Who is the Chief Executive?

One organisation in the Western Isles has the unlikely distinction of having two Chief Executives, a problem that has dragged on for five months.

I refer, of course, to the Western Isles Health Board where the current/past/suspended Chief Executive has been replaced pending investigations into his CV.

Of course, it is never as simple as that, but with the NHS still paying Laurence Irvine £5,000 per month pending conclusion of the investigation, one could reasonably expect that the investigation would proceed apace. This exchange in the Audit Committee is enlightening.....

George Foulkes:You did not succeed in getting a permanent chief executive, though, did you?
Malcolm Wright: A permanent chief executive [Laurence Irvine] was appointed and we handed over—
George Foulkes: But he is suspended, is he not?
Malcolm Wright: I understand so.
George Foulkes: Whose fault was that?
Ronnie Cleland: This is a difficult area, convener. It is difficult to discuss the allocation of blame, given the situation with the chief executive.
The Temporary Convener: Okay.
Ronnie Cleland: I am not trying to avoid the question.
George Foulkes: No—it is a difficult situation legally.

Clear as mud.

The allegations - as I understand them - would seem to be reasonably easy to resolve. So why the delay?

It is my understanding that there is not enough to remove Mr Irvine from post, but perhaps enough to undermine his position, and to avoid an Industrial Tribunal the lawyers are negotiating an early retirement package that can be justified to Parliament.

Meantime, Mr Irvine is still nominally in charge of the Health Board - although, practically, he has no remit - and the ship sails on, holed underwater.

This may become a theme, but can someone - please, please - take a decision and allow us to move forward?

Population projections

The Registrar General hs produced a new list of expected population changes by Council area up to 2031.

The good news is that we aren't facing the worst population decline.

Only the eighth worst.

The staggeringly bad news is that we face the worst 'natural change' - births versus deaths - of minus 15%, with the next worst being a mere 9.1% drop.

The situation is remedied by a projected net inward migration of 9.5%.

Inward migration is loaded with all sorts of assumptions about the nature of the immigrants, but which I take to be primarily the older age group and largely, to put it crudely, beyond childbearing age.

The impact on the communities can easily be guessed at - with schools having insufficient pupils, irrespective of the outcome of any current consultations - and the islands becoming a retirement home, rather than a thriving community.

Idiot

In an incredible act of pomposity, Jeremy Paxman has written to Marks and Spencer about a matter of global importance ....

"There's no other way to put this. Their pants no longer provide adequate support. The other thing is socks. Even among those of us who clip our toenails very rigorously, they appear to be wearing out much more quickly on the big toe."

What? Go somewhere else you silly twat. The streets are filled with things called shops.

"But I do feel that someone should take up this mighty battle. I was astonished, when I raised it with people, that they all said the same thing. It has been the subject of widespread consultation, from my gym to the Houses of Parliament."

What the....? Have they nothing better to do in the Houses of Parliament than discuss M&S socks?

What is the main topic of discussion amongst our elected parliamentarians? Global recession? Nuclear weapons in Pakistan? Governmental lies? Or whether Jeremy's knackers are held up by his pants?

He and Sir Stuart Rose would meet...

Please, please, rescue me from those with more time than common sense....

Northern Rock

Just when you think it can't get any worse; handled more badly; or cost us as taxpayers any more; along comes Alasdair Darling to dig a hole and throw some more of our money into it.

• The bank had a lot of good debts that it used to borrow more money
• The good debts it had were long term loans
• The money it borrowed was repayable short-term
• The money it borrowed was put into higher risk investments to get the best return
  
• The shareholders loved the dividend increases, which gave them a good return
• The shareholders loved the increase in the share price, which went up six fold in six years
• Short term borrowing dried up
• The high risk investments proved to be more risk than return
• The shareholders look to have lost out

So far so much like any other business. Until the Government have tried to manage an orderly sale by pumping in billions of our pounds to keep the bank solvent, and then to manage the disposal.

It might work, if only the Government weren't so desperately incompetent.

No-one can afford to buy the bank and repay the money to the Government. Europe won't allow the Government to give continuing support. The amount put in by Government continues to grow.

And no-one can seem to take any decisive action.

The interests of the shareholders seem to be paramount, but they get the biggest rewards when things go well; and they must take the ultimate risk when it goes belly-up.

Nationalisation was the only option, and remains the only option, as Europe will not allow the level of support that Darling hopes, and turning the loan into Bonds will simply lumber the now terminal bank with debt it won't be able to repay, whilst the taxpayers now take the shareholders risk but without the return.

