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March 31, 2005
Atmospheric CO2 still increasing
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen again this year, though by less than the previous two years. Tests were carried out by the US government at the Mauna Loa laboratory in Hawaii.
The burning of wood, coal, oil and gas world-wide is thought to release almost 7 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year, about half of which is re-absorbed by the earth. The rest stays in the atmosphere and contributes to global warming.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4395817.stm
www.cmdl.noaa.gov/hotitems/storyDetail_org.php?sid=2782
UPDATE 1 April 05
In Britain emissions are also rising again, instead of falling. They are now higher than at any time since 1997. If they continue to rise, the UK will be unable to meet its obligations under the Kyoto treaty.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4399323.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:22 PM | TrackBack
March 30, 2005
Howard's End
It’s a great title for a tactical voting (vote swapping) campaign! This one targets the Tories with the long term (medium term?) aim of eliminating the Conservatives and making the Liberal Democrats into the second party.
Notably targeted are : Michael Howard (Folkestone & Hythe maj: 5,907), Oliver Letwin (Dorset West maj: 1,414), David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden maj: 1,903), Theresa May (Maidenhead maj: 3,284), Caroline Spelman (Meriden maj: 3,784), Tim Collins (Westmorland & Lonsdale maj: 3,147), and David Willetts (Havant maj: 4,207). All except Spelman and Willetts face Liberal Democrat challenges.
However despite the report in the Independent, Howard’s End seems to have no presence on the net, or if they do they are in desperate need of a search engine optimizer! (Thanks to Murky.org for this story).
news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=624488
www.murky.org/archives/2005/03/vote_swap.html
UPDATE 31 March 05
Thank to Amy for discovering that the Howard’s End site is in fact called Tactical Voter. Here is the address:
Posted by Simon Holledge at 09:48 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
March 29, 2005
Surveillance is not the point!
Dan McDougall has an article in the Scotsman about a retired judge backing the use of intercept evidence in court “despite claims by human rights groups that such methods contravene civil liberties”. Readers are asked to vote on “should we give up civil liberties for increased security”.
This seems muddle-headed.
Surely it is the security services who don’t want intercept evidence used in court. They want terrorist suspects to be detained without trial.
Bodies like Liberty, the defenders of civil liberties, are against detention without trial and believe that intercept evidence should be used in court. Liberty have said “Allowing intercepted telephone calls to be used in evidence will facilitate criminal trials of terror suspects.” This is also my position. Surveillance is not the problem.
This makes nonsense of the Scotsman poll.
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=330722005
www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/issues/defend-fair-trial-rights.shtml
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:21 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 28, 2005
New blog subtitle
This blog has a new subtitle ‘Notes on Scottish politics, environmental issues and modernization etc.’ This replaces ‘An independent weblog for the Scottish National Party (SNP), Scotland and Europe’.
The Skakagrall has been going for eight months (it was launched on 24 August) so I thought this would be a good time to review what I have been doing.
I’ve written more than I expected - and less. I haven’t had time to do long opinion pieces, instead I’ve tried to keep up with the news on particular topics, putting sources together to try to get a grip on the relevant facts. To that extent The Skakagrall has become a kind of notebook, hence ‘Notes on …’
I’ve listed ‘environmental issues and modernization etc.’. Given a different design (not something I want to spend my time on now!) this might have been a longer list, something like ‘Scottish politics: environment issues, energy, modernization, infrastructure, the arts, the European dimension and beyond … ‘. But maybe nobody would have made anything of such a long list anyway!
So I’ve reduced it to the environment and modernization. These are the two key groups of issues. On the one hand, Scotland must play its proper part in preventing climate change by lowering emissions and developing clean sources of energy and means of transport. On the other, Scotland needs higher productivity, more dynamism in business, a healthier labour force, better education, and an improved infrastructure.
It’s the function of government to promote, and at the same time balance, environmental protection and modernization, but we have to ask whether present government structures are capable of doing this. An independent government, in my view, would be better at solving Scotland’s problems and be more energetic in effecting reform and change.
There are two problems with government from London. One is that the Scottish economy (and population) are too small to matter much in a wider British context, so policies (on reserved matters) are designed for England not Scotland.
The other is that reform has become so difficult in England. Nowhere else in Europe are there so many out-of-date political institutions - the parliamentary electoral system, the un-elected House of Lords, the monarchy and the established church etc. - a hotch-potch establishment of of vested interests. In my view Scotland would be better opting out of this.
When I started this blog I imagined it as a kind of informal SNP member’s publication for inter-party communication. My project was to encourage participation in the ‘blogosphere’ by providing an example of a blog interreacting with other news sources etc.
While I am delighted by the success of Stuart Dickson’s pro-SNP Independence blog (and there are a couple of student websites which may develop into something), the party remains reluctant to get involved in new media, preferring to work through the familiar mainstream print and broadcasting organizations, even if these are almost all fundamentally hostile to SNP policies.
