The cameramen are laughing.

Curses, I couldn't keep away for long! I did start on this yesterday morning, but life and events took over,  and it's been interesting watching the play unravel over the day. There are so many aspects to the Megrahi story that it occurs to me that Scottish journalism has never been in greater need of a John Pilger or Paul Foot to cut through all the crap that the vested interests have forced down the Scottish public since the clipper, 'Maid of the Seas' blew up over Lockerbie.

Yesterday morning, thanks to the unfortunate incidence of following a twitter link, I ended up slopping my way waist deep through the human waste that passes for comment and debate on that bloke Guido's blog, wherein he shares the 'smoking gun' of Londoner John McTernan's email that 'conclusively proves, once and for all', that the Tartan Overlord considered bending over to release Megrahi, for the knock down price of airgun legislation and some compensation over the prisoners slopping out farrago. So far, so smoking gun-ish...but wait a cotton pickin' minute, why would this email suddenly become available now, why would Mr McTernan sit on an email for 18 months that could potentially bring down the Salmond pack of cards and lead us to salvation under the leadership of public schoolboys Iain Grey and Richard Baker?

Mr McTernan was the SpAd that Tony Blair sent North to sort out Jack McConnell and the Holyrood election of 2007. He insists his interpretation of a telephone conversation, he didn't listen to, is the truth.

Here's the actual email from McTernan...

This email makes for fascinating reading for a number of reasons, particularly as it gives us a glimpse into the many tentacles that  Labour have throughout the UK. It offers road signs to how hand-in-glove Labour have been in UK Government and how obsessed they are with stopping the SNP. Labour, that once proud progressive party's have been left behind by the SNP who simply rediscovered the popularity of essentially social democratic policies. The past four years have seen this minority government carefully tease legislation through Parliament that will simply benefit people who live in Scotland. Socially responsible ideas like ending prescription charges, free school meals, opposing Trident, reviewing PFI, abolishing the graduate endowment, curbing right-to-buy. These are all policies that the Labour party of the past would have  fought tooth and nail to introduce, but they didn't, simply because they are bound by their, increasingly questionable loyalty to Westminster...

The email is addressed to Mark Davies, Jack Straw's special adviser, now communications director for mental health charity 'Rethink'.

Mr Davies was Jack Straw's SpAd for 5 years, he's the bespectacled chap lurking behind anthrax Jack, formerly a hack with the BBC and CNN. His time at the BBC was time well spent, with more than a nod to his future career when he was the BBC's online Political editor...


Moving on, the more observant of you will notice that the email is cc'd to Scotland Office SpAd and all round Cockernee geezer, Tom Greatrex, now MP for Rutherglen. Mr Greatrex was one of the fresh cheeked Labour faces who replaced those Scottish MP's most likely to end up doing a Devine at HMP. Greatrex replaced millionaire pub landowner Baron Tommy MacAvoy as MP for Rutherglen. One of the English papers got involved in the murky underworld of Glasgow politics and exposed the fact that Baron Tommy's pub, the County Inn, in Rutherglen was in debt to the tune of £400,000 to an unnamed financial institution of the knee breaking shark variety. 

Further 'revelations' showed that Baron McAvoy, liked to keep it all in the family, with his wife and son on his Westminster payroll, whilst other son was given the onerous task of running the above pub...Baron Tommy drew great succour from Labour benefactor Rutherglen Fridge magnate, Willie Haughey who takes us down another well trodden path ending up at Gakgate and Steven Purcell's downfall. 

However, I digress as per norm, Baron MacAvoy is such a  compelling character. Mr Greatrex is just the most stunning example of how patronage can take a young Labourite far in this democracy. Fresh from University, he starts out as  researcher to Donald Dewar, two years of that, then voila propelled into a top job with the GMB, five years of that prepared him for a role as a chief officer at East Dunbartonshire Council, bing bong, couple of years pass he's and now director of Corporate affairs at NHS 24 for a couple of months before returning to his first love, working as a SpAd for a succession of Secretaries for the State of Scotland, Alexander, Browne and finally Murphy. It's impressive stuff, he's obviously a driven young feller, intent on making it to the top. 

One can only wonder what sort of line, Messrs McTernan & Greatarex spun to their chumrades in the Scottish Unionist media at the time, coming a mere week after Prof Robert Black QC visited Megrahi in Greenock and declared him an innocent man. 

The McTernan email is dated 9th November 2007, the following month the estimable Lucy Adams of the Herald, one of the Scottish journos who has actually done a good job on covering Megrahi, revealed that Straw still wanted to INCLUDE Megrahi in the PTA.
Ms Adams quoted an unnamed Scotland Office source, who gave a variety of excuses as to why Megrahi should be included in the PTA including the point stretching,
 
"The reason Mr Straw is moving ahead now is that we have Libyan prisoners in English jails who we feel should be serving their sentence back in Libya."

To the bones of the email, it's Mr McTernan's contention that Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill wanted to do a 'deal'. That deal being, let the Scottish parliament legislate on the potential banning of airguns, timebar the ECHR payments on slopping out to prisoners in the Scottish penal system and he would gladly open the doors of Greenock prison to allow Megrahi to attend the North African Ladies Beach Volleyball competition...