It is the indecision and inability to be brutal that is prologuing the death of a once great institution and giving the shareholders false hope. Pull the plug, and pass it to the Bank of England asap, and then try to sell the loan book at some time in the future.

Or is Nationalisation now such a dirty word in the Labour Party?

Renewable energy

There are few politicians who do not pay lip service to just how much they support renewable energy, and just how important it is in ensuring that we have a balanced energy supply in the future.

I say "lip service", because almost without exception there is an important caveat to their statements. A prime example came about this week.

An SNP MSP has expressed concern about the visual impact of wind farm developments in his constituency. "Wind farms must be sited in appropriate locations that do not diminish an area's scenic character." Mr Crawford added that he was a supporter of wind farms and their ability to generate "clean, renewable" sources of energy and said they were vital to meet the targets set by the Scottish Government to reduce the country's carbon footprint.

And I could quote numerous examples from our own MP and MSP.

With the UK now having to deliver 15% of its energy needs from renewables by 2020, the options are starting to get limited.

As a report in the Sunday Herald today points out,

The amount of electricity that would be generated by the 153 wind farms currently held up in the planning queue is enough to provide 60% of all Scotland's power, and could easily replace the nation's nuclear power stations at Hunterston in North Ayrshire and Torness in East Lothian.

Bizarrely, all of which means that nuclear seems more - not less - likely as a result of the attitude of the nimby SNP MSPs.

This is going to be exacerbated next week, as I am very reliably told that the decision on the Lewis Wind Power scheme will be for refusal.

Obviously, I'll be very disappointed if that is the case - but I'm delighted that there will be no Public Inquiry as demanded by our parliamentarians - but I understand that a new application for the Stornoway Trust lands only will then be submitted, and is likely to be approved. In other words, the turbines are only unacceptable in some places.

But the development of renewable energy in the islands will be pushed back a few years, and we will face further uncertainty and depopulation in the meantime.

Whatever the decision turns out to be, it is not about winners and losers, but about doing the best for the islands, and I trust that both sides in this debate will work together in the future with that aim in mind.

Drugs bust

The public seem to be surprised that £70,000 of cocaine was seized on the MV Hebrides as it sailed between Uig, Skye, and Tarbert, Harris.

This is the first Class A seizure in the islands.

But not the first appearance of Class A drugs in the islands, where there is a small but persistent hard drugs problem.

A public toilet in Stornoway used to have a problem with discarded needles, as well as being a meeting place for some groups of males.

I took the difficult decision to have the toilet closed (it is due to reopen four years later, having been rebuilt) and had to justify the decision on Isles FM, our local community radio station. Rather than highlight the drugs issue, I became the first - and probably only - person to use the word 'cottaging' on air. This provoked the phone call to the studio from an old cailleach (Old woman) who asked "De tha seo cottaging?" (What is cottaging?). The tactful answer was, "If you don't know, they you don't want to know"

But back to the story.

I understand that, the 'intelligence led operation' came about following another recent drugs raid in Lewis which - in best tradition of Angus Og - produced the dealers' detailed records of customers and suppliers and deals made. This produced another round of raids, more seizures, and inevitably more work for the Procurator Fiscal.

All round, a good result into which Muggins the Mule has sailed.....

Glasgow life

Now I know that this is not typical of Glasgow, but I just have to bring it to wider attention.

Mary McKay was charged with stabbing Tarik Husan at a bus stop on Tollcross Road, Glasgow, for no apparent reason.

Mr Husan's friend Sarbaz Kamil asked McKay why she had attacked and she replied: "You're all terrorists."

Later McKay said: "I hope the guy is dead. I just stabbed a guy with the same colour of skin as a terrorist."

Ignoring the rampant racism (and why wasn't she charged with a racially aggravated crime), Ms McKay and her QC demonstrated a fine grasp of how not to plead mitigating circumstances. The mitigating excuse for her action deserves to be brought to a wider public, nay the world...

"Her intention was to take a 62 bus and stab her mother but she missed the bus and stabbed the complainer instead."

Read the full story here.

Red-throated divers

With about 60 breeding pairs of these birds in the Lewis Peatlands - about 6.4% of the UK population or about 0.8% of the world population - they are a major reason for the objections to the proposed Lewis Wind Farm.

This week, the Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds was published by the RSPB and addressed the issue of the impact on bird populations of climactic change.

