Diary in the Ross-shire Journal

29 May 2008

The Crewe and Nantwich Bye Election delivered a timely blow to New Labour south of the Border. One paper put it down to the three Fs…finance, fuel and food. Readers of the Ross-shire Journal know how our pay packets strain to pay for fuel at the pumps, the weekly shopping and the VAT you pay on top of the petroleum taxes for your car or public transport.

The SNP at Holyrood and in London and Brussels care deeply. That’s why the Scottish Government has published new figures which show that the UK Treasury would now get at least £4 billion in extra revenues from oil and gas this year, given the rise in oil price since the Budget.

In Budget 2008, HM Treasury forecast that North Sea revenues would contribute £9.9 billion to the UK Exchequer in 2008/09. These figures were based on an oil price of $83.8 per barrel. The current oil price is over $130 per barrel for North Sea Brent crude. Based on average oil and gas prices in 2008/09 to date, the Scottish Government estimate that North Sea revenue are set to be over £4 billion higher than the Treasury forecast.

Since the start of April 2008, Brent Crude has averaged $114/barrel whilst Natural Gas has averaged 60p/therm. If prices remained at this level for the whole of 2008/09 this is estimated to yield an additional £4.3 billion in revenue for the UK Exchequer compared to the forecasts made at Budget 2008.

The forecast £14 billion - £15 billion in oil revenues this year comes on top of revenues between 1976/77 and 2007/08 of £249 billion in real terms. Thanks to a report by Grant Thornton last week we know that at current oil prices Scotland would have a budget surplus of between £4.4 billion and £6.2 billion.

That’s why the Scottish Government and Parliament must have access to revenues from North Sea oil and gas, including the £4 billion windfall, to enable the Scottish Government to provide much needed relief from high fuel prices for motorists, especially in rural Scotland, hauliers and industries including the fishing and farming sectors.

The SNP has urged the UK government to introduce a road fuel regulator that would use windfall VAT revenues on petrol and diesel to moderate price increases at the pump. This call has been rejected by the UK government, and their failure adds weight to the argument that the Scottish Government should now be given the ability to act in the interests of the people of Scotland.

xxx

I have been speaking in Holyrood on issues vital to Ross-shire this week. Firstly on climate change, which plays its part in making food prices dearer and in many parts of the world unusually severe drought is already killing millions while we’ve welcomed a few dry weeks in the Highland. We must consciously use less of the world’s scarce resources. Don’t waste so much food, use the car for more essential journeys, don’t forget that moderating our behaviour now will cost less later.

Secondly, the Common Agriculture Policy has supported farming and crofting here for decades. By 2013 it could be ended. So the future of beef and sheep production which has such fine traditions here needs continued support in this Less Favoured Area. We have to demand Scottish meat in the supermarkets. Labelling Scottish meat is improving, but how many of us go for the cheapest without a thought for home producers and food security? Serious thoughts, but we are elected by you to deal with the big issues.

RG

rob.gibson.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

Orkney Folk Festival

Orkney Folk Festival in its 26th year also came under new management. I can report that the sun split the Stromness sky. Outdoor sessions were a pleasure. Concerts high value. At a time when some traditional arts organisations are in a funding crisis they could well look to OFF. A glance at the the list of corporate patrons and sponsors shows the local support for this popular event. Orkney's various festivals include blues, jazz and St Magnus classical music. However the folk festival penetrates further than the others with venues on Rousay, Hoy and South Ronaldsay as well as Harray, Orphir, Kirkwall and seven venues in Stromness.

My visit coincided with that of our Culture Minister Linda Fabiani. She judged the open stage, always a danger for elected members. But she has had practice at Celtic Connections in January. My stand outs acts were all those I heard. Some are new to me such as Crooked Still and Martin Simpson, others familiar but exciting such as Annie Grace, Karine Polwart and Corrina Hewat. Also Duncan Chisholm and Ivan Drever were sublime and Dochas tight as ever with Julie Fowlis and Jenna Reid seemingly irrepressible forces. A special word is due for the Song Shop Choir, an Orkney women's harmony ensemble led by Aimie Leonard. In islands far famed for their fiddling prowess the singers are doing just fine.

