Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

Website Revamp

2009-11-04T19:49:00.001Z

There has been a revamp of a website. No not the one all Lib Dems have been talking about, although LibDems.Org.uk does look impressive in its new clothes.

No as I had been saying for some time Tam Smith the SNP PPC for Linlithgow and East Falkirk, well at the start of the month it finally came to life. Not a lot there just now, though Tam appears to be taking me on as a local poitical Tweeter.

However, how obvious is the photo shopping on this picture. The light is coming from opposite directions, the Palace behind Tam's shoulder is his shadow unlike his forehead.

It's Nutts Even Loyal Government Scientist Not Consulted

2009-11-04T07:51:00.000Z

"Alan [Johnson] did this without letting me know and giving me a chance to persuade him it is a big mistake.

"Is Gordon [Brown] able to get Alan to undo this? As 'science champion in government', I can't just stand aside on this one."

So wrote Lord Drayson, the Government's Science Minister about the sacking of Professor David Nutt as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs by the Home Secretary. He is responsible with the Department of Business for science policy and the interaction between science and society.

What is important to note here is that Lord Drayson is a Engineer with a PhD in Robotics, who set up his own Pharmaceutical company which specialised in vaccines. He is just the sort of minister who would be able to look at scientific advise, understand it and be able to advise minister what course to take.

His initial response to the sacking was that is was wrong.

Then we have the Prime Minister's latest statement on the subject, which we all must now read in light in light of the scientific findings that Prof. Nutt had presented.

"I think Alan Johnson made the right decision because we cannot send mixed messages.

"Scientific advice is very important and we value it. But advisers advise and ministers have to make decisions.

"In the interests of the public we have to show we are tough on drug dealing and the problems that drugs are causing in our communities.

"We cannot send out a message to young people that it is OK to experiment with drugs and to move onto hard drugs. We have to send out a message to young people that it is simply not acceptable."

Wonder if tobacconists and pub landlords are being included that that stance of being tough on drug dealing and the problems that drugs are causing to our communities? I notice the Government is still prepared to take their shilling from such sales to I'm guessing that mixed message is one that the Government is quite happy to give out.

Times Honours Movember

2009-11-04T03:46:00.004Z

All the ladies in the house, have you sported a lot of the menfolk around you spouting hair on their upper lip? Men are you starting to get to that irritating scratchiness stage? Yes it is day 4 of Movember a month, formerly known as November, when men all around are growing a moustache to raise awareness and funds for Prostate Cancer.

Well today to mark the occasion The Times has listed the top 25 Moustaches in pop music, check out the full list here. However, here are the top three in action.

At 3 the King or should that be Queen of pop moustaches.

At two here at its most unruly is Macca.

Wonder how many gents will be able or want to emulate David Crosby from this clip by the end of November.

N...N...N...Nineteen

2009-11-03T19:03:00.004Z

I've just recieved the following and thought I'd share it with you all.

The average British soldier is 19 years old. He is a short haired, well built lad who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears and just old enough to buy a round of drinks but old enough to die for his country – and for you.

He’s not particularly keen on hard work but he’d rather be grafting in Afghanistan than unemployed in the UK. He recently left comprehensive school where he was probably an average student, played some form of sport, drove a ten year old rust bucket, and knew a girl that either broke up with him when he left, or swore to be waiting when he returns home. He moves easily to rock and roll or hip-hop or to the rattle of a 7.62mm machine gun.

He is about a stone lighter than when he left home because he is working or fighting from dawn to dusk and well beyond. He has trouble spelling, so letter writing is a pain for him, but he can strip a rifle in 25 seconds and reassemble it in the dark. He can recite every detail of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either effectively if he has to. He digs trenches and latrines without the aid of machines and can apply first aid like a professional paramedic. He can march until he is told to stop, or stay dead still until he is told to move.

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation but he is not without a rebellious spirit or a sense of personal dignity. He is confidently self-sufficient. He has two sets of uniform with him: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his water bottle full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never forgets to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes and fix his own hurts. If you are thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food is your food. He'll even share his life-saving ammunition with you in the heat of a firefight if you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and regards his weapon as an extension of his own hands. He can save your life or he can take it, because that is his job - it's what a soldier does. He often works twice as long and hard as a civilian, draw half the pay and have nowhere to spend it, and can still find black ironic humour in it all. There's an old saying in the British Army: 'If you can't take a joke, you shouldn't have joined!'

He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and he is unashamed to show it or admit it. He feels every bugle note of the 'Last Post' or 'Sunset' vibrate through his body while standing rigidly to attention. He's not afraid to 'Bollock' anyone who shows disrespect when the Regimental Colours are on display or the National Anthem is played; yet in an odd twist, he would defend anyone's right to be an individual. Just as with generations of young people before him, he is paying the price for our freedom. Clean shaven and baby faced he may be, but be prepared to defend yourself if you treat him like a kid.

He is the latest in a long thin line of British Fighting Men that have kept this country free for hundreds of years. He asks for nothing from us except our respect, friendship and understanding. We may not like what he does, but sometimes he doesn't like it either - he just has it to do.. Remember him always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.

And now we even have brave young women putting themselves in harm's way, doing their part in this tradition of going to war when our nation's politicians call on us to do so.

Support those who are not having their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers or lovers coming back, and those that have been missing loved ones for years. Please give through either of the clicks below.

What I Find Surprising About the Caroline Righton Unpology*

2009-11-03T15:09:00.002Z

I see that Matt Davies is reporting that Tory PPC for St Austell and Newquay Caroline Righton has issued an unpology. If fails to apologise for the email she sent in response to the Tweet that was reported to her but adapted somewhere along the way from Stephen Gilbert's original. All this while pledging to fight a clean and positive campaign.

