QUESTION TIME
My wife
and I were very fortunate in being at the first First Minister’s Questions
in the Scottish Parliament since the SNP became the government, and it was a
very enjoyable experience indeed, and many thanks to Christine Grahame MSP
for inviting us.
The question format
follows that used at Westminster, in that the First Minister is asked a
fairly innocuous question, which is on the Order Paper; the questioner then
has a supplementary question in which they try to ambush the First
Minister. On this particular occasion, Mr McConnell, Labour Party leader,
said : “To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.” This
avoided the elephant trap involving the Prime Minister. I do not recall
Alex Salmond’s exact response, which was a formal one, but Mr McConnell’s
supplementary was a speech, not a question; Alex’s response to that was;
“Jack, that question is longer than any of the answers you ever gave when
you were First Minister”. He then went on to specify what the SNP had done
in the two weeks they had been the government, including abolishing the
tolls on the Forth and Tay Road Bridges, confirming that no new nuclear
power stations would be built in Scotland, and commissioning a review of the
Edinburgh tram project and the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link – known as EARL,
in the best forelock touching traditions of the Labour Party (OK I added
that last bit.)
The question from Annabelle
Goldie, Tory Party leader, baited the elephant trap; she said : “To ask the
First Minister when he will next meet the Prime Minister and what issues
they will discuss.” This opened the door to Alex’s reply: “He never phones,
and he never writes”, and Parliament erupted into gales of laughter. After
this, I said to my wife that whatever else was said at that particular
Question Time, that sound bite would be recycled over and over, and so it
has been!
As far as one can gather,
listening to regular attendees at Question Time, this seems to have been the
best since the Parliament was set up and augurs well for the future;
suddenly, Scottish politics has become interesting again.
PLAYING BY THE RULES
First Minister Alex
Salmond caused gasps of astonishment and righteous indignation from Labour
and Liberal members when he stated that the government does not have to
accept the votes of the opposition MSPs; he then paused and said: “I am
quoting the exact words of the late Donald Dewar”. The expression “putting
their gas at a wee peep” sprang to mind.
His comment was
confirmed by the Presiding Officer who ruled that the law made clear that
the Scottish Executive must accept Acts of Parliament, and motions of no
confidence or about Holyrood’s tax varying powers, but ministers cannot be
bound by other votes. Some unfavourable comment has been made in the
Glasgow Herald that Alex Salmond himself had objected to this rule, with a
headline as if this had just happened; in fact the incident had occurred in
March 2001, and referred to a vote on increased compensation for fishermen
who had lost money by reduced catch limits imposed by the Common Fisheries
Policy. Labour MSPs had all trotted off to their Conference, and the
Parliament voted to give the fishermen the compensation; this was over ruled
by the Executive, and the SNP protested – to no avail.
However, now that the SNP are
implementing the rule that was put in by the Labour /Liberal carve up to
stymie the SNP, the previous Executive do not like it one little bit; just
another of life’s little ironies.
THE TRAM LINE
I think I may
have mentioned in the past how surprised I was in my youth when trams were
scrapped in my home city of Dundee; I don’t remember exactly when this
happened, but certainly in the Fifties. What puzzled me was that we were
praising the completion of Hydro Electric schemes, and also doing away with
trams, which ran on electricity, home produced, to use buses, which required
fuel which had to be imported. There was no knowledge of Scotland’s Oil at
that time.
So
what are we to make of the Edinburgh Tram Project which is what is causing
all the angst of Executive versus Parliament? Well, the SNP manifesto had
a commitment to scrap the proposed tram project as it was scheduled to cost
at least £600 million, and this money could be better spent on improving
existing transport facilities in the rest of Scotland. The proposed
tramline will run from Edinburgh Airport to Leith Docks, which leads one to
think of cruise ship passengers flying into Edinburgh and getting the tram
to their ship, and vice versa, not necessarily of great use to the citizens.
Personally, I like trams, but
can only see them as providing more traffic congestion, which is probably
why they scrapped them in the first place; in Edinburgh, there is great
congestion in Princes Street, but they narrowed the street by broadening the
pavement thus increasing congestion! Presumably with trams they will widen
the street and narrow the pavement – Oh to be a road engineer in Edinburgh-
truly a job for life! Edinburgh also has bus lanes which lie empty while
cars get snarled up in the one lane, blasting out pollution as the drivers
rev up engines in frustration, and whatever happened to the re-opening of
some of the railway lines round Edinburgh?
