For Auld Lang Syne and A' That!

Best of this festive season to anyone out there reading this. As clichéd as it may be, given this is Hogmanay (or Mahogany as my little sister used to call it when she was wee), it seems apt that I should reflect on the year just past.

It has been a monumental experience for me personally, and I think, for our country as a whole.

Not only did this year see my first wedding anniversary, but the months of hard work during the election period in the first few months of 2007 (and several months of 2006 as well) saw me elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament. This has obviously resulted in a few changes to my life, not least amongst them that I find myself considerably busier than I was before but still thoroughly enjoying the experience.

It has been an honour to serve in the Scottish Parliament with a SNP government led by the first ever SNP First Minister, and to have been able to actually cast a vote to elect Alex Salmond to that post.

However, of greater significance is that first ever SNP government.

There were of course worries that governing from a minority position would prove hugely difficult, but all the signs thus far are that the SNP is doing a far better job with a minority of members of the Scottish Parliament than the Labour-Liberal administration ever did from a majority position.

I think that in part this comes down to different mindsets. Many scoffed when the SNP made the conscious decision to change the term "Scottish Executive" to "Scottish Government". However, I don't think that the significance of this should be underestimated.

Firstly, it made sense as too many people did not relate to the term "Executive" but can more readily identify with what a government is. That alone made the change worthwhile.

It also speaks volumes about different attitudes to governance in devolved Scotland. Whilst the Labour-Liberal administration was content to act as a mere executor of British rule in Scotland, the SNP has set out its stall as a true government for Scotland. This in part reflects the "cooncil" mentality that many Labour ministers in particular brought to their administration, and clearly with devolution there are certain limits on what the SNP government can achieve. And we of course retain our perspective that independence is the best constitutional option for our country, allowing any Scottish government to be able to achieve even more. However, even within the confines of devolution the SNP is acting more like a government than our predecessors ever did before.

As I was able to state in a piece I wrote for the blog of Plaid Cymru Assembly Member, Bethan Jenkins, in government the SNP is already pursuing its distinctive social democratic agenda, designed to bring about a more prosperous, fair and socially just Scotland.

Consider just some of the achievements of the SNP government in what should be remembered has been just a short seven month period:

Moves have been made to being about the abolition of tuition fees for university students in the shame of the Graduate Endowment, and a return to the principle of free education.

Plans to follow the Welsh example and abolish prescription charges for all Scottish citizens by 2011.

One of the most ambitious targets for carbon reduction by the middle of this century of any country on the planet - an 80% reduction in carbon emissions.

A review of the right to buy policy in council housing, with proposals to scrap it entirely for newly built homes.

A decision that no more private prisons will be built in Scotland and work begun on creating a viable alternative to New Labour’s PFI madness.

Scrapping the tolls for the Forth and Tay road bridges, which remained an anomaly following the removal of tolls from other bridges across the country, with a further announcement on a new crossing for the Forth to replace the outdated road bridge there.

The most ambitious programme of railway infrastructure improvements for decades with electrification of the main line between our two biggest cities long overdue.

A decision to allow asylum seekers the same rights in higher education as the rest of Scotland’s people, underlining the SNP's internationalist and progressive credentials.

The freezing of the unfair council tax with plans to replace it with a fairer local income tax based on the ability to pay and the signing of a historic agreement with the representatives of local government to create a new more equal relationship between central government and local councils.

A summit held to discuss nuclear disarmament – the first ever government organised summit in the UK to discuss such.

These are just some of the achievements of the SNP in office, reflecting the progress made in Scotland in just a short space of time.

This year has been politically momentous for Scotland. It has ushered in the first ever democratic government distinctively for Scotland, and moved us on from the first eight years of devolution which were marked by that "cooncil" mentality I mentioned before.

The year has been momentous in other ways too. For Gordon Brown it might just have been the year when he lost the next general election whenever it may be, when he might just have won it if it had been held this year. His dithering has been well commented upon elsewhere, but he may just rue the day that he didn't decide to go for it in November.

No one really knows what made him change his mind. For me, he is an instinctively cautious politician and he was exercising that caution. Of course, the performance of Cameron at the Tory conference and the innate conservative English media moving closer to the Tories after their love in with New Labour over the last decade played a huge role, but I don't think we can discount Brown's alarm that the SNP would make huge gains played a part in his calculations.

Anyway, the history books of the future will tell us whether he called it the right way or not, but I think we can safely say that those same history books will also state that 2007 was a huge year for the development of Scotland and that the SNP in government performed marvellously well.

All that remains are my New Year's resolutions.

One, to blog a little bit more often, and two, to play what ever part I can in ensuring that 2008 and beyond are as good if not better for the SNP than 2007 has even been.

Long-term solutions to long-term conditions?

Last week in Parliament the Long Term Conditions Alliance Scotland (LTCAS) were raising awareness about the need for better support for people with long term conditions in Scotland.

Figures from LTCAS show that some 32287 people in Cumbernauld & Kilsyth, and around 2 million people across Scotland as a whole are living with long term conditions such as asthma, epilepsy, M.E., skin conditions, mental health problems, diabetes, heart disease, cystic fibrosis and cancer.

I was happy to support LTCAS’ vision for a Scotland where people living with long term conditions enjoy, not endure, full and positive lives, free from discrimination and aided by high quality services, support and information.

Without proper support, long term conditions can be very debilitating, and the worryingly large number families and individuals in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth affected by such conditions should not be denied their rights to full and positive life experiences.

The MSP Pledge from LTCAS reads:

“I support LTCAS’ vision for a Scotland where people living with long term conditions enjoy, not endure, full and positive lives, free from discrimination and supported by high quality services, support and information. I agree to: Recognise the significance of the challenge of long term conditions and work to improve the lives of the estimated 2 million people living with long term conditions in Scotland; Support increased resources for self management so that people have access to the information, education and support they need to successfully manage, and live well with, their condition(s); Support measures to improve transitions between services, for example child to adult, adult to older person, hospital to home.”

Warming Blanket Warning

At this time of year it is very important that people, especially older people, are able to keep safe and warm in their homes.

I was therefore very concerned to read that a North Lanarkshire survey revealed almost one-third of electric blankets tested were in a potentially dangerous condition. The Council Home Safety Unit had introduced a free testing programme to ensure electric blankets were suitable for use over the winter.

For one third of these blankets to be judged at risk is a worrying statistic, as faults can cause burns or electric shocks. Anyone who uses an electric blanket should get it checked regularly and serviced if necessary - so that they can rest easy during the colder months.

The North Lanarkshire Home Safety Unit can be contacted on 01698 302037 or PEhomesafety@northlan.gov.uk.

Positive - and Popular - Progress on Police and Prescriptions

Two more pieces of good news from the SNP Government in the past two days.

Yesterday, Cabinet Secretary for Health Nicola Sturgeon announced that from April 2008, the cost of a single prescription will be reduced from £6.85 to £5.00, with further annual reductions until the charge is abolished in April 2011.

Prescription charges are a tax on ill health, and can be a barrier to good health for too many people in Scotland - around 50% of the population currently pay for their prescriptions, two thirds of whom are estimated to have a chronic condition..

The Scottish Government is committed to building a healthier nation; through tackling the health inequalities that still scar our nation and supporting people to live longer and lead healthier lives.

Today Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill today announced that he had approved the increase in full, backdated to September 1 this year. The decision follows a recommendation from the Police Arbitration Tribunal last week following the breakdown of police pay negotiations earlier in the year.

Our police officers have a vital role to play in protecting communities of across Scotland, tackling crime and the fear of crime. This pay rise will boost morale among our police officers and acknowledges the vital contribution they make in building safer and stronger communities.

