The die is well and truly cast over Iraq, and we now wait with trepidation to see how many of the cast will die; in the House of Commons, the government defeated the rebel amendment by 396 to 217, and won the substantive motion 412 to 149. The rebellion was not as severe as expected, no doubt by the Prime Minister managing to blame the UN failure on the French; how very English.

The last time I commented on a System Three Opinion Poll (Issue No 143) it was in the aftermath of a previous anti-war amendment and motion, I said that 119 Labour MPs had rebelled in the House of Commons; as that week progressed the number increased to 121, and it them became 122! This of course has now increased with the current motion but I was still puzzled as to how the votes increased last time, but was unable to pin it down; perhaps they counted the tellers.

The sun-tanned SSP leader deserves more exposure, and so do his policies; once people know what he is really about they may change their minds..

No election in the offing, as Tony Blair won the War vote this week.

COMETH THE HOUR, COMETH THE MAN

And in the Parliament, John Swinney called for a debate on the war, refused as this is not within the Parliament’s remit; more than one commentator mentioned that the last time the Scottish Parliament debated the war, SNP initiative, in the morning of 13th March, in the afternoon, the Parliament passed the Dog Fouling Bill. The First Minister said that defence was in the hands of Westminster, "And that’s as it should be." The SNP motion was defeated by 62 votes to 57, with 3 abstentions, and the Health Minister, Malcolm Chisholm, voted against the motion, then recanted publicly when it was too late, as noted above.

What is being noticed by a somewhat more perceptive press corps, is that John Swinney is emerging the victor at First Minister’s Questions more often, and that he is growing into the job of SNP Leader, no longer in the shadow of Alex Salmond; he is becoming more and more a skilled and astute Leader of the Opposition. Alex Salmond is a brilliant and charismatic politician, but much more an individualist, whereas John Swinney is a team leader; thinking back a few years, it used to be said that the SNP was a one man party, in much the same way as we know that the Scottish Socialist Party is a one man party. Now, everyone knows Nicola Sturgeon, Andrew Wilson, Mike Russell, Roseanna Cunningham, to name but a few from the front bench, so the one man party tag has died the death.

TALKING INDEPENDENCE

Other pieces are falling into place; the Talking Independence booklet produced last year, and serialised in the Flag, shoots a lot of Labour foxes, the Economics of Independence Road Show by Andrew Wilson MSP and Party Treasurer, Jim Mather, convinced a lot of doubters of how much better off we would be under Independence (I intended to serialise that in the same way as "Talking Independence", but couldn’t work out the best way to do it- technically incompetent!) and the SNP organisation and planning is proceeding as planned. The posters are also out pinning down Labour failures, and in the protests about the war on Iraq John Swinney and the SNP are in the forefront, much more in tune with the people of Scotland than New Labour.

There is no doubt that the Scottish Elections are shaping up to be exciting, and that in itself is bad news for New Labour; they want everything to be dull and prosaic, as they are bereft of ideas, but as has been noted in the past, the only party which provides excitement on the Scottish political scene is the Scottish National Party, and that is because its success will herald real and radical change for the better. The SNP has the high ground, and it has the talent and ability to transform Scotland.

I have known John Swinney since he first joined Corstorphine Branch in the Seventies, so when I say he is a genuinely good man, and talented with it, it is not hearsay.

