SNP NORTH AMERICAN NETWORK NEWSLETTER
UPDATE
NOTE-- due to regulations set by the Labour party in London
Only persons with the right to vote in the UK may contribute directly to the SNP. Supporters who have no vote in the UK are asked to contribute to our North America Fund, the income from which is retained in North America to support awareness-raising there about Scotland and the SNP. NEW YEAR MESSAGE - "A NEW YEAR, A NEW CENTURY, A NEW SCOTLAND" Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and a good millennium to all our recipients. In his New Year message to Scotland, the Scottish National Party leader Mr Alex Salmond MSP laid out his vision for a new Scotland in a new century. He said: "Scotland had a head start in the Millennium celebrations. For it was on 1 July 1999 with the opening of the Scottish Parliament that marked a new beginning for Scotland. And despite some critical voices, it has been a start well made. "Our Parliament is something of which we can all rightly be proud. Already it has established the principle of Scotland as an inclusive nation. The Parliament with its unanimous vote against the Act of Settlement has voiced Scotland's opposition to discrimination. By including all faiths and denominations in the Parliament's prayers, we have stressed that all are welcome. That everyone has a part to play in the New Scotland. "Scotland now stands on the brink of making its own history again. The Parliament which we in Scotland created last July marks the beginning of a new process, regardless of the shortcomings of the Government. It will be up to us - all of us - through the Parliament to determine how Scotland develops. "I believe that Scotland and its people are preparing for Independence. We need the full democratic control of our own affairs that Independence will bring. We need it so that we in Scotland can make those vital decisions that affect our country and our people. "The decisions which affect the lives and opportunities of our children; decisions which ensure the proper environment for a dynamic and prosperous economy; decisions which provide proper funding for our public services; decisions which will allow our pensioners to have a decent old age; and decisions which determine our role in Europe and the wider world. It is only in an independent Scotland that we shall be able to make these decisions for ourselves. "This new century should be a time for new confidence and hope for the future. Most people in Scotland now believe that Independence is coming in a matter of a few years, and that it will be a positive force for themselves and their families. "There will be those who tell us what we can't do, what we can't achieve. Negative campaigns and negative messages. But these scare stories will not stand up to scrutiny. The Scottish National Party's job is to go with the grain of the Scottish people and look to the future positively. To work for a future where we shape our own destiny and decide our priorities. To help build a better Scotland for all our people. "We should set ourselves lofty goals for the New Millennium. It is only by aiming high that mankind has advanced. Our targets should be banishment of disease, poverty and war throughout the world. Let the cynics mock, but I want to see Scotland play its full part in these great aims." Also adding her voice to the SNP's positive message for the New Year the party's President, Dr Winnie Ewing MSP, said: "Nineteen-ninety-nine saw the fulfilment of the first part of our 300 year old dream - our Parliament, adjourned on the 25th day of March 1707, was reconvened. And we the SNP are the official opposition. "The London-based parties all hold to the UK looking after vital matters concerning Scotland, depriving Scots of the dignity of normal international participation. "We work together in 2000 for the complete fulfilment of Scotland's Dream, which we all know is on the near horizon." CUBIE REPORT PUBLISHED INTO STUDENT FINANCE - "LABOUR'S POLICY IN 'TARTAN TATTERS'" Commenting on the publication of the Cubie Report on student funding just before Christmas the Shadow Minister for Enterprise & Lifelong Learning Mr John Swinney MSP said: "The Cubie Report is a humiliation for Labour, and leaves their policy on student finance in tartan tatters. In his foreword, Andrew Cubie rightly describes the current funding arrangements as 'discredited' - arrangements voted for a little over a year ago by Donald Dewar, Henry McLeish, John Reid and Brian Wilson. "Many recommendations of the report are proposals that the SNP campaigned for in the Scottish Parliament election campaign, and called for in our own Cubie submission. "The restoration for hardship grants for students from low income backgrounds was a lonely fight for the SNP in the election campaign, when Labour were vigorously defending their policy of scrapping the student grant. "We were also strongly in favour of benefit entitlement being restored for students, and challenge Labour in London to deliver on this key recommendation. And ministers elsewhere in the UK have an obligation to scrap the fourth year tuition fees anomaly for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. "The SNP welcome Cubie's attack on tuition fees, but part company with him on the fundamental point of principle on the importance of free education. A deferred form of graduate payment does not constitute the restoration of free education - rather it would be yet another backstairs tax - and there are no guarantees about the level of any graduate payment into the future. "But Cubie represents a rubbishing of Labour's policy and the current student funding regime, and is an extremely important contribution to the debate on student finance." SNP WIPE OUT LABOUR MAJORITY IN