 

Yet, how can this be? As the Scottish Government within the last hour have released the documentation relating to Messrs MacAskill and Straw's conversation as enscripted by Scottish Civil Servants.

In among the various bullet points, the issue of the Prisoner Transfer Agreement is brought up as the conversation closes.


10. Mr Straw also referred to the forthcoming second round of negotiations over the Libvan 'PTA.. He acknowledged the sensitivity of the subject, given its earlier history. Mr MacAskill said that the Scottish Government had already set out its position on that. He mentioned also that he was aware of the proposals to negotiate a similar PTA with Vietnam,. and that he had no difficulty with that proposal. No actions arise ...

Mr MacAskill, said "The Scottish Government had already set out its position on that." Now in what Labour rose tinted world does Mr McTernan manage to misconstrue that as a desire to do a 'deal'. 

What's obvious from the notes is that there were five people involved in this telephone conversation. MacAskill and Straw spoke, whilst Straw's PS Darren Tierney listened in as did MacAskill's. The fifth person was Ken Thomson, a lifelong Civil Servant and Director of Civil and International Justice for the Scottish Government.

According to the McTernan note this leaves one with the impression that the 'officials' that Mr McTernan heard about this alleged 'deal' from were either Mr Straw himself or his PS, unless he's suggesting that MacAskill, his PS or Ken Thomson got on the blower to let him imagine a deal for Megrahi.

It's interesting that when Blair visited Libya just a matter of a few days before handing his Premiership into the safekeeping of Gordon Brown in 2007 the Herald: commented thus,

Downing Street yesterday reiterated its claim that the memorandum of understanding had nothing to do with Megrahi. The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "We don't regard it as covering Megrahi - and we made this very clear during the talks in Libya."  

Mr McTernan, dismisses, the question of legislating air rifle control to Holyrood, with the fantastically brief, 

"Jacqui, is utterly opposed to movement." 

Now I'm sure that Miss Jacqui's opposition to movement had nothing to do with the dear ladies husband and his pay-per-view self pleasuring moments. The statement does however, give a perfect example of the Labour hierarchy group think as of 2007, give the Scottish Governement absolutely nothing.

The last paragraph of McTernan's email is worth reproducing.

"On Somerville, our law officer (Advocate General)  believes that Scottish Ministers are having a laugh. They could have ended slopping out by building private prisons but didn't have the courage. They knew they would lose and knew it would cost them And having lost, they want legislation to prevent this from happening in the future. They lost fair and square-the solution for them is not to screw up again in the future."

Now the Avocate General, McTernan is referring to here, is none other than Labour placeman, Neil Davidson QC, the man who went out of his way to stop Megrahi's lawyers accesing trial productions, sought to overturn previous appeal court decisions on the appeals scope and was instrumental in arguing the Labour governments claim for public interest immunity for legal documents which had been in the Crown's hands for more than a dozen years. Neil Davidson or rather Baron Davidson of Glen Cova as he's known these days, can be found sitting alongside his ermine chums on the Labour benches in the House of Lords...

I'm afraid that in the above paragraph, McTernan is confused, he seems to think that SNP Government Ministers are responsible for the Somerville mess, neglecting to remember that at this point the SNP had been in power at Holyrood for a mere six months and were endeavouring to mop up the mess the previous Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition had left behind.  He is thinking of them and their lack of 'balls' for failing to indulge in private prisons. To me that gives a great insight to McTernan's dealings with the Labour party in Scotland, he viewed them as hapless geldings incapable of standing up for themselves in Scotland. He also fails to recognise that they had already built Kilmarnock private prison and the previous December had signed off on Addiewell private prison. 

It strikes, me as ironic that McTernan sends this email to Mark Davies for the attention of Jack Straw, the same man who said this in opposition.

Doh, that'll be a broken promise I suppose.

I have to admit I'm intrigued by Mr McTernan, he's more than the 'are you a fucking horse' character Jamie, the second in command to Malcolm Tucker's Campbell from 'The Thick Of It'.

In my mind he's positively fucking Machiavellian. Sent North by his old boss Blair to tell the uppity Jocks how to get themselves elected again, pissed off the entire Labour campaign team, ridiculed Lord Jack McConnell to such an extent that he probably dribbles a bit of wee whenever he hears McTernan's name. Turned the previously Labour loyal Sunday Herald into dropping support in April 2007.

" But it is not just that cataclysmic error that has eroded our belief in the Labour Party. Its election campaign has been unremittingly negative. While we are not yet wholly convinced of the merits of independence, we are certain that Scots have the innate ability to run their own affairs if they choose to do so. That is the nature of democracy. The dire warnings from the Labour "big guns", parachuted in from Westminster, were patronising when they were not downright insulting. It is never a good idea to bully people, and some of the warnings issued by the Labour hierarchy have been not only foolish but risible - such as the suggestion that a referendum would lead somehow to the splitting up of families."


He's just the most amazing piece of work, I sort of want to poke him with a stick and see what reaction I get. Ousted from office, he washes up on the shores of 'The Scotsman' as a columnist, where there's no need to identify him as  a spin master for the Labour party of long standing.