EDINBURGH AIRPORT RAIL LINK
The Edinburgh Airport Rail Link is linked, by the big
spenders (of other people’s money), with the Edinburgh Tram Project, for
reasons which are obscure, to me at any rate. They both go to the Airport,
and that as far as I can see, is it. I suspect that the attempts to link
both together is to make it more difficult to scrap one or the other.
A rail link to Edinburgh Airport is sensible, and it is a source of wonder
that this has never been done before; after all the railway runs right past
the Airport so a spur could have been constructed at any time over the past
20 years. Where the SNP parts company with the current proposal is that it
is an attempt to link the rail lines from Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling,
Inverness, Glasgow, et alia, as well as from Edinburgh; this means that you
could get on the train in Inverness,for instance, and get off it at
Edinburgh Airport – too bad if you want to go to Glasgow.
That
proposal is for new lines to link all the existing lines, plus a station
built underneath the airport, and tunnels under the runway. The British
Airports Authority objected to the tunnels, but has now relented, or been
bought off, not sure which, but then they are now owned by Grupo Ferrovial,
a Spanish company, which may make a difference.
Whatever, a very large chunk of the
Scottish Parliament’s transport budget is heading Edinburgh’s way, with no
great recognisable benefits to the rest of Scotland; SNP proposals to dual
the A9 have been scorned by the other parties, who point out that the road
runs through three SNP constituencies, which may explain why there were no
plans to dual it before. However, a large proportion of those using the
road do not necessarily live within these constituencies, or even in
Scotland, and the road is a particular hazard to foreign tourists, with the
switch from dual to single carriageways and vice versa. The dualling of the
A9 would save lives.
The SNP has no problem with another
Forth crossing, which coincidentally will be the fourth road crossing, but
whether this will be a bridge or a tunnel is not yet known.
THE HUFF AND THE PUFF
While Prime
Minister Blair was doing his swansong around the world at our expense, his
unelected successor is fighting a non existent Prime Ministerial election,
going round the United Kingdom stirring up apathy, and looking gey peeved at
the same time.
Mr Blair, of course does not have much time for Alex Salmond,
but as Alex brought forward a motion to impeach Mr Blair for lying to the
House of Commons, one would not necessarily be surprised; however, as the
same Mr Blair found time to go to Northern Ireland to shake hands with Dr
Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, a five minute telephone call to Alex
Salmond would not have gone amiss. He perhaps may feel also rather miffed
that it was another SNP MP, Angus Brendan McNeill who has brought the
prospect of Wormwood Scrubs perilously close to the Prime Minister, so we
are not all that popular. In this context, I well remember Mr Blair, just a
few short weeks ago telling Scots to remain faithful to Labour as we were
going to get a Scotsman as Prime Minister; no one picked up the fact that
the current Prime Minister was also technically a Scot, as neither he , nor
we, think of him as one.
Mr Brown, now, steadfastly ignored the election result, and had said that
he would not work with Alex Salmond; this, of course, was saying that he
would not accept the will of the people, the attitude of a dictator, not a
democrat. It was four weeks after the election before he made any contact
with the democratically elected First Minister of Scotland; his failure to
do so was a public relations disaster, and a propaganda bonanza to the SNP,
culminating in the question Annabelle Goldie asked at First Minister’s
Questions, which forced his hand. Mr Brown huffed, and he puffed, but only
picked up the phone when Alex brought the house down.
It was
only a matter of time before the press turned their guns on the SNP, but the
Sunday Herald’s front page story this week was a classic piece of mis-statement.
The headline was : “Question: How does a government minister claim a
mortgage allowance when his home doesn’t qualify?” Answer: “Simple. He
sells it for a £267,000 profit and takes out a mortgage on the one down the
road.” Sensational – but false!