GORDON BROWN'S SEAT The beginning of December saw more electoral trouble for the Labour party as the SNP recorded a 16% swing in their favour in a council seat lying within the constituency of Labour's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. Welcoming the result of the Rosyth East by-election in Fife Council - which saw Labour's majority crash from 700 in May to just 30 - SNP leader Mr Alex Salmond MSP said: "This was a humiliation for Labour, in the heart of Gordon Brown's constituency. Their majority was virtually wiped out, crashing from 700 in May to just 30. "The SNP achieved a big swing of 16 per cent - confirming the movement towards us in a by-election in Angus two weeks ago, where the SNP vote soared to over two-thirds, with Labour and the Tories both down. "All across Scotland, people are moving towards the SNP, because only Scotland's Party stand up for the interests and aspiration of the Scottish people." The by-election result was:Lab 353 43.0% SNP 323 39.3% Con 86 10.5% Lib Dem 46 5.6% Green 13 1.6% Majority 30DEWAR DAMAGED AFTER "SPECIAL ADVISOR" SACKED The reputation of Labour First Minister, Donald Dewar, was in tatters last month after he had to sack his Chief of Staff, John Rafferty, after allegations that he had lied to the press over death threats being made to another Executive Minister. John Rafferty was employed by the Executive to head the team of Special Advisors that they have employed from the ranks of the Labour party at the public expense. Commenting on the affair Mr Alex Salmond MSP said that First Minister Donald Dewar should have made a Ministerial Statement on why he sacked his Chief of Staff John Rafferty. He said: "The press has contained a welter of extraordinary allegations and counter-allegations, which made it all the more necessary for Donald Dewar to make a full and frank Ministerial Statement to the Scottish Parliament, explaining exactly why he sacked his Chief of Staff and the full circumstances of this shambolic affair. "According to some newspaper reports Donald Dewar decided to sack Mr Rafferty last Sunday, changed his mind by Tuesday and changed it back again by Thursday. "According to Scotland on Sunday, the final change of mind was on the basis of 'new information', assembled by individuals including Donald Dewar's surviving special Advisor David Whitton. But in The Observer, those involved have reportedly denied this version of events. "And The Sunday Times reports that Donald Dewar decided to sack John Rafferty following a conversation with Gordon Brown - but that Downing Street wanted him to be kept. "Donald Dewar was asked seven times in Parliament on Thursday why he had sacked Rafferty, and I wrote to him twice demanding the same information. He has failed to give a clear answer to this key question - regarding a highly paid civil servant, and the use of public funds for a 'Golden Handshake'. "Donald Dewar's performance has been deplorable and he has tried to dodge parliamentary scrutiny and accountability. It is high time that he measured up to his democratic duty - which is why he should have made a First Ministerial statement on this disgraceful affair. "What we have witnessed is a bumbling and incompetent Executive and First Minister. The job of the Scottish Parliament is to hold Donald Dewar and his administration to account - a responsibility that the SNP as Scotland's Opposition force will not shirk." FRENCH OFFERED TO LIFT BAN ON SCOTS BEEF - "FAILURE TO TELL EXECUTIVE BROKE CONCORDATS" The SNP have called on the Executive to make a full statement on why they were not informed of the offer by the French Government to lift the ban on Scots beef ahead of other British beef products. The revelations came to light when the French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, said that he had made such an offer to Tony Blair but that it had been ruled out straight away. The Shadow Rural Affairs Minister Mr Alasdair Morgan MSP has published extracts from the Concordats which govern relations between Westminster and the devolved administrations, showing that the failure of Downing Street to inform the Scottish Executive of the French offer in October to lift their beef ban from Scottish cattle broke the terms of these Concordats. Extracts from the Concordats are: * MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING "All [four] administrations are committed to the principle of good communication with each other, and especially where one administration's work may have some bearing upon the responsibilities of another administration." * MAIN CONCORDAT BETWEEN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD AND THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE Domestic Policy "Good communication in both directions and the avoidance of surprises for either party will form the basis of this co-operation." European Union Policy "SE (Scottish Executive) will be fully involved in discussions with MAFF about the formulation of the UK policy position on all issues which touch on devolved matters." "The sharing of information relating to policy formulation will be undertaken with a view to reaching agreement between the administrations." Commenting on the issue Mr Morgan said: "Downing Street said that there was 'no need' to discuss the French offer on Scots beef with the Scottish Executive, because 'they would have been in complete agreement' (Scottish Express, 15 December). "But the failure to pass this information on broke both the spirit and the letter of the Concordats - both the overall Memorandum of Understanding, and the specific Concordat on Agriculture. "In effect, London has torn up their own rules - and the very documents that Westminster Ministers and civil servants drafted - simply because