DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON

I got back last week from a long anticipated holiday. Not having taken a day off since January, I decided it was time to get away from work and out of Edinburgh for a while, even if it was only for a few days. After spending my first week at home fixing a shower, repairing a motorbike and generally being lazy, I headed south in the second week.

My first stop was in London to spend the night with Lachie Munro, an old friend of mine from Bridge of Allan SNP, and his family. Lachie was on typically good form, so it was with a sore head the next morning that I made for Waterloo Station and a Paris-bound Eurostar. My reservation had me sitting next to an elderly French lady who had served as a diplomat in Washington during WWII. I reckon I must have had the best seat on the train as she told me about her wartime experiences.

Paris was warm and expensive – exactly as I remembered it. My hotel was in Monmatre, which gave me great views right across the city. After spending the first night wandering around enjoying the boho atmosphere, I stumbled upon an Irish pub. Rather bizarrely, they were running a quiz which was organized by a Swede who spoke English with an Irish accent! However, once I had my bearings, I was ready for the full tourist experience the next day of the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe.

Anytime I am abroad, as a Scot I always feel slightly sad that people seem to know so little of where I come from. There’s no particular reason why they should, of course, since in many minds England is an island, of which Scotland makes up the northernmost fringes. However, on my way back to the station, I saw a little girl walking down the Boulevard Haussman wearing a dark blue t-shirt with ‘Scotland’ emblazoned across it, which made me smile broadly. At a small level, maybe the ‘auld alliance’ lives on!

Soon I was back in London and meeting up with Lachie and some of his friends in town to celebrate his birthday. Although Paris a wonderful city, there’s a go-getting spirit in London which I think is born of the mix of outsiders who move there. London is a truly global city which can be intimidating at times. However, as Lachie explained to me later in the evening, the secret to ‘cracking’ London is being able to view it as a collection of small towns where nearly everyone comes from outside London. Once you realise that nearly everyone else is an outsider too, the city becomes much more manageable.

And the most memorable sight of my short trip? It has to be traveling around London and seeing the sheer number of St. George’s cross flags which were hung out people’s windows or festooned across cars, despite the Euro 2004 tournament being long past. People seem to be taking a pride in being English now, and have well and truly reclaimed their flag from the clutches of the far right. Its still early days, but hopefully a tolerant and inclusive English nationalism is now replacing the empty bombast of ‘Britishness’ south of the border.

This can only be a good thing for the people of these islands, although I suppose its too much to expect to hear the English singing ‘Jerusalem’ at sporting events rather than the offensive dirge that is ‘God save the Queen’ any time soon. Nonetheless, as a nationalist, a republican and a music lover, I live in hope!

ALI ABBASI

I was sorry to hear this week of the death of Ali Abbasi, BBC Scotland’s notorious traffic reporter. Generous tributes have already been paid to Ali made this week, by amongst others Jack McConnell and John Swinney, showing the regard in which he was held by the people of Scotland.

Ali came to Glasgow from Karachi with his parents in the 1960s and joined the BBC after a spell working for Glasgow council. He became a passionate Gael and learned the language. This, allied to his wide recognition in Scotland, led to him being appointed as a ‘Champion’ for the Gaelic language by the Scottish Government last year.

Ali came to national prominence with his irreverent approach to reporting the traffic jams on Radio Scotland, where he often dropped in an appalling joke at the end of his reports for good measure. He entered legend by reporting one evening that a leak had been found in the Clyde Tunnel. As drivers all over Glasgow groaned at the prospect of weeks of gridlock, he went on to explain that the leek in question had fallen off the back of a greengrocer’s lorry. Suddenly there were groans from drivers all over the rest of the country as well!

He published 2 joke books in aid of charity, as well as a cookery book called ‘No Worry Curries’. However, it was the first edition of his joke book which brought us the gem of what you call a Sikh at a karaoke? Gupti Singh, of course…

Ali helped to make Scotland and her immigrant communities laugh at themselves. In his own way, he showed that multiculturalism didn’t always have to be worthy and po-faced. Scotland, BBC traffic reports and those of us who appreciate truly dreadful jokes will all be the poorer without him.

BOGUS TERROR ALERTS

Earlier this week, the US Government put financial institutions on a heightened state of alert following the arrest of a terror suspect in Pakistan. It was claimed that as a result of this arrest, intelligence described variously as ‘chilling’, ‘new’ and ‘unusually specific’, had been uncovered which pointed to an immediate threat to US security.

The thought crossed my mind that John Kerry had been receiving a reasonably good press for his stance on the so called ‘war on terror’ following the Democratic convention. Could this have been a stunt to seize the initiative for the Republicans and bolster George W’s increasingly strident line that America was still ‘a country under threat’?

