Writing blog posts based on the tail end of a radio interview you have caught is fraught with danger. However, I want to take issue with something Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.
She had been asked about today’s Guardian story which suggests that the Trident base at Faslane could be designated UK territory in a way similar to the sovereign military bases in Cyprus for a temporary period post independence.
She said that if the UK Government wanted to keep weapons of mass destruction, it could do so, but Scotland would just have voted against Trident, for independence.
Yesterday was one of the hottest days of the year – yet millions of us, from the Scilly Isles to Shetland were inside watching the tennis, willing Andy Murray to come through and claim the Wimbledon title. Even before the match started, though, there was the usual tiresome bickering on Twitter about whether he was Scottish or British. For once I agreed with Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon when she said:
To those trying to politicise this…please stop it. I don’t care if he’s Scots, Brit or European right now. As long as he wins #comeonandy
It seems incredible to think that it’s a quarter of a century since 167 people lost their lives in the explosion on the Piper Alpha oil platform.
Today Michael Moore as Secretary of State for Scotland, laid a wreath on behalf of the UK Government at the memorial in Aberdeen. Ahead of this, he said:
It is important that we never forget those who have lost their lives in our oil and gas industry. 25 years on from Piper Alpha, the loss of 167 lives is something that families and communities across the whole country are still coming to terms with.
Vince Cable has been in Edinburgh today to launch the fourth in the series of “Scotland Analysis” papers produced by the UK Government about the effect of independence for Scotland on a variety of issues. Today, the spotlight is on business regulation and the changes that independence would force on businesses both in Scotland and the rest of the UK with two separate regulatory systems to get round. The example Vince cited on a Radio Scotland interview this morning (which you can listen to here) was a simple one of buying petrol on either side of the border, …
It is a very long time since I have felt this good on a Monday morning. I am full of happiness, joy and smiles. Why? Believe it or not, it’s all down to 3 minutes and 28 seconds of feelgood video from Scotland’s bright and positive Equal Marriage campaign. Set to the song Pride by Amy MacDonald, it takes in Broadway, the Coronation Street set, Lorraine Kelly’s dressing room and, most importantly, real places and real couples across Scotland. All Scottish political party leaders feature too. There is a slight irony in that the slogan “It’s Time” was used by the SNP in their winning Holyrood election campaign in 2007 but we’ll put that to one side for the moment.
The video has been released to celebrate 5 years of the equal marriage campaign and to mark the SNP Government introducing its own equal marriage bill later this week. Watch and enjoy. You will be glad you did. For me, it’s very much move over Idina Menzel and West Wing videos, I have a new You Tube favourite.
Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore has done a special half hour webcast to make the case for Scotland staying in the UK. He was asked, among other things, about why the UK Government weren’t pre-negotiating the terms of independence:
I don’t want to see independence so I’m not in the best frame of mind for sitting down and working out what independence would look like. I understand that people want to have a flavour of the issues that are at stake and that is being answered by
Nobody ever goes near a court without there being severe stress involved. Whether it’s for a criminal matter, because you’re in debt or going through a horrendous family situation, being able to access the justice system easily is critical. The SNP Government in Scotland seeks to centralise court proceedings, meaning long journeys and increased pressure on already over capacity city courts. Last week a Holyrood committee, with a majority of SNP MSPs, backed the Government’s approach. What was striking was that they all spoke up for their own local facilities before voting to close them.
Amidst the fever of the independence referendum debate in Scotland on issues such as currency, financial services and pensions, Lynne Featherstone and I took part in a series of engagements in Glasgow recently which reinforced with me what would be lost in terms of international development if Scotland voted to leave the Union.
As a former International Development spokesperson for the Party I am still passionate about this issue. I’m proud that the issues we as Lib Dems have long campaigned for have become a reality
London is a world city so it’s no wonder tens of thousands of Scots like me call it home. Some come to work for a while then head home, others put down more permanent roots and stay for the long-haul. I can’t speak for all of them but I don’t know anyone who has considered the move a ‘migration’. Leaving Scotland is a wrench but you don’t feel you’re moving to a foreign country.
I love this city – I love how busy, diverse and vibrant it is.
“It’s not the end, it’s not the beginning of the end but it might be the end of the beginning of the fightback” were the inspiring words tweeted by Paddy Ashdown on the day of the English council election results. The Liberal Democrats down south are moving out of the recovery period and moving into the fight back stage. The question however is how are the Liberal Democrats doing in Scotland?
The recent Leaderdale and Melrose by election, also on May 2nd, saw John Paton Day increase the vote by just over 9%. Following on from the success of Eastleigh, the …
Liberal Democrat MSP for the South of Scotland Jim Hume this week launched a consultation on his Members’ Bill which would see smoking banned in vehicles where children are present. When I initially flagged this up a few weeks ago, there was a mixed reaction to the proposals.
