Spring Conference Speech

Motion proposed by Rob Gibson MSP
Seconded by Pete Wishart MP

11 CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

Conference welcomes the growing evidence that Scotland's creative industries are becoming a core economic sector in 21st century Scotland.

We note that Scottish performers and artists receive a very warm welcome in many countries across the world - they are truly cultural diplomats winning new and future partners in business vital to Scotland's continued prosperity.

Conference urges the Scottish Government to extend the scope of its Expo fund to promote Scottish-based productions premiered in the Edinburgh festivals to include comparable acts premiered at Celtic Connections.

Conference also recognises the unique contribution and vibrancy of our contemporary traditional arts, and calls on the proposed new body, Creative Scotland, to make an enhanced commitment to fund the development of this sector. This would present the perfect opportunity to encourage pride in a strong, fair and inclusive national identity.

***

Rob’s speech:

Convener, fellow nationalists,

The creative industries employ 100,000 people and generate £5 billion annual turn over or 4% of Scottish GDP today. Music alone brings £6m into the Shetland economy and Iain Hamilton of Highlands And Islands Labesl confirmed recently that there are around 800 people working in this sector in the Highlands and it is worth £24 million a year to the area's economy.

Creative Industries cover games, radio and television, new media, film, music production, design, publishing, architecture, advertising, arts and cultural industries.

According to Scottish Enterprise, outwith London and the South East, nowhere else in the UK has a greater share of creative industries employment … and it’s going to get larger.

Over the next three years the sector is expected to grow at 10% per annum in Scotland, with rates up to 20% per annum predicted for companies involved in digital content production.

Our artists and performers underpin the cultural confidence of Scots today. Through the dark Thatcher years they shone a light on the road to our Parliament. In terms of entertainment more people go to concerts, galleries performances and libraries than to play sport. So this Party should celebrate this artistic vibrancy and let it flourish.

For centuries now Scottish artists have been visiting and performing in countries across the globe. I hope our SNP Government can help many more to do so.

I’ve been on a personal mission with the help of Alyn smith MEP and Dr Aileen McLeod to talk with cultural representatives across Europe. Scotland is high profile, we are easily recognised and they want our cultural output in their lands. In turn we should be inviting as many nations to come and perform here. Not just in the Edinburgh Festivals programme but in every community. One example is a Basque sport and music group which performed in Inverness last month that is now making twinning links with the local Highland Games.

That’s cultural diplomacy on their part and that’s what the National Theatre of Scotland’s record breaking play Black Watch has done for Scotland on three continents. Haven’t they done well! That’s what we want to do again and again through a variety of art forms.

Turning to the Edinburgh festivals, they are always evolving. For instance the Fringe before the fringe was the Peoples’ Labour Festival in 1951 which featured political theatre, folk song and classical concerts.

This spurred the Edinburgh International Festival to feature traditional music which was usually sold out. But without consistent content each year this vibrant sector of Scots culture loses out on the prestige platform of Edinburgh in August.

I am asking our Government to look closely at a wider range of original Scottish artistic output to qualify for the expo fund.

That could be done through a dynamic partnership between Edinburgh festivals and Celtic connections that would open doors for our vibrant contemporary traditional music.

Put simply ahead of the 2009 Year of Homecoming we should be featuring as many Scottish artists and performers as possible around the world to attract people over here to see Scotland for real.

Please support this positive motion.

[Passed unanimously]

The Skara Brae Timeline

Photo: Myself, Anne Marwick, Linda Fabiani and a Historic Scotland Guide at Skara Brae



The Gagarin stone being placed along the Skara Brae timeline. Finally!

Plain spite from London Labour over future plans

Published: 11 April, 2008
John O'Groat Journal and Caithness Courier

As the new tax year begins a range of positive improvements kick in. They passed through Parliament under the minority SNP Government with the help of various parties. The Small Business Bonus is a good example. Incredibly, Labour sees all small businesses as the class enemy. Although they abstained on the budget it was the Tories who saw that small businesses in many parts of Scotland need the boost the SNP first envisaged for the shops and firms that are the backbone of places like Caithness. Labour supported the single survey scheme that helps cut out unnecessary expense for home buyers each time they apply to buy a house. The LibDems and the Greens have supported various SNP Government measures like abolition of the Graduate Endowment.

I’ve often argued that every community needs to feel included for the nation to flourish. That’s why at the start of April this year there are good reasons to cheer the results of the first year of this government. It is saving people money in their everyday lives. For example, prescription charges are reduced to £5, moving to full abolition by 2011. The council tax freeze across Scotland benefits many of us. The end of the £2,289 graduate endowment benefits students who graduated last year and all currently in full time degree courses. 150,000 small businesses around Scotland are to benefit from the Small Business Bonus. Inflation related increases help pay for free nursing and personal care for older people and this benefits over 9,000 people. Also the offer of immunisation for cervical cancer is now available to all teenage girls.

All have been achieved in one year of this SNP Government showing a determined level of delivery and ambition for Scotland. But New Labour in London is not pleased. The latest spat over a Treasury veto on SNP plans for a fair local income tax is just plain spite. How dare we plan a fairer future for Scots without their say so? What if London wished to change the local taxes? They would never give a thought to what Scots wanted. So the SNP has much to aim to deliver in the coming years to put Scotland on an equal footing with our neighbours.

MEANWHILE London bumbles on. Our whisky industry pays the price of misguided untargeted budget increases. I’m so glad that Wendy Alexander’s husband Prof. Brian Ashcroft has broken ranks and added his voice to underline the fact that the Chancellor’s whisky duty hike had nothing to do with tackling binge drinking and everything to do with propping up the UK’s failing finances. It exposes the festering divisions over the UK Government’s astonishing attack on one of Scotland’s vital industries which we know is vital to the North economy sending untold millions to the London treasury that could be much better spent in job creation and investment here.

MY COLLEAGUE Kenneth Gibson MSP, no relation, has drawn MSPs attention to the betrayal of the low paid by the abolition of the 10% tax rate, announced by the Prime Minister in his last Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer and implemented from April 2008. This is happening at a time when the gap between rich and poor has reached levels not seen for more than 40 years with social mobility in the United Kingdom among the lowest of any developed country.

It hits all those earning less than £17,000 per annum, effectively increasing the amount of income tax that they must pay. Those on low pay lose the benefit of the 10% lower rate and do not have enough income chargeable at the 22% rate to benefit from the cut to 20%. Because the wage gap between Scotland and England is over £2,000 there are more lower-paid workers in Scotland, therefore hard-working Scots will be heavily penalised by this measure. According to figures published by Deloitte, in 22 Scottish Westminster parliamentary constituencies more than 50% of workers will be worse off, which means voters in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross are deeply affected.

I STARTED this column in a mood of optimism; I want to remain on track. I’ll mention once again a key ingredient that can make the Far North a centre of activity, not the end of the line. Last week, in this slot, Jamie Stone was praising the foresight of the early rail developers. Alas our hopes for a modern railway have been parked in a siding of dashed expectations from the Tory rejection of 1986 to this day.

However I have received full backing from all parties on the Transport Infrastructure and Climate Change committee for seeing a proper study of the Far North Line’s potential. An assiduous reader of the committee minutes will know that Stewart Stevenson, the Transport minister, has been advised that according to the Halcrow report for HIE in 2006 there is far too low a benefit cost ratio to back further study.

There will come a time to list the hidden forces who have written off the North Highlands, but since 2006 many more options for our economy have opened up. Firstly, the Orkney hub as a major transhipment port is included in the Strategic National Transport Projects list. Secondly First Minister Alex Salmond has underlined the tidal and wave power potential of the Pentland Firth in his relaunch of the Saltire Prize during Scotland Week in the USA. Thirdly many more supermarkets and national chains are set up in Caithness. Their supplies should arrive by train to reduce wear and tear on the A9. Also the tourism potential of Caithness and Orkney, not to mention accessibility for civil service relocation, should all back a strategic reappraisal of the gross underinvestment in the Far North Line.

These are grounds enough for HiTrans to make amends – for the Transport Minister to demand more rigorous examination of our case. Never mind driving a train, let’s win the big prize of driving to a prosperous, sustainable county. Are we all aboard?

rob.gibson.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

Housing crisis and land values - tax change needed to deal with trade cycle

This letter to the editor, only slightly edited, appeared in The Herald 7.1.08
An Aberdeen estate agent [House prices in Scotland see fastest rises in UK - Herald 5.1.08] says the housing market "is still very healthy and still going up." Surely this just shows that property owners and sellers have one view while the struggling first time buyer has quite another. In short, property owners want rising prices to enhance their 'investment' potential, first time buyers want stable lower prices.

