An election hand grenade

The election campaign has really been as dull as ditchwater, with the two principal candidates rivalling each other in driving tedium to a new low.

So it's good to be able to report something that is hugely important, and which might enliven the campaign for at least a few minutes.

A client has received a worrying letter from the Government, which they believe will adversely affect the Western Isles. I think they are right, but because they don't want to go public, I will.

The new ADS cards come with these friendly words of warning:

"The Scottish Government has announced that business-related travel will not be reimbursed under the scheme.  Business-related claims are considered and journey where there is a business component, regardless of whether there is also a leisure-related component." (My emphasis)

As my client rightly points out, just who is to police and enforce this scheme, and just what is a "business component"?

My good lady and I left the island on Saturday, both carrying laptops.  We weren't away for work purposes, but will do some work whilst we were away; after stepping off the third plane.  Does that disqualify me; as the first journey was the only one that qualified for ADS, and I did not do any work between flight 1 and 2?

If I take a business phone call in Glasgow Airport after stepping off the Stornoway flight, does that disqualify me?  Do I have to turn myself in to the ADS Police?

If I take a business phone call in Stornoway Airport between checking in for an Edinburgh flight, for a client who has heard I'm coming to Edinburgh and wants to see me, do I have to go back and confess all to the FlyBe desk, and ask them to surcharge me?

Is this going to be a civil or criminal matter?  How do I appeal against a wrong decision?

My guesses: they'll look for a regular pattern of travel and the civil servants will then stop the card until you persuade them they are wrong, through some undefined and yet to be worked out method.

And who will be the easy first targets?  Step forward the offshore workers travelling every fortnight to Aberdeen, regular as clockwork.  You might as well hand the ADS cards back now.

But let's not forget the purpose of ADS, as it's website proudly and clearly announces:

• The primary objective is to facilitate greater social inclusion in the most peripheral areas of the Highland and Islands through affordable access to air services to the main economic areas administrative centres of Scotland.
• Other important benefits are potential improvements in capacity and frequency and greater economic growth as a result of improvements in accessibility.

And how does this fit in with stopping business people making a living - and continuing to live - in the Western Isles?  It so obviously doesn't.

It is all about the Government saving a few pounds here and there, and paying lip service to a policy that it doesn't want to implement properly.

As my client further points out, this might even be illegal, as the Western Isles has a higher percentage of female small business owners than the rest of the Scotland, and a statutory equality impact assessment should have been carried out before the policy was sneaked out.

Can I encourage everyone to think how they might be affected, and then to demand that both leading candidates pledge to reverse this move.  They might also want to know why our former MSP has never done anything to stop this massive economic damage to the islands.

The Government can spend huge sums issuing the Census in Gaelic, and celebrating this fact, whilst bringing in policies that will further undermine the viability of the Gaelic speaking areas.

Lunatics; asylum; close the doors; burn the building down

You know that some people just have too much time on their hands and too little to do....

Holyrood staff to be taught Gaelic[...]

Alasdair Allan, the Nationalist MSP who represents the Western Isles, said he believed the plan would make life easier for some of his constituents.

Fuel poverty.  Jobs. Decent public services.  These will make life easier for people in the Western Isles, not this insane scheme to create a pan-Scottish Gaelic luvies section, of those who have a view on how us natives should live and converse, and by God, are they going to impose that view on us.

BBC Alba and Freeview

Is it any surprise that the decision has been delayed, with an election looming and different pledges likely for the two main parties.

I'm told that the major driver for the decision to delay was a need to ensure that the Trustees maximised their possibility of reappointment objectively understood the decision that the incoming Government expected them to come to.

With big public sector cuts on the horizon, the BBC is not immune and there remains a huge question over whether BBC Alba can be justified, when so many other areas are being cut.

That is what the debate over “universality” really means, and where it is going to go.

Which Gaelic language skills do you have?

So, a lady from Grimsay has been turned down for a job in the EU because she speaks Scots Gaelic rather than Irish Gaelic.

Cue outrage from Angus MacNeil MP.

But it is perhaps worthwhile examining why Irish Gaelic is getting such special treatment.