Bob Dylan songs popped up from Crooked Still - very blue grass nouveau - singing Oxford Town, while Martin Simpson's rendition of Boots of Spanish Leather is a classic. Julie Fowlis's North Uist anthem Eilean Uibhist Mo Gradh and Ivan Drever's Walking Beside your Shoes linger long in the memory of a great musical treat. Meeting so many friends is the essence of such occasions. Old lags from the Dingwall Festival days are always in evidence. But when you see how many Bob Gibbon has in his team and how much local sponsorship they achieve it just goes to show the survival of our Dingwall event for 21 years was a wee miracle.

Orkney Folk Festival is a lesson to the Scottish Arts Council that doing their best each year is a big success and a turn on for visitors, high quality acts and local alike. Check it out.

RG

Mobile PO's

This is the type of van now in Wick serving 8 villages in place of fixed post office locations. This cost £50,000 with essentially all the functions of a traditional post office. The Stirling pilot kept 80% of customers.

RG

Holyrood Diary May 20, 2008

When I filled the car with diesel last weekend it was the first time I’ve had to fork out £50 to fill the tank. I’m sure many of you have reached that level long before this because that was at the Skiach Services in Easter Ross - not in the Far North. We all worry about world-wide food price rises and rising fuel poverty here in Scotland. So I am delighted that the SNP Cabinet Secretary for Finance John Swinney MSP has written to the Chancellor in London and pointed out Scotland has a £4.4 billion budget surplus, according to Grant Thornton partners. This is based on Scotland receiving 82.5% of North Sea oil revenues which would mean, with a 95% share, a Scottish surplus of £6.2 billion.

Meanwhile the Chancellor’s Budget oil revenue forecast was based on an oil price of $83.80 a barrel. Yet the price of oil has soared to $120 a barrel. So the SNP believes that Westminster’s sky high fuel duty policy is imposing unacceptable hikes in petrol and diesel prices in Scotland.

Said Mr Swinney,

“With our North Sea resources, an independent Scotland would be the 3rd richest nation in the EU in terms of wealth per head – compared to the UK’s current 7th place – so there can be no doubt that the present flow of resources is north to south, not the other way round.”

“After generations of sending North Sea revenues to Westminster, it is vital that Scotland has access to and benefits from our own resources. It cannot be right that we have fuel poverty and soaring road fuel prices amid this energy plenty. “

We urgently need talks on greater financial independence for Scotland, including a transfer of oil and gas resources to the Scottish Parliament, so that we can invest in Scotland’s long-term economic interests.

All MSPs are flooded with calls for help. The Federation of Small Businesses and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce want the Chancellor to cancel the proposed 2p rise in fuel duty due to be introduced in autumn 2008. Their figures indicate that the UK Government has received an additional £505 million of revenue, due to rising fuel prices, over the last six weeks and agree with the SNP that we need to introduce a fuel price regulator.

In the Ferry Enquiry, ongoing in the Holyrood Transport Committee, we’ve heard that privately owned shipping operators are very negatively affected by strongly rising bunker fuel costs. Prof Alf Baird, the Orkney-based expert from Napier University, gave evidence and also noted that private ferry operators in Scotland already exist in an extremely uneven playing field due to the fact that the Government regularly increases subsidy payments to its own state-owned ferry operating companies (CalMac and Northlink) to enable these businesses to pay their rising fuel bills. This is in addition to rapidly rising subsidies to cover state-owned ferry company operating costs (or rather losses) more generally.

With the price of diesel now over £1.35 in the Western and Northern Isles and across Scotland’s island and remote communities this makes it probably the most expensive diesel in the western world. Many years ago in parts of France cuts in fuel duty in the remotest areas were agreed. Why not here?

My colleague Mike Weir MP has lodged an Early Day Motion (EDM) at Westminster with cross party support to protest against the lack of regulation on the prices of home fuel oil or bottled gas. But unbelievably both Ofgem and Energywatch have confirmed that there is no regulator with the task of looking at the market or interests of consumers who use home fuel oil or bottled gas. They do not even have the limited protection available to gas and electricity consumers.

