Sgoiltean Ùra - the story so far

I don't know how Hebrides News got the story of the offer of £10,000 of taxpayers money we received from Sgoiltean Ùra, but I can (obviously) confirm that it is correct and that they also offered to pay some - and only some - of our legal fees.

Without admitting liability.

I hadn't really wanted this to get into the public domain for reasons I won't go into at present, but the legal defences are now in from Sgoiltean Ùra, and whilst they are a public document, there are good tactical reasons for keeping my cards close to my chest at the moment.

I'm not going elaborate any more at the moment, as the period for adjustments in the Court of Session is still open (search for Nicolson) for another few weeks, and there are other matters going on in parallel.

I can also confirm that complaints have gone to Audit Scotland and detailed complaints will be following to the Public Service Ombudsman and to the Standards Commission. About who and what I'm not saying.

Yet.

Gordon Brown is a .....

try this at home......

Thanks to "you know who you are".

Alex Salmond's best quotes

Which of the following was actually said by Alex Salmond this week?

1. Kenny MacAskill is like Mahatma Gandhi.
2. Nicola Sturgeon is the new Mother Teresa
3. Jim Mather knows more about economics than John Maynard Keynes (but less than me)
4. The SNP have improved yields from Gaelic peat banks by 40% this year
   
5. Alasdair Allan is Scotland first professional cage fighter
6. If we spend even more money that we haven't got, then everything will be fine
7. All of the above

Geographic illiteracy

The country is on the move again.....

"We are a Nordic, European country, currently part of a debt-laden sub-prime toxic assent currency we don't want to be part of and which is not serving our interests well."

Said John Swinney, Finance Minister, and thankfully not Minister with Responsibility for Knowing Where we Are.

Until recently we were a 'Celtic Tiger' until the Eurozone went into meltdown and that analogy was binned.

If we are going to move again, can I request that we become a Mediterranean country, or perhaps a sub-tropical Caribbean paradise and international banking haven. That would solve many of the problems in one fell swoop.

Coll Beach in the New Scotland

But the statement deserves closer examination, especially in terms of the context in which it was uttered.

This was during a debate about whether Scotland should hold a referendum on joining the Euro, and see us become "part of a debt-laden sub-prime toxic assent currency we don't want to be part of and which is not serving our interests well".

The ironies were glossed over, not least those from the National Secretary who said that a referendum was:

"the politics of moral failure"

Sorry? Are you saying that assessing the will of the people is some kind of weakness? What next: the abolition of elections to show your moral superiority?

All in all, it was a pretty poor showing, with only some minor headline grabbing and little of substance.

Missing, presumed acting under orders

With the SNP Conference in full swing in Inverness (of which much more later) one prominent local member is absent.

Is it a Councillor?
Is it long time activist?
Is it a newly enthused new young member?

No. None of the above.

So just who 'forgot' to go to Conference? Given that Conference is almost mandatory these days.

Spotted in Oban attending the Mod, having a diary mistake, is none other than Angus B MacNeil MP.

Any suggestions why he has skipped out of the most important event in the SNP calendar?

Berlusconi backs Blair for EU job

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has endorsed Tony Blair as his preferred candidate to be president of the European Union.

One is a right-wing millionaire megalomaniac within Messianic self-belief who destroyed the economy of his country, and the other is Prime Minister of Italy.

As you're judged by the company you keep then you can already see where the EU is going.

Is there nothing Tony won't do for a large wedge of cash?

Vodka and saunas...

...and other gratuitous stereotypes, doesn't take away from the technological success of Finland. Nor the (hugely ambitious) depth of their broadband ambitions for the public.

As in all of the public.

Kudos to the Finnish government, which has just introduced laws guaranteeing broadband access to every person living in Finland (5.5 million people, give or take).

This is reportedly a first worldwide.

Starting July 2010, every person in Finland will have the right to a one-megabit broadband connection as an intermediate step, says the Ministry of Transport and Communications. By the end of 2015, the legal right will be extended to an impressive 100 Mb broadband connection for everyone.

Read that and weep.

Finland is the country that is home to Nokia and who have sought to find practical uses for every element of IT in an effort to benefit the entire population

We are the country where broadband is dependent upon tidal conditions.

