Have a kid - avoid jail

The call from the Children's Commissioner (I bet you didn't know we had one!) not to jail parents without considering the impact it will have on the children must rate as one of the most ridiculous proposals I have heard for a long time.

The commissioner added that his suggested course of action could also tackle the high prison population.

Yes, by putting criminals on the street when they should be in jail.

This is an opportunity for social workers to plead yet another set of mitigating circumstances to keep those who should be locked up in the community; where they can continue their criminal ways.

If anything, the Children' Commissioner should be advocating both sides of this argument equally.

There are many circumstances that I have seen and know about, where the best thing would have been to send one or both of the parents to prison and get the children out of a destructive and dangerous household. That would be the best for the children in many cases, and may prevent the creation of criminal dynasties as the kids take after the parents.

It seems that there is nothing that can stop Jock Murray, retired publican of this parish, from his desire to bring the glory of semi-naked peat-cutting island men to every corner of the known world.

What first caught my eye was a story in the Sutton Guardian about his forthcoming exploits across some of the areas where peat-cutting may not be quite so extensively practised.

Then on the excellent site of John MacLean Photography (who did the original calendar) I found this page about the forthcoming tour of the Jock Murray roadshow, apparently accompanied by MacTv.

Heaven help the poor citizens of London when Jock appears to separate them from their money.

That will be a programme well worth watching, and a cause well worth supporting.

Builders - a key indicator of the local economy

It has always been the case that the building sector is a key indicator of the health of the local economy, as new builds, repairs and general works all feed through into the other sectors.

Those builders who have been reliant upon the Council for work seem to be suffering, with little or no work coming out to them at the moment; despite Council promises to try to advance spending.

The problem seems to lie between making the political decision or noises, and actually having work being put out for tender.

As a consequence, I am told that one of the largest firms has placed all its staff on a three day week and another significant player has given notice to all employees that they will be made redundant in a couple of months, when the current order book is completed.

If my reading of the Council budgets is correct, then it is actually going to get much, much worse. It looks to me as if virtually the entire capital budget for 2011/12 has been committed to the new schools project leaving almost nothing for roads, building maintenance and all the usual projects.

The moral of this tale is: don't rely on the Council for your work.

Update 13/8: I am told that the contractors recently had a meeting with the Vice-Convener at which they were told about all the work that was shortly to come out for tender. The list was circulated, showing that all the work had already been allocated to the COU; and the contractors were therefore expected to tender to sub-contract to the COU. Be grateful for the crumbs you might receive.

Oh yes, and could they also take on more apprentices please.

The population falls, again,again

An almost 5% drop in the population of the Western Isles in 2008 is a serious blow to the islands.

It is difficult to overstate the impact of the demographic changes that we are seeing and forecasting for these islands, with the young being replaced by the elderly.

Fewer schools needed; more old folks homes. Fewer births; more pensioners. Fewer incentives to stay here and bring up a family; more incentives to retire here.

Why is this happening?

I believe that it is very simple - those who leave to get a good education cannot find work back here when they graduate. We lose the majority of our most intelligent and able: my schoolmates are spread across the world with doctorates in this or that but with skills that cannot be used here.

That process is not new, but is increasing over time as the communications improve and as the ability to find jobs in Aberdeen, Glasgow or the Nigerian delta becomes easier and easier.

And then the incentive to return diminishes as the comparison between life here and life there comes into focus - better facilities, more options for the kids and easier access to more life choices.

And so the cycle perpetuates itself, heading into a death-spiral.

But how to break the cycle? Over-dependence on the public sector in all its forms is an immediate cause of the lack of opportunity, but there is a bigger underlying issue about bringing opportunities - skilled, unskilled and semi-skilled - here and the need for deliberate and sustained Political action to find remedies.

All the summits, meetings, and letters to Ministers may have done nothing more than possibly slow the decline, but the threat remains and needs urgent action. As a community, Harris is in an almost terminal state; Uist may come closer to terminal decline if the Rocket Range closes; Barra seems able to sustain and replace it's population; Lewis is fast becoming a retirement home where tourists come to see the quaint traditions of the locals.

Becoming the next St Kilda is still some time off, but moving into the grip of the black hole of depopulation from which there is no escape is coming closer and closer.

How to win friends and influence people...

Good to see that blind prejudice, rather than the tinniest smidgen of common sense still prevails in the UK Border Gestapo Agency.

Having recently experienced [at an airport I don't want to name as I may have to use it again, but it is not in Scotland] their ability to project a vast aura of self-importance whilst slowly and painfully delaying you, under the pretence of studying your photo - without actually looking at you - these supercilious social inadequates have shown just how much power they can wield with their mighty computer mouse.

Here them cry, "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

The UK Border Agency has been accused of embarrassing Scotland by refusing entry visas for a Pakistani business delegation and pipe band[...]