At the same time Scotland as a nation loses many young and able families who just can't afford to live here. As we ought to know the housing boom eventually leads to a crash every 18 years or so. 1992 was the last nadir full of negative equity and repossessions, and yet Gordon Brown tried to ignore this iron rule and merely promoted the consumer boom to mask the underlying property crisis. Subprime has bitten him on the backside along with other 'prudent' economists across the globe.

Here in Scotland we have to address this mess. I would suggest we go to the heart of the matter: too little land in favoured locations for new builds and too high of prices near work for most people while meanwhile the price of farm and estate land soars to an all time high despite the credit crunch. With the cost of bricks and mortar rising on a far less inflationary curve the issue boils down to land availability.

Our planning system has enriched landowners in the favoured zones for development, but there has never been a serious attempt to levy land rent since Lloyd George's People's Budget of 1909 to support the less wealthy. A land reform review due in the Parliament is very urgent and the ongoing Scottish Government consultation on the Future of Housing in Scotland must address these issues. For a start far more land must be freed for building sustainable and affordable homes.

New studies on water needs and simpler utility servicing should point to ending the ban on appropriate housing development in the countryside. If existing land holders are short of cash then site sales can help, but if a far greater number are put on the market by changes in the law the prices of plots will naturally fall. There's been far too much speculation in housing in these past decades. Now is the time for bold action to make it possible for Scots to live affordably in their own land and for landholders to contribute - through a levy on land values - to local councils who have to deliver the planning and infrastructure.

RG

Commentary -

Three months have passed and the depth of the shock to world banking is plain. Sub-prime bank losses are slowly and painfully revealed leading to a credit squeeze that hits first time buyers hardest. But keeping our heads down is no responses. Nor is criticism of small countries like Iceland targeted by speculators, or Ireland whose phenomenal climb to GDP levels higher than the UK is based on inflated property values for most of its better off citizens. Ireland still has a growth rate above the UK's sluggish performance. So when the richest economy in the world shivers in a global market we all catch cold in different ways.

Gordon Brown, when New Labour Chancellor, said "Most stop-go problems that Britain has suffered in the last fifty years have been led or influenced by the more highly cyclical and often more volatile nature of our housing market."

What jumps out from the financial pages and newscasts is the pain and attempted adjustment - not a deeper analysis of a recurring problem that used to be specific to each national economy but since the end of communism has become truly worldwide. Fred Harrison is Director of the Land Research Trust in London. His work on tax reform in favour of a land value tax is long recorded. Perhaps most urgently, his book Boom Bust - house prices, banking and the depression of 2010 published in 2005 by Shepheard Walwyn Ltd caught the crisis we are living today most graphically and accurately.

He traces the 18 year cycle back to the time it took a 17th century artisan to build and pay for his home at around 14 years, the average working life of a man in these days. With some modern tweaks that trade cycle is around 18 years - 1992 being the last deep depression. (Read the book to glean the arguments) However he also shows examples of how some fiscal regimes have weathered the storm better than others. Various states in Australia did far better than others when Land Value Tax was adopted.

So what is going on?

Rent for assets is extracted by landlords, speculators and, occasionally as in the case of London, congestion charging by public bodies. It is that rent which we all should be paying to allow good government, not speculation. Making profit from an immovable asset, land is at root self-defeating. Harnessing the power of rental value from scarce land in desirable locations is the theme of real tax change. Henry George campaigned for it to be a single tax in the late 19th century. He witnessed a property boom in San Francisco that penalised the poor who were nevertheless essential to the functioning of the city. His ideas were hugely influential but opposed tooth and claw by landed and property owning classes. A good set of examples show the principles at work as mentioned in Australia, Pennsylvania and Denmark to name but three.

Small and large nations, municipalities and regions can all apply the principles if they have fiscal powers. What has to happen is to empower the people through reducing the speculative value of property. I have watched land prices rocket on farms and in cities. I know many are perplexed but we need a radical tax change to capture that rental value for the common good. I'll be glad to share more details with the growing band who see LVT as the next big tax reform.

RG 7.4.08

Myself and Patrick Mulvany of the Food Sovereignty Movement in my Parliamentary office.

The Organic Movement

Julian Baggini of the Philosophers' Magazine asked if there is anything coherent keeping the organic movement together.

[The Herald 1 April http://www.theherald.co.uk/search/display.var.2160409.0.consumer_wises_up_to_the_organic_illusion.php]

I would ask of this philosopher how he can base his argument on such fragmented logic.

For a start he quotes Lord Krebs who recently hit out at the 'organic illusion'. Krebs was head of the Food Standards Agency and also a well-known proponent of GM crops. The problem with these GM advocates is their failure to admit the bad science on which multi-national companies like Monsanto are promoting their much hyped 'improvements' to lure farmers into their grasp. The mulit-national bio-tech companies influence among politicians, agricultural unions and journalists covers up a failing agro-chemicals industry that constantly seeks free world trade to save their share holders dividends. Until now the EU has done a fair job at resisting as far as possible the WTO's intent on aiding these GM giants but EU Commissioner Mandelson has been a trojan horse for GM as his former boss Tony Blair and now Gordon Brown are GM's prime supporters inside the EU. So Kreb's views about the nutritional value of organic food come with the usual health warning.

I first read this latest attack on organic produce in The Observer on Sunday 30th March 08 (http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2269340,00.html). It ended with a caveat to the Krebs judgement by the FSA, namely - 'a number of new studies have recently emerged focusing on nutritional differences between organic and non-organic food.' Mr Baggini, in The Herald on 1st April 2008, ignores this and fails to address the Soil Association studies that show higher levels of iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin C in organic foods which are good for you. Nevertheless, he criticises the Soil Association on other grounds, i.e. that organic food flown from around the world should be labelled differently. Organic maybe, but with a hefty CO2 footprint shows the whole process is not organic in the holistic sense of the word. It's not just about lack of chemical additives in the soil, it's also about lack of respect for the producers of Africa who can't get land and time to produce enough of their own food because the lure of cash crops for the rich West is promoted by local business middle men. However, once the African and other continents' food needs are met they too can choose, pity it's the wrong way round just now.

Surely the DEFRA report, quoted by Mr Baggini, that many organic foods grown in the UK are less energy efficient and more polluting than conventional equivalents has to be challenged. Imports have a high CO2 footprint as already mentioned. Does that make organic better or worse than chemically treated foods we capriciously term 'conventional'? There have not been conclusive experiments by the proponents of 'conventional' foods to deny the organic argument and prove so-called conventional methods are sustainable.

Is the idea of 'organic' being an intellectual mess really so?

To start with, the rising demand for organic home produce is out-stripping supply. The organic market reached a value of £2b last year. This shows a clear link with consumers across Europe being already wisened up. A contemporary pan-European survey of 26,370 people shows that 86% want tough health and quality standards applied by the EU in Europe to apply to all imported food as well. (http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/563953)

Does that not link to demands for food safety and security of supply as well as nutritional value? Previously consumer surveys show an overwhelming rejection of GMOs in our food - another pointer to concerns about the aims of agri-business conglomerates.

Could it be that consumers are instinctively correct to demand as little artificial chemical input in their food as possible? We should be told. Could it be that chemical residues are a real problem yet to be tackled in 'conventional' food production? Should we be joining Lord Krebs in his assertion that the FSA has found no safety or health reasons for consumers to be switching to organic? Or should we be seeking answers to the increasing monopolisation of production of 'conventional' and 'GM foods'? That, precisely because they rely on patented chemical additives and a narrow range of suppliers of animal feed and chemical treatments so prevalent in intensive industrial agriculture.

I believe these questions will have be addressed in the context of the Scottish Government's consultation on a National Food Policy which poses the question - How do we guarantee a future for Scotland where our food is wholesome, healthy and produced in an environmentally and welfare friendly way? The editor of the Philosophers' Magazine has done us a good turn in his article but logically a food policy needs far more answers than he offers.

RG 4.4.08

Recording a radio slot in the BBC's Wick studio - small and very remote!

Here I am with my assistant Gail MacDonald (wearing white shirt) in Wick along with members of the Grey Coast Theatre to discuss the Nordic Playwrights' seminar.

Here I'm campaigning with YSI Inverness High St.

