We are not too wee to achieve sustainable growth

THIS week the word "cuts" has dominated the language of politics in Scotland and across the UK. As the British parties enter their autumn conference season, we see each interpret what they wish us to see.

What a pity that each in turn – Lib Dems, Labour and Tories – do not recognise that demands, with which they say they agree, for more powers in Holyrood stem from a deep-rooted injustice. That injustice is the unionist denial of a right of Scots to vote in a referendum to have tax-raising powers all normal countries possess.

Lib Dems keep telling us local people should decide. But they face both ways as usual as their leaders showed in Bournemouth earlier this week. When it comes to Scots, they deny a referendum bill is our right. No doubt they will show this by opposing the bill the SNP Government seeks to introduce on St Andrew's Day.

When finance minister John Swinney introduced his draft Scottish budget last week it marked the first real-term decline in spending for 17 years. Even Labour academics agree that a cash-term increase is a real-term decrease.

The Scottish Government wants to keep up the work of ending the recession so we need the right to bring forward more funds from next year's budget to build on the investment made this year. This year's acceleration amounted to £347 million and helped housing, construction, enterprise projects and colleges, among others, to accelerate the economy and safeguard 8700 jobs.

Will Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who told the G20 ministers to keep going with government economic stimulus to revive the world economy, tell us we don't need it in Scotland? Of course none of that would matter if we had the borrowing powers of a normal nation. But the UK parties, including the Lib Dems, don't want us to be normal at all.



THE Scottish Government has become the first administration in the world to produce a carbon assessment alongside its budget. In a unique move, John Swinney published the first Carbon Assessment of the Budget for 2010/2011 together with the draft economic budget itself.

The Scottish Government recognises that climate change will have far-reaching effects on Scotland's economy, its people and its environment and is determined to play its part in rising to this challenge.

Mr Swinney said: "By publishing our Carbon Assessment of the Budget, we are taking a significant and, to some extent, experimental step towards recognising carbon implications in the budget process."

I am not aware of any other government in the world committed to delivering this work with their budgets and, once again, Scotland is proving to be a world leader.

In a practical way, this is aided by strong support for low-carbon renewable energy development which we will debate in parliament on Wednesday. This debate very much affects us in Caithness. With the regeneration conference in Wick due the day after the parliamentary debate, I am sure of the commitments of the Scottish Government.

Power production is still controlled by Westminster and the National Grid has rejected a scheme proposed by Scottish and Southern Energy, backed by others, to make grid access easier in Scotland.

Therefore, questions persist as to the fairness of a system that places charges 10 times the cost in Caithness as they do on would-be producers in London. Who can ignore this drawback and what messages we will hear when London Labour sends its representative up north? Can Jim Murphy put economic recovery through renewables deployment before an outdated, Thatcherite model of competition for grid access?



HERE's a sobering thought from across the North Sea. Three quarters of Norway's voters turned out last week and narrowly re-elected the Red/Green coalition government of Jens Stoltenberg. Firstly, it was the country's lowest turn out for decades and, secondly, voters resisted the blandishments of a Norwegian clone of Maggie Thatcher who wanted to dip into the oil funds to reduce taxes on health and education.

The national oil fund was created in 1990 to secure investment for Norwegians in future generations. It is second or third in the world among sovereign wealth funds – worth £259 billion and growing. That easily dwarfs the UK public debt burden of £175bn.

That's why Scots should closely question why the oil and gas wealth, mainly generated in the Scottish sector of the North Sea should have been used to prop up such a rake's progress in the UK economy led by unrepentant City bankers. Britain, unlike Norway, also has huge personal indebtedness due to easy credit for over a decade as well as UK Government spending which failed to save in the good times for any likely downturn. Greed and light-touch regulation has met its nemesis in the crash of sub-prime property in the USA. And the global economy pays a huge price.

Why, oh why, should we in Scotland listen to the London Government's excuses any longer? Surely the way to go is to match savings with borrowings in the old-fashioned way? Surely investment in making renewable energy, wholesome food and a return to training for the necessary skills must be the priorities?

Who is best placed to achieve sustainable growth, London or Scotland? We are not too wee, or too poor, or too stupid to do it. Do Norwegians think like that?

Diageo debate

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): Among his remarks, the cabinet secretary urged us to learn from the Johnnie Walker decision and to look to the future. We must consider that the decision has arisen from Diageo following a consolidation agenda.

In 2007, Diageo announced the investment of hundreds of millions of pounds in a huge new malt distillery at Roseisle on Speyside and in the development of Cameronbridge and Shieldhall, but that was before the world recession. At a time of flattened demand, there is a difference between the sales progress of white and brown spirits. As Wendy Alexander said in the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee on 9 September:

"The issue then was the loss of brown spirits to white spirits—demand was growing much more quickly for vodka than for whisky". —[Official Report, Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee, 9 September 2009; c 2340.]

We have to ask ourselves what Diageo's priorities are. In August, it stated that net sales had increase by 15 per cent. Smirnoff sales were up 17 per cent, Captain Morgan sales were up 29 per cent and Johnnie Walker sales were up 4 per cent. The debate must take into account the effects of Diageo's priorities on the company's thinking and on people throughout Scotland.

A farmer who lives close to me, Hector Munro of Foulis, said in a recent letter that there are "large surpluses of malting barley in both UK and Europe plus World grain stocks" are "generally higher than they have been at any time in the past decade ... Faced with this scenario and with no regional protection for Scottish malting barley, the vital ingredient of that iconic-branded product, Scotch Whisky", which he grows, his business is in doubt. We need to take account of the way in which Diageo's demand for products affects people such as our barley farmers.

Diageo has a range of distilleries, including 15 small distilleries in Speyside. In volume terms, they do not add up to the production of its main competitors—Glenfiddich or the Macallan—hence the idea of developing Roseisle. Will we see a consolidation of malt whisky distilling if world demand for brown spirits continues to move more slowly than demand for white spirits?

As a Scottish distiller, Diageo needs to show sustained loyalty to the complete process of whisky distilling in Scotland. As Wendy Alexander also said at committee:

"The right analogy is with French wine production, and the real issue, which the GMB raised, is whether bottling in Scotland is compelled. Because of the influence of some of the large players in the industry, the Scotch Whisky Association does not support bottling in Scotland, which is astonishing ... The big strategic decision on whisky is whether there is a move to insisting on its being distilled and bottled here. It is interesting that the trade body for Scotch whisky does not favour that position." —[Official Report, Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee, 9 September 2009; c 2341.]

This is the danger in which we find ourselves.

Can we in the Highlands and Islands expect to see consolidation in malt distilling, as has happened with grain distilling? When Guinness took over DCL, it said that it would not cut the number of distilleries. However, the question of cutting the number of distilleries in regions of Scotland and consolidating production has not been removed.

With mega-distilleries replacing the diverse regional nature of our iconic whisky industry, Diageo has to be asked what positive legacy it will leave for Scotland. Is what is good for the Diageo business model also good for Scotland? What level of value will be retained in Scotland? As a previous speaker said, that must be maximised.

I am concerned when Diageo makes statements such as:

"The company has created a flavour map to categorise whisky by taste rather than region in an attempt to demystify the drink and attract new customers."

Scotland wishes to retain the regional nature of whisky production and bottling. We do not wish to be left with a bad taste in the mouth from Diageo's business decisions.

Edinburgh celebrates Catalan National Day

I had the pleasuer of meeting with Xavier Solano, Head of the Catalan Delegation to the United Kingdom on the 16th. The occassion was a gathering in Our Dynamic Earth, Edinbrugh where for the first time the Catalan National Day was clebrated officially in Edinburgh. A fine selection of Catalan wine, tapas, sausages and cheese famed in the Catalan nation greeted the gathering.

Realtions with Catalunya were formally forged by the previous administration in 2002 and the longstanding cooperation between the SNP and Catalan autonomous government were cemented by Parliament Minister Bruce Crawford who greeted the Catalan Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation of the Government of Catalonia on the evening.