Meanwhile, the British political net is becoming exciting. Development has been fast and blogging especially has become more sophisticated. I still doubt whether this coming general election will be the one where it all happens (as it did last year in the states), but it is a possibility. I hope The Skakakgrall will make a contribution to whatever can be achieved.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:31 AM | Comments (4)
March 27, 2005
Lies, damned lies and statistics
The SNP are asking for an independent statistics office for Scotland, reacting to an article in the Economist raising concerns about the freedom from political pressure of the Office for National Statistics.
Discussions about energy and the environment, the NHS, independence and many other important issues must be based on reliable figures, so I am very much in favour of this. In fact, we have got to a point where almost every government-published figure relating to public services comes under suspicion because of the pressure on managers to meet centrally-determined targets. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the NHS.
“Every measure produced by the Government, from economic growth to unemployment to accident and emergency waiting times, is being manipulated and massaged to produce rosier pictures than real people experience in their day-to-day lives.” Jim Mather MSP
www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3789219
www.snp.org/snpnews/2005/snppressrelease.2005-03-25.0981592087
news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=324&id=322872005
Posted by Simon Holledge at 06:03 PM | TrackBack
Environmental Audit Committee report
The Westminster Environmental Audit Committee have criticized government policy on climate change, demanding more action and less words.
Noting that we need to reduce emissions by 60-80% by 2050, they say the European Emissions Trading Scheme is inadequate, and poor scorn on the government’s shameful attempts to raise Britain’s emissions limits.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4385547.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:50 PM | TrackBack
March 26, 2005
The cost of PPP projects
‘Live now, pay later’ is generally regarded as a bad idea, unless we are talking about Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects - something I (personally) associated with enormous, badly-organized, inconveniently-located hospitals with expensive car parks.
Tom McCabe, the finance minister, answering questions by the SNP MSP Stewart Stevenson, says that PPP projects will amount to a total of GBP 8 billion by 2019, by which time the burden on the taxpayers will be about £555 million a year.
The SNP think the total will be more like £13.8 billion with an eventual annual burden of about double the figure given by McCabe. Their preference would be for a Scottish Trust for Public Investment, based on lower interest rates.
Would anyone like to explain the benefits of PPP/PFI financing over traditional means of raising money for new public works? I still don’t get it!
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=320522005
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:53 AM | TrackBack
March 25, 2005
Glasgow M74 Link
Glasgow has a prime collection of unfinished motorways. Maybe it would be better not to have any at all, but they exist: the incomplete M8, the incomplete M80, the incomplete M74.
The government have decided to go ahead with a controversial scheme to complete the M74, at the cost of about 500 million pounds, and opinions for and against are, of course, diametrically opposed.
I am not sure what to think. Normally I am against building motorways in cities and would prefer money to be spent on public transport, but given that most of the system is already there, wouldn’t it be better to complete it?
It’s a big project trying to turn Los Angeles into Amsterdam.
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=317052005
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4379553.stm
www.foe-scotland.org.uk/press/pr20050316.html
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4382817.stm
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4386593.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:05 AM | TrackBack
March 24, 2005
Impeachment to be re-presented
The petition to impeach Tony Blair will be re-presented after the election (see also 24 November 04, 17 September, 28 August).
“There can be few greater charges than taking a country to war based on a lie. The Prime Minister misled Parliament and the people of the UK. His case for war has crumbled and he deserves to be made answerable for what he has done.” Alex Salmond
www.snp.org/snpnews/snppressrelease.2005-03-24.2378717713
Posted by Simon Holledge at 03:02 PM | TrackBack
March 23, 2005
New power stations for Scotland?
Building new power stations is a reserved matter and the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster is looking at Scotland’s long-term energy requirements. This is related to the planned closure of the nuclear power stations Hunterston B and Torness, in 2011 and 2023. They provide about 35 per cent of Scotland’s electricity.
The committee doubt whether renewable energy will be sufficiently developed to supply a significant amount of electricity, and are looking at the feasibility of building more nuclear stations. This may be controversial but it is not surprising.
However the BBC report that they are also looking at “buttressing the role of coal”. This is an option that should be ruled out. We should be closing carbon dioxide emitting coal-fired power stations, not opening them. Coal may be cheap, but the cost to the environment is not!
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4373885.stm
UPDATE 24 March 05
Mike Weir, the SNP MP for Angus, who is a member of the Scottish Affairs Committee, has issued a robust denial of the need for Scotland to go nuclear.
” … I made clear the SNP’s opposition to nuclear power and took every opportunity to remove the nuclear option from the report… . there is an alternative – Scotland’s wealth of clean green energy… . On the government’s own estimates for energy prices in 2020, Nuclear power is far more expensive than either gas or offshore wind – costing as much as a third more.”
www.snp.org/snpnews/snppressrelease.2005-03-24.4141882531
UPDATE 24 March 05
Building new power stations may be a reserved matter, but planning permissions come under the Scottish Executive.
Following the report by the Scottish Affairs Committee, the Liberal Democrats, SNP and the Greens have renewed their opposition in principle to nuclear power.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4376391.stm
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=313572005
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:44 AM | TrackBack
CO2 emissions rising
Britain’s emissions of carbon dioxide rose from 153.9 MtC (million tonnes of carbon equivalent) in 1997, to 156.1 in 2003, although emissions of methane and nitrous oxide went down.
