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.
DETAILS BEING CONFIRMED FOR SALMOND USA VISIT
Details of Alex Salmond's visit to the US are beginning to come together and we are pleased to announce some of those details.It is expected that Mr Salmond will arrive in Washington DC on November 13 and a small informal gathering will meet with him on the Sunday. The next day (November 15) a National Press Club Breakfast has been arranged followed by meetings with journalists from the Washington Times and the Washington Post. He is also expected to give a lecture at the Centre for Strategic Studies. On November 16 lectures at the American University and the Woodrow WIlson Institute in Princeton are the order of the day. November 18 will see another lecture at Harvard's Centre for European Studies, and a meeting with Board of Boston Globe followed by another lecture at Wellesley. We hope supporters can find time to attend some of the public functions and we will give details of those in a special edition.
TOUR APPEAL Projects like these can sadly not function solely on donated time and resources. In order to maintain the existing network and fund events such as these, we asking for contributions from our supporters. To this end, SNP(USA) appeals, in particular, to all supporters to help fund the current lecture tour. Any surplus will be devoted to future Stateside projects. Donations can be made by check to SNP(USA) and mailed to Alison MacDonald Duncan, US Legal Representative SNP, 1667 K St., N.W., Suite 1100, Washington DC 20006. Donations of greater than $100 will receive a signed certificate commemorating Alex's first official US visit.
MANPOWER CRISIS HITS DRAFT BILLS IN SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT The lack of specialist legal draftsmen threatens to undermine the new democratic structures of the Scottish Parliament because the Executive are monopolising official draftsmen and lawyers. A group of MSPs say that this could wreck the hopes of any legislation other than that put forward by the Executive or by interest groups with access to the wealth to hire lobbyists and expert help in drafting Bills. MSP's Alex Neil of the SNP, John McAllion of Labour and the SSP's Tommy Sheridan are backing a Private Member's Bill to abolish poindings and warrant sales. Mr Neil called the lack of draftsmen "a democratic black hole." Mr Neil will believes that there are three measures which must be taken immediately, either individually or in combination. The Labour-Liberal Executive must surrender some of its Civil Service staff to allow help to Committee-initiated or Member's Bills; more specialist staff must be hired; or such staff should be seconded from Westminster until the new Parliament gets over this initial crisis in legislative drafting expertise. TONY BLAIR'S SPIN DOCTOR IN 'DEAD DUCK' JIBE AT SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT Tony Blair's chief spin doctor, Alastair Campbell, was at the centre of a political storm after he had dismissed the Scottish Parliament as a "dead duck" in a spoof article. And he is also wrote that he "wouldn't trust the Jocks as far as he could throw them". The revelation was contained in the unauthorised biography of Campbell "On Message", by political journalists Eric Jacob and Tom Condon which is due to be published in autumn.
When attempts were made by the Scottish press to contact the press officer he was unavailable. The attack on the Scots is contained in a spoof version of the Queen's Speech which was said to have been drawn up by Campbell after Labour won power in 1997. The SNP described the Campbell leaks as typical of London Labour's "arrogant attitude" towards Scotland and Scots. SNP deputy leader John Swinney said: "Gaffes like this by London Labour will return to haunt them." Another opposition politician said: "If he did say it, it is certainly not original. He is only echoing his political masters' take on the Scottish Parliament, when it was described as a parish council, and as a pretend Parliament."
SNP MSP TABLES BILL TO BEAT GOVERNMENT CRONYISM SNP MSP Alex Neil has tabled a private member's Bill aimed at giving the Scottish Parliament the right to question and veto Government public appointments. The move follows growing concern over allegations of cronyism and jobs for the boys in appointments to the judiciary and to quangos (Quasi Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisations). Mr Neil believes that if his Bill became law, it would open up public posts to scrutiny - and also mean that new judges would be forced to appear before Parliament, where they could be rejected. In recent weeks Scottish papers have revealed the controversial appointment of retired senior civil servant Mr Harold Mills as chairman of the publicly-owned ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne, and a former sheriff, Mr Mark Sischy, being appointed as a £74,000-a-year chairman of Employment Tribunals while serving a two-and-a-half year drink-driving ban. Mr Sischy's post was not advertised, and his appointment would not be tolerated under rules in England and Wales. Embarrassed Government ministers are now investigating Mr Sischy's case, with a view to making adjustments to the rules.
And Mr Mills' new role as CalMac chairman, on a salary of £21,735 for the equivalent of one-and-a-half days a week, is set to be investigated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
His appointment caused outrage in the Highlands and Islands because Mr Mills, when secretary to the Scottish Office Development Department, was associated with Tory Government's plans to privatise CalMac and the development of the Skye bridge project.
No candidate from the Highlands and Islands was interviewed, further fuelling charges of cronyism because his appointment was by a four-strong panel which included three former Civil Service colleagues at the Scottish Office. Mr Neil said he wanted to end any reliance on an "old boy" network, and aims to have the Bill passed by Easter.