The announcement builds on the SNP Government’s provision of an additional £54 million to deliver 500 new recruits, improve the retention of skilled and experienced officers and support the redeployment of officers to strengthen community policing.

Both of these welcome developments show that this SNP is delivering on the pledges it made in the May 2007 elections. No wonder that today's YouGov opinion poll gives the SNP its highest ever rating - and another recent poll showed the Scottish Government to be five times more popular than Gordon Brown's disintegrating Westminster administration.

Clear Benefits Seen in Eyecare Announcement

A £10 million package for Scotland’s optical practices and health boards has been announced by Public Health Minister Shona Robison at the Scottish Optometric Conference in Glasgow.

Within Central Scotland region, this will include £159,600 for NHS Lanarkshire to provide a low vision and functional vision service for children and to integrate community eyecare services for adults. NHS Forth Valley will receive £114,150 to develop adult and children's low vision clinics.

Quality eyecare, and especially the kind of preventative measures this announcement will fund, are hugely important to the wellbeing of communities across Central Scotland.

Young people and their families in Cumbernauld, Kilsyth, Falkirk and across the NHS Lanarkshire and Forth Valley areas are quite literally seeing the benefits of the new SNP Government on daily basis, and this announcement confirms more good news for us all.

Cumbernauld Primary Should Re-open

I was saddened to read reports that the school building on Glasgow Road, Cumbernauld Village, is becoming vandalised and derelict - and have reiterated calls I made in submission to the North Lanarkshire Draft Local Plan process at the beginning of November.

The building is deteriorating rapidly, yet demand for primary school places is increasing in Cumbernauld, and the new shared primary campus on Eastfield Road is already struggling to cope with demand.

Re-opening the primary school in Cumbernauld Village would mean the building once again becomes a place of learning and development that unites the community in pride, instead of a place of vandalism and destruction that unites the community in concern.

The recent Scottish budget announced by Finance Minister John Swinney included £115 million extra capital for local authorities in 2008/09 which can be invested in schools.

New houses are being built north of the A80, and almost 100 new homes will be constructed in Cumbernauld Village in the coming months. Consideration must be given to re-opening the Village Primary School to cater for the huge number of new pupils these houses will bring.

Warm Welcome for Warm Homes

Last Friday I had the opportunity to visit two constituents who have benefited from the Warm Homes Campaign - a national programme run by fuel poverty charity Energy Action Scotland that aims to cut the number of people living in fuel poverty and reduce cold-related illnesses by raising awareness of the help available to people who cannot afford to heat their homes in winter.

Fuel poverty and excess winter deaths in an energy rich country such as ours are a disgrace. The work of Energy Action Scotland in raising awareness of these issues is hugely important and I fully support their efforts. I particularly welcome their Warm Homes Campaign, which is offering huge benefits to those at most risk of the effects of fuel poverty and cold related illness in Scotland.

People who are worried about keeping warm or who are struggling to pay their energy bills are encouraged to contact the Scottish Government’s Warm Deal freephone on 0800 316 6009 to ask what help is available.

It is important to remember the social value of saving energy as many fuel poor households currently ration their energy usage. The fear of debt when you are on a low income and living in a poorly insulated house is very real. Much more needs to be done to achieve the target of affordable to heat homes for all.

The awareness campaign by Energy Action Scotland runs in November and December and is supported by eaga.

Blogging for Bethan

I was recently asked by Bethan Jenkins (pictured), the youngest member of the Welsh Assembly, and a Plaid Cymru representative for South West Wales, to write a piece for her blog. Because I am being lazy I am going to just reproduce it here, but if you want to read it at her site then you can get it at:

http://bethanjenkins.blogspot.com/2007/10/bethans-guest-bloggers-1-jamie-hepburn.html

Anyway, it is a piece about where Scotland is going with the SNP government and is perhaps quite timely following the weekend's SNP conference in Aviemore.

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Anyone who knows their Shakespeare will be aware of the question posed in Macbeth; “stands Scotland where it did?”

If someone had fallen asleep before the Scottish Parliament election this year and awoke today and posed that same question, the answer would have to be a resounding no. You would need to have been asleep not to have noticed the changes taking place in Scotland.

The Scottish writer and artist Alasdair Gray once wrote “work as if you were in the early days of a better nation”, and our hypothetical Rip Van Winkle would be able to wake from their slumber to find that by virtue of the election of an SNP government these are the early days of a better nation.

The SNP is already pursuing its distinctive social democratic agenda, designed to bring about a more prosperous, fair and socially just Scotland. For my part it is a huge honour to serve in the Scottish Parliament at a time when we have the first ever SNP government. Indeed, not only is this the first ever SNP government, I would contend that it is the first ever Scottish government. Our predecessors in the shape of the Labour-Liberal pact which was in place for eight years could be accused of many things, but acting as a government is not really one of them. Their local council mentality would only ever allow them to be described as an administration at best.

However, since Alex Salmond and his cabinet were put in place we have seen a series of announcements that are impressive in their intent and reach. In just five months announcements have been made that will see the abolition of tuition fees for university students, and a return to the principle of free education; plans to follow the Welsh example and abolish prescription charges for all Scottish citizens; one of the most ambitious targets for carbon reduction by the middle of this century of any country on the planet; the creation of a new entrants scheme for Scottish farming; a review of the right to buy policy in council housing, with the suggestion that this will be scrapped entirely for newly built homes; two local accident and emergency departments earmarked for closure have been saved; a decision that no more private prisons will be built in Scotland; work begun on creating a viable alternative to New Labour’s PFI madness; the most ambitious programme of railway infrastructure improvements for decades; a decision to allow asylum seekers the same rights in higher education as the rest of Scotland’s people; the freezing of the unfair council tax with a view to replacing it with a fairer local income tax based on the ability to pay; and a summit held to discuss nuclear disarmament – the first ever government organised summit in the UK to discuss such.

This indicates a government that is progressive and outward looking. It reflects a programme of a real government rather than that of an administration following orders from London.

This is not to say that we do not face difficulties. The SNP are a minority government, with 47 members of the Scottish Parliament out of a total of 129. The maths clearly indicates that it will be difficult to pursue some of our agenda. That will mean that, on occasion, we will have to build loose alliances with other parties on a one off, policy by policy basis.

Furthermore, the comprehensive spending review conducted at Westminster has announced that the SNP government can expect to get the lowest annual increase to the Scottish block grant since the advent of devolution, with a miserly 0.5% increase.

This makes things financially tight for the SNP government, but in John Swinney MSP, we have a Cabinet Secretary for Finance who is equipped with all the abilities that his predecessors have lacked necessary for the task at hand, and I remain confident that the government will be able to cope with this financial settlement.

So, things are going well just now. I remain confident that they will remain to go that way so long as the SNP remains in power. The challenge for the SNP is to ensure that after four years we win the next Scottish Parliament election in 2011.

My hope is that when we do so, it will be the first elections to a Scottish Parliament in an independent Scotland. The SNP government has launched a “national conversation” which it wants all citizens and all of civic society to engage in about the future constitutional direction of our country. We will clearly set out our belief that Scotland can be a hugely better country to live in with independence, and I think we can convince the people of the merits of that case.

The plan is to hold a referendum in 2010, where we will provide the Scottish people with the chance to move to independence. If we can hold that referendum, then my hopes that the SNP election victory in 2011 is in the context of Scottish independence stand a very real chance of being fulfilled.

Right to Buy Shake Up

Nothing for weeks from me, and then two posts in one day!

However, the announcement that the SNP government is to consult on bringing forward changes to the right to buy legislation for council houses is an excellent development.

I believe that the right to buy policy has had long term consequences of creating real pressures on the availability of socially rented homes across the country.

