The Flag in the Wind
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DEATH OF STEWART EWING

Everyone in the Scottish National Party has been shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Stewart Ewing, 76, husband of Dr Winnie Ewing MSP. Stewart died in Dr Gray's Hospital, Elgin following a fire at their home in Miltonduff near Elgin.

Stewart Ewing was a prominent SNP activist and campaigner for Scottish Independence. He not only supported and advised his wife Winnie Ewing in her political career, acting as election agent and constituency manager, but also stood as a candidate himself. Stewart was a chartered accountant who had his own business for most of his adult life and he was also a senor lecturer in taxation at Strathclyde University.

Stewart and Winnie, who had been married for 47 years, have three children, Fergus Ewing MSP, Annabelle Ewing MP, and Terry Ewing, and three grandchildren, Ciara, Jamie, and Sophie. Stewart was also father in law to Margaret Ewing MSP, wife of Fergus.

Stewart encouraged and supported Winnie when she won her famous victory at the Hamilton by-election in November 1967 - credited with being the first real electoral breakthrough for the SNP. Winnie was subsequently MP for Moray and Nairn between 1974 and 1979 and then represented the Highlands and Islands constituency in the European Parliament - where she became known as Madame Ecosse - from 1979 until she was elected to the Scottish Parliament for the Highlands and Islands region in 1999. Stewart was Winnie's election agent throughout all the European elections. Winnie, who is the mother of the Scottish Parliament, is retiring from politics at the end of this year's parliamentary term.

Stewart has also been supportive of his three children, two of whom have gone into politics. Fergus Ewing who has been MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber since 1999 and Annabelle Ewing who was elected MP for Perth in 2001.

Stewart also stepped into front line politics when he defeated the former Labour group leader in Glasgow and won the council seat of Summerston in 1977 helping the SNP win control of Glasgow Corporation.

Commenting on the death of Mr Ewing, SNP leader John Swinney MSP said: "My and the party's thoughts are with Winnie, and their children Fergus, Annabelle and Terry, and daughter-in-law Margaret. They have lost a husband and father and Scotland has lost a staunch patriot. Stewart made an outstanding public and private contribution to the cause of Scottish independence and his unique counsel will be missed".

SNP Westminster leader Alex Salmond MP added, "Stewart Ewing was a fine man and a tremendous support to Winnie over a long period in public life. They were very much a political team. He will be sorely missed by the many people in the SNP who had great affection for the man and great respect for his wise counsel."

Stewart Ewing's funeral will take place on Saturday 11 January at 1.30pm in St Geradine's Church, Lossiemouth, with a wake in the Stotfield Hotel, Lossiemouth. Family flowers only. Donations can be made to Maggie's Centre.

This has been a fairly quiet New Year, but things are beginning to hot up already; the political hysterians, in this case Rhona Brankin of the Labour Party, George Lyon of the Liberals, and sundry spear carriers for the unholy duo plus a few odd Tories are starting to carp about the SNP and fishing.

They have been writing to the press to challenge Richard Lochhead’s account of what went on at the fisheries meeting in Brussels, where he accused their spokesmen of being taken to the cleaners by the other countries’ negotiating teams; Mr Lyon was only there for the last few hours, so little he knew, whereas Richard sat and suffered through all the talks, despite the efforts of the UK delegation to have him removed, so his comments have more validity.

Ms Brankin, who was once upon a time the person responsible for fisheries, managed on her watch to give away 6000 tonnes of the Scottish haddock quota to the Danes, to help feed the pigs, and had the dubious distinction of seeing Scottish fishermen burning her effigy, not a natural course of action for normally respectable god fearing men; her assertion that "an independent Scotland is not magically going to bring back the stocks of haddock, cod and whiting" has a ring of desperation about it. What is true is that the UK sold the fishermen out 30 years ago, (see Synopsis) something no Scottish government would have done, and that our fishermen are concerned with conservation and the future, whereas the other wheeler dealers in the European Union are after their short term aims; despite the apparent concern over the stocks of hake, the main Spanish catch, there were no cuts made to that quota! The other problem is that the other countries sent in their big hitters, and the UK, instead of sending chiefs, sent in the "not so braves."