He also blogs for that bastion of Toryism, The Telegraph, although I note the Gruniad don't seem to have kept him on... he tweets porkies of enormous dimensions to his near 2,500 tweeting followers. He probably despises the SNP due to his close involvement in the Cash for Honours scandals, where his testimony led to the arrests of two other members of Blair's inner circle, his chief fundraiser Lord Levy and head of Government relations Ruth Turner, on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. But hey, let bygones be bygone. He's paid for his opinions and thoughts on policies, he has taken on the role of sage for three Labour Secretaries for the State of Scotland and two of their parties Holyrood leaders. His opinions are followed by the rank and file, he can do no wrong. Except, yesterday, when he first denied leaking the above email,  then used the content to claim his imaginings were a matter of public record and truth.

Mr McTernan is obviously solidly behind Iain Gray, as his recent recipe for electoral success for Labour shows:

After losing power in 2007 - because of a toxic mix of a stale government, a deeply unpopular party and a confident, resurgent SNP - Scottish Labour was in denial. Refusing to accept defeat, unwilling to listen to the voters, arrogant and out of touch. The nadir was the Glasgow East by-election; the second safest seat in Scotland snatched by the SNP. The political narrative became one of the inevitable triumph of the nationalist cause.

Revival, under Jim Murphy as Scottish secretary and Iain Gray as leader in the Scottish parliament, had three main elements. First, humility and open acknowledgement of the defeat the voters had imposed. Second, a willingness to embrace what the voters wanted, including working in the national interest where necessary. Third, a greater sense of Scottishness, acknowledging, in Murphy's words, that all nationalists are patriots, but not all patriots are nationalists. The results were first seen in the Glasgow North East by-election. This was followed by the three per cent swing to Labour in May last year.


Am I alone in failing to remember either Jim Murphy or Iain Gray dropping to their knees at any time in the past four years and acknowledging that Scottish Labour had laid a turd in the ballot box? Where is the evidence that they've embraced what the voters want? As to his third ingredient for success, I'll presume that was a stretch of his imagination, much like the Labour man's email that was leaked to a Tory blog to defect criticism of a lying, manipulative, hypocritical Labour party.  Shame on you Mr McTernan, shame. 

Crotch Deep Trash

This past year has been quite an odd one for me and my family. It's quite a strange sensation to wake up one day and find your own little world has a range of differing reactions to you. Meeting people in town is often awkward for those that only know me from the periphery, there's an almost hesitant approach to asking what I've been up to. It's almost as if they see me as the ten year old bad boy who got caught peeing in the headmasters kettle (Sorry Mr Hunter it was only the two times). Most of the last year I've been fairly relaxed about my life. I get involved in things I'm interested in or passionate about, I do a bit of meddling, endeavours continue and we, like most other people, just pootle on. 

However, the last couple of weeks have found me ever so slightly on edge, as an anniversary approached and passed. January 21st 2010 was the day that Lothian & Borders finest, DS Willie Falconer and DC Lynsay Thomson braved the frozen climes of rural Dumfriesshire to invite me to Dumfries Police station for an interview regarding possible charges of 'blackmail'. The end result was a charge of Breach of the Peace. At the time I said something along the lines of, 'it's a non charge, the PF will probably wait a year and drop it.' Periodically through the year I've asked chums of a constabular and legal bent as to the best approach. They considered that I was best off delaying any enquiry, lest I piss off the powers that really be. I opted to let it run as long as possible, the assumption being that there was some sort of statute of limitations, as we see all too often on American crime dramas. Seems not.

Last Wednesday, watching the Scottish media and the twitteratti whip themselves into writhing orgiastic fervour over the fact that a bloke who lied about shagging was going to jail for three years. I decided to bite the bullet, to avoid the possibility of biting the pillow. I contacted the Procurator Fiscal to determine whether I was to be prosecuted and faced the possibility of meeting Thomas Sheridan. esq in the pokey. Armed with my very own special crime number, I called the PF's telephone number. Going by the diction of the call operators I'd surmise that the PF's call centre is located in Drumchapel, Govan or Easterhouse, probably quite sensible really given the number of cases that emanate from those burbs. That'll be the flip side of job creation...

Anyhoo, after several attempts I got through to the pleasant and ever so slightly gruff Maggie, (I'm guessing three packs of Capstan full strength a day) who after a couple of minutes battering a keyboard told me, that the PF had decided not to proceed. Whoo agus hoo, Marky boy is not going to the pokey anytime soon. Elated at this news, I asked Maggie, when the decision not to proceed had been taken. Several seconds of keyboard bashing later and she informed me the decision was taken on August 10th 2010. That would be five and half months ago. It transpires that the the PF do not bother to contact you, they just let you sit in a fetid puddle of your own wee till you can't take it any longer and break for cover.


Genuine friends and family were delighted to hear this, there's been a sort of resigned sigh that life can go on and any memories I have of working in Scottish political life can now be consigned to the file marked, 'Wish I Hadn't Fucking Bothered'.


Saying that, I was a wee bit miffed last night after meeting a chum and was in the process of giving him the latest update, only for him to interrupt me and tell me the conclusion of my tale. "For why do you know that?" I enquired. "Oh", he replied, "Madame Beachball told me about it, not that long ago." Now due to legal codicils that allowed me to receive a dod of largesse, I'm not allowed to mention the identity of Madame Beachball. Suffice it to say I'm somewhat peeved that someone who has nothing to do with this case knows about the outcome before I do. I may have to do an FOI of the PF's office to discover why they felt they could hand that information out so freely...possibly even to people in the Scottish Parliament...