Sutherland Summit

Cllr George Farlow and I took a very active part in the Sutherland summit held in Lairg on Monday 14th September. It was probably the most representative meeting of Sutherland folk ever held and developed a range of ideas following a mind mapping session led by Jim Mather MSP Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism and Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham. There was much enthusiasm and food for thought and action throughout the day.

John O'Groat Plans would be a boon

Photo: An aerial impression of what John O'Groats could look like if the new masterplan is implemented.
(Source: John O'Groat Journal)


Well the £15million blueprint designed to breath new life into the derilect John O'Groat Hotel and surrounding area was warmly welcomed by owners and residents alike.

This third attempt to get a viable plan for John O'Groats - but it seems acceptable and ambitious. I believe that step by step its recommendations can be developed.

I fear though that we will not see immediate progress if there is no compulsion on the owners of to modernise it. The council and HIE need to act in the interests of the local community by placing developments into local and committed hands.

RG

The two recent articles give further impression:

http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/7210/_A315m_price_tag_for_Groats_vision.html

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1389786?UserKey=

Waste Aware Scotland campaign

www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk

I had the pleasure of helping Waste Aware Scotland, the Community Recycling Network for Scotland and their Highland campaign partners launch their new furniture reuse campaign on the 11th of September at the Eastegate Shopping Centre in Inverness.

Too appropriately, the Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead was their to help launch the campaign as well.

How sensible it is to donate the old furniture you no longer use, in order that a less fortunate family or person has access to these perfectly functional goods. It's an easy yet dramatic difference to make, to help those who are more vulnerable in our communities, as well as lessen our impact on the environment, by donating good quality furniture to reuse organisations like Waste Aware and the Community Recycling Network, instead of sending it to an untimely demise at landfills.

There are many exemplary reuse organisations across the Highlands, and if you have any furniture that no longer serves purpose in your household, get in touch with any one of those below to pass it onto someone who would put it to good use:

• Blythswood Care is headquartered in Evanton and operates an international network of 56 charity shops, including 18 in the Highland region. Three of these shops sell large items of furniture (Inverness, Evanton, Wick) and others sell smaller household goods. It also diverts large quantities of textiles, books, CDs and bric-a-brac and provides emergency food parcels.
  
• HomeAid Caithness is a community-based reuse charity with a shop and warehouse space in Thurso. It operates a referral system for providing emergency furniture packages to homelessness and social work referrals. The project is also expanding its reach to include the west coast communities of Lochinver and Kinlochbervie.
  
• New Start Highland is the main furniture project operating in and around Inverness. It provides a range of support services to people moving into social tenancies, including providing furniture and home starter packs. It also runs two community shops, with more in development.
  

Slainte Blas!

S3M-04809 Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish National Party): Slainte Blas — That the Parliament applauds the start of the fifth Blas Festival, taking place throughout the Highlands from 4 to 12 September 2009; notes the contribution that the festival makes to cultural and community life in the region and the emphasis placed on the Gaelic language; recognises the variety of venues used, ranging from Eilean Donan Castle to community venues such as village halls the length and breadth of the Highlands, making it a truly local and grassroots festival that offers a unique taste of Highland and traditional culture; congratulates the organisers and participants, including artists from Nova Scotia, for an excellent opening weekend, which saw the premier of Blair Douglas’s Gaelic mass at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Inverness, as well as a host of concerts in a range of venues across the region; recognises the importance of this festival in the annual cultural patchwork of Scotland, and encourages further support from funders and satisfied audiences for the future of Blas.

Pride over Megrahi decision

THE opposition party leaders in Scotland have been finding ways to oppose for the sake of opposition the compassionate release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber.

While they persist in putting up a smoke screen, their masters in London have clinched deals in Tripoli over oil and gas contracts.

It makes you even more proud of Kenny MacAskill's due process and compassionate Scottish response to a legal situation crafted originally by the UK, USA and Libya in which a show trial and imprisonment on conviction in Scotland were agreed in return for normalisation of trade with Colonel Gaddafi.

The news that Nelson Mandela backs the Scottish Justice Secretary confirmed the faith of reasonable people in this small nation. We are backed by a world figure who brokered the trial under Scots law in the Netherlands. So Mr Megrahi's plea to die among his family is logical in Scottish terms if not in that of the vengeful United States.

I have received many communications on this issue, the vast bulk like those who recorded their views in the Ross-shire Journal poll backed the Scottish Justice Secretary. Now we need an international enquiry that can satisfy the families of the Lockerbie victims and a world seeking the truth.

*

HIGHER history in Scottish schools will include a compulsory section on Scottish history for the first time in 2011. The paper covers, the Wars of Independence, Reformation, Act of Union, 19th Century migration and the impact of the First World War on Scotland.

The omission of the Highland Clearances is said by some to be controversial. However (and I say this as someone who has studied and written extensively on the subject) I am not sure if the benefits of the Scottish Diaspora can ignore the downside back home or the fight back in the 1880s of the Highland Land League. Teaching about the Clearances in the context of the modernisation of Scotland can take place earlier in our schools as few students reach the Higher exams.

Picking aspects of a thousand years of rich, vibrant and colourful history is an unenviable task. There will always be important parts which cannot be covered fully, the Enlightenment and the formation of Scotland by the Picts and Scots spring to mind.

However the very fact that there is a compulsory Scottish element in the new higher is a victory. Scottish history had been discouraged and shamefully ignored by successive governments. A country that has no idea of its history has no real sense of itself. The SNP Government has started to change that and I hope that Scottish History will become a bigger part of Scotland's education, not at the expense of World or European history but as a key part of it.

*

THE middle of a recession isn't the best time to raise tax on fuel duty but yet again the Prime Minster and Chancellor have raised the fuel tax by 2p per litre this week.

The same Chancellor whilst holidaying in the Western Isles last year expressed his shock at the price of fuel. I wonder what he would say now? Readers in remote and rural areas of Ross-shire understand the curse of high fuel prices for they will suffer the most. This (Gordon) Brown tax is no green tax. It will hit households and businesses especially haulers in the north. The UK Government should help businesses at the moment not hit them where it hurts.

I heard that this tax increase will gather over a billion pounds. How much of it will be given to improve public transport in Scotland?

Be Waste Aware

S3M-04783 Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish National Party): Waste Aware Scotland-wide — That the Parliament expresses concern at the reported £1 billion worth of food thrown away in Scotland each year, equating to an average of £550 per year thrown out by each household; notes that over two thirds of what is binned could have been used if it had been stored properly and if meals had been better planned; highlights the work of Golspie Recycling and Environmental Action Network, a community-based social enterprise recycling firm in Sutherland, and other good examples around Scotland that set a benchmark to promote positive community awareness on waste minimisation, and encourages Scottish families and households to be wiser with their waste, one of the many simple ways to reduce their carbon footprints and save money.

World Development Movement new report

S3M-04767 Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish National Party): Power of Scotland Renewed — That the Parliament notes the publication by Friends of the Earth Scotland, the World Development Movement, WWF Scotland and RSPB Scotland of a new report, The Power of Scotland Renewed; welcomes its findings that by 2030 renewable energy could meet between 60% and 143% of Scotland’s projected annual electricity demand, even when avoiding sensitive wildlife and landscape sites; believes that this demonstrates that centralised power plants can be rapidly replaced by more decentralised forms of generation; further believes that this vindicates the view that a new generation of nuclear power in Scotland is not needed, and calls for priority to be given to energy conservation and renewables and the supporting framework required to decarbonise electricity generation.

To view the report: http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/powerofscotland_renewed.pdf

Caithness Summer Football Champs

One more round of congratulations to the team and supporters. RG

S3M-04749 Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish National Party): Caithness Summer Football Champs— That the Parliament congratulates Wick Groats Football Club on its successful 2009 season in which it won the Caithness County League Division One, won the Wick League, won the David Allan Shield, reached the semi-finals of the Highland Amateur Cup and produced the County Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year; congratulates young player/manager Stewart Ross on taking the team from the second division two years ago and leading them to such success; further congratulates Staxigoe United FC on winning the Caithness County League Division Two and the Steven Cup in its first year and Thurso Swifts FC on winning the Eain Macintosh Cup; recognises the importance of summer football in the far north for all ages, and wishes all the teams involved a restful winter and an equally exciting season next year.

