Qinetiq
When the MOD first set up in Uist in the late 1950's there was a concern that we would become overly dependent on the rocket range and that the impact of all the 'immigrants' would cause irreparable damage to the community.Hindsight shows that the Rocket Range was a wonderful employment opportunity for the local residents, who gained high-tech skills that were transferable to other sectors. The influx of 'immigrants' - mostly young soldiers - led to many of them marrying into the community and bringing new ideas and new life blood to the islands.
The number of business that have been set-up on the back of the MOD involvement in the islands is huge, and it stemmed and reversed the serious decline in population.
(I will let other compare the MOD in Uist to what could have been with windfarms in Lewis)
It all went a lot wrong in 2001, when Qinetiq became the proud owners of the range, under a quasi-privatisation move by the Labour Government. Following blindly in the footsteps of Thatcher, Qinetiq was sold at a knock-down price to private equity group the Carlyle Group (directors include George Bush Snr & Jnr and John Major).
Now the range is under threat with cost-cutting and rationalisation, and the likelihood of the good prospects for work drying up, the Uists will be facing uncertainty. All of which can be traced back to the dogmatic approach of Tony Blair, in trying to emulate his heroine - Thatcher.
Will the jobs and future of the islands be sacrificed to make George Bush richer? Probably. Will they care? Not a jot. Can the British Government stop them? Almost certainly not.
Globalisation: isn't it such fun?
It is if you are Tony Blair, advising both Zurich and JP Morgan on the topic at a mere £5m per annum.
17 comments:
Your point Angus? You want lots of young Eastern Europeans to arrive to build wind farms and encourage them to marry into the community?
Fundamentally different. The work there is highly skilled. The work digging holes in the ground and putting up turbines is, at best, semi-skilled. There's no comparison.
btw some workers at Qinetiq have, unofficially, been advised that it's prudent to look around for alternative employment.
Anon 12:21
I am forever amazed at the level of racism in the Western Isles.
This comment is diabolical.
anon 12:47 behave yourself. I am almost certain that anon 12:21's comment was not racist and surprised at you Angus for suggesting such. Their point i believe is that the work would go to a cheaper workforce and not locals. These kind of comments and twisting of postings helps no one at all
Anon 2:18 - Perhaps you intend to launch a reciprocal campaign against Lewis people getting jobs in England, or abroad, and marrying into the community there.
> and encourage them to marry into the community?
Seems pretty racist - or anti-non-local, or "Local women for local men only" - to me. And I'm anti wind factory.
The fact is we need all the East Europeans and people from whatever colour or religion to work in the UK construction industry boom at present as not enough of us born and brought up here are willing to work.
It's the correct assumption that is there's to be a big construction project up in the Western Isles migrant workers will fill the posts and there's nothing racist about saying that. These workers whether working on building sites or in restaurant and hotels are actually showing us all up by all the hard work they do.
and encourage them to marry into the community?
I take back my last post.. I didn't digest the last part of the comment properly and agree it is racist and inappropriate. I have been in company with several of these visitors and have found most to be hard working and good craic. Would be good if there was more we could do to integrate and socialise with these guys.
Anon 12:21 here
My comment was intended to highlight the fact that the work as others have said will go to non local people. The remark re marriage was just in humour. I am a migrant here myself.
My comment was intended to highlight the fact that the work as others have said will go to non local people. The remark re marriage was just in humour. I am a migrant here myself.
So you are obviously a migrant who doesn't need to work.
Trust me, I would rather have a thousand young Eastern Europeans working up here and contributing to the economy than 1 mainland migrant who has sold up, made a fast buck and intends to spend the rest of his days ensuring that no progress is ever made on these islands.
Sun Side Up
Actually both my wife and I ork.
What we watch contrary to your bigoted view is actually locals who want to make a fast buck and leave selling their houses at infalted prices to retired folk from where ever. Worrse still crofters exploiting the system to buy cheap land and flog it off again at inflated prices.
As usual we from the mainland are to blame for the woes of the grant society.
"Actually both my wife and I ork."
That is disgusting. What is this blog coming to when, out of the blue, posters bring up the subject of orking, completely out of context, with no relevance to the subject at hand. Dragging one's wife into the sordid matter just 'compounds the felony', so to speak.
Although I myself also ork, I see no reason to brag about it on an otherwise decent and respectable blog.
I just hope the poster and his wife don't ork together daily. That could lead to friction.
"Orc" or "to orc", according to the OED, is a verb describing the act , practiced increasingly by certain minor politicians, of making promises which they have no intention of keeping. Recent examples quoted in the latest edition of the OED are " We will give you a referendum", "You will have RET within a fortnight" and so on.
No, it's 'ork', dear. ORK. ORK!
:-)
Come on bookworm, you're assuming that certain minor politicians would even read the OED. That must be banned by the SNP and they won't read a dictionary until the OSD is published.
Och aye the noo.....
Apologies, Eyoop, I was having such a whale of a time with your original comment that I failed to appreciate the nuances. You may like to know that, interestingly enough , the OED defines the noun "Ork" as a certain kind of ineffectual politician who has a magnificent erect quiff, and an air of lost abstraction.
Hehehe...I must admit, something should be done about the hair. I saw him briefly on TV a few weeks back and the hair looked as if it had had an encounter with a fully-charged Van de Graaff generator.
Post a Comment