The answer was startling - the populations will move about 550km North East by the end of the century.

That's 55km per decade - almost 35 miles - that the birds will move their nesting.

Or another way of looking at it is that they will have left Lewis and moved to the mainland by 2020.

So when the RSPB say, "we need urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and redouble our efforts for nature conservation, if we are to avoid calamitous impacts on birds". That'll include supporting the Lewis Wind Power scheme then?

If the birds are moving North East at such a rate, then what bird populations are going to be left on the island, unless we do something about renewable energy, and quickly?

Trouble in Barra

CalMac have made available on their website the details of the tenders which they submitted for the Lochboisdale-Mallaig route, and lo and behold it matches with everything I was told and has been claimed here.

The full FoI request has not reached any of the parties who submitted it. Yet.

The FoI requests came from Cllr Donald Manford and Stòras Uibhist.

The fall out in Barra is - I am told - horrific, with questions about who was doing what behind whose back; and accusations about the MP and MSP are flying around.

No doubt they will make a full and detailed comment in due course, but I am told that details of their meetings and calls will be made available if they try and wriggle out of their actions.

(Details of those who requested the FoI added at 11:30)

Loganair and BE

With the ending of the BA Franchise for Loganair, everyone expected a straight foll-over of the contract.

What a surprise to find that Loganair will now be part of BE.

After BE acquired the BA Connect routes last year, it opened up many more opportunities for travellers from the islands to get to other locations. Flying exclusively with BA meant that most travel had to be via London, and that you had to book with different airlines to get anywhere.

There are definitely more direct options with BE to travel to locations other than London, but - and this is a big but - how will this impact of the tourists when there are potentially two different carriers? Will we see visitors happy to change airlines in Glasgow, rather than be through ticketed? Or will we attract a new variety of 'regional' tourists - Newquay to Sy for the surfing?

As with every change, it is going to be unsettling, but we will have to make the best of the new opportunities presented.

Lochboisdale-Mallaig update

The following comment was made on the posting immediately below, but is potentially so explosive that I think it merits it's own post. The FoI request will prove the accruacy or otherwise of these claims, but if they are even partially true, expect fireworks.....

Insider said...

Almost there, Angus, but just a few corrections to complete the full picture.

Barra was not to be cut-off entirely, the Lochboisdale-Castlebay run was to eventually disappear, as 'the passengers could travel via Eriskay to Uist'. There were to two runs a week using the MV Clansman via Coll and Tiree, taking us back 25 years, and adding hours to the journey. All this was to be subject to 'consultation' with the people of Barra, once it was accepted by the Government.

Of course the Convener knew! All the non-executive directors were fully aware of the bid that was planned and submitted.

But a bit of background: the new proposal came about and was being activitely campaigned for by the SNP, and those leading the negotiations with CalMac and the Minister were:-
Angus B MacNeil MP
Alastair Allan MSP
Jim Mather MSP
Fergus Ewing MSP.

The Minister and the MSPs were told that this proposal had the majority support in both Uist and Barra.

The one person kept in the dark by his own side, and who was totally outside the loop - much to the embarassment of CalMac - was Cllr Donald Manford, the Chair of the Transport Committee on CnES, and member for Barra.

Mallaig-Lochboisdale

An advance copy of part of the FoI request about the Mallaig-Lochboisdale tender documentation has made it's way into my hands.

And interesting reading it makes too.

Raising more questions than answers; and some serious questions too.

(Journalists: at this point stop! Unless you mention the blog in your 'exclusive' reports*)

According to the WHFP this week, the tender for Mallaig-Lochboisdale would cost only £600,000 extra to deliver. Wrong! But the question is who gave them this wrong information?

The tentacles stretching from CalMac to the Government seem to be rotten, and the questions must focus on who is misleading whom. And why?

The truth that will be out next week is that the non-compliant tender relates to a proposal included in the tender document (for a mere £600,000 pa extra ) to change the Oban-Castlebay-Lochboisdale service to become a Mallaig-Lochboisdale-Castlebay service.

This was non-compliant because no consultation had taken place with any of the affected communities in breach of every guideline covering CalMac's operations.

I understand that this was CalMac's response to the call from the previous administration for a Mallaig-Lochboisdale service, and when the impact was realised, the request was dropped like a hot potato.

But CalMac brought it back, despite being told it was unacceptable, obviously in the hope of getting the Civil Servants on board (no pun intended) for a politically unacceptable plan.

