Last Friday saw the
funeral of one of the true greats of our movement –
Professor Sir Neil MacCormick – a very moving
ceremony, but one which still had a touch of the
humour which Neil carried with him always. I
particularly liked John Swinney’s eulogy, especially
the bit about Neil standing for selection as a
European candidate:
“But
for all his majestic contribution of intellectual
might to the National cause, Neil also knew how to
work the crowd. As he vied for a place at the top
of the list of SNP candidates for the European
Elections in 1999, he approached the microphone at
the Party Conference to make his pitch as the eighth
out of eight candidates. He stood solemnly at the
microphone and said “I am the eighth of eight fine
candidates. I feel very much like Elizabeth
Taylor’s eighth husband on their wedding night. I
know what I have to do – the challenge is to make it
interesting!” He was rewarded with number two on
the list and embarked on a distinguished chapter of
his public life as a Member of the European
Parliament – working day in and night out with Flora
–promoting Scotland’s interests in Europe.
You can read more of the
tributes paid to Neil on the party’s website at
http://www.snp.org/node/15144
Friday afternoon I was
off to SNP conference in Glasgow where we heard
about the Scottish Government’s plans to employ
more cleaners in Scotland’s hospitals, we heard
about the extension to the Small Business Bonus
scheme, and a whole load more that the Government is
doing to make Scotland a better place. Most of all,
though, we girded our loins for the task ahead and
prepared for the European election and the
Westminster election. We’ve a new slogan
We’ve got what it
takes – we believe that Scotland has what
it takes to get us up from under this recession, to
bring us on and make this a richer country.
Scotland is driving ahead with the SNP.
It’s not all work,
though, I managed a wee trip to the Wallace Monument
with my son, my niece and her friends – it’s still
worth the climb and it doesn’t half restore some
vitality to you.
Early in this week the
STUC was on in Perth and I was up there to see what
was going on and speak to a few people. I can tell
you that Alex Salmond’s address as First Minister
went down well, the pledge to create a Scottish
Investment Bank was especially welcomed – you can
read the STUC news release on it here -
http://www.stuc.org.uk/news/632/stuc-welcomes-first-minister-s-announcement-on-a-scottish-investment-bank
I had
the good fortune to meet Abdullah Muhsin of the
General Federation of Iraqi Workers at the STUC and
heard about how it was difficult for some Iraqis to
get visas to come here. The best way to explain the
problem is by letting you see the Parliamentary
Motion I submitted on the issue:
S3M-03959 Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland)
(Scottish National Party): Iraqi Trade Unions—
That the Parliament welcomes Abdullah Muhsin of the
General Federation of Iraqi Workers to Scotland and
congratulates NASUWT on sponsoring his visit to the
Scottish Trades Union Congress Annual Congress 2009;
believes that he was supposed to bring
representatives of Iraqi and Kurdish teachers’
unions with him but that their visas to leave Iraq
and enter the United Kingdom were not granted
because the Iraqi Government has seized control of
the teachers' unions under decision 3 of the
Governing Council, which was appointed by the United
States of America as the nominal authority in Iraq
between July 2003 and June 2004 supposedly to force
elections on these unions that have held conferences
and elected their leadership since 2003, and
condemns the UK Government for its actions in
refusing these visas and thereby supporting the
suppression of trade unions in Iraq.
Back to Parliament on
Tuesday to prepare for the Education Committee on
Wednesday. We’re considering the Additional Support
for Learning Bill – a piece of legislation which is
intended to tidy up legislation that went through
under the last administration, sort it out and make
it work properly for the school pupils who have
additional learning needs. Labour MSPs have been
playing fast and loose with the Bill, though,
seeking to use Parliamentary procedures to score
petty political points. Wednesday’s meeting was an
informal meeting in the middle of Stage 2 of the
Bill’s consideration – something which has never
happened before – and it wasn’t exactly conducted
with any sense of grace or poise by the convenor.
More will out later, no doubt.
Wednesday was, of
course, budget day when Labour’s Government in
London sets the economic and fiscal parameters
within which we’ll all be working for the next wee
while. It looks to me like a toxic mixture of huge
public debt, public spending cuts and future tax
rises. Interestingly, one of Labour’s guesses was a
3.5% shrinkage in the economy this year followed by
growth next year. The International Monetary Fund,
though, almost immediately projected a 4.1%
shrinkage this year followed by another shrinkage
next year – when even the IMF refuses to accept the
Chancellor’s predictions the UK certainly does have
a problem.
Scotland looks set to
lose a substantial amount of public spending over
the next few years as our people pay higher taxes
and we get left saddled with massive public debt –
the worst of all worlds.
Thursday and I was
suppose to be speaking in a debate on the transport
infrastructure and employment prospects in the west
of Scotland. I prepared my speech on Wednesday
night and looked through all the research that had
been done, got everything lined up for action, I was
raring to go. I settled into my seat in the
chamber, got myself ready – and then the Deputy
Presiding Officer sent me over a note to tell me
that I wouldn’t be called in the debate, we were
running out of time. These things happen, but they
are infuriating – I had the best speech as well!
Here is the speech that
I prepared...
