The first letter I ever had published in the Scotsman, and this may have been before I joined the SNP, was in response to the subsidy canard.  It started : “Dear Mr English taxpayer……”  and continued to thank him for his benevolence in paying all these extra taxes to keep me feeding and clothing my family.  The Scotsman, being a bit more nationalistic over 40 years ago than it has been of late, put it in a box, because it was lampooning the ludicrous claim that someone else was paying my bills.

Saturday 23rd December

SNP Leader Alex Salmond MP has today stepped up pressure on the Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander to take action over the extended travel chaos this week between the South of England and Scotland.

Mr Salmond demanded action following the decision by British Airways to cancel all domestic flights at the expense of international routes, leaving passengers bound for Scotland stranded, and accused the Transport Secretary for taking his eye of the ball over the issue.

Mr Salmond said:

"British Airways have been abusing their dominant position in the market when it comes to their treatment of Scottish passengers. Their historic position has guaranteed them landing slots at Heathrow, but this week's chaos has shown the weakness in this arrangement.  Passengers bound for Scotland for Christmas were simply abandoned at the expense of those on international flights following the fog at Heathrow.

"In addition, the company's proposal that they intend to sack the bulk of their Scottish-based ground staff shows the contempt BA show to both employees and customers north of the border.

"BA staff from all over Scotland have written to me about the company's poor treatment of their employees, and confirming to me that passengers' plight would have been worse without fully trained ground staff in Scotland.

"It is unacceptable for Scotland to be able to be cut off to travellers when a London airport is fogbound, so we must have a review of BA's policy to sacrifice domestic flights in these circumstances.  BA's historic rights to landing slots into Heathrow has given them a significant competitive advantage which they are exploiting by keeping routes while at the same time issuing redundancy notices to non-Heathrow ground staff.

"It is not in the public interest that Scottish air travellers should be at the mercy of a single company's decision.

"What has made this chaos more unpalatable is the masterly display of inactivity shown by the transport Secretary Douglas Alexander. The Labour Minister has been entirely complacent in the face of the chaos
faced by Scots this week. In fact, the Minister's only real contribution to the misery faced by passengers this week was to share his own personal discomfort that he had to catch a train to Scotland.  Would that many other travellers had a similar opportunity this holiday period.

"Douglas Alexander recently welcomed the Eddington Report, written by the Former Chief Executive of British Airways, which proposed a further concentration of flights at Heathrow and dismissed proposals for a fast train alternative from North to South. Events this week have proven that both Alexander and Eddington are wrong on both counts. Links to Scotland should not be concentrated at a single London airport and there is a pressing need for a train service with the speed and capacity to provide a realistic alternative to flying to London from Scotland.

"Given that Douglas Alexander seems only dimly aware of these key strategic points, perhaps he should spend less time running Labour's Scottish election campaign and more time undertaking his ministerial
responsibilities."

Ùghdarrasan Ionadail

An do dh’fheuch duine sam bith agaibh dèiligeadh le ùghdarras ionadail sam bith o chionn goirid? Ma dh’fheuch, an deach e gu math? Tha poileasaidh aig a h-uile comhairle air cuin a dh’fheumas iad litrichean a fhreagairt, ach cha bhi iad daonnan a’ cumail ris. Uaireannan thig an aon fhiosrachadh barrachd na aon turas, no cha toir iad feairt air fiosrachadh a chuireas tusa thuca agus feumaidh tu cumail ort is cumail ort feuchainn ri freagairt cheart fhaighinn. Spòrs eile, ‘s e sin freagairt fhaighinn do cheist nach do chuir thu no gearan nach do thog thu, gun fhreagairt fhaighinn don rud a bha thu ag iarraidh. No nas sìmplidh uile gu lèir - chan fhaigh thu freagairt idir.

Fiù ‘s ma bhios tu a’ faighinn seirbheis air leth math bhon chomhairle agad, le còrr is leth cheud às a’ cheud ag obair don stàit am bi sinn a’ faighinn luach às ar n-airgead? Tha e follaiseach nach bi a h-uile duine ann an saoghal an fhoghlaim a’ creidsinn gum bi co-dhiù. Thàinig beachd a-mach o chionn latha na dhà nach bu chòir Stiùiriche Foghlaim a bhith anns a h-uile ùghdarras ionadail. ‘S e an aon obair a bhios iad a’ dèanamh agus an aon riaghailtean a bhios iad a’ leantail. A bheil feum againn orra uile? Nì Seirbheis nam Poileas an gnothach le dìreach ochdnar Phrìomh Chonstabal ann an Alba agus bidh an obair aca ceart cho doirbh agus farsaing ‘s a bhios obair Stiùiriche Foghlaim.