Wick High solution needed

Published: 28 March, 2008
John O'Groat Journal and Caithness Courier

THE earliest Easter weekend in many decades saw snow and more snow hit the country.

But it goes to show the old caution about when you should plant your tatties, and do other spring-like activities, should be heeded.Winter's grip is slow to release, even though a fortnight ago we basked in the sun on the ferry enquiry visit to Brodick on the bonny Isle of Arran where the snow-capped peaks were a reminder that it'll be a while till spring. Even when Google displays some flowers on its title page to signify the change in the seasons, we know better in the North.

Keeping our homes, schools and offices wind and water tight is a pressing theme in these late winter weeks. Notably I was shocked on my visit by the state of Wick High School as reported in an earlier edition. However I have sought to find a solution, not to make an even bigger drama out of this crisis.

I promised the Wick parents that I would get details of a local bond issue that can be raised by local councils. Already several of these have been achieved in Scotland. They are called Non-Profit Distribution Organisations.

Three projects in Scotland have been developed using the NPDO model. My colleague, the minister for infrastructure Stewart Stevenson MSP, explained to disbelieving Labour members in a statement on March 13, that those projects are in the schools sector in the areas of Argyll and Bute Council, Aberdeen City Council and Falkirk Council. All three have reached financial closure and the model is a method of ensuring that we do not pay the excess interest rates that too many projects with which the previous Scottish Executive has been associated, have paid. The NPDO model is a way of ensuring that the profits that are derived from financing the project are delivered for public benefit. Said Mr Stevenson, "I would have thought that Labour members would welcome that approach."

The three projects outlined in the statement were in relation to school building programmes. The NPDO offers similar advantages and disadvantages to traditional PPP, the difference being there are no shareholders involved. The set-up usually involves one or more charities which benefits from any profit, although the financing is arranged in a way that profit is unlikely.

As a rough guide, £58,000 revenue can service prudential borrowing of £1m (on a 40-year term). The NPDO proposal creates a mechanism to generate funds exclusive of prudential borrowing. In some of the examples developer contributions have been built into the financing arrangements.

I have passed these details to both the Highland Council and the parents to try and rescue Wick High School from years of mismanaged repairs.

*

SPRING conferences are in season.

This weekend Wendy Alexander will try to paper over the cracks in Scottish Labour as they head for Aviemore. Wendy's parliamentary performance has been woeful. Additionally Henry McLeish, their former First Minister was attacked by party colleagues for saying all options on the constitutional future of Scotland should be discussed – including independence. At the same time left wingers in Labour target Alexander and Brown ahead of the Labour conference as Wendy's "vision" paper exposed the control of Gordon Brown over the Constitutional Commission and the lack of vision within her party.

This is in stark contrast to the Scottish Government's National Conversation gathering all views from across Scotland. What are the Lib Dem and Tory parties thinking now that the unionist convention they signed up to has been watered down to a "review" by Gordon Brown.

Despite what Wendy may say, neither she nor Labour have grasped the fundamental facts of last May. Labour did not just lose the election, Labour lost the support of Scotland. As the latest polls show for both Holyrood and Westminster, Labour support is ebbing away. Scotland has made a positive choice with an SNP Government that moves forward with individuals and organisations across the country taking a very positive interest in the future of Scotland. It is clear the only conversation Labour are having is with themselves.

Unsurprisingly, voters wonder what Westminster is doing. It is the fifth anniversary of the first explosions of shock and awe in the illegal Iraq war. All Ms Alexander can say is that it isn't a real issue. Meanwhile the civilised values of domestic life are being ripped up with fuel prices rocketing in the North, post office closures hitting the poorest communities and the mismanagement of the housing crisis on a massive scale stacking our taxes to shore up Northern Rock. Also we are misrepresented in Europe while Westminster politicians fail to get the best for Scotland from the EU, which is portrayed as the villain of the piece. Meanwhile the real villains sit in power around the cabinet table in Downing Street, London W1. Another case in point is the CalMac ferry tender fiasco. Europe did not insist, just Lib Lab politicians in Edinburgh with no guts to tough it out while Labour in London government couldn't care less.

My own party has chosen to hold our spring conference on April 19 and 20 in the Riccarton campus of Heriot-Watt University near Edinburgh. We will be in a position to review a positive year in Government on which the SNP can build. It's that wave of positive feelings that are flowing through the massive cracks in the unionist parties' negativity that spring from the passage of a fair budget, a council tax freeze and small business bonus which can kick-start the North.

Interviewed by Basque TV, Falcon Sq., Inverness

Europe must set climate change example

By Rob Gibson MSP
Published: 14 March, 2008
John O'Groat Journal
in association with the Caithness Courier

I PROMISED in my last column to report on my visit a fortnight ago to London and Brussels with four other members of the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee.

We were comparing the responses in Westminster, the London Assembly, the European Parliament, the European Commission and NGOs on the challenges to climate change with the ambitious Scottish Government target of 80 per cent reductions in CO2 by 2050.

This was no luxury for the MSPs. While we met MPs in Portcullis House, the House of Lords was debating the UK Climate Change Bill. Though this has not generated headlines, like the obscure tactics played out by the Lib Dems in debates at Westminster on the Lisbon Treaty, it has to mesh with our efforts in Scotland and indeed we have already given legislative consent – a Sewell motion – to tap into some of the UK Climate Change targets and calculations.

Sharing the load between Scotland and London is essential, but no less important is co-operation within Europe to give us any chance of a future that stops the disastrous rise in temperatures that has been triggered by 300 years of industrialisation. If other, less motivated countries are to take the global-warming issue seriously then the nations of Europe have to set the best example.

Certainly we gained much practical detail on our tour and the officers of the London mayor, Ken Livingstone, were top value. They are tackling traffic congestion, energy-saving for domestic and commercial properties and water-conservation measures in the city to combat global warming while seeking more local sources of clean green power. Also they aim for a car-free Olympics in 2012. Meanwhile, they have rolled their sleeves up and set us examples. We have some very different problems; while several hundred Londoners died of heatstroke two years ago, few here did, but we have big numbers of cattle and sheep that produce their own greenhouse gases and the advantage here of being able to produce huge amounts of wave, tidal and wind power.

The Saltire fluttered outside the corner of the ninth-floor boardroom of Scotland House, the base for various Scottish businesses and the Scottish Government's European presence. It overlooks the refurbished iconic Barleymont EU offices in the European quarter of Brussels. Farther away the atrium of the European Parliament could be seen on the skyline. We were gathered in the second-biggest centre of world representatives outside Washington and New York. Where the nations gather, Scotland has to be. So we learned that the EU targets for 2020 include a carbon trading scheme, plans for a 20 per cent increase in energy efficiency, binding increases in all renewable sources of energy across the community to 20 per cent, and carbon capture pilot schemes.

One speaker from the European Commission in our sessions at Scotland House summed up. He said, "Global leadership needs domestic action." That means individuals, families, communities, council areas, nations and world partners are all responsible. That's why the Scottish Parliament is moving to set targets and actions in a Bill to be lodged later this year. Our Scottish TICC committee wants to include many practical steps to adapt and mitigate climate-change effects. Without action now the costs could be huge in future.

Before returning to more local matters, let me just comment on our travel to and from Edinburgh. We went by National Express train to London on the Monday morning, tube and taxis in London (due to tube disruption), the Eurostar to Brussels on the Monday evening, then we left by métro to Brussels Midi station, two local trains to Bruges and Zeebrugge, thence by ferry to Rosyth. There we took parliament contract taxis to get back on time just after First Minister's Questions.

MSPs from the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change committee on board the Superfast ferry leaving Zeebrugge – (from left) David Stewart, Alison McInnes, Rob Gibson, Patrick Harvie (committee convener) and Alex Johnstone.

WICK High School parent council made a powerful presentation on the state of the school fabric last week. I had to go to Oban that night for a full TICC hearing on our ferries inquiry. In offering my apologies to the parent council I promised to meet them this week. Little did I think that Labour MSP Peter Peacock, the former council convener who subsequently became Education Minister until 2006, would have the temerity to demand speedy action to solve Wick's problems. His oral question last Thursday was met by a predictable ministerial response from my colleague Maureen Watt MSP.

Then we learned at the weekend about Alpha Schools (Highland) Limited, a British-registered company and liable for UK tax, that built and refurbished 11 of our schools for a cool £134 million. But one of the firms with a 50 per cent equity stake in Alpha is 3i Infrastructure Ltd, a Jersey-based outfit.

