NEW ROUTINES

Well, we avoided that and for the first two years my absences on holiday, and once ill, were covered by Peter D Wright; this was a bit of an imposition, as Peter does the cultural part of the Flag every week, but there was only us chickens (and we’re no’ chickens!). Anyway, by September 2001, eighteen months into the operation, I was on holiday in the Algarve, having my ear gently bent about holidays in general, and I awoke one morning with the thought "I just need another three compilers, and it could be done once a month!" Great thought, and I came back all fired up. I went to the SNP Conference in Dundee that year to see if I could spot suitable compilers, but it has taken me eighteen months to get them all, because I’m very choosy.

Of course the purpose is not just spreading the load from my point of view; I am now aged 69 (When mentioning that in the hearing of my grandchildren, an awed wee voice from the corner said "Sixty nine! That’s nearly a hundred!") and am obviously set in my views and my ways. We now have a much wider spread of outlook and opinion

The team is Allison Hunter, Richard Thomson, Ian Goldie and myself; I am not hanging up my boots, or anything like it, as apart from my turn we will all have to fill in for each other, because as I wrote in an email to Allison just a week or so ago "The best laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft agley." So we will continue to publish each week, and perhaps we will get an occasional guest to do one.

If like myself you print out the Flag, remember to use the Printer Friendly button; this cuts out the advert on the side but gives you all the text! 

NOT GUILTY M’LUD

Recent events have reminded me of the old story about the minister (Church of Scotland - not political) doing a school visit who asked one class "Who knocked down the walls of Jericho?", and was horrified when after a silence, one wee boy, Alastair Campbell, said "It wisnae me, sir." When the minister indignantly recounted this tale to the school’s headmaster, the response was, "Well, Alastair Campbell’s a good and truthful boy, so if he says he didn’t knock them down, then he didn’t knock them down." (The boy’s name is purely coincidental).

So the long awaited Hutton Report on the barney between the BBC and the Government has been published, and according to the report, Tony Blair did not knock down the walls of Jericho, either; in fact according to the report, Tony has never done anything wrong in his life, and he is surrounded by fair, upright, honest citizens, woefully and cruelly maligned by a vicious unprincipled media, to wit , the British Broadcasting Corporation, or as the late Oliver Brown more aptly christened them, the Anglsaxophone.

The strangest thing about this affair is the judgment handed down by Lord Hutton, and overwhelmingly rejected by the public; far from meaning that with one bound our Tony was free, there are calls for even more inquiries into the missing Weapons of Mass Destruction. From all that I have read, and it is difficult not have read about this over the past year, I have come to the conclusion that only three leaders believed in the existence of the aforesaid weapons; George Bush, who saw their existence as a reason to invade Iraq, Tony Blair, who wished to include Britain in a 21st century crusade in cahoots with his friend George - and Saddam Hussein, whose scientists had been kidding him on about the weapons, and salting away the cash in their Swiss bank accounts. The facts indicate that the latter thought he had the weapons, and that his scientists were clever enough to hide them from the inspectors; if they could hide them from him, then the UN inspectors would never find them.

Mr Blair’s rationale was questioned in a neat letter in the Scotsman last week; Mrs Margery Fee (of this parish) wrote concerning the lack of equipment for our troops:

"Surely the reason the Ministry of Defence did not provide chemical, biological or nuclear protection suits for the armed forces in Iraq was because it had been assured by the government that there was no possible danger from these weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, as they did not exist."

To use one of the politicians’ favourite phrases. "It is time to move one"; this really means, "OK, we really made a mess of that one, but we don’t want to be reminded of it, or tell anyone what we’ll do to put it right, because we can’t." However, as stated earlier, the inquiry into the death of David Kelly is over; the reason for the war is now in the spotlight, and the terms of reference may not be so tightly drawn this time, but then again Mr Blair will be setting them. This issue will run and run.

M’LUD IS GUILTY AS CHARGED

It would seem that the noble lord (forgive the irony) has forgotten that he is no longer the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, as he was not there to answer questions, but to read out his carefully prepared statemen, all twenty six pages of it. Lord Fraser, being used to a House of Lords peopled by dithering old buffers, was kinder than the QC, John Campbell, who betrayed some impatience with the prevarications.

An interesting part of the noble lord’s testimony was his attack on Fergus Ewing SNP MSP, who had accused him of misleading Parliament while he was in Malawi, and was not as courteous as his mother, Winnie. Three things flow from this spat:

1. When Fergus raised the issue of Flour City and why they got the windows contract, the noble lord referred to "That bastard, Ewing"; obviously not reciprocating Winnie’s courtesy to Sir David.

2. By concealing the true facts of meetings from the Parliament, giving the Parliament minutes which were doctored to show a completely false picture, the noble lord did, indeed, mislead the Parliament.

3. When the noble lord claimed not to know what was going on, QC John Campbell asked him why he had not made enquiries, taken a walk down to the site even; well, there was Sir David in Malawi, and in fact he spent a large proportion of his time as Presiding Officer travelling round the world, so he wasn’t there a lot. It is very noticeable in the current Parliament that we see a lot of the Presiding Officer, whereas in the last one we saw a lot of the Deputy Presiding Officers.