Glendale Life

The Glendale trust have today written to Highland Council requesting continued access to the Borrodale School buildings for a permanent heritage exhibition

The Glendale Trust have written the following letter to the Highland Council:

"I write with reference to your kind permission to allow “The Glendale Trust” to have been given access to the portacabin at Borrodale School from the 17-29th August 2009 to host a heritage exhibition and to seek permission that we can continue to use this resource to benefit the community from an education perspective.

The exhibition has been an unqualified success that has had an extremely positive impact on the community of Glendale.

We have been able to cover a wide range of subjects for example the issue of land reform and the relevance of Glendale to the struggle for crofters rights through the land league, the activities of the Glendale martyrs and the evidence given to the Napier Commission here in Glendale.

We have also been able to showcase important crofting records that we have obtained that go back to the beginning of the 19th Century. There is a significant display on the war dead of Glendale from both world wars as well as artefacts from that time.

I am also pleased to say we have a significant display on Borrodale School itself as well as covering the people of Glendale.

The exhibition has proved popular with locals and visitors alike, with a steady stream of people visiting the school over the two week period.

We were particularly delighted to welcome a group of pupils who came to visit from Dunvegan primary school to look over the exhibits, to watch some film archive we have from the 1920s and 1930s as well as to hear the tales of our older generations who were able to inform them of times gone by in Glendale.

As well as the main exhibition we have also put on special events such as a talk by local historian George Macpherson and a film night which was attended by more than sixty people.

I am sure you will agree that what we have put together is a very important historical record, albeit one we can build on, of life in Glendale and of course a resource that has much educational merit.

What has also particularly pleased us has been the response from the local community, with many individuals spending a considerable amount of time at the exhibition, many of whom have made multiple visits.

Having established the heritage exhibition over a two week period and having had such an overwhelming positive response from the community it is our intention to build on this initiative.

The Glendale Trust will be developing a business plan with a view of obtaining funding that would allow us to mount an exhibition on a permanent basis and to build on the knowledge and appreciation of our local history including a resource that would allow locals and visitors to study the genealogical links to the people of Glendale.

In this regard I write to formally request if it would be possible for The Glendale Trust to be granted access to the school buildings in order that we can continue to showcase this material for the benefit of the community of Glendale?

The trust would suggest that this would be good use of this facility that would result in the premises continuing to serve a broad based educational purpose and of course creating good use of what is currently an empty building.

Granting of such access would allow us to continue our work to build up the exhibition.

Ian Blackford,
Chairman
The Glendale Trust.


*S3M-4720 Rob Gibson: Glendale Life—That the Parliament congratulates the Glendale Trust for mounting a heritage exhibition, displayed in Borrodale school, on the life of Glendale people in the last 200 years; commends the content of the show donated by many whose families and work have enhanced the life of this corner of the Isle of Skye; recalls the important part played by Glendale folk in the crofters’ struggles of the 1880s and its unique place in the establishment of the people’s right to live on their own land, and welcomes the growing support to retain Borrodale school as a heritage centre for the area.

Outrage over Megrahi release is illogical

THE political reaction from unionist politicians in Scotland has been all too predictable. They play partisan politics with the decision of the Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill to send the Lockerbie bomber home to Libya as an act of mercy for a dying man.

They ignore a wide range of support from enlightened opinion across the parties and from many UK relatives of the Lockerbie victims. Had Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi died a martyr in prison in Scotland, no doubt they would have condemned that decision too. That is unless they had been in power.

The moral outrage of unionists here is as illogical as the hysterical reaction of many US citizens quoted on Fox TV and the country's FBI chief, Robert Mueller.

Yet look at US blogs and there is considerable support for Scotland's justice secretary and his compassionate decision.

I have had a couple of dozen e-mails and messages. Overwhelmingly, they echo the words of one constituent last Monday. Writing to me before the recall of parliament for Mr MacAskill's statement and questions, he said: "Could I say that I think a brave decision was taken last week, with which I fully agree.

"The events in Tripoli were unfortunate but the fact that the justice minister could act in an individual way unfettered by outside pressure is admirable."

Several round-robin e-mails expressing the opposite view have appeared. Only two or three from the Highlands and Islands.

The silence from London during the crucial decision time needs to be explained. I noted from The Guardian last Saturday that the foreign secretary David Miliband was keener to reject any hint of UK complicity in Megrahi's release than on explaining the UK's position.

He was cross questioned on BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme and insisted that the UK Government would not interfere with the Scottish decision.

He explained: "It would upturn the devolution settlement, which says very clearly that the justice secretary in Scotland should make this decision."

Who can disagree with Julian Borger in The Guardian that "the British Government had just secured the unexpected bonus of being able to please its new Libyan partners while ducking responsibility for the release of a convicted mass murderer"?

While Blair and Brown were seeking oil and gas contracts for Shell, BP and BS, a cross-party delegation of US senators led by John McCain, the defeated Republican presidential candidate, met with Libya's leader on Friday, August 14, in Tripoli to discuss the possible delivery of non-lethal defence equipment. Associated Press reported that visit and Washington's offer of military equipment was another sign of the improving ties between the former long-time adversaries.

Mr McCain said: "The status of human rights and political reform in Libya will remain a chief element of concern. However, ties between the United States and Libya have taken a remarkable and positive turn in recent years."

*

LAST weekend, I attended the unveiling of a monument at Lyness to the Arctic convoys during the Second World War.

In contrast to the criticism of Scotland by the US Government over the Lockerbie issue, high-ranking dignitaries from Russia stood shoulder to shoulder with Scottish, Belgian and other allied citizens at the new memorial.

In wartime the naval escorts sailed from Scapa Flow to protect merchant ships assembled at Loch Ewe. Three thousand seamen and a 100 out of 800 allied ships were lost supplying the Soviet Union with the materials that underpinned the country's victory against the Nazis. The hazards of the convoys to Murmansk were appalling. We rightly remembered the sacrifice made in the cause of freedom.

The Russian consul general for Scotland, Sergey Krutikov, presented medals on behalf of his government to two surviving Orkney veterans of the convoys.

These were given to applause from the 300 people present. Among them was a convoy veteran Sandy Manson, from John O'Groats, another comrade who sailed to Russia on HMS Matchless.

I have made many friends from Russia and, in particular, from the oil province in Siberia in recent years. The chairman of the local parliament, or duma, shared the task of unveiling the monument that forms two great standing stones shaped like the prow of a ship.

We plough safer waters today and share economic aims with our northern neighbours. That future was assured by our kin who fought for that freedom. It's up to us to build sustainable links that rule out conflicts in Europe in future and include our Russian friends in the recovery of our economies in today's world.

*

IN a week of political discord several MSPs will be hoping to strike a note of harmony at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe tomorrow.

Myself, Thurso-born Green MSP Robin Harper, Labour's Pauline McNeil as well as Jamie McGrigor, of the Tories, will be taking to the stage at theatre workshop to perform a concert in aid of ChildLine.

It is a fantastic opportunity to perform at the world's biggest and (probably) best arts festival, and it is a great charity to raise money for.

So if you are around Edinburgh tomorrow, or know of anyone down there, then the theatre workshop at Stockbridge would be worth a visit. I can't guarantee that you won't be disappointed but it should be good fun!

Outrage over Megrahi release is illogical

THE political reaction from unionist politicians in Scotland has been all too predictable. They play partisan politics with the decision of the Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to send the Lockerbie bomber home to Libya as an act of mercy for a dying man.

They ignore a wide range of support from enlightened opinion across the parties and from many UK relatives of the Lockerbie victims. Had Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi died a martyr in prison in Scotland, no doubt they would have condemned that decision too. That is unless they had been in power.

The moral outrage of unionists here is as illogical as the hysterical reaction of many US citizens quoted on Fox TV and the country's FBI chief, Robert Mueller.

Yet look at US blogs and there is considerable support for Scotland's Justice Secretary and his compassionate decision.