3i Infrastructure is London Stock Exchange-listed and committed about £7.9m to the project. This company's income amounted to £20.7m for the nine months up to September 2007, while its gain on investments totalled £21.2m.

The Jersey link is controversial because Treasury rules are that Government departments should pay attention to the "propriety of tax arrangements" of firms entering into public/private partnership (PPP) deals. Since PPP companies can sell on assets, there is no guarantee that councils can ever be sure they aren't paying through the nose to tax-avoiders.

Peter Peacock as Minister urged councils to solve their school-building issues through PPP. In all, £2.1 billion extra was paid for PPP debts across Scotland over conventional finance. So Highland will have to find £30 million a year for 30 years to pay up.

This may be no consolation to Wick parents, or to even more needy schools such as Thurso and Lochaber, plus 50 outdated primaries, but the warning is plain: London Treasury denies Scotland the block grant to meet our needs so Scotland will have to innovate. I believe a local bond issue would fit the SNP Futures Trust plan. Meanwhile, we need realistic maintenance programmes to stop schools deteriorating like Wick High School. It's another false economy to keep mum. The Wick parents are quite right, but the solution is less simple than it should be.

On the beautiful hills above Blair Atholl (Jan. 2007). Myself and fellow MSPs gathered in Blair Atholl to hear evidence on John Swinney's Bill to extend the boundary of the Cairngorm National Park to include north Perthshire. Unfortunately this was originally rejected under the Labour Lib Dem Exec but is now underway through secondary legislation under the Scottish Government!
(pictured: Atholl Estates head game keeper; Ted Brocklebank [Con]; me; Eleanor Scott [Green]; and Nora Radcliffe [LibDem])

Serious rethink is needed on boundary rules

By Rob Gibson MSP
Published: 29 February, 2008
John O'Groat Journal
in association with the Caithness Courier

EVERY time the Boundary Commission try to do their job, a common reaction is to say: what do "X" and "Y" have in common for our MP/MSP/councillor to represent?

I'm sure when Caithness and Sutherland first sent a joint MP to London the same criticism surfaced.

After the fiasco of the spoilt ballot papers last May, our SNP Government and many others in Holyrood think Scottish elections should be run from Edinburgh. As for the Boundary Commission, they try to even up the numbers of voters each member serves. So the resultant boundaries can be bizarre. In the Highlands the main effect has been to partition Ross-shire at each review. I well remember Ardgay and Inveroykel being in Ross and Cromarty. Wonder when these two counties were combined?

Caithness is fairly self-contained, but population change and various constitutional amendments alter the constituencies. A change of voting system could also lead to a bigger multi-member seat. Any account that may be taken in a future Scotland of distance and scattered communities would regularise the representation of island groups like Orkney and super-sparsity such as in Sutherland and Wester Ross.

Meanwhile, we are stuck with places over 100 miles apart having the same elected representative. While the Black Isle may be on or close to the A9, surely we should have a serious rethink of duties allocated to the boundary commissioners. You can have your say by writing to representations@bcomm-scotland.gov.uk or Boundary Commission for Scotland, 3 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh EH3 7QJ, before March 14.

For my part I hope we remember that every Scottish constituency has eight members, one local and seven others for the region, many of whom will be local to some part of their patch. While Black Islers may be closer to Inverness than people in the Far North, we are all users of services in Inverness. Some may still shop in Dingwall or sell cattle there, but where does Durness do its shopping? Thurso or Inverness? So community of interest has to become a future measure boundary commissioners should be made to ponder. A Scottish set of rules, made in Scotland, should be our next demand.

Anyway, no matter what shape of the constituency, its name would be better as "Caithness, Sutherland, Easter Ross and the Black Isle". Anything is better than "North Highland".

THE Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) gave Scottish rural life several gold stars in a major survey made public last week. Rural Scotland has higher employment and lower unemployment than our cities, but more "remote" areas still suffer out-migration of the young and talented, poor levels of business start-ups and a lack of modern services.

While Caithness and north Sutherland may have a huge skills base fit for new marine energy challenges, we still need to find quality desk jobs, such as those in public agencies, to balance job prospects – and we most certainly need a modern railway to the Far North, better ferry links and road improvements for safety reasons.

The OECD report noted deep social and economic divides in town and country alike, but advantages of clean energy production following on from the northerly location of oil production, the broadband revolution and flight from the cities are key advantages for us. These do foster local entrepreneurs, but inflexible planning hampers affordable house-building if young and active families are to be welcomed back.

There are many key opportunities where we live that were not widely recognised even twenty years ago. But, thanks to Highlands and Islands Enterprise having its inherited social remit, cultural and community development has been far more advanced than in the bulk of Scotland looked after by Scottish Enterprise.

A week ago in the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee we took evidence from national companies such as Scottish Opera and local organisations like HI-Arts.

The rich mix of musical, theatrical and visual arts is rooted in many communities. Of course, it could be built up. However, a growing and better-paid population will make this easier to achieve.

Undoubtedly the Highlands is moving in a positive direction culturally, a clear sign that the OECD report is a good pointer to our potential.

PRESS coverage of our clean-power potential hit a jarring note this week. Graphic statistics show the gap between Scottish Government targets and what is actually being achieved, and raise fundamental questions about the poor grasp of the issues involved by Westminster.

For instance, Germany has ten times more wind power installed than the UK. This at a time when the UK has signed up to Kyoto and the new EU generation target for green power.

On the occasion of a major conference in Aberdeen, my MEP colleague Alyn Smith has sought the urgent publication of a Scottish energy strategy to bridge the gulf between UK rhetoric and the huge potential here in the Far North.

I have to add that the new concordat between Scottish and local governments should include a regular audit of progress to implement the spirit and letter of SPP6, the Government guidelines for renewable features in all new buildings, and in adopting a detailed renewables policy. I note in passing that the Highland Council has not adopted such an approach, according to Friends of the Earth.

For sure, the excellent conference on the potential of marine energy in the Pentland Firth held on Scottish budget day earlier this month needs Jim Mather, our Energy Minister, to get a national Scottish sustainable energy policy in place soon.

It is very much in my mind as I join colleagues on the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee in visiting London and Brussels this week, seeking common cause on tackling climate chaos. I will report back to you, dear readers, in my next Holyrood Diary.

Serial scaremongering over budget proposals

By Rob Gibson MSP
Published: 15 February, 2008
John O'Groat Journal
in association with the Caithness Courier

OPPOSITION to the SNP national budget was seen off in truly spectacular style last Wednesday.

From the SNP benches we witnessed the final abstention of Labour and Lib Dem MSPs. This showed how negative the role of Labour and Lib Dem MSPs had been in the whole budget process whose rules they drew up themselves eight years ago. The Labour proposition was to seek changes to one per cent of the total amount, then propose a reasoned amendment on skills training and apprenticeships. After having it accepted by John Swinney, then to subsequently abstain from the final vote on the whole 100 per cent was as farcical a stance as I have witnessed in many years of politics. I am told Wendy Alexander was asking how to vote from another frontbencher, so cloudy were the tactics.

As for the Lib Dems, what a cheek they displayed in describing the budget as too opaque to amend in the finance committee. They were the inventors of opaque and thus ruled themselves out as a serious player.

The upshot is that around the country small businesses, councils and the general public see an SNP Government start to change the culture of administration which includes a historic concordat with local government, frozen council taxes, a small-business bonus, adding 500 extra police to the 500 already promised and increased funding in all departments on a modest scale.

Now let us turn to this week's Highland shenanigans. The news headlines are full of serial scaremongering by opposition MSPs and councillors. We are told that teachers will lose their posts, voluntary services will be slashed, learning centres will definitely close. The likes of Jamie Stone and Rhoda Grant have turned the debate on the budget proposals of the Highland Council's independent/SNP administration into a competition to see who can raise more fears about services among as many sections of the voters as possible. Don't ask for detailed explanations from them, headlines sound better than facts – and anyway, they just want to sound off. But foghorns won't deliver the services. That will come via proper accountability, audited behaviour and service level agreements for voluntary groups in receipt of local government support.

This week, after months of attacking the local government deal, Andy Kerr, speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, has finally broken ranks with Labour in Parliament and backed the council tax freeze. He actually might recognise the most generous spending settlement ever from a Scottish Government for Scotland's local authorities at a time when the Scottish Government has received its least generous settlement from Andy Kerr's Westminster colleagues.

