My satellite reception has been affected all day with the never ceasing torrential rain which has been causing flooding throughout Scotland, but I did manage to hear some of FMQs on radio and have just viewed it on iPlayer.
I won't analysis it party by party and most readers will already have watched the programme by this time of night, but I would like to mention Annabel Goldie's question.
"... or was it involved in dubious deals and nudge winks diplomacy. Can I ask the First Minister, in all his dealing with Arab States, seeking money for his Scottish Futures Trust, did the issue of Mr Al-Megrahi's release ever come into play or was it raised in any form?"
Then she continued to mention 'suspicious facts' concerning correspondence with Arab States and the Qatari government.
The FM's response was firm and positive - "All documents have been published" and "Any correspondent who mentioned Al-Megrahi was given exactly the same answer - the Justice Minister was dealing with the issue."
Ms Goldie's question was quite sinister. She implied that deals were done during trade visits to Arab States and in particular Qatar. As Alex Salmond replied she ought to read the correspondence again and stop inserting nonsense between the lines.
A small matter - when did the opposition parties start calling the Scottish government the 'Salmond Government'? Was the last government the 'McConnell government'? No. I wish the opposition would stop this behaviour, it degrades the standing of our Parliament.
Tavish Scott, (nice tie today Tavish), wanted help for the victims' families and asked how the First Minister could help. Alex Salmond reported he is in talks with the Scottish Criminal Revenue Commission which is responsible for publishing the material and he will continue to ask if further documents can be published if they would be helpful to people, over and above the publications of 2007.
In response to Margo MacDonald and her request for a Scottish inquiry to be instigated, the FM stated an inquiry is beyond the jurisdiction of Scottish Courts or Scottish inquiries but if any legitimate international authority does launch an inquiry, the Scottish government would fully co-operate.
All in all a fiesty half hour today. This is not the end of the Megrahi case by any means as I think some of the opposition parties will continue to imply the documents are full of ambiguities.
Posts
8 comments:
82. scotslawyer
Many thanks for that link CH. I would ask everyone to read it.
Please read cynicalHighlander's link, it states a Scottish lawyer's viewpoint.
Ah Bill, delighted to hear from you as always.
I'm not quibbling with the 'Alex Salmond' for FM in the least. My point is that when the opposition parties have been referring to the government in the Parliament these last couple of weeks, they don't call it the SNP government, it's the Salmond government - and spoken with complete disdain.
I know it's a small detail but it reduces them to juvenile status and that not deserving of the parliament.
My use of sinister is in her question where she implies that Alex Salmond has been dealing with Arab States and using Megrahi as a deal maker.
Thank you for the links Bill, I shall go and read them now.
Perhaps you will watch it on iPlayer then my wee complaint will be clearer to you.
You have to admit Bill, it was a clever move doing the Alex for FM - nothing illegal either. The others were just narked (particularly the tories) that they hadn't thought about it too. Annabel could have been second!
Hi Subrosa
Golly, I thought I would be the only one up at this time of night!
I temporarily deleted my comment as I noticed a couple of spelling mistakes I wanted to rectify. I now repost it in full after the typos have been corrected (or those I notice anyway):
A small matter - when did the opposition parties start calling the Scottish government the 'Salmond Government'? Was the last government the 'McConnell government'? No. I wish the opposition would stop this behaviour, it degrades the standing of our Parliament.
I did not see the live broadcast because I was out today, and I do not wish to quibble, but a little historic fact injected into the revisionism that you seem to want us all to indulge in might not go amiss. More or less since I began to blog (in 2002) I have published detailed lists of all elections affecting my little part of Scotland (whether local, ScotParl or Westminster) and a little checking back through my own personal records reveals (as I recalled when I read your revisionist 'gripe' above) that on ballot papers during the Scottish Parliament elections in 2007, the party which now forms the Scottish Executive (aka' Scottish 'Government' - I use the term sanctioned by the Scotland Act of 1998, not the one that Mr Salmond's SNP have taken for themselves without legal authority) was named as:
"Alex Salmond For First Minister" - this was a ruse so that the 'SNP' would appear at the top of ballot papers. This is simple fact, Subrosa.
I hold no special brief for Annabel Goldie, but her lawyerly mind was simply making a subtle reference to what the SNP chose to do in 2007 when presenting itself to the Scottish public for election. I seem to recall that following that election new rules for the naming of candidates on ballot papers were adopted which will prevent this kind of thing happening in future. The SNP was not, however, the first political grouping to play this game, I seem to recall - for I believe that Tommy Sheridan used this stunt when he had left the SSP and formed another since-defunct(?) group where he was obviously better-known than the name of the new party, whose name I have forgotten.
So Ms Goldie, in summary, was not being 'sinister' - she was simply recalling how the SNP chose to present itself on ballot papers in 2007.
You can look at the relevant article in my blog if you care to:
http://billcameron.blogspot.com/2007/04/scottish-and-local-election-candidates.html
- in my blog article I re-listed the SNP in its correct position in my alphabetic list of political parties, but noted the name under which it had appeared on the ballot papers.
You can see the election literature I received from the SNP for that election here:
http://www.billcameron.net/blog/content/imageshells/scel07/elimsh0007.html
I hope this clarifies things for you, Subrosa.
Best regards
Bill
Sorry for deleting my comment, then reposting after I had corrected my typos (I hate it when I leave spelling mistakes littered around the place).
I think it is necessary to remind people of the 'ruse' that the SNP played in 2007 in order to get its name at the top of the 'list' ballot papers - I suspect that is all that Ms Goldie was doing in her rather either lawyerly or 'schoolmarmish' way. I don't think what the SNP did was 'clever' or nice at all, and of course it was not [then] illegal (and I never suggested it was), but as I mentioned before I recall the rules have now been changed to prevent this kind of thing happening again, specifically because of its use in 2007.
Whatever I may think of the whole concept of having a Scottish Parliament, it nevertheless belongs to all of us, it is not Alex Salmond's or the SNP's personal plaything and it behooves 'wee Eck' to be reminded of that occasionally - in my opinion. So although i did not hear it live today, I applaud what you report Ms Goldie as having said.
Cordially as always
Bill
I'm a night bird Bill but I do try to get to bed before now! Tonight I've been trying to resolve problems with viewing streamed videos hence the lateness of the hour.
I'm always happy to delete a comment if you email me.
Of course the Parliament isn't Alex Salmond's or any other politicians, but I really haven't like the recent references to the government as 'Salmond's government.' Bit of the green eye there from the opposition I think. ;)
Kind regards.
Post a Comment