In 1 January 2007 Irish Gaelic became an official working language of the EU a move warmly welcomed by the SNP.

SNP President Ian Hudghton MEP has welcomed a new initiative that allows the Irish language to be used in the European Parliament. Irish became an official working language of the European Union on 1 January 2007 and this week in Strasbourg has been the first time that Irish speaking MEPs have been able to use their language in Parliamentary debates.

The reason Irish got this special treatment is that it is an official language of Eire, an aspiration that the SNP had for Scots Gaelic from the 1970's until at least 2005, until it was mysteriously dropped just prior to the 2007 election.

Column 14095: [Alex Neil MSP, SNP Shadow Minister] ... we would like the official status of Gaelic to be built in to the bill.

So, unpleasant as it might be to realise, the solution lies with the SNP Government to reverse their stance and have Gaelic as an official language of Scotland, and then - and only then - can Scots Gaelic seek equal status with Irish. So long as the SNP treat Gaelic as second class, then so will the rest of the world; who are just following their example.

That's not to say that the solution will appear overnight, nor to let Labour off the hook, but to blame the EU for the outcome of a policy you have abandoned is a bit rich.

Not that there were many Irish-Estonian speakers in 2007, but there is a whole industry there that we are missing out on, and especially the influence it brings by being part of the system and ingrained into the politics of Europe. That is one of the many reasons why the Irish did so well from structural funds, and why the UK did so badly.

Drathais Iallach

Middle right, for all you monoglots. Yes, www.mygaelic.com is the new Facebook, or perhaps AgaidhOidheam.

Another burst of tokenism to avoid having to give the language official status, which no doubt will be met with the usual acclaim at the munificence of the Government - rather than the realisation that it is nothing more than beads for the natives.

As others see us....

Lifted straight from The Register

The BBC's Gaelic-language channel, BBC Alba, has seen its audience drop by a third since launch, with further drops expected as Scottish politicians desperately try to be seen doing something about the death of Gaelic.

The channel started four months ago, with more than 600,000 viewers, a total that has already dropped to 400,000. BBC Scotland told The Times it expects to see figures dropping to around 250,000, despite the channel showing Scottish Premier League football.

At the time of the 2001 census there were only 58,650 Gaelic speakers in Scotland, which is what prompted the launch of the Freesat and Sky available channel. That means that hundreds of thousands of viewers are tuning in to see programmes in a language they don't understand, or perhaps just to watch the football. Given that between 80-100,000 Scots brave the weather each week to watch a game in person, it's hardly surprising that BBC Alba can drum up twice that number to watch League games on TV, even if the commentary is in Gaelic.

Strangely, the channel won't be drawn on what people are watching, just that the target is 250,000 viewers, or 60 quid per viewer.

Gaelic has been on life support for years - drive up to the Highlands and the signposts are in Gaelic and English, but pull off the A9 and the Gaelic disappears along with the tourists. Schools and playgroups get government funding for promoting Gaelic, and local libraries are well stocked with Gaelic books - all in pristine condition, almost as though no one ever reads them. English migrants like to see their kids learning Gaelic, while the locals would prefer their children learn something someone else speaks - ideally someone with money.

Popular programmes are broadcast in Gaelic on the primary BBC channels - so even without BBC Alba you don't have to miss out on badly dubbed Charlie and Lola.

But Scotland has a culture quite strong enough to survive without demanding a different language. The problem is that it's hard to spend money promoting "culture" when everyone has their own idea what that is. So the Scottish Parliament, and the BBC, instead spend money promoting a language hardly anyone speaks, while forgetting that anyone who does speak Gaelic is perfectly fluent in English too - for when they're not talking to the tourists.

------

Discuss.

It's my quango......

Oh dear!

First Minister Alex Salmond tried to block an ex-Labour MSP becoming boss of a Gaelic TV quango, it has emerged.

He told officials to "recommend against" Alasdair Morrison becoming chairman of MG Alba, who run the BBC's Gaelic digital channel[...]

An aide to the First Minister said: "We felt it was important that the chairman should be seen to be objective. We raised doubts about whether Alasdair Morrison could be entirely impartial."