I have had a couple of dozen e-mails and messages. Overwhelmingly, they echo the words of one constituent last Monday. Writing to me before the recall of Parliament for Mr MacAskill's statement and questions, he said: "Could I say that I think a brave decision was taken last week, with which I fully agree.

"The events in Tripoli were unfortunate but the fact that the Justice Minister could act in an individual way unfettered by outside pressure is admirable."

Several round-robin e-mails expressing the opposite view have appeared. Only two or three from the Highlands and Islands.

The silence from London during the crucial decision time needs to be explained. I noted from The Guardian last Saturday that the Foreign Secretary David Miliband was keener to reject any hint of UK complicity in Megrahi's release than on explaining the UK's position.

He was cross questioned on BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme and insisted that the UK Government would not interfere with the Scottish decision.

He explained: "It would upturn the devolution settlement, which says very clearly that the Justice Secretary in Scotland should make this decision."

Who can disagree with Julian Borger in The Guardian that "the British Government had just secured the unexpected bonus of being able to please its new Libyan partners while ducking responsibility for the release of a convicted mass murderer"?

While Blair and Brown were seeking oil and gas contracts for Shell, BP and BS, a cross-party delegation of US senators led by John McCain, the defeated Republican presidential candidate, met with Libya's leader on Friday, August 14, in Tripoli to discuss the possible delivery of non-lethal defence equipment. Associated Press reported that visit and Washington's offer of military equipment was another sign of the improving ties between the former long-time adversaries.

Mr McCain said: "The status of human rights and political reform in Libya will remain a chief element of concern. However, ties between the United States and Libya have taken a remarkable and positive turn in recent years."

*

LAST weekend, I attended the unveiling of a monument at Lyness to the Arctic convoys during the Second World War.

In contrast to the criticism of Scotland by the US Government over the Lockerbie issue, high-ranking dignitaries from Russia stood shoulder to shoulder with Scottish, Belgian and other allied citizens at the new memorial.

In wartime the naval escorts sailed from Scapa Flow to protect merchant ships assembled at Loch Ewe. Three thousand seamen and 100 out of 800 allied ships were lost supplying the Soviet Union with the materials that underpinned the country's victory against the Nazis. The hazards of the convoys to Murmansk were appalling. We rightly remembered the sacrifice made in the cause of freedom.

The Russian consul general for Scotland, Sergey Krutikov, presented medals on behalf of his government to two surviving Orkney veterans of the convoys.

These were given to applause from the 300 people present. Among them was a convoy veteran Sandy Manson, from John O'Groats, another comrade who sailed to Russia on HMS Matchless.

I have made many friends from Russia and, in particular, from the oil province in Siberia in recent years. The chairman of the local parliament, or duma, shared the task of unveiling the monument that forms two great standing stones shaped like the prow of a ship.

We plough safer waters today and share economic aims with our northern neighbours. That future was assured by our kin who fought for that freedom. It's up to us to build sustainable links that rule out conflicts in Europe in future and include our Russian friends in the recovery of our economies in today's world.

*

IN a week of political discord several MSPs will be hoping to strike a note of harmony at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe tomorrow.

Myself, Thurso-born Green MSP Robin Harper, Labour's Pauline McNeil as well as Jamie McGrigor, of the Tories, will be taking to the stage at theatre workshop to perform a concert in aid of ChildLine.

It is a fantastic opportunity to perform at the world's biggest and (probably) best arts festival, and it is a great charity to raise money for.

So if you are around Edinburgh tomorrow, or know of anyone down there, then the theatre workshop at Stockbridge would be worth a visit. I can't guarantee that you won't be disappointed but it should be good fun!

A little catch up....

Above: Here I am on barge on the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change committee away day, Edinburgh Quay to Ratho and back. 25.8.9

Above: Me on the PS Waverley on final cruise off isle of Arran 27.8.9 The world's oldest seaghoing pasddle steamer deserves full support that museums and archeology get. If summers don't improve the Scottish leg of its duties will reduce; that's because passengers are more numerous on the English south coast and in the Thames. I discussed the prospects with Capt Clark and other directors of the company on board off the east side of Arran.

Travelling on Waverley is an experience to be recommended and unlikely to be forgotten.

I visited the Alness allotments at Milnafua on their open day in mid-August. The success in the past year attracted a visit from rural Minister Richard Lochhead in June as well. the fruits of their labour are a most attractive advert for the town and its enthusiasts. Would that each community had the same opportunity to grow their own.

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I also travelled to Orkney on 20th August for a visit to the new offices of the Centre for Nordic Studies in Kirkwall. There I conducted a surgery and attended a joint meeting between Russian business people and Orkney Islands council.

S3M-4721 Rob Gibson: Nordic Studies Centre Expands—That the Parliament commends the UHI Millennium Institute’s Centre for Nordic Studies in Kirkwall for its expansion to new premises on Kiln Corner and in Scalloway in the North Atlantic Fisheries College; notes its vital role in promoting and preserving all the indigenous cultures of the Highlands and Islands by including Norse, Scots and Gaelic elements in its courses which include the literature of Orkney and more widely the literature of the Highlands and Islands, and welcomes the distance learning ethos of the UHI Millennium Institute that contributes to the international reach of this dynamic centre of learning

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On Saturday 22nd I attended as a representative of the SNP Government the unveiling of the memorial to the Russian Arctic convoys of WW2 on Hoy at the old naval base of Lyness. The friendships struck by representatives from Ugra, the Russian Consul to Scotland and representatives of VTB investment bank as sponsors of Russian Hour TV will be the basis of economic partnerships between Scotland and Russia to come.

It was a great dsiplay of remembrance for the most hazardous convoys in WW2. And reaffirmed the friendship and possible trade between Russia and Orkney.

Photo: At the point of unveiling - shows Vasily Sondykov, Chairman of the Duma in Ugra Province unveiling Russian side of the 'ship's prow'. Cll James Stockan, Vice Convener of Orkney Islands Council on right unveiling UK side. Rob wearing green bonnet and kilt with the other Russian and Belgian dignitories behind.

Photograph taken by A. Korobko, Russian Hour TV, London

Thought I'd play a bit of catch up on the past few days....

Thought I'd play a bit of catch up on the past few days....

Here I am on barge on the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change away day, Edinburgh Quay to Ratho and back. 25.8.9

Me on the PS Waverley on final cruise off isle of Arran 27.8.9 The world's oldest seaghoing pasddle steamer deserves full support that museums and archeology get. If summers don't improve the Scottish leg of its duties will reduce; that's because passengers are more numerous on the English south coast and in the Thames. I discussed the prospects with Capt Clark and other directors of the company on board off the east side of Arran.

Travelling on Waverley is an experience to be recommended and unlikely to be forgotten.

Come to Scotland....the weather's fine

Published in the John O'Groat Journal
14 August 2009

AT motorway services en route to Scotland you can find postcards. Not just of the stunning scenery that awaits the intrepid travellers north of Gretna, Carter Bar and Berwick, but ones that show a great cloud bank into which disappears a car and caravan.

Welcome to Scotland is the motto.

But often the weather pattern is the opposite. We drove through torrential rain from Bristol to Preston on the way home from Brittany. Yet news pictures of Highland Games and agriculture shows, gala weeks and pop festivals like Belladrum in the past month show lucky breaks in the gloom. Meanwhile, friends tell me that on breakfast time TV there was a deafening chorus from people saying they will never spend another holiday in the UK. Did they ever consider coming to the Far North and west of Scotland?

Patterns are changing; coastal Brittany experiences much less reliable sun than I remember in the 1980s and '90s. Meanwhile typhoons wreak havoc in the Pacific Ocean, and Saharan Africa and Australia are in desperate drought. Climate is perceptibly altering and for the worst in many parts.

James Lovelock was interviewed in the Observer last Sunday. The 90-year-old scientist invented the Gaia theory that was ridiculed 30 years ago. Today it is close to scientific orthodoxy, i.e. the Earth is a self-regulating entity. Saving the ecosystem and the planet is mainstream and not now seen as immune to infinite amounts of human abuse. It can rebalance its atmosphere, etc, and humans had better watch out.