Jim says in the foreword to his consultation document:
Recent research has shown that 17% of 11-16 year olds in the UK are exposed to second-hand smoke more than once a week while in a car with a further
Yesterday afternoon I was standing on a windy moor in Scotland and reminding myself that, over 250 years ago, my ancestors, the Prices, had stood directly opposite my husband’s ancestors from Clan Donnachaidh, preparing for what was to become the last full-scale battle in Britain. After one hour of intense fighting, 1250 Jacobites lay dead on the moor alongside 50 Government troops. The field of battle is still honoured as a war grave.
My memories from school history had romanticised Culloden as a confrontation between the Scots – Bonnie Prince Charlie and …
A group of MSPs have declared that they’re going to start monitoring BBC Scotland because they don’t think they can deliver on their obligations! That should ring alarm bells!
The SNP controlled Scottish Parliament Education & Culture Committee has published a report, critical of cuts at BBC Scotland, with the implication that the Scottish arm of the Corporation would be unable to produce adequate coverage of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the independence referendum.
The Committee forgets that BBC Scotland is one part of …
It’s natural for defeated political leaders to make up stories which absolve themselves from blame. After every by-election, those who have done less well offer unconvincing explanations. Nick Clegg is no exception, but his story last week that “the Liberal Democrats are on a journey from a party of protest to a party of government” is curious for two reasons. First, because no previous Liberal or Liberal Democrat leader has presented the party as one of protest and second because the party was very much a party of government before he became leader.
The Liberal Democrat group on Aberdeenshire Council has been strengthened today as Cllr Fergus Hood, who represents the East Garioch ward, joined it from the SNP.
He is shown here being welcomed by his new colleagues ward colleague Cllr Nan Cullinane on the right and Group Leader Cllr Martin Kitts-Hayes (with the beard) and Chair of the Social Work and Housing Committee Cllr Karen Clark on the left.
Martin Kitts-Hayes said:
I am delighted to welcome Cllr Hood to the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Having worked closely with Fergus on the
Last year, against the odds, Michael Moore successfully piloted the Scotland Act through Parliament. This gives the Scottish Government, from 2015, some pretty major new powers, including more accountability for setting its own revenue. They will also have borrowing powers. The powers include:
a Scottish rate of income tax
borrowing powers for Scottish ministers
the power to create new devolved taxes
enabling the replacement of UK Stamp Duty land tax and UK landfill tax with new Scottish equivalents
The Scotland Office recently published its first annual report detailing the progress in implementing these powers. It gives quite a good insight into the practical process …
North of the Border, the war on smoking continues. Today, larger shops are no longer allowed to display cigarettes. Now, Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP and health spokesperson Jim Hume is introducing a Member’s Bill in the Scottish Parliament which will ban smoking in cars where children are present. His proposal will be put out to public consultation from 28th May. Talking about his plan over the weekend, he said:
The tobacco display ban is another welcome step in changing Scotland’s relationship with smoking which began with the ban in smoking in
Yesterday, the UK Government issued a 100 page report analysing an independent Scotland’s options for the currency it would use post independence. They also produced an infographic summarising its conclusions. Unsurprisingly, the report concludes that staying in the UK is the best option for Scotland. For the first time, there was a very clear warning that the Scottish Government’s preferred option of a currency union may not be achievable.
On the other hand, the Scottish Government produced its own report saying that a currency union could …
Tavish Scott, Liberal Democrat MSP for Shetland, writes in today’s Scotsman contrasting the battle over gun control in the US to the consultation in Scotland over licensing of airguns.
Of the situation in the States in the wake of the awful Sandy Hook shootings last Christmas, Tavish writes:
But Obama senses a moment. The Connecticut shooting was so awful that pressure on Washington lawmakers is now intense. Last week, the president met Sandy Hook families who lost children and then flew them in Air Force 1 to Washington DC. These parents then met lawmakers on Capitol Hill. They asked for mandatory background
Scotland is facing an historic decision in 2014: whether to remain as part of the United Kingdom or to leave and go it alone. Scotland’s nationalist First Minister Alex Salmond is in America this week and will seek to persuade Americans that Scots want independence, that it is our destiny and that U.S. relations with Scotland will only improve should it happen. On all counts, I believe that this analysis is flawed.
The Scotsman carries an extract from David Steel’s Presidential Address to the David Hume institute in which he talks about the need for constitutional reform of the whole UK to give real power to its constituent parts. I was particularly struck by this passage where he talks about distribution, not devolution, of power:
Many of my former constituents would quite comfortably consider themselves a Borderer first and then a Scotsman. And the same incidentally applies for Borderers born south of the Tweed in Northumberland in relation to Englishness. Politicians at their peril dictate identity and culture. People can quite comfortably consider
Former Downing Street insider Christine Jardine, now back in Scotland and selected as a Liberal Democrat Euro-candidate, highlights in the Scotsman how more urgent problems are being forgotten as Scotland gears up for the Independence Referendum.