What I do find strange is that this A-Listista PPC should take two weeks to get to this stage and still not issue an apology, merely shuffling around that this is some misunderstanding. Cardiff Blogger (formerly of the same party) reports that 'a person rather high up in the Conservative Party (who shall remain nameless)' told him within 3 days of a similar misuse of language he would need to issue a grovelling apology, and certain wording was suggested.This edict came in response to a complaint to David Cameron.

Considering he was only Conservative Future Chairman for UWIC and not a candidate in a tight election scrap you would suspect Ms Righton would have had even more pressure come to bear. Admittedly Stephen's agent's letter only was sent to David Cameron on the 28th October, but the story has been around the Lib Dem Blogosphere for a fortnight and gathering momentum and coverage of the sort that Central Office must surely frown upon.

Recent episodes do show one thing though, the Tories are just as concerned about attempting to control social media as Labour ever were under Damian McBride.

* Use of the word copyright Millennium Elephant

New Edict from Non-Scientific Home Office

2009-11-03T06:53:00.006Z

Memo from the Home Office:

From the Inquisition Chamber,
Home Office,
Whitehall,
SW1

Effective Immediately.

We have listened to scientific advise, and after a review decided that we know best after all, therefore in the this the year of our Lord Mandelson 2 we declare:

The earth is flat and all globes shall be taken from schools and places of learning forthwith and beaten into a level playing field (Minster of Sport to be consulted about availability of these)
This earth is at the centre of the Universe, the sun, planets and stars revolve around us. Anyone caught mentioning Galileo is to be rowed to the edge of the world and thrown off.
If any ape suggests we are their decedent we say shoot them. Apparently those Gorillas have been saying that most loudly, shouldn't take too long for the SAS to get rid of the remaining ones. (However, send them by boat, man wasn't meant to fly, that is just unnatural)
Penicillin is just mould and we will commission Kim and Aggie to look into its effective removal.
This going to a switch in the wall and things coming on is witchcraft. We will take all 'electrical' engineers to the nearest lake and test them for witchery by means of ordeal by water. Any floaters, we expect the majority, will be burnt at the stake.
Vehicles that move without visible means or forward momentum are also beyond our reasoning. We will announce an amnesty for those that use such contraptions to trade them in for 2 horses so as they can pull their carts.
Mead, beer and the smoking of the noble weed brought back from the edge of the world by Sir Walter Rayleigh are honourable pastimes and the later does not affect innocent by standers. Anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly Nutts.
We are not too sure about the lumpy, round, root crop he also brought back and we think there is still some need for scientific research. We have asked Colonel Sanders and Ronald McDonald to get all the goodness out of this item.

Signed Alan Johnson

Lord High Inquisitor

Let MSP's Remember Them and How Fortunate They Are

2009-11-02T21:14:00.003Z

This Blog doesn't often do requests though Subrosa did raise this point with me earlier today. She herself has blogged 0n the subject of the Scottish Parliament's Corporate Board (SPCB) allowing MSPs to claim the cost of Poppy Wreaths that they lay.

I suspect from the history of Subrosa's posts I assume that she like me comes from some line of military involvement. The last occasion I laid a wreath personally was on behalf our our Boy's Brigade Company on the same morning as the Enniskillen bombing.

There are two points of view to take on this, on the one hand is Jeff's take on this that the MSPs are laying the wreath on behalf of the population of all their constituents. On the other is the one that Subrosa herself takes that on the salary that MSPs earn there is more than enough money to pay for the basic poppy wreath at £16 for however many ceremonies they are capable to attend throughout the year. (Not all remembrance services occur on Remembrance Sunday some memorials relate to certain conflicts, battles etc and have ceremonies to match). The war memorial back home for example also marks the Battle of the Somme, and in the hills above Bathgate is the Korean War Memorial as just two examples.

So is essence what Jeff is saying that if a MP is asked to lay a wreath at a School, War Memorial, Hospital or whatever other public location he or she may be called upon to lay a wreath it is a civic duty. Looking at the uniformity with which our BBC newsreaders an presenters receive their pristine poppy's provided by the wardrobe department before going on, a bit like a Blue Peter badge. It doesn't show a personal commitment or affiliation to the Earl Haig Fund, or the Scottish Poppy Appeal.

Having gone wreath in hand, stood in silence, marched forward placed the wreath on behalf of fallen Old Boys of the Company, I would tend to side with Subrosa in this situation. The reason being is the many widows, former soldiers, or other family members who also lay their own wreath. Many of these are paid for out of a widow or army pension where £16 goes a lot further than from an MSPs salary.

My personal view is that if elected I would continue to attend remembrance services either at the war memorials or in the churches, but the costs for the wreaths I laid would come from my own pocket. My constituents who wish to honour the fallen will have already given what they can afford to wear their own poppy, I'm not not going to take any more of their money even if it is just a fraction of a penny from each to pay for my act of remembrance, even if I am a civic representative. For years part of my subs as a boy and officer went towards that wreath laid for the fallen of 4th Bangor Company.

I was actually quite proud that on meeting Ruaraidh Dobson and Kieran Leach on Haymarket's platform on Saturday one of the first things they asked was 'is it the time to wear a poppy?' it prompted me to donate to my third of the year (I always have a workday one and one for the acts of remembrance fresh and unsullied) since I was wearing the wrong coat. The next generation after me is sadly as aware of war as the one above me was. We shall remember them as those that come after us seem to be going to do with their own.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Laurence Binyon from For the Fallen

Gay Youth Faces Death In Iran

2009-11-02T11:48:00.002Z

There is a story that you'll be hard pressed to find in the UK Press. It is the story of Nemat Safavi, who is only 21. At the age of 16 he was arrested and charged with the crime of Lavat (sex with another man). On the 31 October he was finally sentanced for his crimes, the penalty is death.

