BACK TO WORK

          Well, another holiday over, my wife and I have just returned from a Baltic cruise, which sailed from Leith (and back to Leith) and visited Oslo, Copenhagen, St Petersburg, Tallinn, Svendborg  and Bremerhaven.  The vast majority of the passengers were Scottish pensioners, attracted, like us, by sailing out of Scotland.

                 We had a bit of confusion over currency, as we needed Norwegian kroner in Oslo, Danish kroner in Copenhagen and Svendborg, roubles in St Petersburg, Estonian kroner in Tallinn, and Euros in Bremerhaven!  Actually we used dollars in Russia and Tallinn, some Euros in Norway, but Danish kroner as we were in two places in Denmark.   We were really impressed in Svendborg, where we were most cordially treated, and we sent our postcards from there on the Wednesday  - and they arrived in Edinburgh on the Friday!  Wouldn’t even have got here from Stirling in that time.

                  Anyway, I’m back, and I see my colleague, Ian Goldie, has left comment on the Make Poverty History March and the G8 summit to “the great Jim Lynch”, as he styles me, quite why I do not know.

                
MAKE POVERTY HISTORY

        I returned from holiday on Saturday 2 Jul, so was unable to take any part in the Make Poverty History March that day; in fact we knew all about it because Edinburgh taxis were not to be available, as their insurance would not cover any damage done to their vehicles, so there was some confusion as to how people would travel onwards.   In any event, there appeared to be plenty taxis when we arrived, but we had arranged for our eldest son to collect us, so no problem there.

          From all accounts the day was a momentous occasion; estimates vary from 200,000 to 250,000 marchers, starting at the Meadows in Edinburgh, and going round the centre of the city.  The event was staged by hundreds of campaign organisations and charities fighting for justice for the Third World; I do not know how many SNP branches were involved, but certainly Ochil SNP members were there – I know because they told me so!

      The most remarkable thing was that there was no trouble; I saw somewhere that one person had been arrested, but almost a quarter of a million people and everything peaceful?  Everywhere there were people in white, Mums, Dads, children of all ages, grandparents and young men and women – all peaceful – all there crying out for justice for the poor and the dispossessed; when we continually have to bear witness to this greedy materialistic society we live in, this march was uplifting.   Our football fans are renowned the world over for their cheerful and peaceful cantrips; Scotland not only has the Tartan Army, we now have the White Army. 

G8 PROTEST

         After the peaceful Make Poverty History demonstration, it was dispiriting to see the descent of the anarchist thuggish tendency on Edinburgh, and other parts of Central Scotland.   What was even more dispiriting was the publicity given to their actions by the media; I sometimes think that the media thrives upon evil and violence, and the more publicity the perpetrators get, the harder they try.

             What the anarchist tendency was trying to prove is unclear; they did throw flowers at the police, but as the flowers were in pots this could not be construed as peace and goodwill.  There are ongoing allegations, mainly from the Scottish Socialist Party and their spear carriers, that the police over reacted; as the current SSP has evolved from Militant, a movement prone to violent protest, this is not unexpected.  There are also statements that the police could not be identified, as their numbers were covered up, but no criticism of the fact that the perpetrators were in balaclavas, crash helmets, or even clown masks, to conceal identities.

             The anarchists came to Scotland determined to cause trouble, so it is not surprising that they found it; they are the political version of the football casuals, but not even as noble, since they are after soft targets, and don’t want anyone to fight them.     What was the point of it all?  I am quite sure that the starving African orphan, if he were able to find a TV, would look at the crash-helmeted thug smashing in the windscreen of an unemployed person’s car in Stirling and say: “Gee, thanks.”
 

G8 ACHIEVEMENT

           Somewhere in the dim recesses of my mind is the sentence “Is your journey really necessary?”    I can’t quite remember in what context it was used, but no doubt older readers will recall it.  It came back to mind as I reviewed the meeting of the G8 leaders last week at Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland.

     Well, was their journey really necessary?    They condemned terrorism, highlighted by the bombing of London; they reached some modest agreement on climate change, or at least admitted that human activity is contributing to it; they said they would provide extra resources for Africa’s peacekeeping forces, and agreed that all debts owed by eligible heavily indebted poor countries to international financial institutions should be cancelled.