It is abundantly clear that Westminster’s financial black hole is being filled with Scotland’s black, black oil.

Xxx

THE All-Energy Conference in Aberdeen this week showcased the huge potential of our renewable energy resources, over 4,000 delegates attended. Scottish Energy Minister Jim Mather and Malcolm Wicks from London Government spoke.

But a worrying tone was noted among the public by Scottish Renewables. People seem reluctant to pay for the effects of peak oil and the dangers of climate change. Somehow folk haven’t caught up with the fact that the world is already paying a huge price for climate change, as we are also.

One symptom of this mismatch was heard from SCDI, the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, meeting recently in Inverness to ponder improvements to our Highland transport, or as it turned out our Highland roads. They want a national commitment in relation to the A96 Aberdeen-Inverness road, A9 Perth-Thurso and A82 Glasgow to Inverness roads, if the Scottish economy is to reap the benefits of growth opportunities in the north in priority industries, such as tourism, food and drink, and energy.

Can you believe that sea and rail are ignored by the SCDI? They don’t seem to grasp that peak oil will require a reduction in road journeys to take freight like the supermarket lorries off the road, and that rail services are far more CO2 friendly. In fact, the Caithness Partnership has a far more balanced transport policy than they do. HIE and HITRANS have echoed the SCDI blind spot hoping to reap the benefits of wave and tidal energy from Pentland Firth but refusing to invest in our real transport needs north of Inverness. It’s time HIE and HITRANS woke up.

rob.gibson.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

Annual European Maritime Day

Here I am with Dr. Eileen Macleod, Policy Advisor to Alyn Smith MEP, at Avoch Harbour.

I am proposing that serious plans are laid to mark this European Maritime Heritage Day annually. In particular the Year of Homecoming 2009 which is a prime time to welcome from abroad all those who want to celebrate Scotland's new vibrancy. Record numbers of yachts are sailing across the North Sea and last year the Moray Firth Flotilla was a cracking success to celebrate sail through the years. A copy of my Parliamentary Motion is included below calling on members of all parties for support.

(Visit my press room to learn more following the link at the top right)

S3M-01657 Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish National Party): European Maritime Day — That the Parliament welcomes the introduction of an annual European Maritime Day to be instituted on 20 May 2008 to celebrate Europe’s maritime heritage and marine-related issues; further recognises the vital role that the marine environment plays in the past, present and future of Scotland, and calls on the Scottish Government to help mark the day with events to highlights its importance.

Supported by: Michael Matheson, Jamie Hepburn, Sarah Boyack, Joe FitzPatrick, Bob Doris, Stuart McMillan, Helen Eadie, Christina McKelvie, Kenneth Gibson, Patrick Harvie, Dr Alasdair Allan, Shirley-Anne Somerville, Tavish Scott, Bill Kidd, Keith Brown, Gil Paterson, Brian Adam, Elaine Smith, Roseanna Cunningham, Robin Harper, Bashir Ahmad, Dr Bill Wilson, Andrew Welsh, Dave Thompson
Lodged on Thursday, March 27, 2008; Current

North Rising - Sun shines on Avoch marchers

The importance of Avoch in Scotland's long fight to be a free country was celebrated on Saturday [17th May] by a hundred marchers from all a' the airts. Following the tradition of the past ten years members of the Society of Willam Wallace present a new saltire flag to replace the one that flew for the previous year from the flagpole at the cairn in the castle ruins on Ormond Hill. This year John Robertson, the Culblean organiser of the Andrew de Moray Project, did the honours. John and his wife Lorraine have just retired to Nairn. In brilliant Avoch sunshine the procession and flag raising ceremony at Ormond Hill was attended by marchers from Aberdeen, Airdrie, Perth, Moray, Cowal, Inverness, Brussels and all over Ross-shire.

I was the Project Convener and made sure to remind the gatherers that Evan Maclead Barron dug up the story of how important the North of Scotland's part was in the national rising of 1297. The alliances that Scotland had with France and Norway helped sustain our nation. Scotland was a European nation then and is today as we regain our pride of place in the family of people whose distinctive place is their bedrock. It is the cause for which Andrew de Moray and William Wallace fought and died.