LABOUR ACCUSED OVER FUEL TAXATION - PRICES BLAMED FOR TOURISM FALL The SNP have criticised the Transport and Environment Minister Sarah Boyack of failing to speak up for Scotland after it emerged she had not made any representations to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, about the anger expressed in Scotland over sharply rising fuel prices. Asked by SNP Shadow Transport Minister Kenny MacAskill at the Parliament's Transport and Environment Committee, she admitted she had not raised the issue with Mr Brown nor had he consulted her over Labour's continued use of the controversial fuel duty escalator. Mr MacAskill said: "Petrol is going up 20p a gallon because of the increased price of a barrel of oil. Gordon Brown wants another 6% increase in the fuel tax escalator yet she doesn't think it worth raising. She is responsible for transport in Scotland and she has failed to look after the interests of motorists." At the same time tourism officials have reported a 7% drop in tourist numbers to the Highlands because holidays in the Highlands are 20% more expensive than in other European destinations. The high costs have been blamed on petrol prices that are the highest in Europe, and VAT rates in the UK, the second highest of all EU members. These price penalties are further exacerbated by the strength of the pound, which is giving overseas competitors an advantage in attracting UK visitors.
The Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board (HOST) says the cost of petrol in the north, where pump prices can be up to 12p a litre dearer than the Central Belt, is the single biggest problem facing the industry in the area, with 77 per cent of visitors travelling by car. TABLOIDS CRITICISED FOR MISLEADING ATTACKS ON PARLIAMENT
The Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, Sir David Steel, is planning to take the Labour-supporting Daily Record newspaper to the Press Complaints Commission and to issue a denunciation of its' hostile coverage of the Holyrood Parliament and Members.
MSPs were angered after some newspapers, led by London-owned tabloids, poured ridicule and abuse on MSPs for "awarding themselves" commemorative medals. In fact the medals were planned before the MSPs were even elected. Most MSPs knew nothing of the idea until it was disclosed last week when they resumed plenary sessions after the summer break.
Some newspapers have attacked MSPs for doing no work, and that they had voted themselves 17 weeks of holidays a year. This new flare-up of tabloid aggression followed earlier attacks on MSPs for allegedly paying themselves more than £86,000 a year in pay and perks and showing a preoccupation with salaries, conditions, and holidays. In fact, MSPs earn less than Westminster MPs and enjoy less generous allowances. They are not allowed to "pocket" allowances and can claim them only after showing justification. Holyrood's rules of entitlement to allowances are also stricter than Westminster's. Throughout the summer break, MSPs were accused of "skiving" when most of them were working in their constituencies or attending committee meetings in Edinburgh. Sir David accused the Daily Record of lying. He has already spoken out against what he says is unfair and dishonest criticism from some journalists and their editors. Mr Dewar last week ticked off journalists for distorting the truth about MSPs' holidays. ARTICLE OF INTEREST You may be interested in reading the following articles. Donny O'Rourke has written in the Sunday Herald about "Scotland is becoming more European . . . again". He writes of how one of the things he now loves about Scotland is how European it is becoming again. He says "again" because Scotland was, until the Union of the crowns, a very palpably European country, one shaped by and helping give shape to, continental ideas. Another article "Mendacious tabloids engendering cynicism" is written by Iain MacWhirter in the Herald and centres on the coverage of the Parliament by Labour-supporting tabloid newspapers. YOUNG MSPS SIGN UP TO LEARN ABOUT OAP WORRIES Thirty MSPs have enrolled in classes set up by Age Concern Scotland so that Scotland's Parliament, dominated by young MSPs, could understand the needs of the growing elderly population. The average age of MSPs is 45 although the ranks are dominated by men and women in their 30s. The youngest MSP, the SNP's Duncan Hamilton, is just 26 - and has signed up for the lessons on growing older. He said: "The pensioner community is a very important part of Scottish society." "People are living longer and the implications of this population change are dramatic" said Age Concern spokeswoman Lucy McKenzie. The charity had been "overwhelmed" by the response after sending letters to all 129 MSPs inviting them to attend the special education sessions. REGISTER YOUR VOTE IN SCOTLAND Are you a UK citizen? Have you lived in the US or Canada for less than 20 years? Then you can probably register to vote for the SNP. David Young of the Advisory Group has overseas voter forms for those who qualify. If anyone needs one, or think they may qualify, then contact David at his e-mail address on p1ct1sh@yahoo.com
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy remained unaware that his party's logo was falling apart behind him during a televised press conference. As he outlined policies behind him the Bird of Liberty logo was falling apart. The logo lurched to one side during his talk before one of her wings fell off and the "Liberal Democrats" written underneath fell apart. We cannot comment on whether this is an omen of things to come for a party beleaguered at its coalition with Labour.
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