The worry of the Unionist politicians is that the SNP is setting the agenda, and that the UK action is indefensible, but they have to defend it. The SNP is working with the fishing industry on a recovery plan; now that 10 new countries are being added to the European Union, there is a case for a root and branch examination of all their policies. However, until Scotland has her own government and a voting voice we will always be ignored in the Council of Europe. The fishing crisis puts into stark reality the powerlessness of our country; to those who ask "Can we afford Independence" - the answer is "Can we afford dependence on the United Kingdom?" On present evidence, the answer is "No".

One other little gem from a Scottish daily newspaper, quoting from government papers released under the 30 year rule; the headline was "Prince warned of fish stock depletion in 1969". It concerned a letter from Prince Charles (aged 16?) to Prime Minister Harold Wilson expressing great concern at the depletion of fish stocks; lest we be too impressed at the royal prescience, the fish stock he wrote about was salmon. Oh well, it is the king of fish, so naturally a cause for royal concern.

A RIGHT ROYAL RUMPUS

Every time this much vaunted Union of the Crowns is mentioned, I quote from James Halliday’s "Scotland - A Concise History" : "There was no such thing as a Union of the Crowns. The King of Scots merely, and personally, inherited an additional office which paid much better than his old one. The two kingdoms were in no sense united and Scotland was left in the hands of managers while her King went off to better himself." This quote impressed me so much I incorporated it into the screensaver. Number 5, chronologically speaking.

According to another historian, Michael Fry, the century after this "Union" was one of the worst in Scotland’s history, with war, famine, revolution and religious persecution, but he felt that the Union of Parliaments improved the situation, and he chided the SNP for wanting to go back to a Union of the Crowns. Well, like many Tories, perhaps he knows the past, but if he was a bit more au fait with the present he could have read the SNP document "Talking Independence", as quoted:

During periods of absence by the Monarch, the SNP proposes that she be represented by the Chancellor of Scotland, an officer appointed by Parliament, whose role would also encompass that of Parliament’s Presiding Officer. If, in the future, the people of Scotland wished to change these arrangements, they would be free to do so by amending the constitution through a referendum, and it is the SNP’s policy that the issue should be tested by such a referendum once Independence is fully in effect. Ultimately, the decision rests with the people of Scotland."

I watched the First Minister, Jack McConnell, being interviewed on the TV programme "Seven Days" in its first edition of the year; Mr McConnell has been accused of stifling enthusiasm by his approach to politics, with his mantra of doing less, better, and certainly the Parliament has been a lot duller. Any excitement that might have been generated by Scotland’s bid for Euro 2008 was carefully watered down by cobbling together a joint bid with Ireland at the last minute. (What wonderfully mixed metaphors.) There is no doubt that a solo bid by Scotland would have had a much better chance, but McConnell pleaded poverty, and had to seek help from another country, an independent one at that; it was the lateness of that decision that put the kybosh on it. An object lesson on how not to win, maybe we should have him as the Scotland football manager.

In the interview he kept harping on about not having negative campaigns, and in this respect the most negative campaign in recent times was the one mounted by Labour in the 1999 election; this was nasty, vicious and expensive - and it worked. To hear Mr McConnell now you would think he was a lily-white purist, but he is a nasty piece of work, and many of his MSPs are well aware of this, as witness his "Night of the Long Knives" when he became First Minister. His "determination" to concentrate on "positive" campaigns and policies is because he wants to steer the opposition away from the sleazy affairs of the Labour Party in Motherwell and Wishaw, where the police are still investigating the disappearance of some £11,000, and perhaps that matter may hit the courts before 1 May 2003, but I would not lay money on it. As far as that is concerned, while Mr McConnell was not a signatory to the affected account, his former constituency secretary was; the significance of that is that when the Observer "sting" was investigated by the Standards Committee in 2000, the principal witness in defence of Mr McConnell was the very same secretary, and a reading of the minutes show that the testimony was dubious to say the least.