I understand that many families have personally benefited by the policy as individual units. Indeed, I know, and am related to many people in that category. But taken as a whole, I think it has left us with a vastly depleted number of council houses available for rent today, which given the huge numbers of people registering as homeless in Scotland each year (over 50,000) as well as the huge waiting lists that exist for the limited number of available properties gives us huge problems today.

In short, as wider public policy and leaving the individual benefits to individual families (as important as they are) to one side for a moment, the right to buy policy has been limited in its effectiveness.

Therefore, the possibility that any new homes built for social let may be excluded from right to buy legislation is a very sensible one.

One of the reasons that local authorities have been reluctant to build new council houses was the realisation that as soon as they were built and let they were likely to be bought by tenants at huge discounted value under the right to buy legislation presently in place. You can understand the reluctance of local government to spend money on new properties that might be quickly whipped from under their feet.

Therefore, with this possibility removed, it is much more desirable for local authorities to get back into the house building game.

In itself, this proposal will not revolutionise socially rented housing in Scotland. It might just be the first step to doing so however.

At a time when Gordon Brown's Labour Party and David "just call me Dave" Cameron's Tories get sucked into a Dutch Auction on inheritance tax (something that effects only 6% of heritable estates it is worth noting), it is useful to remember that there are those who will not ever have to "worry" about falling into the taxable bracket in relation to this tax. They are the countless numbers of people who neither can afford or want to buy a house and are desperately waiting on a housing list for a council house.

They will welcome the idea being floated by the SNP government.

SNP Government Pursue End to Nuclear Weapons

Today saw a quite amazing event take place in Glasgow. For the first time in our country's history, we have had a government sponsored summit on nuclear disarmament.

This simply would not have been possible without the election of an SNP government. It is quite unthinkable to envisage at any stage a UK government of either Labour or Tory hue sponsor such an event such is their addiction to the nuclear weapons game.

Some will argue that this falls outwith the constitutional competence of the SNP government. You may argue that this is the case under the terms of the Scotland Act, although clearly in relation to planning, transport and environment one might argue that there is a degree of competence.

Whatever the case may be, I have to say that I am not bothered. Of course the unionists want us to confine Scotland to its own wee devolved kailyard on this and every other subject. Their small minds cannot comprehend Scotland's democratically elected government expressing a view that falls outwith this scope.

However, it can't come as that much of a surprise that the SNP is determined to act on this area. We have a long standing opposition to nuclear weapons, and naturally we don't see Scottish government as having to be boxed in by the Scotland Act.

However, this has not been the only criticism levelled against the SNP in relation to this issue.

David Cairns MP, a Scottish Office minister (my, he must be busy!) came out with the downright bizarre assertion that the SNP was pursuing a "loony left" policy in relation to nuclear disarmament.

Well, maybe he genuinely believes so. However, then many ordinary people will be surprised to learn that they belong to the loony left such is the breadth of opposition to nuclear weapons in this country. Indeed, I understand that it is actually somewhere within the deep darkest recesses of Labour Party policy to oppose nuclear proliferation. However, I suppose Mr Cairns gets to square that seeming circle by the fact that the Labour government is ignoring that policy of their own party and is intent on renewing the Trident nuclear weapons scheme.

Indeed, not only does this ignore Labour Party policy, but goes against the internationally agreed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which the United Kingdom is a signatory.

This brings me onto another area of attack on the SNP, expressed by Eric Joyce MP on Newsnight this evening.

Alex Salmond has written to all signatory states of this Treaty asking for Scotland to be given observer status at the next discussions surrounding this treaty. Apparently for Mr Joyce this amounts to Alex Salmond "cavorting with despots and dictators".

Let me say that there are a number of international leaders in the world who perhaps do fall into this category and are less than savoury characters. However, Alex Salmond has quite correctly written to each and every signatory of the Treaty. So it would just be as easy to characterise this as cavorting with democrats and statesmen given the number of liberal democracies that are included on the list. Of course that wouldn't make for the snide soundbite that Mr Joyce and the Labour Party are looking for.

The fact of the matter is that Alex Salmond and the SNP government are pursuing, by combination of today's summit and writing to the signatories of the non-proliferation treaty, the stated objective of the Scottish government, and something widely supported by the Scottish people; the removal of nuclear weapons from our country.

The Big Blockade

I don't seem to be doing too great a job at keeping this blog up to date! I must try better.


Anyway, today I managed to make it along to the "Big Blockade" protest at the Faslane nuclear submarine base on the Gareloch (picture below).


I considered it important to be there today as I totally oppose the existence of these immoral weapons that if used would incinerate men, women and children indiscriminately. I have always thought it the ultimate irony that one of the supposed reasons for war in Iraq was the existence of weapons of mass destruction there. Of course none were found there. If one wanted to find weapons of mass destruction they could find them quite easily and much closer to home, at Faslane.


I was delighted that the Scottish Parliament voted against the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system. I was also pleasantly surprised when a majority of Scottish members of the Westminster parliament also expressed their opposition.


This counts for little though until we have powers over defence repatriated to Scotland so we can legislate against nuclear weapons. So despite todays "Big Blockade" being touted at the culmination of a years long activity by the Faslane 365 organisation, the work goes on until we can get rid of Trident and nuclear weapons from Scotland.

Shrinking Lake Chad Highlights Environmental Change

Quite startling images of Lake Chad in today's papers really bring home the impact of humankind on the global environment. Sattelite images indicate that since 1963 the lake has reduced in size by 95%. The Scotsman ran an article on this very topic and also mentioned that Mount Kilimanjaro has lost 80% of its ice cap in the past 100 years and that the Dead Sea is 25 metres lower than it was 50 years ago. You can read the article at:

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1398802007

Anyway, don't want to say too much on the topic (just a quick blog today and I have written an article for the SNP Student Wing newspaper on the issue of climate change, and don't want to spoil that for you when you all rush out to read that!) but the pictures of Lake Chad were one of the starkest examples of the change to the Earth's environment in the last decades.

I am aware that there are those who question humankind's role in global warming, and I am hardly an expert in this field, although I do note that the vast majority of mainstream scientific opinion does seem to be in support of the viewpoint that we have and continue to play a determining factor in this trend. However, those who question our role have to ask themselves the question, can we afford to gamble that we haven't played any part? Wouldn't it be safer to assume we have and act accordingly and strive to make environmental improvements.

Anyway, I'm off to play my part by saving some energy by ending this post and turning off my computer for the night.

Time to Lock Up Drug Dealers

A couple of articles in the press in which I am quoted today (and a quite shockingly bad photo of me in the Daily Record, but we will skim over that) in relation to the proportion of those convicted of supplying illegal drugs serving jail time.

The articles can be found at:

[i] http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1391282007

[ii] http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news/tm_headline=msp-jail-all-drug-dealers&method=full&objectid=19718926&siteid=66633-name_page.html

Anyway, the articles come on the back of an answer I received to a written question (S3W-3093 if you are interested in having a look at the Scottish Parliament website) with the government which indicates that whilst in 1985-86 some 72% of those convicted of the supply of illegal drugs served a custodial sentence, by 2005-06 this proportion had dropped to a mere 46%. Less than half of those convicted of peddling drugs are doing jail time!

This statistic is despite the fact that in the same period the number convicted of the offence has risen from 244 in 85-86 to 1,562 in 05-06.

It all indicates that Kenny MacAskill is on the right track with his attempts to ensure that those in prison are the ones that should be in prison. It is a nonsense that we send people like fine defaulters to jail (frequently at a cost well in excess of the fine that has not been paid in the first instance) when only 46% of those convicted of the supply of illegal drugs face a custodial sentence.

Dusting off the Cobwebs

I was out and about in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth earlier today distributing some community surveys and finding out some views of local people about their area and on Scottish politics in general.