Regular visitors will have noticed my need to blawg has become much less frequent of late. Truth be told it's getting to the stage where it's as rare as Jackie Bird lifting up the Nation with a good news story on Reporting Scotland. My reasons for this are manifest, but mainly boil down to the school of I can't be arsed, and if I'm brutally honest, there's not a hell of a lot to write about that hasn't got a hundred other folks shouting 'Me Me Me, read what I've got to say about the latest intracies of the implications of...' etcetera. So in the run up to the much anticipated AV referendum oh and that wee election, the cheesey blog will probably be making like a Sloth on a spacehopper and bouncing slowly off in another direction...

In the meantime here's a little ditty from the Jaques Brel's of Bellshill, the Soup Dragons that sums up how I now feel.




 

PFI: To pay or not to pay?

Recently I had to make a trip to the local vet to help our poor pussycat Jaffa, yes for the curious among you, he too, like the eponymous orange, is also seedless. The sad mog was constipated and had a compacted one and half pound turd blocking up his bunghole. One deftly administered enema from an overly friendly glove wearing vet and a doxe of cat laxative paste later and he's shitting like a pedigree pooper. So far so icky, the reason I open with this particular scatalogical gambit is that whilst waiting for the vet to probe the cats innards, I met a recently retired former chief executive of a local authority not a million miles from where I live, who was visiting to get his pit bulls nails clipped. 

Having met him professionally on and off over the last dozen or so years, pleasantries were exchanged and mutual friends asked after, all over the cacophany of mewling, barking, squawking and soon to be shitting. Conversation in these instances usually runs dry and before you know it you're discussing weather and holiday destinations. So being a fully signed up member of the awkward bugger squad, I brought up the question of PFI and the local authorities slavish devotion to it during his tenure. Thinking that in his golden years he might be less circumspect in his answers, I mentioned some farcical examples of cost, poor service, delays and the fact that the councils PFI debt was the target for specialist PFI companies keen on the profits that can be garnered from the PFI subordinated debts, Cf passim. These work out at some £20 million per year for the next 31 years, until 2041/42...

Lo and behold there was a grudging acceptance from my fellow vet visitor that PFI had not been the most cost effective method of building or renovating the crumbling schools or leisure centre. In his defence, he uttered the immortal line, 'PFI was the only game in town and there was a lot of pressure from Holyrood to use it'.  

Chummy left his job in 2008, he'd been chief exec through most of devolution and was referring to a Holyrood under the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition. In rebuttal I mentioned that the local authority, unlike the Scottish Government actually has legislative powers to borrow, an avenue deemed particularly sensible for capital costs, when interest rates are considerably lower than PFI interest rates...His demeanour suggested a lack of choice. 


This aspect of  'the only game in town' makes sense, when you look at the article in today's Guardian which pans Westminster Labour under the headline,  Labour government 'ignored cheaper alternatives to PFI'

The headline comes courtesy of the Westminster public accounts committee report which has scrutinised the use of PFI schemes in Englandshire by the Department for Communities and Local Government to provide housing and by the Department of Health to provide hospital support services.

In a quite spectacular display of dribbling amnesia, Margaret Hodge, the Egyptian born multi-millionairess (estimated wealth £50million), former Price Waterhouse senior consultant and commonly regarded as the original architect of PFI, Labour MP  oh and chair of the public accounts committee said: 

" Local authorities and health trusts used PFI because there was no realistic alternative, not because it represented best value for money."
  
" The use of PFI and its alternatives should now be robustly evaluated. Looking back at PFI procurements, the government should also do more to find out where and why PFI works best and capture the lessons. Departments should also do more to ensure they get the best out of existing PFI contracts.

" By bundling together large numbers of PFI projects, private sector investors may use the consequent economies of scale to drive up the value of their interests and generate bigger profits. We are concerned that the benefits arising from these economies of scale are not being shared by the taxpayer.

" At a time when public finances are so tight, government must use the weight of its buying power to negotiate with major PFI investors and contractors a better deal for the taxpayer."

All of which beggars the motherflipping question, what the shitting crikey were Margaret and her Labour cronies doing about it for the 13 long years they were in power?



The  vested interests were given a say, which drew the frankly terrifying response:


'The report drew a sharp response from business leaders, who warned against ministers trying to renegotiate contracts to get a better deal for taxpayers, suggesting that with constrained public finances, the role of PFI could become even more important.'

So in essence, they're saying 'shut up serfs, we are your masters and we will continue to shaft you as much as we want.' 

It's nigh on impossible to see a way out of PFI. Were the Scottish government to start by ripping up contracts, you can see the poor beleaguered banks and corporations being supported by the three Tory parties in Holyrood. I've no doubt when the likes of simpleton Andy Kerr (a former primary school classmate of mine) scrawled his big X on the legal parchments the Banks legal vultures must have guffawed under their powdered wigs at his naivety.