I quickly dismissed the thought, because you can be too cynical about these things. After all, if an attack had taken place and the US Government had not issued a warning beforehand when they had received intelligence, they would rightly have been condemned. No, I thought, better to be safe than sorry. On this occasion, the US Government had probably acted wisely.

You can probably imagine my response when it emerged that much of the intelligence was in fact over 3 years old. Worse, it was described by the New York Police Commissioner as being a simple “vulnerability analysis”, and that there was no evidence of it being “tied to any operational plan”.

Terrorists try to achieve their aims by using fear from the threat of violence to manipulate public opinion into acceptance of their political stance. It seems that Governments, aided and abetted by compliant sections of the media, now have few qualms about using the threat of terror as a weapon to try and to achieve their own aims.

Unusually, it was Tory leader Michael Howard who hit the nail on the head during last months debate on the Butler Report when he said that if Blair asked the country to trust him as he went to war again, who now would believe him? Whether its tanks at Heathrow Airport or SWAT teams on Wall St, when it comes to global security, Bush and Blair have cried wolf once too often. Their integrity, or rather what remains of it, is now a rapidly devaluing currency.

POLICY POSTCARDS

We continue our publication of the SNP Policy Postcards; we will publish a new one every week, each one dealing with a different aspect of SNP policy. The full list can be seen on the SNP website under "Vision" and "Policy".

IRAQ

It is now clear that the Government's entire case for the war in Iraq was false.

There were no weapons of mass destruction - which Tony Blair said was the sole and specific reason for war. Iraq has descended into chaos; the killing continues; and the war has increased the terrorist threat to the West, rather than decreasing it.

The British people were not given the full facts about the reasons for going to war and public trust in government will not be restored while the person who broke that trust remains in post.

The continuing violence in Iraq underlines the need to take the opportunity afforded by Saddam's arrest to internationalise and stabilise the situation.

Going back to the United Nations and placing the troops in Iraq under proper UN authority and control would remove the underlying grievance of the US and UK being regarded by Iraqis as an occupying force.

And that should be accompanied by a rapid transfer of power from the US-led authority to a free and sovereign Iraq.

---

SYNOPSIS

SNP ATTACKS GOVERNMENT OVER FIRE BRIGADE DEAL BREAKDOWN

‘STRIKE ACTION CAN BE AVOIDED’

The Scottish National Party spokesman for Trade and Industry at Westminster Mr Mike Weir MP has criticised the Labour party for wrecking a deal between the Fire Brigades Union and local authorities.

It is reported that councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all voted to settle the dispute but that Labour councillors were drafted in at the last minute to vote against the agreement and wreck any chance of resolving the dispute. The Fire Brigades Union has said that it will now ballot members over strike action.

Speaking today, Mr Mike Weir MP said:

“This is a disgraceful piece of political sabotage by the Westminster Labour party. Agreement was reached to this long running dispute that suited the employers and the fire brigade; it is a disgrace that it was wrecked by Labour politicians in London.

“It is high time that the Scottish Executive took control of this matter. They should not stand idly by while Westminster takes this kind of disgraceful and damaging action.

“There is no need for strike action, it can be avoided. The real stumbling block to the agreement is the Deputy Prime Minister and his narrow political agenda.”

---

TEN QUESTIONS EXEC MUST ANSWER OVER ECONOMY

Shadow Minister for Enterprise and the Economy Mr Jim Mather MSP today (Monday) posed ten key questions the Executive must answer following the recent plethora of announcements of new data, forecasts and think-tank reports that have questioned the success of Government economic strategy.

Calling for the Executive to face the same burden of proof that the SNP must meet in laying out the case for Independence, Mr Mather said,

"The SNP is always asked to prove its claims that an Independent Scotland would create better economic opportunities for all and we revel in that benign obligation. But the Government should also be properly answering similar questions given the data that is being published on an almost daily basis.

“The Executive’s repeated assurances that all will be well are not good enough. We need real answers that prove the government is engaging with the problems and presenting their solutions for audit and debate.

“So far, the last two months have raised 10 major questions for which the Executive has no meaningful answers that adequately meet the needs of the people of Scotland.

“1. In the light of their own data, why is Scotland stuck with lower growth than the rest of the UK and what new steps will they take to remedy the situation?

“2. In the light of recent VAT registration data, what new steps will they take to increase the business birth rate?

“3. In the light of the RBS report Wealth Creation in Scotland, what new steps will they take to help create new major companies in Scotland?

“4. In the light of the FSB Barriers to Growth Report, what new steps will they take to create a bigger pipeline of medium sized companies?

“5. In the light of various reports on Competitiveness, what new steps will they take to help Scotland close the gap on the rest of the UK and Estonia?