This will doubtless be the first of many "workdays" for me as we build towards the expected Westminster general election - possibly this Autumn, but more likely a bit further down the line I suspect. It was good to get out and about after what has been a busy Summer in the office and to hear a few views being expressed from more than a few local people.

Anyway, as I say, there will be more of this type of activity in the not too distant future, so if you are interested in coming and giving us a helping hand then just drop me an e-mail and let me know.

Time to Decouple Council and Parliament Elections

News that there seems unanimous agreement amongst the parties that the elections for the Scottish Parliament and Local Government should be decoupled is most welcome. On three occasions we have had elections for both on the same day, in 1999; 2003; and most recently this year.

It is fair to say that on the previous two occasions where this occurred did not result in the fiasco that took place on 3rd May 2007.

Much has been said and written about the fact that over 100,000 votes were lost as spoilt ballots. And this should rightly form part of the consideration when coming to a decision as to whether or not the polls should be held on separate days.

However, I have believed that this should be the case since well before 3rd May 2007.

For me it is justified that the polls are held apart from one another for the far more straight forward reason that the local government ballot is a hugely important one, but always gets lost amongst the equally important Scottish Parliament campaign. It is right that elections to our local authorities are allowed to hold the limelight on their own, so that people are well informed of the issues affecting local government as opposed to those affecting our country as a whole. For that simple reason a decision to decouple the two different elections will most likely win my support.

PFI Madness Costs Taxpayer £22.3billion

First blog in a wee while, but managed to make the front page of the Herald today. You can see the article at http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1646070.0.0.php

Basically, I got an answer to a written question that I lodged with the Scottish government which indicates that the combined cost of Private Finance Initiative (PFI)/Public Private Partnerships (PPP) over the course of their contractual life is a quite astonishing £22.3billion.

This is a staggering amount of money to have lavished on the private sector at public expense; and the evidence indicates that it isn't the most cost effective mechanism. The National Audit Office studied the PFI-PPP tendering process earlier this year and stated that the long tendering process involved with PFI-PPP could have been avoided or mitigated in the public sector. Furthermore a 2002 Audit Scotland report into PFI-PPP contracts for renewing schools found that the cost of the scheme was generally 2.5% to 4.0% higher than a local authority might have paid if it had borrowed the money on its own account, resulting in roughly £200,000 to £300,000 a year for each £10million invested.

And Allyson Pollock established that in the NHS PFI-PPP led to a diversion of resources from clinical services, staff and supplies. In other words, money being syphoned from front line services into private pockets.

Thankfully the new SNP administration is working away to come up with a not for profit model of financing infrastructure projects, which will result in greater financial efficiency for the public purse and an end to the private profiteering at the hands of public services. Indeed, Kenny MacAskill, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice served notice of SNP intentions when he announced that the proposed new prison at Low Moss will not be privately run.

Ensuring that public services are maintained by the public sector was a priority for the voters during the Scottish Parliament election campaign - as determined in a BBC opinion poll. It is a priority for the SNP too.

If you want to see details of the answer to the question I lodged that sparked today's Herald article then have a look below:

S3W-2233 - Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP) (Date Lodged 18 July 2007) : To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost to the taxpayer will be of all existing PFI/PPP projects over the course of their contractual life.

Answered by John Swinney (2 August 2007): The total estimated unitary charges for all existing PPP projects over their contractual life is £22.3 billion. This covers 102 PPP projects and spans the years 1999-2000 to 2040-41, a period of 42 years.

SNP Plan for Refugee Amnesty Denied by Labour

I have been involved with the SNP for a long time. I first got involved as a fresh faced teenager at university and quickly learnt that one of the jibes that would be thrown at me by Labour student opponents would be that somehow as a member of the SNP, seeking independence for Scotland I was narrow minded. Some would even use the spectre of racism against me and my fellow SNP activists in Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association.

Of course this was something I never accepted then or is it something I accept now.

It is plainly a nonsense to characterise the SNP in such light, and news out today demonstrates that far from the SNP being narrow, perhaps those Labourites who make such accusations should look a bit closer to home.

This story in the Scotsman (http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1219312007) indicates that the Labour Immigration Minister in London has point blank refused to accept the case of the SNP government that those 1,400 refugee families who have been based in Scotland since March 2006 or before should have been granted an amnesty.

This would make a lot of sense, and follows hard on the announcement that the SNP government will treat those refugee children who have been in the Scottish education system for three years or more as if they were Scottish domiciled students for the purposes of entering higher education (more evidence for the narrow viewpoint of the SNP no doubt for those Labour students I was at university with). Having 1,400 families tangled up in the asylum seeker process is a nonsense when they have been based in Scotland for so long.

It cannot make any sense to deny families that are bedded into Scottish communities the chance to play a full part in those communities. It is more costly to the state to maintain them in that asylum seeker system rather than allowing these families to get work and pay taxes and play a normal role in day to day life.

The SNP government can see this (surely defying the allegations of a narrow world view) yet the Labour government cannot. The SNP recognises that there are those in the world who have no option other than to flee their homeland for their safety and that of their families. The greatest tragedy about these people is that they would give anything to be home, yet they cannot return for fear of their own physical safety being compromised. So it is right that we offer them a chance to build a new home somewhere they can live in safety.

It is a shame that the Labour government seems too narrow to accept that.

Unionists Fail to Learn the Obvious in European Parliament Debacle

It has been a while since my last blog. Indeed my blogging efforts for the month of July were rather pathetic, with a solitary entry being all I could muster the energy to write.

Anyway, a few folk, though mainly my wife Julie, have been on at me to start again, so here we go.

And for my first entry following my period of self imposed exile I thought I would concentrate on an issue that has come to the fore in the last few days; that is the reduced representation that Scotland will have in the European Parliament in future.

There have been some unionist politicians who have expressed their opposition to this reduction in numbers, from seven to six. Struan Stevenson MEP recently had a letter in the Herald newspaper (you can see it at http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/letters/display.var.1589522.0.0.php) in which he bemoans the fact that Finland, with the same population as Scotland will retain 14 representatives in the European Parliament - more than double Scotland's representation. He was particularly scathing of the fact that Luxembourg (with a population the size of Edinburgh) will have the same representation as Scotland.

Similarly, David Martin MEP was expressing his disappointment that the UK electoral commission didn't take into account Scotland's distinctive nature when making recommendations as to what parts of the UK lost Members of the European Parliament. And Patricia Ferguson MSP also presented a motion before the Scottish Parliament in the lead up to the Electoral Commission making a final decision which said "that Scotland’s particular geographical circumstances and its devolved system of government suggest that Scottish representation [in the European Parliament] should not be reduced as suggested".

Surely even these unionist representatives realise that it is Scotland's continued non-presence as a full member state of the European Union that leaves us open to this reduction in representation? Scotland's status in the EU at present is that of a mere region of a member state (the UK). This means that we will always be vulnerable to decisions such as this one which seeks to cut our numbers in the European Parliament by one.

Struan Stevenson cited not only Finland and Luxembourg as examples of countries of a comparable or smaller size than Scotland within the EU but with greater representation in the European Parliament. He also mentioned the Republic of Ireland with some 4million people and 13 representatives in the European Parliament and Malta with only 400,000 citizens and 5 representatives, leaving them with a far lower number of citizens per MEP than Scotland. He could have cited other examples as well. Lithuania, with 3.5million people has 13 MEPs; Latvia, with 3million people has 9 MEPs; Estonia, with 1.3million people has 6 MEPs.

Of course, what Struan or most unionist politicians fail to do is draw attention to the fact that each of these examples are those of fully independent full member states of the EU. Maybe they are just worried that the Scottish people might actually understand the full implications of what these examples they band about should actually mean for our country. Perhaps they might even understand it fully themselves one day.

