Week
beginning Monday 9th January 2006
Well, a new year and
back at the desk after two weeks of doing not a lot at all,
alternating between enjoyment at doing nothing, and guilt at enjoying
the fact! It’s the Calvinist streak that we Scots have, you know where
there’s fun there must be pay-back further down the line. I haven’t
come across the pay-back yet, this week’s been fairly quiet, so
perhaps it’s being stored up for me and desperate times will come.
Talking of desperate,
thinking back over the events of the week it strikes me that it was in
fact framed by the pronouncements of two desperate men in the public
eye. The first, Charles Kennedy, Lib-Dem UK Leader, being forced from
his job and trying to stoke up support by his media statement on his
alcoholism and decision to seek treatment. Alcoholism is a truly awful
affliction and I wish him well in his fight to overcome it, but I
can’t help feeling that the commentators’ reporting of his ‘courage’
in admission and determination to beat the demon is a little
premature: The real test of courage will be seen much further down the
line, if, and I hope when, Charles has finally proved to himself that
he doesn’t need alcohol in his life. If the man has been honest with
himself in admitting he has a problem then that is only the first
step, and he’ll need support from those that care for him now and for
a long time to come.
At the end of the week
we had the spectacle of the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, desperate to
convince anyone who would listen that he should be the next British
Prime Minister by draping himself in the Union Flag and encouraging us
to celebrate Britishness – no thank you Desperate Dan, the countries
currently within the UK all have their own distinct identities, and
these diversities should be celebrated as part of our respective
cultures. The idea of a ‘British Day’ does not wash well with many
here in Scotland who have been campaigning for proper recognition of
our national St. Andrew’s Day, opposed by the Chancellor’s New Labour
colleagues. As Alex Salmond (always a sensible chap!) says “You cannot
sustain a national identity just because someone wants to be national
leader”. I’ve felt for some time now that Brown’s chance of replacing
Blair has been missed – he looks increasingly like yesterday’s man,
and frankly, this latest effort reinforces that.
Scottish Identity was a
theme explored at an event I attended during the week – creations (I
say creations because I am not knowledgeable enough to describe his
work properly) by Glasgow artist/photographer Calum Colvin are
temporarily on display in the Presiding Officer’s Dining Room in the
Parliament and I was fascinated to hear Mr. Colvin’s presentation and
explanation of his portraits – my particular favourites were that of
Robert Burns, and that of James MacPherson – how he had taken the
portrait subject and set that image amongst other images of our
collective identity. The Scottish Parliament website says it all much
better than I can – please log in if you can, it’s so worth seeing
these portraits! Here’s a taster:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmCentre/news/articles/2006/01/calum_colvin.htm
Another highlight of
the week was political Question Time at Strathaven Academy – the
entire Fifth Year grilled myself and reps from other political parties
and chipped in their own tuppence worth as well! I was fascinated at
both the questions asked and the knowledgeable contributions from
pupils. The dialogue was so good that we only actually covered three
questions – whether George Galloway MP should be in the Big Brother
House (I reckon fine as long as he stays in there for a few years),
whether the Monarchy was a worthwhile institution (not in my view) and
the validity of nuclear weapons (no validity). What was also
interesting was the political consensus on the panel – only the
Conservative rep, for example, was a monarchy fan, and a supporter of
the UK’s nuclear deterrent; only the Tory was sticking up for Tony!
Primary 7 of Nether
Robertland Primary School in Stewarton visited the parliament on
Thursday, so another grilling! It was a funny wee session with lovely
children – all they really wanted to know was how much politicians of
opposing parties disliked each other and whether we enjoyed arguing!
They were having a good time and when I saw them in the Chamber later
they were relishing every word, waiting for the sparks to fly.
So, catching up on
Europe Committee business and chasing up constituency cases filled the
rest of the week, with a contribution to the debate on Sustainable
Development somewhere in the middle. My concern as expressed during
that debate is that the Scottish Executive are prone to making big
announcements, and then making others responsible for delivering on
the promises and targets. Sometimes Government has to take hard
decisions and lead the way, sometimes both the stick and the carrot
have to be applied – on this particular issue, covering climate
change, recycling, emissions etc. particularly. No doubt, as with
everything else, if there are successes the Executive will take the
credit, and if there are failures the Executive will find some other
agency or institution to take the blame.
Like in the Health
Service – to one extent micro-managed by the Executive, with
stage-managed announcements about their successes, but on the other
side, when they talk about the forthcoming closure of an Accident and
Emergency Service in Lanarkshire, we are likely to be told that “this
is a matter for the Health Board”. Perhaps I am being over-cynical,
but I am waiting for answers to my parliamentary questions about the
potential closure of the Hairmyres A&E service. We’ll see!
Rounded off the week
with a full weekend - campaigning in Kincardine for the forthcoming
Westminster Parliament by-election in Dunfermline East, caused by the
sad death of Rachel Squire MP; trying to help a couple of constituents
in particularly difficult circumstances, with no real solution in
sight for them at all; attending a fundraising/information event in
Glasgow about the current situation in Palestine. It strikes me that
we bandy about adjectives like ‘terrible’, ‘awful’, ‘horrendous’ and
indeed ‘desperate’ as I did at the start of this week’s piece,
sometimes in description of things that are fairly minor, but all over
the world there are folks living in truly desperate circumstances.
Yes, this is the start of a New Year, but for many, in Scotland and
furth of Scotland, it will be a year just like the one before it, and
the one before that, and the one before, and the one … … … …
Linda Fabiani
15.1.06
Email Linda at
Linda.fabiani.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