The government minister concerned, Stewart Stevenson, who has been a
minister for all of two weeks, sold his family home in Linlithgow in May
2003 for £282,000; he bought the house 30 years ago for £15,000, and lived
in it for the 30 years. It was sold because he also had a house in his
constituency, Banff and Buchan, and the three bedroomed house in Linlithgow
was too large to be looked after in absentia, so he sold it and bought a
smaller one. Not sensational enough for the Sunday Herald – one might ask
why they did not run this story 4 years ago? Answer: “He was not a
government minister”. To be fair, they have run similar stories on Nicol
Stephen, Tavish Scott and Mike Rumbles of the Liberal Party and John Home
Robertson of the Labour Party, so it is now the SNP’s turn to go under the
microscope.
There is no doubt that the whole business of the accommodation allowances
for our Parliament has been a mess; the outgoing Presiding Officer, George
Reid, did not have a house in Edinburgh. He stayed in hotels, and admitted
that was far more costly to the taxpayer, but because he did not make any
financial gain, the perception was that his action was correct. What is
undeniable is that because property prices in general, and Edinburgh
property prices in particular, have been soaring, then certain MSPs have
made money, mainly when they lost their seats. However, what would have
been the attitude of the public if the MSPs had lost money? Would the
public purse have recompensed them? I think not, even if it is not so long
ago that the phrase “negative equity” struck terror into the hearts of
homeowners.
Hopefully, a review of the whole situation will take place, and also we
might discover what happens with Westminster MPs; their fiscal dealings are
shrouded in mystery, and they have now been exempted from having their
expense claims publicised as happens in Holyrood. Time that their affairs
were scrutinised more closely, as it is all public money being spent.
Interesting sidelight on the Sunday Herald article; Tommy Sheridan,
Solidarity leader and a long term critic of the scheme, pontificated on the
reprehensible conduct of Stewart Stevenson, claiming the moral high ground.
I do not believe Mr Sheridan has yet received his £200,000 from the News of
the World, so perhaps he took his payoff from the Parliament; if rumours
circulating are true he may not get his money from the action and may not
have to pay for his bed and board for a year or two.
We are assembling at 13:30 at Lower Bridge Street in Stirling with the
March kicking off at 14:00. At the National Trust site of Bannockburn Nicola
Sturgeon MSP will lay the wreath for the SNP. Everyone will hear Nicola and
Bruce Crawford MSP speak and then we will be entertained by Eva Christie who
has played Glastonbury before and Five Park Drive. Hopefully it will be a
good family event that further celebrates our victory at the elections and
the important time in our history. This year Professor Christopher Harvie
MSP is giving our Dr. Allan Macartney lecture at the King Robert Hotel at
16:30 .
The local SNP
branch are hosting a party at the King Robert Hotel, provisionally from 6pm
to 10pm. We do not have their final details yet, but I think it is likely
that there will be a couple of traditional Scottish bands there.
The Working Life of Linda
Fabiani MSP
Click here to read SNP MSP Linda Fabiani's working diary.
SYNOPSIS
Things are
a bit quiet on the Press Release front at the moment, as we are still caught
up in the excitement of the Scottish Election Victory
Monday 4 June 2007
The MP representing
the home base of the Nimrod fleet at RAF Kinloss has posed a series of new
safety questions in parliament. Westminster SNP Leader Angus Robertson MP
stated today that concerns remain about the ageing Nimrod fleet, including
the safety standards of certain wiring systems.
14 servicemen died
aboard a Nimrod which crashed in Afghanistan last September. According to
BBC Panorama, there have been two serious mid-air incidents since the crash,
both after refuelling.
Moray
MP Angus Robertson said:
“There are many
unanswered questions relating to the Nimrod crash and the fleet in general.
Everybody is waiting for the findings of the RAF Board of Inquiry into the
crash in Afghanistan, but there are also questions which the Ministry of
Defence can answer now.
“One
concern raised with me by Nimrod insiders relates to some of the wiring
systems. Hopefully the MOD can clarify the use of Kapton wiring on Nimrod
aircraft and explain why its use is acceptable on certain military aircraft
when it has been phased out by many civilian carriers.
Mr Robertson
reiterated the range of recent concerns that have been highlighted about the
Nimrod fleet:
"There are serious
worries about the regularity of fuel leaks from Nimrods. The overworking of
the ageing fleet has been confirmed by recent MOD statistics on exceeded
planned flying hours and aircraft parts regularly need to be swapped from
one plane to another to keep them airborne.