         They also said they would double aid to Africa by 2010, and put together a package including universal access to Aids treatment by 2010, but did not accept Gordon Brown’s International Finance Facility, mainly due to opposition from the US.  They said they would review the foundations of a Palestinian state, expressed concern about nuclear projects in North Korea and Iran, worried about weapons of mass destruction, and mildly slapped the wrist of Mugabe of Zimbabwe.   They did not agree a date for ending agricultural subsidies in the wealthy West, which would transform the lives of poor farmers in the Third World.

         On balance, I believe their journey was necessary; people can talk on phones (ad infinitum these days) have video conferences without leaving their desks, send memos, communiques and proposals, but nothing beats sitting down and talking with other people.  What we now want to see is progress, turning good intentions into concrete action.

TARGET LONDON

            In the summer of 1974, accompanied by my wife, two sons, and friends from Turriff, I paid a visit to the House of Commons in London; we were all on holiday in Harlow.   On the day we visited, the late Donald Stewart told us that there had been a bomb in the Tower of London; this was scary, as we had been undecided whether to go to the House of Commons, or the Tower of London, and if Donald had been unavailable, we would have gone to the Tower.

                What is noteworthy is that, to my knowledge, no one ever claimed responsibility for that bombing; now, 31 years later, a massive bombing campaign, but so far, no one has claimed responsibility.  Yes, I know that three different  organisations appear to have claimed responsibility, but the authorities are not taking these claims seriously, as they do not think any of the organisations would have the resources.  As I write there is news that an arrest has been made.  Police appear to have identified four British born Muslims as the suicide bombers.

                London has had bombings before, apart from World War II, which resolutely refuses to die away, but the aims were identifiable; that does not justify the acts, far from it, but there were usually warnings.  This bombing was unheralded, and while it is perhaps the case that the bombers took advantage of the concentration of police and security resources in Scotland, surely that is not the fault of these forces, but of the anarchical forces that made it necessary?   We have seen the mayhem they wreaked with a strong police presence, we can only shudder at what they would have done unchecked.

               The scenes of carnage which we have seen on TV in Iraq and in Israel, and which have ceased to impinge on us, have now come to the United Kingdom; we do not know what they are meant to achieve, who perpetrated them, or why they were perpetrated.  What we do know is that they were cold calculated acts of murder, designed to kill as many people as possible, and as London is a cosmopolitan city, as many nationalities as possible.   It would seem that somewhere in twisted logic is the tenet “You exist – therefore you should die.”  

GRADUATE  CHEATING

 
          This is not about cheating in exams, otherwise it would be “Graduates Cheating”, but about how the Scottish Executive has gone about cheating students, and cheating the electorate as well.  This, of course is the Liberals, claiming to have abolished student tuition fees, but imposing them at the end of study.  Incidentally, while the Greens and the SSP have been busy shooting themselves in their collective feet by attacking the policing over G8, the Liberals are now murmuring about the leadership of Charles Kennedy; we were concerned at how they gained votes at the last election with Charles Kennedy being Mr Nice Down to Earth Guy, and not much else.  This threat will be removed by the Liberals themselves – no wonder they cannot sustain any momentum.

SNP Shadow Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop MSP has said student loan debt will continue to rise as new graduates are simply not earning enough to be able to pay off their student loans or even cover the first year's interest, following a report published by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR).

Ms Hyslop said:  "This publication clearly indicates the SNP was right earlier this year when we pointed out that new graduates were not earning enough to cover the first year's interest on their student loans. 

"Graduates need to be earning well over £21,000 to cover their first year's interest. The AGR's figure for graduate earnings of £20,000 in Scotland shows that graduates aren't earning enough, and their student loans debt will continue to grow after they have left university.

"The student loans system is costing the country dearly in terms of government support for the debt burden, the restricted life-chances of graduates and the damaging effects on the economy. Borrowers under the new system simply can't earn enough to repay the debt and taxpayers are paying through the nose for a system that is piling more and more debt onto young people.

"Escalating personal debt is becoming the quicksand of the economy and rocketing student and graduate debt is becoming a larger and larger part of that.

"It's time that the student loans system was scrapped and replaced with student grants in Scotland - that's what our students need, it's what our graduates need and it's what our economy needs.”

Facts about student and graduate debt:

• Graduate debt is unsustainable - repaying the student loan is becoming impossible as interest outpaces repayments; and bankruptcies are rocketing.
   

• Attempting to repay student loans inhibits the life choices of graduates, making it harder for them to get a mortgage, start a family, etc.
   

• The student loan tax reduces the disposable income of graduates, so reducing retail spending and acting as a drag on the economy.
   