Holyrood Diary May 9, 2008

What a remarkable year it’s been.

The SNP’s National Conversation was derided by the Unionist parties. They voted for their own constitutional enquiry, now called the Calman Commission, and lo and behold before it has met the Labour partner in the scheme has changed the focus due to er… problems for the boss in London. So now the outright opposition to a referendum on Independence has been replaced by Wendy Alexander demanding an early poll. Whether it should contain a straight yes or no question and many other issues is unclear. Whether London supports her is now clear…

I’m sure that all the premonitions about a minority SNP administration sown in the minds of the voters and in the minds of civil servants by the last administration have been dashed by the popularity of SNP policies and the competent team of Ministers who have rolled their sleeves up and been so much more proactive than their Lab-Lib predecessors. So much so that the opposition are reduced to complaining about the increased car use of Alex Salmond’s team.

What can we gain from this exciting atmosphere in Caithness and North Sutherland? Well, as I have already reported in recent weeks, there have been a steady string of improvements to life and the services we use.

The SNP organised a national 'Day of Action' for 3rd May 2008 across Scotland to mark the first anniversary of the 2007 election. Thurso SNP played their part by campaigning with our Westminster candidate for the Far North Cllr Jean Urquhart. The activists distributed the SNP Vision magazine which reflects on some of the political and personal highlights of the past year.

Last year, people across Scotland put their trust in a new Government led by Alex Salmond and the SNP. I consider it to be a huge privilege to represent the people and communities across the Highlands and Islands. Helping people and families with the range of cases they raise is very rewarding - especially when we make sure people access the benefits and services like central heating for older people who have received 110 new systems this year compared to 66 in the last year of the LabLib Executive across KW postcode areas. I have applauded the reduced business rates for local firms and indeed this has put some much-needed smiles on business faces across the country.

Politically there have been so many memorable moments, especially for me voting to confirm Alex Salmond as First Minister and to pass the Abolition of the Graduate Endowment, which so affects those from poorer families.

Personally it has been a hectic year, but an enjoyable one, as I play a part in moving Scotland forward. The Scottish Government has a vision of an ambitious, confident Scotland and over the last year a series of policies which go toward achieving that vision have been put in place.

FERRIES I have travelled on? The list grew last month to include the overnight sailing from Aberdeen to Lerwick on the Hrossey. So this year I have been to Arran, on the CalMac ferry MV Caledonian Isles, on the Superfast Ferry from Zeebrugge to Rosyth, as previously reported in this column and last week from Stornoway to Ullapool on the MV Isle of Lewis. However, we’ll see the biggest ferry change here in Caithness later this summer. In recent visits to Orkney via Gills Bay I’ve enjoyed fine sails on the aging Claymore, but news of the launch in the Philippines of the spanking new catamaran Pentalina will be a treat in store.

Much of my travel has been in pursuit of Scottish Parliamentary business, in particular the ferry enquiry undertaken by the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee. We have uncovered a catalogue of outdated thinking in the big combines, CalMac and Northlink. We are afforded glimpses of how successful ferry companies are in applying new technology across Europe and beyond. So the enquiry about Scottish lifeline services is timely to say the least.

Last week we met EU Transport Commissioner Jacque Barrot who was reported as offering the idea of an independent ferry regulator to tackle complaints about competition and assess to public service obligations [PSOs] as a key to the much-needed subsidies which provide for non-profitable routes. Amazingly the previous Scottish Executive’s successive LibDem transport ministers Nicol Stephen and Tavish Scott turned their backs on PSOs and any suggestion of such an independent regulator. Too costly, too bureaucratic and unnecessary they said.

Well the chickens have come home to roost. Complaints by aggrieved parties have forced the EU to investigate Scottish ferry practices. I believe that the Committee’s enquiry will neatly dovetail with the EU enquiry. It should lead to an EU compliant support system, but also it should set up a debate in the chamber of Parliament that allows the Scottish Government to put ferry policy and practice on a more transparent and innovative basis. That is long overdue and gives due weight at last to the services for local people in far flung mainland and island communities.