Over the next three years councils will see their funding increase by 12.5 per cent and over the next few days we will see councils across the country taking that opportunity to introduce a council tax freeze. As Pat Watters, president of COSLA, said on Wednesday morning, in order to match the level of funding on offer from the Scottish Government councils would have to increase council tax by 3.5 per cent.

That was part of my argument in another recent Parliamentary debate. The extra costs of the Public/Private Partnership schemes for new schools and hospitals are quite unnecessary because the SNP is to launch a Fund for Future Investment to cut profiteering by the private sector and save public money. Compared with conventional borrowing, we have lost £2.1 billion in additional PPP costs in four years. What could local services do with that?

We need a pause for reflection. In the wake of the SNP budget, what we are witnessing is a new way of thinking. Taking stock of wasteful practices is well understood by local councils across the country who will bring in the council tax freeze. Every department will look closely at finding two per cent efficiency savings. By the way, that's below the amount of savings demanded in England by a Labour Government there.

Rob Gibson MSP visited the threatened Pulteneytown PO to assure staff of his support for the fight to retain the office, which he sees as a vital community resource.

DEVOLUTION – is it a process or an event? That is very much in focus this week. It is, of course, closely linked to the recent budget victory for the SNP and its supporters. We were told that Gordon Brown did not consider the idea of a devolution review to be the province of Wendy Alexander, the Tories and Lib Dems in Holyrood, and certainly not the SNP. He would dictate its scope and range. Any increased powers, especially tax powers, for the Scottish Government are ruled out by London. Scottish Labour soon responded. Wendy's spokesperson told London ministers they were "out of step" with Labour in Scotland.

Commentators have noted that the Unionist vehicle for constitutional debate would come off the road unless the subject of tax was openly discussed. Yet Scottish Office minister David Cairns MP then argued that fiscal powers were off limits.

Meanwhile, the SNP Government's National Conversation is to move on to more specific proposals. Alex Salmond announced this in Dublin ahead of the British-Irish ministerial meeting.

The threatened 2p increase in fuel prices due in April will cripple north hauliers and Scottish businesses of all sizes who need variation in Corporation Tax up here. These moves are anathema to Gordon Brown and his Chancellor Alistair Darling because they are seeing Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff governments probing for new ways to build their economies, while Brown faces losing control of more and more strings of central government. As a control freak he just hates that. But, as the pattern of getting more and more local flexibility for Scottish councils shows, it's a process that cannot be stopped.

The Scottish Parliament took the first major steps last week; the Highland Council is likely to do so this week. It's good for taxpayers and it's time we harnessed our huge resources to build Scotland and not pay for any more London mismanagement. You only need to look at the sorry saga of the destruction of our post offices to know Scottish control will be a lot more sensitive to community needs.

Too many examples of climate chaos to ignore

By Rob Gibson MSP
Published: 01 February, 2008
John O'Groat Journal
in association with the Caithness Courier

ALL over Scotland residents, businesses and public bodies are being urged by the SNP Government to decide what they can do to help our nation achieve ambitious plans to tackle climate change.

This week my colleague John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, announced that he was launching a consultation on Scotland's first Climate Change Bill that includes the proposal for a statutory target to reduce Scottish emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

As I wrote in my Holyrood Diary on January 4, I have been deciding how my own home can be climate-proofed. So, along with many of you, I will be delving into the government proposals that include robust annual scrutiny and reporting of progress; a framework of carbon budgets for Scottish emissions; and the publication of transparent and independent advice on when, and to what level, cuts in emissions should be made by us all.

John Swinney said: "Climate change is having a major impact on the world we live in. As a society we are at a crossroads, and we must now choose which world we will pass on to our children."

The Scottish Government is determined to play a leading role in action on climate change. Indeed actions taken today could bring clear and tangible benefits to Scotland now and in the future.

How will we go about moving to a low-carbon economy? Can we really create new jobs and improve local environments as part of our drive to generate sustainable economic growth?

I hope that you, dear readers, will agree that government, business and all of the people of Scotland must be ready to rise to the challenge of climate change. Your views on these proposals are crucial to ensure that we have the right framework to inform our actions for the next 40 years and that we build the right future for Scots to enjoy.

As a member of the Parliament's Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee I will be finding ways to make these ideas work. But I am conscious that people still say: how can my little effort help? That's why this is the most exciting time to be in politics. Scotland is moving towards greater decision-taking powers and we are asking all who live in our beautiful land to commit their actions to ensure it has a bright future.

Already pressure groups such as Stop Climate Chaos have welcomed this landmark bill. Their spokesperson Jess Pepper, of WWF, has agreed that it is a great opportunity for Scotland to become a world leader in tackling climate change.

More than 30 of Scotland's most respected organisations campaigning on climate change have greeted it with enthusiasm. They agree that the consultation is a good start and are encouraged by the Scottish Government's acknowledgement of the two degrees Celsius global-warming danger threshold and the need for policy to reflect the most recent science.

But they warn us that to meet overall targets it is essential that there is a commitment to annual reductions of at least three per cent per year. Without it, the SNP manifesto commitment can't be met. Stop Climate Chaos wants emissions from international aviation included in the SNP targets, a subject that will be hotly debated. But it is correct to see this as vital so that the Scottish Climate Change Bill is seen in a global context.

TV pictures from the Pacific and Indian oceans show low-lying islands in danger of succumbing to rising tides and changing weather patterns. This surely must lead all of us in Scotland to acknowledge that poor people around the world are already feeling the real impact of climate change, as atolls we thought were idyllic holiday destinations actually face an increased risk of disasters threatening the very lives of their inhabitants.

There are too many examples of climate chaos to ignore. You can imagine how frustrated I felt when Newsnight Scotland last week focused on a saga in Bearsden where Lib Dem councillors wanted to have bin collections every second week and Tory councillors routed them at the polls last May. The piece signally failed to show any hint of a change in behaviour that people have to make in something as simple as regulating what you put in your bins and when.

If you look at the Scottish Government website it shows 10 simple ways to reduce climate-change impacts right away. But be prepared – much more will be needed each year from all of us.

THIS week's debate on the importance of Scottish history in our school curriculum was a landmark event. Only three years ago the then Labour Minister was suggesting that any history taught could be covered in Secondary 1 and 2 as part of social subjects, not as a discrete and central part of every child's experience. Shamefully, some schools around Glasgow had already ditched the subject totally from the curriculum.

Today, Learning and Teaching Scotland, HM Inspectorate of Education, the Scottish Qualifications Authority, academics and the main teaching union the EIS all show willing to make history an experience throughout pupils' school careers.

We all want to emphasise that Scottish history delivered through local examples is needed before young people can appreciate the world around them. It's about successful learning, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors as the Curriculum for Excellence insists.

I was proud to take part in the debate and look forward to fighting for enough resources for our schools to deliver a broad sweep of history rooted in our own country but outward-looking as ever.

Scotland can learn from Slovenia

By Rob Gibson MSP
Published: 18 January, 2008
John O'Groat Journal
in association with the Caithness Courier

AS the nights slowly shorten, I notice issues furth of Scotland are crowding for as much attention as matters close to home. So first I'll look at some international contacts I've been involved with that show promise.

Slovenia, one of the small former Yugoslav republics that successfully wrested itself from Serbia, has become the first of the recent accession states to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union.

My Westminster colleague, Moray MP Angus Robertson, was a reporter in Vienna previously and he attended a recent conference in Slovenia's capital. He described the country's potential: "Slovenia is showing us the lead. With a population less than half of Scotland, this Alpine country has taken centre stage and is presiding over the whole EU. Since securing its independence Slovenia's economy has been booming, with recent growth rates of over five per cent. Its capital Ljubljana is bustling with trade and tourism. It is also now a diplomatic centre with scores of permanent diplomatic representatives and is currently the hub of business between EU countries.

"This all has brought tangible benefits to the people of Slovenia, whose standard of living is improving massively and their country is now firmly on the map, reaping the benefits of equality amongst the family of nations. Scotland should look closely and learn from Slovenia. Unlike them, we have a much easier route to self-determination but the destination is the same: independence in Europe."

Making direct international contacts to spread understanding of Scotland is a pledge that this SNP Government takes very seriously. With climate-change and culture hats on, I hope to make my contribution. Last November I made a most successful visit to Brussels to work with Alyn Smith, one our two SNP MEPs. With the help of his policy adviser Dr Aileen McLeod I was able to meet officials of the British Council and Scotland House, which is the EU base for the Scottish Government, and representatives from the EU Commission such as the director-general of education and culture. Also on our itinerary were a number of cultural attachés and other Brussels-based representatives of their country. I met those from Estonia, Catalonia, Hungary, Flanders, Poland and Slovenia.