Lovelock controversially thinks nuclear power is safe and the infrastructure quick to build, and points to the CO2 impact of building windmills. But he does see tidal energy as a good thing that will take time. He considers flying far less of a problem than the CO2 given out all the time by us and our pets.

That's where government decisions and choices kick in. The Scottish Climate Change Bill, soon to become the most important act passed by the Scottish Parliament, will guide us in this country. Make no mistake... what we choose must set a good example or else our grandchildren will rue this day.

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GREAT ideas for practical means to tackle greenhouse gases (GHG) come from many quarters.

At the Black Isle Show last week, the NFUS president Jim McLaren was waxing lyrical about the potential of hydrogen power. Every farm should install wind or solar power and by electrolysis make hydrogen to run all the farm equipment. Most can be self-sufficient and pay back investment in a very few years.

We need to decarbonise our transport by 2025 to meet GHG reduction targets. So lots more diverse ideas will need investment very soon. Incidentally, it is very heartening that the Scottish Government invested 73 per cent of its spend on renewable energy projects in the Highlands and Islands. We can maintain a high percentage spent here as the Scottish Government Renewables Plan develops in the next two years.

But there is no need to wait till others catch up. The Innes family wind farm at Stirkoke offers one family benefit; local charities too will win while control lies with the residents themselves. That means more local income from power sold to the grid. The jobs which can emerge from this green revolution were discussed in detail when I introduced my colleague Keith Brown MSP, the Minister for schools and skills, to the North Highland College in Thurso this week. Communities and community benefit are just beginning to get discussed seriously. Careers in environmental and energy jobs are key to our prospects hereabouts.

Photo: Schools and skills minister Keith Brown (centre) at the Environmental Research Institute in Thurso with some of the team members and MSP Rob Gibson (second from right).
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Schools and skills minister Keith Brown (centre) at the Environmental Research Institute in Thurso with some of the team members and MSP Rob Gibson (second from right).

BETWEEN April and June next year the TV transmitters at Rumster Forest and Thrumster will switch off analogue signals and go completely digital. By December 2010 the Rosemarkie mast, which serves Inverness and the Great Glen, will be the last part of the North to go fully digital.

I am impressed with the pace of this huge engineering project which has not left us in the Far North last in the queue. Indeed London will be last of all.

Even a 1938 TV owned by the grandson of John Logie Baird worked with a Freeview digibox to pick up the new format. So few new TV sets are needed. I was briefed by Alan Cowie, erstwhile Grampian TV programme producer from Aberdeen. He is keen to give clear answers to all who are concerned. A postcode checker is found at digitaluk.co.uk or telephone at local rates to 08456 50 50 50 with your queries.

The switchover is free for those over 75, the disabled and blind or partially sighted. I want to help everyone get access to as full a range of TV as possible at the least cost. A far more powerful signal awaits and we deserve the best.

Since a Scot invented the medium, let's make good use of its digital future. Local digital TV services from Caithness could be produced and broadcast.

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ALL the talk at UK level this week is of food security. Hilary Benn wants us to help the world by becoming less reliant on imports. More concerning is his call to use GM seeds to improve yields.

In contrast, the Scottish National Food and Drinks Policy views natural agricultural methods as the most sustainable and sees no evidence that GM crops for animal feed or cotton show any consistent increase in yields.

Perversely, the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which is supposed to be at arm's length from government, undermines confidence in organic foods as against industrial crops. Also the FSA is set to soften up opinion in favour of GM foods in a year-long public engagement exercise.

This stems from London Labour ministers from whom the FSA is another arm of the discredited Westminster regime. With FSA Scotland singled out to return powers to Westminster in the Calman proposals, it is time all our MPs and MSPs were asked which side they are on.

Croft reform

An open letter from Rob Gibson MSP

Sir,

The last thing crofting needs in 2009 is another LibDem peddling Victorian platitudes. 129 years after the 1886 Crofting Act its strengths and weaknesses are all too apparent in today's conditions.

Those of us long involved in ways to make crofts viable and improve Highland land use don't need insults about lack of understanding of Highland issues. [letters 31 July] . Seeing the neglect, absenteeism and misuse of our most basic resource which the Highland Land League strove to save for the people 100 years ago, we need no potted history from Alan MacRae that ignores forces such as the wider economy, planning and food prices that affect crofting beyond Crofting law.

Let him remember that his LibDem minister Ross Finnie and four successive Labour deputies totally delayed and finally botched croft reform from 1999 to 2006. They were forced to set up the Shucksmith Enquiry which the SNP inherited. Awkward truths on the state of crofting and croft regulation were revealed.

The SNP seeks long-lasting solutions and is working with crofters and the Scottish Crofting Foundation to find the best way forward. During the passage of the 2006 Act the SNP voted with JF Munro to get a partly elected Crofters Commission. This was vetoed by the majority of Labour and LibDem MSPs.

Today we have the opportunity to make good the time lost to crofting by LibDem and Labour blunders. Insults are petty. It's time to make clear what active crofting needs in the way of transparent regulation without added burdens. Petitions are all very well, positive ideas to sustain crofting in the 21st century are much more constructive.

Yours,
Rob Gibson SNP MSP
Highlands and Islands
4 Grant St., Wick

Crofting historian says the system of land tenure faces fight for survival

Published in The Herald, 10 August 2009

Definitive endorsement from the crofting authority of the plans and efforts being made by this Scottish Government.

The historian who charted the origins and development of crofting is questioning whether the unique system of land tenure he has spent most of his adult life championing will survive much longer.

Professor Jim Hunter has become increasingly pessimistic about the prospects for crofting in the face of the bitter dispute that has erupted over successive governments' proposals for reform.

Mr Hunter, who has served as the founding director of the Scottish Crofters Union, is a staunch advocate of the relevance of crofting.

A debate has been raging since the previous Labour and LibDem Scottish Executive launched a crofting reform bill. The government was forced to abandon large sections of the bill in September 2006 and a committee of inquiry was launched into crofting under Professor Mark Shucksmith.

His report formed the basis of the current draft bill. Public consultation ends on Wednesday. Among the bill's provisions is the requirement that any house built on land taken out of crofting will have to be occupied as a principal residence for more than six months a year, an attempt to stem the demand for holiday homes that has long distorted the housing market in the Highlands and Islands.

However, the Scottish Crofting Foundation has attacked the bill as "oppressive" and the Crofting Rights Emergency Action Group, which was set up last year in north-west Sutherland, is campaigning against it.

Mr Hunter said: "More than 120 years ago, a British prime minister, William Gladstone, did something that none of his modern successors, whether in London or Edinburgh, would contemplate for a moment.

"He excluded the free market from large parts of the Highlands and Islands by taking away just about all the powers that landlords had previously exercised over crofts and crofters.

"Families who could previously be evicted by landlords with no more than a few weeks' notice were given perpetual security of tenure and their rents, formerly set at high levels by their landlords, were henceforth - and are still - fixed by a state-appointed tribunal."

However, Mr Hunter said the market had reasserted itself, with more people wanting to have homes in crofting localities.

"Understandably, many crofters are taking advantage of this, by selling their land as house sites or, sometimes, by selling, in effect, their crofts. Of course, the controls imposed on crofting in Gladstone's time are supposed to make this type of market in croft land impossible."

Mr Hunter continued: "When the Shucksmith inquiry team undertook one of the most exhaustive inquiries ever mounted into crofting, they were told over and over again by crofters that, unless this market in croft land was brought under the same sort of stringent controls that were long ago imposed on crofting landlords, crofting as we've known it for generations will soon cease to exist. I'm convinced that, without the sort of actions Shucksmith recommended and which the Scottish Government is trying to introduce, crofting of the traditional sort will soon be no more.

"It's virtually impossible for young people, often for local people of any age, to get into crofting. They're simply being outbid at every turn. So the question, at its most basic, is this: Do crofters wish to secure the future of crofting by subjecting it to renewed controls of the kind that have kept crofting in being for so long? Or do they want, as individuals, to have the right to profit from a less and less controlled market in croft land? Judging by what's being said by many crofters, there certainly isn't a consensus in favour of more, and much tougher, controls.