The majority of the members of the Lahore Pipe Band, who have taken part in the World Pipe Band Championships for the past four years, were refused entry.

A delegation of business people and officials from Lahore was also turned down.

Visas applications were also rejected from members of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Lahore District Government, who had been due to arrive in Glasgow for trade meetings.

Haven't they done well, keeping another bunch of Al-Quaida supporters out of the UK.

I mean, what do we want with international trade and economic engagement with a country trying to fight off the threat of extremist Wahhabi Islam, when we can insult them and get them thinking that we can only apply the concept of Western democracy to those with white skins?

Power, politics and policies

I lay in the bath on Sunday night re-reading the Report of the Public Local Inquiry into the proposed windfarm in Eishken.

With a glass of wine in one hand and the jacuzzi bath bubbling around me, I was perfectly relaxed.

Until, that was, I read the Report and this week's Economist magazine.

The Report is all things to all men - maybe aye and maybe no - and is aimless in its attempts for balance and an objective review of the evidence and the submissions.

Everyone was given a fair hearing, and (virtually) all the evidence was accepted. Meaning anything and nothing to everyone. Time and planning applications have moved on, and we are still no nearer or clearer about the acceptability or otherwise of large-scale wind farm developments on the islands.

Lingerbay II anyone? Which is something we all wanted to avoid.

But the bigger policy issue was in an excellent Economist article called "The looming electricity crunch" which clearly sets out the impending problems we will be facing.

Renewables will never bridge the gap - that's a given -until the technology moves on dramatically, but the underlying imbalance between demand and supply highlights the over-dependence on a free-market solution.

The Economist was advocating a rush to nuclear as a potential solution, as was Tony Blair after he prevaricated so long that every other option was ruled out, but now it certainly appears that there is no solution that is going to bridge the gap; other than reliance on supplies from Russia.

We are all going to have to face the fact that there are going to be major energy shortages in the next decade as a direct result of the failure of the Labour Government to take any decisions, instead (mis)placing their faith in the free market to meet demand.

There is an urgent need for long-term strategic decision making, both conventional and renewable, and for new structures to encourage security of supply. That can probably only come about with major changes in the way in which the energy companies operate, and with more state intervention in the infrastructure.

This country is burdened with regulation for the sake of regulation, which abrogates responsibility to quangos and believes that the free-market must solve everything. Our politicians then deny any correlation between that and the inability to get things done. We are not as bad as Ethiopia, but we get close.

One only needs to look at the farce over the Beauly-Denny power line and the need for Ofgem to encourage bidding for the electricity infrastructure to understand that politicians seem unable to take and implement necessary long-term strategic decisions. The trivial and stupid stuff is easy for them; but deciding yea or nay to what sort of power supplies we will have in ten years time is too difficult for them.

When the lights threaten to go out, I'll be throwing the nearest politician onto the fire.

WTF was the delay?

From page 1 of the document:

Report by Miss Janet M McNair, a Reporter appointed by the Scottish Ministers

· Case reference: IEC/3/134
· Application by Beinn Mhor Power Ltd for consent under section 36 of the
· Electricity Act 1989 for a wind farm and associated infrastructure
· Site Address: Muaitheabhal, Eisgein Estate, Isle of Lewis
· Date of pre-inquiry meeting 7 March 2008
· Dates of inquiry: 13-21 May 2008
· Date of this report: September 2008

Look at the document properties:

Last printed: 25 August 2008 20:24:00

Does this mean that the Government have been sitting on this for nearly a year???

During which time the scheme has been dramatically modified, amended, cut into pieces and put back together in a different order, whilst all the time someone has been sitting on this.

Great.

Restores ones faith in the ability of the public sector to move with all the speed and athleticism of an arthritic hippo in concrete wellies.

Approval for the Eishken wind scheme

According to Hebrides News, the much delayed Public Inquiry has recommended approval for a scheme that has now been superceded by events.

As someone who gave evidence to the PLI, I want to study the report carefully before making any further comment, but as the applicant dryly notes:

“The report is very interesting and very fair but it is now of only academic interest.”

Update 7/8: I've read the Report, carefully, and I need to read it again, even more carefully.

My initial reaction is that the Report can be read either way you wish, giving the Minister complete leeway to make whatever decision he wants. So neither approved nor rejected.

Has the rocket range been saved?

I'm not sure how to interpret the words from the minister, who seems to be playing his cards very close to his chest.

It is clear that he is now fully aware of the impact that his decision will have on the Western Isles as a whole, and Uist in particular, and full credit must go to the Task Force for the hard work they have done in getting him here.

The lobbying of the Minister - the person responsible for taking the decision - is vitally important, indeed crucial; and should not have been derided by our MP, who seemed to prefer megaphone diplomacy insults and lobbying of those NOT taking the decision. I would go so far as to say that the successes to date are despite our MP's actions.

