THE TAXMAN’S HOGMANAY

Yes, today, 5th April is end of the fiscal year, but there will be no general rejoicing, and no bells to ring in the New Year; on the plus side there will be no hangovers either!

I suppose we could say the System Three Opinion Poll out this week is mildly encouraging, because it shows that support for the SNP is holding steady, while support for New Labour is slipping back.

Scottish Parliament Voting Intention

The Westminster poll is interesting, especially if you look at the situation since the General Election some nine months ago; the SNP has gained six points, and New Labour has lost three, the Liberals one, and the Tories two. Reasonable arithmetic, but since last month New Labour have lost five points, while the SNP only picked up two of them, with three going to the Liberals and one going to the Tories; it looks as if the Tory Leader’s foray into Easterhouse may also take a wee while to filter through. Then again, we need not lose a lot of sleep over the Westminster poll, as the next General Election will not be until 2006; however, it is an indication of the state of affairs

To sum up, the SNP still have a lot of work to do to convince the voters; John Swinney is not yet well known, but it took a long time for Alex Salmond to heighten his public image, and he managed to get thrown out of Parliament, and to write a racing column (not at the same time); these are strategies not open to John, as he is now Leader of the Opposition and has to act like one. One other point from the above; it is said that oppositions do not win elections - governments lose them - and that looks a likely scenario.

QUEEN MOTHER

We understand that Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother has died.

I’M TALKING INDEPENDENCE

Westminster. As an urgent priority, Scotland needs full financial independence – the ability to control all the taxes which people in Scotland presently pay to Westminster. We need the full powers of a normal parliament to get the best for Scotland. Also, people are increasingly contrasting the achievements of the Parliament with the failures of Scotland’s Government, the Scottish Executive. The Labour-Liberal Democrat Coalition, which forms the Executive has shown a lack of imagination and a lack of willingness to use many of the existing powers that the Parliament has, for fear of irritating their political bosses in London.

An SNP Government will have no such split loyalties, and will make smarter use of the Parliament’s existing powers.

No it’s not just the SNP. Non-partisan organisations such as the Scottish Civic Forum have called for the Parliament to have more say. And, most importantly, it’s what most Scots want too. Every poll since the establishment of the Parliament has shown that most Scots want it to take more powers from Westminster. In the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey of 2001, 72% of those questioned took that view. And, though the unionist parties are against any change, many prominent members of those parties have admitted that more powers make sense. Commenting on the opinion polls supporting more powers, Labour’s then Minister for Parliament, Tom McCabe said, "I think it is just a common sense acknowledgement that this institution will mature. Yes, people would like to see it deal with some other issues over time, and that may happen." (The Herald, 10-5-00).

This year, the First Minister, Jack McConnell, will be travelling to America, as part of the celebrations, but he will be there representing the Scottish Executive, rather than the Scottish Parliament; as the Scots Independent Chairman, Peter D Wright, points out in our tribute, this year the Tartan Day link is not to the Scottish Parliament website, but to the Scottish Executive one, and other political parties are not included. As far as is known, there are clips from the late Donald Dewar, from Lord Watson, the Tourism Minister, and from Mr McConnell himself; if he was thinking First Ministers, one would have thought he would have included Henry McLeish, but perhaps the airbrush was necessary after Henry’s fall from grace.

LAZARUS McLEISH

Anent Henry, who was accused of a gaffe at last year’s Tartan Day, when he referred to the foot and mouth epidemic as a little problem, which was just his way with words, and not a trivialising of the disaster, we have not heard very much. I wonder what will happen if Henry is cleared by the procurator fiscal, and there is no case to answer on the letting fiasco? The Labour Party has him dead and buried, and the Gordon Brown camp is supposed to be in retreat; if Henry survives, and there is every chance that he will, he could be re-elected next year, and then on the back benches there would be a very strong Brownite tendency.

When Jack McConnell was general secretary of the Scottish Labour Party, he got Pat Lally and Alex Mosson in Glasgow Council expelled from the Party, and barred from standing as candidates; being wily old foxes, they went to court, the court overturned the expulsions, and they were re-instated. Pat Lally survived so many scandals that had him dead and buried that he was known colloquially as "Lazarus"; Alex Mosson is now Lord Provost of Glasgow, and greets Jack McConnell congenially when they meet. Jack "sticks on a smile."

So what price Henry McLeish making a very, very embarrassing comeback?

FOOT IN THE MOUTH NOTES

It is well known that the Blessed Tony wants to join the Euro, and Chancellor Gordon Brown is very reluctant to commit himself, and the United Kingdom. Mrs Helen Liddell, Secretary of State for Scotland, is being touted to lead the pro Euro campaign in Scotland.

