It is not our habit to send Birthday Greetings, but today, 1st April 2005, is the 90th Birthday of a Grand Old Man of the Scottish National Party, Christie H Grahame.

            Chris was a member of the old Murrayfield Cramond Branch of the SNP, which has metamorphosed (if that expression is correct) into West Edinburgh SNP Constituency Branch;  my first clear recollection of him was during the General Election in June 1970.  I was driving the loudspeaker car, Chris was singing the Laird's Prayer (over the loudspeaker) and Muriel Gibson, our Parliamentary Candidate, lost her deposit.  I was a newcomer to Edinburgh, we got lost somewhere in Comely Bank, so we helped another candidate lose a deposit as well.  We have shared many other ploys since;  life in the SNP seemed much simpler then, or perhaps just nostalgia.

          He is a noted poet and raconteur, and was much in demand in SNP circles.  Some of his poetry is on his website (see 90 year old surfers);  you can read them at http://www.thegrahames.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index.html

          I have been privileged to be his friend for 35 years, but somehow I don't think the friendship will last another 35 years! (He would say "Where are you going?")

         I think what crystalised my need to cover this subject was a statement on TV this week by Michael Connarty, Labour MP for Falkirk;  he was commenting on the publicity gained by the Tory leader (of all England) Michael Howard, on shortening abortion times, and the comments by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, supporting his views.  Connarty, secretary of the Humanist Group at Westminster, spluttered "And these anti-abortion people!!!! People get killed!!" And he was not referring to the 180,000 babies every year!

                Abortion is a moral issue, and a personal one;  it should not be a political issue.  Certainly, in the Scottish National Party, it was not party policy in any shape, manner or form  This was not an attempt to dodge moral issues, but an acceptance that there are matters of conscience.   Back in the days when I stood for Parliament, if you asked me what was the subject raised most often at public meetings, I would tell you "Abortion";  virtually every meeting I held, there would be representatives from, mainly, the Anti-Abortion organisations.    Now I was, and am still, opposed to abortion, but I got a hard time, and to be frank, there were no votes in it;   if you gained one vote from the antis, you lost it to the pros.  The issue caused me problems, and took a lot of time, but you are what you are. 
  
             The issue of abortion should not be political, but has been used for personal political purposes;  the Abortion Act was a Private Member's Bill in the House of Commons, chosen by a young David Steel, trying to make a name for himself, a strange subject for a son of the manse.   Now everyone is worried about the demographic problem, in that we have an ageing population, and there will be less people to work, pay taxes and pay for public services;  this in a country which has had 6 million abortions since the Act became law! (In 8 years time, pensioners will outnumber children.)   Richard Ingrams, writing in the Observer, speculates that abortion suits the government well, since this island is over-populated;  of course, he writes from an English perspective, as Scotland is facing the reverse, but the demographic timebomb is ticking in the United Kingdom per se.

         I have now watched all four episodes of "The Gathering Place", the TV "documentary" on the building of the Holyrood Parliament, and after deep thought I have come to the following conclusion:  Eh? 

              Well, I don't know quite what to make of it, but my first thought is that we have just wasted £1 million of public money.  Who was this programme designed for?  What was the target market?  What was it supposed to tell us?  What have we learnt from it?  Who was to blame?   What happens now?

              None of these questions have been answered;  we were left with a mish mash of the noble contractors/architects struggling against all odds to defeat the evil MSPs , who had to face the wrath of the electorate and tell them the whys and wherefores of the disappearance of £431 million.    Of course there would have been friction between the client and the builders!
       The whole project from start to finish was  a textbook example of how to get everything wrong;  the correct title for the programme should have been "If you are going there I wouldn't start from here".   Just think about it;  the site for the Parliament miraculously appeared after a surveyor overheard a conversation on the Edinburgh-Glasgow train, which gave Donald Dewar the out from Calton Hill he thought he needed;  the world famous architect was 44th in a list of 70, and had no insurance;  he was inspired by the typically Scottish upturned boats he saw from the train - in Northumberland;  in the sealed bids, Bovis put in the highest bid and was knocked out - then fed additional information and given the contract;  the decision was taken to design and build - ie make it up as you go along.   These decisions were taken before there were any MSPs.

                The deaths of Donald Dewar and Enric Miralles could not have been foreseen, but the "De mortuis nil nisi bonum"  has been flogged to death (no pun intended).   So far, not much comment on the role of Kirsty Wark in the debacle; she was one of the panel, unelected, which chose the design and the architect, and I have to wonder if  the film project was put out to tender or was it just another wee backhander for the pals of Donald Dewar?  