It all smacks of rather pathetic petty party politics, especially on an isue that you have no say over.

Whilst Rome burns......

I am repeatedly told by senior Councillors that the MP repeatedly refuses to meet with the Council to discuss areas of concern, and where the Council and the community could benefit from both parties working together.

I'm sure that this is a malicious lie and that someone can identify the two or three times he has been into the Council Offices to meet the Convener or Vice-Convener this year.

It is obviously not helpful to have the MP (and MSP) and the Council arguing different positions, as it means that there is no coherent strategy on, say, the schools issue. But Mr MacNeil is busy on important matters of state, as the press release I received today clearly demonstrates.

----

(For Immediate Release) – Tuesday 30 September

ATTN: NEWSDESKS

GAELIC SIDELINED FOR MUSIC POST

Na h-Eileanan an Iar SNP MP Angus MacNeil, has written to the Director of Education at Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar, Mr Murdo Macleod, expressing his concerns that the Teacher of Music for Castlebay School which was advertised on the Comhairle’s website does not have Gaelic as an essential or a desirable skill. Several constituents have brought this matter to Mr MacNeil’s attention.

Mr MacNeil said:

“It is disappointing that at a time when the new Gaelic Digital TV Channel has been launched, Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar advertise a post which is so strongly linked with our language and culture and has completely omitted Gaelic from the job specification.

“As music particularly is a huge part of the Island’s Gaelic culture, and with Gaelic and music so strongly tied together, it would appear to be a damaging oversight to have completely missed Gaelic from the job specification.

“Having spoken to the Comhairle about the matter, and although they claim that it is difficult to attract people to some of these posts, I still feel that Gaelic should have been on the desirable category in the job advert.”

----

Perhaps an English language teacher could be recruited to help Mr MacNeil with the coherency of his press releases.

Gaelic TV channel

God help us but .... why does it exist?

Nice, in the way of a jersey lovingly knitted by your granny.

Stylish, in the way of a jersey lovingly knitted by your granny.

Keep this embarrassment off Freeview to avoid further and widespread ridicule.

MG Alba

So Alasdair Morrison has got the job of Chairman of the new Gaelic TV service.

The first thing he needs to do is find a half-decent name for the new service as MG Alba really doesn't give any sense of what is going on.

The Gaelic TV industry offers good prospects for the islands – if we can build upon the subsidy and create a long-term industry. If it becomes another case of nominal service delivery for the islands, whilst flying in the talent and flying out the profits, then it is never going to deliver either financially or culturally.

My views on the survival of the Gaelic language have been expressed before, but I look forward to the launch in mid-September to see what the service can bring to the community.

I was very disappointed with the nasty and bitter comments of the Culture (sic) Minister, Linda Fabiani, about Alasdair's appointment. It appears that in her mind it is not the quality or appropriateness of the appointee that is important. More important is who gets the chance to appoint their mates to posts.

If she really believes that “My placemen are better than your placemen”, then she shows an appalling level of misunderstanding of the responsibilities of public office.

In her desperation to be partial and partisan, she demeans both the postholder and the Gaelic TV service, and misses the key arguments she should be making.

If Alasdair attempts to set-up a Labour front organisation, it will take barely hours for that to become public, and he will become a target for every politician and blogger in the Western Isles. That will fatally weaken not just him but the organisation he Chairs, and I have no doubt that the undermining of the Gaelic TV service is the last thing Alasdair wants to see.

That he was appointed by Des Browne, Scottish Secretary, and by Ofcom is one of the many anachronisms of the devolution process. But if Ms Fabiani were genuinely concerned about the matter, then she should have raised this issue when the service was being set-up; or when the post was advertised; or she should have got a Westminster MP to raise the issue in the House of Commons.

Did she do any of these? (Answer: No. Indeed, Angus MacNeil MP welcomed the setting up of the service and the legal structures and the responsibility for appointment remaining with the Westminster Government)

That the Scottish Government has no accountability or scrutiny over MG Alba when they have provided some of the funding is a genuine issue. Presumably with the Comhairle providing some funding too, then they should also be entitled to some level of accountability or scrutiny?