What gives me the twisted brain-wrong of a one-off man-mental is the conundrum, that since we bailed out the banks and we now are the majority shareholders in them we continue to pay those very same banks the PFI interest rates that are crippling our councils. Why? I mean really, WHY? Can anyone tell me why we can't legislate to stop paying these debts?


Hopefully, if the SNP are returned to power in May, we might see some sort of scrutinising committee take a proper look at PFI and the financial scams and trickery the Labour and Lib Dems signed us up to...Although finding an honest chairperson from Labour, Tory or Lib Dems after witnessing theWendy in action this week is as likely as me training Jaffa to flush after pooping...



PS last weeks post on TIME magazine has had the best part of 4000 readers, a few left comments. If anyone wants to comment or even defend PFI please get typing. 

  

Scotland an Independent nation. To be or not to be?

Over the years we've become quite accustomed to Scotland coming top of lists that should shame and embarrass us. A gander at lists on murder rates, alcoholism, drug dependency, poor health, obesity etcetera and there's always a chance that poor wee Scotland will be there or there abouts at the bottom of the pile. 

It's an optimist that doesn't get down about it. In this age of Westminster cuts, job losses, the weather, the crap 'soylent green' food that our supermarkets squeeze out at us, our cringe inducing tv, and our woeful sport, it's a brave chap that thinks Scotland could ever dare to top of any list.

Our Unionist chumrades do a lot to kick aspiration and ambition out of us. We're too wee, not smart enough, not healthy enough, don't have the creativity to make change. Take an interest in the world around us and we're accused of grandstanding or an embarrassment. There's no place in civic Scotland for the 'Big I AM', never raise your head above the parapet, don't take any risk, distrust change, avoid chance, do not pass GO, go straight to jail...


Whenever we attract International attention it's for annoying the big boys, trumpeting our minor achievements and expecting some sort of acclaim...That's why I'm absolutely delighted to announce that TIME Magazine has chosen Scotland to top their list of Top 10 Aspiring Nations.

Claire Suddath writing  in todays TIME says:


" Scotland has been formally joined with England since 1707, when the two nations dissolved their parliaments and united to form Great Britain. Yet despite centuries of being under London's yoke, Scotland still considers itself a separate country and periodically pushes for independence.

The Scottish National Party (SNP), which supports full independence from Britain, formed in 1934 and won its first British parliamentary seat in 1967. In 1999, Scotland elected its first Parliament in nearly 300 years (though Queen Elizabeth II formally began the opening session — maybe to remind them who was boss?). The Scottish Parliament controls domestic policy in Scotland, while Westminster still handles everything else. Because of this, Scotland could ban smoking when the rest of Britain still allowed cigarettes in public places. The SNP won the nation's 2007 parliamentary elections and has periodically urged Scotland to take up a referendum on independence ever since. Even if passed, the referendum would not be binding unless approved by the British Parliament."

Even though some of the aspirant 'countries' are obviously tongue-in-cheek, it's fantastic to see that despite the Westmister establishment determination for the status quo and the media blindly swallowing Unionist propaganda that Scotland's claim for normality is recognised by such an influential journal as TIME.

All we need to do now is persuade those that are blinded by the hypocrisy and propaganda and show that aspiring to be Independent is normal.

Nezavisna Crna Gora - Nezavisna Scotland

Every so often I look at BBC Scotland's response to potentially damaging stories for the Labour party and their lack of reporting and being a fair sort of chap give them the benefit of the doubt. I ponder that perhaps these stories that so inflame my pro-Independence chums are not that big a story, that perhaps we're guilty of being desperate to see an institution we're all share holders in, stand up and give us some unbiased reporting on the latest Labour slip up, faux pas, blatant piece of political chicanery or outright corruption. Sadly, we've become so accustomed to being on the kicking end, that just once it would be nice to see the shoe on the other foot and our viewpoint perhaps get a bit of fair coverage.

The Rami Okasha story, where  former Secretary for the State of Scotland, Jim Murphy's senior aide actively tried to smear a member of the public for having the temerity to submit a Freedom of Information request on the whole Wendygate £995 donations, I felt was something that at the very least deserved a little bit of the notorious grilling that the beebs permanently aggrieved political journalists and morning disc jockeys dish out to their SNP counterparts. Alas not to be, never reported, nothing to see here move along please. After Baroness Dreich and Douglas Murray's deeply offensive anti-Scottish comments on Radio 4's 'Any Questions' I considered the reaction from the English audience as excellent, the majority of the Sutton Coldfield appeared to cheer Murray and Dreich inane dribblings. My thoughts were along the lines of, good let them believe the bollocks these people have just spouted, let the middle England resentment that all of us Scots are alcoholic, benefit scrounging wannabes living off English largesse flourish, let them foster that discontent and actively end the Union from the English side. Let the insults from English BBC grow to such a crescendo that eventually a Scottish voice in BBC Scotland might say enough is enough. Again not to be.
 
Which brings us neatly to the latest Iain Gray farrago. It may not quite be the smoking gun we'd want it to be, but it is something that one might expect BBC Scotland to cover following the Sunday Herald, Scotland on Sunday and Sunday Express coverage. When nothing appeared on BBC Radio Scotland morning news or their online presence. I sent a message to a BBC presenting friend asking if the item would be covered in the news. So far, sadly no reply.
 