We may have been roundly patronised by the Minister

...a charming and lovely community in a lovely part of the world which would easily be very badly impacted by a decision of this kind.

but we can forgive him that if he makes the right decision. The balance is - as he says -

When I get back I shall have all kinds of people asking for money and if I said I've just given up a saving of £3.9 million a year because I want to do a favour for these charming people who live on the Western side of the Hebrides there'd be a lot of people who would think I'd betrayed the general national interest. It's not an easy decision to take.

Sorry to remind you of this, but it is your job to take the decisions and the responsibility for them, and your decision will have a major impact on the votes in the coming election.

A connected community

I know that I have allowed adverse comments about the Hebrides.net set-up (right) on a number of occasions, but despite all the flak, we have to remember that being connected to the web is actually the way forward for this community.

It may be frustrating, it may be slow (or slower than you would really like), it may be expensive, and service levels may be low, but anyone doing business via the web knows just how important it can be to island life.

Lots of our clients try to sell via the web and some do it very successfully, despite still being on dial-up or broadband at almost dial-up speeds, and a few do it very badly, mistaking an email address for a 24/7 web 2.0 e-commerce site.

The vision for these islands must be to attract back the educated masses we send away, so that they can work, live, bring up families and run a business from here. Some do it extremely well.

Much as I try to help friends and clients, nothing beats actual experience.

On Saturday I was asked if our firm still provided a certain service (I don't want to give too much away to the competition!) by a local gent I know very well. He had been recommended to us by a couple of his work colleagues who live in England but work with him on an oil installation outside the UK! These clients had found us through a website we have set-up for a niche area, and which is attracting 2/3 new clients a week, every week.

I might have thought that a fluke, except another site we own today brought in another new potential client from the middle East who found us because of certain key words in that site. He is looking to open a UK office to handle his expanding international business, and our physical location is totally irrelevant.

Tourism is great; manufacturing is rarely cost effective; retail is a big employer; the future growth in population and skills lies in selling ourselves as a onshore, lower-cost, alternative to off-shoring.

I was recently accused on this blog of claiming that the only real jobs were those where you got dirty or worn fluorescent jackets. Actually, what I said was that tourism had less of an impact on the community than people claimed. Services will be an important part of the future economy of the islands, but only if we diversify and draw back the diaspora with excellent telecoms, travel and the way of life.

That is the challenge to which I don't have all the answers, but which I really hope we as a community do.

Google street view

Hebrides News has a great exclusive photo of the Google street view car doing the rounds of the Cearns today.

Dear God! I thought we had a few more years before they caught up with us.

Thankfully, they weren't in the Narrows on Saturday night or they might have had more photos similar to this poor, desperate, woman in Madrid. (NSFW?>

Or coming our of the [Lewis pub name deleted for legal reasons] with a female 'acquaintance'.

Or 'suffering from food poisoning'. Warning: truly not suitable for lunch time

Council tenders

Thanks to you-know-who-you-are for a pointer to another Council tendering issue that needs investigating.

Disconnected communities

Good to see the Hebrides.net service is under review, as it has obviously cause much dissatisfaction with potential customers.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but that doesn't mean we should never look back at how and why decisions were taken in order to learn from the process.

Circus comes to town

Just weeks after the Berlin Circus came to town, I can reveal that this week sees the arrival of the Holyrood In-a-state Circus for a suitably patronising tour of the islands.

Ringmaster - owner, manager, Press Officer, selector of the acts, organiser, publicity officer and unquestioned head honco - Alex "Gourmand" Salmond will host, present, introduce and generally take all credit or the For One Night Only show.

He will introduce "Honest" John Swinney on the financial high wire, balancing no money and expensive promises.

Full supporting cast of dumb animals, who can perform tricks - opening this, getting photographed at that - with only the gentlest prod from Mr Salmond.

The clowns - MacNeil and Allan - will entertain the massed crowds of SNP supporters instructed to turn up for the day with vacuous statements, a blizzard of empty press releases and the ability to say nothing for sixty seconds on tv and radio. These two are guaranteed to produce laughs as MacNeil attempts to smooth talk any/all young women in the audience and Allan stands around using his Blackberry in the hope of finding a friend.

The mess left behind by the circus will be tidied up by the local tax payer.

Public sector cuts

At last the immutable truth has been spoken - Scotland (and the rest of the UK) faces huge cuts in public expenditure to pay for the excess of the past few years and the current economic crisis.

Make no mistake, this is going to happen. No let me correct this, this needs to happen, and any Government that fails to face this is only going to exacerbate this problem.

Some 4 years ago, I predicted that the growth in public spending was going to cause a huge problem for the public finances, and that the public sector was going to have to face the prospect of huge cuts in its budget.

