The Scottish Parliament is in recess, which does not mean on holiday, and I keep seeing our Ministers on TV and in the Press opening things and making comments.

First Minister Alex Salmond is certainly making waves as he travels round the country, and abroad; so far he has been in Belfast, London, Cardiff, Brussels, and met Her Maj a few times.  He seems to be finding most people very affable, apart from the Unionists, who in the main are quite disconcerted; maybe they are just jealous that he had his picture taken with Ronaldhino.  (For the uninitiated, he plays for Barcelona.)

Odd snippets picked up from our man in  Surrey, the indefagitable Andrew J T Kerr:

Farmers in England are being paid to grow poppies as there is a shortage of morphine; Andrew find that odd as British troops are destroying poppy field in Afghanistan!

A bit of a rumpus in England where devastating floods are making life a misery for thousands;  apparently the Environmental Agency does not have a single drainage engineer on its Board.  How curious.

Also picked up a point that Scotland doesn’t have the kind of river systems seen in England and on the Continent, but the Tay carries more water than the Severn and the Thames put together; we also have made it more difficult to build homes on flood plains.
 

Strategic planning around cities

Proposals for four new Strategic Development Planning Authorities in Scotland's largest city regions were announced today.

The new authorities, part of the overall modernisation of the planning system, would be established for Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, working across boundaries to shape long-term strategies for growth and environmental protection. It is anticipated that planners from relevant local authorities will provide the necessary resource.

The authorities will produce four new strategic development plans that will replace existing structure plans for the city regions.

The proposed groups of authorities are as follows:

·         Glasgow city region - East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire Councils

·         Aberdeen city region - Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Councils

·         Dundee city region - Angus, Dundee City, Fife Council and Perth & Kinross Councils

·         Edinburgh city region - City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Fife, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian Councils

While the groups for the Aberdeen and Glasgow city regions mirror the existing groups of authorities that prepare structure plans, the groups for the Edinburgh and Dundee city regions include new authorities and in particular reflects Fife's interests in both Dundee and Edinburgh. This mirrors changes on the ground, for example, in relation to expanding housing market areas and travel to work areas.

Planning Minister Stewart Stevenson said:

"The creation of up-to-date and relevant development plans is critical to an effective and efficient planning system that helps to deliver the sustainable economic growth that Scotland needs.

"The new Strategic Development Planning Authorities will be at the centre of this work, leading the way in developing realistic yet ambitious strategies for the largest city regions.

"It is important that local communities, businesses, public bodies and other stakeholders realise the importance of these plans and work with the new authorities to help to prepare them."

Consultation on the proposed groups of authorities will run until the end of October.
 

Why Scottish Broadcasting Matters - Part Four

As far as I have noticed in my experience of other countries, all of them have distinctive broadcasting systems under their own supervision. Is there any good reason why it should be different in Scotland with its centuries of distinctive cultural traditions expressed through its own institutions?

In 1959, J. M. Reid - who was the editor of the Glasgow newspaper, The Bulletin, for twelve years - wrote an excellent book, Scotland Past and Present. In it, he said:

“When regular broadcasting began in 1922, Scottish self-confidence was at its lowest ebb. It is impossible to believe that, at any other time, people who had long had most other cultural media in their own hands - Church, school, newspapers - would have accepted a monopoly in a new form of communication over which Scotsmen had no sort of control, except in the sense that its executive head, Lord Reith, was a Scot.”

In his inaugural lecture in December 1980, as Professor of Scottish History at Edinburgh University, Geoffrey Barrow remarked on the consequences of the domination of broadcasting by London. He said that the failure of Scotland to create its own public service organisation for broadcasting was “the greatest cultural disaster suffered by Scotland in the 20th century”.

As a consequence, generations grew up in Scotland constantly hearing English voices talking about English ideas, English culture and English institutions; but seldom anything about Scotland itself. One effect has been that it has become much rarer to hear spoken Scots in our streets and the language itself, as Alexander Scott said in 1984, “is growing fainter and fainter, more restricted in vocabulary and less idiosyncratic in idiom, with each successive generation”.

The loss of the language, the vehicle of much of our best literature, is bad enough; but it also implies a general deterioration of Scottish distinctiveness. That would be a loss not only to us, but to European civilisation as a whole, because its richness depends on its diversity.

The Scotland Act of 1997 restored the Scottish Parliament, but with severe limitations on its powers. One of these restrictions compounded the errors of the past. The Scottish Parliament was to be responsible for cultural policy, which was right and proper; but the most powerful and influential means of cultural expression, which is broadcasting, was reserved to Westminster. This clear contradiction was no doubt deliberate. The Labour Government evidently wanted to keep under its own supervision such an effective means of influencing attitudes, opinions and votes.

