Tuesday 12 November
In the weekend when we remember our war dead, we must spare more than a thought for the people of the Philippines – and by the time you read this, maybe also Vietnam and southern China – left battered by Typhoon Haiyan. We are regularly used to gales of 70 mph or more on the west coast, and the south has recently had a taste of it, but this has beaten everything on record and is beyond our imagination. Our own troubles pale into insignificance…
“Vote No or Govan gets it”
Not our words, but those of Ian Bell in Saturday’s Herald. If you want a summing up of the argument over political v. commercial decision, Mr Bell is as neat as you will get. “The text and sub-text offered by the Better Together parties spare little room for what the SNP would like”, he says,” A gamut is run. Union is good for Scotland, independence would be bad, and if voters refuse to grasp that lesson they will have to learn it the hard way… it marks a new phase in the independence argument… this moment when matters become explicit, when a Davidson or a Carmichael makes it plain that London might choose to make life very difficult for an independent Scotland… this has all been the merest rehearsal for the biggest row of all, the one that can't be avoided, the one called Faslane…we have seen how rough things are liable to get before Scotland makes its choice. Squeamishness is not advised” In the Sunday Herald, Iain McWhirter says there is little substance in the claim that the decision was political – “the Clyde has been written off so often that you forget it is one of the most technically advanced and efficient yards in the world. It is a tribute to the workers that the decision to save Scotstoun and Govan was taken on hard commercial grounds (as they offered the best value around) and not for political expediency”
Best analysis of the situation came from Gillian Bowditch in the Sunday Times (£) As well as a masterly grasp of the facts, Ms Bowditch looks at the pros and cons for the Type 26 project beyond next September and the past difficulties BAE have had in exporting. She quotes Jim Sillars as saying Scottish shipbuilding missed a great opportunity by not moving from Govan to the deep water of Hunterston Terminal where it would have linked with the steel industry – “We would have been able to build much bigger ships and would have saved a great deal of money”.
Former Labour minister John (now Lord) Reid in the Sunday Express says quite bluntly that if we vote Yes we will get no UK naval contracts – “we don't build warships abroad now - and what's left of the UK wouldn't do so if Scotland separated”. Nicola Sturgeon’s suggestion mid-week that if naval auxiliary ships can be out-sourced to Korea and Australia, they can be also be awarded to an independent Scotland gets short shrift from the noble Lord,– they are, he says, cargo, not war, ships.
Eddie Barnes in Scotland on Sunday looked at the way England perceives the argument – the ‘Anglo-Nats’ who see Scotland as a drain on their taxes and might well vote us away if they had the chance. Portsmouth’s fate is one more weapon in their armoury when fighting the West Lothian question.
In Friday’s edition of the Conversation, Andrew James, senior lecturer in Science and Technology Policy and Management at the University of Manchester, asked whether the UK any longer needs a strong defence industry. He looks at the interaction between BAE and the MoD and the difficulties involved for the former in trying to export MoD designs that are UK-centric. A good read, especially if you’ve ever wondered what a monopsonistic market is…
Emails that keep on giving…
There’s still mileage in Falkirk. Last week it was dust being swept under carpets, this week there’s more mucky dealings emerging from the other end.
In Tuesday’s Telegraph, Alan Cochrane had much sympathy for Johann Lamont and very little for her leader Ed Miliband. “For the Leader of the Opposition”, said Mr Cochrane “to keep schtum and hope that the lurid allegations of vote-rigging in Falkirk would go away is not what we are entitled to expect from a man who would be Prime Minister. He has also let down, and let down badly, Johann Lamont, the leader of Scottish Labour”. He points out that while Ms Lamont may be titular leader of the entire party in Scotland, some things, like candidate selection, are still London’s prerogative, In other words, Ms Lamont, who owes her own position to union support, has been hung out to dry.