Iran has signed two treaties on the treatment of juveniles and has promised not to execute any minor for a crime. However, Nemat though his 'crime' was committed while he was a minor is now of age, Iran are twisting the rules. Detaining people until they are old enough, to sentance them for something that is who they are, not what they do.

Many of the claims of Lavat have for obvious reasons not been proven by actual evidence it is largely circumstantial. But young men are disappearing all the time in Iran under a cloud of this change. The Islamic Republic of Iran like to boast that there are no homosexuals in Iran. However, there clearly are they are just not tolerated and allowed to be who they are.

Last year many of us were up in arms about the case of Mehdi Kazemi who was being deported back to Iran for the same fate. Amnesty International, the European Parliament and the UN are already on this case as well but why don't you also apply your own pressure, find out how on the Facebook Group.

Hattip to The Wardman Wire

Remember, Remember the 4th of November

2009-11-02T04:49:00.004Z

Remember when Parliament ran into the expenses crisis there was a hope, Sir Christopher Kelly's report.

All the party leaders have spoken in favour of accepting the recommendations Nick Clegg, David Cameron even Gordon Brown made a Commons statement stressing that all party's had agreed accept the further Kelly recommendations providing they 'meet the tests of increased transparency, accountability and reduced costs for the taxpayer'. However, now it appears that Harriet Harman is preparing to water the proposals down.

The areas they are looking to water down are some of the most abused and some of those where tough changes in the rules are most needed. The second homes profiteering, the employee of family members not all able to give the time they were paid for, the commutable second home claimants. The last of these is of course something that all the Greater London Lib Dem MPs have shown is not only doable but achievable. Like many other London employees even those that work long hours they know they can get home at the end of the day.

So why the stalling, why the change of tack. Are the proposals Harman is objecting to any less transparent, accountable or reducing tax payers expenses? The only one that may reduce costs is paying second home mortgage payments rather than rental value. However, when it comes to transparency and accountability even this scores high as it shows that MPs will not be profiting at tax payers expenses on their London, or elsewhere property portfolio.

Kelly reports officially on Wednesday, though there have been leaks, so I feel there may be a need for new verse coming along to a famous poem.

So remember, remember the fourth of November,
MPs expenses and plot.
I know of no reason,
Why Kelly's propositions,
Should not ahead as report'd.

SNP Want's Scots to Waive Their Rights to Determine Their Future

2009-11-01T08:58:00.004Z

The SNP released a press release last night. It quotes MSP Dr Alasdair Allan who said:

"All parties must endorse the right of the people of Scotland to have their say on Scotland’s constitutional future."

So here's a question why don't the SNP want the people of Scotland to have their say? They want to ask a question of the people which says:

"I agree that the Scottish Government should negotiate a settlement with the Government of the United Kingdom so that Scotland becomes an independent state."

Look at that carefully. They are going to let the UK Parliament have a say in what future Scotland has. They want to negotiate a settlement with the UK Parliament. They are not actually backing the people of Scotland having a say on the constitutional future of Scotland.

There is no blueprint for what that future holds, that decision is to be discussed between the Scottish and Westminster Parliaments. The people of Scotland are actually be asked do they agree to waive their rights over the constitutional future of their country into the hands of the politicians.

So why aren't the SNP even a party that is prepared to let the people of Scotland have their say on the constitutional future of Scotland?

I've already stated I'd welcome a referendum of substance, that is something the Lib Dems have not ruled out, but it is something the SNP are scared to give the people.

Year of the Nearly Blog Month Bravo

2009-11-01T08:54:00.001Z

So I climbed into the top 50 of the Wikio Political blogs at the start of month alpha as a nearly blog, will my elevenses and 101 in the Total Politics Polls. Even Andrew Reeves said 'don't encourage' me. So does that climb make be less of a nearly blog? Well there are still 46 blogs ahead of me.

Last month I had 2,516 absolute unique visitors up from 2,326 in September. They made 3,863 visits and 4,671 page views. So a 10% boost for the nearly blog's confidence. My busiest day was the 17th October the day of Stephen Gately's funeral when Jan Moir's dispicable article also dominated.

My top 11* referring sites were (not counting direct hits so 1 & 3-12):

1. (1) Google/organic
2. (2) Lib Dem Blogs
3. (3) Twitter
4. (5) Lib Dem Voice
5. (8) Malc in the Burgh
6. (4) SNP Tactical Voting
7. (7) Iain Dale
8. (12) blogger.com
9. (11) Britblogs.co.uk
10 (17) Planet Politics
11. (29) Andrew's Running Blog

I wrote 77 Blog entries last month but you visited 237 of them. The 11 stories that you've been reading most (by direct page views) are:

1. No Matter What: Stephen Gately 1976-2009
2. Openly Homophobic Paper Fails Again
3. Farewell Stephen Gately
4. Swine Flu Hits Linlithgow Academy
5. Even PCCy are Making Jan Moir a Special Case
6. Stephen Gately: The Heart of the Tragedy
7. The Hardest Work Lacking Feeling: Jan Moir Speaks Again
8. Epic Fail by Carter-Ruck #carterruck #trafigura
9. When Parliamentary Reporting is Gagged in the 21st Century #Trafigura #CarterRuck #Fail
10. Wikio MacBlogopshere Rankings October
11. = Golf Week Says Trump Not Playing the Game
11. = Jewish Letter to Cameron

I guess that list shows what dominated the month as far as my readers were concerned.