"This corresponds
with the widespread concerns by the service community at RAF Kinloss about
the number of skilled staff who have recently taken early retirement
compounding a shortage of ground crew.
"We need to
remember that all of these issues have directly touched the families who
lost their loved ones aboard the Nimrod that crashed in Afghanistan and also
the whole service community at RAF Kinloss.
"The MOD has a huge
challenge to restore confidence, moral and trust in their management of the
Nimrod fleet as it approaches replacement."
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
Questions to the
Ministry of Defence tabled by Angus Robertson MP today 4 June 2007
To ask the
Secretary of State for Defence, a) if he will confirm whether Kapton wiring
is used in the Yellowgate (ESM) system in place in Nimrod aircraft, b) when
this system was fitted in Nimrods, c) what wiring is used on other Nimrod
systems, and if he will make a statement.
To ask the
Secretary of State for Defence, a) what independent safety assessment his
department has commissioned on Kapton wiring, b) what assessment his
department has made of the role of Kapton wiring in the September 1998 crash
of Swissair Flight 111 over Nova Scotia, and if he will make a statement.
Tuesday 5 June 2007
SNP President Ian Hudghton MEP
has welcomed renewed calls to consider an EU-wide ban on the importation of
Brazilian beef.
Reports on the
Brazilian beef industry have revealed shocking inadequacies in cattle
traceability, animal welfare, and veterinary supervision, as well as
widespread employment of exploitative slave labour.
While
some provinces in Brazil have been penalised by EU embargoes on beef exports
Mr Hudghton, who discussed the matter with North East farmers at the Turriff
Show, has called for a tough stance on cheap Brazilian imports. Mr Hudghton
also praised the efforts of the Scottish beef industry to comply with modern
safety and traceability regulations.
Commenting, Mr Hudghton says:
"This matter was first raised
with me by constituents at the Turriff Show, and I am very sympathetic to
the fresh calls to review Brazilian beef imports to the EU. Recent reports
and testimonies from industry observers are extremely alarming and there
should be a tough stance on producers from non-Member States who flout
modern standards.
“It is ludicrous that, while
the Scottish beef industry has been put through the mill to comply with
modern EU regulations and has triumphed in exceeding expectations, large
commercial buyers from Europe can import cheap alternatives from elsewhere
where there are serious health and safety flaws in the beef industry.
“The Scottish livestock
industry, which has worked so hard in difficult times, should not be
undermined by the immoral importation of inferior products. It is therefore
imperative to seriously consider a total ban on Brazilian beef into the EU.
The Scottish Beef Cattle Association will be publishing another report on
this matter in the near future and I anticipate its conclusions will support
that view.”
Tuesday 5 June 2007
Pete Wishart,
the SNP’s International Development Spokesperson, today called for the
toughest possible international sanctions against the Sudanese Government if
they fail to allow international peacekeepers into Darfur. Mr Wishart also
said that so far the international community has merely acted as impotent
bystanders as the situation in Darfur has descended into genocide.
Mr
Wishart will comment in a House of Commons debate this afternoon:
“As the House of Commons
debates Darfur, some 450,000 people have perished as a result of violence,
malnutrition and disease. And things are set to get worse. In observing the
unfolding tragedy in Darfur we have to come to the depressing conclusion
that the human destruction to date doesn’t look like it’s run its course.
"We must force
the Sudanese Government to stop being part of the problem and become part of
the solution. It must immediately stop the bombing, and stop supporting the
Arab militias who are wantonly killing their Sudanese compatriots. They must
allow and cooperate with the dispatch of additional peacekeepers to the area
so that they can help stabilize the situation. And they must facilitate the
work of the international and domestic NGO’s to administer assistance to the
people of Darfur.
"The Disasters Emergency
Committee last week launched their appeal to help those caught up in the
Darfur disaster and their effort has to be congratulated and supported. They
reminded us that some 4 and a half million people are caught up in this
tragedy, almost the total population of Scotland. That is the scale of this
disaster, and the scale of the challenge we face.”
Tuesday 5 June 2007
Perth and North Perthshire SNP
MP, Pete Wishart, today (Tuesday) has responded to the Fabian Societies
Britishness initiative by asking where Scotland and Scottishness fits into
all of this?