Ian Bell in Wednesday’s Herald decided that although everyone ‘knows’ what happened at Falkirk, in fact, we know very few, if any, facts. “All the Labour people mentioned have claimed to know what went on in Falkirk. Each has deplored supposed outrages in the strongest terms. There has been a great deal of talk about "the facts". The largest fact is that the party is all over the shop … [but]those emails will need to be pretty conclusive. For now, we are offered slim pickings… if the union overstepped all bounds in Falkirk, it will deserve to pay. Someone had better prove the charges first”.
Mr Bell may soon have his wish. Iain Martin in the Sunday Telegraph saw Falkirk as a ‘cesspit’ for Ed Miliband unless the Labour leader acts – “The real concern in Labour is that this subject will dog the party’s leader right through until the polling day in 2015. “Going into the TV debates in the election campaign, David Cameron is going to have Falkirk in his back pocket,” says a source. It helps explain why the Prime Minister makes mention of Falkirk, Unite and Mr Miliband having something to hide, whenever he gets the opportunity in the Commons.”
The Sunday Times (£)gave over a double page spread to the emails from Stevie Deans computer, released, presumably, by Ineos that the paper says purport to show that Unite ‘broke Labour rules’. This much we thought we knew, but Mark Hookham’s revelation (£) that the union has had a policy of “flooding local Labour parties with thousands of Unite members and ensuring ‘union-friendly candidates’ for the past two years may come as a surprise to some, as may the story that Len McLuskey’s own leadership election (£) might have been subject to ‘irregularities’, after 160,000 people balloted were not members of the union – indeed, some were dead…
It gets better. In yesterday’s Herald, Robbie Dinwoodie and Paul Hutcheon revealed that the chairman of the Scottish Labour Party Jackson Cullinane was ‘in contact’ with union officials over the signing-up of members in Falkirk. Both Tom Warnett, the union’s political co-ordinator in London, and Pat Rafferty, head of Unite in Scotland, were emailed and, says the Herald, ”the exchange makes it clear that the sign-ups were specifically designed to influence the selection of the union's favoured candidate in Falkirk, Karie Murphy.”
It wisn’ae me…
Those of you with a life may have seen the mayhem in Amsterdam earlier in the week when Celtic met Ajax both on and off the pitch. These running alcohol-fuelled battles don’t usually amount to much, but this night turned serious for some Celtic supporters who could face up to four years in a Dutch cell. Tom English in Scotland on Sunday’s sports section said the protestations of Parkhead fans that it was all the fault of others may be a tad misplaced – “A local ned stole a Celtic flag and ran away. Celtic fans ran after him. There was a fight. And another fight. The police got heavy. Plain clothes cops got stuck in with abandon. Supporters got shunted down side streets. Innocents got hurt. Shame on the Amsterdam police and their unwarranted force. Shame on the undercover guys and their extreme behaviour. Shame on Ajax fans. Shame on the media”. Everybody in fact, but the Celtic fans, although, said English, Amsterdam is becoming notorious for football hooliganism. A good read for those who thought Scottish football had lived down its former reputation…
In brief…
Two for the price of one…
Our new Secretary of State obviously learns quickly. Good PR can get you two bites at the cherry. Yesterday’s Scotsman, the Herald and the Telegraph all covered Mr Carmichael’s first constitutional speech, in which he warns that supporting independence does not make you a ‘better Scot’ and attacks the ‘wrecking ball’ politics of the SNP. Then you read the small print and discover that the speech is not due until Wednesday in Inverness - when it will doubtless be dutifully reported again. Bingo!
Up the workers!