I suppose I'm in quite an unusual position in that I have friends who are Montenegrin and I have actually visited this beautiful little country. 

My wife and I met brother and sister Milica and Branko on a beautiful beach on the Florida Keys nearly 20 years ago. We all hit it off, finding shared interests and things to laugh at in a sterile straight laced American atmosphere. Particularly a park ranger who looked remarkably like Leslie Neilson of the Naked Gun movies, who gave Milica and I a ticket for 'failure to wear appropriate swimwear in a swimwear designated area'. She was topless, I was err bottomless... Camping, imported beers, racoon dodging and shrimp gorging are some of my memories of our short time together. Their English was excellent, they had driven from Montreal to the Keys in, if memory serves me correctly, a gas guzzling late 1970's Oldsmobile Cutlass sedan, piloted by Milica's Dutch boyfriend, Johan. 

They were surprised to discover that a few years earlier we had driven through Montenegro en route to Turkey, driving a tiny Fiat Uno. Yes, we did drive it through the Paris peripherique, and no we didn't bump into any black Mercedes...

Our Montenegrin chums were confounded at the news that an Uno could drive that far but were utterly gobsmacked to discover that we'd not only stopped in Titograd but stayed the night, in what was then a featureless town almost enirely devoted to Soviet era architecture.

 
 Over the years Milica and I have kept up correspondence. Thanks to the arrival of the internet, communication is easier, photos and stories are now shared on facebook and by email. Two years ago family illness prevented us from visiting Branko in Montenegro. Milica lives in the USA these days selling exclusive jewellery for one of those companies whose shiny baubles are beyond the reach of 99% of this planets mortals. 

So when Iain Gray, Scotland's own International Man of Misery, put both his size twelves in it by erroneously inferring that Montenegro was involved in 'ethnic cleansing' and made reference to a war crimes tribunal and a peacekeeping mission, I sought Milica's opinion on this slur on her homeland.

She was not best pleased. Milica is not into politics. For your elucidation I've included some of the relevent text from her response below. For the uninitiated CG is an abbreviation of Crna Gora, the real name for Montenegro.

I took a quick gander and that lady from the Embassy had a point. I got a bit irritated when I read his retort so spoke to Mom about it and she said that all it really took was the vote. Yes there had been World Wars, but that didn't have anything to do with independence of CG? What kind of reference was that.. Didn't the rest of Europe suffer through the wars also? geez... The guy yapping on about the crimes and cleansing is an ass who should look up his info a bit better before he spews BS. Uninformed politicians are not my thing as you can see. I usually keep my opinions to myself and don't really like to talk about politics, but when someone is being stupid and since you were asking... :)


Milica goes on to illustrate something that I am sure will bring bells for those of us in Scotland and our relationship with England.

It always irritated me to get clumped in with the neighboring country. I know I don't like to be called something I'm not, which is probably a common thing and is likely what brought about the separation for Montenegrins I suppose... It was one thing to be Yugoslavian. Everyone was united as a country and yet also kept their identity. People were Yugis, and whatever else it was, and nobody really seemed to mind one way or the other, but even then, the people of Montenegro were NOT Serbian. We may have all spoken " Serbo Croation"  throughout the country but we all also spoke our own language and were proud to be who we were. 

When the country started splitting up, and Yugo was done, the Montenegrins were not going to get lumped in with Serbia. The Montenegrins were not Serbian. There is a difference between them and for some reason Serbians always liked to say that Montenegrins were the same thing, but the folks in CG don't feel that way... Obviously or they would not have voted to separate...

It was quite simple and quite fast when it came down to it. The people were ready for it. They just didn't want to do it like savages and waited out there time, then took back their name. We did have our own Royal family before the country was made one based on external war time negociations, so I still don't understand why the Serbians seem to think that Montenegrins should have remained part of their little clump, but oh well... what do I know...



I still think that guy is full of S--t though...
Really irritates me... He should research the facts and look into who was in Den Hague before before he says stupid crap. I always loved how people would write history as they pleased without all the facts... Sort of why I don't get into politics and I don't usually comment on any of it... 

Then again isn't it the winners of a war that write the history books... even if all the details were not correct, and much of what was said during that time was not completely truthful or evenly discussed about ALL sides... BUT I'm not going to get into that now :) It would turn into a long dissertation



The chances are that Iain Gray, in his ignorance intended to sympathise with the people of Montenegro being simply bracketed with other Independent countries who had achieved normalcy. His spin being that Montenegro suffered for Independence, that it didn't just take a bit of baby kissing, some fancy posters and a mere 40 days to settle the will of a people. By conflating that with war crimes, etnic cleansing and UN tribunals he misjudged a wonderful people who have witnessed horrors on their borders, suffered great privation and shown extreme generosity in opening their borders to the suffering. Most of all the Montenegrins I've met are funny and not afraid to poke fun at themselves. Iain Gray owes them an apology for trying to score cheap political points against an opponent who out thinks him at every encounter. Most important of all, when he does find a selection of words that placate Montenegro, BBC Scotland should report it.

Hurrah, 'Health, wealth and happiness.' Except for viewers in Scotland

In this period of goodwill to all men and excessive festive overindulgence it's heartening to see that Aberdeenshire has been chosen as the locale with the best quality of life in all of Scotland.