Unionist MPs are motivated by self-interest

I had a letter in the Herald today in response to an article by Malcolm Bruce MP, which I took particular umbrage with. You can read Mr Bruce's article at:

http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/featuresopinon/display.var.1514120.0.0.php

My letter can be read below:

Malcolm Bruce suggests that the new SNP government is trying to provoke the Westminster government. Among the examples he cites are the abolition of the graduate endowment fund and the denial of this benefit to English students.

This is a bizarre claim to make. First, I seem to recall that his party also included the abolition of the graduate endowment fund in its manifesto at the Scottish Parliament election. Was this an act of provocation, too? Or does Mr Bruce's attitude suggest that this was a LibDem promise that was never to be fulfilled in the first place?

Secondly, far from it being the SNP that denies English students the same entitlements as Scottish students, it is he as a Unionist who does so. Mr Bruce knows fine well that if Scotland were an independent member state of the EU, then English students would be entitled to the same as Scots-based students. Our status as a sub-state nation within the EU denies us this opportunity. It is being part of the UK that stops English students from being entitled to the same benefits as Scottish students.

Mr Bruce then goes on to spout the old Unionist rubbish about Scotland suffering reduced influence in the world with independence. His statement that "our combined influence in the world" would be weakened with independence is nonsense.

Indeed, his claims don't stand up to scrutiny, given that we are presently in the throes of seeing Scotland's number of representatives at the European Parliament cut from seven to six, while Lithuania, with a population of some 1.5 million fewer than Scotland, has 13 members of that body.

The fact of the matter is that Scotland presently has no distinct voice of its own in the world and only independence will rectify that.

Mr Bruce almost comes clean as to his real concerns when he writes about Scots being no longer eligible for influential careers with independence. This is, of course, by and large total garbage. Scotland will have its own civil service and diplomatic corps and there will be many opportunities for our citizens as part of this.

One area of employment may be cut off, however. The 59 Scottish MPs who are presently elected to Westminster will no longer be able to sit in that institution and draw their salaries or expenses.

Mr Bruce is, of course, one of these individuals. It is his career he is really worried about, and not those of anyone else. It is this self-interest that is so evident in the Unionist politician that holds our country back from making real progress with independence.

Opening of the Parliament

Today saw the third riding of the Scottish Parliament. This event for those who don't know, is an ancient tradition stretching back to pre-union days where members of the Scots Parliament would process along the Royal Mile to mark the opening of the legislature.

Since the advent of devolution, this event has been recreated with each new Parliament after each election. All members of the Scottish Parliament are invited to attend to be in the presence of the Queen as she addresses the assembled parliamentarians.

I was not amongst those parliamentarians present today.

It would be disingenuous to suggest that I was not there solely because I had an appointment in the constituency I represent. That was certainly part of it, but I must admit that the fact that I believe in an elected head of state was part of my rationale as well.

Before I left the house to attend the event in Cumbernauld I went to, I did manage to catch some of the proceedings on television. I thought Alex Salmond gave an excellent speech before Parliament setting out the SNP government's position.

I see some of my Parliamentary colleagues from the Labour benches have been upset by Alex's words. They seem perturbed by the fact that he pointed out that the SNP government favours independence.

Wouldn't it have seem rather odd had Alex Salmond omitted that fact? Indeed, wouldn't it have seemed just about as disingenuous if he had done so as if I had pretended that the only reason I wasn't in Edinburgh today was because of the event in Cumbernauld.

Anyway, that brings me onto that event. It was a Highland Dancing competition at Cumbernauld High School (photo below shows the participants along with myself and some of the Cumbernauld councillors) and I was very privileged to be asked to dole out prizes to the participants. The kids taking part were fantastic and I was very glad to be with them today.

Glasgow Airport Targeted for Terror Attack

I haven't posted for a while but today's events at Glasgow Airport feel like they should be commented upon. Terrorist incidents are not something we are used to in Scotland. Even at the height of the IRA bombing campaign on mainland Britain there were no attacks on Scottish soil.

The tragedy in the skies over Lockerbie on 21st December 1988 was the worst terrorist incident in the history of the United Kingdom, but mercifully there have been no major acts of terror perpetrated in Scotland since.

It is quite clear that the four wheel drive vehicle that was driven into the Glasgow Airport terminal building ablaze was done so to jeopardise life and limb. Thankfully that central aim of this maniacal act went unfulfilled and whilst people have obviously been scared and inconvenienced, no one has apparently been hurt, other than one of the drivers of the vehicle themselves.

Apparently since this incident another vehicle has been discovered outside the hospital where this individual is being treated with what has been described as a "device". Not much further explanation, but this ominous description would lead us to believe another attempt to maim and kill.

All very frightening, and will draw greater comment in coming days as more details emerge.

It is difficult to know what to say when something like this happens so close to home, particularly when something like this hasn't really happened so close to home before.

Doubtless, those who sought to perpetrate the act will seek justification in retribution or retaliation for some other event. It is hard to comment further when it is yet to be confirmed who exactly has been involved and what their motivation was.

However violence of this type can never be justified. The random targeting of civilians anywhere in the world is abhorrent. It is though alarming that even though no one was harmed on this particular occasion that this should be emphasised so starkly on home soil.

Scotland's Parliament Says no to Trident

Today was quite historic. For the first time, the Scottish Parliament has actually taken a clear position on the issue of nuclear weapons and their presence in Scotland.

The issue of the Trident nuclear weapons system has been debated before in the Parliament, but never before has such a position been reached.

Some concern was expressed by Labour members that the Parliament shouldn't be discussing the matter. This faux concern with constitutional niceties disguised their real concern that they might be forced to express a view on the matter themselves.

In the end most of them abstained, although congratulations are due to those Labour representatives who stood up for their principles and voted against Trident renewal.

There are those who would have Scotland contained to its own kailyard and impotent to voice its opinion on matters such as nuclear weapons. Clearly as a Scottish National Party MSP you would not expect me to agree with a such a stance. However, I can quite clearly state that of the many people contacting me about the matter advocated the cowardice avenue of failing to express an opinion. Indeed, all urged me to vote against Trident renewal.

I was delighted that not only did I do so today, but a majority of my parliamentary colleagues did so as well.

Not the Best Wee Country in the World

Jack McConnell's tagging of Scotland as the "Best Small Country in the World" in his former incarnation as our First Minister really annoys me.

It annoys me for several reasons. Firstly it smacks of the kind of national chauvinism that I shy away from. I never have bought into the idea that Scotland is somehow the "best" country in the world, or somehow better than others (the implication of best logically being that we must somehow be better than others). In fact all I want for Scotland is equality. I just want my country to be an equal member of the community of nations.

Secondly, I am hugely irked by the suggestion that Scotland is somehow "small". It annoys me when this is literally suggested. If you actually look at the size of Scotland in comparison to other nations in the world, our population places us right in the middle. (See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population) So in fact we are not a small country, but a perfectly reasonably sized one.

I am even more moved though by the suggestion that Scotland is figuratively small. Certainly the unionists would keep us confined to our own backyard and think small, but Scotland presents limitless opportunities for itself if it only demands the means to achieve such. The "Scottish cringe" is conjured up by this talk of us being small and I really hate it.

So having made my case against Scotland being the "best small country in the world", it is interesting to see today a report commissioned by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) that has attracted plenty of attention to quite clearly indicate that even if you bought into the rhetoric, the reality is somewhat different.

I certainly think the reportage that we are the "worst small country in Europe" is a tad over the top, but the report and its coverage brings into stark contrast McConnell's slogan with reality. Using measures such as health, life expectancy, employment prospects and educational attainment, this report places Scotland bottom out of ten countries of nine million or less.