Mr
Wishart said:
“The Chancellor and others
involved with this initiative simply presume that there can be a uniform
“Britishness” across the nations of the United Kingdom without understanding
that many of us in these isles don’t feel, or indeed desire to be labelled,
as British.
"Where does
Scottishness fit in with this, particularly when most surveys suggest that
in Scotland most people define their nationality as Scottish, not British?
Will we be obliged to go along with this and compelled to celebrate this
proposed Britishness day? Can the Scottish Parliament opt out and put
together a similar initiative based round an idea of Scottishness? Have the
authors of this report even considered these issues in a multi-national UK?
"This just seems to be another
in a series of clumsy attempts to try and redefine what Britishness is all
about, just at the point when the whole concept of Britian has been shaken
by an SNP victory in the Scottish Parliamentry elections. The Chancellor has
ludicrously hijacked the idea of a new Britishness in a vain attempt to try
and disguise his innate Scottishness without any real success. This seems
like a similar political stunt
"The United Kingdom is a union
of nations and that reality has to be acknowledged when trying to redefine
or invent a shared national culture and identity.”
Dealachadh-pòsaidh?
A bheil sibh air a bhith a'
leantail nan naidheachd air an taghadh? Chan eil fhios agam ciamar nach
bitheadh - bidh fiosrachadh ùr inntinneach a' nochdadh gach latha. Tha mi
air cluinntinn gu bheil am Pàrtaidh Làbarach air rudan mìorbhaileach a
dhèanamh bho leasachaidhean foghlaim gu ìsleachadh chìsean, agus 's e sin an
t-adhbhar nach bu chòir dhuinn an t-aonadh fhàgail. Tha e car neònach.
Smaoinicheadh sibh gun dèanadh iad na rudan sin san dùthaich seo, on a tha
iad air a bhith aig ceann na pàrlamaid. Saoil càit an d' rinn iad iad?
Ach
tha iad ceart nuair a their iad gum bi dealachadh-pòsaidh daor. Bidh, agus
mar as àbhaist cha bhi e soirbh an toiseach. Air an làimh eile, cia mheud
boireannach a ghabhas aithreachas gun d' rinn i e? Anns a' "phòsadh" le
Sasainn is sinne a' bhean, agus cha bhi ar cèile a' creidsinn ann an co-ionannachd.
Cluinnidh sinn a-rithist 's a-rithist an seòrsa cainnt a chleachdas
fireannach fòirneartach ris a' bhean aige - nach eil sinn làidir, no
tarraingeach, no cumhachdach, no comasach, no beairteach gu leòr a bhith
a-mach nar n-aonar. Ma chluinneas tu sin tric gu leòr tòisichidh tu ga
chreidsinn agus tha trì ceud bliadhna air a bhith againne, ach chan eil sin
a' ciallachadh gu bheil e fìor. Dè tha cho eadar-dhealaichte mu Alba nach
tèid againn air neo-eisimleachd a làimhseachadh? Dè chuireas stad oirnn?
Nach leig an Roinn Eòrpa leinn? An dùin Sasann na slighean-malairt? An tig
na ceannarcaich nan dròbhan? Chan eil fhios aig duine ach bhiodh e na b'
fheàrr faighinn a-mach an àite fantail mar a tha sinn, gun ghuth san t-saoghal
agus a' pàigheadh son Trident agus Olympics Lunnainn.
Agus ma bhios sinn a'
smaointinn idir air faighinn cuidhteas de chuid seann eachdraidh, bhiodh e
math an rud a dhèanamh gu ceart. 'S ann air a' Bhean-phòsta Windsor agus an
teaghlach aice a tha mi a' bruidhinn a-nis. Tha iad mar phìos mòr àirneis a
dh'fhàg ur seamhair dhuibh - trom, daor a chumail, gun fheum san là an-diugh
agus neònach anns an taigh ùr agaibh. Dh'fhaodadh na Windsors a dhol don
dùthaich air an robh Jack McConnell a' bruidhinn, far a bheil deagh
sgoiltean, seirbheisean poblach, goireasan, bainne agus mil a' dòrtadh bho
na creagan - agus bhiodh an t-àite aca dhaibh fhèin oir chan eil fhios aig
duine beò eile càit a bheil e!
