Week
beginning Monday 13th June
My colleague Andrew
Welsh has just come into my office and said “You look jaunty!”; yes, I
feel jaunty! Perhaps it’s end-of-term euphoria (recess on 30th
June), but I had a really good week last week – workwise and
personally. At least it feels like it this Monday morning of 20th
June – we’ll see as I work my way back through.
First of all though,
thank you to all those who emailed to keep me right about the correct
term for those from Colorado –
COLORADANS. Particular
thanks to Lloyd, Laura, Patricia and Andy – it all set me pondering to
how the ‘net’ has changed our lives with its speed of communication.
Doesn’t matter how long I ponder though, I still won’t quite
understand how it all works – please, email me about anything except
the answer to how the world-wide web works, because I still won’t
understand! Interesting how communities describe themselves –
Glaswegians, Edinburghers, Dundonians, Bairns (Falkirk), Brandanes (Bute
– but you have to be born on the island to be a true Brandane!).
My week was full of
theatre and entertainment, starting on Monday afternoon at Rosehall
High School in Coatbridge. 7:84 Theatre Company are touring senior
schools with a play about the G8 called ‘The Tipping Point’ and the
day also involves workshops and then a panel discussion with invited
MSPs. The interest by the year 3 and year 4 pupils in all the issues
under discussion was huge and we had a really detailed discussion
about exploitation of developing (or non-developing in many cases
actually) countries’ markets, sweatshop economies, climate change,
debt-relief, poverty … … Rosehall is a community school with an
obvious ethos of encouragement to all – recently won a Scottish
Executive Healthy Living Award – well done pupils and staff at
Rosehall!
SNP Meeting on Monday
night in East Kilbride with our Leader in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon,
along to address the troops at our AGM. Also, the opportunity to meet
up with Davie and catch up with each other on the issues of the day in
the constituency, and of course individual cases – school closures,
telephone masts, recycling, centralisation of hospital services, not
being allowed a passport at age 16 without parental consent. Strange
one that – unlike in England, you can get married in Scotland at 16
years old without your parents knowing, but you can’t go abroad on
your honeymoon without their signing your passport form!
Through to Auld Reekie
(do folk from Edinburgh mind being called ‘Reekers’ I wonder? After
all, they refer to us Glaswegians as ‘Weegies’) on Tuesday morning. It
took me two-and-a-half hours, mid morning, because of hold-ups. As I
sat in the traffic queue in Livingstone, I thought of the journalist
last week who told me that he could do Strathaven to Edinburgh City
Centre in 60 minutes – in his dreams, or perhaps the Batmobile!
I said I had a
theatrical week. Well, one of my visitors this afternoon was certainly
theatrical! Heavy breathing along the corridor, MSPs and staff hiding
beneath their desks, but the doughty Christine Grahame managed to
bring everything under control:
Finn was quite
delighted that the Security Staff had insisted his helmet and light-sabre
go through the x-ray scanner!
Back to reality and
meeting with the National House Building Council to discuss their
views on the Housing Bill currently wending its way through the
legislative process, then Social Justice Team Meeting, then Group
Meeting – meetings, meetings and more meetings, all of which generate
work of course, so tied to the computer for a few hours on Tuesday
evening. Then reading through the Communities Committee papers for
another meeting the following morning!
Communities Committee
first thing Wednesday, and yes we cracked it! We agreed, across the
parties, the Committee Report on the Housing Bill – no votes and no
dissent; MSPs being impartial in reporting the views of those who came
to give evidence to us. The time for personal/party viewpoints is when
it comes to debates and amendments. That’s the norm with Committees,
and it’s a shame that this kind of joint working isn’t much reported
upon. I guess the media find it much more exciting to report on folk
yelling across the Chamber at each other, but sadly that means that
the commonly held perception of politics is that it’s all
confrontation and entrenched positions. So often, school pupils ask me
things like “do you not like anyone in any other Party?”, or “do you
talk to any Labour MSPs?”. I tell them that working in Parliament is
like working with colleagues in any other workplace – some you really
like, some you don’t like much, and many you’re just indifferent to,
and Party membership doesn’t come into it. I guess most of us are just
doing our best, in the way that we believe to be best. Mind you, I
must admit, that there are times in the Chamber when I can be every
bit as confrontational as the rest!
Wednesday afternoon
brought another debate on the Executive’s Sexual Health Strategy. At
last we seem to be moving ahead with this. General agreement except
from the Conservative Party who seem to want parents to be the only
ones responsible for the education of their children in such matters.
Well, as I said in the debate, that’s fine if you assume all parents
can cope with that, but some find it very difficult to discuss sexual
matters with their sons and daughters, whilst others, lets face it,
aren’t particularly good parents – sad but true.
A few weeks ago I
attended the East Kilbride Kittoch Rotary Club Ball and Duncan and I
had such a good time that we invited some of the members and their
friends to visit the Parliament and have dinner. Well, we did this on
Wednesday evening and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Prior to dinner though
I attended a very sensitive and thought-provoking session with the
Marie Curie Cancer Care Charity. They were launching their campaign
supporting the choice for those terminally ill to die at home. The
belief is that every patient who chooses to die at home should be
given the opportunity to do so, and asks that the Scottish Executive
ensures that this choice is available and achievable across Scotland’s
Health Boards. The latest research has shown that although most
people would like to be cared for at home if they had a terminal
illness, the reality is that three-quarters of all cancer patients die
in hospitals. Also, although 92% of people would in theory support the
choice of a friend or relative who wanted to die at home, only 54% of
those surveyed felt that they would realistically be able to cope. So,
support required for this cause. Find out more at:
www.maricurie.org.uk/campaignscotland.