Poor old Gordon. First he forgets he’s still supposed to be looking after the good burghers of Kirkcaldy – and presumably getting paid for doing so. But then his MP’s salary pales into insignificance compared with his new sources of income – revealed by Guido Fawkes on Bonfire Night. We merely report…
Hot under the blue collar…
Two sources of advice on how to attract voters for Labour and the Tories– both linked to recent US elections. First, Peter Kellner ‘s You Gov wondered if the election of the first Democratic Mayor of the Big Apple on a left-leaning programme of attacking inequality and promoting human rights might be reflected here as people struggle to make ends meet. Second, Janet Daley in the Sunday Telegraph looked at the New Jersey victory of Governor Chris Christie, who attracts middle-class (skilled blue-collar) Americans because “he sounded like a man who understood and sympathised with – really understood and really sympathised with – the problems of ordinary people”
Keeping the lights on…
Robin McKie in Saturday’s Guardian reported on the experiment on Gigha that has potential to improve green energy for communities all over Scotland. Excess electricity produced by the island’s wind turbines, which presently goes to waste through inefficient cable transmission, will be stored in batteries. These are not your energiser bunny batteries, but huge containers with 75,000 litres of sulphuric acid mixed with vanadium pentoxide (don’t ask, but it sounds impressive). They will give the islanders 100kw of power when the wind isn’t blowing and are, of course, fully rechargeable.
Diamonds aren’t forever…
We may know Botswana primarily as the home of Sandy McCall Smith’s lady detective Precious Ramotswe, but the Voice of Russia UK tells us it is now a major diamond dealing centre. De Beers held its first international ‘sight’ in Gabarone this week having moved its entire operation - personnel, skills, equipment and technology – from London after 80 years of trading. Botswana already has its own burgeoning diamond industry – a source of conflict with environmentalists who claim the government has forced the Kalahari Bushmen away from their traditional homelands…
Off message but interesting…this week, two for the lawyers
1. Kennedy Wilson in Wednesday’s Scottish Review on the appearance of defendants in court. The history of the ‘peter pan’ collar in court cases – now apparently with connotations of 17th century witchcraft – is surprising (and we thought it was only a fashion statement). “The American Society of Trial Consultants has boomed in recent years”. Mr Wilson says, “The rubric goes something like this – in debt or fraud cases it pays to look down-at-heel; the accused may be advised to remove his expensive Rolex watch. If you are too smart it could destroy your credibility. In a murder case a defendant wearing a dark blue or black suit can connote power and even menace which his lawyer may want to play down. It's notable that OJ Simpson, charged with a particularly brutal double killing, was dressed for court in dove grey suits and immaculate white shirts”. And it’s not just what you wear, it’s how you move in your new Armani suit and tie (every criminal solicitor has one in his pocket for recalcitrant clients) that counts. If you’re up before the beak and not already sweating, you will be after reading this…
2. London barrister Jon Holbrook in last week’s Spiked on the often self-imposed obstacles in the way of the government (any government, not just the present incumbents) actually getting anything done. David Cameron, says Mr Holbrook, knows “Britain did not become one of the most powerful and prosperous nations on earth with consultations, impact assessments and audits… a year ago, the prime minister addressed the problem… he drew attention to how we all ‘know the story’: the minister announces a plan which is followed by three months of consultation, various impact assessments and ‘probably some judicial reviews to clog things up further’. So that ‘by the time the machinery of government has finally wheezed into action, the moment’s probably passed’.”
Mr Holbrook dissects the judicial reviews that arise from government incompetence, the how and why of cases the government has recently lost in court – “If the government shone a light on itself, it would realise that it emasculates its own machinery of government with myriad countervailing duties, regulations, restrictions, consultations and impact assessments.
His conclusion? “The machinery of British government is sclerotic: rigid, unresponsive and unable to adapt. It has the agility and dynamism of a beached whale”.
And finally…
Ewe, ewe and ewe… poor little lambs who have lost their way
We’ve all seen the line-ups in crime dramas where the trembling victim tries to pick out the villain and taps him on the shoulder. Now picture 100 sheep, under the watchful eye of Appleby Neighbourhood Police Team. Already traumatised by being rustled from Kirkby Stephen market last week, the poor woolly jumpers were lined up for scrutiny in an attempt to re-unite them with their rightful shepherds. Still, as the Daily Mail reports, the police have the rustlers under lock and key, and presumably the sheep are back on their own turf. All together now, aaaaah…