"If I had a croft and if I had the chance of selling chunks of it for large sums, I'm by no means certain that I'd prefer to keep that croft in existence for a future generation.

"If what's happening now continues, crofting has had it. That doesn't mean there won't be flourishing communities in the Highlands and Islands 50 or 100 years from now. But they won't be crofting communities, and crofting, by then, will be just as much a part of history as the days of clans and clanship."

SNP Contituency Reps Debate Croft Reform

Featured in the Northern Times, 7 August 2009:

Caithness Sutherland and Easter Ross delegates discussed the crofting consultation at the SNP Constituency meeting last Friday. The delegates from Invergordon, Tain, Rosehall, Helmsdale and Thurso welcomed the discussions previously held by members of the Sutherland branch which were led by Westminster PPC Cllr Jean Urquhart and Cllr George Farlow.

Crofting members of the SNP in each part of the constituency want to see reasoned changes to the draft bill. They felt that incoherent rejection of the serious points raised would not sustain crofting communities. The assurances from the crofting Minister Roseanna Cunningham that this was merely a consultation shows that SNP in Government listens to crofters.

Rob Gibson MSP told the meeting that the sensible suggestions coming from grazings committees which he has already seen confirm that thoughtful analysis rather than shoot from the hip language is needed. Members noted the appalling behaviour of attendees at several crofting consultative meetings were unrepresentative of the wider crofting community.

He said, "I am glad that the SNP government is committed to seek ways to end absenteeism, to maintain the crofting culture which underpin local grazing committees and aims to democratise the Crofters Commission."

Members also noted with satisfaction that other wider land reform issues may be debated at the SNP's Annual Conference to be held in Eden Court Inverness this October. Submissions from local branches contribute fully to the national debate.

Pesticides, nutritious food and the FSA muddle

An open letter from Rob Gibson MSP

Sir,

The FSA needs to explain pesticide effects to public and a co-convener of Holyrood's Cross Party Group on Food I would urge consumers attending agricultural shows [such as the Black Isle Show at Muir of Ord this week] to tackle the Food Standards Agency which takes a stall there. They should be asked why pesticide residues were excluded from the FSA's recent nutritional study on organic and conventional food when the main reason families buy organic is to protect the environment.

Clearly the Food Standards Agency needs to come clean about the real differences between organic and conventional food production. Their report last week showed no nutritional differences between the two but excluded contaminant content such as herbicide, pesticide and fungicide residues from the desktop review.

Yet new figures revealed in The Herald [3.8.9] show nearly half of conventional food bought by consumers contains significant traces of pesticides. The SNP Government has won wide support for a national food policy based on the natural methods widely practiced in this country. We need no muddying of the waters by the FSA which has given the nod to GM animal feed while undermining confidence in natural food.

Surely the body charged with food safety, the FSA, has to explain how its muddled behaviour affects the aims of Scotland's National Food and Drinks Policy .

The SNP has long fought for modern methods that avoid GM. We also question what effects pesticides have on bees and we find the gloating of commentators over the FSA report a last week a sign that farming methods fit for 21st century consumer knowledge will have to be far more inclusive and environmentally conscious. The NFUS should also address these same issues and accept that consumers are not fooled by the biotech agenda.


Rob Gibson

SNP MSP for Highlands and Islands
4 Grant St.

Wick

INVERGORDON INCINERATOR - NO TO WASTE!

Highland Council has registered a planning application to create a Waste Transfer Station in Invergordon at the location of the former British Aluminium plant. In addition to that application a private company Combined Power and Heat Highland Ltd has registered an application to build a Waste to Energy Incinerator at the former British Aluminium Plant Car Park. This incinerator will run 24/7 and process waste from all over the Highlands.

INVERGORDON COMMUNITY COUNCIL has objected to both these planning applications and created an electronic petition which they are urging the public to sign and support. Follow this link http://www.iintw.org.uk/ or click on the title above to register your support: INVERGORDON INCINERATOR - NO TO WASTE!

The Future is Electric

FOR many years now I have been making a pilgrimage to the town of Quimper on the south-west coast of Brittany in July to meet up with old friends and take in as much as I can of the excellent music at the Celtic Festival de Cornouaille.

Brittany has much in common with Caithness and the wider Highlands and Islands – a unique place with a largely rural community with a way of life very much bound to the land and sea. It is France's main agricultural area and plays a significant role in its fishing industry.

As you might imagine, the local produce is of great quality with an emphasis on natural production methods.

One morning, while venturing out to buy the croissants and local newspaper, I passed the van of the local charcuterie, which had emblazoned on the side a slogan which read, "Chicken raised the natural way – out of doors!" A salient point.

I thought about natural farming practices which are so successful in Caithness via the Mey Selection brand, as well as the Scottish Government's food-and-drink policy which is geared towards local and sustainable production.

The natural, local way to do things – there must be something in it. That is why I was perturbed to read a press release from the National Farmers' Union of Scotland.

In it they effectively called for a relaxing of the laws on the importation of GM soya and maize into the European Union. That is playing with fire. Less scrutiny of GM feed which comes into Scotland, or any other part of the EU for that matter, could play havoc with our precious biodiversity. What is needed is increased scrutiny of GM feed, not less.

Indeed a better course of action is to look at what is being trialled in our own country.

The Scottish Agricultural College has developed high-protein feed from home-grown legumes, which avoids the need to import soya from around the globe, while the Scottish Crop Research Institute has developed non-GM blight-resistant potatoes. Surely local research and development is the way ahead as opposed to a reliance on untested soya and maize from around the world?

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LAST week the new French industry minister Christian Estrosi visited Bolloré d'Ergué Gabéric battery factory near Quimper. He was there to tour the plant which will help revolutionise electric-powered travel.

As from September, the factory will produce lithium-metal-polymer batteries for the BlueCar, which is produced by the distinguished Italian car designers Pininfarina. Five thousand of these have already been pre-ordered and are expected to be on the road by June 2010. The plant expects to produce 100,000 batteries a year. At the end of the visit the minister also announced that the French government had ordered 100,000 of these vehicles for local governments to use around the country.

The batteries have also been trialled on trams in Paris as well as Germany. The results showed a 15 to 30 per cent saving in energy consumption. It is a stark message that the future of electric transport is becoming a reality in these parts of Europe.

Electric transport is exactly the route we need to take in Scotland and the UK and, yet again, Caithness could take the lead. The advanced ABSL battery factory comes to mind as it has similarities with the one in Brittany.

Like its Breton counterpart, the factory is a distance from the car producer but it is exactly the climate-change-busting activity that will be needed.

The Scottish transport minister Stewart Stevenson has urged motorists to make fewer journeys.

The next step is to prepare for all-electric vehicles. The year 2050 could see the end of carbonised transport on the roads in Scotland. The Far North should seek an early stake in that new market and help lead the way.

New report makes Nigg more vital than ever

A FULLY functioning Nigg yard in which to build and service offshore structures and vessel is all the more important with the publication of the The Power of Scotland Renewed report compiled by energy analyst Garard Hassan.

This says that by 2030 Scotland could be powered solely by renewable energy (with energy left over to export).

I am delighted that Enterprise Minister Jim Mather has been drafted in to help end the deadlock. Jim's energy and ability to identify problems and come up with solutions has marked him out as an outstanding minister.

A renewables revolution would undoubtedly shift the focus of Scotland (even the rest of Europe) northwards. However that revolution needs to be backed up by serious funding which would help put the infrastructure in place and support the burgeoning industry.

Yet that simple common sense approach is finding no favour with the Labour UK Government. Their recent action in blocking Scotland from accessing additional funding to drive forward the renewables programme is nothing short of scandalous.

Last week the UK treasury forbade the Scottish Government access to a £150 million fossil fuel fund which can only be accessed by Scottish Ministers for the purpose of renewable energy promotion.

It is a frustrating situation as their action put at risk a dynamic and prosperous future for the Highlands and Islands.

This action will do nothing to help Ross-shire or others areas of the north and west.