And of course, the hurt that people don’t have the courtesy to go through the proper channels, communicating directly with the press; we are talking about politicians for heaven’s sake, and Steel himself operated like that all his life, so the old adage about pots and kettles holds water!

I kept to Sir David, as this week’s Pontius Pilate, but they are lined up like ducks in a row, and will no doubt be shot week by week

At the beginning of December, I paid a visit to Brussels with the SNP North East Regional Association; we had a thoroughly enjoyable time, and one of the things my wife and I did was to take a bus trip around Brussels. The bus was a technical open-top, but it being December there was a canvas cover, so we didn’t get wet; in the evening, we were speaking to Lily Hudghton, Ian’s wife, telling her where we had been. "We’ve never done that", she said, which took me aback somewhat. "How long has Ian been in the European Parliament?", I asked, to which the response was "Five years." Now the moral of this story is that whereas we were in Brussels for a visit to the Parliament and some sightseeing, the MEPs and Parliamentary Assistants are there to work. Ian and Lily live in Forfar, and fly from Edinburgh to Brussels most Mondays, returning on Thursday or Friday for constituency duties around Scotland.

There are Group and Committee Meetings Monday to Thursday each week in Brussels, and once a month there is a full Parliament in Strasbourg, again from Monday to Thursday; the Parliament in Strasbourg is vast, and is full of people in suits and ties, wearing trainers, because they have to walk miles every day. That is not an exaggeration. Sessions of the Parliament last up until midnight, and there are reports and minutes to be read, volumes of them.

Ian and Neil have split Scotland geographically roughly along the line of the Forth Valley. Ian has Central Scotland, Tayside, Grampian, Highlands and Orkney and Shetland, and Neil has Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Borders and Argyll and the Isles. It’s as even a split as is workable; they also split along portfolio lines, Neil specialising in European Law and Constitutions while Ian is a member of the Fisheries and Budgets Committees, and a sub-member of the Agricultural and Rural Development Committees.

In the Parliament speeches are very much restricted by time, and the most common are the one minute speeches; the extract below shows how effective a one minute speech can be!

Verbatim report of proceedings
SITTING OF MONDAY, 12 JANUARY 2004
One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Hudghton (Verts/ALE). - "Mr President, just before Christmas we had the annual Brussels pantomime, otherwise known as the Council of Fisheries Ministers, which deliberated on catch quotas for 2004, along with longer-term recovery measures for cod. For the second successive year the outcome for Scots coastal and island communities was a disaster. While increasing haddock quotas, which was welcome, the Council limited the Scots fleet to only 15 days at sea, and also restricted access to certain key areas. That is likely to bankrupt many boats.

Incredibly the UK Government-led ministerial team actually volunteered Scotland for this suicidal package! It is little wonder that many Scots have now completely lost faith in the CFP.

I am calling on the European Commission to look again at this package and to accept that the unworkable and discriminatory nature of its regulation must be re-examined."

An MEP’s main task is to vote on European legislation. The European Parliament’s 17 specialist committees scrutinise, line by line, directives and regulations proposed by the European Commission.

In some areas of policy it is mainly European, rather than national, laws which regulate us all. This is the case for much environmental legislation, competition policy, consumer protection, employment and social rights, fisheries and agricultural controls.

EU legislation is frequently adopted by co-decision, i.e. jointly by the European Parliament and the Council (the latter being composed of Ministers from each of the current 15 Member State governments). Both Parliament and Council hold two readings of a draft text and if by then they have not agreed on a conclusion, a conciliation committee composed of 15 from each side negotiates a compromise, which must then be approved by both Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

This detailed scrutiny is intended to ensure that European legislation is acceptable to the Member State governments and to MEPs who directly represent you, the public.

Fisheries and Agriculture policy are not currently included in the co-decision procedure between the European Parliament and the Council. This means that all final decisions in these areas are made by the Member State governments in the Council of Ministers, and therefore, although we have a devolved government in Scotland with authority over fishing and agriculture policy, the right to represent these interests in Europe is reserved to Westminster.

Initial proposals for legislation are drafted and published by the European Commission, which is also responsible for implementing EU policies once they have been adopted. The Commission is headed by 20 Commissioners, nominated by Member State governments and approved by the European Parliament. Holding office for five years, the Commission can only be dismissed following a vote of no confidence by the European Parliament.

Part of an MEP’s job is to keep tabs on the European Commission and on the civil servants working under its authority - the famous Brussels bureaucrats. Commissioners and their civil servants are regularly held accountable through appearances before European Parliamentary committees and plenary sessions, where they are cross-examined and expected to explain what they are up to.

The European Parliament is also responsible for adopting the EU’s annual budget. The Parliament and the Council of Ministers must agree the broad guidelines of the budget jointly, but the exact sum allocated to individual items is, except in the field of agriculture, usually up to the Parliament.