THE MOST FAMOUS LIVING SCOT

Another bonus for the SNP was the interviews by Sir Sean Connery in the Herald, telling just how much tax he had paid in the United Kingdom, to shoot the fox of "He doesn’t pay any British taxes" that Labour put about; since 1997 he has paid £3.7 million. Contrast that with Sir Richard Branson, whose businesses are run by family trusts based in the Channel Islands which own the Virgin companies through companies registered in the Virgin Islands, so pay no capital gains tax, or the Barclay brothers, owners of the Scotsman (and now Littlewoods Stores) who live on the Channel Island of Sark, and pay no tax; they of course have all been knighted by grateful Westminster governments, as was Lord Swarj Paul, great donor to the Labour Party, who is a British citizen, but pays no tax here as his domicile is India, and his shares are held in a trust in the Virgin Islands! (He is worth about £300 million.) Another Labour pal, for now, is Rupert Murdoch, who owns the Sun, the Times, the Sunday Times and the News of the World; although the accounts of News Corporation show profits of £1.387 billion since 1987, Newscorp has paid no tax in the UK since 1988, but have had tax rebates of £16 million since that time. (A lot of this info comes from a website http://www.red-star-research.org.uk/).

What is that old American saying "It isn’t what’s illegal that’s criminal; it’s what’s legal that’s criminal."

Anyway, Sir Sean has shot the taxation fox, although some readers’ emails to the Sunday Post try and put it differently; in this respect I do not think all readers’ letters are impartial, and in fact many will be political "sleepers" writing under instruction. On that very point, I was surprised to see a qualification, in the Scotsman, I think, that any letters from Parliamentary Candidates had to specifically state that fact; I know it’s 20 years since I myself stood as a Parliamentary Candidate, but I cannot recall that qualification - ever.

Sir Sean will only come back to live in Scotland after Independence, and feels if he tried it now the tabloids would make his life a misery; he also has chapter and verse on who blocked his knighthood, which was being done at the same time as he being asked to take part in the Referendum campaign. His public association with the SNP goes back to when he did a voice over for a party political broadcast during the Hamilton by election in 1967. In 1968, I was Chairman of Peterhead Branch of the SNP, and we wrote to him inviting him to become Honorary President of the Branch; we received a polite refusal from his secretary, in California somewhere, and when I reported to the Branch I said that we were disappointed, but we hadn’t expected him to come to all the meetings anyway! Heady days.

ALEXANDER III COMMEMORATION

On Sunday I was privileged to be at Kinghorn for the annual memorial service for Alexander III; to put this into perspective, it is not a lament for a King, as such, but for the passing of the Golden Age of peace and prosperity, which went with Alexander III. It was a poignant occasion, as there we also remembered one of the founders of the event, Neil MacCallum, who died in such tragic circumstances in November last year. The Chairman, Peter D Wright, recited a poem in memory of Neil, "Nae Mair", which you can read and hear at www.scotsindependent.org/features/scots/naemair.htm, and we had also poetry reading from Marilyn Wright, "Bonnie Chairlie’s Far Awa" at www.electricscotland.com/si/features/scots/bonnie_chairlie.htm  and David Brown, in memory of Stewart Ewing.

James Halliday, author, historian and general good guy, was the first speaker, and he contrasted the actions of Alexander III with the actions of James VI; this year we Scots are being asked by the establishment to celebrate the Union of the Crowns, which as he has pointed out was no such thing. To quote his book, and our screensaver, "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." The point of course being that Alexander III ruled his country and looked after it, James VI abandoned it at the first opportunity.

The main speaker was Colin Welsh, SNP prospective candidate for Kirkcaldy, who started by reminding us that we needed to know where we had been in order to know where we were going. He said that at school, history began with 1707! - a common feeling with most of us. "On my way here today, " he continued "I was thinking what would Alexander III feel, if he was to return today to this place we call modern Scotland - what would he make of us? He would be shocked and perhaps terrified by the changes he would see around him, cars, planes, trains and ferries moving at high speed up and down the Forth between here and the Continent. Our large cities and towns, our roads and buildings, our voices, speech and dress, our access to food and drink, our agriculture and field patterns, our communication systems, computers, mobiles, TVs and newspapers, our medicines and treatments. All vastly different from 1286. A population of 5 million instead of 300,000 and a way of life divorced almost totally from the feudal law and monarchy which existed in his day"

Colin said that after the initial shock Alexander III would have realised that for all our advances we were still flesh and blood, and are still grappling with life and death, power and national identity, diplomacy and conflict, peace and war. He would know that stability and peace were still worth pursuing and preserving. In conclusion, Colin said that the human story never changes, only the faces of the players.