I was struck by their welcome recognition of Scotland and our distinctive culture as they expressed willingness to invite Scotland to participate as partners. We gave several CDs of contemporary Scots music to each representative we met. So I was delighted to receive several messages of thanks before Christmas. One came from the Slovene counsellor for cultural and audiovisual affairs, Sa\u0161o Gazdic, who wrote: "I really enjoy the Scottish music you gave me as a present at our meeting in the European Parliament. And I will try my best to establish co-operation between the Scottish House in Brussels and Slovenian artists."

There are many new artistic links to be made across the continent. That's why I was pleased to chair the inaugural meeting in Wick last Friday that seeks to set up an international symposium to bring together Scottish and Nordic playwrights that is planned to take place later this year. Caithness is a fulcrum where Norse and Celtic cultures meet. There's every good reason to encourage George Gunn and his Grey Coast Theatre Company colleagues to lay the groundwork. Thanks to Nordic Council funds, they can start to make contacts in Iceland, Norway, etc. I can see a future role for Scottish Government support as we broaden our contacts towards our Nordic near neighbours.

On the downside, the Norwegian Consulate in Edinburgh is being scaled down and diplomatic presence slashed. In Parliament I asked a supplementary question to Linda Fabiani, our Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, last Thursday. I underlined the help that diplomats have been to local businesses here and hope to see that service restored in future.

Of course, an independent Scotland would automatically attract the provision of ambassadorial contacts which we need now and will in future through ongoing work on many joint Scots-Norwegian economic projects.


Gathering in Wick to discuss an international symposium that will bring together Scottish and Nordic playwrights are (from left) Ann Thomson, Grey Coast Theatre Company; Jacqui Clark, playwright and arts development officer with Shetland Arts Trust; Grey Coast playwright George Gunn; Gail MacDonald, Grey Coast; Christine Russell, director of Scotia Review; Julie Ellen, creative director of Playwrights' Studio Scotland; Donna Heddle, head of the UHI Centre of Nordic Studies; and Rob Gibson, Highlands and Islands SNP MSP.

BACK on home turf I was pleased to see the progress made by the McLeod family in their meeting with the Northern Joint Police Board. The death of their son Kevin in Wick harbour in 1997 will hopefully receive proper scrutiny by the authorities at long last. The case has already led to improved police procedures to deal with unexplained deaths. But I hope that the case of Kevin McLeod can be concluded with some agreement between the family and the authorities to find out, if at all possible, at this distance what actually happened. It was good to begin to clear the air.

In that regard, I am pleased that the first of the additional 150 new police recruits promised by this Government this financial year began training at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan earlier this week.

The first batch of 52 of the additional officers will be joined by a further 98 recruits in the next two intakes to ensure that the Government delivers 150 more officers by the end of March.

This intake will increase the number of officers in the Far North and elsewhere. Therefore I welcome the actions of my colleague, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who pledged that the SNP Government will see more police officers becoming part of the fabric of the communities they serve – building local knowledge, forging strong relationships with families and businesses and helping support safe, strong communities for all.

I was able to visit this rock school in Alness where this student was happy to play a few of her very own songs.

Myself and Councillor George Farlow of North, West and Central Sutherland.

At the official opening of the National Nature Reserve in Flow Country where Stuart Housden of RSPB is receiving a commemorating plaque from an official of National Heritage Scotland.

A group of us walking around pools of bogs.

This is a photo showing myself, Bog Miller and Russian TV Producer Alexander Korobko pointing to the spot where a stone will be placed along the Skara Brae timeline. It will sit between one marking the American moon landing and another making the invention of the telephone, and will commemorate the achievement of Yuri Gagarin and the Russian Space Programme for being the first human in space.

I'm at a geological dig near the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney which turned out to reveal some fascinating neolithic carved stones!

On Wyre where John Mowatt and my assistant Niall MacDonald are looking at a plaque of Cubbies Roo's Castle. Of note is the farm in the background which used to be the home of the famous writer and poet Edwin Muir.

Here a 6kw windmill is about to be errected on Rovsay farm where it will become virtually self sufficient with a ground source heat pump.

This was during last year's election where myself, a Slovack journalist who accompanied me for the day and Ben Gummell are on Nigg hill in Easter Ross reviewing redevelopment opportunities for this oil fabrication yard.

Here a Tesco lorie is negotiating a bend on the A9 route into Keysness. As you can see, it is demonstrably TOO BIG for the road and the load should be transported by rail - an example of the necessity of the North line enhancement.

Adult Feis - the tutor on the left is Alison Kinaird, a master of the clarach.

Here I'm meeting with the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association at the Black Isle Show last August (2007) - to my left is the Association's chair, Mr. Angus McColl.

Myself and John Mowatt at Scappa Flow where the Churchill barriers exclude submarines from entering using causeways. I greatly appreciat this, for it could help promote tidal power and the promising future such a technology offers.

Beside the road to Allipool where the barriers are in need of replacement after numerous accidents caused by free roaming red deer. After unavoidably hitting deer in the road victims are then charged for the damages and repairs - yet the deer are allowed to roam freely.

Quite a year for Scotland's music - A personal view of Rob Gibson MSP

On 2nd December 2006, a couple of days into the second month of the Celtic year, I was asked to give the opening speech at the 4th annual Hands Up For Trad Awards (HUFTA). After three years of growing success based in Edinburgh the start of the Year of Highland Culture had made possible their transfer to the Nevis Centre, Fort William where, in a much transformed great big barn of a hall, hundreds of well wishers packed the sponsored tables and gallery.

Patricia Ferguson MSP, the then Scottish Executive Culture Minister, called off from performing the opening ceremony, hence my promotion as a Highlands and Islands member, albeit of the main opposition party. Simon Thoumire had honoured me with invitations as a longstanding organiser, performer and supporter of our contemporary traditional arts. I recall saying that the progress of Scotland to more self-confidence marched hand in hand with the strength of our music. The evening’s awards and performances bore witness with stand out spots from Julie Fowlis and her band, the Peatbog Fairies and the three young pipers Ross Ainslie, Ally Hutton and Jarleth Henderson paying stunning tribute to the late lamented Gordon Duncan our most innovative player and pipe tune writer of these times.

The crack in the late night club in the Alexandra Hotel was fierce with demands for wider recognition of this annual celebration and of the best of our folk artists. Why wasn’t HUFTA on TV? When would our hugely popular music gain the media coverage it deserves? We all pledged to keep up the pressure.

As a postscript the newspapers announced two days later that Patricia Ferguson had doled out over one million pounds to Scottish Ballet and the RSNO that very weekend. Given the total spend on traditional music that amounts to an equivalent sum it prompted me to seek actual figures from the Scottish Arts Council, enterprise networks and local councils for our indigenous music product.

We were told by HAIL, the music promotion arm of HIE at the workshop they mounted ahead of RockNess in June 2006, that the music business in the Highlands and Islands as whole probably grosses £45 million per annum.

Surely the economic potential of our traditions should attract even more public support? That theme requires an audit of government sponsored spending that would need a committee enquiry to shine some light on the truth.

The start of 2007 Scottish Year of Highland Culture was marked in Inverness at the old New Year Friday 12th January. The music from Blazing Fiddles and the Inverness Gaelic Choir was fine stadium stuff and from our vantage point on the Ness Bridge we witnessed a fantastic fireworks display, most notably of fire boats floating on the river. More trad music in the streets would have been good as the throng headed for Falcon Square to witness the aerial acrobats from France.

A week later the 14th Celtic Connections kicked off in Glasgow but it was to be a much curtailed event for me. What with a forthcoming election in May and local events in the far north Eleanor and I decided to concentrate on one weekend’s concerts and for the first time the smoke-free festival club.

This was Donald Shaw’s debut as director of Celtic Connections and the mix becomes all the more intriguing. One event that continues is Showcase Scotland to which promoters and artists from many countries come to Glasgow. I convened the presentations prior to the Saturday evening concerts. They featured the HebCelt Festival, Shetland Festival and the Blas Festival in the Year of Highland Culture. A sparky question session proved a real success for these standout events and their organisers.

We enjoyed some of the more intimate performances in the Tron and Strathclyde Suites. A full house in the Tron greeted Nolwenn Korbell who is a cutting edge Breton singer playing with widely respected guitarist Soig Sibiril better known to Glasgow audiences.