In 1997 Labour promised to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by the year 2010. It is highly unlikely that this can now be achieved.
Friends of the Earth explain, “The big increases this decade are largely a result of power companies switching back to coal following rises in gas prices.”
For Scotland the message is simple: the Longannet and Cockenzie coal-fired power stations must be closed down as soon as possible!
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4371793.stm
www.foe.co.uk/resource/pressreleases/ukclimateprogressevenw21032005.htm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:10 AM | TrackBack
March 22, 2005
LSE study against ID cards
A London School of Economics (LSE) study has come out strongly against the government’s ID card scheme. The 115 page report by the Department of Information Systems supports the idea of a national identity system, but not the one being proposed.
“The proposed system unnecessarily introduces, at a national level, a new tier of technological and organisational infrastructure that will carry associated risks of failure. A fully integrated national system of this complexity and importance will be technologically precarious and could itself become a target for attacks by terrorists or others.”
www.lse.ac.uk/collections/pressAndInformationOffice/newsAndEvents/archives/2005/IDReport.htm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:26 AM | TrackBack
March 21, 2005
Feed Me Better petition
Feed Me Better, the campaign to take cheap junk food out of the schools, is asking people to sign their online petition. About 170,000 have signed so far.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 06:22 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Lewis chessmen
Alex Salmond is to table an early day motion (EDM) at Westminster asking for the repatriation of the Lewis chessmen from the British Museum.
London has 82 pieces, while the National Museum of Scotland has another 11, representing together the surviving pieces of four incomplete sets. They were made in the 12th century, probably in Norway, of walrus ivory and whales’ teeth. They were discovered near a beach in Uig in, or before, 1831, although this has never been fully documented.
As an archaeologist, I don’t like museums which display artifacts out of context. I support the campaign to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece, and indeed any other works of art that have been removed and separated, which could be reunited and redisplayed. I have to say that I don’t think the Lewis chessmen fall into this category.
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-1533544,00.html
www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/goto?id=OBJ566
Posted by Simon Holledge at 04:20 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Why the China arms ban is important
Britain should maintain its ban on selling arms to China.
Surprising as it may seem, this is one issue that the American administration really do understand better than European governments!
“The European Union should do nothing to contribute to a circumstance in which Chinese military modernisation draws on European Union technology. It is the United States, not Europe, that has defended the Pacific.’ Condoleezza Rice.
The arms ban was established in response to the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, which Beijing have never repudiated. Last week Beijing passed a law allowing for the use of force against Taiwan, if the latter declares independence. A war in the Taiwan Straits would be a calamity. It is important that Europe does nothing to make a sensitive situation worse.
www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1442419,00.html?gusrc=rss
UPDATE 24 March 2005
More than 500 Chinese human rights activists have written to the European Union asking for the arms embargo to remain. They want China to release prisoners of conscience and agree to an independent commission to look at the events of 1989 (i.e. the Tiananmen massacre).
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4378017.stm
UPDATE 25 March 2005
The Foreign Affairs Committee at Westminster is supporting a continuation of the arms ban: “The raising of the EU arms embargo on China would send the wrong signal at this time, in the absence of strong undertakings from the Chinese government to address human rights issues.”
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4381421.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 02:54 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 20, 2005
Offlisting MP/MSP websites
When I started this blog I gave considerable space on my ‘blogroll’ (the list of links in the right-hand column) to the websites of SNP MSPs and MPs. Unfortunately I now need the links for more active sites, especially blogs, so I am moving my original list to this entry (see below), with the exception of Ian Hudghton MEP’s website which has some excellent video material and stays in the list.
Ewing, Annabelle MP
Ewing, Fergus MSP
Fabiani, Linda MSP
Grahame, Christine MSP
Hyslop, Fiona MSP
Lochhead, Richard MSP
Macaskill, Kenny MSP
Morgan, Alasdair MSP
Robertson, Angus MP
Robison, Shona MSP
Sturgeon, Nicola MSP
Weir, Mike MP
White, Sandra MSP
Wishart, Peter MP
Posted by Simon Holledge at 09:03 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
STV and the minor parties
The Centre for Scottish Public Policy is publishing a report by John Curtice on the likely impact of an STV (single transferable vote) system for Holyrood elections, on the Greens, SSP and independents. Apparently STV will not unduly disadvantage them, so we may hope that this is another obstacle out of the way of reform.
Scotland does need one, fair, clearly understood, electoral system to be used at all levels. What alternative is there to STV? The only question at issue is the size of multi-member constituencies.
news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=297922005
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:41 AM | TrackBack
March 19, 2005
SNP newsfeed restored
The SNP newsfeed is working again.
The feed is http://www.snp.org/html/snpnews.php
Posted by Simon Holledge at 09:06 PM | TrackBack
Against EU software patents
The introduction of American-style software patents, which benefit large companies (read Microsoft) and prevent the development of open source programmes, is being discussed by the European Parliament.
At present software patents are allowed in Britain but not in most other European countries, except as part of a physical device. If they are approved all European governments will have to introduce legislation in line with the decision.