We might now complete Geoffrey Barrow’s judgement. The reservation of broadcasting to Westminster was the greatest cultural disaster which Scotland suffered in the 21st century. It is a disaster, not only to culture, but to the popular understanding of the contemporary situation and of new laws and regulations. The broadcasters constantly mislead the Scottish public with a wealth of details about such matters as education and the Health Service which do not, in fact, apply to Scotland at all.

So what are we to do about it? Clearly, BBC Scotland should become autonomous, financed by the licence fees paid in Scotland, and we should have our own regulator in place of Ofcom. To achieve anything, the first step must be to remove broadcasting from the list of reserved subjects. That will be a struggle, no doubt, in both Holyrood and Westminster, but it should be explored urgently.

Blair Jenkins, who resigned a year ago from his post as head of news and current affairs at BBC Scotland, wrote an article on the subject in The Herald just a few weeks ago - on June 18. He suggested that the issue should be explored on an all-party basis, “to secure greater accountability and transparency from the broadcasters and put some political muscle behind the programme makers”.

As Jenkins said in his article: “We need a serious and informed debate. If not now, when?”.

Paul Henderson Scott, writer, historian, and literary critic.
  This article was taken from the website of www.allmediascotland.com

Thursday 26^th July 2007

Speaking today (Thursday) SNP Westminster Spokesperson on Trade and Industry Mike Weir MP has welcomed the announcement from Postcomm that it is proposing to reject Royal Mail's zonal pricing application. Mr Weir has campaigned against the proposal which would have been seriously detrimental to rural areas.

Commenting Mr. Weir said,

"This is a fantastic victory for common sense. The zonal pricing proposals would have seriously undermined the principle of the universal service obligation, which is so important to rural and remote areas of Scotland."

"We have already suffered the loss of many rural post offices and many more are likely to go under the current review. The loss of mail services that would have inevitably followed the introduction of zonal pricing would undoubtedly have been another serious blow to rural Scotland"

However Mr Weir warned that the Postcomm decision was not yet final with the consultation continuing for the next two months with a final decision due at the end of the year saying,

"Postcomm must keep their nerve on this issue and stand up for rural Scotland by continuing to reject this ridiculous and damaging proposal".
 

Grahame welcomes Baxter’s Soup move

SNP MSP Christine Grahame has welcomed a move by soup producer Baxters to turn the former Selkirk glass site into a food outlet. Ms Grahame said:

“This is clearly welcome news for Selkirk and will hopefully bring additional jobs to the Borders.

“Baxters has a long established reputation stretching back 139 years and the company’s proposals demonstrate the growing confidence Scottish firms have under the new SNP Government to grow and expand.”
 

Foghlam

B’ e deagh naidheachd a thug Fiona Hyslop seachad nuair a gheall i gum bitheadh clasaichean aig toiseach foghlam bunsgoile air an gearradh gu h-ochd deug. Tha iomadh rannsachadh air dearbhadh gun dèan obair mhòr aig an aois as òige feum mòr nuair a bhios clann nas sine. Gheibh clann cothrom a dh'fhaighinn seachad air droch àrach agus a dh'fhantail san t-siostam, is mar sin cha bhi e cho coltach gun dèan iad trioblaid dhaibh fhèin agus daoine eile nuair a chinneas iad suas. Tha ar prìosanan làn dhaoine gun oideachadh ceart, le iomadh duine eile feumach air àite! Cha ghabh am plana dèanamh air ball agus cha bhi e gun trioblaid, gu h-àraidh far am bi sgoiltean làn agus feum ann son tidsearan pàirt-ùine, ach bu chòir fàilte a bhith air a cur air. Ach bhon Phàrtaidh Làborach, gu nàdurra, a thuirt gun e dìreach "SNP spin" a th' ann. Taing do Dhia nach d' rinn na Làboraich sin riamh. Cha bhruidhinn sinn air McCrone, no cia mheud uair a chunnt iad an t-aon airgead. . .

Fhad ‘s a bhitheas Fiona ag obair air foghlam sgoile, saoil an toir i sùil air suidheachadh na cloinne le duilgheadasan-ionnsachaidh? Tha ceist mhòr ann mu cho èifeachdach ‘s a tha na tha a’ tachairt an-dràsta. Bha aithris ann an Teaching Scotland den ainm “Cò smaoinich air in-ghabhail?” A rèir coltais thog cuideigin le ASD (autism) a’ cheist, ag ràdh gum b’ fheàrr leatha a bhith còmhla ri daoine cosail rithe fhèin. An deach rannsachadh a dhèanamh riamh air an robh daoine le duilgheadasan-ionnsachaidh ag iarraidh a bhith ann an sgoiltean àbhaisteach? Agus an e an t-àite as fheàrr do a h-uile duine a th' ann? Thàinig e a-mach ann an rannsachadh o chionn goirid gun robh naochad às a’ cheud pàiste le duilgheadas-ionnsachaidh a’ fulang droch làimhseachadh bho chàch. Cha tuirt e cia mheud pàiste anns an rannsachadh sin a bha ann an sgoil àbhaisteach, ach mar a tha rudan san là an-diugh tha e coltach gum bi a’ mhòr-chuid.