Where did you all come from? Here's the top countries from the 60 that visited this month, down from 70 in September.

1. (1) United Kingdom
2. (2) USA
3. (7) Ireland
4. () Netherlands
5. (4) Canada
6. (8) Germany
7. (6) Australia
8. (3) Belgium
9. (5) France
10. = (9) India
10.= (23) Spain

* Hey 11 is the new 10, even Charlotte Gore tried to usurp the Stephen Glenn position in last month's wikio rankings.

When No Doesn't Quite Mean No

2009-11-01T06:09:00.000Z

Hardly surprising I see that SNP Tactical Voting is getting all Steamie about what has been reported about yesterday's end of day consultation session at the Lib Dem conference. I see the BBC, along with other media is giving only part of the story on the debate that went on earlier today.

I guess it is easy journalistic shorthand to simply write that the Lib Dems are opposed to a referendum on the subject of independence. Actually what came out of yesterday was that that the party was opposed to this particular referendum. Let's look at the specifics.

The SNP plans was to introduce the Referendum Bill to the Scottish Parliament on 25th January 2010, to provide for a on 30th November that year. For anyone not familiar with the Scottish calender this is Burn's Night and St. Andrew's Day respectively, so there was talk about using emotive dates to try and swing this a certain way, or indeed to hijack even more of Scotland for their means.

There was also the fact of the referendum themselves. Up until 2007 a referendum on independence didn't even feature as a means for the SNP to determine the will of the Scottish people. They aim to get to the goal of indepedence was to have the majority of Scottish MPs or MSPs. They have clearly failed in what has been the aim for 73 years of their existence.

Then there is the question itself:

"I agree that the Scottish Government should negotiate a settlement with the Government of the UK so that Scotland become an independent state."

Now the last time I took place in a referendum there was a document setting out what we were voting on, it was called The Agreement it had been signed on Good Friday. It wasn't a call to enter negotiations into something, it had come after a lot of wrangling, disputes and negotiation to come up with something. So Salmond's Bill isn't a referendum on Independence but a referendum to whether or not to enter negotiations with Westminster. Alex Salmond isn't prepared to enter those negotiations himself, because he knows he isn't ready, isn't in a position of enough power to do so. He wants to take a gradualist approach towards independence from his position of 33% of the vote and 25% in favour of Independence.

Which leads to one thing that was discussed and did come out yesterday. The Lib Dems would back a referendum. A referendum that was clear in its intent Alex Salmond keeps changing what Independence means, do we keep the Queen or not, the army or not, the Bank of England or not, and if we do keep the Old Lady of Threadneddle Street do they set our interest rate. It also shouldn't wrapped in the Saltire, wearing a kilt and printed on a shortbread tin. Well it may as well with the programme for introduction and implementation suggested. Multiple options is a no-go area it should be a yes know.

The press had also foretold it was going to be a spilt. Whilst in a party that is used to discussing hot topics in a grown up fashion, and indeed had seen some very strong debates, very many points of order and points of information to get it through the numerous votes yesterday. What came out was a listening to each others points of views, I'm know that many of the 30+ people who got called to speak were redrafting up to the point that they got called, as many referred back to previous contributions, some even the one who had just taken their seat.

Jeff also seems to suggest in his Steamie article that the Greens have given their backing to the SNPs Bill on Independence. Poor them for being misled, actually if you look at some of the example above it looks more like the SNP is actually a party of Gradualism or maybe even leaning towards Federalism than Nationalism. So maybe the Lib Dems should be encouraging the SNP to join us nationally across the UK to achieve a Federalist Scotland in a Federalist UK. It appears that Alex is prepared to go for strong Scottish Home Rule within some of the confines of the UK. You know something us Lib Dems and the Liberals before us have wanted that for over 100 years.

One thing that the SNP have to learn about Federalism though is that powers are devolved down to the appropriate level. Therefore they have to stop grabbing powers from council level and taking them hostage, like some poor unsuspecting ship anywhere near Somalian water, and hole those powers up in Holyrood. Yes I'm talking about the powers to set their own local taxation at a rate that is appropriate, even if that is a fairer system of local taxation like LIT. Yes that means giving them some leniency in how they should spend what they are given. The SNP are actually exercising more central control than Labour ever dared to take, even in the bad old days of the late 70s.

Heading Over the River for Failed Rebellion....Apparently

2009-10-31T06:46:00.005Z

According to the Times some senior members of my own party view me as being in a minority of 'referendum rebels'. They are saying in the press that to change the party stance on a Referendum for Independence is a 'betrayal of those who voted for the party in the 2007 Scottish election'. Interesting choice of words ahead of events in Dunfermline later.

Strange that on the day that we are discussing the party's constitution and making line by line changes to parts of it one phrase from the preamble sticks out that the 2007 election pledge is actually a betrayal to our constitution.

"We [the Scottish Liberal Democrats] believe that sovereignty rests with the people and that authority in a democracy derives from them. We therefore acknowledge their right to determine the form of government best suited to their needs."

Of course the next line goes on to say that:

"We commit ourselves to the promotion of these aims and beliefs in the Scottish and UK Parliaments."

As Alistair Carmichael says:

"These discussions are not abstract or academic. They are a hard political choice for the party. Do we support Alex Salmond’s rigged referendum or do we keep faith with those voters to whom we gave a very clear commitment at the 2007 Scottish elections?"

Of course and this is the point I argued back in 2006. If we had taken courage in our convictions that Scotland is better with a stronger parliament but within the UK we should have made sure that was asked of the people, either before 2007 or by getting involved with the SNP working on what we agree with and forming the words of their referendum White Paper so that it was not rigged. Giving the people the right to determine their own future is what we stand for.

