Opinion Poll Supports Setting Taxes in Scotland
While the majority of people in Scotland do not express support for a break-up of the United Kingdom, a recent opinion poll run by the Scotland on Sunday newspaper suggests that control over the collection of taxes in Scotland should be given to the Parliament in Edinburgh rather than in London. Obviously, the Scottish Nationalist supporters were in favour of more autonomy but more than half the Labour supporters questioned were also in favour. The same poll showed that 53% of Scots preferred the devolved government while 27% supported total independence from the UK.
Call to Amend Scotland Act
The argument about the future number of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) broke out again this week when George Foulkes, who was recently appointed deputy to the Scotland Office Minister, declared there was a "very strong argument" for revising the Scotland Act which set up the devolved parliament in Edinburgh. Under the Act, the number of MSPs is set to be reduced by around 16 as a result of a reduction in the number of constituencies for both the Westminster and Scottish parliaments - Scotland currently has too many UK Members of Parliament for its population. This would have a knock-on effect on the numbers of MSPs. It is argued that the scrutiny of legislation by committees will be impaired if numbers are cut. However, there is a reluctance to put through an amendment to the Scotland Act to rectify the situation as there is a concern that this would open the flood gates for other more controversial amendments.
Photograph courtesy of the Scottish Parliament Web site.
Campaign Urges Voters to Turn Out
A 400,000 pound advertising campaign was launched this week to persuade people to vote at the next parliamentary election. New rules will also allow anyone to apply for a postal vote and homeless people will be allowed to register for the first time.
New Farming Crisis
The movement of farm animals around the UK was banned this week after an outbreak of foot and mouth disease was found in animals which were being processed through an abattoir. The disease, which does not affect humans but is extremely infectious to cattle, sheep and pigs, was then confirmed in a number of farms in England and is being investigated in a number of farms in Scotland. All the animals in farms where the disease is found have to be slaughtered immediately. Precautions are being taken to avoid the spread of the disease, with farms laying straw, soaked in disinfectant, in their approach roads. The public are being discouraged from going for walks in the country in an attempt to confine the disease and school children in farming areas are staying at home. This is the first outbreak of foot and mouth disease in UK livestock in over 20 years.
Fishing Boats Tied Up
70 Scottish skippers have tied up their boats in harbour for at least a week in protest at the effect of the fishing exclusion zones in the North Sea which have been imposed to conserve dangerously low cod stocks. This has resulted in fishing being concentrated in other areas where haddock are to be found but most of the fish being caught are too small and are having to be dumped at sea. The fishermen are demanding that the government introduce compensation to finance a tie-up scheme until the closures are lifted at the end of April.
The Salmond Years
An hour-long TV documentary this week on the ten years of Alex Salmond's leadership of the Scottish National Party has re-opened the controversy over his broadcast in the run-up to the 1999 Scottish Parliament elections. He described the bombing of Kosovo by NATO as "misguided" and of "dubious legality...and unpardonable folly." At the time, Robin Cook, the UK Foreign Secretary said the SNP leader's remarks would make him "the toast of Belgrade". During the TV documentary Sean Connery praised Salmond for his courage and said that "in retrospect he was absolutely right" but Winnie Ewing, the party president had a different slant on it "It lost us votes and seats - but he was right in what he said." Alex Salmond has never commented in public on the controversial remarks but in the documentary he agreed that if he had to broadcast it again he "might have changed a few phrases but I don't regret the broadcast". Salmond was leader of the Scottish National Party at a time when it reached new heights. There was therefore astonishment last year when he stepped down from the leadership. In the programme he gave no more reasons other than "10 years at the helm were enough."
Photograph courtesy of the Scottish Parliament Web site.
Teachers Imported from Ireland
Stranraer Academy has asked Dumfries and Galloway Council for permission to advertise for teaching staff in Northern Ireland. The school has advertised for staff all over Scotland but is still well under strength. Glasgow is only 84 miles away but the south-west corner of Scotland is regarded by many potential staff as too remote. Belfast in Northern Ireland is about 50 miles away - but by ferry.
Backing for Wind Farms
Licenses to build 360 wind turbines off the shores of Britain are likely to be granted this summer. But experts say that offshore wind farms are unsuitable for Scotland as the waters tend to be deeper and the weather stormier in the north and west. The Scottish Executive is being lobbied to provide financial support for on-shore wind generators and wave power. The aim is to obtain 10% of the country's energy needs from renewable sources by 2010 to reduce the amount of Co2 emissions.