• Research into student and graduate debt promised by the Executive as far back as April 2002 still has not been published.
   

• The Barclays Bank Graduate Survey showed that only 36% of graduates from 2003 and 2004 were in jobs in their chosen careers in February 2005.
   

• Student Loan system is becoming unsustainable with £100 million a year (and growing) subsidising the debt interest.

Copies of SNP Research Papers on the subject are available from http://www.snp.org/policies/lll

DR GEORGE REID, PC, MSP

       This month’s newsletter from Bridge of Allan Branch tells me that George Reid, MSP for Ochil, has received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from St Andrews University.

          The honorary degree award comes in recognition of his significant contribution “to Scottish political life”, and “to international humanitarianism.”   It is his second degree from Scotland’s oldest university, having attained first class honours in History at St Andrews in 1962.

         Speaking after the ceremony George said “it is an honour to be awarded this degree by St Andrews University.  As Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, the award of Doctor of Laws is recognition of the pivotal role our parliament plays in the democratic process.”

          In the early eighties, George held a series of senior posts with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent in Geneva.   Over twelve years of working in areas of serious conflict, he carried out aid work in eight wars and over twenty international disasters.

           George was the SNP Member of Parliament for Ochil from 1974-79, and then a list MSP for Central Scotland from 1999-2003, when he was Deputy Presiding Officer.   He was elected as the SNP MSP for Ochil in 2003, and on being elected Presiding Office of the Scottish Parliament, he resigned from the Party to guarantee neutrality.  He was made a Privy Counsellor last year, and is the only one in the Scottish Parliament.

FAREWELL

      In the run up to the General Election, we published pictures and brief biographies of the staff at SNP Headquarters, in an attempt to make them better known to Party Members; one of the staff we failed to publicise was Joan Knott, the cashier.   At the time we were told that Joan was off, so we could not get a current picture; now sadly, we know that she was receiving treatment for lung cancer, and she died on Saturday 2 Jul 05.

      There was a large turnout for her funeral in Edinburgh last Thursday, and Alex Salmond, SNP Leader, gave a moving eulogy; also present were Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy Leader, John Swinney, former Leader, all HQ staff, and MPs and MSPs.
Joan had worked for the SNP since 1995, and in addition to her work at HQ she had helped out at the Parliament, so knew all the MSPs.   She will be sadly missed by her colleagues, and our sympathies go to her husband, Ken, her two daughters, and her grandchildren.

FOOT IN THE MOUTH NOTES

     After the annual conference of the British Dental Association, 6000 dentists wrote to the English Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, protesting about the lack of funding for dentistry; apparently in 1997 (before New Labour) the NHS spent 4.1% of its budget on dental health, whereas it now spends 2.5%.

     Getting money out of the government is like pulling teeth.

     Four members of the Scottish Socialist Party were removed from the Scottish Parliament after they disrupted proceedings just before the G8 summit; their absence meant that a motion to give compensation to those suffering after receiving contaminated blood was lost – by four votes.   They were subsequently fined by the Parliament’s Standards Committee, and decided to have collecting tins at the Make Poverty History march to refill their coffers .

       We are sure the starving millions in Africa would be sympathetic. 

        It was claimed that the privatisation of water was the only solution to ensure adequate supplies; this was done in England and Wales in the Tories’ term of office.  Before it happened, of course, investment in public water authorities was cut back, to make the industry a bargain for investors.

        Large parts of the South of England are now facing water restrictions, despite having paid out vast profits to shareholders.  Is it possible that they got something wrong?

       
             A new threat to call centres has emerged; it would seem that  voice loss affects about 2% of the workforce.  The Call Centre Association in Scotland which represents more than 100 call centres north of the border has not received any reports of this illness.

           Perhaps the English talk more.

         The Scottish Executive has agreed to buy out the PFI contract for Inverness Airport; this was agreed in 1995, by the Tories, contract signed in 1998, by Labour.   £6.6 million was invested by Noble Bank, and £3 million by the European Regional Development Fund, a total cost of £9.6 million;  so far the bank has made profits of £8.5 million, and the compensation of £25 million is to be paid to the investors.

         The economics of squandering public money are breathtaking;  if it was their own money they would not be so cavalier.

        The current spell of sweltering weather has me experiencing righteous indignation; we usually pay a lot of money to holiday abroad for the sun, and all these people here are getting it free!

         I wonder if I could claim on my holiday insurance?