Mr McConnell is also determined to avoid a public debate with the opposition leaders; we take this to mean with either John Swinney or David McLetchie, but when we consider that there is another party fighting these elections, why not a head to head with Jim Wallace of the Liberals? Now there’s a novel thought. The Liberals keep telling us that they are a separate party, with their own programme and policies, so why don’t we call for them to be included in the debate, which is never going to happen, but we could have some fun. Just imagine, planted questions in the audience as to Jim Wallace’s view on private prisons, the private finance initiative, proportional representation for local government, and a whole set of fault lines that they should have to answer for. I think we should be told if they can take part, and if not then why are they standing against the Labour Party, when they are for the Labour Party.

FOOT IN THE MOUTH NOTES

There seems to be an inherent flaw somewhere, as they are now talking of nationalising the National Lottery.

When the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned, Prince Philip removed a vast number of paintings and furniture, apparently to be displayed at Frogmore House, which was to be open to the public. It now transpires that very few of the pieces are actually at Frogmore House, and it is only open to the public three days a year; Mike Russell, SNP culture spokesman, has written asking for them to be returned to the Britannia, which is open to the public all year round.

As there seems to be some dubiety as to the whereabouts of all the stuff, perhaps we should be asking the royal butlers.

Mohamed al-Fayed, owner of Harrods, threatened to leave Scotland if the Scottish Parliament passed the Land Reform Bill; Mr al-Fayed, who is not a British citizen, owns Balnagowan Castle and 60,000 acres of land in the north of Scotland.

Unfortunately, he changed his mind.

Michael Trend, a Conservative MP, has falsely claimed over £100,000 in accommodation expenses from the Westminster Parliament; as far as we know, he intends to repay it.

It makes Henry McLeish look like a piker, but Mr Trent must have thought he had right on his side; he is the MP for Windsor.

Mrs Helen Liddell, the Scottish Secretary of State, has been running a scheme to get Friends for Scotland; this entails acting as an ambassador to foreign countries to promote Scotland. So far, she has spent more than £250,000, and has apparently found 129 "friends"; only two can be named, due to the data protection act. One is the Prime Minister of New Zealand, and the other is Charlie Whelan, who was the Press Officer for Gordon Brown, until he had to fall on his sword.

Mr Whelan lives in London.

After the discrepancies in the Labour Party accounts in Jack McConnell’s Motherwell & Wishaw constituency, key volunteers are to undergo proper training for their posts.

"Noo, lads, this is a broon envelope; dinna tell onybody aboot it."

ABERDEEN AIRPORT - TIME FOR TAKE OFF
Mon 6 Jan 03

SNP Shadow Transport Minister, Kenny MacAskill MSP, and North East Scotland MSP, Brian Adam, today published a study contrasting the poor air links and lack of development at Aberdeen Airport other airports whether elsewhere in Scotland and North East England. The two SNP MSPs detailed the poor level of traffic growth and the failure to develop a strategy for Aberdeen Airport by owners BAA and went on to reiterate their call on the operators to sell the airport to allow it to develop and let Aberdeen take off. Speaking at a news conference in Aberdeen, Mr MacAskill said, "The start of 2003 sees Aberdeen with fewer routes than the start of 2002. It's a poor start and unlikely to get better under the current management and operators. Rather than starting the New Year with high hopes, air travellers face a poorer choice and fewer options. Other airports with fewer advantages have achieved far more with far less. The BAA monopoly in Scotland and the UK is grounding Aberdeen. At the start of this New Year it's time for Aberdeen to have a new owner."