The ‘No Software Patents’ organization is campaigning vigorously against this. Please support them. This issue matters. Europe matters!
www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,66938,00.html
europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/indprop/comp/index.htm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:28 AM | TrackBack
White House press pass
A blogger has been given a White House Press pass for the first time! Congratulations to FishBowl DC!
channels.lockergnome.com/rss/archives/news/20050316bloggetswhitehousepresspass.phtml
query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30913FC35590C748CDDAA0894DD404482
www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:12 AM | TrackBack
Assynt Foundation bidding for estate
The Assynt Foundation have been given permission to try to raise 2.9 million pounds to buy the 40,000 acre Assynt Estate in Sutherland.
The foundation is open to everyone on the electoral roll in Assynt, Drumrunie and Inverpolly) and the estate is mostly wild, uninhabited land, including Glen Canisp and the Suilven and Canisp mountains. It’s an extraordinarily beautiful area.
The project is interesting because it would involve local people in natural heritage protection, however it’s a moot question whether the wild land would not be better protected by a national park, with the community taking over the ‘economic’ land that can be used for crofting, housing etc.
Allan MacRae, chairman of the Assynt Crofters Trust in Lochinver, is saying that conservation organisations like the John Muir Trust should not be partners in the project, as this would restrict agricultural development, so there may well be tensions in the future between the foundation and natural heritage bodies.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4362593.stm
www.lochinver.bordernet.co.uk/organisations/5.html
www.bratach.co.uk/bratach/archive/Feb05/feb05_assynt-foundation.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:10 AM | TrackBack
March 18, 2005
Charlie Jeffrey's view
Charlie Jeffrey has an important article in The Scotsman comparing devolution in Scotland to that in Bavaria, Catalonia, Flanders and Lombardy.
He points out that debates in Scotland have lacked perspective.
“The debate about whether devolution is working or failing has almost always been self-referenced and insular… .it is part of a British disease: all the devolution reforms, in Scotland as elsewhere, have been rolled out without much attempt - as the jargon goes - to “benchmark” other places’ experience of devolved government and apply the insights here.”
” … the Scottish Parliament is powerful. The devolution settlement here is more generous than equivalent arrangements in Catalonia, Bavaria or Lombardy (though not Flanders). But all the opinion poll data so far suggests that, despite these powers, most people think the Parliament and the Executive have not made much difference. Is that right? Or is it a product of Scotland’s self-referenced way of looking at itself?”
“What about the economy? … there has been no big kick forward since devolution. Scotland has not yet summoned up the economic dynamism of Bavaria, Catalonia, Flanders or Lombardy… .[this] has to do, in part, with being on the periphery of European markets… Much of Scotland’s business does not see itself as especially Scottish and instead has a UK mindset, and looks to shape policies in London. Business in Flanders and the other regions is more “rooted”.”
“Political leaders in Bavaria, Catalonia, Flanders and Lombardy wear their regional identities on their sleeves, articulating policy priorities through a regional mindset. … But Scotland’s political leaders, both in government and opposition, have been more managerial in approach, focused more on effective delivery than on mobilising a sense of common project for Scotland.”
“That absence of vividness is one reason why devolution has bedded in so smoothly. Devolution processes in Belgium, Italy and Spain have been marked by tensions between central and devolved governments. Those tensions have not emerged here, or more precisely where there have been disagreements they have been dealt with behind closed doors …”
“Labour will lose somewhere, sometime and as soon as it does devolution’s main conflict management mechanism will be lost. There is not much of a ‘Plan B’ - unlike in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain, where there are more formal processes for managing central-devolved differences.”
It is fascinating analysis. It would interesting to know how the SNP fit in with Professor Jeffrey’s scheme of things.
thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=292442005
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:38 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Saving the rainforests
The Indonesian government have been asking for assistance in preventing illegal cutting and export of wood from their rainforests.
“The problem cannot be attacked from within the country, but from the market side. What we are asking from developed countries is twofold. One is to stop buying illegal timber from producer countries. The second is to help us in bringing back the systems in our country in such a way that the market and the law enforcement can be back to normal.” Agus Setyarso (Indonesian forestry expert at the Department for International Development) [I fell off my chair when I read they had an Indonesian forestry expert!]
Supported by Hilary Benn, the plan is to ask importing countries to insist on certification showing that wood has come from legal sources. If such a system could work for Indonesia, it might also be applied elsewhere.
www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,13369,1438522,00.html?gusrc=rss
www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/illegal-logging-g8.asp
UPDATE 19 March 2005
Hilary Benn has succeeded in getting an agreement from the G8 meeting on controls to stop illegal logging.
www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,13369,1441359,00.html?gusrc=rss
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:00 AM | TrackBack
March 17, 2005
List of SNP candidates
Niniane Mackenzie (one of the main contributors to the excellent Alba site) has kindly provided me with a list of SNP candidates for the coming general election. The first list is by constituency, and the second by the names of the candidates in alphabetical order.
UPDATE
I am much obliged to Ian McCann of SNP HQ and Stuart Dickson of the Independent blog for additional information.
