Labour In Scotland To Reinvent Itself - Again

Since last week Labour in Scotland has been without a leader.  Did you notice?  No?  Neither did I.

To be fair to Johann Lamont she accepted a poisoned chalice but it was her intense hatred of the SNP - visibly palpable at First Minister’s Questions - which didn’t permit her to be anything other than a Labour Westminster stooge.

She managed to finger her (dis)associates in London on her way out of the door but methinks her criticism will be a nine day wonder.

Who is left now?  Most of you will have read the Sunday papers by now so will be up to date with the suggested candidates.  I’ve placed a poll in the right hand column is case you wish to place your own bet. No prizes available but the satisfaction of knowing that whoever wins will continue to be under the Westminster cosh. I have not included Gordon Brown as he has apparently ruled himself out. A few speeches in the last days of the Referendum campaign has left him totally exhausted I’m informed.

It’s with some reluctance I made Sarwar the image on this post. My dislike of this career politician knows no bounds.  Since he became deputy to Johann Lamont three years ago I’ve had to restrain from throwing something at my television countless times.  Never have I heard such automated nonsense from a Scottish politician and that speaks volumes.  But the man will very possibly go farther.  He reiterates the same drivel day in day out in the media and some of it will be believed by his party faithful I suspect.

It would appear Labour in Scotland will have a new leader by the 13 December. Yesterday I read that each MP’s vote is worth 100 times that of a grass roots party member.  That’s about par for the level of democracy wielded by London Labour.

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Upper And Lower House Stupidity

As the SNP Scottish government continue to run the country efficiently and reasonably effectively, the unionist parties are preoccupied with the forthcoming independence referendum. Nick Clegg graced us with his presence the other day and amusingly labelled any supporter of independence an 'extremist' - or to place another interpretation on his comment, anyone who didn't agree with him was an extremist.

Rather a foolish word to use in today's political climate, but poor Mr Clegg must have been feeling the weight of the unionist anti-independence banner, which I understand is delicately embroidered 'extremis malis extrema remedia'. His outburst was another own goal in the independence cause and, I'm reliably informed, he tootled off back to London with cries of "Ye cannae mak us feart," ringing in his ears.

To quickly cover his deputy's humiliation, the Prime Minister decided he would provoke a fight with Alex Salmond by announcing a referendum cannot be held without permission from Westminster.  Ouch!  A bad move Mr Cameron, from a unionist viewpoint, because dictatorship doesn't go down well with the Scots. Good news for the Yes camp though.

The antics of Nick Clegg and David Cameron don't seem to have been silly enough to unionists, so they called upon the noble Lord Foulkes of Cumnock to dig their campaign deeper into the mud.

Former Labour chief whip Baroness Taylor of Bolton - Ann to those in the know - has proposed an amendment to the Scotland Bill, currently passing through the Lords. Her amendment has been drafted so that it would extend the voting franchise for the independence referendum to include those born in Scotland but now living in other parts of the UK.  Some may call that gerrymandering but I prefer to call it stupid.

According to Lord Foulkes the Baroness was born in Motherwell and still supports Motherwell, so that entitles her to lay down her amendment. (A wee tip to George - suggest to your friend Ann that her Wikipedia page requires alteration as it states she was born in London).

The Scotsman suggests that nationalists are likely to interpret her move as an attempt to skew the result, but I do not. I think a large number of the Scots diaspora - both within and outwith the UK - would vote Yes if asked.

But why limit the extension to just the UK?  Surely this insults those born and bred Scots who live throughout the globe and makes them lesser mortals?  Not a good move by the Motherwell/London born Baroness and one which will no doubt infuriate some rather better informed unionists who reside in Scotland.

Of course Lord Foulkes has his own gerrymandering ideas regarding the timing of the referendum. Surely the England born Lord hasn't forgotten the anger of the Scots when a previous referendum was scuppered?

All this unionist stupidity is playing right into the hands of Alex Salmond and the SNP. If he's thinking 'why have a dog and bark myself' is appropriate at present, he would be well within his rights. Kevin McKenna - the unionist of 'I don't mince my words' fame - agrees.

There's a long way to go and the fun has hardly started, but someone, somewhere in the unionist camps must realise that Scots don't want Westminster interfering in their affairs - and that includes the Scottish government's plans to hold an independence referendum in the second half of this parliament.

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Food And Drink Subsidies

Fifteen Scottish rural food and drink companies are to share £3.7 million in government money.

One of the organisations which secured just under £1.6 million is a Taste of Arran, a cop-operative if firms based on the Firth of Clyde island.  It plans to build a factory for the production of milk, ice-cream, cheeses and oatcakes and create 37 new jobs.

This is the tenth year of financial awards from the Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation Scheme (FPMC) which launched in 2008 and has provided a total of £30m of funding for small to medium-sized businesses across Scotland.