In my opinion, and sadly many who may vote for us, what 2007 was a betrayal of was our party's constitution and the name Democrat that exists in our title. Calling those of this view a minority of rebels may prove dangerous, it often is a sign that the leadership is actually quite scared that they are losing the argument.

It's the Weekend So....

2009-10-30T17:00:00.001Z

Let's let the old hair down. Every Friday from now on at 5pm I'll be posting a bit of fun.

This week a short clip of Eric Cartman backed on Guitar Hero by Kenny and Kyle giving us Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face'.

Hang on why is Stan interupting only to stop the Japanese killing whales and dolphins. So here is an extended version.

Make G......g.....granville's Vote C....c...count

2009-10-30T15:57:00.002Z

It's the 9th February 2009, it's dark, it's late after 8pm at least. Having delivered the third or fourth leaflet of the day climbing numerous back stairs to flats in the dark, we return to car to find a postal ballot paper under the windscreen wiper. Certain we'd pass near a polling place on the way back to the committee room we head off with the sealed envelope, looking for somewhere to deposit this one vote.

Nothing!

I rush into the committee room and ask for the location of the nearest polling station. Finding out it was at Carnegie Hall so I ran across Sinclair Gardens.

Now imagine what would happen if I or the actual voted had done that before 10pm to find that the polling place or station had shut up shop for the night. So that instead of casting that vote on time it would have left a voter disappointed and disenfranchised.

However, the Ministry of Justice is suggesting just that, early shutting of some polling stations. If that were to happen and you couldn't make the hours of opening at your polling station what do you do? Where do you go? Is there an alternate? Can you personally get there? Do you have time?

Admittedly I have long been the person, if I vote in person and not by postal ballot, who is normally the first to post their vote into the box. I once even was told by the police on the door in Bangor that they weren't ready yet. I asked what time it was, to be informed 7:01. So I walked on in. My democratic right is to vote at a polling station near my place of residence from 7am to 10pm on General Election day.

Although the Ministry of Justice are also looking at shutting some of them down too. To be fair there are two other polling stations about as far from my flat as the one I actually vote in. But that is because I'm on the edge of one boxes area in an urban area. There are a lot of boxes in West Lothian and I'd say they are all necessary to enable everyone to vote in their locality and in urban areas to vote unrushed, unhurried and in a timely fashion.

Like all things there are peak times and slow times. When I worked in retail in the West End the shop was open to 10pm. But people still turned up right to that time. The same applied to voters. They will still turn up right to the end. Some of them may be party workers who do it on the way to a quick shower before heading to the count after a long day. Other's may have waiting until putting the children to bed to get some peace before heading off. Other's may be workers who work away from home but have grabbed a train to enable them to get there even if only just before 10pm on a Thursday night.

The reason for these proposals is apparently money. You can imagine there is outcry that of all the ways government want to penny pinch it is in giving the people their say especially in light of recent months.

John Turner, of the Association of Electoral Administrators, told The Times:

"There is a real danger that despite years of trying to get the voter to engage, the Government is doing the opposite."

Ken Ritchie, of the Electoral Reform Society, added:

"The health of the democratic process is more important than saving peanuts. We risk turning an economic recession into a political one."

I would say panic not as the Ministry of Justice are saying this is only a working paper and not policy right now. Sadly I don't trust a Government, with a healthy majority, that has asked for such a working paper to be drawn up that does seem to vote against the public on issues such as 10:10 will do the right thing. I may of course be surprised.

"G...g...g...g....granville! Did you g....g....g...g....g.....go and v...v....v....vote?"

"I went Mr Arkwright but I didn't get to vote they had shut up early."

"Well that's b....b....b....bad. B...b..best g..g...get b...b...b...back to work then. Still a c....c....couple of hours for us."

Rangers: What if? Worse Case Scenario

2009-10-30T09:11:00.000Z

Here's an intriguing thought. I know Rangers Football Club are in financial difficulties following issues with their bankers Lloyds. They are looking at doing all they can in an attempt to stave off administration as a result, even considering a fire sale of the entire first team over the next 18 months. But my thought is what happens if they don't stop the worse?

I mean big teams have gone into Admin before now most notably Leeds. So what if Rangers were to do so? Being a supporter of a Scottish Club that has entered Administration I know what the precedent is that has been set. So if Rangers enter Administration will they face the same fate as Livingston, relegation to the lowest level of Scottish Football, with trips to Berwick, Montrose and Elgin to look forward to. Of course they'd also be guaranteed two trips to Hampden in the season to take on Queen's Park. Yeah Livingston are going to be at Hampden three times this season having already been there in the Scottish Cup to knock the hosts out last Saturday. But I digress.

If Rangers do go into administration and they are not relegated to the lowest tier, the owners of Livingston and indeed the creditors of wound up Gretna would have a case for a legal challenge that would throw the whole of Scottish football on its head. It would be challenged on the grounds of favoured status for the haves another for the have nots. I'm not even saying one rule for the rich one for the poor, Rangers's debt is £30m over 15 times what Livingston are said to have owed under Angelo Massone. So it would reek of the big cache of the Rangers name and any penalty not equivalent to the one that killed Gretna or the one that is disadvantaging Livingston's creditors would not go down well.

So after the precedent was set and voted on by a majority of the Scottish clubs who'd have thought that one half of the Old Firm may well have been next into the spotlight. I hope the worse doesn't happen this summer was a nightmare for me and all Livi fans, but if it does Scottish Football must be seen to be fair, no favourites.

Is this Postal Strike Just an Excuse for a 3-Day Piss Up?