Aberdeen North: Kevin Stewart
Aberdeen South: Maureen Watt
Airdrie & Shotts: Malcolm Balfour
Angus: Mike Weir MP
Argyll & Bute; Isobel Strong
Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock: Charles Brodie
Banff & Buchan: Alex Salmond MP
Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk: Aileen Orr
Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross: Karen Shirron
Central Ayrshire: Jahangir Hanif
Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill: Duncan Ross
Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East: Jamie Hepburn
Dumfries & Galloway: Douglas Henderson
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale: Andrew Wood
Dundee East: Stewart Hosie
Dundee West: Cllr Joe FitzPatrick
Dunfermline & West Fife: Douglas Chapman
East Dunbartonshire: Chris Sagan
East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow: Douglas Edwards
East Lothian: Paul McLennan
East Renfrewshire: Osama Bhutta
Edinburgh East: Stefan Tymkewycz
Edinburgh North & Leith: David Hutchison
Edinburgh South: Graham Sutherland
Edinburgh South West: Nick Elliott-Cannon
Edinburgh West: Sheena Cleland
Falkirk: Laura Love
Fife North East: Rod Campbell
Glasgow Central: Bill Kidd
Glasgow East: Lachlan McNeill
Glasgow North: Kenny McLean
Glasgow North East: John McLaughlin
Glasgow North West: Graeme Hendry
Glasgow South: Finlay MacLean
Glasgow South West: James Dornan
Glenrothes: John Beare
Gordon: Joanna Strathdee
Inverclyde: Stewart McMillan
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey: Dave Thompson
Kilmarnock & Loudoun: Danny Coffey
Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath: Bath, Alan
Lanark & Hamilton East: John Wilson
Linlithgow & East Falkirk: Gordon Guthrie
Livingston: Angela Constance
Midlothian: Colin Beattie
Moray: Angus Robertson MP
Motherwell & Wishaw: Ian McQuarrie
Na h-Eileanan An Iar (Western Isles): Angus McNeil
North Ayrshire & Arran: Tony Gurney
Ochil & South Perthshire: Annabelle Ewing MP
Orkney & Shetland: John Mowat
Paisley & Renfrewshire North: Dr Bill Wilson
Paisley & Renfrewshire South: Andrew Doig
Perth & North Perthshire: Pete Wishart MP
Ross, Skye & Lochaber: Mhairi Will
Rutherglen & Hamilton West: Margaret Park
Stirling: Frances McGlinchey
West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine: Caroline Little
West Dunbartonshire: Tom Chalmers
Balfour, Malcolm (Airdrie & Shotts)
Bath, Alan (Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath)
Beare, John (Glenrothes)
Beattie, Colin (Midlothian)
Bhutta, Osama (East Renfrewshire)
Brodie, Charles (Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock)
Campbell, Rod (Fife North East)
Chalmers, Tom (West Dunbartonshire)
Chapman, Douglas: Dunfermline & West Fife
Cleland, Sheena (Edinburgh West)
Coffey, Danny (Kilmarnock & Loudoun)
Constance, Angela (Livingston)
Doig, Andrew (Paisley & Renfrewshire South)
Dornan, James (Glasgow South West)
Edwards, Douglas (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Elliott-Cannon, Nick (Edinburgh South West)
Ewing, Annabelle MP (Ochil & South Perthshire)
FitzPatrick, Joe Cllr (Dundee West)
Gurney, Tony (North Ayrshire & Arran)
Guthrie, Gordon (Linlithgow & East Falkirk)
Hanif, Jahangir (Central Ayrshire)
Henderson, Douglas (Dumfries & Galloway)
Hendry, Graeme (Glasgow North West)
Hepburn, Jamie (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East)
Hosie, Stewart (Dundee East)
Hutchison, David (Edinburgh North & Leith)
Kidd, Bill (Glasgow Central)
Little, Caroline (West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine)
Love, Laura (Falkirk)
MacLean, Finlay (Glasgow South)
McGlinchey, Frances (Stirling)
McLaughlin, John (Glasgow North East)
McLean, Kenny (Glasgow North)
McLennan, Paul (East Lothian)
McMillan, Stewart (Inverclyde)
McNeil, Angus (Na h-Eileanan An Iar/Western Isles)
McNeill, Lachlan (Glasgow East)
McQuarrie, Ian (Motherwell & Wishaw)
Mowat, John (Orkney & Shetland)
Orr Aileen (Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk)
Park, Margaret (Rutherglen & Hamilton West)
Robertson, Angus MP (Moray)
Ross, Duncan (Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill)
Sagan, Chris (East Dunbartonshire)
Salmond, Alex MP (Banff & Buchan)
Shirron, Karen (Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross)
Stewart, Kevin (Aberdeen North)
Strathdee, Joanna (Gordon)
Strong, Isobel (Argyll & Bute)
Sutherland, Graham (Edinburgh South)
Thompson, Dave (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey)
Tymkewycz, Stefan (Edinburgh East)
Watt, Maureen (Aberdeen South)
Weir, Mike MP (Angus)
Will, Mhairi (Ross, Skye & Lochaber)
Wilson, Dr Bill (Paisley & Renfrewshire North)
Wilson, John (Lanark & Hamilton East)
Wishart, Pete MP (Perth & North Perthshire)
Wood, Andrew (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale)
Posted by Simon Holledge at 05:22 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Underage recruiting
The Commons Defence Committee are recommending that the army end underage recruiting. They suggest people entering the forces should be 18 and over, a sensible suggestion which might help Britain develop a modern, well-organized defence and peace-keeping force.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) are as usual resisting this. Nothing comes out of the MOD except one piece of bad news after another: unexplained deaths of recruits, mistaken or ignored military intelligence, missing equipment, mistreatment of prisoners, etc etc. The MOD is always ducking the questions, attempting to cover up some new scandal - and of course they are against any kind of reform!