And it is not just the FSB that can point to the ludicrous nature of Scotland being the best of the small. The United Nations Human Development Index - which broadly speaking measures quality of life in each UN member country - has consistently ranked Norway as the number one place to live on Earth in recent years. This country has a population some half a million less than ours. If any country can boast about being the "best" (although I would hope all nations would shun such pomposity) then surely it is Norway.

Monklands A&E Saved

A few days late with this post I know - but things have been pretty hectic of late. Anyway, I was absolutely delighted with the announcement made on Wednesday that the A&E at Monklands Hospital would be saved, just as the SNP promised it would be should we win the election and form the government.

A lot had been said by certain cynics that the SNP only made the promise to save the A&E out of electoral expediency and that it was a pledge that would go unfulfilled. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that the SNP took the decision to promise to save the A&E because any reasonable analysis of health services in Lanarkshire dictate that it had to remain open.

The A&E is sited in a location of high deprivation and the associated problems that brings, such as above average levels of ill health. I doubt it can be proved that any such area which has lost its local A&E has then gone on to see improvements to the local population's health as a consequence.

Furthermore, the transport links through the NHS Lanarkshire area are such that the various communities presently served by the three operating A&Es are poorly connected. This is not to mention the overcrowding at A&E at the remaining sites if the A&E at Monklands had closed.

For these reasons and more we took the decision to save the A&E. It was the right thing to do.

Maiden Speech Made

Today provided me my first opportunity to make a contribution in the Scottish Parliament chamber. The speech was on a topic that I hadn't really envisaged making my first contribution, being as it was on rural development.

I was born and brought up in Glasgow, so this may at first glance seem an odd choice. However, the Central Scotland region I represent has a large number of rural communities within it. Most people probably think of it as a fairly urbanised part of the world, and whilst this is in the main quite true, it is fair to point to the large rural part of Central Scotland as well.

That was why I was delighted to be able to speak today (and also delighted to hear the excellent maiden speech in the same debate of my friend Aileen Campbell). Rural communities in Central Scotland and beyond will welcome the £1.6billion that the Rural Development Programme announced by the SNP government today. Equally they will welcome commitments to assisting the rural economy.

To that end I was glad to be able to highlight two local cases which require attention to assist rural communities in Central Scotland. Firstly I was able to point out the need to upgrade the A803 road that stretches from Glasgow through Kilsyth and on to Falkirk. This road is a vital artery for many rural communities in Central Scotland and is to be frank not fit for purpose, having to deal with a volume of traffic that it wasn't designed for. The road is the responsibility of the local authorities whose area it snakes through and not the Scottish Executive's per say.

However I look forward to working with the new government to encourage local authorities to make improvements to Scotland's rural roads network. Improving the A803 would be of great social and economic benefit to those rural communities served by it.

I was also able to highlight the problem of poor bus services in rural Central Scotland - citing the specific example of services from Kilsyth to Monklands Hospital. Poor public transport links are holding back people in rural communities from being able to get around to recreate, do business or in the specific example I give, visit ill friends and relatives in hospital. We need to make improvements to rural public transport.

Rural development is a national urgency, and I am glad that the new SNP government is treating it as such.

Extraordinary Rendition Allegations

A programme broadcast on BBC 2 tonight reminded us of the allegations that the process of extraordinary rendition has been facilitated through Scotland's airports. Coincidentally, there was a demonstration held at the Scottish Parliament today by the "Scotland Against Criminalising Communities" organisation against the process of extraordinary rendition.

For those who are unaware, the process of extraordinary rendition is whereby United States government agencies (most likely the Central Intelligence Agency) abduct individuals who they allege of involvement in activities they dislike and hold them against their will without recourse to due legal process and then fly them (bound and hooded and it is alleged, drugged) to countries where they will be detained and tortured. This is clearly outwith the terms of acceptable domestic or international legal practice and violates the UN Convention Against Torture.

The programme televised tonight often made for harrowing viewing. Some of the stories of individuals who allege they have been subjected to these practices were truly horrific. And whilst horrific they may have been, and whilst easier it may be to flick to another channel and close our eyes and ears to such happenings, I believe we must not.

I think all decent citizens of Scotland reasonably expect that when a crime has happened, those responsible should face the fullest extent of prosecution under law. That extraordinary rendition may have been facilitated through Scotland's airports indicates that a crime may have happened on Scottish soil. And I believe these to be crimes of the most serious nature.

To that end, I think it is wholly right and justified to seek a full inquiry into the allegations that have been made. I made clear to those demonstrating today that I will fully back such calls and I make that clear again on my blog.

A Real Government for Scotland

Today has seen a huge stride forward for the SNP. Yesterday was of course a monumental occasion, with us seeing - and I being fortunate enough to be in the privileged position of being able to actually vote for - the first ever SNP First Minister of Scotland. However, today was arguably even more important, for we now have the various ministerial posts filled, and we have the first ever SNP government in Scotland.

Indeed, I would contend we have our first ever Scottish government.

Whilst the previous Scottish Executive was basically content to administer Scotland in a fairly basic manner, we now have a set of people who are actually willing to make big decisions about our country's future as well as stand up for Scotland and demand that more responsibilities be given to our elected representatives. First up will be calling for the return of £23million of money withdrawn from Scotland's pensioners by Westminster when free personal care for the elderly was introduced. Then we will see demands for Scotland to be given a share of its oil revenues.

Much has been made by Labour that this amounts to picking a fight with the UK government. I happen to think this is basically part of their scaremongering campaign against the SNP that they started during the election campaign. However, even if they genuinely believe it, then they are grossly mistaken.

And it would be an easy mistake to make from their limited perspective I suppose. Their style of "leadership" for Scotland has been to faithfully administer London rule north of the border. What they fundamentally fail to understand is that the SNP will of course never do this. We will govern, and that means actually standing up for the national interest.

I look forward to playing my part supporting my SNP colleagues who have the honour of that task of government for Scotland.

Name Change

I have been somewhat lax in my blogging attempts of late, having been somewhat busy since my election to the Parliament. However I am keen to keep going with the blog, but felt a wee change in name was necessary to reflect the change of circumstance I find myself in, so "520 votes for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth" has by the power of magical metamorphosis become "The Hepburn Herald" (best I can come up with folks, if you have any better ideas then feel free to let me know). Anyway, my thoughts and musings on the world as I find it will shortly recommence here, so feel free to keep an eye open for them.

That was the election that was

So it's all over and as most will probably know by now, we didn't manage to win the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency. Naturally I am personally disappointed by this result. However, we still managed to increase our vote. A big thanks to the 10,593 people who voted for me and backed the SNP's campaign for progressive change.

And through my personal disappointment I am able to see the bigger picture which is that the SNP has won the Scottish Parliament election and ended up the largest party with 47 seats. I should also point out that I am one of those 47 members of the Scottish Parliament having been elected to represent the people of the Central Scotland region. So whilst I am disappointed not to be the MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, I am delighted to have been elected to serve in Scotland's Parliament for the next four years.

Thank you to all who have contacted me through the blog over the course of the campaign. Feel free to contact me on jamie.hepburn@snp.org and keep in touch.

Tricentenary of the Union, Blink and You'll Miss it!

Today marked the three hundredth anniversary of the stubbing out of Scottish independence and the enforcement of the Act of Union. Not that you would necessarily know it to have walked down practically any street in Scotland today. Noticeable by their absence were the marching bands, fireworks or red arrows fly overs.

The reason for this of course is that on the eve of an election the unionist establishment don't want to remind the people of Scotland that their country was essentially dragged kicking and screaming into a union the people of the time didn't want (or indeed need). They don't want to remind people that there were riots on the streets at the time, lest it focus minds too sharply on the question of the continued usefulness of the union today.