Anyone know when the next flight to Helsinki is?

MP's expenses

The politicians really, really just don't get it, do they?

Their self-build ivory towers have put them so out of touch with reality that it is frightening.

Somehow many of them still believe that they should receive tax-free lump sums for anything and everything that they can conjure up and write on a claim form.

And then they complain when they are told their claims are excessive.

Excessive, mind, when in fact many of them are totally f'ing outrageous.

All the while they still happily employ family members on a fat salary and enjoy a tax-free profit on their flats that have been paid for by the taxpayer.

Hopefully reality will bite* after the next election.

* Not a reference to Toblerone

Scam emails

If you receive an email that looks like this, please ignore it as it is a scam to obtain your credit card details. (I have removed the hyperlink). These messages are coming thick and fast to all sorts of email addresses, and one give away is the address to which the message is sent is not easily recognisable. This one came to tom at sparkes dot co dot uk.

-------

From: HM Revenue and Customs [no-reply@hmrc.gov.uk]

Taxpayer ID: tom-00000222351832UK
Tax Type: INCOME TAX
Issue: Unreported/Underreported Income (Fraud Application)

Please review your tax statement on HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) website (click on the link below):

review tax statement for taxpayer id: tom-00000222351832UK

HM Revenue and Customs

Desperate times

The planned £16,000,000,000 sale of the 'non-financial' assets held by central and local Government is nothing if not a desperate attempt to plug the enormous hole in the economy.

A hole created (or at very least encouraged) by Gordon Brown himself.

The sheer desperation is dispiriting, indicating as it does that the problem is even deeper than they are letting on.

But the noxious smell of sulphur indicates that dirty politics are at work here, and not genuine economic thought:

Ahead of the speech Lord Mandelson told BBC Radio 4's Today the sell-offs, which he said was an alternative to "savage" cuts planned by the Conservatives, could include local authority-owned airports.

Yes, it is all party political, not what is best for you and I. The ground for the main battlefield of the next election is already being laid. And it consists of (as Labour will portray it) sensible measures already taken to help the economy recover versus selling your granny to an organ farm.

Vince Cable has the best take on this,and I am in total agreement with him:

"What worries me about the government proposal is that they're proposing to sell off in very depressed markets, under very depressed markets for land and for shares."

Who can forget Brown's masterly sale of the UK Gold Reserves at $300 per ounce between 1999 and 2002. Gold now stands at £1,050 for the self-same oz.

It is a buyer's market, and the public are going to be scalped in these deals. But what is that cost in comparison to the possibility of re-election.

RET - the questions continue

An email has been sent out to many local residents apparently using the ADS database, which reads as follows (my emphasis):

Dear Member,

The Scottish Government launched the Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) pilot scheme in October 2008, reducing fares by 40% on ferry routes between the Western Isles and the Scottish mainland. Halcrow has been commissioned to evaluate the ongoing operation of the pilot scheme and assess its value for money for Scottish taxpayers. With this in mind, we are asking for your permission to participate in an online survey to hear your views on how RET has impacted on your life over its first year of operation. The results from the survey will inform the interim evaluation of the pilot scheme which is currently being undertaken.

Please be assured that your responses will be treated in strictest confidence and all completed responses will be entered into a prize draw, as a token of our thanks for participating in the survey.

I am asking whether you would be agreeable to being contacted by the consultant above for the purposes of evaluating the Scottish Government’s Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) pilot scheme.

Your agreement to participate in the evaluation will be accepted on the basis that your e-mail details will be provided to the chosen consultant solely for that purpose. All responses will be treated confidentially by the Scottish Government and the consultant.

I would be grateful if you would confirm by responding to this email by 14th October 2009 whether you are willing to participate in the evaluation of the Road Equivalent Tariff pilot.

Yours sincerely

ADS

Now call me a cynic, but....

Assess its value for money for Scottish taxpayers seems to make the principal criteria cost, rather than the economic benefit (or impact) on the islands, which is a worrying starting point.

Evaluate the ongoing operation reads to me like an escape route being set-up by the Government.

Take a step back, and look at the current economic climate and there are going to have to be big cuts in various places and there is no good reason why RET should be excluded from the review, unless we can demonstrate that the economic impact is such that removal of RET will cripple the Western Isles economy.

