SNP NORTH AMERICAN NETWORK NEWSLETTER
Issue 12, April 1999

NOTE-- due to regulations set by the Labour party in London

We are pleased to announce that the 100% tariffs imposed on Scottish cashmere and shortbread have been lifted following the WTO's decision to rule in favour of the US in what has been termed as the "Banana War".

We would like to thank all those newsletter recipients who played their part in lobbying their Representatives in Congress and Senators. The campaign to lift these tariffs was an all-party campaign and we are sure that your work helped raise the plight of threatened jobs in Scotland.

Responding to the announcement Dr Winnie Ewing, the Euro-MP for the Highlands and Islands, expressed her happiness at the decision and said it was a victory for all-party campaigning and lobbying. She said:

"I am delighted that Scottish cashmere and shortbread have now been taken off the list of threatened products being hit with 100% tariffs by the US Government in response to the 'Banana War'. It will also come as a great relief to those at Johnston's Cashmere Mill in Elgin and Walker's Shortbread at Aberlour.

"This is a victory for the all-party campaigning and lobbying by all of Scotland's parties and shows what we can do on the world stage. I'm also thankful to those SNP members in the United States who helped organise a lobby of Congress.

The Scottish National Party Spokesperson for External Affairs Mr George Reid also welcomed the US decision to drop cashmere from its list of proscribed products in the "banana war". Mr Reid said:

"This is good news for Scotland. This is not a party political issue but an issue about Scottish jobs. The cross party work on this case sets an example for the future.

"I am just back from Washington, where I lobbied the Senate to take cashmere out of the banana war. Putting political differences aside, I worked with the Tories' Struan Stevenson to put a strong case forward for this vital Borders industry.

"This decision may have come in part because World Trade Organisation arbitrators thoughts the 500 million dollars package of sanctions by Washington were too high, and suggested a lower total. Scotland won support for their case from James Morrison, the co-ordinator of US Tartan Day, who helped lobby the US Senate.

TARTAN DAY - A GREAT SUCCESS FOR THE SNP

The day itself went extremely well for George Reid and the SNP's advisory group who were out spreading the message to sympathetic Americans in Alexandria. The weather was great and they fairly plastered the generally sympathetic crowd with SNP stickers to the point that the Tory representative was quite jealous.

David Young, Ewan Innes and his wife Emily did as much if not more to contribute to the SNP effort in manning a stall and launching the group's North American brochure. Ewan and David even managed to place a huge SNP banner behind Mayor Donley and other dignitaries so all the cameras captured that in the background.

Many photos were taken of the event with great shots of George giving tartan brooches to mayor and dignitaries. These will soon appear on the Network's website (http://www.scottishhistory.com/snpnetwork.htm) so keep an eye out for them.

TARTAN DAY - GEORGE REID'S DEVOLUTION DIARY

In conjunction with the Scottish election campaign and the visit to Alexandria on Tartan Day George Reid, the Scottish National Party's Constitutional and External Affairs Spokesman, wrote the following for the SNP's website entitled "Toasting the Tartan" :

Washington, DC: A very large African-American hand bars my way. "Excuse me, sir," says the vast security guard at the Senators' entrance to Congress, "but would you kindly show me the thing you've got down the leg of your sox?"

My immediate suspicion, in the aftermath of Monica and Zippergate, is that he is attempting some risqué innuendo because I am wearing a kilt.

Mercifully, before I respond, I remember the wise words of George Bernard Shaw: "Britain and America are two countries separated by a common language."

What really is worrying him is the sgian dhubh which I, and other invitees to the Tartan Day celebrations in the Senate, have stuck in our kilt stockings. Americans are sensitive about assassination attempts, he explains. So we remove them and progress towards the walk-through security gate, with its built-in metal detectors.

A cacophony of alarm bells immediately ruptures the silence of the Senate. There are at least 20 of us in Prince Charlie Coatees. Each jacket has 20 or so silver buttons. There is silverwork on all the sporrans and their tassles. Each passage will start the bells again.

The eyes of the guard on the far side of the gate, whose job it is to run his hands up and down bodies which have failed the metal-detector test, widen in alarm at the thought of frisking men not wearing trousers. After a few perfunctory pats, he waves the whole group through.

Once assembled in the splendour of the Capitol's Lyndon Johnson Room, the company concentrates on what binds America to Scotland. The fact that the Senate unanimously chose 6 April as Tartan Day because the Declaration of Arbroath, inspiration for the Declaration of Independence, was signed on 6 April 1320. The fact that James Weatherspoon - Church of Scotland Minister, born in Beith, Ayrshire and President of the College of New Jersey (later, Princeton) - trained nine of the members of the Constitutional Convention, 21 of the first Senators, 29 of the first Representatives, and 33 of the first judges including three members of the Supreme Court.

