Week
beginning Monday 26th September 2005
Conference over and I realised that I’ve now been writing this MSP
Diary for a year, so I’m going to abuse my position and have a good
old rant.
Banks and credit card companies
which use voice mail and call centres and don’t allow you to talk to
the same person twice – abolish them!
(Matter reserved to Westminster I’m afraid so Private Member’s Bill
not possible). After two weeks of being harassed by telephone by one
company and trying like mad to talk to a real person at another,
despite the fact that in both cases the fault lies with the companies,
I’m ready for cancelling all accounts and picketing their Head Offices
to tell everyone else not to sign up. Internet and telephone banking
was supposed to make all our lives easier – I don’t think so – takes
more time, more energy and raises stress levels to an all time high.
Well, I feel better now – I just wish I could name them, but sorry,
haven’t the nerve, I’d no doubt get sued silly! Whatever bank goes
back to branch operation, with branch telephones and staff you can see
and speak to more than once will certainly get my business, and I
suspect that of many other folk.
A short
working week this week, what with the last campaigning days for the
by-elections on Thursday – won one out of three, well done Burntisland
in returning an SNP Councillor, and we’ll be back to fight for
Livingstone and Cathcart. We had of course an increased share of the
vote in both Parliamentary by-elections, so onward and upward as they
say. When you have a vision of how much better your country could be,
you soldier on despite attempts to rubbish your efforts and put you
down – that’s what has always kept SNP activists going and we will
keep going until Scotland is independent and we can start building the
nation.
As far
as rubbishing us and putting us down is concerned, add to that the
deliberate with-holding of information perpetrated by UK Governments
against the Scottish people. This was starkly illustrated of course by
the release from the national archives of a secret report written 30
years ago, stating how Scotland’s oil revenues could have made a case
for repealing the Act of Union. Economist Gavin McCrone’s report “The
Economics of Nationalism Re-examined” said that estimates from the SNP
that oil could yield £800m by 1980 were far too low, and that an
independent Scotland could be transformed by oil revenues and become a
leading power in Europe! He went as far as to say that the economy of
an independent Scotland, properly managed, would “tend to be in
chronic surplus to a quite embarrassing degree”. Well, you know,
Norway has never been embarrassed by their oil surplus which has been
put to the common good of the Norwegian population. In fact much of
the debate around their recent election was focussed on how to use
their oil income!
So much
for the Scots being too poor to rule themselves; and those currently
in charge are more than happy to allow this duplicitous behaviour to
continue. I asked the Executive
update Professor Gavin McCrone’s 1974 paper on the Scottish economy,
but sadly their Finance Minister answered as follows – “There
are no plans to update the McCrone paper. The Executive’s existing
annual publication Government Expenditure & Revenue in Scotland (GERS)
provides a comprehensive picture of Scotland’s current fiscal
position”. This despite
the fact that the then Secretary of State Ian Lang admitted in 1992
that he created GERS as a political lie to keep the truth about
Scotland's wealth a secret! Well, it's now been adopted by Labour
ministers for the same purpose, and that’s why those who believe in
independence will never give up on the campaign.
I was finally installed
as Convener of the Europe and External Relations Committee on Tuesday
afternoon and ran my first meeting. I was quite nervous, but I think
it generally went okay, so first hurdle over. Busy day and evening on
Wednesday with visits from Loudoun Academy, the AGM of our Cross Party
Group on Refugees and Asylum Seekers and jointly hosting a visit
arranged by the British Council of representatives of civil society
from all over the world – it’s so interesting to hear the experiences
of others, and I was particularly fascinated by the representative
from Afghanistan and her views on how her country is trying to move on
from decades of warfare and civil unrest.
I was re-elected as
Convener of the Cross Party Group. I find it a difficult position –
immigration and asylum of course being a reserved matter – but we do
have to keep a watching brief on the constant changes in UK policy and
how that affects Scotland. Also, of course, it provides a forum for
those working in the field directly to put forward their points of
view, explain the services they provide and of course gain mutual
support. It must be a tremendously frustrating and stressful job to
work directly with people, care for them and how they are treated and
then be helpless in the face of cruel government policy. I have faced
criticism as Convener from those who think the Group should openly
demonstrate and actively campaign on behalf of individual cases. The
Group consensus is, however, that this should not be our role as we
must remain genuinely ‘cross-party’ and credible in terms of trying to
influence both the Executive and the UK Government as far as possible.