COMMONS LEAGUE TABLE SHOWS SNP FIGHTING FOR SCOTLAND
Mon 6 Jan 03

SNP Westminster Chief Whip, Pete Wishart MP, today published information showing that the five SNP MPs are in the top nine among Scottish MPs. A new league table of MPs' activity in the House of Commons since the June 2001 General Election to the end of 2002, based on data from the Parliamentary Online Information System. Encompassing speeches in the Chamber, tabling of Motions, and submitting of Written and Oral Questions, the analysis shows Moray MP Angus Robertson is in top place, Mike Weir (Angus) is third, Annabelle Ewing (Perth) fourth, Alex Salmond (Banff & Buchan) sixth, and Pete Wishart (North Tayside) ninth. The bottom ten places are all held by Labour MPs and in the bottom half of the table, 24 of the 28 places are held by Labour MPs. Commenting Mr Wishart said, "With the number of Scottish MPs set to fall at the next election by 13, those Labour MPs who are trailing in the table and doing least at Westminster will struggle to justify re-selection and avoid relegation. If they are contributing so little now, why should they be chosen to stand again? These figures show that the SNP are fighting Scotland's corner at Westminster, in the build-up to the Scottish Parliament election in May - as we argue for all its powers to be transferred to an independent Parliament in Edinburgh. On average, SNP MPs are seven times as active as Labour MPs."

The SNP today claimed statistics show serious shortages of consultants in key NHS specialities. Shadow health minister Nicola Sturgeon said figures obtained from the NHS Information and Statistics Division (ISD), showed unfilled vacancies for paediatric consultants, orthopaedics, general surgery and community child health. Ms Sturgeon said the SNP would implement new consultant contracts quickly to deal with the problem. She said: Just last week, the SNP revealed huge rises in waiting times in key NHS specialities. Now we can see that a big part of the problem is serious shortages of consultant doctors, with many posts lying empty for months on end. Despite this, Labour still has not implemented the new consultant contract that they agreed with the BMA. This has been held up by problems south of the border, but here in Scotland consultants are willing to sign."

SNP draws up fishing recovery plan
Fri 3 Jan 03

The SNP today began drawing up an industry recovery plan aimed at securing a viable future for Scotland's fishing industry. Party leader John Swinney met with fishing community leaders and harbour businesses in the north east to kick start the plan. The meetings were part of an SNP consultation exercise on a recovery plan which will see party members visit various parts of the Scottish coastline. Mr Swinney said: "The SNP is committed to fighting for a sustainable future for our fishing industry. Labour and their Lib-Dem cronies might be willing to settle for the disastrous EU deal, but we are focused on finding alternatives that safeguard the fishing industry's future. We will also be pressing the UK government to take down the white flag they ran up at the Fisheries Council last year and fight within the EU for the future of our fishermen." The SNP leader pledged to keep fisheries on the political agenda in the run up to the May elections.

Bruce Crawford unveils green plan
Fri 3 Jan 03

The SNP today unveiled a green energy action plan, undercutting the Executive's own commitments to increase the amount of electricity generated by renewables. SNP shadow environment minister Bruce Crawford promised that an SNP administration at Holyrood would ensure Scotland became the "green powerhouse of Europe". He pledged to introduce targets for generating a quarter of Scotland's electricity using renewables by 2010, rising to 30% by 2015, and 50% by 2020. He said the SNP would ensure Scotland gained the maximum environmental and economic benefits of its renewable natural energy sources. "This massive potential has to be matched with ambition if we are to reap the job bonanza that can flow from producing electricity from wind, wave, and tidal power, as well as other forms of renewable energy," Mr Crawford said. "We should aim to become the world leaders in this sector."