We hear a lot about MEPs and their salaries and expenses, with the constant theme that they only work Monday to Friday; this may apply to MEPs who represent small geographical areas. In the case of Scottish MEPs, I have had a look at Ian Hudghton’s diary over the last three months:

In December Ian had the North East Region Visit, which occupied any spare time he might have had at Brussels, and then he was very much involved in the Fisheries problems; he visited Shetland on 13th December, not the most clement time to visit, but it wasn’t a jaunt! In January, he was in Brussels 6th-8th, Strasbourg 12th-15th, in Dundee 15th, Dingwall 17th, 19th-21st Fisheries Committee Brussels, Aberdeen 22nd, Edinburgh and Perth 23rd, Banchory 24th, Brussels again 26th-29th and Aberdeen 30th. He was in Kirriemuir on 2nd Feb, Carnoustie and Ellon 3rd Feb, and is back in Brussels 4th-5th, then due in Inverness and Dunblane on 6th; I must ask him what he did on 18th January, and 1st February, but maybe he slept!

As we can see, being a Member of the European Parliament is no sinecure, or certainly not one if you are representing the SNP.

Scotland is missing out on achieving its potential to lead as a European powerhouse for cheap green energy. Energy policy is largely decided in London, and as a consequence Scotland has a legacy of expensive power, and a disproportionately high share of dangerous nuclear power.

We need Independence so that we can have a holistic energy policy to release Scotland’s awesome renewable energy potential.

FOOT IN THE MOUTH NOTES

On 29th November 2000, I flew from Edinburgh to Heathrow by British Airways; the ticket cost £272.20. On 28th August 2003, I flew from Edinburgh to Heathrow by British Airways; the ticket cost £128.90.

Not necessarily sorry about receiving it, but most people are sorry when they get caught.

The farming community is not exactly "rolling aboot the flair"; last year the Executive forecast of £14,018 turned out to be an actual of £7,328. Their guess for dairy farmers of £41,600 only made £5,090.

With a piece from Bach.

SYNOPSIS

Mr. Weir said that whilst he supported the report’s conclusions that the number of MSPs should be retained at 129 and the comments on the difficulties caused by the number of different voting systems he could not agree with parts of section three of the report relating to the Coterminosity of Constituency Boundaries. Commenting, Mr. Weir said that while the committee had stated that their favoured option was to have two constituency MPs for each constituency. this was not reflected in the evidence heard and that it would destroy the proportionality element of the Scottish Parliament.

"If there is to be a change in the voting system it is imperative that it retains proportionality and also that the Scottish Parliament has a say in the matter. The Reports conclusions do not reflect this and I could not, therefore, support it."

WESTMINSTER GOVERNMENT TO SCRAP REGIMENTS
Tue 3 Feb 04

"At a time when the threat of global insecurity is at its peak, it is a dangerous nonsense for the Ministry of Defence and the Labour Government at Westminster to consider scrapping Scottish regiments.

"Over recent years, both Labour and Tory Governments have worked to amalgamate Scotland's regiments - yet they are both prepared to waste billions of pounds on Trident nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

"Scotland has a proud military tradition, and to scrap the regiments is a disgrace and completely wrong on defence grounds.

"We need to keep our regiments - and scrap Trident."

CRITICAL MASS BUILDING FOR FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE
Tue 3 Feb 04

A critical mass of opinion is building towards Scotland taking on the powers of Financial Independence, Shadow Economy and Enterprise Minister Mr Jim Mather MSP said today (Tuesday) after ex Scottish Enterprise boss Robert Crawford became the latest in a line of senior office holders to back change upon leaving office.

Welcoming his call for increased economic powers, Mr Mather said:

"With every month that passes, the critical mass in favour of Financial Independence builds. Robert Crawford has played a pivotal role in the Scottish economy - no one is better placed to understand what we need to do to break out of the low growth trap.

"He is however, just the latest in a long line of former senior office holders who recognise the need to look at the powers we currently have. Wendy Alexander has come out in favour of 'constitutional flexibility' and Sir David Steel has called for more powers.

"What we need, however, is for those still in office to acknowledge that there is a real debate to be had. It's not good enough for Ministers to mouth the mantra that everything will be alright in the end. Unless we do something to change Scotland's economic trajectory, it won't be.

"The status quo simply isn't tenable."

QUESTIONS REMAIN UNANSWERED AFTER GIBBONS EVIDENCE
Tue 3 Feb 04

Commenting on the evidence of John Gibbons to the Fraser Inquiry today (Tuesday) Shadow Finance Minister Mr Fergus Ewing SNP, said:

"The instruction by John Gibbons to pay the architects for work they had not done was both improper and irresponsible. Yet he passed this off as though it were a mere detail. If companies are paid for work they haven't done, what happens if they then go bust or default?

"And why did we not hear about this irregularity from Barbara Doig when she gave her evidence, and who agreed with Gibbons' proposals and authorised the payment? When exactly did the Scottish Executive supply this documentation?

"Even more significant was Gibbons complete failure to give any credible explanation as to why the Bovis bid - 1 million pounds more than McAlpine's -was accepted, after Bovis was reinstated on Doig's orders. Clearly, Bovis were the favoured contractor. The question remains: Why?"

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