The Scottish media are quoting this 'fact' from the Bank of Scotland's annual Quality of Life survey which is compiled by the banks Housing economist, Nitesh Patel. Down South where the leafy suburbia of Embridge was chosen as the bestest place to live in the whole of the United Kingdom, for the third year running, the media of course refer to Mr Patel as Housing Economist at the Halifax, for some reason the two banks are entirely seperate entities in the public mind, down there, darned if I can figure out why.

Naturally, I was as giddy as he Tartan Overlords milliner  that Aberdeenshire placed so high as to come top of the poll. What's that you say? Aberdeenshire came top of only the thirty-two Scottish authorities. Oh well surely the best place to live in Scotland must have placed quite high in the UK table...Ahh I see Aberdeenshire placed 178th -- ahh that'll be a drop of 25 places from dizzy heights of last years 153rd. Fear not, I'm not forgetting Wales. Monmouthshire came in at a nose bleed inducing 189th.

So that means there are 177 places in England that have a better quality of life than the best place in Scotland. Not to worry, Mr Patel informs us that Scotland benefits from good ratings on the environment, low population density and the absolute clincher for me...low levels of traffic. 

Southernville does remarkably well on such indicators as health, weather, employment levels and average income. The average weekly wage in Elmbridge is £1018. Yes, that's a weekly wage of One Thousand and Eighteen Pounds per week...

I'm quite sure the good people of Embridge deserve this level of remuneration. Stockbrokers and professional footballers, after all are only people who deserve to enjoy to enjoy the fruits of their labour...Although it must be a living hell having to put up with a slightly higher density of population and terrible traffic jams.


Overall, this lovely annual survey convinces me that it's becoming as rare as a smile on Iain Gray's coupon, to find any reason for the continuation of this forced marriage of a Union.

So, to readers in Scotia, where did your local authority place in this survey?

Kirsty Wark : an aide-mémoire...

Lest we forget. Let me take you back to thursday the 7th of June 2007. The Tartan Overlord called for an emergency session in Holyrood to read out and answer questions pertaining to a 'memorandum of understanding' that Tony Blair, the then PM, had signed with Col Gaddafi in Libya about an exchange between each countries nationals held in the other country's prison. As we all know, there was only one Libyan national held in a Scottish prison. 

Blair, his spin doctors and lackeys in the British media kicked up an almighty fuss claiming that this was nothing to do with Mr Al Megrahi. The Libyans went on record saying that Megrahi's case was the whole point of the meeting. Gaddafi's son claimed "When Blair came here we signed the agreement. We signed an oil deal at the same time. The commerce and politics and deals were all with the prisoner transfer agreement."


The Unionists in the Scottish Parliament for the one and only time in nearly four years agreed unanimously that Blair had no right to make decisions which directly affected the process of Scots law without consultation with the devolved Parliament. Within hours the London knives were out for Jack McConnell for having the temerity to agree with Salmond.


BBC Newsnight brought out the big guns in its defence of Blair and unleashed Kirsty Wark on an unsuspecting nation.




The question posed was simple, which government was telling the truth the British, Scottish or Libyan? 

 Now thanks to Julian Assange, we know. Libya and Scotland were telling the truth. The discredited Labour Party in England and Scotland were guilty of lying to the electorate, their friends in the media were guilty of bombast, disinformation and promoting the lies of their friends. 

When will Richard Baker, Iain Gray, Tony Blair, Douglas Alexander, David Miliband, David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Jim Murphy, David Cairns, Elaine Murray, David Mundell, Russell Brown, Tavish Scott and Annabel Goldie apologise to the Scottish and British electorate?

The Megrahi effect...

So here we are, the morning after the Megrahi Wikileak. Citizens of a normal country expect to be able to go to their newspapers and read all about the most contentious story in Scotlands recent history. A story that has lead the hyperbole on everything from boycotts of Scotland and Scottish goods, demands that our First Minister and Justice Secretary appear before another countries Senate committee, that his release somehow was responsible for Gary McKinnon's likely extradition, that he was released on the orders of BP. A whole panapoly of accusations, lies, cant and hypocrisy from Labour, Tory and Lib Dem politicians have filled our pages for the past 15 months. So one might reasonably expect that Scotland's fair and impartial media would have some comments to make on the 'Megrahi effect', particularly the opportunity to justify them standing up on their hind legs and braying like donkeys at every possible opportunity. 

So how does BBC Scotland, our nations favourite broadcaster, report the biggest  story this year in their 'What the Scottish Papers' say section? 

Not a chuffing word. But hey let's keep banging on about the weather and how it's the SNP's fault.

Never mind, surely it's reported elsewehere in Scotland, let's see what the Unionist politicians had to say about it in the Scotsman's version...

  
Oh, not a sausage.

Nevermind BBC Radio Scotland have just had an interview with the Tartan Overlord -- about the weather...

A Parade of Treats.

So there we have it, on the day that British justice shows itself to be firmly ensconsed in the US Government's back pocket, Wiki leaks manages to release the cable we've all been waiting on.