I'm slightly uncomfortable with these awards.  The food and drink industry is no different to any other manufacturing business, therefore surely it should be supported by Scottish Enterprise.  SE spends a considerable amount of taxpayers' money so why is the food and drink industry singled out for preferential treatment.

The Scottish Organic Producers Association at Ingliston will receive £8,442 of funding towards a feasibility study to investigate Scotland's current organic processing capacity.  I agree with money being spent towards the 'greater good' of the country, but is it the taxpayers' place to be funding Organics Ltd of Forres which will receive £150,000 towards the salaries and associated costs of a Marketing and Sales Manager and Business Development Executive?

Many of the other beneficiaries are receiving money towards new buildings, plant and equipment.  Surely it isn't up to Scottish taxpayers to pay for such capital investment when the only people who will profit are the individual companies.

When we're having to cut back on public services which benefit many, it seems rather out of place to be spending large amounts on the few.

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More Hypocrites

A couple of years ago did you had a leaflet through your door telling you how to reduce your carbon footprint?  I have. Whether it was published and distributed by the Scottish Government I can't remember because it was binned within a minute.  The usual propaganda of wearing multiple layers of clothing to keep warm instead of turning up my thermostat in temperatures such as it as right now (-7), made me realise I'm very detached from these people who write and/or believe that by carrying out their orders I would be saving the world.  If I remember, there was nothing in it to warn those older people who tend to suffer from the cold or the frail who need heat, that they shouldn't take the advice so strongly given.  No, lives of those people don't matter in the great scheme of things where the supporters of humans being responsible for the changes in our climate is concerned.

The Scottish Government continue to insist that climate change is one of the most serious threats facing the world.  Nothing to do with nuclear weapons or terrorists for them, it's climate change.  They say on their website 'its people and its environment is determined to play its part in rising to the challenge'.  I'm not.  In fact I'm firmly against paying hidden taxes to fund the scam.  Yet I get no choice.

Scottish MSPs have choice though.  They're not restrained from using airplanes, taxis and cars to go about their business.

What could you do with £36,000?  That would pay the winter heating bills of perhaps 3600 of Scotland's more vulnerable residents.

It is the amount of money the Scottish Government's Climate Change Division spent on flying round the world preaching their message.  In fact most of the money was spent on regular flights to and from Edinburgh to London, with a few to Copenhagen and Brussels and even Bali was included.  Those concerned squandered even more public money paying 'carbon levy' charges in a bid to offset the emissions generated as they took to the skies.

I've spent some time today trying to identify those who belong to the SG's Climate Change Division but with no success.  They seem to be invisible yet produce much information to the media about the need for everyone to reduce their use of energy.  Patrick Harvie, the Green MSP, wasn't too pleased.  Surely as he is chair of the SG's Climate Change Committee, he should be in constant contact with this other setup the Climate Change Division?

Now there is a suggestion that the UK government purposely kept the Met Office's warning of a cold winter secret because it could affect the UN Climate conference.  I don't often believe in conspiracies, but this one has some substance.

The Scottish Government needs to reduce the amount of money promised to climate change and put in into creating jobs.  There are thousands of people who would like to work for themselves, and perhaps employ others at a later date, yet there is no help out there for them.  Scottish Enterprise isn't interested in the one person business, they want the big boys who require large loans and yet it doesn't matter to then if they are ships in the night.

Windfarms have now proved to be incompetent and excessively expensive. I've no objection to the SG continuing with their quest to find efficient wave power and I think the Scottish topography is sympathetic to hydro in many areas.  Let's pursue these ends and do away with the Climate Change Division for starters. They're a joke but one I don't find in the least amusing.

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MSPs Baton Down the Hatches on their Publicly-funded Second Homes

Today's Sunday Herald headline reads "MSPs set to pocket £2m by using your money and they won't say if they will pay it all back.'

It appears 28 MSPs currently charging taxpayers for the cost of mortgage interest on a second home in Edinburgh, 12 are Nationalists, half of whom are cabinet secretaries or ministers. They include finance secretary John Swinney and housing minister Alex Neil, who would make profits of £95,000 each if they sold up. LibDem Nicol Stephen would make a profit of £200,000 or almost four times his salary while presiding officer Alex Fergusson would make £125,000. Tavish Scott, who stands to make £120,000 on his second home in Edinburgh, said Nick Clegg's call for all libdems to pay back any profits was found by last year's review team to be too complicated to work.

As most of us know after a review of the practice last year, all mortgage interest claims will stop in 2011 but according to SNP sources, Crawford and Adam contacted Nationalist MSPs to tell them not to be drawn on the subject. "It's blind panic."

No need for panic from any MSP.  Just assure the public you will pay an agreed share of the profit on your property when you sell it.  Better still, agree to sell it before the rules change in 2011, pay back the money then the matter will be closed.