Energy Capital of Europe
Western Isles Council have outlined plans to capitalise on the renewable energy market. They believe that the wind and waves which lash the Outer Hebrides are valuable resources and point to a number of incentives being offered to companies developing such facilities. The council hope to create an infrastructure for companies willing to invest in renewable energy projects. So far, only wind power generators have proved to be viable but the council hope to encourage academic researchers to develop wave power experiments in the islands.
Scotland's Biggest Law Firm
Two large Scottish law firms have agreed to merge, creating what they claim will be the largest practise in Scotland - at least in terms of the number of partners (57). Maclay Murray & Spens are probably involved in more corporate deals than any other in the country while Mackay Simon are pre-eminent in employment law. The merged firm will continue to trade under the two names, at least for the time being.
Judgement Day for Court Sale
Offers for the purchase of the former Glasgow Sheriff Court closed this week and it has been disclosed that five firm bids have been made. The 100,000 sq ft building has been empty since the mid 1980s. At least one of the bidders is understood to want to convert it into an up-market hotel. The court house was built in 1844 and occupies an entire street block in a part of the city centre now called the "Merchant City".
Postcard Arrives 112 Years Late
We are all used to our holiday postcards arriving long after we have returned back home. But 112 years? Admittedly the postcard was all the way from Australia, but even in the days of sailing ships it should not have taken more than eight weeks. The postcard, carefully addressed in copper-plate handwriting, was posted on 4 January, 1889. The postal authorities are now trying to trace the descendants of the addressee, a Miss Wardrop of 32 Carden Place, Aberdeen. It had a three pence stamp of Queen Victoria on it, somewhat short of today's air-mail postal rates. One clue to its long journey may be in the words on the card "This is the first time postcards have been issued in Queensland". The UK Post Office is keen to trace the relatives of Miss Wardrop - after all, they can hardly mark it "Return to Sender".
Royal Warrant for Fir Trees
Alba Trees at Gladsmuir in East Lothian has been awarded the title of "Tree Nurserymen to the Queen". Royal warrants are earned by companies supplying goods and services to the Queen. They can display a replica of the warrant on their literature and buildings to advertise the fact that their quality products have royal approval.
Wooden Grass
In a bid to reduce costs, North Lanarkshire Council has replaced grass in a cemetery with wood chippings painted green. If the trial is successful, the council say it could be used in the 13 cemeteries run by the council. But relatives who were confronted by the bright green chippings have described them as loud and offensive and say it is inappropriate in what should be a respectful and restful setting. Unlike grass, which needs to be cut regularly, the chippings require no maintenance.
Forth Road Bridge Disruption
A million pound road repair project for the southbound carriageway of the Forth Road Bridge has gone out to tender this week. More than a million cars a month use the bridge in the summer time. However, it has been decided that the inevitable lane closures will not take place during daytime in July and August. The bridge has only two lanes in each direction and is subject to delays and queues at peak times even when all lanes are functioning. Many workers in Edinburgh live on the other side of the river in Fife.
Odds-On Betting
A gambler who bet 35,000 pounds, at odds of 7/1 on, that Rangers would beat Second Division Ross County in the Scottish Cup had some anxious moments as the score line was 2-2 after an hour's play. Even after a goal by skipper Barry Ferguson put Rangers ahead, Ross County kept up the pressure and only a last minute clearance off the goal line by defender Scott Wilson saved the bet - and embarrassment for Rangers.
Lotto Red Faces
After a husband had arranged for a stretched limo to pick up his wife to take her to a belated Valentine's Day dinner, a rumour swept round the Lanarkshire village where they live that they had won the 7.7 million pounds jack-pot on the National Lottery. They were soon inundated with phone calls from family and friends. The couple from Caldercruix near Airdrie thought it was a good joke at first but eventually they felt it had got out of hand as they were accused of trying to cover up their "windfall". But the next day, Brian Lafferty was buying his usual couple of bread rolls and cold meat for his lunch.
Train Punctuality Disaster
After Railtrack launched its massive overhaul in the aftermath of the broken rail which caused a rail crash at Hatfield in England last October, punctuality of trains took a severe knock, according to figures published this week. No rail company on mainland Britain managed to get even 80% of their trains to arrive on time and some could not even achieve 50% arriving within 10 minutes of the scheduled time. The railway companies claim that punctuality is getting a lot better but breakdowns on trains continue to affect Scotrail - 25% of the trains on the flagship Edinburgh to Glasgow service were over 10 minutes late on Friday.