I had no idea that the credit crunch was coming too, but the underlying problem remains - we are spending too much on the public sector, and there needs to be cuts to balance the books.

The exact same problem would face whoever was in Holyrood, simply because the size of the settlement is dictated by Westminster and the money just won't be there to fund the expenditure.

Talk of 6,000 jobs being lost across the entire public sector is dramatically understating the cuts that will need to be made, and I would suggest that double that number is more realistic, allied with a complete review of public sector pensions and benefits. That equates to around 60 jobs in the Western Isles.

Some of this might be mitigated by other methods, but the bottom line is that those savings will be necessary - and will be imposed despite the Concordat - for the Council, Health Board and the others to make the books balance.

Make no mistake, tough times are ahead, and the Tories are going to inherit an unholy mess that they will use as the justification for deep cuts in public expenditure, and Holyrood will be forced to dance to the same tune.

A rebalancing of public finances is utterly necessary, but that's not going to ease the pain we will all feel.

A Councillor overheard....

...bemoaning why he had not officially been told by the Chief Executive about the legal action brought by Angus, nor that there was a problem with the tendering process, nor that a very senior member of staff had been suspended, nor that an investigation which started in May was still continuing.

Has any Councillor directly asked the Chief Executive or Convener about this? Perhaps the top brass are working on the basis that some of the Councillors may form an appeals panel at some point and hence their ignorance is bliss.

However, this doesn't explain why no-one is being told why Audit Scotland are all over the Council and why Cllr Norman A MacDonald was dressed in his best suit for an allegedly very serious meeting with the Auditors investigating his role in the matter.

I'm hoping that we will see some of the internal emails on this blog, as I am told they are damning, but Angus is keeping them well hidden (so far). No doubt they will be used in Court in due course, to the great amusement of the public.

Full ferries

With the Stornoway-Ullapool ferry seemingly full every weekend and close to full most weekdays, an urgent solution needs to be found.

The solution is to demand a new ferry - or ferries - and not banning camper vans.

I know that they are disparagingly referred to a "bin fillers" because of the perception that they take all their supplies with them, and buy little locally.

As one the purposes of RET was to attract more tourists, then to be surprised that we have, er, more tourists merely demonstrates the success of the pseudo-RET scheme.

CalMac - and that really means SNP and Labour - need to start budgeting for bigger ferries in their manifesto programmes, as this is going to be a major issue at the coming election.

The problem is....just how much capacity is out there? So how big do the new vessels need to be?

Allowing for all the tourists who turn up at Ullapool on spec and then don't travel when they realise that the ferry is full, I would be guessing that a 30% increase in capacity is required.

The immediate short-term solution?

Seven-days sailings will take a slight amount of the pressure off, but the real answer is the urgent need to replace the Muirneag and augment the service provided by Isle of Lewis.

Over to the Scottish Government to find the cash and show their intentions towards the islands......

Mini tornado hits Lewis (Updated)

As the tornado raced up Matheson Road causing devastation across the route from Shell Street to Goathill, I turned to my better half and said "It sounds a bit blowy out there!"

Apart from the power flicking off twice in quick succession I thought nothing more of it until I saw the news this morning.

Daughter, however, must have been more aware of what was going on as she rumbled and called for us. But minutes later she was sound asleep again.

Update 30/7/09: Front page of the Scottish Sun today (groan).

Hope for Uist

Surprise, surprise, but according to the Gazette the Defence Minister is to visit Uist and to discuss the proposed cuts.

And who is bearer of these good tidings, but the prospective Labour MP, Cllr Donald John MacSween, who also has the very welcome news that socio-economic factors will be taken into account in coming to a final decision on the closure of the Rocket Range.

Good work by the Council-led Range Task Force, presumably on the back of the recent meeting with Ministers in London. And if I read between the lines correctly, an easy exit route for the Government to reverse the decision 'having considered all the facts'.

Obviously Labour consider this a winnable seat, or Mr MacSween wouldn't have got the nod ahead of everyone else - and what looks like the ear of the Minister - on this matter.

What this demonstrates that speaking to the Minister is the key, and then using that to its maximum advantage. That applies whether your are in the governing party or in opposition, and all the more underlines the failure by Angus MacNeil to lobby the junior Minister when he met with her after his advance confidential briefing on the closure plans.

Regardless of political allegiance, everyone should now pull together to persuade the Minister that the socio-economic impacts would be so adverse that there should be no suggestion that the closure go ahead.

Meantime, sign the petition against closure.

Persoonlijke gegevens

That's "personal details" in Dutch.

And you thought that completing UK Tax Returns was difficult?

My Dutch has improved slightly since my visits to Santpoort-Nord, Velsen and Ijmuiden and I can now understand a bit more than the bare essential "een bier tevreden".

('A beer, please')

It certainly makes for a different Monday night!