In conversation with my colleague MEP Alyn Smith I was reminded of our direct links to Iceland via the Norrona sailing in summer from Scrabster, and yesterday I was entertaining a group of Icelandic health administrators in Parliament. They see lots in common with us and are seeing ways to make Icelanders square up to the debate about entering the European Union. Recently Alyn was discussing, in the Icelandic Parliament, how Iceland can better co-operate with the EU institutions and member states. Cooperation with Scotland on fishing and energy issues could gain us an important ally.

Iceland has to rely on friends and neighbours within the EU to take into account its concerns. Scotland has to rely on London. Probably Scotland and our northern neighbours could be a new force to reckon with as the EU develops and expands. Let’s hope with the installation of their new President we can eventually persuade the Russians it’s a good idea to be more European too.

rob.gibson.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

Visit to Lewis:
I met the MacKenzie family at Crossbost on Friday 2nd May to discuss issues about crofting township management and common grazing regulations. Here I am with Sandy and Mairi MacKenzie in their garden.



"So come all ye at hame wi freedom....aw the roses and geans will turn tae bloom" [words from the Freedom Come-All-Ye by Hamish Henderson]. This picture in my garden in Evanton shows the geans in ours and our neighbours gardens bursting into flower. 5th May, just like the first year's achievement of the Scottish Government!

Food Security Debate, The Scottish Parliament

Thursday 1 May 2008

I welcome the debate. I hope that the idea of food security for this country can be translated on to a global scale - as our food security cannot be premised on insecurity for people across the globe. How we achieve that has to be part of the national food policy conversation. I will dwell on some of these issues in my speech, given that they fit into the subject matter of the Conservatives' motion. I agree that, at the outset, we are looking for action at the Scottish, British and European levels, but we have to go on to challenge the World Trade Organization. We have to ask about the right of people to have a fair deal for their produce rather than free trade in food.

If we are debating national food policy — as the minister said - there has been an enormous response to the paper. We must ask, as NFU Scotland did, "what is on your plate?" The answer to that, above all, will determine whether we are doing as much as possible to feed ourselves in this country, both in terms of quantity and quality. In that respect I am glad that the Government is supporting more local food production and, in particular, the public procurement of more locally sourced food. That lead will encourage more people to grow food locally and to have it bought in a secure market.

The Government has held a supermarket summit that allowed discussion with the large combines on the issue of local food sourcing. We saw an example of that in the Parliament last week. Fundamentally, we have to tackle the issue of labelling and the way in which supermarkets display their goods. Although Scottish meat may be well labelled as such on supermarket shelves, it is laid out next to the Brazilian stuff. If people are poor and on a tight budget they will always go for the cheaper product. That cannot be allowed to be the basis on which a Scottish food policy is built. Our engagement with the supermarkets has to include dealing with the issue of labelling. We have to have the statutory controls to ensure that labelling requirements enjoy the kind of backing that will make the supermarkets come to heel.
The NFU wants a European model of agriculture to continue after 2013.

In the debate on the national food policy, we should define what that model will be. As I have hinted, the kind of food security that we want, with more local production, has to take account of the ways in which we produce our food. I will therefore have to focus on biofuels. We have heard the arguments on this displacement crop. As Oxfam has pointed out in its report "Bio-fuelling Poverty" once people lose their land to the biofuel producers they lose their livelihood. As Oxfam says: "Many end up in slums in search of work, others will fall into migratory labour patterns, while some will be forced to take jobs on the very plantations which displaced them and where labour standards can be horrific."

That is the downside of biofuels. Scotland's biofuel capacity from oil-seed rape could instead produce cattle cake; it could become a local source of animal feed and the like. We have to build that into the policy. I ask members to ensure that, when we come together, we base our efforts on "maintaining the diversity of the animals bred and plants grown." The principle that "for both historic and economic reasons we must preserve the biodiversity of the land" should be at the root of any food policy. It should be applied not only in this country but across the world.
10:53

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.