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=280972005
Posted by Simon Holledge at 04:25 PM | TrackBack
March 16, 2005
New Labour's 'tipping point'
Labour dissident Mark Seddon has an interesting article in today’s Guardian. He attacks New Labour’s attempts to control the selection of Labour candidates for the general election, but what is significant is his speculation on the ‘tipping point’, the point at which Blair might begin to lose control over his party:
“The tipping point for Tony Blair and possibly for the New Labour project will be decided by the size of any majority in the forthcoming general election. Much under 60 and Tony Blair’s nightmare becomes a reality: for his majority will then be made up of the leftwing Campaign Group MPs, aggrieved former ministers and the awkward squad.”
www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1438496,00.html
Thanks to ‘BackIngBlair.com’ for picking this up.
www.backingblair.co.uk/2005/03/out-with-old-in-with-new-labour.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 02:01 PM | TrackBack
Ian McLean's cost of independence
Labour are evidently delighted with an analysis by Ian McLean suggesting that an independent Scotland would be between 4.4 billion and 8 billion pounds worse off than at present. His article was in a book entitled ‘Scotland 2020’, published by Demos.
Cost of independence arguments depend on whatever assumptions are being made, especially about about North Sea oil, and in any case the McLean text is not up on the Demos website. However it’s curious that ‘Scotland 2020’ is not a publication that deals with economics. It’s all about literary, cultural aspirations. It’s subtitle is ‘Hopeful stories for a northern nation’.
thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=232732005
UPDATE 23 March 2005
Ian McLean’s article entitled ‘Scotland after Barnett: Towards fiscal autonomy’ is now available as part of a pdf of ‘Scotland 2020’, pp 134-148. Most of the article is devoted to a discussion of the Barnett Formula and ‘fiscal federalism’. Thanks to John Craig of Demos for the link.
www.demos.co.uk/catalogue/scotland2020book
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:57 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 15, 2005
Waverley Railway Project II
The Scottish Executive are backing the re-opening of the Waverley Line from Edinburgh to the Borders, but only to the tune of 115 million pounds which the SNP and the Greens don’t think is enough. An additional 36 million has to come from other sources (see also 31 August 2004).
Given poor infrastructure of almost every kind in the Borders, the railway line may well be essential for any kind of growth there.
UPDATE 19 March 2005
The Guardian have an interesting article on the project.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4343439.stm
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=279952005
www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1441324,00.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 08:46 PM | TrackBack
March 14, 2005
WriteToThem.com
FaxYourMP, the website for contacting your elected representative, has now been revamped as WriteToThem.com. The new service was launched by mySociety on 13 February.
If you type in your postcode you can see a list of all your representatives, including local councillor, MSPs, MP, and MEPs. There is a form for writing to each of them. WriteToThem.com send off the messages by fax and email.
I only wish mySociety could cover the Scottish Parliament in the same way they report Westminster in They WorkForYou.com!
Posted by Simon Holledge at 06:15 PM | TrackBack
SNP website links down
The SNP website has been redesigned, not a huge makeover but it looks fine, a bit lighter in the general look, with a white background.
Unfortunately all the links to past news releases have now been broken! I have been through all the February and March links and none of them work, so presumably all the earlier ones are cut as well!
It should be easy to maintain old links while introducing a new system. It’s puzzling why this wasn’t done here.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 01:44 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
Scottish Opera: Andrea Chénier
I’ve never seen Andrea Chénier live and I was delighted to have the chance of hearing it, albeit in concert but with a first rate cast, performed by Scottish Opera at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 13 March.
Composed by Umberto Giordano, with a libretto by Luigi Illica, it was first performed in 1896. Puccini’s Tosca, with a similar melodrama set in the same period and by the same librettist, followed four years later. While overshadowed by the later work, Andrea Chénier has some spectacular arias and lots of interesting orchestral colour.
One reason that it is not put on more often is the problem of finding a spinto or dramatic tenor to do justice to the title role, associated with powerful singers like Franco Corelli and Mario del Monaco. Franco Farina doesn’t have the most beautiful voice in the world, but he deserves every credit for getting the show on the road. His voice is dark and baritonal, with a constricted top that somehow squeezes out the higher notes. He made a fine job of his first act aria ‘Un dì, all’azzurro spazio’ but his final ‘Come un bel dì di maggio’ in the last act was effortful.