More Trains for Scotrail
Scotrail are planning to order another 20 million pounds worth of new Turbostar trains to reduce overcrowding on services out of Edinburgh such as the Edinburgh to Glasgow and Edinburgh to Fife lines. The new rolling stock has proved to be popular with travellers but have been dogged with technical problems and unreliability. The need to withdraw trains for repair has increased the overcrowding problems. But Scotrail hope the performance can be improved and say that using the same type of train removes the need for additional driver training.
End of Line for Rail Link
The proposal for a multi-billion pound rail link between Glasgow's two main railway stations has hit the buffers. Strathclyde Passenger Transport have concluded that the scheme to allow direct travel between the stations would not be financially viable. However, further research is to be undertaken on a 60 million pound rail link from the city centre to Glasgow airport.
Foxes Get Jam Sandwiches
Animal lovers are being urged to feed jam (preserve) sandwiches to urban foxes to help cure a serious skin infection which is affecting many of them. The sandwiches are laced with a new homeopathic remedy of arsenic and sulphur. There are well over 200 groups of foxes known to be in Glasgow alone.
Weather in Scotland This Week
Another mainly dry and sunny week but snow showers affected the northern and eastern parts of Scotland and the higher ground. Temperatures plunged towards the end of the week and a strong north wind made it feel even colder, despite the weak sunshine.
We've all heard of purple heather but plant nurseries have now created an unusual heather which is totally blue. The one illustrated here has been flowering all winter and was photographed in a garden during the current week.
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Current Affairs
A campaign has been launched to give greater recognition to William Wallace's partner during the fight against the occupying English forces in 1297 which culminated in the victory at Stirling Bridge. Andrew de Moray was a noble Highlander who owned large parts of the land around the Moray Firth. While Wallace was fighting his guerilla war in the central lowlands, de Moray was attacking castles in the north - Inverness, Elgin and Banff castles all fell to him and he besieged Urquhart castle on the banks of Loch Ness. After he had captured Aberdeen, the English occupation in the north collapsed. He joined up with Wallace in an attack on Dundee and then the combined forces advanced to meet the English army of King Edward I (the "Hammer of the Scots") at Stirling. Wallace and de Moray routed the English army. In view of his rank, it is likely that de Moray would have been the senior partner in that battle - but he did not even get a mention in the movie "Braveheart". De Moray was wounded in the battle of Stirling Bridge and died shortly afterwards. Historic Scotland say that they will increase the amount of information about de Moray in Urquhart castle after the current building works there are completed but campaigners for de Moray are pushing for a monument to commemorate his achievements.
The Flying Scotsman locomotive is to be floated on the London Stock Exchange, allowing rail enthusiasts to own a share of the historic engine. The loco was built in 1923 and was the first train to officially break 100mph (in 1934). Money raised from the floatation will be used to create a new theme park in Doncaster in South Yorkshire.
Blues guitarist BB King is to be the first of a number of superstars who are to play in a series of outdoor gigs this summer at the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens, below Edinburgh Castle. 75-year-old BB King (the "BB" stands for "Blues Boy") opened the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival in 1998. His performance sold out at the Playhouse Theatre. Singer Tom Jones is scheduled to perform at two concerts on Edinburgh Castle forecourt in July
The rock group Texas was performing in Glasgow for the first time in three years, playing to capacity audiences in four concerts at the Scottish Exhibition and Concert Centre in the city. Lead singer Sharleen Spitieri says that she thinks the band is getting better and nobody at the concerts would have argued with that - not even the critics who are giving the UK tour rave reviews. 250,000 tickets have been sold for this "Greatest Hits.." tour.
Both Rangers and Celtic are making representations to the Scottish Football League about many of their fixtures being moved from Saturday afternoon to odd times on a Sunday to suit the TV schedules. Rangers next Scottish Cup game has been moved to Sunday at 6pm and Celtic will be playing their replay against Dunfermline is to be shown live on BBC TV on the same day - at 2.35pm. The clubs feel that the fans who turn up at the matches are getting a raw deal. They realise that little can be done because of existing contracts but hope that their views - and those of the fans - will be taken into account when the deals are next renegotiated.