What is incomprehensible is that the Minister has not been open about this, and why CalMac have found it necessary to spin left, right and centre on this matter.

Unfortunately, this also raises a more local question: when did the Convener of the Comhairle know about this?

It is clear that CalMac cannot be trusted to deliver for the people of the Western Isles, as they are playing a political game aimed towards Edinburgh, and treated the people of these islands as third-class (steerage?).

The solution is surely to put Mallaig-Lochboisdale out to open tender, and leave Oban-Castlebay under CalMac control.

*Especially the Gazette who download files and then ignore the source!

New residents

What the islands thrive on is fresh blood coming in and bringing new skills, experiences and knowledge into the community. Working with the current residents brings rewards and enriches us all. Heaven knows, the islanders have done the same in every corner of the world.

What the islands don't need is house price speculation with non-residents cornering the market and pricing everyone else out - it's not like you can commute here to work.

It is good to see such a positive article in this weekend's Financial Times magazine, together with lovely photos and descriptions of how hard, but rewarding, it can be to live here, especially for those who have downsized and turned to crofting for a living.

Peter "poor adminstration" Hain

Peter Hain (right) has already had a justified kicking in the blogosphere from those even more vitriolic and sweary than I, and totally justified too.

His latest statement (with no questions allowed) is a masterclass in evasion, pomposity, waffle and self-delusion, and proves that the 'great and the good' need to be culled often, painfully and publicly to remind us of the wise words of Voltaire "pour encourager les autres".
In a statement he said the idea he had attempted "to hide anything is absurd".

This from a Minister who is in charge of a vicious campaign to pursue 'benefit cheats' who are guilty until they can prove their innocence. Mr Hain also said the senior civil servant at the Department for Work and Pensions was "satisfied" that none of the donations had breached the ministerial code.

The public are concerned about you rampant stupidity, gross misconduct and general unfittness for public office, not about an irrelevant (for these purposes) ministerial code.

In his statement, delivered to reporters outside his Neath constituency home Mr Hain said that it was after the end of the campaign that "the extent of outstanding debt became apparent to me".

My arse.

Having got the full support from Gordon Brown, I can no only conclude that he is toast as soon as the Commissioner for Standards lambasts him.

However, in true NuLab fashion (learnt from the Major Government) he will hold on for grim death before succumbing to the inevitable, making it an even more painful death for his party, and bringing them further into disrepute.

Last words to Nick Clegg (LibDem leader in case you had forgotten): "From what I've heard I can't really distinguish between what appears to be either utter incompetence in the way his campaign was run, or deliberate obfuscation."

The 'safety' culture

Readers in the Western isles will remember this story...

An entire Coastguard unit has resigned in protest at the sacking of their leader - hours after he led the search for a father and son killed in a canoeing tragedy. [...] But the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said he had contravened health and safety rules on a number of occasions and had to be disciplined.

When Mr Morrison got home after midnight, a full-time Coastguard official was waiting with a letter of dismissal. [...]

It is believed that the long-serving Mr Morrison had been warned in the past about the MCA's concerns relating to health and safety practices, and a series of informal meetings had been held with senior officials regarding them. The spokesman would not specify what those health and safety concerns had been, but said they involved Mr Morrison's "methodology" of working.

This practice now seems to be the norm....

A volunteer coastguard who won an award for rescuing a schoolgirl from a crumbling cliff ledge has resigned after a row over health and safety.

Paul Waugh climbed down to Faye Harrison, 13, who was hanging on by her fingertips and about to fall 200ft (60m) at Salburn-on-Sea, Teesside. He did not wear safety equipment as it would have taken time to go back to his vehicle which was some distance away.

Mr Waugh was later told he had broken rules and was under investigation. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said it was not looking for dead heroes.

But dead children seem to be acceptable to the MCA (A public agency in case you have forgotten).This is not about "Health and Safety", it is about pen-pushers with nothing better to do covering their arses to make sure they never carry any of the blame for anything. Ever.

It cannot be longer before the entire Coastguard are banned from cliff-edges as they are deemed "too dangerous" by some never-was who has never had to get their hands dirty.

There is a time and place for Health and Safety, and appropriate training is necessary, but when it results in this, and in children drowning whilst rescuers just watch, then you know it has just gone totally wrong.

Let's get some balance back into life, by reintroducing common sense at the expenses of petty rules.

Windfarm decision

So according to the Enterprise Minister speaking to Lesley Riddoch, "There is going to be a decision made very shortly", and "I think we have consulted widely and heard local opinion loud and clear."