“6. In the light of the Fraser Institute of Canada Report, what new steps will it take to increase Scotland’s “Freedom to Compete”

“7. In the light of the Scotecon and Demos reports, what new steps will the Executive take to increase individual and national self-esteem

“8. In the light of the ONS population forecast, what new steps will take to reverse population decline

“9. In the light of the ONS population forecast, what new steps will be take to avoid the dramatic demographic skew towards older people, especially in rural Scotland.

“10. In the light of the Scottish Low Pay Unit data, what new steps will they take to boost the economy and lift many people out of “employed poverty”.

“The urgency of the situation needs to be recognised and these questions need to be both asked and answered.”

---

OIL PRICES TAX WINDFALL FOR TREASURY

‘CHANCELLOR GAINS AT SCOTLAND’S EXPENSE’

The leader of the Scottish National Party at Westminster has asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer a series of parliamentary questions about the extra cash that the Treasury will gain as a result of the continuing high prices of oil.

Last night the price of benchmark Brent Crude oil hit a closing high of $40.64. In the 2004 budget the Chancellor used an assumption of $27.40 a barrel in making his budget calculations. According to the House of Commons library at a price of $40 a barrel the extra tax revenue would be £2 billion this year and £2.5 billion next year.

Mr Salmond said:

“At current prices, this year and next the Chancellor will gain an extra £4.5 billion more than he predicted in the budget from North Sea oil revenues. The Treasury is gaining substantial sums of money from North Sea oil whilst Scotland’s petrol prices remain the highest in Europe with prices now reaching as high as 91 pence a litre.

“Once again the Treasury is gaining at the expense of Scotland. The people of Scotland see no benefits of our oil wealth. These extra billions should be used to invest in Scotland’s infrastructure for the good of the people and the economy. The SNP has already called on the government to use the windfall to protect consumers from rising oil prices and invest in key infrastructure projects.

“We have also urged the government to consider raising the oil exploration incentive to a more realistic level. The government’s own figures show that there is about half as much oil left in the North Sea as has been extracted. However the current rate is unrealistic for companies and must be raised so that we can encourage new players and greater exploration in the industry to ensure its future sustainability.”

Editor’s Note:

Alex Salmond MP introduced an amendment to the Finance Bill to raise the Exploration and Expenditure Supplement from 6% to 12%.

In June the SNP set out a three point plan to secure jobs, protect consumers from rising petrol prices and invest in key infrastructure projects. Copies can be obtained from the SNP’s Westminster Press Office.

---

EXEC'S BOTCHED JOB THREATENS FUTURE OF DECENTRALISATION

Shadow Finance Minister Mr Fergus Ewing MSP has today (Wednesday) labelled the SNH move from Edinburgh to Inverness as a botch of the Executive’s making, which could threaten the whole future of decentralisation of public sector jobs. Mr. Ewing said:

"From the outset, it has been widely believed by staff unions and most commentators that the decision to relocate SNH HQ from Edinburgh to Inverness was nothing more than party political.

“The decision was taken against the advice received from consultants DTZ Pieda, which was ignored, despite a cost of 20,000 pounds, and against the advice of SNH itself. It flew in the face of common sense which suggested that under the current approach it would have made sense to disperse specific functions of SNH - a suggestion that I indeed put to SNH bosses long before the 2003 election. 93 percent of staff said that they would not move, and there are serious doubts if a large number of staff refuse to move whether SNH will be able to continue to operate.

“It is because of these fears about the possible melt down of SNH, that the Lib/Lab Executive, decided to award a 20,000 pounds bribe to each SNH employee who opts to move to try to prevent the organisation from imploding through loss of staff with skills and qualifications which cannot be replaced.

"Staff will be paid a 10,000 pounds golden signing on fee and a further 10,000 pounds after their first year, which means that all relocations will now be subject to staff legitimately seeking such payments. Indeed, recent relocations of bodies where no such payments were made include the Scottish Public Pensions Agency move from Edinburgh to Galashiels, where around 30 staff did up sticks and move house. So surely they will be consulting their Unions and demanding for themselves the bribe that SNH have received?

“Relocation and decentralisation are policy aims supported by most including the SNP, but not at any price. The Scottish Executive first said that the move to Inverness would cost around 12 million pounds. Now the net cost is 22 million pounds. And the gross cost has been estimated by the trade union as 45 million pounds. The Minister did not dismiss this figure, which makes the SNH move a "mini Holyrood."

"The tragedy is that there is a better model of decentralisation policy, which operates in Ireland, whereas the Scottish Executive no longer has any real policy on relocation, just an expensive Holyrood style shambles which will place an unaffordable price tag on future relocations from Edinburgh.