robh e daigeann a deanamh cinnteach gum biodh canan mo sgire agam.

"Si Gaidhlig  an cainnt Cheilteach a rinn Alba na dhuthaich air a bheil sinn eolach an diugh. Se na Gaidheil a tha againn oirnn fheinn ach chuir na Romanaich Scotti oirnn mar a chuir na Iriquois "Eskimo" air na h-Inuit.

"Thug Gaidhlig is da channanas iomadh buanachd dhomhsa. Tha i a deanamh ceangal ri mo charaidean bhon Chumrigh - ged nach tuig an da chainnt Cheilteach a cheile agus tha i a'cuimhneach dhuinn ceangalaichean ri Eilean Mhanain is ri Eirinn."

Translation:

"It gave me great pleasure to begin my speech today in Gaelic the language taught to me by my father and today I am very grateful for his determination to have ensured that.

"Gaelic is the language that made Scotland a distinct entity.  We Gaelic speakers called ourselves the Gaels but the Romans called us the Scotti in much the same way as the Iriquois named the Inuit - Eskimos.

"Being bilingual has given me many benefits.  Not least an empathy with the Welsh although the 2 Celtic languages do not understand each other. My sort of Gaelic is however closely related to that of the Isle of Man and Ireland."

Angus paid tribute to his predecessor, Calum MacDonald and went on to welcome  the BBC's decision to look again at the tilt on their new weather map which, he said, was inadequate for the needs of his constituency. “The BBC are having a change of heart on the tilt of the map, which has rendered Scotland, 40% of the landmass of the UK, down to 10% of the screen area.  I welcome their responsiveness. They now need to ensure that we have wind speeds with directions and isobar charts on the bulletins.

Mr MacNeil focussed on some key issues facing the different parts of his constituency, including general concerns over transport and depopulation:

"Lewis is the biggest and most populated of the islands with almost 20 thousand people. Fish farming is the largest employer although Harris Tweed remains an important industry.

" Harris is currently suffering the loss of around 70 jobs from the closure of the salmon processing plant on Scalpaigh - a problem which in per capita terms is far worse to the area than the closure of the MG rover plant in the Midlands.

"There has been concern throughout Uist that linking the islands with fixed link causeways, exacerbated the effects of the storm of Jan 11th last which so devastated the Iochdar in South Uist with the tragic loss of 5 people. It is now time that the effects of causeways be looked at to see how they interact with tides and storm surges.

"Transportation and associated costs is a pressing problem in the islands and one of the main reasons for depopulation.  My constituency has lost 11% of its population in the last 10 years - more than any other in this House.   This is not caused by geography but by politics.  Ireland is gaining population.  Iceland's grew over the 20^th century as did Norway's while the Faroes Island trebled its population.

"In the short term there is a pressing need for Road Equivalent Tariff to lower our ferry fares and gives our islands the same chance of success as those in Western Norway.

"For our air services we need public service orders on the Benbecula and Stornoway routes to make fares more affordable to the general public.

"Irish independence has been an economic win-win situation, as has Norwegian independence. In 1900 there were around 50 independent nations. With the decline of imperialism there are now around 200.  Independence and progress have travelled hand in glove during the 20th Century and will continue to do so.” 

AIR GUNS

About 20 years ago I was eating my lunch in a school dining room.  I was seated at a table, facing the window, with 9 children aged between 5 and 6 years old.  Conversation was encouraged, good table manners were encouraged and it was a pleasant experience; almost family-like.  However all this was forgotten when the window broke and an air gun pellet came over the shoulder of the child facing me, slid along the table and hit my hand.  The police were called, the children calmed down and school started again for the afternoon.  The culprit was identified and I can’t actually remember what happened to him.  What I do remember is the nightly recollection of what might have happened had the culprit been in a different position – nearer, on the first floor balcony rather than the third, etc.  It haunted me for weeks and it all came back to me when a child in Glasgow died when a pellet lodged in his head recently.

I have never understood why people who live in a very urban situation need – or even want – air guns and I am glad to see that politicians – albeit UK politicians - are taking this issue more seriously.  I don’t think they are going far enough but at least it’s another step along the way.

Stewart Hosie MP is the SNP’s Westminster Home Affairs spokesperson.  Commenting on the publication of the Violent Crime Reduction Bill he said:

“The legislation has one big shortcoming. There is simply not enough to deal with the problem of air guns in Scotland. This is something the SNP group will look to remedy.

We will be proposing amendments to the Bill to devolve responsibility for controlling the sale or possession of air guns to the Scottish parliament so that MSPs can discuss this issue in detail and come up with the right solution for Scotland.

Controlling air guns is not high up the political agenda for the majority of English and Welsh MPs. Far better that the issue is dealt with, and given full and proper scrutiny, by members of the Scottish Parliament.” 

MAKE POVERTY HISTORY AND THE G8 SUMMIT

Oh that we could!  I am fully in support of this campaign and will be in Edinburgh on Saturday 2 July to demonstrate that support along with tens of thousands of like-minded people from all over Scotland and beyond.  The demonstration is timed for before the start of the G8 summit at Gleneagles to send a message to the great (so-called) nations of the world that we, the people, want them to do their utmost to Make Poverty History through a variety of mechanisms including debt cancellation.

Some people want to get closer to participants in the summit.  They want to be within sight and sound of Gleneagles with, they believe, a better chance of world leaders – or their support teams - actually seeing or hearing the demands that people are making.  The main focus of the G8 agenda will be the major international issues of climate change and poverty.

There is a degree of fear and uncertainty over the possible impact of troublemakers on the fringes of the G8 demonstrations and the Police do not want to let demonstrators anywhere near Gleneagles.  They have made alternative suggestions.  I am not sure who will make the final decision but the local council are meeting on Thursday to consider a request from the demonstration organisers.

I am a great supporter of the right to peaceful protest and I think it should be possible for protestors to get within sight and sound of Gleneagles during the summit. I would prefer to see the demonstration focused on Gleneagles itself rather than the local community of Auchterarder.

For more information log in to

http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/