B’ e airgead an t-adhbhar a dh’èirich a’ cheist, le beachd gum biodh barrachd airgid ann do sgoiltean mura biodh pàigheadh àrd a’ dol a-mach air Stiùiriche; ach aig a’ cheann thall cha dèanadh e diofar cho mòr sin. ‘S dòcha gum biodh e na b’ fheàrr sùil a thoirt air a’ cheist anns an fharsaingeachd. Tha iomadh ùghdarras ionadail a’ dèanamh ath-structaradh an ceartuair gus an tèid aca an dleastanasan a choileanadh, ach dè cho math ‘s a bhios seo? Chan eil obraichean sòisealta gu leòr ann airson taic a thoirt do theaghlaichean ann an trioblaid, no taighean gu leòr ann aig prìs reusanta. Tha pàrantan a’ gearan nach eil taic gu leòr anns na sgoiltean do chloinn le duilgheadasan ionnsachaidh agus tha an t-ùghdarras ionadail ag iarraidh cuideigin fhastadh mar “writer in residence”. Le rudan mar seo a’ sìor-nochdadh tha na faclan “a’ gluasad cathraichean air an Titanic” a’ tighinn gu inntinn.

Local Authorities

Has anyone tried to deal with a local authority recently? If so, did it go well? Every council has a policy on when they must respond to letters, but they don’t always keep to it. Sometimes the same information comes more than once, or they pay no attention to the information which you send them and you have to keep on and keep on trying to get a proper response. Another bit of fun is to get a reply to a question you didn’t ask or a complaint you didn’t raise, without getting a response to the thing you did actually want. Or even simpler - you don’t get a reply at all.

Even if you are getting an exceptionally good service from your local council, with more than fifty percent of the workforce working for the state are we getting value for our money? It’s obvious that not everyone in the education world  believes that we are anyway. A view came out a few days ago that there should not be a Director of Education in every local authority. They have the same work and follow the same rules. Do we need them all?  The Police Service manages with just eight Chief Constables in Scotland and their work is just as difficult and wide-ranging as that of a Director of Education.

It was money that caused the question to be raised, with the assumption that there would be more money available for schools if a high salary wasn’t being paid out to a Director; but at the end of the day it wouldn’t make such a big difference. Maybe it would be better to take a look at the situation in general. There are many local authorities restructuring just now in order to fulfil their duties, but how good will this be? There aren’t enough social workers to support families in trouble, or enough houses at reasonable prices. Parents are complaining that there isn’t enough support in schools for children with learning difficulties and the local authority wants to employ  someone as “writer in residence” . The words “moving chairs on the Titanic” come to mind.
 

CAN JECK PEY A UNION DEEVIDEN?

Lest month, Jeck McConnell firit the stertin gun fir neist year’s election wi his speech on the benefits o the Union. The First Meenister, naiturally eneuch, thinks we hae the best o baith warlds unner his government. He threips that Scotland soudnae haud oot fir ony mair pouers till it haes made fu yiss o aa the pouers it haes. This is s fine thocht, coman as it daes frae a First Meenister that haes pit throu as mony Sewel Motions (ti lat Wastmeenster hae the lest wird on a devolvit maitter) as it haes Acks o the Scottish Pairlament.

Forbye, Jeck hauds it ti be an awfu waste o time fir oor M.S.P.s ti be bickeran amang theirsels aboot mair pouers fir Scotland whan there are sae mony guid warks they coud be daean insteid. He allous that a wheen o European nations hae gotten their independence i the lest hunner year: bit we soud dae whit Bavaria, Catalonia an Flanders hae duin, an be content wi whit we hae. It’s weel seen that Jeck daesnae ken that Catalonia, efter a lang tulzie, is aboot ti get mair pouers, an Flanders haes haed its pouers eikit three times.

Syne the First Meenister went on ti the Union Deeviden. The papers saizit on his notion that the Union wad lat us sen aa oor nuclear waste doun ti England – that wesnae i the prentit speech at aa. Bit naebody haed telt Jeck aboot thir seeven muilderan nuclear submarines at Rosyth Dockyaird; a braw Union Deeviden they are!

Chief amang the guid pynts o the Union, Jeck tells us, is the extrae siller that Scotland aye gets frae an ever guidwillie Whitehaa. It’s no as if Scotland gied onythin back. No a wird did he say abot Scottish ile, that haes gien the Government in Lunnon twa hunner million pun in taxes i the lest thretty year. Wi the pouers o independence, Scotland coud hae duin whit Norrowa haes duin, an set up an Ile Foond, that efter ainly eleven year is wirth saxteen thousand pun fir ilka person i the kintra.

There’s ae mair Union Deeviden that Jeck daesnae talk aboot. Whit aboot Scotland’s pairt in Britain’s fremmit policy? Hou muckle, A wunner, wad be oor share o the daiths in Iraq? Hunners? Thoosans? Shairly this is a Union Deeviden that Scotland, an the warld, wad be better wioot!

Kenneth Fraser