Both Struan Stevenson for the Tories and I make a strong plea for the Scottish cashmere industry - facing ruination as an innocent victim of the EU/USA banana war. This clearly strikes a chord.

The ceremony over, we are whisked off to lobby support from Senators Trent Lott, Charles Robb and John Warner and other representatives with a large Scottish-American electorate. The tartan gets us straight in. And within hours there are calls to the United States Trade Representative Office and their negotiators in Geneva.

At the conclusion of the celebrations, James Morrison - coordinator of the events on the Hill - reads a message from President Clinton celebrating Scottish American links. Then he adds: "Whole Scottish communities are dependent on cashmere. We ask all Scottish-Americans to urge their representatives to save this unique product."

So the toast is to the Tartan. A distinctive brand. And an immediate link between Scots on both sides of the Atlantic.

The large security man has got the message. As we exit, he is telling the watching crowd: "They are Scottish people. They helped found America."

POLLS - LABOUR LEAD BUT SNP CLOSING THE GAP

The Scottish National Party's Chief Executive Mr Michael Russell welcomed the latest Scottish Opinion poll in the Labour supporting Daily Record newspaper, which finds that the SNP have gained since the last poll. On the first question, the SNP are up a 3 points to 35.7%, with Labour down 1 point at 43%. On the second vote, Labour are at 40.3%, with the SNP at 34.4%. Mr Russell said:

"This is an extremely good poll, which confirms that SNP support is now moving up. It is the fourth poll in a week to show the SNP vote rising.

"And last weekend's Sunday Times/NOP poll shows an even narrower gap between Scotland's Party and London Labour.

"Labour know how powerful the 'Penny for Scotland' policy is - which is why Donald Dewar didn't want to talk about it in the Channel 4 debate.

"But it is a defining issue of this election campaign, and Labour will not be able to run away from the sense and fairness of foregoing a penny tax bribe in order to generate an extra £690 million for Scottish health, education and housing.

"The polls show that SNP support is strong and buoyant. We can now move forward over the next four weeks - with more broadcasting coverage for the SNP's strong and positive message than ever before - and win the election for Scotland."

The poll results were:

                    
                                          1st Qn %
                                                            2nd Qn %
                   Lab
                                          43.0 (-1.0)
                                                            40.3 (n/c)
                   SNP
                                         35.7 (+3.0)
                                                           34.4 (+1.8)
                   Tory
                                          10.7 (-1.2)
                                                            10.8 (-0.8)
                   Liberal
                                          10.5 (-0.8)
                                                           14.4 (-1.1) 

SCOTLAND STRONGER INDEPENDENT' REPORT FIRES ELECTION

The election campaign for the Scottish Parliament took a new twist when a think tank report claimed Scotland's economy would be stronger if the country was independent.

As the SNP launched its manifesto in Edinburgh and Prime Minister Tony Blair joined the Labour campaign trail, the independent think tank said Scotland's prosperity could be enhanced through greater control of its own economy.

The report's authors said independence could lead to a bonanza for Scotland if lessons are learnt from the experience of similar small independent countries, especially Ireland, Denmark, Finland and Norway.

The SNP have regularly compared Scotland's economy with that of Ireland and the Scandinavian countries when making the case for independence.

The report, unveiled in Edinburgh, also warned that economic measures should be in place to maintain the confidence of inward investors and the country's large financial sector.

The research was conducted by the non party think tank the David Hume institute and funded by corporate finance and development group MacDonald Orr Limited.

Joint managing director Sandy Orr said: "I have become convinced by this report. I will be very interested to see how other business people will react."

The report says the devolved Scottish Parliament is unlikely to strengthen the Scottish economy because of its limited powers over economic policy, modest control over the size of its own budget, and restricted relations with Europe.

The report also said friction between the Scottish Parliament and Westminster over money was on the horizon as Holyrood will be dependent on Westminster for its block grant which is likely to be progressively squeezed in the future.

The report was compiled by Professor David Simpson, honorary professor of economics at Heriot-Watt University, Professor Brian Main, professor of economics at the University of Edinburgh, and Sir Alan Peacock, the first executive director of the David Hume Institute.

An SNP spokesman said: "This is a welcome report by eminent and fair-minded academics and economic experts.

"It is a document with very strong credentials which will leave the Labour Party floundering.

"It totally demolishes Labour's negative scaremongering against Scotland's prospects as an independent nation."

He said an independent Scotland would be the seventh richest country in the industrialised world.

...AND FINALLY

Congratulations to recipient Douglas Boyd of Annapolis, Maryland who married Lyndia from California on Saturday 3rd April. We wish them all the best.

Also remember to visit the North American Network's website on the following address: http://www.scottishhistory.com/snpnetwork.htm

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