Blair's message ignores policy failures, say SNP
Thu 2 Jan 03

The SNP last night accused Tony Blair of playing up international concerns to divert attention from his domestic policy failures. In a gloomy New Year message the Prime Minister warned the public to prepare for a troubled 2003, saying he could not recall a time when Britain was confronted by such a range of "difficult and dangerous" problems. But SNP leader John Swinney said the Prime Minister was ducking the problems facing the UK on the domestic front. "Tony Blair is right to spell out the problems, however grim," Mr Swinney said. "But it is what he doesn't say which also matters. I find it quite extraordinary he doesn't talk about what is happening here at home. After nearly six years of a Labour government, where are the real improvements he promised for our schools, hospitals and fighting crime? And to cap it all, taxes will rise this year. The pain of the National Insurance hike pre-announced by the Chancellor last spring will be felt in voters' pay packets for the first time when it takes effect in April. All this adds up to a set of uncomfortable elections for Labour in May, so it's little wonder Mr Blair is attempting to divert attention away on to the international side."

SNP wins popular support for policy commitments
Wed 1 Jan 03

More than one in three Scots back the SNP's key policy commitments as the party prepares for the elections four months today. Election co-ordinator Nicola Sturgeon has published independent polling information which indicates widespread and strong public backing for three of the SNP's key policy commitments. "For the first time, the SNP has commissioned independent polling on some of our policy pledges," said Ms Sturgeon. "I am delighted that each of these proposals was very well received, with support for our proposals ranging from 66% to 85%." Ms Sturgeon said the proposal to increase nurses pay by 11% in order to recruit and retain the staff in this vital front line health service found huge agreement and favour with a massive 85% agreeing and 69% agreeing strongly with the policy. "Similarly, 81% believed that lowering class sizes to 18 for primaries 1,2 and 3 would improve children's education with 58% saying that the measure would 'significantly improve' children's education. And on youth crime, 66% of the sample agreed with the policy of increasing the number of secure places for young offenders to increase the safety of their community. "With elections to the Scottish Parliament now only four months away, this research shows the SNP has the people and the policies to make Scotland a better place and release our potential in 2003."

Heath under pressure over North Sea oil wealth
Wed 1 Jan 03

Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath ran into fierce Cabinet resistance when he floated the idea of the Scottish economy benefiting directly from North Sea oil wealth. The SNP today welcomed the reports as supporting their continuing argument for Scotland to have control of its own oil and gas revenues. Heath ordered ministers to explore options for Scottish self-help against a backdrop of major industrial unrest and growing nationalist sentiment north of the border. The "review" is revealed in official government documents released today under the 30-year rule. The confidential papers disclose the apparent sensitivity of the Conservative administration to nationalist calls for Scotland to receive the oil revenue. Andrew Wilson MSP, SNP shadow economy minister said today: "This shows that the Scottish Office betrayed Scotland's interests 30 years ago and didn't even have the guts to support their own prime minister's proposal. Over the past 30 years Scotland has given away 160 billion pounds of oil and gas revenues that could and should have been invested in Scotland's economy and infrastructure. There is at least as much wealth to come out of the North Sea as has already been wasted by Westminster. What should happen now is that the Scottish Parliament should be given control over Scotland's oil and gas revenues."

UK knew policy would kill fish fleet
Wed 1 Jan 03

Secret papers, released today, have revealed how the Scottish fishing fleet was betrayed by the government 30 years ago to enable Britain to sign up to the controversial Common Fisheries Policy. Prime Minister Edward Heath's officials estimated that up to half the fishermen in Scottish waters - then 4,000 men - could lose their jobs, but the decision was taken to go ahead with plans to sign up for the good of the UK as a whole. Responding to the publication of the papers, the SNP said their contents showed that nothing had changed. SNP shadow fisheries minister Richard Lochhead said: "This is a dynamite revelation in the context of the current fishing crisis. Nothing has changed in the last 30 years, given that UK Ministers signed up to an anti-Scottish deal in Europe that left the Scots fleet taking the biggest hit of all the countries that fish the North Sea. London will never view fishing as a priority and will always view the industry and our fishing grounds as worthy of sacrifice - despite the fact that the fate of our fishing communities is of the utmost importance to Scotland. The UK's track record illustrates that until our fishing communities are represented by Scots Ministers with full authority they will continue to suffer."

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