Eilidh Wiseman, whose
husband John died at home, very bravely addressed the meeting: “Being
able to have John at home provided a sense of normality to an
otherwise totally abnormal situation. Our children could come and go
and see their Dad for short periods of time at regular intervals
during the day. John was much more secure and orientated in his own
surroundings and I could sleep when he did rather than sit in a chair
by a hospital bed.”
Two Stage 1 debates
(agreement on general principles) on Thursday, neither of which I had
any part in, so apart from Question Time was able to concentrate on
real work at my desk! Thursday evening was important though. I have
spoken many times in my diary about the East Kilbride Murray Owen
Group – elderly carers who look after their adult children with
learning difficulties. So, Thursday evening we had a debate for Adult
Learning Week and I was able to raise this subject again – for the
umpteenth time in the last three years. Madge and Jeanette from the
Group came through with Davie for the debate, to hear me say yet again
that all the mums and dads in this Group, and many others like them
across the country, wanted was to see their children’s futures settled
before they are no longer able, or indeed there, to care for them.
South Lanarkshire Council refused to meet me to discuss this issue
locally and Executive Ministers have also refused. However, success at
last! Rhona Brankin, Deputy Health Minister, bless her, agreed to meet
with me and the Group, to listen to the concerns of members. Rhona
obviously understood that I was not criticising the good work that’s
going on in allowing people with learning difficulties to leave
institutions and live in communities, but pointing out that
inadvertently the needs of a group of people were being marginalised –
those who still had their adult children at home, and were not getting
any younger themselves.
Madge and Jeanette were
delighted at this step forward, and I know that the rest of the Group
will be pleased too. I know too that the ladies were a wee bit chuffed
when Fergus Ewing in praising their unstinting determination to see
this issue progress referred to them as ‘feisty females’ – they
certainly are.
Fergus's Feisty
Females!
And so to Friday, and
what an absolute pleasure Friday was. Started off at Sandford Primary
School for a half-hour session on being an MSP and ended up there for
an hour-and-a-half doing everything from swopping personal childhood
stories to training in public speaking! And, some of these youngsters
were good, let me tell you. Worries though from those who will be
going up to Strathaven Academy, about the potential of bussing into
East Kilbride for two years until a new Academy is built. I have of
course written to the Council and the Executive about this, but
haven’t had a response yet.
Sandford School is of
course rural with a small pupil roll and the benefits that brings. But
of course, every school has its own strengths, and the main strength
that I see at Kirktonholme Primary in East Kilbride, a primary school
with a roll of over 800, is their sense of ‘togetherness’ and
‘community’. I visited there recently of course, and attended their
Assembly – this time I was back for the school show.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Chimchiminee-chimchiminee-chimchimcheree; a sweep is as lucky as lucky
can be! Just a spoonful of sugar … …/Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a
bag … …
Yes, you’ve guessed, it
was Mary Poppins and I loved every minute – what memories it brought
back. The Tivoli Cinema in Partick, my brother and I singing all the
way home (usually accompanied by him walloping me at some point in the
proceedings for singing the wrong words!). The Primary 6 and 7 classes
at Kirktonholme were astounding, the content, costumes and sets a
tribute to all the teachers and parents who helped. The chorus and
dancers and all the actors gave us a great show, but I have to give
special mention to Bert the Chimney Sweep who had a better Cockney
accent than Dick van Dyke ever managed! I was assured young Greg
wasn’t born within the sound of the Bow Bells, but I’m not convinced.
The Chimney Sweep Choir
I was still singing on
Saturday when I met up with Davie to go over the constituency cases in
Kilmarnock. Then we set off to the Tramway in Glasgow to see
Celebr8, put together by Scottish
Ballet’s Education Unit. The Dance 4
Glasgow scheme is funded by Glasgow City
Council and the Lottery Fund and allows Scottish Ballet to teach dance
to 1,200 folk across the city – mostly children and young folk, but
the companies - Cre8, Activ8, Innov8,
Motiv8, Elev8 and Gener8
– have participants aged from 5 to 77 years of age, and all performed
in the show. Brilliant to watch and it was obvious that the dancers
found it brilliant fun to do – I wonder if Davie was tempted? I was,
but I have to look back again to my memories of Miss Ramsay’s Dance
School. I so wanted to be a graceful swan, a fairy in tulle and satin.
But no, grace wasn’t a natural attribute – my first dancing
performance was in the circus set, in the ‘Nelly the Elephant’
ensemble, and that summed it up really. Never mind, we can’t all be
prima ballerinas.
I started off this
week’s diary by saying it was a good week, and yes it clearly was – a
good mix of success at work and personal enjoyment. If only all weeks
could be like that!
Finished the week off
with a long Sunday lunch with friends – should do that more often, and
maybe I would be jaunty every Monday morning.
Linda Fabiani
20.6.05
Email Linda at
Linda.fabiani.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