As the heroine Maddalena, Claire Rutter produced some ravishing sounds, while also proving completely equal to the powerful climax at the end of the work. Just a bit more text, a little more attention to diction, would have nailed the drama down perfectly, nevertheless ‘La mamma morta’ in the third act was splendid.
This is the first time I’ve heard the baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore live - a terrific singing actor. His portrayal of the bitter and ambivalent Gérard was not only beautifully sung, but also dramatically right inside the role, stylistically absolute right. The minor roles were also well sung without exception, and the chorus was excellent.
Conductor Richard Armstrong is the music director of Scottish Opera and was doubtless involved in the decision to put on the work, but while he is known for his Verdi, Wagner, Janacek, Strauss etc., unfortunately verismo doesn’t seem to be his thing.
Instead of the expected simple, bitter sweet, elegant, singing sound, we heard music that was precise, deliberate, unidiomatic, stolid, and symphonic in its seriousness. The orchestra played well enough with some fine solo passages, but overall the effect was just wrong - not verismo, not Giordano - as if the orchestra had been playing Debussy, or maybe Mahler, with great concentration, and then made a delicate transition into Andrea Chénier. Wrong style!
Note: excellent subtitles were provided - complete with stage directions - but so small they could hardly be read.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:38 AM | TrackBack
March 13, 2005
Attorney-General's advice III
The information Commissioner is now investigating the continued non-publication of the Attorney-General’s advice on the legality of the Iraq War, but he is unlikely to report before the election (assuming it is on 5 May) (see also 24 February, 28 February).
This is an epic saga if ever there was one. I don’t think anybody now believes that Lord Goldsmith’s formal advice, on 7 March 2003, was unambiguously in support of the legality of the war.
www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1436080,00.html?gusrc=rss
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:01 AM | TrackBack
March 12, 2005
EU forces stricter emissions
The European Commission have forced the Labour government to revert to its original lower limit of 736 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions for 2005-07, rather than the increased figure of 756 million tonnes that it had asked for in October.
This is good news. It is ridiculous for Britain to talk up international action, while failing to carry through the same policies domestically.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4340755.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 06:23 PM | TrackBack
Callander's A84
According to an AA Motoring Trust report, the the 44-kilometre A84 from Stirling to Lochearnhead, via Callander, is one of Britain’s five most dangerous roads, and the worst in Scotland (except for two much shorter roads, the A889 near Dalwhinnie and the A99 at Wick).
During 1998-2000 there were 38 fatal or serious collisions, with a further 29 during 2001-03. The most common form of collisions was head-on (45 per cent) followed by run-offs (17 per cent), junction collisions (14 per cent), or accidents involving pedestrians or cyclists (14 per cent).
Where are the accident danger spots? As far as I know none are marked, although I am not used to driving the whole length of the road. If this were France, there would be black and red accident victim silhouettes erected beside the road showing where fatal accidents had occurred. That would be a bit offputting for the tourists, but it would be good to know where the dangers are. Perhaps we also need a special speed limit?
Detailed maps available at the AA Motoring Trust show where Scotland’s other dangerous roads are located. Looking at the map of Britain as a whole, the roads in southern England appear to be the safest.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4329455.stm
www.aatrust.com/aamotoringtrust/roadsafetypdfs.cfm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 12:12 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 11, 2005
Craig Murray Vs. Jack Straw
Craig Murray, the ex-ambassador to Uzbekistan who objected to using intelligence derived from torture, is standing against the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, in Blackburn as an independent candidate at the general election (see also 17 October).
I wish him every success! May he run a vigorous campaign and get the voters of Blackburn thinking about the moral issues in foreign policy!
UPDATE 21 March 2005
Craig Murray is writing about his campaign in the Guardian.
www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1439384,00.html
Posted by Simon Holledge at 10:59 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
March 10, 2005
Salmond on independence
Following Alex Salmond’s ITN News interview yesterday, the heading in the Scotsman is ‘Salmond: “Independence not popular” ‘, and both Labour and the Tories have seized on his remarks to imply that the SNP have at last realized the futility of independence.
Of course it’s not as simple as that. What Salmond was candidly admitting was that many people in Scotland seem to be in favour of increased powers for Holyrood, but remain unconvinced of the case for independence.
This may not represent a paradox so much as a debate that has yet to happen. How many people have a conception of what independence would mean in the 21st century? Or have an idea of the processes involved and of the new relationships it would create?
Perhaps the SNP should be working on a ‘road map’ that explains exactly what powers would be taken up by an independent Scottish government?
http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=261592005
Posted by Simon Holledge at 04:26 PM | TrackBack
March 09, 2005
ID card technology
More on ID cards and relevant technology:
Bruce Schneier, well-known expert on security technology (‘security guru’ in the words of the Economist), has been criticizing the ID card scheme, “ID cards are a waste of money… . They will not reduce crime, fraud or illegal immigration … We are living in a world where governments are looking for more control. They are looking for measures that increase control. It is being sold as security but it is really control,” he said. (Thanks to Murky.org for this information)
Meanwhile the Department of Homeland Security in Washington will be using an RFID-chipped ID card from May. This will contain biometric information and will be used for all kinds of access - physical, wired and wireless, including logging on to computers. Critics have questioned the security of RFID which can be accessed by remote readers. RFID chips have been successfully hacked in the past.
www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,66801,00.html/wn_ascii
Posted by Simon Holledge at 04:53 PM | TrackBack
Scottish Standard
A new pro-independence weekly Scottish newspaper called the Scottish Standard was published today. The print run is 50,000. I haven’t seen it yet but I gather it is in a compact/tabloid format, aimed at the middle of the market, and broadly supportive of the SNP, SSP and the Greens.