2009-10-30T07:32:00.005Z

The reason I'm asking is because yesterday I passed the picket line at Sighthill depot and saw this on the right.

Today exactly 24 hours later I didn't see swarms of disgruntled postal workers looking for justice, fighting for their jobs, indeed I didn't even see one. No what I did see was this below.

Yeah an empty gazebo, a still warm oil drum the remains of their fire pictured in the main picture. But loads of empty beer and cider cans strewn across the whole area, not just at the entrance to the Royal Mail depot. Also startlingly there was not a sign of a single worker manning the picket line at the start of day 2.

Seeing as this is also the vehicle maintenance location for Edinburgh I suspect that even if the strike had of come to an end none of the workers would have been legally allowed to drive any of the vehicles anyway.

Therefore the question is rightly put, is this strike just an excuse for a 3-day piss up. Because I'm guessing there may be a few with hangovers this morning.

President Blair's Titanic

2009-10-30T04:42:00.006Z

Well Capt. Brown had ordered the stoking of the engines and it was full steam ahead for the 'good' ship Blair to sail to the European Council Presidency.

Whoops! Mere hours after the captain gave a strong backing in a press conference, just as news that Vaclav Klaus appears ready to sign up the Czech Republic sign up to the Lisbon Treaty, it has run aground on an iceberg.

Neither Nicolas Sarkozy nor Angela Merkel are 'terribly enthusiastic' about the idea of President Blair. His main backer outside of his good captain is Silvio Berlusconi guess all those holidays in the Italian leader's villa haven't quite paid off as expected for the Blairs, as such an endorsement may as well come from Silvio Briatore or John and Edward in today's political circus.

Indeed Sarkozy, the French president, and Merkel, the German chancellor,discussed the position over dinner at the Elysée palace on Wednesday. They are understood to have agreed the post should be filled by a central right member of the EPP grouping in the EU, so there goes the hopes of any UK Tory as well.

The reason for the French lack of support was summed up by Jean-David Levitte, Sarkozy's most senior foreign affairs adviser who said:

"The UK is not in the eurozone, nor in the Schengen [free travel area in the EU] and it has a number of opt outs. These are not advantageous in this search for a candidate."

Very valid points, hard to lead Europe if you keep asking for exclusion. The list if the Tories take over would be even longer, opting out of the EU convention on Human Rights, pulling out of the cross border police agreements, even seeking to unravel the treaty that is about to be signed.

Bizarrely of course both Labour and the Tories say they want to lead Europe, but on their own terms. It is clear from the view of our EU members that is not the view that is tenable across the rest of the members. The decision of David Cameron's party to pull itself away from the mainstream centre right grouping is putting even more distance between us and the people who should be our closest allies.

Does this bode well for Labour's fall back of David Milliband for the the other new position, that of high representative for foreign policy? Personally I think Milliband is right to distance himself from seeking the role, as he is likely too to fail on similar grounds. Add in there though the view of the UK as a foreign aggressor by many in the world and this role surely is beyond the hope of any member of the ruling party in the UK just now.

So while the cabinet plays on it looks like the Brown/Blair Line's ship Titanic is sinking in the cool, cold waters of European politics.

My Power2010 Ideas

2009-10-29T18:26:00.007Z

I've been tagged to do the Power 2010 meme. I'm actually quite chuffed that the tag came not from the usual list of suspects but from Tim Trent who I first stumbled upon during the great Heinz caving in to homophobes debacle and have kept up to date with every since through various social networks etc.

The flying I picked up from their stand at conference which I came across the other day while tidying up says:

"POWER2010 gives you the chance to have a say in how our democracy works for us all. Do you want cleaner funding? Fairer voting? More accountability? You decide.

"Tell us your ideas for changing the way we run our country."

So what is my big idea? Some of the Lib Dems have already nicked some of the obvious stuff, desks in front of members, electronic voting, removing the whips' power, reducing numbers and fairer votes. Even some out there ideas like age group specific MPs. So I really have to get a long way outside the box.

1. Prime Minister's Questions: There is a hint in this title to what the purpose of this half hour on a Wednesday is all about. There are questions asked to the Prime Minister. One thing that is often lacking is Prime Minister's Answers in response. What I would like to see is the Speaker to sin bin the Prime Minister if he fails to answer a question. I know that sometimes he does not have an answer to hand and promised to write a response to the questioner. That should have a time limit on it too, and if an answer is not forthcoming the PM enters the sin bin as well.

What will the sin bin entail. I suggest a session on the Thursday, where the speaker will ask the question(s) that have not been adequately answered by the PM. If again he fails to answer the question Paxman like the Speaker will persist. I'm sure that after the first couple of occasions this happens the PM will actually start to give PMAs during PMQs.

2. YouTubing Democracy: I'm right behind Jo Swinson on this one I think it is appalling the way Parliament restricts online clips of goings on in the chamber just to a members own website. Ruling out sites such as YouTube which would have a search ability that when sed correctly when placing a clip could potentially reach a far bigger audience than BBC Parliament, or the people who keep visiting the MPs website. It would also allow others of us like They Work for You or bloggers to embed a clip an highlight the strength of some of our parliamentary debate.

3. Britain's Got Opinions: Currently we decide who puts forward a Private Member's Bill by ballot. Once an MP comes high up the list they then decide what policy to bring before the House. How about along side this having a Public's Bill. Either a list drawn up by the opposition parties and/or put forward by members of the public. Which are then voted on in a public vote. OK maybe we might get a John and Edward policy getting debated in the chamber but it would also connect with what the public actually want to see politicians make decisions on.