              The Fraser Inquiry did not reveal the truth; "The Gathering Place" did not reveal the truth;  we all know what that truth is, but it may take the MacAlpine court case and the European Commission Inquiry to bring it blinking into the light of day.  I am not holding my breath; perhaps some day, a fictionalised version of the whole affair may hit our television screens - script by David Black, who wrote "All The First Minister's Men" -  I hope I am still around.   (Maybe it doesn't need a fictionalised script  - you couldn't make it up!)

               While the Pope struggles on with his illness, the media is speculating on his successor;  the poor man is not dead yet, but one would think that Ladbroke's were taking bets on the succession, such is the hype.

               The bookies will be aware of an old Vatican dictum which says "The cardinal who goes into the Conclave a Pope, comes out of the Conclave a cardinal."

      The most recent embarrassment hitting the Tories was due to intemperate remarks by their vice chairman, Howard Flight, at a private meeting, where he  said that there would be deeper cuts in public services and taxes once the Tories were in power, thus admitting to a hidden agenda.   The meeting was recorded surreptitiously, and it would seem that this has been linked to a New Labour plan called "Operation Black Watch".

              I need to get out more often.

            
            The Queen received £400,000 from the Common Agricultural Policy;  this is to help pay for her private estate at Sandringham.  Tate & Lyle got £127 million, and most of the people getting subsidies are not directly involved in farming;  these figures have been published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in England.   The Scottish Executive has refused to provide similar information for Scotland.

           Makes you wonder whose millionaire pals are salting away public money?

     The leader of Labour controlled South Lanarkshire Council, Eddie McAvoy, had a bust of himself, costing £4450,  in the refurbished Rutherglen Town Hall;  the bust was paid for from Council funds, but after a stushie, Councillor McAvoy has agreed to pay for it himself.

         A bit sparse this week, as it is Easter, and the Scottish Parliament is in recess;  no one would notice if Westminster was in recess.

Sunday 27th March 2005

SNP Holyrood Spokesperson on External Relations and former Chair of the Scottish Parliament's European and External Affairs Committee, Richard Lochhead MSP, is to table parliamentary questions to the Executive over the role of Scotland's 'Ambassador to the USA' and alleged interference by the UK Foreign Office.

Mr Lochhead has highlighted the opinion of one Scottish Executive official who says in today's Scotland on Sunday "If the average Scot knew how badly the Foreign Office and others represented Scotland abroad then voters would be haemorrhaging to the SNP tomorrow"

Commenting, Mr Lochhead said: "It would be galling, but not surprising, if the British establishment represented by the Foreign Office has intervened to prevent Scotland becoming too successful in North America.

  "I want to get to the bottom of the Foreign Office's role and am calling on the Scottish Government to release copies of any relevant communications from the Foreign Office, where the UK Government expresses concern or disquiet about Scotland's successful presence in Washington.

"The UK Foreign Office will never represent or promote Scotland as effectively as a Scottish presence and that's why we need a distinctive foreign policy and overseas network free from UK interference. Clearly, having the Scottish representative based under the noses of the British in their embassy has led to resentment in Whitehall. 

"Scotland's official presence in the US is already dwarfed by the presence of other UK devolved administrations and clearly our small office was punching above its weight thanks to the sterling efforts of Susan Stewart.

  Note: The Scottish Parliament's European and External Relations Committee report "An Inquiry into the Promotion of Scotland Worldwide" published in February refers to the above issues and (in point 152 onwards) illustrates the greater resources devoted to a US presence by Northern Ireland, Wales and Quebec. 

For instance the Northern Irish budget alone is £800,000 compared to the
First Secretary for Scottish Affairs' budget of only £250,000. See -
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/europe/reports-05/eur05-01-03.htm
 

Saturday 26 March 2005

Director of the SNP's General Election Campaign Mr Pete Wishart MP has hit out at the Tories saying that they cannot be trusted with Scotland's public services. He went on to state that only the SNP could be trusted to stand up for Scotland's interests at Westminster.

A System 3 Poll published in January showed that only 4% of Scottish voters trusted Michael Howard to stand up for Scotland's interests at Westminster. SNP Leader, Alex Salmond, was the most trusted to stand up for Scottish interests on 32%.

Pete Wishart MP said: "The real surprise is not that only 4% of Scots trusted Howard but that any one trusts him at all. Howard Flight's sudden burst of honesty this week has holed the Tories Election hopes below the water line. Any pretence that they can be trusted with Scotland's vital public services has now been finished once and for all.