I can’t pass on to the next concert without high praise for the Lori Watson trio who supported Nolwenn. Old friends from the Highland education world the Youngs were there to hear their daughter Fiona as Lori’s punk accordionist who played, sang and giggled her way through a fine Borders music set.

The following week I sang in the Parliament Burns Supper offering Ca’ the Yowes and joining in the communal numbers and playing for A Man’s A Man For Aw’ That.

In the last month of the Parliamentary session my member’s debate in praise of Hands Up for Trad was answered by Patricia Ferguson the soon to be ousted Culture Minister. Details of the debate can be found on the Official Report for 14th March. In my speech I quoted from a recent book by Kate Martin, who is now lecturing in community education at the University of Dundee. Kate was a founder of Fèis Rois and she has edited a history of the first 25 years of the fèisean movement that was launched at the Hands Up for Trad weekend last December. She sums up thus:

"It seems that in return for a relatively small investment, in the Highlands and Islands and beyond, the Fèisean are producing a generation of assertive and skilled young people who are confident in their culture and as a result can relate to other cultures. They are creating networks, enhancing the quality of life, building social capital and community capacity, and contributing to employment in rural communities.

When young people become aware of and confident about their own culture it becomes possible for them to appreciate other cultures and contribute to a wider social participation and understanding."

Also in this regard the Youth Music Initiative, which has been most successful if diverse in its forms, as fits our multi-form Scotland, has to be assessed and given new impetus. I am glad that Alex Salmond the First Minister no less gave assurances that it will not be lost and that Culture and Education ministers can bring some analysis of the output and objectives into the light. Certainly the Scottish Executive which launched the scheme would surely agree that fine tuning is required?

The Minister made no real comment on YMI but merely echoed my praise for developments in the traditional music scene yet failed to pledge any support for approaching the BBC to televise the next HUFTA or any other positive commitment.

Two weeks later in my last weekend as an MSP I followed up appointments in Thurso and Reay with a visit to the annual Rob Donn Commemoration Concert in Melvich Hall where a long rambling but intriguing series of spots on the pipes, fiddle, Gaelic choirs and spoken tribute to the bard, who was a contemporary of Burns, wove on till early dawn.

On the Monday night the 30th March I visited the tutors’ ceilidh at Feis Rois Oigridh - Junior Feis Rois in Ullapool for my last night as MSP for Highlands and Islands. The young tutors are well ready to take over the Feis movement as many of them have come through from Primary level to careers in our very own culture. Memories of the musical feast carried me into the momentous election that was underway with who knows what outcome. Tantalisingly the SNP had stayed ahead in the polls for several months. However the music of our Gaelic heartland spurred me on as I drove back home to Evanton.

After the longest count of them all on Friday 4th May at Inverness Sports Centre I was returned as the 46th SNP MSP and Dave Thompson as the crucial 47th - we confirmed the result of the stunning last gasp victory of the SNP at 5.30pm. Euphoria and sleep, then the GNER train to Edinburgh for SNP Group photos and a first and much expanded group meeting. Business done we retired to a pub or two but I was mindful of my desire to get to part of the Feis Rois Inbhich, the Adult Feis over the May holiday weekend.

A nice symmetry was achieved from the start to successful conclusion of the most momentous Scottish election in fifty years. Rita Hunter Feis Momma in chief was introducing the tutors’ ceilidh and offered me a dedication as the newly re-elected SNP MSP. It was the pipe set led by Iain MacDonald of Glenuig and Benbecula. What an honour. It’s the quality of concert no normal festival could afford. The range was as usual - mind blowing. Back in the Ceilidh Place so many folks wanted to talk about our SNP victory, alas the huge ensemble music session became a backdrop to stories of where you were when the result came through. Angus Brendan’s brother-in-law had to pull off the road whilst driving north to Ullapool while the car full of feisers hugged and wept tears of joy. A Guinness haze set in.

It took a couple of weeks to the swearing in of Alex Salmond as First Minister and the thrill of the high wire act called minority government. Deidre had been elected as an Edinburgh Councillor and became Culture and Sport Chair in the new LibDem/SNP administration, another link in the cultural chain.

After the announcement of Ministerial posts we were delighted that Linda Fabiani had been appointed to the Culture, Europe and External Relations post. Then I was unexpectedly appointed as a backbencher to be Vice Convener of Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee. A stroke of luck for promoting our music and a counterbalance to the resolutely schools orientated members from the other parties. Champagne was ordered for the first SNP ministers ever!

On 23rd June we attended another big event in Highland 2007, the Outsider Festival near Aviemore which combined outdoor activities and top bands. We opted for the Idlewild and KT Tunstall event. Niall MacDonald, my assistant, plumped for Crowded House the following night who were upstaged by Shooglenifty. Like most of the summer festivals the mud won, though KT was fun.

The following Saturday in the official opening of Parliament on 30th June music played a big part, especially at the informal Picnic at the Parliament. We cheered Blazing Fiddles and the Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail and much else as the rain from the south closed in on the festivities. A most appropriate start to the people’s Parliament in its third term. The First Minister added to the big occasion with his ‘command performance’ of Black Watch. The pipes and the songs like Twa Recruiting Sergeants peppered a riveting show that has now gone global.

Summer in Brittany usually gains respite from the rains, but not this year. Our annual break reunited us with friends such as the fest noz band Dremmwel from Ploveilh, in French, Plomelin near Quimper. At the 84th Festival de Cornouaille we booked two big concerts Écosse en Cornouaille and Joan Baez.

This year’s star was undoubtedly Julie Fowlis who was hailed as the new Karen Matheson following her five star show with local heroes the Bagad Kemper, the Clan Gregor Society Pipe Band [Grade One] and the Fred Morrison Band. What a blast hearing such prestigious bands playing North Uist tunes with Julie offering Ruigidh Mi, a Gaelic version of the Breton classic Me Zo Ganet and Fred in full flight and even joking in French to wow over 2,000 folk packed in the grand chapiteau at the Place de la Resistance.

Back home in sodden Scotland we caught the last night of the Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail in the Stables, Cromarty. It’s fascinating to see the changing personnel. As one group moves on another seamlessly moves on up. What a confirmation of the Feisean Movement’s success.

Our second trip to Brittany was to the Salon Du Livre Insulaire 22 to 26 August. It was the ninth event and featured Scottish Island writers whom we had recruited and supported with the help of HiArts writing development officer Peter Urpeth. Following readings and daytime book talk, in perfect island weather, ceilidhs filled the evenings. All were encouraged to perform so I sang "The Gig In Ness" which originates a long time before the Stornoway Way. The old song is the story of how the young folk band from the ‘heart of beyond’ on tour to the north of Lewis had resonance.

A new poem arose from those nights on Ouessant. Breton dancing was a revelation to our Scots writers and an idea was born of a Scottish Island book festival and the new poem in Shetlandic and French from Christina de Luca. [Ref] An article by Ian Stephen, "The Lights of Ouessant", appeared in the November issue of Northings, the HiArts Journal.

Parliament reconvened in early September in the very week that the Blas Festival was scheduled. We managed to hear Kathleen MacInnes and Mary Jane Lamont and their bands on the Monday in Ardross Hall. Both were feeling their way to a polished set. But the finale at Fort William of Donald Shaw’s Harvest was the confirmation of the maturity of our youngsters from Feis Rois in collaboration with the lead musicians of Celtic music. There must be ways found to play Harvest across the world.

The show conceived for Celtic Connections in 2004 has been slimmed down to forty young musicians and fifteen top Celtic music players and singers up front. If ever an international work begs a slot in the Edinburgh Festival it’s this one. Hopefully a Breton venue will be found next summer and possibly one in Galicia. The idea is to have half and half young players from Scotland and the host country plus the Celtic stars. However it would be ironic if they preceded an Edinburgh gig. I was all the more pleased to launch the pre-show drinks on behalf of the Scotland Funds who hope to attract Diaspora money to promote educational and cultural ventures back here. The Feisean movement will be an early beneficiary for such philanthropy.

I was the climatic exception that proves the rule, the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival at Durness was held in perfect weather on the last weekend in September. Blue skies, calm seas and a gallimaufry of art and music were inspired by the late Beatle. Mike Merritt built the idea from scratch in February without much help from 2007. He had read Mike Russell’s novella ‘The Next Big Thing’ which inspired his vision and attracted support from John’s relations. We took in the Sunday with all-day informal music in the Oasis at Sango Sands. Canadian chanteuse Allison Crowe was a stand out act. I missed Face the West but caught Julie Fowlis at the Village Hall that evening. What a fine set she has crafted, inspiration for days ahead far beyond the road home. I lodged a motion of congratulations for the festival in Parliament (seen on the Parliament website: .