4. Job swap: The MPs take on a community volunteer from their constituency for a weeks work experience but in return they also spend a week volunteering with that charity or organisation during the summer recess. I think it will keep a number of MPs real, I know a lot already are but there are still some who see politics as what is in it for them rather than being there to help people.

So those are my ideas what I have to do now is tag five others. Well as there are five parties represented in Holyrood I'm going to tag five bloggers who have some connection to each of them. So over to LYS President Ruaraidh Dobson, James at TwoDoctors, NatStudent at Advanced Media Watch, Yapping Yousuf and recently (ie today) non-aligned Ben Austwick the Cardiff Blogger*.

*But he was on my potential list anyway.

Sentanced Before Chrages Read Out

2009-10-29T10:28:00.000Z

It's the sort of activity you'd expect in an kangaroo court, not Perth Sheriff Court.

However, yesterday Sheriff Robert McCreadie sentenced Redding resident Lance Barrell to jail for 80 days before hearing the charges against him. After court staff stopped the Reliance guards taking the accused off to the cells, the Sheriff said "I suppose, for technical reasons, I should hear the Crown narrative." He then on hearing the fact upheld his original judgement.

Sadly this isn't the first incident that this Sheriff has been guilty of. Only last month he was forced to release a man sentenced to four and a half months for breaking an entering after also failing to follow procedure and hearing the prosecution read the charges. There have also be a catalogue of incidents involving McCreadie in the chair.

It is not merely a technical reason but a judicial reason that the charges are read out in open court. The failure of this Sheriff yet again surely must call into doubt his competency to carry out the role.

Fact Checking Nick Griffin's Claim

2009-10-29T10:09:00.001Z

Much as I liked to see Jeff squirm at the fact that a casting vote may lie with a BNP member for Glasgow in the next Scottish Parliament I thought he really should have done fact checking before taking the word of Nick Griffin for granted.

Jeff refers to this article in the Times so lets look at the facts.

Griffin said:

"We [BNP] were 4.4 per cent in Glasgow North East in the European elections."

Fact:

Minor niggle, I know, but the BNP's 545 out of 12705 votes in Glasgow North East is actually only 4.29%. That is one very poor round up a whole tenth of a percent higher than they could claim (i.e 4.3%).

Griffin then said:

"In Glasgow there is a [Holyrood] seat to be taken with probably about 6.5 per cent of the vote and we believe that is a do-able thing."

Fact:

OK 6.5% was the vote for Patrick Harvie who was in that 7th place last time out. However the Green vote was up to 9.98% given them the biggest protest vote away from the Westminster parties on the night. 7.11% was the position on the night in June of the lowest ranked party who gained a seat in Holyrood on the list.

Fact:

The BNP were only the 7th ranked party across Glasgow on the night behind the five Holyrood parties and UKIP, hardly a good place to lift the 7th top up seat.

Fact:

Across Glasgow as a whole they only polled 3.25% which was not even their highest council area return on the night in Scotland. I had the unenviable position of witnessing that on the night in Falkirk; even there it was only 3.77%.

I'll not even bother fact checking Jeff's claim of 54 seats for the SNP. That would be fun to do, but needs a little more work. Maybe later.

Hyslop Announcement Step in the Right Direction

2009-10-29T03:33:00.006Z

Yesterday the SNP Education Minister Fiona Hyslop announced £30 million of student support of increased grants and loans. Grants of up to £1,000 are to be introduced for independent students – those unsupported by parents and mostly over 25. And she said the maximum level of the income-assessed student loan, which has a current interest rate of 0 per cent, will go up by £442.

Liam Burns the President of the National Union of Students Scotland welcomed the news saying:

"For years, we've been calling for student hardship to be prioritised over graduate debt, getting money into students' pockets when they need it most."

However, he did also caution adding:

"But we still have a long way to go. Even with this money, students will still be living below the poverty line, and we know levels of credit card borrowing and other commercial debt have increased to unprecedented levels."

As I blogged earlier this year there is still a high student reliance on commercial debt. While an extra £442 per year interest free from the Student Loan Company it only goes part of the way to pulling some students out of poverty. Ms Hyslop ignored calls for a comprehensive review on student funding by Sir Andrew Cubie, whose report 10 years ago led to the scrapping of tuition fees in Scotland. The SNP entered Government promising students that they would 'drop the debt' Deputy Conservative leader Murdo Fraser points out that to fulfill that pledge totally the current expenditure required is actually £2bn rather than a £30m drop in the ocean.

Margaret Smith the Lib Dem education spokeswomen added:

"It has taken hard work by the opposition parties and NUS Scotland to drag the SNP kicking and screaming into the best deal for Scotland’s students. Today's decision absolutely vindicates our refusal simply to go along with the government's options and campaign instead for a better option that puts more money into students’ pockets.
"The Education Secretary promised to replace loans with grants, but today's statement is clear. The SNP has abandoned this key election promise."

So maybe this is one small step for the SNP, but we're still awaiting the giant leap for student debt.

Griffin Questions were Commercial Suicide says Lanarkshire Radio Station

2009-10-28T15:45:00.001Z

Derek McIntyre programme director of Lanarkshire Radio Station L107 based in Hamilton has admitted to 'commercial suicide' by arranging to interview Nick Griffin this morning. Fifty people emailed the local community station withdrawing support and a few advertisers have also backed out from Poultry farmers may have had a little bit more success as a number were thrown at the BNP leader.

The station must have known what they were facing as their website had advertised this morning's mid-morning James Russell show as:

"This Wednesday on the mid-morning show...probably the most controversial interview ever on Scottish radio."

Mr Russell also described the scenes outside the station as peaceful, yet 3 people were arrested for breach of the peace offences, one also for resisting arrest. the BNP leader had faced a total of eight calls in the hour.