"With the Liberal Democrats fully in bed with Labour and the Tories a busted flush only the SNP can be trusted to stand up for Scotland's interests at Westminster. That is why most people in Scotland trust Alex Salmond and the SNP most to stand up for Scottish interests at Westminster.

"The SNP has the hardest working MPs at Westminster fighting for Scotland and their constituents. At this Election we will be campaigning to send the strongest possible SNP team to Westminster to stand up for Scotland."

A System 3 Poll published in January 2005 asked;

'Which politician do you trust most to stand up for Scotland's interests at Westminster?'

Tony Blair received 17%, Charles Kennedy 22%, Michael Howard 4% and Alex Salmond 32%. Even among Tory voters more than twice as many backed Alex Salmond over Michael Howard.

Friday, March 25, 2005

SNP Shadow Spokesperson for Enterprise & the Economy, Jim Mather MSP, reacted this morning to an article in today's "Economist" which raises concerns about Government statistics and says "the more ministerial reputations ride on statistics, the more protection statisticians need from political interference".

Mr. Mather said:  "There is a groundswell of worry about Labour's handling of official statistics"

"I wholeheartedly agree with today's news that the Government should be making the Office of National Statistics independent and free from ministerial control and influence.

"However, we should go even further given that the people of Scotland are being fed claptrap data designed to have them believe that everything is as good as it can be.

"Every measure produced by the Government, from Economic Growth, Unemployment and Accident & Emergency waiting times are being manipulated and massaged to produce rosier pictures than real people experience in their day-to-day lives. 

"This is especially is the case in Scotland, where we are being fed statistics that sit particularly uncomfortably with the experience of the majority of the population.

"We should also have an Independent Office of National Statistics for Scotland. It would be able to produce a comprehensive range of statistics, which is something we patently don't have at present and allow everyone in Scotland to test the performance of Government and its policies.

"That way we would have the data to encourage changes in policies and changes in Government and also focus national attention on the objective of making Scotland the best it can be.
One thing is certain; deluding the people with dodgy data will improve nothing. It will only worsen things for most people and keep the perpetrators in office. And that must be wrong."
 

 Tuesday 29 March 2005

Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond MP was today joined by SNP MEP Alyn Smith and parliamentary candidate for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey David Thompson to launch a general election campaign to save valuable European funding for Scotland, and particularly the Highlands and Islands, which is being threatened by the UK Treasury.

Speaking at a press conference in Inverness Mr Salmond said:

"Over and over again we see the UK government and Gordon Brown forgetting about Scotland.  This time key support for Scotland's communities and the Scottish economy is being deliberately sacrificed so that Blair and Brown can play political games in Europe.  Scotland could lose up to £180 million a year and the Highlands alone could lose over £65 million a year.

"Gordon Brown claims the government will compensate Scotland for the loss of funds, but there are no plans for this to happen.    Over 4000 projects across Scotland have benefited from this funding, developing everything from roads to community centres, colleges to business parks.

"Gordon Brown's plan is to sacrifice development funding in Scotland in return for cutting the EU budget.  While Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac fight about how much money the UK can claim as a rebate, Gordon Brown is willingly giving up money that rightfully belongs in Scotland, and would be spent on Scottish projects."

"The SNP will fight to make Scotland matter in Europe and to ensure the future of European funding for Scotland"

Dave Thompson, parliamentary candidate for Inverness commented:

"Inverness and the Highlands have benefited significantly from European funds over the years.  The new medicentre at Raigmore hospital, the access road to Inverness airport and the upgrade of the Achnasheen to Kinlochewe road are just some of the projects that have received funding in this area.

"European funding has enabled the Highlands to increase levels of economic development and to compete with other regions.  After losing Objective 1 status because of a statistical error in London we are not prepared to see the funds that are still available willingly given up by a Scottish UK Chancellor. "

Tuesday 29 March 2005

Shadow Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill MSP today attacked the Scottish Executive for reneging on its promise to bring forward proposals to introduce a Bill on Corporate Homicide by setting up an unneeded and unwanted inquiry into the matter.

Mr MacAskill said:  "The job of any Government is to govern, but the motto of this Executive appears to be why act when you can have another inquiry?  The Executive promised action only five months ago but it has now reneged on yet another promise to the people of Scotland.

"Legislation on corporate homicide is not only supported in principle across Parliament and throughout the country, but is urgently needed now.  We do not need a further inquiry, we need action to be able to hold organisations and individuals specifically responsible for the deaths of others.   This is a serious matter which deserves serious attention, but this procrastination is entirely unnecessary."