Did the SNP MPs raise this matter when the legislation passed through the House of Commons? (Answer: as before)

This is a false, party political, row of the lowest order which brings nothing but opprobrium and contempt on the Minister, and brings politics further into disrepute.

I wish Alasdair well; but, like many others, I shall be keeping a close eye on what happens and will not be slow to make criticisms if I believe that they are well founded.

The Sun and Gaelic

It did strike me that The Sun's sudden conversion to the cause of the Gaelic language was unexpected at best, and their self-proclaimed interest in the heritage and culture of the islands was - to say the very least - an almost Damscene conversion from the usual couthy tales of drunk tractor driving, alcoholic teuchters and patronising commentary.

The answer drove past me just a few minutes ago when a half-open double-decker bus emblazoned with the logo of a certain London newspaper, blaring bagpipe music, and with two 'lovelys' (sic) braving hypothermia in t-shirts (it is raining, cold and windy) waving at the bemused occasional passer-by.

Twas all a marketing ploy to support an advertising drive; and as genuine as the Page 3 lovelys.

Gaelic Digital channel

Contrary to my expectations, the BBC Trust have approved the provision of a Gaelic Digital channel.

But with serious caveats, one of which largely undermines the whole purpose of the channel.

• There will be no broadcast on Freeview - cable, satellite and analogue only. There is no cable in the Highlands, and analogue is being phased out in 2010/11
• The channel must markedly improve the quality and quantity of broadcast material
• And extend the current audience
• And be culturally significant for Scotland as a whole

Two cheers? Perhaps one cheer only.

With the channel up for a further review in 2010 it strikes me that necessity has forced the approval of the channel, but that the conditions are extremely difficult to attain, allowing the BBC to take a fresh look at the overall viability in a mere two years.

Meanwhile, with all eyes on the next review and the impossibility of the tasks that have been set in such a short-time, the future of the service remains (deliberately) insecure.

This option was always a cheap and easy solution allowing the Government to avoid a full-scale S4C type channel, by throwing a small bone and forcing the channel into a niche service provider. Which will undoubtedly deliver smaller and smaller viewers, whilst the highly skilled programme makers put their time and effort into good quality programmes that no-one sees.

Extra cash for Gaelic

Alex Salmond will announce: "This new funding includes £1m per year to be directed towards Gaelic education, £1m per year for the implementation of projects in the National Plan for Gaelic, and an additional £0.5m towards support for Gaelic broadcasting."

Too Little. Too Late.

Gaelic TV Channel

The whole proposal for a digital channel has been kicked into the long grass, and anyone who doesn't see this is deluding themselves.

I totally agree with the Vice-Convener of the Comhairle when he says that this is a very negative message from the BBC, but I also think that he is rational enough to know that it was always an uphill struggle to achieve such a huge investment.

The political reaction ranged from the cutting to the banal, and here is just a small selection:-

John Farquhar Munro: "It was clear from the tone of their announcement that the BBC is not supportive of minority languages". And are you surprised, when they are facing cuts in mainstream services?

Angus MacNeil: "We need a Gaelic television channel and I am confident that we can mount an unanswerable case to convince the trust". Sorry, but it's fallen badly at the very first hurdle. Far from being unanswerable the argument being made is actually judged to be too introspective, which is the opposite of what is required.

Alasdair Allan: questioned the BBC Trust's findings and felt they did not fully appreciate the importance of a Gaelic channel in terms of the BBC's own commitment to cultural diversity. As the debate is not about diversity, but about value for money, this statement is utterly meaningless.

Thankfully, a note of sanity and reality was injected by Donald Campbell of the Gaelic Media Service, who said, "I am confident we can get these two documents done but what I am not confident about is whether they will be sufficient for the trust to agree".

I believe that the real battle was lost a long time ago when the parameters were set, and that the Government can now wash it's hands of the promise/pledge/aspiration having given the Gaels the chance that they didn't take. Irrespective of how uneven the playing field was.