Thèid a ràdh gu bheil in-ghabhail math son adhbharan sòisealta agus gum faigh clann curriculum nas fharsainge, is mar sin foghlam nas fheàrr. A bheil e nas fheàrr a bhith suidhe ann an seòmar le tidsear às aonais trèanaidh shònraichte, le cloinn eile a thuigeas dè tha tachairt nuair nach tuig thusa? Am bi thu a' faireachdainn co-ionnan? Tha an diùraidh fhathast a-mach.

Education

It was excellent news that Fiona Hyslop gave us when she promised that class sizes at the start of primary school would be reduced to eighteen. A great deal of research has been done showing that a lot of work as young as possible has great benefits when a child is older. Children get an opportunity to overcome a bad home life and to stay in the system, thus making it less likely that they will cause trouble for themselves and others when they grow up. Our prisons are full of people without proper education, and there are many others just waiting for a place! The plan can't be carried out instantly and it won't be without problems, especially where schools are full and new teachers are required part-time, but it should be welcomed. Except by the Labour Party naturally, that claimed it was merely "SNP spin". Thank God the Labour Party never did anything like that. We won't talk about McCrone, the repeated counting of the same funding. . .

While Fiona is considering school education, I wonder if she'll take a look at the position of children with learning difficulties? There is a big question about how effective what we're doing just now is. There was an article in Teaching Scotland called "Whose idea was inclusion?". Apparently the question was raised by someone with ASD (autism), who said that she would prefer to be with people like herself. Has research ever been done on whether or not people with learning disorders want to be in mainstream schools? And is it the best thing for everyone? Recent research revealed that ninety per cent of children with learning difficulties suffer bullying or poor treatment from their peers. It didn't say how many children in the research attended mainstream schools, but as things stand nowadays it's likely that the majority are.

It is said that inclusion is good socially and that children will receive a wider curriculum, therefore a better education. Is it better to be sitting in a room with a teacher who does not have special training and other children who understand what's going on when you don't? Do you feel equal? The jury's still out.

THE HAURD ROAD AHEID

A wes wrang lest month. The election wesnae a triumph fir the S.N.P.; it wes a triumph fir Lawbour. Tony Blair’s trusty crony, Lord Gould, haes telt us sae i the “New Statesman”, sae it maun be true. The noble Lord threips that as she stuid on the verra edge o the heugh, Scotland wes sauvit frae faain owre, acause Tony an  Jeck an their friens, lik Winston Churchill in 1940, wadnae conseeder fir a meenit that they coud be bate at aa. (Deed, that’s whit they aye think, nou that they hae been bate.)

This wey o luikin at the Election may seem fair daft ti you; bit haes Jeck got a pynt? Efter aa, First Meenister Salmond haes nae majority: ti get ony measure throu, he maun be uphaudit, baith in comatees an i the fu Pairlament, bi twa or mair o the contrair pairties. Wi thae pairlamentary feegurs, the pairties in Scotland hae nae chyce bit ti wark thegither, gin onything at aa is ti be duin fir the guid o the people. Bit daes Gordon Broun ken that – no ti spik o his Lawbour drones at Wastmeenster? A dout Alex wulnae need ti pick fechts wi Lunnon; Gordon wul dae that fir him! Lawbour, as Alastair Caumel micht hae pit it, disnae dae guidwull.

Nanetheless, it’s no aa bad fir us. Whitever may happen, the age-auld spell haes been braken fir guid; Scots voters ken that they dinnae need ti vote Lawbour. Nivver agane can it be thocht that Lawbour rings owre oor kintra bi Divine Richt. That’s a quantum lowp fir us; bit it’s no the ainly ane we need. The Pairty nou haes a saicont darg afore it. Tho we cannae pit aa (or even maist) o oor poalicies throu Pairlament, an in parteeclar, there’s nae chance a Bill fir an independence referendum can get the feck o votes there, Alex can aye gie the Scots a sicht o a feckfu government. He’ll can shaw them that there can be a Naitionalist Executive, yet the lift wulnae faa on their heids acause o that! It is nou time fir oor Pairty ti set its stout hert ti the stey brae aheid o it. We ken that independence isnae gaun ti cum the morn, bit, gin we can keep oor fittin aa the wey alang that road, it stauns there at the en.