----
Presiding Officer, I’m interested by the various
points of the motion in Des McNulty’s name – his
regret that his party has failed to deliver on
transport infrastructure in the west of
Scotland, the decline of the manufacturing base
in Scotland which Labour did not address either,
and the harmful effects of Labour’s recession
leading to rising unemployment and worklessness
in Scotland – the blame for which can be laid
squarely at the door of the Labour Government in
London.
The shocking failure of Gordon Brown and now
Alistair Darling to address the economic
problems facing Scotland – as well as other
parts of these islands – amounts to a
dereliction of duty on the part of these two
Labour leaders. They are not alone in
shouldering the blame for Scotland’s ills,
though – there were eight years of incompetence
by Labour and the Liberal Democrats here – an
appalling record of failure and dither which
didn’t end when they lost power in 2007.
They were responsible, in opposition, for
forcing through a vote on the Edinburgh tram
scheme – not a tram network, not a tram system,
but part of one tram line coming in at half a
billion pounds – half a billion pounds to foist
on Edinburgh a white elephant vanity project
that the people of Edinburgh do not want, that
has caused the failure of long-established
family businesses and huge losses for other
businesses and has torn communities apart.
That’s five hundred million pounds of transport
infrastructure investment denied to other areas
of the country – like the west of Scotland.
It’s five hundred million pounds that Des
McNulty voted to deny transport projects –
including projects in the west of Scotland.
It’s five hundred million pounds wasted because
Labour was desperate to score some petty
political points against the new SNP Government.
The Labour party – Scotland’s desperate
fishwives.
Mr McNulty will remember his contribution to the
transport debate on the 27th of June
2007 where he said, in relation to transport
projects, that we shouldn’t play politics with
Scotland’s money. I take it from reading his
motion that he has changed his mind and that
playing politics with Scotland’s money is
exactly what he wants to do. Perhaps if he and
his colleagues hadn’t played politics with
Scotland’s transport infrastructure two years
ago the SNP Government might have had the
resources available to address the disgraceful
state in which Labour left the transport
infrastructure in the west of Scotland.
Having said that, after yesterday’s budget there
might not be anyone who can afford the fuel to
use the transport infrastructure anyway.
Another 2p onto the price of a litre of fuel
this year and then an extra penny above
inflation every year for the next four years.
Bad enough if you live in a city, even worse if
you’re in a rural setting and the car is an
absolute necessity.
On top of that the London Labour Government is
wielding the axe – swingeing cuts to public
spending – Alistair Darling’s contribution to
ensuring that the recession that Des McNulty is
complaining about continues longer than it
otherwise would. The disproportionate increases
in unemployment being suffered by the people of
Glasgow and the surrounding areas, as mentioned
in the motion, are a direct result of Labour
policies.
I'll tell you what happens with Labour
Governments. They start with a far-fetched raft
of policies, and these are then pickled into a
rigid dogma, a code, and they go through the
years sticking to that, misplaced, outdated,
irrelevant to the real needs of the country, and
they end in the grotesque chaos of a Labour
Government, a Labour Government, cutting
public spending and scuttling round the country
handing out redundancy notices to public sector
workers. I tell you - and you'll listen - you
can't play politics with people's jobs and
people's homes and people's services.
As that claimant count that Mr McNulty is so
concerned about continues to rise, he’ll know
who to blame. As Glasgow and Lanarkshire bear
the brunt of Labour’s economic mismanagement, as
those nine billion pounds worth of Labour cuts
announced yesterday bite, I hope Des McNulty
will be at the front of the queue to apologise
to the people affected. As Rhodri Morgan
pointed out yesterday – cuts they are a-coming –
and he blamed London Labour.
Alistair Darling claimed recently he could see
the green shoots of recovery which would help
Glasgow and the surrounding area to recover from
the effects of recession noted in Des McNulty’s
motion – but yesterday the Chancellor managed to
pour economic weedkiller on those green shoots
before they’ve had a chance to break the
surface. Quite how he thought there would be
recovery next year when he’s predicting the
economy will shrink by three and a half per cent
this year is anyone’s guess – it’s about as
clever as Iain Gray’s budget tactics have been
the past couple of years. It’s almost like they
worked together …
Government debt will rise to four fifths of GDP
by 2013 – Labour’s failure to manage the economy
over the last eleven years – Gordon Brown’s
failure as Chancellor – means that Alistair
Darling will be slashing the Scottish budget to
pay for the economic inadequacy of yet another
Labour Government.
Stronger together, weaker apart they say – aye,
right.
The UK damages Scotland, Labour damages Scotland
and the sooner we get shot of the pair of them
the better for all of us.
-----
Lunchtime Thursday, I
nipped over to the CWU reception to hear how they
are campaigning against the privatisation of Royal
Mail. I made sure to let them know that I thought
the solution was in their hands – stop giving money
to the Labour party, don’t support the people who
continue to do exactly the opposite of what you want
them to do.
I’ve got to dash off
now, I’m the guest of Campbell Gunn, political
editor of the Sunday Post, at the Press Awards in
Glasgow – I’ll have to get home, washed and changed
and out. I’ll let you know next week what it was
like.