I suppose it is a good thing to have a publication with full Scottish credentials, but I can’t get enthusiastic about another old-fashioned, dead-tree, advertizing-based rag.
What we need is a Scottish-based news agency, a ‘Scottish Reuters’, following, researching, originating solid, detailed, news material about Scotland for English-language publications everywhere.
Stuart Dickson’s Independence Blog and DoctorVee have more comments on the newspaper.
www.scottishstandard.com/new.asp
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=261672005
scottish-independence.blogspot.com/2005/03/launch-of-new-scottish-newspaper.html
www.doctorvee.co.uk/2005/03/08/unconvinced-by-the-scottish-standard/
Posted by Simon Holledge at 02:40 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
March 08, 2005
Semele
Best of the season so far: Handel’s Semele met all expectations with music and drama complementing each other perfectly. The new production was a witty, economical presentation which never asked more of the singers than was fitting. I saw it on 4 March.
If the production was conceived as a vehicle for Lisa Milne, Scotland’s young soprano star, the work proved equally suited to showing off the virtues of the company. The whole cast excelled.
The Glasgow-born early music specialist Christian Curnym led the Orchestra of Scottish Opera from the deep-set pit of Glasgow’s Theatre Royal in a lively and engaging reading of the score with some beautiful solo playing. Lisa Milne did not disappoint in the title role. She has a wonderful easy, pleasing, comfortable sound, and sings with musicality and good diction. It remains to be seen whether she has a distinctive enough voice to have a major career. She will soon be singing Pamina at the Met and at Glyndebourne.
Susan Bickley was excellent as Ino with very clear diction, perhaps less successful in the more formidable, and more demanding, role of Jupiter’s neglected wife, Juno. Jeremy Ovenden was an elegant, stylish and incisive Jupiter, particularly in ‘Lest she too much explain’ and ‘Where’er you walk’, and Kate Royal was effective and very funny as Iris, the Goddess of the Rainbow. Michael George as the Chief Priest, Cadmus and Somnus, and Arnon Zlotnik at Athamas were also well cast.
Semele originated as an oratorio rather than an opera, and that provided the starting point of John La Bouchardièr’s production. the chorus and soloists entered in concert garb and occupied two rows of collapsible metal chairs, however the composure of the main characters soon broke down and the drama took off.
The witty ‘nouveau baroque’ production used outsized 18th-century costumes, cosmic projections, clever use of some grainy video, and some very effective props. Semele luxuriated and frolicked on a giant pillow for ‘Endless pleasure’, then appeared resplendent in gold for ‘Myself I shall adore’ while Iris, who first appears as a pink-wigged ice-cream seller in the initial ‘oratorio’ titillates Somnus, God of Sleep, by revealing some spectacularly reflective underwear. The big dramatic moments including Semele’s scorching at the sight of her immortal lover’s true appearance were all handled effectively and economically.
Posted by Simon Holledge at 07:35 PM | TrackBack
National Grid charges II
The SNP have focused on the issue of the charges to be paid by wind farms, and other renewable energy producers, for connecting to the national grid. This is important because they are likely to be much further away from population centres than conventional power stations (see 18 January).
London, in the form of Mike O’Brien the Energy Minister, have now responded with proposals to limit the charges, although Shiona Baird MSP for the Greens still regards government support as inadequate.
So far I can’t find any reaction from the SNP.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4327671.stm
news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=605&id=258942005
Posted by Simon Holledge at 11:29 AM | TrackBack
March 07, 2005
Tele-campaigning
The Liberal Democrats are supporting a campaign to get Labour and The Conservatives to respect the wishes of those who have registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) to avoid cold calls. As someone who hates being disturbed by the phone, I am registered with TPS and I support the initiative wholeheartedly.
It’s interesting to know that if you are signed up with TPS an unwelcome caller can be fined up to 5,000 pounds.
UPDATE 31 March 05
The Liberal Democrats have now made a complaint to the Information Commissioner about the Labour Party cold calling householders that have registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4395195.stm
Posted by Simon Holledge at 03:28 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
March 06, 2005
Local food is 'greener'
Environmental thinking is becoming more sophisticated as shown by these BBC and New Scientist reports on a paper in the journal Food Policy (published by Elsevier - not freely available on the net).
This suggests that we should consume local food (produced within 20 kilometres of where we live. Local food is ‘greener’ than organic food that has come from a distance, because of the environmental cost of road transport.
The problem with this is of course that our shops seldom provide information about where exactly in Britain the produce comes from. It certainly would be welcome.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4312591.stm