it didn't suit their interests to tell anyone in Scotland about the French beef offer. "The Agriculture Concordat talks of the need to share information in order to avoid surprises - but the news of the French offer came like a bolt from the blue, and not from London Ministers, but from the French Prime Minister at a press briefing. "These Concordats are exposed as a one-way street - designed to put checks on the Scottish Parliament, while London Ministers run roughshod over the whole concept of devolution, by failing even to pass on information." TOP CITY REPORT SHOWS THAT SCOTLAND PAYS ITS WAY An exclusive study by top City accountancy firm Chantrey Vellacott has shown that Scotland's finances are "broadly in balance" thus rubbishing Labour's claims last month that Scotland has a deficit of £5 billion. Commenting on the report the SNP's Shadow Finance Minister Mr Andrew Wilson MSP said: "Chantrey Vellacott are one of the top City accountancy firms, and their report - which is clearly based on robust assumptions and measurable fact - shows beyond doubt that Scotland pays her way. "The bogus claims of Labour and the Tories that Scotland is financially dependent on the London link are in total disarray. "A spokesman for Scottish Secretary John Reid is quoted in the Observer as saying that the report is 'purely speculative' and accuses the author of 'picking figures off the top of his head'. "But leading Labour Government Minister Gus Macdonald has praised Chantrey Vellacott to the skies for the quality of its research, describing them as 'one of the UK's top accountancy firms' (Herald, 15 December 1998). "The false argument that Scotland - unlike every other small European nation - somehow can't afford Independence has been consigned to the dustbin of Scottish political debate. "In the New Year, the SNP will develop the real argument about Scottish finances, which is about how we can invest Scotland's abundant resources in creating an economically-buoyant and socially just independent nation." FIRST SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT BY-ELECTION - SNP WILL CONTEST TO WIN Commenting on the announced resignation of Ian Welsh as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Ayr - causing the first by-election of the Parliament - the Scottish National Party's parliamentary Business Manager Mr Michael Russell MSP said: "This is an extremely surprising development, causing the Scottish Parliament's first by-election. "Obviously, any by-election will be extremely hard fought, and the SNP as the Official Opposition will contest Ayr to win. "On recent swings in Scottish politics - such as in Hamilton South and local authority by-elections - the SNP are in the running in Ayr, requiring a swing of just over 9 per cent. There is everything to play for, and the SNP will be campaigning to win." SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT MUST TAKE INDEPENDENT STANCE TO DEMAND JUSTICE FOR PENSIONERS Speaking in the Scottish Parliament on the plight of Scottish pensioners the SNP's Social Security shadow minister, Alex Neil MSP, said that the Parliament must take an independent stance to demand justice for our pensioners. Winding up in the debate he said: "Ending pensioner poverty cannot wait for another 20 years, as the Minister for Communities suggested last week. For people aged 60 and over who are approaching retirement waiting another 20 years would condemn our elderly people to living the rest of their lives in poverty. "Our pensioners do not need platitudes about what might happen in 20 years' time. They need action today. They need action to increase their pension by much more than a miserable 73p a week. "Our pensioners need action to restore the link between pensions and earnings; to end fuel poverty once and for all; to abolish means-testing for long-term residential care; and to abolish the inequitable standing charges imposed by the private utility companies for gas, electricity and telephones. "We are prevented from doing the right thing for our pensioners not by lack of money, but by lack of political will on the part of new Labour. If Labour and Gordon Brown refuse to provide our pensioners with a decent standing of living, the Scottish Parliament must break with London. "The time has long come for the Scottish Parliament to take an independent stance and demand justice for our pensioners. Let the word go out from the Scottish Parliament today to every pensioner in Scotland: we are on your side. We are determined that justice will be done for our pensioners. Let us prove to them that this is not a damp-squib Parliament. "Let us show that it is a people's Parliament—a pensioners' Parliament. Let us do that for our senior citizens today." …AND FINALLY Recipients may be interested in hearing the dulcet tones of some of our MSPs which are now available on a party CD called "A New Sang’". "A New Sang’" features the vocal talents of some of our leading MSP’s in the company of some of Scotland’s finest musical artists. This is a not to be missed opportunity to hear this brave group of MSP's swap the debating chamber for the recording studio as they tackle their favourite songs for the sake of party funds. The CD features the professional contributions of Karen Mathieson, Dougie MacLean, Anne Lorne Gilles, Macumba, Deaf Shepherd and Jim Malcolm interspersed with brave attempts by Fergus Ewing MSP, Margo MacDonald MSP, Andrew Wilson MSP, Winnie Ewing MSP and the party's leader Alex Salmond MSP. The CD can be purchased on-line for the small sum of £10 (roughly $17 US) via : http://www.cortex.co.uk/snp/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=5842 Buy a copy. It may not replace music but it's quiet good according the non-political critics. © SNP