Sadly for them, people are doing this anyway. And as they continue to do so I believe that more and more will come to realise that the union has had its time and outlived any usefulness it may have once served (if it ever did at all) and opt for an independent future for Scotland.

Tony Blair - Narrow Nationalist

Tony Blair returned to Scotland to make a last ditch plea to vote for Labour. He seemed to make the ludicrous case for the continuation of the union on the basis that, "in all probability, a Scot will become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom".

The response of Scotland should be an overwhelming "so what" to this statement.

For some reason Tony Blair - and no doubt Gordon Brown, the Scot in question - seem to think that our country should decide its future based purely on the ambitions of one man. For some reason they seem to believe that Scotland will be better served by having a Scot as Prime Minister based in England rather than taking control of their own destiny and making decisions for themselves.

For all Blair's wittering on about the SNP representing narrow nationalism, it is actually his utterings that represent the narrow nationalism. Are we in Scotland supposed to be so narrow that we would rejoice in Gordon Brown becoming PM of the UK merely because he is Scottish?

The fact of the matter remains that Brown remains committed to pushing the interests of the British state ahead of Scotland's own interests. That is why having one Scot at the top of the pile in the UK political establishment will never be an adequate replacement for Scotland collectively taking decisions for ourselves with independence.

Thankfully the Scottish people don't zip up the back of their heids and won't fall for this Blair blarney.

Gordon Picks a Fight

One of the features of campaigning all day in an election contest is that it is hard to keep up with the news. So it was interesting to be told on the doorstep today by one voter that Gordon Brown has apparently given a frosty response to being questioned as to whether or not he can work with Alex Salmond as First Minister. This was then confirmed in discussion with my election agent who said that our Chancellor had indeed been less than forthcoming with reassurances that he will work with my party leader should he become the next First Minister.

The irony here is that whilst the Labour Party spout a lot of nonsense about an SNP led government causing all sorts of havoc and seeking fights with Westminster, Alex Salmond has made it quite clear that he will work with a Brown premiership to further Scotland's interests. It is the Labour Party leadership, and the most likely future Prime Minister of the UK that is threatening obstruction and is seeking a fight with a SNP led Scottish Executive.

This macho posturing from Brown is of course a lot of nonsense. He will have to work with Alex Salmond, and he will have to like it, or (more likely) lump it!

Meanwhile, the campaigning goes on. A few photos are attached from the campaign trail.

The Early Days of a Better Nation?

Today was a good one. Some more campaigning in the Sun was made all the better by reading the Sunday Herald before heading off in the morning. Their editorial was reserved for an endorsement of the SNP for the election (which can be seen at http://www.sundayherald.com/election2007/election2007/display.var.1362928.0.0.php). This lifted my spirits immediately as it is not every day that the SNP gets an endorsement from a national newspaper.



This indicates the tremendous success of the SNP campaign, exemplified by the fact that practically every newspaper today carried stories of huge swings towards the SNP from Labour in the most recent opinion polls. The work of course goes on in the final days of this election campaign to ensure that these polls come to pass. Then we will hopefully be able to bring into being the words used by the Sunday Herald at the beginning of their article, borrowed from Alasdair Gray, "work as if you live in the early days of a better nation".

International Press Descends on Cumbernauld and Kilsyth

In between visits and campaigning today, I had quite a bit of dealing with the press. First up was the Guardian newspaper up from London who wanted to interview me in relation to the campaign and to see how things are on the ground in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth. It is quite clear that despite the London media usually not bothering with what happens north of Watford that they are alert to the fact that this Scottish Parliament election is rather interesting, hence the Guardian's visit today. I await their article with interest.

Then in the afternoon I was interviewed by a national radio station in Portugal. The guy interviewing me had clearly done his research on the issues being discussed on Scotland and we had quite an interesting interview. I think he might have struggled with my West of Scotland accent, but his English was certainly a lot better than my Portuguese!

And then whilst en route to Kilsyth I was informed via text message that a piece on Cumbernauld and Kilsyth (which I was interviewed for last week) was broadcast on tonight's Scotland Today programme. You can view this (and other broadcasts on other constituencies) at the Scotland Today website at http://www.stv.tv/content/Politics_NEW/index.html

Campaigning in the Sun

Today was spent canvassing voters across the constituency and enjoying the good weather (makes a nice change from the rain). Once again we were receiving a great response from those we spoke to, with many people confirming that they will be voting SNP on 3rd May. I spent the morning sunning myself with Councillor Neil MacCallum (pictured with myself) in the Seafar area where we spoke to a few folk. One woman was particularly angry at the way Cumbernauld has been run down since the town was incorporated into the North Lanarkshire area under Labour control from Motherwell. She was worried about her kids growing up in the area with a lack of amenities. We could inform her that we shared those concerns and she left us with a promise to vote for us but equally to "hound" us if elected to make sure that we get things done for the area. We were able to respond that we were quite happy with that bargain!

Then in the evening I visited a few households in Kilsyth with our local council candidate David Key. I was struck by just how aware of the issues featured in this election campaign that most people we spoke to were. It is clear that this election has captured the public imagination in ways that previous campaigns have not done.

21st Anniversary of Chernobyl Accident

I started this morning's campaigning by swinging by George Square in Glasgow to pay a visit to the vigil for the 21st anniversary of the Chernobyl accident organised by Jim Gillies, a Cumbernauld resident. Jim is a quite phenomenal person.

He has organised a lot of fundraising for the children affected by the Chernobyl accident travelling over to Ukraine quite regularly - often by coach for the whole journey across Europe - to deliver the funds he has raised or vital equipment for local hospitals. His truly remarkable efforts are rightly to be praised.

Also, his efforts to ensure we don't forget about the Chernobyl accident is itself a great effort. We must not forget this event, which serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of nuclear power.

SNP Rising Star

Today I had the pleasure of attending my third hustings of the campaign. I know I said previously that there were only two for me to attend, but I got a wee message sent to me a couple of days ago to say that there would be another for me to go to.

However, there is a twist. This particular hustings meeting involved my attendance as part of the audience rather than the panel as they were being held at St Maurice's High School as part of their mock election campaign. So the SNP candidate today was Matthew Hewitt (pictured with myself and Councillor Liz Irvine) and not Jamie Hepburn.

I am glad to say that Matthew aquitted himself very well against his fellow candidates, all of whom were good performers on the day. Their election is being held tomorrow so best of luck to Matthew who has all the makings of a top rate SNP representative of the future.

They're Fitba Crazy, Politics Mad

The news was today awash with stories that several leading Scottish football figures have banded together to appear in an advert backing the union. These guys are entitled to their opinion, but the content of their message needs to be called into question.

The advert apparently begins, "When Scotland calls, we answer." Very noble, however it seems in this instance that it is far more likely the Labour Party has been calling. What will their answer be when Scotland calls for independence I wonder?

The advert goes on to say, "We are proud that Scotland has always stood on its own two feet, but we also believe that Scotland stands taller because we are part of the United Kingdom." Scotland has always stood on its own two feet has it? I would have thought our country standing on its own two feet would have involved engaging directly with the world community rather than relying on a government based 400 miles furth of our borders to do our talking for us.

The following anodyne statement within the advert is my favourite bit. "The United Kingdom is a country Scotland helped build." And what of it? Does this mean that we are to be stuck in it forever more?

And the advert finishes off by saying, "We urge every patriotic Scot to help maintain Scotland's place in the United Kingdom which has served Scotland well."

Served Scotland well has it? Go tell that to the one in four children in poverty, or the one in five pensioners living in poverty. Or explain to me why it is that Scotland is the only developed country on this planet which has discovered oil and in the interim period seen its people get relatively poorer. Why is it that economic growth in our country lags way behind similarly sized European nations.