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A LOCAL hotelier contacted me recently with an idea on how to boost tourism numbers and improve environmental management.

From November to February tourists numbers are down and the main business is from those who shoot and fish. Red deer and salmon are a natural resource yet access to them is limited.

However the introduction of a universal gaming licence could help remedy that.

A licence could work along these lines. For example the licence could cost £150. A limit could be set on the amount of game/fish taken in a day. The hunter\fisher would be accompanied and instructed by a trained gamekeeper and the landowner would receive a bounty, say £50 for a deer, or £10 for a salmon.

This could result in more tourism, boosting local trade, and ensuring better land and game management.

A radical, revolutionary and original idea? No. It happens in Canada and most of our European neighbours.

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THE incident of the Marco Polo has raised a number of questions. I am sure that better co-ordination of public agencies will accrue following the outbreak of the winter vomiting bug.

However, that said, it is incumbent upon the owners of the ship to act in a responsible manner. Unless health services and other interested parties are aware of the full facts then it is difficult for them to act in an appropriate way with appropriate speed.

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LAST week I wrote to Patrick Harvie MSP (convenor of Holyrood's transport committee) asking the committee to make a submission on the consultation to the National Express rail services' franchise calling for the safeguarding of the Highland Chieftain service from Inverness to London.

UK Government Ministers have failed to give cast iron guarantees that no service will be cut or downgraded on the line. However, there is to be a public consultation on the future of the franchise.

Therefore I would urge business users and commuters who use and value this direct route to make their voices heard and make a submission to the consultation for the continuation of this excellent service.

Any further loss of direct routes to the Highlands would be a blow to the accessibility and connectivity of the area.

Confident Scotland is leading the way

THE latest session of parliament drew to an end in a blaze of publicity with the unanimous backing of Scotland's world-leading Climate Change Bill.

This legislation was praised by the "Terminator", and now governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said: "Scotland's ambitious and comprehensive targets encourage other nations to step up to the plate as we look toward an international agreement in Copenhagen, and it sends a message to the world that we must act now and must act swiftly."

I was also contacted by my former Breton intern Anne-Flore (who is now in Brussels) saying that at an EU climate change conference the day after our legislation was passed, the closing remarks centred on the world-leading targets being made in Scotland. Scotland was praised as an example to other nations of what should be aimed for.

Scotland leading the world in a positive direction... it's a great thing to think when you are in the chamber waiting for the ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of devolution to start.

My thoughts turned to the past, present and future. I suppose only a historian from the future could fully quantify what effect the restoration of some power to Scotland has meant for the people of the ancient nation. However, there does seem to be a sense of confidence and a better attitude – less downtrodden, more aspirational.

A few years ago it was very fashionable to talk about the Scottish Cringe. It's hard to define what this concept is exactly, but it effectively boils down to a lack of national self confidence. A culture of negativity and pessimism which pervaded Scottish society. It even led to Jack McConnell opening a centre to promote Scottish self confidence in 2004.

Did it work? Not too sure, but three years later the people of Scotland ignored the tired, old, relentlessly negative and pessimistic Labour, Lib Dem and Tory arguments against electing the SNP.

So perhaps the Scottish Self Confidence Centre had a part to play.

I suspect, however, that growing confidence and aspirations were organic, and the parliament has had a huge part to play in that. People saw what could be achieved and wanted more.

Ten years on, devolution has began to change mind-sets, both publicly and politically. More people in Scotland are supporting Scottish independence (the ultimate confident step). Even other parties, including the Tories, who fought hard to stop devolution in the past, now think that Scotland should have more powers.

There are very few people out there who have no faith in the competence of Scotland to run some or all of its affairs.

The Scottish Parliament, whether it be an independent or devolved institution, will continue to be the main focus in the country.

A while ago I remember hearing (from someone who had experienced both parliaments) that many back-bench Scottish MPs were beginning to think that the only show in town was the Scottish Parliament. I suspect this is more the case than ever.

We are in a process which is seeing Scotland becoming more comfortable with itself, more confident. The cringe, while not gone, is receding from the national psyche. Future generations will scratch their heads when hearing of the Scottish Cringe – devolution started that process of transformation, and I find it hard to believe that it will stop.

Be under no illusion, the passing of the world-leading Climate Change Bill is a sign of the country growing up. We are a positive example to the world.

Not bad going in 10 years.

Now we need to show that we can meet our aspirations.

The potential that lies off the grey coast will transform the fortunes of the county. As the 19th century saw populations flocking to the cities where the latest opportunity and energy were, I believe that the 21st will see a migration back to places like Caithness.

In the near future, Caithness will be at the cutting edge of energy production. The people of Caithness will help lead the world, backed up by new developments across the board including UHI.

World companies are already seeing the potential offered by such developments. Where the energy is the people will go. Caithness is ideally placed to reap a rich reward from such happenings.

However, for success to be more tangible and arrive faster there needs to be a repositioning of mind-sets throughout the nation towards the North.

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A CLEAR purpose and strategy in the crucible of war is a must. However, as fighting intensifies and casualties mount in Afghanistan it seems that there is a lack of that. This is a worrying situation for all but especially for the brave troops and their families and loved ones at home waiting.

Recently my colleague, SNP defence spokesman Angus Robertson, said that the elections in Afghanistan later on in the year should serve as a chance for a serious review into the strategy. The right strategy is the least that our troops, families at home and Afghan families deserve.

Events an anchor for community life

WICK HarbourFest brought out the sun and the smiles in a relaxed and welcome celebration to make an important Caithness Homecoming.

While the crowning of the herring queen harked back to the fishing of the past, the brand new marina development looks like it should have been there for years and indicates the ambitions of the harbour authority for the future.

I was delighted to join in the Friday celebrations and meet so many happy folk. My friends Andrew Anderson and family from Keiss made their homecoming like many others.

Among those I met was Gordon Gunn, the famous Wick fiddler, on Saturday evening further down the A9. His suntan was gained during a Saturday on the quays.

I hope that harbour plans will develop the numbers of sailing craft involved at future events as it's such a natural setting and anchor for community life. Well done Liz and David Richard-Jones and the whole team.

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TWO decisions last week in Holyrood lead Europe and the world. Firstly, the Climate Change Bill has passed all stages and been amended into the strongest of its kind. We will have action plans on every aspect of its measures to pass as secondary laws.

For example, an action plan will increase the total output of renewable heat to 11 per cent of demand by 2020. It's one per cent this year so that's a tough challenge.

So a successful scheme in Wick would contribute. Remember we have the wood and other biomass in Scotland and it isn't new technology on the continent.

The agreed Scottish target of 42 per cent cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases by 2020 relies on the Climate Summit in Copenhagen adopting much tougher targets. It will all change the way we live and I will chronicle these in detail in the coming months. That's because, as my colleague Brian Adam said, public engagement is as important as rules made in Holyrood if we are to succeed.

Secondly, on Tuesday this week, the outcome of the year-long Energy Enquiry by the economy, energy and tourism committee was published. It shows that an action plan for Scotland should play to our biggest strengths. These lie in renewables whose potential is of European significance.

On Monday, Scottish and Southern Energy announced that more large hydro power schemes like Glendoe on Loch Ness are now in the planning. This provides the chance to complement offshore wind and tidal power sources as they develop with clean power from the waters of our lochs and rivers. That's an elegant symmetry. For Scotland leads in these developments as France leads in nuclear.

Scotland can supply secure power to England as well as our North Sea neighbours on top of home needs. So there are three cheers for that route to secure, clean power which communities and businesses here can surely profits from.

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THE message from a record-breaking Royal

The First Armed Forces Day

I fully back the efforts in support of our armed forces personnel around Armed Forces Day and through Help for Heroes. Like most families in this country we have relations and friends serving today in places like Afghanistan. They need all our support.

I was invited to take part in the parade in Tain at 3pm on Saturday 27th June. Unfortunately the late arrival of my invite meant I had agreed engagements on the North Coast. But I will be glad to support the spirit of the day.