Aside from the fact that it will give her something to do, we are sure that Gordon Brown is behind the move.

Mrs Rosemary McKenna, Westminster Labour MP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, is calling for a code of conduct for list MSPs, most of whom are not Labour; every scandal which has occurred since the Scottish Parliament was set up has involved Labour Members of the Westminster Parliament.

Pluck first the beam from thine own eye, that thou may see more clearly to pluck the mote from thy brother’s.

There is no answer to that!

After some of the comments about Tommy Sheridan giving away half his salary to the Scottish Socialist Party, his wife had a letter in the Herald (Glasgow) defending her husband; she used the phrase "Well, dear Tommy is totally transparent....".

Aye, we’ve seen through him as well.

The problem is that they need the tax from the beer and cigarettes to pay for the advertising.

Last month Lord Palmer called for a referendum to decide whether to abolish the Scottish Parliament. The noble lord, of Huntley & Palmer Biscuits, is the President of the Palm Tree Silk Co (St Lucia) and a Residual Beneficiary of Banana Estate, St Lucia.

Obviously lives in a different world.

More than half of Britain’s energy companies are now in foreign hands, as a result of market forces.

Baroness Thatcher must be very proud that her policies took power away from Britain, and handed it to a bunch of foreigners.

JOHN SWINNEY ACCUSES FIRST MINISTER OF PRIVATE FINANCE COSTS "CON"

First Minister Jack McConnell was forced to deny "conning" voters over the cost of private involvement in public services in clashes today with SNP leader John Swinney. In rowdy exchanges at Question Time the SNP leader accused him of offering "incredible and unbelievable" figures for savings, in order to justify plans for building up to three private prisons in Scotland. The row, on the last day before the Easter recess, began with Mr Swinney challenging the First Minister over an assertion by justice minister Jim Wallace that a firm of private accountants had carried out an audit of figures used to justify the "privatisation" of Scotland's prisons. And Mr Swinney said the figures used by the Executive asserted a 50% saving in costs using private prisons but a report on prison privatisation in England put the savings at 14%. And broadening his attack, Mr Swinney said: "Isn't it the case this week we are seeing the unravelling of the bogus arguments about the privatisation of public services? In prisons the numbers don't stack up, in the post office and in dockyards workers are being thrown onto the dole for the sake of privatisation, in our hospitals NHS cleaners are getting the sack. On our railways, the private shareholders get public money and the public don't even get their trains." And he challenged: "Wouldn't the First Minister agree that the only way he can stand up the case for privatisation of public services is to stand up in Parliament and con the public?"

BED BLOCKING FIGURES ON THE RISE

The number of cases of so-called bed-blocking in Scotland has risen by nearly 10% since January of last year, according to latest statistics. The new figures released today prompted SNP shadow health minister Nicola Sturgeon to criticise the Executive's record on the matter. "Bed blocking has jumped by almost 10% in the last year alone, with over three thousand patients now trapped in beds while ready for discharge," she said. "Bed blocking is already running at a much higher rate in Scotland than in the rest of the UK and these figures show that Labour's only impact has been to make the problem significantly worse." Ms Sturgeon said the Executive had repeatedly promised to tackle this problem but accused ministers of refusing to address "the core problem" faced by the Health Service such as a lack of beds. She went on: "These bed blocking figures reinforce the need to reverse Labour's bed-cutting policy and institute a comprehensive, independent review of bed numbers. Only once we have assessed how many beds are needed will we be able to effectively tackle bed-blocking."

SCOTS SAY NO TO WAR WITH IRAQ

Scots are not prepared to back a new war against Iraq, according to the first major test of public opinion on the issue in Scotland. A survey by NFO System Three for The Herald found that just over a third of Scottish voters (38%) would endorse a military campaign against Saddam Hussein, led by the US and UK. A bigger group, 43% of those polled, expressly opposed a war, while the remaining 19% are either unconvinced or would not state their view. Women and older voters demonstrate even less enthusiasm for military action which finds most favour among young men. The overall reluctance of Scots, echoing the anti-war sentiment of UK voters in an earlier poll, comes as the prime minister prepares to discuss military options against Iraq with George W Bush this weekend. SNP Westminster group leader Alex Salmond said: "This poll showing that most Scots oppose a US/UK attack on Iraq reinforces the SNP's strong belief that military action cannot be morally justified without a new and specific mandate from the United Nations Security Council."