From a personal viewpoint, I feel that individuals and party groups
can already (and we do) campaign vocally and politically, and also
that by taking up individual cases, especially if we invite people to
Parliament, the Group would be in real danger of raising false
expectation and hope; no matter how hard an MSP stresses to someone in
such desperate circumstances that actually we are powerless in our
Parliament, the hope is always there. It’s a hard conundrum – do you
show you care by spending time with a family facing deportation and
listening to their story, or is this actually just unfairly raising
expectations which can never be met. I just don’t know.
Following on from the
above, Thursday morning brought the sad news that the Vucaj family,
who had been the subject of debate in the Parliament the previous
Thursday had been deported back to Albania. Devastating for them and
for all those in Drumchapel who had fought so hard for their right for
their friends to remain in their home and continue to be such a
welcome part of the community. The calls and letters from the
children’s schoolfriends are heart-rending. Young Jamie O’Neill sums
it up - his email reproduced here:
------------------------------------
"From
public bodies to children's organisations to school friends, there is
recognition that these scandalous immigration practices are causing
trauma and distress, and blatantly disregard children's rights. When
Scottish society expresses such profound concern, it is right to
expect the Scottish Parliament to do likewise."
Jack McConnell First minister, 23 September 2005
The government of
'our' country never listened to me, never listened to the Granparents,
the mothers and fathers, the sons and daughters or the friends of this
country - why did Jack McConnell think they would listen to him?
“Today, this country
lost great people, sent back like an unwanted present. The Vucaj
family were not just another family - they made a difference in my
life and my friend's lifes. The government cannot hear us, they can't
even see us. They play dumb like they did when we told them not to go
to war. They are obsessed with causing heart-ache, fear and
disappointment. When election time comes around, I can play dumb too.
Trust, hearts and people have been
broken. I hold them responsible.
How many chances do we
give them? They are wrong, we know it, they know it and now, my
friends, Elvis, Saida and Nimet know it - why must we learn the hard
way.
What scares me the most is that
this will keep happening again and again. It doesn't make me want to
belong to Glasgow, Scotland or any part of this country - it ashames
me.
Does it make you proud to be british?”
Jamie O'Neill
“oh and by the way, thanks for
listening!”
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Local work on Friday
catching up with constituency cases in East Kilbride and visiting
Sandford School to arrange the Christmas Card Competition with the
primary 6 and 7 pupils. Sandford School is of course the UK’s first
Fairtrade School and they deserve great recognition for that
achievement, so we’ll have a fair trade Christmas card this year
instead of the standard parliament issue.
Called in too to the
McMillan Cancer Care’s ‘Biggest Coffee Morning in the World’. Coffee
mornings held all over the country – the Strathaven one was buzzing –
great soup and home-baking from ‘the Rural ladies’. I’m sure a lot of
money was raised in the silent auction: I just learned today that I
successfully bid for a jam-pot, some perfume and a pasta dish; missed
out on the painting I wanted though, but never mind, someone must have
bid more, so hope they enjoy it. I had donated a DVD player which I
won in the raffle at the McMillan Concert earlier in the month and
before I left the highest bid was only £15 – what a bargain if that’s
all it went for.
Well done the Strathaven
McMillan Committee
A visit to one of
Avendale’s many farms in the afternoon and, as always, got lost on the
way home – I have absolutely no sense of direction at all, but I do
see a lot of the constituency when I do house calls! The men of my
acquaintance always raise their eyes to heaven about my complete
non-ability to go from ‘A’ to ‘B’ without numerous detours and make
smart remarks about ‘women drivers’, but you know some men are just as
bad; they just never admit it. After all, it was Moses who wandered
about the desert for 40 years because he wouldn’t ask for directions –
would never have happened to a woman.
So, my week ended on
Saturday with Davie (all his teeth in place) and I covering more
constituency cases and catching up on the past few weeks. September
closed and heading for October – time passes so quickly. I can hardly
believe I’ve been writing this Diary for a year – feedback
appreciated!
Linda Fabiani
3rd October
2005
Email Linda at
Linda.fabiani.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
