I was tasked with showing a group of Primary Sixes round Holyrood last week. I’ve never really considered myself to be all that old, but I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder if the musical ‘Good-mor-ning-Mis-ter-Thom-son’ they greeted me with was anything to go by :-)

Not having any kids of my own, I’m never very sure how to pitch things to children. You don’t want to bore them, but equally, make it too simple and they’ll have you for breakfast. Luckily, though, this lot had been studying the Scottish Parliament, and were about to hold their own mock elections. I say luckily, but once they had been shown round and we were waiting for First Minister’s Questions to finish so that Shona Robison could join us, they had some pretty penetrating questions to ask me:

Who’s the best MSP? – “Er... It's hard to say. Some make good speeches, some are good in the committees, others are good at constituency work. Everybody brings something to the place in their own way”.

Is Alex Salmond the best MSP? – “He’s very good, but as the First Minister he does a different job to all the other MSPs, so it’s quite hard to compare, really”.

Do MSPs have any fun? – “Well, it’s hard work, but they do sometimes get a good laugh in the chamber if someone says something daft or funny".

Do MSPs get jealous of each other? – “Um.. Good question. They’re just ordinary people, so I suppose they must!”

How much does Alex Salmond get paid? – “Oh, about £120,000. More than me, anyway. Probably more than your teacher as well!”

How much do you get paid? – “Erm… I’m not sure. More than I did for my first paper round, anyway…”

So what do you do? – “I’m a researcher for Shona Robison, the lady who’s your MSP. I write speeches and meet people for her and things like that”

(I kid you not) Does that mean you do all the work, and she gets all the credit? – [Nervous laugh] “Er, no. Did you know that Shona had to be up before 5 this morning to get to work?”

Fortunately, when Shona arrived, they still had plenty questions left. And did the same boy who asked whether I did all the work not follow up straight away by asking whether or not I was a good assistant? Shona, ever the pro, answered that all of her assistants did different jobs, and that all of them, myself included, did them very well. I’ll buy her a glass of wine for that reply before I head off to London.

I predict a bright future ahead in politics or journalism for that boy if he wants one. However, by far the best question of the day came earlier on from from a wee girl, who on seeing Brian Taylor getting ready for the cameras, asked innocently if the lady applying his make-up was his personal beauty therapist. I’ll never be able to watch Brian again in quite the same light…

The Worst Small Country in the World?

Jack will be disappointed. It seems that despite all the marketing boasts which greet passengers at our airports, Scotland might not be the best (small) country in the world after all.

The Federation of Small Business has produced a report comparing Scotland to 10 other countries with fewer than nine million people, including Norway, Iceland and the Republic of Ireland. The measures compared included data on economic performance, employment rates, health and education. Scotland's poor life expectancy was a major factor in coming bottom.


In socio-economic terms, Scotland is like the curate's egg. The wealth enjoyed by Edinburgh, West Lothian, Perthshire and Aberdeen is not matched in much of west central Scotland. There's no doubt that perceived poor life opportunities and a general lack of care for personal wellbeing is a huge factor in our less than optimal economic performance. Nicolas Crafts of the London School of Economics sketches it starkly when he estimates that if Scotland simply matched English life expectancy, our GDP would increase by over 20%.

However, Scottish GDP is already fairly high, reaching £111bn once oil is factored in (this takes public spending as a share of GDP down to c. 41%, in contrast to the oft-cited figure of 50%). These figures would, on the 2003 OECD figures, make an independent Scotland the 8th richest country in the world per capita, sandwiched in between the USA and Sweden. Admittedly, a relatively static population massages the GDP per head figure somewhat, but you get the idea. Problems we may have, but a basket case we certainly are not.

There's no need for us to plunge into a collective national gloom over these indicators. Sure, they make for pretty grim reading, but the opportunity for us to do better is there. A number of measures can be taken to improve growth and help rebalance our population profile, such as cutting business rates and reducing the burden of graduate debt. However, one of the single most significant measures we could take is to improve the link between taxation and public spending, by introducing fiscal independence.

We're not a poor country, nor are we subsidised by anyone else. No-one holds us back, and no-one will prevent us in the longer term from taking the actions that the other independent nations seem to be able to use to deliver better life outcomes for their peoples. Taking greater responsibility for our own affairs, on both personal and governmental levels, is surely the best way to deal with our unique set of national strengths and weaknesses.

 

The Noblest Prospect?

Well, the SNP won the election and formed the government, and now the Scottish political focus will, in part, drift southwards for the general election. Partly in consequence, although this has been in the planning for a wee while, I now have a new job with the SNP. In London. I'm delighted, although I should also make sure that I'm the first to acknowledge the irony in the situation...

For a variety of reasons, mostly personal, I've felt for a while that I fancied a change of scene from Edinburgh. Ever since I started working for Stewart Hosie, I've been the only SNP Westminster researcher not actually based in Westminster, which had both advantages and disadvantages.

I've been brooding over a move to work elsewhere for a while now, either for a job related to politics or a return to finance. However, my progress with my MBA has been, ahem, sporadic of late. And the one thing I've found since leaving the financial sector is that by working for first the SNP and then their parliamentarians, I've enjoyed a hitherto rare engagement with what I actually do each day. Being able to get out of bed each morning looking forward to work, is something which it's absolutely impossible to put any kind of price on. So to get the change of scene but retain the work I enjoy so much is from my point of view, very fortunate indeed.

Next week will be business as usual, but after that, I'm going to have to throw myself into the task of letting out my flat and finding somewhere to stay in London. So, if anyone fancies moving into a spacious flat just yards from Portobello Beach, or alternatively knows of somewhere in London where I can move with both a cat and a car, please feel free to get in touch.

 SYNOPSIS

SNP MEP Welcomes Scotch Whisky Vote

SNP President Ian Hudghton MEP has welcomed today's vote in the European Parliament on new rules for spirit labelling as an important step in achieving a secure future for the Scotch Whisky industry.

Mr Hudghton - a member of the Parliament's Internal Market committee - has been campaigning for the EU to recognise and protect both the name 'Scotch Whisky' as a distinctive brand and the traditional methods used.

Speaking after he voted in favour of a compromise deal in Strasbourg, Mr Hudghton said:

"This could have gone further but I believe we've achieved a good deal that will help provide a secure future for the Scotch Whisky industry. In particular, the name 'Scotch Whisky' will be protected as a brand and we will also have the opportunity to protect use of the name in the Gaelic language too. The new rules will mean that traditional practices of producing whisky - which date back centuries - and the world class high standards of the Scotch Whisky industry will get the recognition they deserve.

"This is good news for Scotland and our whisky producers and I'm pleased to have been able to support it. I look forward to having early discussions with colleagues in Edinburgh on protecting the Gaelic language version of Scotch Whisky - uisge-beatha Albannach - as a distinctive brand."

Speaking earlier in the parliamentary debate, Mr Hudghton said:

"As a Scots MEP I have an obvious interest in any regulation which relates to Scotch Whisky.  Scotch Whisky is the product of centuries of traditional practice. The first reference to whisky in Scotland was in 1494-5 according to Exchequer records, the first taxes were imposed in 1644.

"Protecting the term "Scotch Whisky", as well as the method of production and the geographic definition, is extremely important for Scotland for obvious reasons.

"Some details still have to be underlined in the technical files and I look forward to a successful outcome of that. This compromise, the product of lengthy and very heated exchanges is something that I now am prepared to accept."