A wreath was laid by Mrs Margaret Gourlay from Hamilton, and piper Robert Todd played a lament.

See the Flag's feature story on Alexander III at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/golden_age.htm

FOOT IN THE MOUTH NOTES

Letter in the Herald next day "How did these academic geniuses from Sheffield University know this - were they wrapped in union flags?"

The market for telephone directory inquiry services was deregulated last December, and there are now nearly 20 different companies offering inquiry services; among the companies offering this are BT, Telewest, British Gas, Orange,One Tel and Conduit. Apparently you can call them all on BT land lines.

And for good measure, BT are transferring their service to call centres in India.

Didn’t like the answer then?

Liberal logic; if the Tories and the SNP vote the same way it is because they are siding to oppose the coalition executive, and this is deplorable. However, if the Liberals are in a formal coalition with Labour this gives Scotland stability, and this is wonderful.

Aye, right.

Labour MSP, Helen Eadie for Dunfermline East (which does not include Dunfermline) wants to scrap the Forth Railway Bridge, probably the most famous Scottish view. A Liberal councillor in Edinburgh wants to scrap Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Party, which attracts thousands from all over the world.

That’s fantasy coalition for you..

SYNOPSIS

Following receipt of a letter from the Executive to Falkirk Council turning down their application for funding for new school buildings, SNP Shadow Minister for Education, Michael Russell MSP, added his voice to concerns raised by SNP Councillor David Alexander, leader of Falkirk Council. Mr Russell said, "The Executive have an ideological obsession with PFI. They are putting profit obsessed dogma before the children of Falkirk. In Glasgow, the profit margin for the Amey schools project was 31%. Who benefits? Private companies, when it is our children who should always be put first. In fact the Association for Public Service recently wrote to all local authorities stating that the 'quality of PFI schools samples was significantly worse than that of a traditionally funded sample' and recommending that local authorities involved in PFI have a rethink about future projects."

Alasdair Morgan, SNP MSP for Galloway & Upper Nithsdale, has welcomed today's decision by the Scottish Executive to award planning permission to the wind power project at Robin Rigg, off the Solway Coast. Mr Morgan, who has been at the forefront of the campaign to bring renewable energy investment into Dumfries & Galloway, welcomed the news, saying that the Robin Rigg project represents a necessary 'first step' in transforming the region into a centre for research and development in clean, green energy production. During September 2002, Mr Morgan was contacted by two wind turbine manufacturing companies, who suggested that they were keen to establish operations in the 'Irish Sea region', and further suggested that proximity to wind energy projects would be a consideration in the decision making process. The establishment of a wind turbine production facility would involve the creation of several hundred jobs. As a result of today's positive announcement by the Scottish Executive, Mr Morgan has written to the companies in question, GE Wind Energy and Vestas Celtic Wind Technology, as well as Scottish Enterprise Dumfries & Galloway, in order to seek definite commitments to bring renewable energy jobs to Galloway.

Speaking ahead of the Parliamentary debate in the Scottish Parliament tomorrow, SNP Shadow Minister for Social Justice, Kenny Gibson MSP said, "The reason for this debate is that the suicide rate in Scotland remains unacceptably high and the 'Choose Life' strategy launched by the Executive last November could be more ambitious. The strategy doesn't explain the mechanisms by which suicide will be reduced, and the target rates for reduction are only 20 percent over 10 years. Scotland currently has a suicide rate that is almost double that of England, but we don't have enough research at present to explain why. What we do know is that when a telephone helpline that actively intervenes to prevent people killing themselves was introduced in the States and Australia, the suicide rate went down by over seven per cent in the first year with year on year reductions thereafter. My motion already has cross party support of 21 MSPs and I am calling on MSPs of all parties to support this debate."

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