The Taskforce worked wonders on the Uist rocket range, despite having only very short notice of the proposals. This time the Council (I'm not expecting HIE to deliver much) and anyone else they can bring in will need to start work soon on building the case and persuading Ministers of the importance of the scheme.

I expect the review will be completed sometime just ahead of the Holyrood election, but the decision will be taken by the incoming party. That might be our opportunity to get the parties competing to offer the best deal.

Buy Local

Buying locally - which means small local shops, rather than the nearest superstore - is an admirable message and one I don't always achieve.



There is always the problem that the local shops don't stock what you need, and you need it now!

And (let's be honest) there can also be a price issue.

The news that Amazon have removed the delivery contract from the Royal Mail for items over 500g is undoubtedly going to have a serious impact here.

Not just because of the amount that is bought from Amazon, but the impact it will have on other mail-order companies, and then on the viability of the postal system as a whole.

(added later) There are also a large number of businesses locally who rely on a good reliable postal service for exporting goods, and if the Royal Mail prices increase then it could force some of them out of business.

The playing field is not level. The Post Office must deliver to every address at the same price. The new entrants into the market can cherry-pick the most profitable business.

I've said it before, and I will say it again: the only way to protect the Royal Mail service Universal Service Obligation is for new entrants in the UK-wide postal market to be forced to provide a USO within (perhaps) five years of entering into the market.

That will both challenge and protect the Royal Mail through the changes in the market, whilst meeting the Government's primary objective of deregulation.

Watch the local politicians wring their hands in despair at the potential impact on these islands, and see if any actually have a sensible solution.....

(Thanks to a twitterer for the tip-off)

Update: Exiting from the first update, what is the GoogleAds on the Blogger page

Beat the postal strike
Send with the UK's best carriers. Book online now from only £6.50.
www.interparcel.com

RET the saga never ends

One upon time, Angus MacNeil believed in and campaigned for *real* RET and not the poor relative we have been given....

From: John MacInnes [mailto:john.macinnes@snp.org] 
Sent: 14 December 2005 13:45
Subject: MacNEIL RAISES R.E.T. AT WESTMINSTER

For immediate release: Wednesday, December 14th

ATTN:        NEWSDESKS

MacNEIL RAISES RET AT WESTMINSTER

Angus MacNeil, SNP MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, yesterday (Tuesday)brought the issue of Road Equivalent Tariffs for ferries to the House of Commons in an adjournment debate on Rural and Island Transport.

Speaking after the debate, Mr MacNeil said:

"This short debate was raised by the Member for the Isle of Wight, and I felt it was important to raise the issue of Road Equivalent Tariffs which are of major importance to my constituency.

"It is one of the most crucial points for islanders, be they on the Isle of Wight or the Scottish islands of Na h-Eileanan an Iar that a mile travelled at sea should be equivalent to a mile travelled on land.

"It is important that there should be some equality in fares to overcome the disadvantage of island living.

"This issue will not go away.  It is vital that the Government understands how important this issue is to island communities."

ENDS.

Contact - Angus MacNeil: 07733 077799

If only he actually believed what he once mouthed he would be trying to get us the real deal from his colleagues in Holyrood instead of telling us to be happy with what they have deigned to give us.

Football and broadband

Football is not a topic that normally excites me very much - the World Cup just about does it - but when football meets technology there can be some unfortunate results.

Some of you out there are undoubtedly England supporters, but if you fancy watching the Ukraine game then you are going to have to sign up to a website, as it is only available on line.

With a fairly decent 8Mb connection actually delivering c.3Mb at home and at work, I could easily watch the game live. I hesitate to think what it is going to look like on the West Side, in Uist or in Barra, but I would guess it will be pretty unwatchable.

I predict that where football leads, then other sports will follow, and other events won't be far behind.

The call to have them broadcast free on terrestrial TV is great, until you realise that someone (i.e. the taxpayer) has to pick up the tab by outbidding the commercial companies for a business filled with overpaid prima donnas.

No Government has the money to deliver that at the present time - regardless of historic promises to do so - and if this deal proves financially successful the ball will start rolling.