Behaving like Gordon Brown and bunkering themselves isn't doing the SNP any good at all, in fact if it continues it will be very damaging.  Come on Alex, show some leadership and sort this matter out in the next couple of days.  If you allow it to fester the whole of your party will become tainted with greed and sleaze.  Take action now.

Pity the Sunday Herald did not list all the 28 MSPs.

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NO PHOTO OPPORTUNITY FOR JIM MURPHY IN CHINA

It has just occurred to me that none of the Scottish newspapers has carried a photograph of Jim Murphy during his visit to China this week. Usually these events, with such high profile ministers, are blazoned over the wires but the most I can find (although I admit to spending all of 5 minutes looking) is an article by him in today's Scotsman.  It's a subscription article so don't all rush to read it although I admit I found the comments interesting.  His article appears to be far more about the UK's economic mess and promoting the G20 than representing Scotland but, after his speech to Glenn Campbell last week, I'm not in the least surprised.

I'm sure the SCDI, on their eleventh visit to China, managed to cope more than adequately without Mr Murphy when he was away pressing the flesh with the China's finance and foreign ministers.  Their trade mission would have been a success no doubt and they will have paved the way for the First Minister's delegation early next month.

All the media photographers must have been touring the world with the PM or it could be journalists and photographers like Robbie Dunwoodie don't like being made to look like fools.

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FMQs 26 March 2009

After the news of the apprentice who already had an offer to complete his apprenticeship and the revelations about Ellon Academy on Richard Thomson's blog this morning, I was looking forward to FMQs this week. I was disappointed.

Ian Gray, with his usual eau de Nil aura, refused to acknowledge he had misled parliament last week - not a good beginning.  His questions centred on teacher numbers, a subject which has been in the news this week.  Alex Salmond, in his usual robust manner, explained the ratio of pupil-teacher numbers was smaller in Scotland than in England or Wales but Mr Gray was having none of that.  England didn't matter this week (although it was mentioned several times last week in his apprenticeship figures) and Mr Gray wanted teacher numbers in Scotland increased.  No mention was made of the falling school rolls throughout the country but Mr Salmond emphasised Glasgow labour councils were the guilty parties in not employing more teachers as agreed in the concordat. He must sort this out with COSLA and quickly.

Annabelle Goldie's contribution was about the poor report from the Audit Commission regarding drug and alcohol figures.  Alex Salmond agreed to hold a summit on the condition that it did not reflect on policy but on the implementation of the policy.  It was this which wasn't successful and needed to be reviewed.

Tavish Scott centred on fishing policy and how one fisherman was feeling aggrieved with the latest EU policy.  To be truthful I became a little lost here because his points were difficult to follow for a person with no knowledge of the fishing industry and I haven't read about any problems.  Richard Lochhead usually receives accolades for his handling of the EU with regard to fishing.

Not an inspiring FMQs but one which provided good information.  Pity Ian Gray didn't feel he should apologise for misleading parliament for the past two weeks, but that's politics I suppose.

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FMQs 19 March 2009

Rather late with my assessment of today's FMQs because I've been spending some of the day in the company of a male gynaecologist with the biggest, bluest eyes in the world.  It's no wonder the women of Perthshire rate him the best, as well as these eyes his demeanor is a perfect balance between relaxing and professional.  Enough of my blethers which are only of interest to women but it's made me think - if men had female urologists with big blue eyes...

I'm of the same opinion as Jeff about today's half hour, it wasn't in the least interesting.  For any party leader to use a constituency case as their question seems the lazy way and this was the basis of Iain Gray's session.  An apprentice had problems continuing his training and Mr Gray expected Alex Salmond to right the problem with immediate effect.  Alex Salmond was in his usual commanding form and beat Mr Gray with the £500m Westminster reduction in the Scottish budget.  Again I plead with Iain Gray to get some lessons in public speaking. Doesn't Glasgow have a splendid School of Drama he could attend?  I doubt if they would even charge him.

Aunty Annabelle was on fighting form, it was noticeable by the way she shaped up to her performance with discreet shoulder relaxing exercises. "We shouldn't be giving free prescriptions to wealthy people," she raved,"They can well afford to be ill and pay up."  Alex kindly explained he wanted everyone, regardless of wealth, to have free healthcare including medicines.  Aunty Annabelle wasn't happy.  I was tempted to send her an email saying there are plenty wonderful medical charities to which the wealthy can contribute if they feel they don't deserve free pills and I'm sure she knows the administration costs of the present system, plus the abuse of it, makes it sensible to have it free for all.  

Tavish Scott homed in on employment in the renewables sector to which the First Minister was pleased to reply with the fact that this government are producing nearly 12 new major projects a year compared with the last administration which managed around 4.

It seemed as if everyone was just going through the motions today and it lacked even the slightest sign of vitality.  Tomorrow's another day.

I'm wondering, now Jeff's back doing his FMQs blog, if I should continue as he does it so much more succinctly. 

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