Divorce?
Have you been following the
news on the election? I don't know how you couldn't be - new interesting
information is appearing every day. I' ve heard that the Labour Party have
done wonderful things from educational improvements to lowering taxes, and
that's the reason why we shouldn't leave the union. It's a wee bit strange.
You would think that they would do these things in this country, since they
have been in charge of the parliament. Where do you suppose they did them?
But they are right when they
say that divorce is expensive. It is, and it usually isn't easy at first. On
the other hand, how many women regret having done it? In the "marriage" with
England we are the wife, and our spouse does not believe in equality. We
hear again and again the sort of language that an abusive man uses to his
wife - that we aren't strong, or attractive, or powerful, or capable, or
rich enough to be out on our own. If you hear that often enough you start to
believe it and we've had three hundred years of it, but that doesn't mean
that it's true. What's so different about Scotland that we couldn't handle
independence? What would stop us? Won't Europe allow it? Will England close
the trade routes? Will the terrorists come in droves? No-one knows but it
would be better to find out instead of staying as we are, without a voice in
the world and paying for Trident and London's Olympics.
And if we're thinking of
getting rid of some old history, it would be good to do the thing properly.
I'm speaking about Mrs Windsor and her family now. They are like an old
piece of furniture that your grandmother left you - heavy, expensive to
keep, useless in today's world, and out-of-place in your new house. The
Windsors could go to the country Jack McConnell was talking about, where
there are great schools, public services, facilities, milk and honey pouring
from the rocks - and they would have the place to themselves for no-one else
knows where it is!
Is the en o the warld at haun?
In anither paper, ye micht
expeck, unner this heid, an account o hou the asteroid Apophis is at risk o
breengan intil the Yird I the year 2035; bit in fack, whit A hae in min is
the apocalyptic weird that the spaemen o the Lawbour Pairty, an their friens
in Her Majesty’s Leal Press Corps, threip wul faa on Scotland gin the S.N.P.
wuns the Election ti the Scottish Pairlament. They hae cairryit their cries
o doom that faur that even Dauvit Cameron (nae Naitionalist he) haes miscaad
them fir “bluid-chillan langage”.
We
hae been telt, at ae time or anither, that Scotland wulnae be able ti bear
the costs o aa the Government Depairtments that an independent state wul
need (hou dae the lave o them manage it?); that businesses wul pu up their
ruits an flee owre the Border (why soud they, whan we wul aye be pairt o
the European Union?); that the value o hooses wul dwine awaa (wul naebody
want ti leeve here?); that ye wulnae be able ti veesit yer Aunt Maggie in
England (bit Aunt Mary in Ireland is aa richt); that Scotland wul be pit oot
o the European Union (an oor ile wi it, nae dout); an that the haill kintra
wul be owrerin wi terrorists (whit wey coud we no keep them oot?). At least
they hae sparit us the plague o puddocks an the slauchter o the firstborn!
An aa thir mishanters haed been predickit bi the first week o the campaign;
wha kens whit disasters they wul hae in store fir puir auld Scotland bi the
day o the Election itsel.
A hae ti awn, tho, that the
spaemen gat ae thing richt. They hae fun oot at lest that the S.N.P. stauns
fir an independent Scotland. Jings! Crivvens! Help ma boab! Whit wunnerfu
pouers o raisonin! A jalouse that the voters warkit that pynt oot lang syne.
Bit nane o thir ill-hertit
threips wul dae us ony skaith gin the voters min wha they cam frae; the
friens o that truithfu Prime Meenister wha swure afore the Hoose o
Commons that Iraq haed wappons o mass ruinage ready ti be yaisit in
forty-five meenits! Lat us forget whit Tony Blair tells us, an lippen
insteid ti the wirds o a greater leader, Franklin Roosevelt: “The ainly
thing we hae ti fear is fear itsel.”
Kenneth Fraser
Thames Water, which has a PFI contract with Scottish Water (and let millions
of gallons of sewage into the Firth of Forth earlier this year) was sold
last year by its German owners, RWE; it was stalked by a company backed by
the Qatar government, and eventually sold to an Australian company,
Macquarie. Anglian Water was sold by a consortium of UK, Canadian and
Australian investors.