Farewell Harriet Harman

She stands accused of causing a car crash whilst making a call on her mobile and then driving off without leaving her details.

She strongly denies this, and so she should as she is reported to have wound her window down and called out:

“I’m Harriet Harman — you know where you can get hold of me.”

That should be enough to get her off the hook. I mean it's not like she was employing an illegal immigrant to work for her.

One of the many reasons the Police like you to hang around after an accident - apart from making sure that you are Harriet Harman and not some stranger shouting random names out of a car window -is to check that you are not under the influence of any substances, such as G&T.

I think she is going to have to be charged for leaving the scene of an accident; be fined; proclaim her innocence and saintlyhood; and carry on regardless. Such is the moral stature of politicians today.

However, hopefully her mobile phone records will hang her - despite protestations that it was urgent Government business to talk to her nanny (or whoever) - and we will see the end of this ghastly, worthless, self-serving career politician.

Cont page 94

That is a phrase well know to readers of the Private Eye, but on the page 94 of Saturday's Times Magazine is an advert that - sadly - sums up the state of the Harris Tweed industry.

Harris Tweed jackets at a special offer of £150 each, down from £300 and available in only four styles.

This offer can only be thanks to the relentless drive and marketing skill of Brian Haggas who bought the biggest mill and has obviously succeeded in his ambition to make Harris Tweed a high-quality, high-value product again. Not.

Just how low can the world-famous product go, before it bounces back to its rightful heights?

Just so you understand the target market, watch the wonderful Major Hoad explain what sort of jacket you want and need....

There is more of this wonderful - indeed incomparable - stuff on YouTube.

All of which might explain why Harris Tweed is where it is.

Business developments in Barra

Just why are Marine Harvest calling an urgent meeting in Barra on Tuesday?

A meeting to which the Community Councillors, as well as Councillors and the public are being invited to attend by Platform PR of Edinburgh.

Inside information to the usual address please....

Another good man moves on

A very, very, senior Council officer - for whom I have a lot of time and respect - is shortly to be on the move to pastures new.

So what is driving this person away, and leaving a truly enormous hole in the organisation?

I am told that it is all to do with the atmosphere in the building and the way in which the Comhairle is being run by the senior Councillors and by top management.

All Councillors need to start asking themselves "Just what is happening?" and then taking steps to remedy the situation.

This is no time to try to abrogate your responsibilities, or to rely on others. You are there to run the Council, not be run by it.

How your money is spent

Staff are the most important element in any organisation and it is important to treat them all fairly, equally and equitably.

If management send out the wrong messages, or act improperly, then the impact on staff motivation can be severe.

So how is it done in the Council?

A little bird reports the following series of events.....

• Senior employee sent home due to a serious breach of trust
• Disciplinary process starts
• Senior employee goes on the sick
• Senior employee has holiday in the sun (to recover their health, obviously)
• Senior employee gets offered early retirement, not quite in the terms they had been angling for, but nice enough thank you very much
• Employee leaves and disciplinary process lapses

The first 5 stages have concluded, and I think it only needs senior Councillors and the Chief Executive to sign this off for the final event to happen.

That is our money that is being used to send the message to staff that the way to get the early retirement you have been requesting is: do something that would get you the sack in a private business. Yes, and with an enhanced pension too.

There is, as always, a lot more to this than meets the eye, and you can visualise the fingers being pointed and the blame being shifted.

Where is Audit Scotland in all of this? I don't know, but I do know that I will be writing to them in due course.

The Council economic strategy

I am told that the meeting held in Uist on Monday was poorly attended by local businesses as there was a general feeling amongst businessmen that the future was rather stark, and no amount of window dressing could hide that.

However, at the meeting the Council priorities were apparently outlined and can be encapsulated in the following terms:

No spending on roads; put all the money into schools and housing.

That prospect went down like a lead balloon, but it seems to form the basis of the current thinking in Sandwick Road as I have had the same proposition floated in front of me on other occasions.

If only it were that simple; not least because most of the little available capital has already been allocated to specific projects, leaving only a few crumbs to be argued over.

The impact of the Government cuts (both Westminster and Edinburgh) is going to be very significant, and tough decisions are going to have to be taken - not least about whether the earlier commitments are still sensible or if they need to be revisited.