I won't lose too much sleep over this intervention. It all smacks as a little bit desperate to me.

Our Delusional First Minister

You may recall that I previously posted on the blog about Tony Blair begging the people of Scotland not to "give him a kicking" by voting SNP. Now we have Jack McConnell on Radio Four repeating his master's message.

How convenient for Jack to try and obscure the fact that the election is to form the next Scottish Executive which HE has been in charge of since 2001. What exactly does Tony Blair have to do with this. It is he who will get an electoral "kicking" on 3rd May, and deservedly so. The campaign of the Labour Party in this election has been one of the most unremittingly negative going.

Meanwhile we took the positive message of the SNP to the streets of Kilsyth and Cumbernauld, as well as finding time to pop by the Tesco at Craigmarloch (pictured) where we found a great and warm response from the members of the public we spoke to there. And I didn't have to suggest they kick anyone at any time!

The Second and Last Hustings

Tonight saw the second and last hustings for the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency after the first set yesterday. Unlike last night the hustings tonight (held in Cumbernauld College) was exclusively for the Scottish Parliament candidates, with the four of us contesting the constituency joined by a representative from the SSP, Solidarity and the Scottish Christian Party.

The event tonight was well attended and many issues of local importance were brought up.

One issue that was raised was the ongoing problems at Cumbernauld Town Centre. Since the Tories allowed this facility to be privatised there have been problems there. Essentially the people of Cumbernauld don't really have a proper town centre, but a decrepit 1960s shopping centre. Have you ever heard of a town centre that is locked at night so that people can't access it? That is the reality that people in Cumbernauld have to face. The town centre does not do justice for a town the size of Cumbernauld. It should be the very civic heart of the town, but at the moment it is far from achieving that purpose.

One lady at the hustings who is involved with a local credit union highlighted the huge problem that local bodies such as that have in getting premises at the town centre, reinforcing the fact that the town doesn't really have a town centre to speak of. My Labour opponent and incumbent MSP Cathie Craigie has recently announced that she intends to establish a trust for the town centre.

How convenient that she makes this announcement on the eve of an election in which she feels under pressure. She has been an MSP for eight years and it has taken her this length of time to act on the issue. We have been surveying local people - as I have mentioned previously on this blog - and fully 96% of people who responded told us that they are concerned by the state of the town centre. If successful on 3rd May I give an assurance to them that I won't wait eight years to act on the town centre, but will get working on the matter within the first eight DAYS of being elected.

Other matters of importance raised were the loss of 400 jobs at the Inland Revenue in Cumbernauld, something to which I am totally opposed. Gordon Brown has made big play of cutting "civil service" jobs. He clearly is lulling people into the idea that Sir Humphrey down in Whitehall is for his jotters when in actual fact it is front line workers, many of whom are on short term contracts with little job security and low pay that face the chop.

We also had the chance to discuss Cumbernauld House's future. This important building has a long history and was most recently used by the D.H. Morris Group which has recently gone under. Many local people now believe that this should be used as a community facility and I agree with them. It was suggested that this could be brought into community ownership with a purchase organised by the Cumbernauld community. That is one solution and if it emerges as the most obvious way to create a community facility out of Cumbernauld House then I will support it, but we can look at other methods too.

The future of the A&E at Monklands was also brought up. I was delighted to be able to point to the fact that the SNP has given a cast iron guarantee - and it is in our manifesto if you want to look - that if we form the administration after the election then we will reverse the dangerous decision to close the A&E at Monklands.

All in all, I have to confess I enjoyed tonight's event. My only disappointment is that we have only had two hustings during the entire campaign.

Alex Salmond visits Kilsyth

Another busy day today. Spent the early part of the afternoon knocking doors in Abronhill with my colleague Councillor Liz Irvine. It was heartening to hear from people that they had received our election address and most seemed to respond well to the issues we had raised in it. I met many people who are going to vote SNP on 3rd May, some for the very first time. Increasingly people are coming to realise that the way to make change happen at this election is by supporting the SNP and that was quite clear from many conversations I had today.

Then it was over to Kilsyth where SNP leader Alex Salmond was paying a visit. We got the chance to meet with a number of folk on Kilsyth Main Street. Again, it is clear that not only are people coming over to our campaign locally, but that the campaign to make Alex Salmond First Minister of Scotland has really captured the public imagination. Most people we spoke to were telling us that they intend to vote SNP at the election.

And this evening we had the first election hustings of this campaign at Cumbernauld Primary. It was a combined hustings for the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Scottish Parliament campaign and the Cumbernauld North ward for North Lanarkshire Council, so there was a massed rank of about 16 candidates including myself and my SNP colleagues Alan O'Brien and Norman Robinson.

The chairman of tonight's event started off by making that old gag that at one stage he thought he would have to introduce the audience to the panel, but in the end there was a pretty good turnout. That there were so many candidates meant not a lot of time to talk for each individual, but we got through some interesting topics, many of which we have been speaking about already in this campaign. It was a good warm up for tomorrow night's second (and last) hustings of the campaign at Cumbernauld College.

Democrazy

The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is running a campaign to encourage young people to use their vote at the upcoming election. As part of this they have made a video which is being hosted at the "You Tube" website.

A few weeks ago myself and Aileen Campbell, the SNP candidate for Clydesdale, were cornered by the ERS whilst in Edinburgh and persuaded to be filmed for this video. Have a wee look at it yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eybm6aqWGQk and catch the fleeting appearance of myself and Ms Campbell.

Labour Lose Unison Support

I am a staunch supporter of the principle of trade unionism and always have been. I think that it is fundamentally important that workers have the maximum protection in the workplace and that our unions have played a hugely important part in securing many of the basic laws that protect employees which we take for granted today.

However, I have always had qualms with the way in which many of the trade unions in Scotland have given blind loyalty to the Labour Party. The manner in which they have continued to pay homage to Labour, not to mention swell the coffers of the Labour Party, even whilst they have governed against their interests and policies. Labour have pursued the Private Finance Initiative almost religiously despite trade union concerns. Labour has done little to reverse the privatising tendencies of their Tory predecessors (take air traffic control as an example). And the UK continues to have the longest working hours and least public holidays of Western Europe.

Therefore, the persistence of the unions in supporting Labour has been annoying to say the least.

It was therefore hugely heartening to hear that Scotland's biggest union Unison abstained on a vote at the general council of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) on whether or not to back Labour in this election. I have always reckoned that Unison was perhaps the most loyal of all the trade unions to the Labour Party. Therefore their failure to back Labour in today's vote is a huge indication of the level of disaffection that exists amongst many trade unionists with the current direction of the country.

I should point out that the downside is that if Unison had voted against the backing of Labour then the STUC would not have given its support, as despite their abstention the vote went through by a majority of one. Still it is a step in the right direction and one which I imagine that many grass roots members of Unison will welcome.

MoD Ready to Enact SNP Policy

An interesting article appeared in the Scotland on Sunday today. It indicates the influence the SNP can exert even before we have seen the result of the upcoming election.

It appears that the Ministry of Defence has scoped out alternative sites - all furth of Scotland's borders - to locate the nuclear fleet presently anchored at the Faslane base on the Clyde. And the main reason for this appears to be the mere prospect of an SNP victory on 3rd May.

Thus we have the British government preparing to respond to a central demand of the SNP - the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from Scotland - already. This policy is hugely popular with the Scottish people. Indeed in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, some 75.5% of those who responded to the survey we distributed across the area stated they opposed the Labour government's renewal of nuclear weapons.

It also tells us how serious the prospect of an SNP victory is on 3rd May. Even the British government recognises this.

To have a read of the Scotland on Sunday story take a look at http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=577262007