JOBS FEAR OVER QUARRY TAX

The UK Government is putting 2,500 jobs in rural Scotland under threat, according to the British Aggregates Association. It says the introduction of a new levy on quarry products will also threaten the future of construction companies which have entered fixed price contracts. Since Monday, a levy of 1 pound 60 a tonne will apply to all materials like crushed stone or gravel leaving British quarries. Last month, the Scottish National Party said it had concerns over the tax plans. Alex Salmond, the party's Westminster group leader, said the levy could threaten the future of a coastal defence scheme in Peterhead. The Banff and Buchan MP warned that the Breakhead public works project hung in the balance. At the time, he called for a delay in the introduction of the tax. The tax would have to be fair to rural communities north of the border, Mr Salmond said.

UNIONS THREATEN TO CUT LABOUR CAMPAIGN FUNDS

Scotland's most powerful trade unions are threatening to withhold donations to Labour's campaign in Scottish elections next year as anger rises over job losses. Union bosses are furious that the Scottish executive does not appear to be doing everything it can to safeguard jobs. Last week it was announced that more than 5,000 workers are to be laid off at the Post Office, BT and Scotland's naval dockyards, increasing grassroots pressure on union leaders to use all means at their disposal to influence the government. Those threatening to withhold funding include the TGWU, the GMB, which has already halved its donations to the party, and the prisons officers, fire-brigade and rail unions. The Communications Workers' Union announced it will cut 500,000 pounds from its donations over the next three years, in protest at Labour's "privatisation" of the Post Office. In a further blow, Scotland's biggest trade union, Unison, intends to rethink its own pro-Labour tactic of asking voters to support strong public services. SNP treasurer Jim Mather said: "Scottish Labour is in serious trouble for the 2003 elections. Party HQ is saddled with debts estimated at 10 million pounds, and now union funding has dried up as anger rises over job losses and privatisation. The financial outlook is bleak for a party already mired in allegations of cash-for-favours abuses."

INSPECTOR OF PRISONS ON SHORTLIST FOR HIS OWN JOB

Scotland's controversial prisons watchdog has been shortlisted for his own job, from which ministers are trying to oust him. Clive Fairweather - who has infuriated ministers with his attacks on the prison system's failings - is one of four applicants who have been shortlisted to be interviewed next month for the new contract of Chief Inspector of Scotland's Prisons. Opposition MSPs feared yesterday the move to shortlist Fairweather might be an attempt to keep him quiet until his contract is terminated in October. Michael Matheson, the SNP's shadow justice minister, said: "Clive Fairweather has proved to be well suited to the job of prisons inspector by the way in which he has held the service up to rigorous scrutiny and the way in which he has been open when giving evidence to committees at the Scottish parliament. I urge ministers not to block Fairweather from being re-appointed as the Chief Inspector for Prisons. Our prison service is too important for scrutiny to be silenced."

QUANGOS CRONYISM ROW HITS LABOUR

A new "jobs for the boys" storm erupted last night after ministers admitted paying a Labour Party activist over 1000 pounds a week for two part-time jobs. Esther Roberton is one of 56 people in Scotland who sits on two quangos and is Scotland's highest paid quango chief. She gets 31,464 pounds to head up the Scottish Further Education Funding Council and another 26,000 pounds as chair of Fife Health Board. Ministers have been under relentless attack from political opponents who have accused them of handing out well-paid jobs to Labour Party colleagues. Mid Scotland and Fife SNP MSP Tricia Marwick said she was deeply concerned about the "culture of cronyism" in the Labour Party. "I have already expressed my concerns about Esther Roberton," she said. "Since the Labour Party came to power she has been appointed to two top quangos and is now the highest paid appointee on any quango. This information has had to be dragged out of the Executive through a parliamentary question put down by me. The culture of cronyism is alive and well and living in Fife. It pervades every sector of public life in Fife, from the councils to some quango appointments to the Labour Party." Others named as being on more than one quango include the Labour Fife Council leader Christine May who gets 9028 pounds for being on Scottish Enterprise and 5798 pounds for her membership of Scottish Homes. Former STUC chief Campbell Christie, a Labour activist, gets 9028 pounds from Scottish Enterprise and 7000 pounds from Forth valley Health Board.

BUS FIRM SLASHES NEW VEHICLE BUDGET

Lothian's biggest bus operator is almost halving its investment in new buses in the wake of the city's recent bus wars. Lothian Buses said today it had been forced to shelve plans to spend 5.25 million pounds on 35 new vehicles this year and instead settle for just 20 at a cost of 3 million. SNP transport spokesman and Lothians MSP Kenny MacAskill said the public was now paying the price for the city's bus war. He said: " It has affected profit-ability and meant fewer new buses, leaving regular bus users with older ones." Mr MacAskill called for action from the Scottish Executive, saying: "We are getting fewer buses as a result of the Government failing to legislate properly."