I spoke on the current political situation in Scotland at the 6th collogue in Nantes University of the French Society of Scottish Studies on 13th October.

The National Mod in Lochaber attracted some notoriety for the amateur treatment of the Minister of Culture, Linda Fabiani. Duff translation equipment left her out of the loop on the long opening ceremony. A mischievous BBC report suggested it was inexplicable that she had no announcements to make for the language. The Mod may not be the most useful vehicle to promote the language given the amateur approach to translation. I restricted my visit to a singing competition and the press conference where the announcement of Caithness as the venue for the 2010 Mod was made. The translator initially told us listeners in English that it was to be held in Sutherland before being corrected! I was delighted that Raymond Bremner and his team have realised the dream of a first visit ever by the national Mod O’er I Ord.

The autumn brought a great burst of musical activity as my discussions with Dr McLeod promised a campaign visit to Brussels to meet cultural attachés and take the temperature for promoting our music with European partners.

Just after the SNP Conference in Aviemore the Unusual Suspects were singing the following Tuesday in the Queens Hall. What a stunning group of seventeen musicians Corrina Hewat and David Milligan have led through thick and thin for five years. That night they played the Lorient Suite commissioned for the previous summer event that so wowed the InterCeltic Festival in August as a key piece in music in the Scottish feature. A fine review of it by Debbie Koritas appeared in The Living Tradition. We congratulated Corrina and heard her earnest concerns about finding new sponsors. Only in Scotland could such an innovative production akin to a Scottish National Folk Orchestra suffer such uncertainty.

Alyn Smith MEP in his European report to SNP National Council on 1st December noted the valuable work I started on my first visit to Brussels on 19th and 20th November. With the help of his policy adviser Dr Aileen McLeod we opened doors for Scottish musicians and trad music with cultural representative in the capital of the EU and far beyond.

First stop was to pin down the British Council representative as to what material help it could shed light on policy changes from London to shift funds to promote the UK in the Middle East. Next stop was the Hungarian Cultural Institute where they gave us a warm welcome for joint projects in their fine performance space.

Scotland House offered a chance to discuss how we can bring together writers, musicians and visual art and offer more gigs for Scots artists. The singers and writers series are already popular, combined events was what we suggested so that Scots music could be set alongside visual art and modern writing. Hearing from the Estonian cultural attaché Tamara Luuk who joined us at Scotland House reminded us what much smaller countries than Scotland can do to project their culture as EU members.

The Communications representative of the Flemish Culture Minister was most enthusiastic about more Scots music being hosted there. She subsequently thanked us for the visit and pledged support to ‘organise projects between Scotland and Flanders’.

The Catalan policy adviser on European affairs gave us a goody bag full of CDs, pamphlets and promotions of Catalan culture across Europe. Clearly they are very well organised and at twice the population size of Scotland highly adept at promoting their nation. The most truly enthusiastic man we met all day was Sašo Gazdić, the Slovene counsellor on cultural and audiovisual affairs. He was of the view that we were so very lucky to have such a distinctive culture with which Slovenes could readily associate. Good prospects again for joint musical projects.

To each group we offered some CDs of Scottish trad music and promised to keep up the discussion about cooperation. Over dinner that evening members of the Caledonian Society in Brussels explained their ambitious plans for a modern style Highland Games to showcase Scottish talent.

On the second day the Polish Permanent Representation in the EU was our first port of call where we were loaded with various wide-ranging cultural publications. As such a major contributor of young workers to Scotland cultural links are vital. The Commission officials who met us from the Directorate General of Education and Culture were keen to promote the very recently agreed European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. This fits well with our idea of a debate at local national and international level.

There’s a very fruitful trail to be developed as more reps of more member states get our upbeat cultural message.

Dr McLeod summed up our project by saying, “We want others to share in our cultural experience. This is who the Scots are and what we are about, that we have a very vibrant traditional music scene in Scotland on the up because they recognise we now have a government in Scotland that is committed to supporting this sector.”

“I'm often reminded of the comment by Sašo, the Slovene, as to how lucky we are in Scotland to have such a distinctive culture, a distinctive presence and being who we are - that for all those 'dark' years has been bubbling away under the surface because there has been such a lack of support from previous administrations with the funding focused very much on the big name companies, i.e. Scottish national ballet, etc. and now there has been a real sense of a flourishing, of a blossoming of that aspect of our culture, combining the very traditional with the modern interpretations - and what a combination that is. While flourishing in Scotland, it now needs to flourish in the wider Europe of which we are a part.”

The day after my return from Brussels Richard Holloway made a rare comment on traditional music in his Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Scotland, Wednesday 21 November 2007. This was also ‘No music day’ which only BBC Scotland seemed to give any credence and Holloway urges anyone who is troubled to play some traditional music today. He said,

“Appropriately I watched Phil Cunningham's programme Scotland's music last night on BBC 2 Scotland.

“The Series is a brilliant TV documentary, informative, great to look at and profoundly moving. Much of the credit for that has to go to the deep research behind the series as well as Phil Cunningham's natural warmth and skill as a presenter.

“The heart warming thing about the series is the way that it examines the mysterious power music has over the human soul.

“In one programme he explored the way emotions that are rarely captured in words can be caught in a few bars of music. Especially when we want to express desolation and loss.

“Scotland is famous for the sadness of it's singing, the way it packs worlds of grief into the lilt and drift melody. It's impossible to explain it, but we all know it when we hear it. It can grab us any time and bring back life times of loss.

“Centuries of memory….If you have a broken heart words may not mend it, but if you want to sooth it in spite of the fast (no music day) listen to some traditional Scottish music today.”

At various points during the year we heard news carried by very attentive arts correspondents about Richard Holloway’s championship of El Sistema, the classical music scheme in Venezuela that plucks youngsters from the slums and provides them with new hope and direction through mass classical music playing. A project in the Raploch estate in Stirling is envisaged and fund raising has begun. I hope it will be complimentary to the Feisean and not downplay the role of indigenous music that Scots have in abundance. I have not heard what state traditional music is in Venezuela but I’m surprised none of the journalists covering this story have asked.

In a great climax to the year many people told me they were thrilled by the six part TV series on BBC 2 hosted by Phil Cunningham exploring Scotland’s Music. So were we. Trying to catch or record each programme became a mission. Each one revealed a range and depth of study along with the fabulous locations that deserve a major award in themselves. By the time we celebrated the Hands Up For Trad Awards on December 1st again in Fort William it was obvious Phil’s award as composer of the year was more than well earned. He should also have a special award as the artist who has given voice and vision to our music so that at last hundreds of thousands can see its brilliance.

I was even more determined to see HUFTA on TV next year and Phil’s show on DVD long before that. With the Broadcasting Commission taking evidence on such issues can be raised directly in the context of the content and direction of Scottish viewing. It emerged at the year’s end that the BBC was responding to audience demand. They confirmed that a DVD of Scotland’s music was being ‘considered’! Apparently 250,000 Scottish viewers of the Saturday evening peak time shows had tuned in.

We’ve made real progress on a number of fronts this year. It has had some great musical moments, imagined new projects and begun a highly motivated collaboration between Alyn Smith MEP, Dr Aileen McLeod and myself with supportive friends in the scene such as Rita Hunter, Arthur Cormack and Ian Green. We are beginning to see the way forward on our journey to ensure that contemporary traditional music plays its full part in lives of the nation and among our neighbours too.

In the Scottish Budget Spending Review a series of National Performance Framework targets have been published by the SNP government. The list contains a series of strategic objectives to be met in the next three years. On the cultural front it states – ‘We take pride in a strong, fair and inclusive national identity’. To measure delivery and accountability it states ‘Improve people’s perceptions, attitudes and awareness of Scotland’s reputation’. Traditional arts and cultural developments fits that bill.

After such a stand out year as 2007 I can only agree with singer Karine Polwart who claimed in the Sunday Herald on 16th December that:

‘This is a good time to be a folk musician. There’s a lot of cross-fertilisation across genres, and a different approach to music. Lots of people making their names just now have very specific local identities, the Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen for example. There’s that whole sense of being somewhere and speaking in your own voice’.

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