All of which is slightly opaque, but there is one certainty - there will be no referendum.

Allied to the fairly vague press release issued by our MSP finally calling for a clear and early decision, it all seems to add up to an interesting few weeks.

I'm very pleased that the matter should be resolved soon.

Interpreting Mr Mather's words I think I can safely state that there is going to be no Public Local Inquiry, and we are going to get a clean decision. Mr Mather's words make me think it is going to be rejected, but Mr Allan's press release makes me think approval is on the cards. So I haven't a clue what the likely outcome is going to be.

If it is approved, I will be delighted, a position I have been advocating since I considered the proposals in detail.

If it is refused, then the question is "What now for Lewis?". I have also argued that if the moor is such an important national resource, then the community should be rewarded for not disturbing it. In other words, the Government should effectively buy the development rights from the public, providing the communities with alternative funding to allow them to develop. This what the political opponents should have been arguing, rather than just for a straight refusal.

However, I fear that the area will be sterilised by a refusal, preventing any future developments in the area whether by the community or third parties.

And with the community having a huge windfall snatched from under it's noses.

Refusal would bring with it a concomitant responsibility on the Government to find alternative opportunities for the islands to secure our future, rather than cast us aside as another St Kilda.

Nuclear power stations

I'm delighted to see the Scottish Government putting it's foot down against the building of any new nuclear power stations in Scotland. It has my total support for it's stance.

However, the Scottish Government also needs to take early decisions on how it is to ensure continuity of power supplies by making decisions on the applications for renewable energy developments, and also to take other concomitant decisions on other sources.

The prevarication and delay in London - and hence the paralysis in the previous Scottish administration - means that the options are becoming time limited, and that difficult decisions are now becoming urgent, very urgent, or long overdue.

It is likely that we will have to have a mix of old and new technology, with an emphasis on testing and developing new renewable sources, as well as relying on some imports, but this is not the time for delay.

Nice work if you can get it....

So instead of taking forward the small matter of peace in the middle-east as the Blessed Tony promised when he left office, he has instead got a job with rapacious international financiers.

Tony Blair has taken a part-time post with US investment bank JPMorgan.

Mr Blair, who stood down as UK prime minister in June last year, has been employed "in a senior advisory capacity", the bank said.

He said he looked forward to advising the bank on the "political and economic changes that globalisation brings".

It is not known how much JPMorgan will pay him, but some estimates say more than $1m (£500,000) a year. The bank said he had a "unique perspective".

Yes, $1m salary for a part time job.

Next, expect the dyed in the wool Thatcherite Socialist to become a non-resident of the UK and not pay any tax on that income here. Although the upsides are that we won't have to put up with his smarminess, and Cherie will have to go with him.

Perhaps this explains his knee-jerk opposition to having a higher rate of tax for the highest earners.

Diets

Three days into the New Year diet and I haven't broken yet. Yet.

A final feeding frenzy over the weekend to consume all the chocolate hidden in the house (to keep it away from the children you understand!) was very successful, and we found other treats that were duly scoffed.

Monday saw the new regime of fruit, vegetables, low-fat cooking, and no red wine kick in with the expected consequences of unbearable smugness and sky-high expectations.

Tuesday saw the new regime of fruit, vegetable, low-fat cooking and no red wine augmented by the first visit to the gym for a few weeks. Making my way there in shorts in freezing winds and driving rain saw the resolve start to crack. Badly. The only consolation was the prospect of a warm shower after I was finished - and boy, was I finished after half an hour.

Day three has brought the blessed relief of some red meat. Albeit stir fried with loads of veg.

The absence of pre-dinner snacks whilst the kids eat their tea has been easy, but the introduction of muesli with skimmed milk into my breakfast routine has been contrary to the Geneva Convention.

Still, the red wine has been replaced with white, and despite the throbbing pain in my body from the gym I will tell anyone who can be bothered to listen that I feel better already.

I may even managed a second week of it.

What! No biscuits?

Bush's Middle-East tour

As the gormless one lands in Tel Aviv in his efforts to bring peace to the troubled Middle East look like he is doing something try to secure some sort of legacy for his Presidency, who is better placed to bring intellectual rigour to resolve the unresolvable regional issues in merely one - brief - visit.

There is just one question on everyone's lips as this process comes to a Press Conference frenzied climax stuttering slow death -- where is his bag-carrier, special emissary for peace in the Middle East, living saint and professional brown-noser Tony Blair?

Yo! Bitch!