It is one of the anomalies of the UK that our armed forces have to rely on voluntary action of this kind. Meanwhile our taxes never seem to be spent on the top priorities such as ensuring an end to lack of equipment for our forces on the front line. Yet there has been no shortage of funds for the nuclear deterrent. But I am glad to see that despite an unsettled world the Liberal Democrats are at last seeking an end to Trident and even David Cameron is questioning its necessity in financially difficult times. The SNP has long called for it to be axed.

I recall a slogan we used many years ago - Support our Troops and Scrap Trident. The Scottish Government with its Minister for Veterans is helping to cushion the return of our heroes after their service to the nation and press the UK Government to close the nuclear bases on the Clyde.

Yours,
Rob Gibson SNP MSP Highlands and Islands
4 Grant St., Wick, Caithness

A world-leading Climate Change Bill

A wee thank you that I was delighted to receive -

Dear Rob

On behalf of Christian Aid, I would like to thank you for all the work that you undertook to secure a strong climate change bill. Christian Aid, alongside other members of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition is delighted at the strong interim target and many other measures in the legislation.

We are heartened that MSPs from all parties listened to the thousands of Scots, including many Christian Aid supporters, who campaigned for a strong climate change bill. As our new pal, Arnold Schwarzenegger said yesterday, "Scotland's ambitious and comprehensive targets encourage other nations to step up to the plate as we look toward an international agreement in Copenhagen, and it sends a message to the world that we must act now and must act swiftly."

Coming ahead of the talks in Copenhagen Scotland has also sent a signal to developing countries what can be achieved in industrialised countries with the right political will.

I hope you enjoy a good break over recess.

With best wishes.

Una

Policy and Parliamentary Officer
Christian Aid

Euro poll dealt Brown body blow

Published in the John O'Groat Journal & Caithness Courier

What a month in the break-up of trust in British politics as the European Union election results dealt a near-fatal blow for Gordon Brown’s reputation. Then he was forced into a cabinet reshuffle by serial resignations of key cabinet colleagues and MPs many up to their necks in sleaze were axed from standing again. His dither and deep unpopularity made Mr Brown seek succour in diversionary tactics. Let’s discuss democratic renewal he thought. We should sort out the MPs’ expenses row, get the economy on course and set up major commissions to report back sometime.

Transparency was to be the order of the day. A week later, however, a secret enquiry into the Iraq war was announced which gave the game away. Hanging onto power in the elective dictatorship that is UK rule was after all Brown’s default position. Fortuitously Sir Kenneth Calman’s year- long Commission into Scottish government reported earlier this week, Gordon ticked a box in his sham review of Westminster by adopting Calman which he claimed as ‘bold and realistic’.

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Let’s have a closer look at the aims of the PM and the Unionist-inspired Calman report. Its key aim is to show “how to improve the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament, while preserving the economic Union and the social Union which define Scotland’s relationship with the rest of the UK.”

How does this help us in Scotland to get a sustainable economy, a growing population and build a future on our huge natural and intellectual assets? Does it provide real tax powers and access to revenues of oil and gas? It does not.

Incredibly the Unionist balancing act emphasises Scottish government accountability, not normal tax powers. Giving the Scots Government more room to vary income tax is not sought by any party. Refusing to offer Scotland more than borrowing powers that local government already has keeps the purse strings firmly in the Treasury grip in Whitehall. This epitomises Whitehall control freakery.

This report tries to counter the SNP government’s widely discussed National Conversation. This week the First Minister spoke with an audience of around 170 people in West Lothian. He suggested that the SNP referendum plans for independence would be published on St Andrews Day and hinted that Calman’s minimum improvements for devolution could form a third question. Gordon Brown has admitted that ‘it’s the constitution, stupid’ that we must address.

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What put Brown and Calman in perspective was the Euro election results which were a historic SNP victory in Scotland. Here in the Highland Council area the SNP vote rose by 8.6% on 2004 Euro result. In comparison the Lib Dems were up 6.1%, Labour down 6.3% and the Tories down 2.5%.

The SNP are the only party to make a significant advance at the expense of Labour, with a ten point surge since the last European election – it was the biggest anywhere in the UK and double the swing from Labour to the Tories UK-wide.

Sadly the Euro turn-out was far too low to compare results with the 2007 Scottish poll which returned the SNP minority government in Edinburgh. Here in the Highlands and Islands SNP still has a clear lead over other parties. Our all-Scotland approach of matching policies to meet local needs in tight financial times is appreciated by a growing support for the party of Scottish Government.

Our MEPs Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith were re-elected. In truth we were close to gaining the third Euro seat out of six which could only strengthen further the voice of the Highlands and Islands. Alyn’s work on the Agriculture Committee in Brussels has been widely praised. Ian has held the line on repatriating parts of the Common Fisheries Policy to Scottish control and both have championed the new industries in marine renewables which will come good for many jobs in our area that will migrate from nuclear decommissioning to wave and tide power projects.

The other backdrop to Calman is the newly published poll of Holyrood voting intentions YouGov for the Sunday Times published last weekend. SNP has doubled its poll lead over Labour in the Scottish Parliament constituency vote since the previous YouGov poll in April – and puts the parties and MSPs who support Scottish independence within touching distance of an absolute majority in the Scottish Parliament: just five seats short.

This direction of travel in voters’ minds is for more powers to shape our lives by decision of the Scottish Parliament.

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Getting on with good government, Richard Lochhead Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture unveiled a package of new measures to help livestock producers in fragile areas such as ours. The immediate 18% increases in payments to farmers and crofters in Less Favoured Areas hopes to stabilise sheep and cattle production. I’m sure this will help the quality products marketed through Mey Selections and also points to the need for cash to be targeted at producers instead of armchair agriculturalists who took Single Farm Payments decided at historic levels in 2001. They then cut production. This is tied up with another important issue, the steep decline of sheep produced from our hills and glens.

I know that a complex weave of estates with shooting policies, fuel costs, hauliers margins, the need for more local abattoir development and a closer targeting of scarce agricultural support funds all play their part. The general welcome for the SNP Agriculture Secretary’s proposals and understanding among farmers and crofters that they have allies in Europe is a sign that Scotland can weather the economic storm and produce more of the wholesome food our citizens need. Now to tackle the supermarkets which refuse to pay the proper price for such quality produce.

www.robgibsonmsp.blogspot.com

Gig review: Isle of Eigg Anniversary Ceilidh

The Scotsman

Published Date: 16 June 2009

-By Sue Wilson

VARIOUS VENUES, EIGG

IN A thoughtful speech on Saturday at the opening of Eigg's new Croft House Museum, MSP Rob Gibson reflected on the importance of continuity to communities such as this. Even while the island's 21st century crofters invest in solar panels and polytunnels, many of life's fundamentals here – as represented by the museum's evocative artefacts, testament to one family's history over the last century – remain unchanged.

In many ways, the same applies to the collective merrymaking that holds sway over Eigg the weekend before midsummer, at the islanders' annual celebration of having bought their homeland in 1997. This year's headlining band, The Chair, came all the way from Orkney to raise the roof of the community hall, mixing up Balkan, blues, funk and reggae influences with their frontline fiddle and accordion tunes. And they were followed by several hours of DJ Dolphin Boy's majestically maverick beats. Highlanders and islanders have been perfecting the art of righteous fun for centuries, and the profound, even primal conviviality underpinning Eigg's ceilidh felt truly, transcendently timeless. Come late Sunday afternoon, as the sun continued to beam down in defiance of all forecasts, and a lone bagpiper struck up outside the café, his choice of Gordon Duncan's gorgeously poignant The Sleeping Tune seemed only too appropriate.

The rest of Saturday's main gig had featured redoubtable regulars the JaMaTha Ceilidh Band, comprising the likes of mandolin ace Dagger Gordon, Andy Thorburn on piano and local percussion legend Eddie "Spoons" Scott, who kicked off a marathon night's dancing.

Next up was fellow Eigg resident Donna MacCulloch, leading a rock-style band on bagpipes, in a dynamic set of self-penned tunes. Once again, the material and instrumentation might have been novel, but the shared delight they engendered felt at least as ancient as it did modern.