It's been a mixed week for Griffin following his appearance on Question Time. His own supporters either want him to resign as leader for failing to press the attack on air or are flooding the BBC forum with comments. But whatever the outcome his party didn't appear to get any bounce in the opinion poll either out of sympathy from the protests or for his performance on the show.

Deal or Too Slow Deal

2009-10-28T12:58:00.001Z

I've just seen Gordon Brown's response to Nick Clegg's questioning in PMQs about the Copenhagen summit and raising the issue that Labour is doing too little (I'd add too late) on the Climate Change.

Brown replied that ALL parties should campaign together for a deal at Copenhagen. Strangely that only last week all parties bar one, plus Sammy Wilson of the DUP, did vote positively for their own responsibility, agreeing to vote for Parliament signing up to 10:10. Of course we know the one that was largely against was Brown's own party. Ed Milliband tried to explain this anomaly in talk and action away by saying (my comments in red):

"10:10 is a campaign which Labour supports: all Cabinet ministers have signed up to try to reduce their CO2 emissions by 10% in 2010. It's a great motivator of public action to cut carbon emissions through individual and collective behaviour change and I hope it helps to build public support for action by governments to agree an ambitious, effective and fair deal at Copenhagen. This is a great opening paragraph one I cannot fault.

"It's also true that signing up can be an important step to sustaining long term emissions cuts. That's why Labour-run councils and Labour groups are signing up to 10:10; we want local authorities to have local carbon budgets, and signing up to 10:10 is an important step towards that goal. Again bravo!

"But Oops! as a government we have a much bigger too big to take personal action?, long term goal that we set out in the framework of the Climate Change Act last year. Five months ago we put flesh on that framework when we agreed - with the support of the Lib Dems and the official ouch! Opposition things have changed in five months – the first three carbon budgets for this country. Those budgets are 3 five year cycles moving from last year to 2022. The problem of course is that the whole thrust of the 10:10 campaign is that we no longer appear to have the luxury of waiting until 2022 hence the need for drastic acceleration starting NOW!

"So every government department is committed to a long term reduction in carbon emissions – not just in 2009, not just in 2010, but through to 2022 and beyond failing to recognise the fact that 10:10 also believes these need cutting beyond as well. The public sector has already reduced its emissions by a third between 1990 and 2007 this has shot up from 21% or 18% from last week circa one fifth. Impressive or lies? and the Government is on track to meet and exceed its carbon emissions target of 12.5% as I said last week that is inclusive of carbon trading actually 8.5% reductions from across its estate by 2010-11.

"We're now allocating £20 million pounds to cut CO2 emissions from both the government estate and its transport to achieve those goals." Again while it looks impressive spending to save the planet but isn't really that much especially when but beside the £1.5trillion to save the banks.

So I think that Nick's question was very well justified, and Gordon should really have taken his own answer to heart only last week, instead of playing a political game of football.

SNP Losing Support of Business

2009-10-28T06:45:00.006Z

While it may retain some high profile businessmen like Sir Tom Hunter and Sir George Mathewson the SNP are losing the overall support of Scottish Business says CBI Scotland leader Iain McMillan.

Talking to the Scotsman he cites episodes such as Diageo being "bullied" over its restructuring plans, the cancellation of the Glasgow airport rail link (GARL) without consultation, the blocking of private sector involvement in running hospitals and prisons and the slashing of the enterprise budget by £74 million next year. He says the SNP are pushing a very public sector agenda at the expense of local private enterprise. A position that was not helped by Nicola Strugeon saying at the recent conference in Inverness:

"We will never put private profit before public services."

One possible exception recently might have been if you were an American property developer. McMillan says there are 'grave concerns' across the business community and that the minimum pricing of alcohol recently was just the tip of the iceberg, saying:

"Minimum pricing is only the latest in a long line of matters coming from the Scottish Government causing businesses serious concern," he said.

"The appalling way Diageo was treated over its plans to restructure its business, with the First Minister going on the protest rally even though the company was investing £100m in Fife was quite outrageous. We are also angry about the cancellation of GARL with no prior consultation, and then we have the fiasco over the Scottish Futures Trust."

He added in response to Ms Sturgeon's speech:

"Ms Sturgeon's speech that private profit should not come before public services completely misses the point that the two should work in tandem."

McMillan is not alone in his criticism David Watt, head of the Institute of Directors in Scotland said:

"We were quite disturbed over the treatment of Diageo and over the taking away of money from the enterprise budget. The Scottish Government does not seem to have grasped the ramifications of this.

"It also seems completely wrong to cancel infrastructure projects such as GARL when we should be building as much as we can to support the economy and prepare it for the recovery."

While Liz Cameron chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce added:

"If you see the health budget increasing by £94m and the enterprise budget reduced by £74m, it does not suggest the government's first priority to grow the Scottish economy.

"This is not about greedy businesses wanting more money. It is about supporting the economy and social wellbeing of Scotland, which can only be done if people have jobs and an income."

Even the Federation for Small Business is saying that despite it members benefting from a cut in small business rates that it believes small businesses in England are actually receiving much better support.

That was certainly something that we looked to achieve in the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland when I worked there. The heads of the CBI and FSB in Northern Ireland was often consulted and indeed worked closely with that department to encourage business development and sustainability in Northern Ireland. The need in tough financial times for the public and private sectors to work in closer tandem are even greater.

Therefore for the head of the CBI in Scotland to make such a direct statement against the policies here shows a clear break down somewhere. For a party that says on one hand that Scottish business is worthy of world consideration but on the other hand they fail to heed it themselves shows where their priorities really lie.