Gaelic TV (updated)

The BBC Trust Unit who are evaluating the proposal for a Gaelic TV channel have just announced that following a Public Value Assessment, "on the evidence currently available, the PVA suggests that the potential public value would not be sufficient to justify the level of investment proposed".

In other words, it is too expensive to justify, as it stands.

However, if it can attract new speakers of the language, "it would appear to justify the increased expenditure".

The provisional conclusions are due to be published on 21 November with a 28-day consultation process and a final decision in January.

Given the cuts that the BBC is having to find, and that the BBC are forecasting a cost of £25m pa in running costs, it looks like the proposal is dead in the water.

Update 20:45 - I know that everyone working for the Gaelic Digital Channel is desperate to get 'something' ('anything'?) that improves the position of the Gaelic language, and the digital channel was that chance, as far as they are concerned. I am not in any way knocking what they believe in or what they have tried to achieve, or suggesting that they have failed in anything they have done.

BUT.

I've given it a lot of thought, and I'll admit that I come from the perspective of a monoglot without the full cultural heritage, but I still have a valid view.

I believe that the Gaelic digital channel is a sop designed to fail (or never be delivered) to show that politicians were trying to do something for the language, but where the blame will be diffused across so many quangos and departmental responsibilities that no-one will ever be responsible for the failure to deliver.

Anything less than an S4C equivalent is pointless, and even that may be too late now. Yes, I think the Gaelic language may be doomed and in a death spiral due to inaction by EVERY political party. The ability to direct the debate into a discussion about how small the ghetto for the language should be has been the trick of the civil servants.

One only needs to compare Ireland, where Irish Gaelic is now an official language of the European Union to the situation in Scotland where there is a total absence of any attempt to bring the language into the mainstream by any political party.

In summary: the game is over. Fight a losing battle if you wish - or find some other means to achieve recognition. There are no other options.

Gaelic Media Service

Two cheers for the announcement of the start date of March 2008 for the Gaelic digital TV channel; after a consultation on the 'public value test'.

According to reports the channel is expected to cost £16-£17m per annum. That's where my concerns start.

My first concern is that the 'box has been ticked' and that Gaelic TV has been delivered into a ghetto that actually does nothing for the language.

Secondly, the 'cost of the channel' is nothing of the sort. It is the budget allocated for the channel.

Deduct the infrastructure costs, the administration costs, the marketing budget and how many hours broadcasting are you actually getting? S4C has an annual budget of £63m.

The third concern, and this is much more parochial, is how much of this money will be spent in the Gaelic areas to secure the language and the businesses that should develop here? The channel will only have a fundamental effect on the language if the production companies can use the money to underpin their operation and become a viable business, delivering programmes in English and Gaelic, and developing the infrastructure in the GaeltachtGaidhealtachd.

Having authored a major report for the Gaelic TV Service in the early 1990's, I know how little such a small sum will actually produce in TV hours.

It all smells of a small sum to placate the natives, rather than a serious attempt to do something for the language.

My children find the cartoons on the TV where ever we go. They will happily watch anything in any language, and enjoy it. Our Freeview box has TeleG as one of the selections, but only once have I ever seen anything being broadcast on it. They do see (and enjoy) Gaelic programmes on BBC2, but will this remain? If the service becomes a series of dubbed imports augmented by the occasional home-produced programme, replacing, rather than supplementing, all Gaelic broadcasting on other channels - such as Europa - then it will be almost pointless.

Will we see new opportunities in the islands or will it be Glasgow West-End TV?

More Gaelic TV = less Scottish TV??

According to Iain MacWhirter in today's Herald, STV plan to abandon all TV production in Scotland when the Gaelic TV channel comes on stream, as their (forced) contribution to the service will be deemed to be their entire 'regional' input.

'All' needs to be qualified, as is excludes News and Current Affairs, such as political programmes, but it could mean an end to all Scottish produced drama.

As far as I can find out, no-one else is running this story, and can anyone shed any light on the veracity of his claims? Iain tends to be well connected, so I tend to trust what he says, but I'm mightily annoyed if we now have the choice of Gaelic forced on us at the expense of virtually all other TV programmes produced in Scotland.