While all the attention is on 18th September 2014, Christine reminds us that there is some serious stuff going on now:
Traditionally, conferences, like the SNP’s recent gathering in Inverness, are where policy announcements are made, government plans set out and ministers take the opportunity to highlight their successes in the full glare of the media spotlight. But not this time. This time I waited in
This week the Scottish Parliament debated the Iraq War, ten years on. This could have disintegrated into a “this is why we need independence” bunfight, but, actually, it ended up being one of those occasions when you could be proud of your Parliament for being thoughtful and mindful of the terrible human cost of this conflict.
Willie Rennie spoke for the Liberal Democrats in the debate and actually was applauded by the SNP benches who are, shall we say, not usually so friendly towards …
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond gave his keynote speech to SNP Conference this afternoon. There were three things in it that struck me as a Liberal Democrat.
A numbers game
Apparently a “yes” vote for independence would be a vote for a “prosperous economy and a just society.” Does this remind you of any phrase being used rather a lot at the moment by any Liberal Democrat who can be persuaded to do so? I wonder how prosperous an economy built on wildly optimistic estimates of oil revenues would be to start with.
Many nationalists have been complaining about their fixed budget doesn’t …
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond announced today that the Independence Referendum would be held on 18th September 2014. Three and a half years of preparation and campaigning will come to an end and Scotland will decide whether its future lies within the UK or out of it. At the moment, the polls are looking pretty good for staying in the Union, but that is no cause for complacency. Every vote will have to be fought for across the whole country. It will be a very different sort of campaign.
You would think, wouldn’t you, that when you were deciding on …
I’m a bit bleary eyed today. One conference is exhausting, two on successive weekends is positively foolhardy. Following that up with a trip to London for Federal Executive is craziness.
I spent the weekend in Dundee where Scottish Liberal Democrats held their main Conference. Over three days, there were no fewer than twelve policy debates, some of them incredibly powerful or controversial. Here are my highlights.
The Secret Courts debate
Yes, I’m biased as I proposed the motion rejecting the Government’s proposals, but the debate itself was very high quality. Liberal Youth co-chair Kavya Kaushik won the Russell Johnston award for the best …
We need your help to deliver another Lib Dem win in the Scottish Parliament. We’re on a tight deadline – we need you to act before 5 pm today.
The Liberal Democrats were the first party to support gay rights in a General Election manifesto. For decades, we’ve always been there for equality. The Scottish Liberal Democrats led on equal marriage, before the Federal Party became the first major national party to support the policy.
The Scottish Government are consulting on the details of implementing equal marriage, for a Bill later this year. You can help ensure that the Bill is liberal, well thought out and promotes equality …
Only two members of the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference voted against a motion opposing the introduction of secret courts. One of them was Jim Wallace, whose name is on the Government’s bill.
The leadership didn’t put up a fight, which in some ways is more frustrating. Why won”t they come forward and engage in the debate? It’s clear they have no intention in taking the slightest bit of notice of the vote, or the previous votes carried by enormous majorities at Federal Conference.
There was only one speech against and that was from someone who opposed secret courts in principle but …
One of Liberal Youth Scotland’s campaigns this year has concentrated on encouraging the Scottish Liberal Democrats to adopt a policy to ban snaring. We believe that this practice is barbaric, cruel, indiscriminate and unnecessary.
On Saturday 16th March, Scottish Liberal Democrat conference will debate an LYS motion calling for a ban on snaring. Scotland has led the way on this issue with the Scottish Government adopting new guidelines in 2008. However research undertaken by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) has shown that 85% of the public are in favour of an outright ban.
There’s been a bit of a stooshie over future North Sea oil revenues in the last week or so. First, as the BBC tells us, a leaked draft of a Scottish Government report said that volatility in projecting revenues created uncertainty and could lead to spending cuts. Now, Alex Salmond tells us that it’ll all be fine and there’ll be a great big oil boom just as Scotland becomes independent. The SNP projections for the first year of independence are pretty much double what the OBR predicts.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie went on Newsnight Scotland on Monday night …
David Allen A clear, credible, principled strategy from the Yorkists! Makes a welcome change.
Sadly, followed by twenty below-the-line posts, providing nearly twenty ve...
Simon McGrath so we get a permanant increase in costs for these subsidies based on ( alleged ) windfall profits. Its another big increase in spending -how is it to be paid ...
Peter Davies @Kira CollinsThat assumes we want to help people more with their energy bills than with all the other bills they may be struggling with. There is no reason why ...
Rob Heale Agree that we need to focus on strategy and have clearer messaging:-
1. We MUST prioritise membership recruitment in all we do, including PPB's, most leaflets...
Kira Collins Disappointed. The most obvious means of reducing energy bills is to remove VAT. Relatively straightforward to do and does not adversely impact on the attractive...
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The pine martens of Shropshire
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Should Labour reconsider the Brexit red lines?
David Allen 
Simon McGrath 
Peter Davies 
Rob Heale 
Kira Collins 