It's left to The Guardian to tell us that the London government were terrified that the repercussions Gadaffi threatened would be another 'Switzerland', whilst pointing out that the Scottish Government had turned down a 'parade of treats'.

Just what did Gadaffi try to tempt the Tartan Overlord with?

If it wasn't iced doughnuts, was it perhaps treasure?

Or maybe Gold stuck away in tax free vaults?

Nope,  how about oil deals? 

After all isn't what that weasel Senator Menandez claimed with his Senate committee? That the Scottish Government had been in cahoots with BP, and Megrahi's release was merely pretendy cancer cells greasing the wheels of commerce?

What of those pygmies that stood up and crowed at the top of their lungs exploiting the pain and loss of all the victims that the Scottish Government had been up to shenanigans with Gadaffi.

 

Hey Scotland wake up, is this is the shower of lying, manipulative, underhand bastards you want representing you? 

How do I feel about it? Words can barely begin to demonstrate the disgust and...

Monday, 24 August 2009, 14:05
C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 001946
NOFORN
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE AND NEA/MAG
EO 12958 DECL: 08/24/2019
TAGS PREF, PTER, UK, LY
SUBJECT: SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT HOLDS EMERGENCY SESSION AS
DEBATE OVER MEGRAHI DECISION REACHES FEVER PITCH
REF: A. LONDON 1925 AND PREVIOUS B. STATE 80743
Classified By: Ambassador Louis B. Susman, reasons 1.4 (b/d).

1. (C/NF) Summary. The Scottish Government severely underestimated the both USG and UK public reaction to its decision to grant compassionate release to convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi on August 20. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has privately indicated that he was "shocked" by FBI Director Mueller's public letter. The media continue to report U.S. anger over the decision, and concern Scotland will be targeted economically, through reduced U.S. tourism and whiskey boycotts. The media speculate that the UK Government had a hand in the deal to maintain good diplomatic relations with Libya and secure oil and gas deals, which the UK Government has denied as "completely wrong" and "offensive." Today (August 24), the Scottish Parliament meets to hear Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill's explanation of his decision. The media speculates that Scottish opposition parties, all of which are on record condemning the decision, may move against the Scottish National Party's (SNP) minority government in a vote of no confidence, though the two-thirds majority required to secure such a move would be very difficult to obtain. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has not yet made a statement on Megrahi's release, with other Cabinet members maintaining that it was a decision for the devolved Scottish Government. Given growing discontent and speculation about a UK Government hand in the deal, Brown may have to make a statement soon. Meanwhile, local Scottish opposition politicians are using the issue to call into question the SNP government's credibility and competence. End summary.

Reaction to USG Statements

--------------------------

2. (C/NF) The UK media have widely reported on FBI Director Mueller's letter to MacAskill and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mullen's comments on the Scottish Government's decision to grant compassionate release to convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi. Washington-based Scottish Government Representative Robin Naysmith told CG Edinburgh Sunday, August 24 that Scottish First Minister Salmond was "shocked" by Mueller's comments, which were "over the top" given that President Obama had already commented on the decision. Naysmith underscored that Scotland received "nothing" for releasing Megrahi (as has been widely suggested in the UK and U.S. media), while the UK Government has gotten everything - a chance to stick it to Salmond's Scottish National Party (SNP) and good relations with Libya. (NOTE: We expect Naysmith to be engaging heavily in Washington on these issues. END NOTE.)

3. (C/NF) The media have also reported growing concerns that American anger over the decision will translate into a boycott of Scottish whiskey and reduced American tourism in Scotland, an approximately USD 416 million business annually. In a previous meeting with CG Edinburgh on Friday, August 21, Salmond reiterated that he and his government "had played straight" with both the USG and UK Government, but implied that the UK Government had not. During the meeting, which occurred before the Mueller and Mullen statements, he said he wanted to move beyond the Megrahi issue and deepen Scotland's relationship with the USG. He said the Libyan Government had offered the Scottish Government "a parade of treats," all of which were turned down. (NOTE: Roughly fifty percent of Scottish exports go to the U.S., and over 450 U.S. businesses employ over 100,000 Scots in Scotland. END NOTE.)

4. (SBU) Scottish Government statements, including those from Salmond, have acknowledged the "strongly-held views of the American families," but underscored that those views are not shared by all of the victims' families (referring primarily to the British families). Salmond defended the decision, saying it was "right in terms of (the Scottish) legal system" and "what (they) are duty-bound to do." Salmond is also reported in the media to have said that the USG had made clear that, while it opposed Megrahi's release, it regarded freeing him on compassionate grounds "far preferable" to a transfer under the Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA). (NOTE: While indicating the USG's preference for compassionate release over a PTA transfer, as described in reftel B, Salmond's statement does not mention the USG's strong opposition to any release, particularly one that would allow Megrahi to travel outside of Scotland. END NOTE.)

Scottish Parliament Holds Emergency Session

-------------------------------------------

5. (SBU) The Scottish Parliament holds an emergency session Monday at 1430 local time (August 24), calling on Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill to explain his decision. All three opposition parties in Scotland (Labour, Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats) have condemned the minority Scottish National Party (SNP) government's decision to release Megrahi. The media openly speculate that a vote of no confidence will occur if MacAskill does not resign, but it would be difficult for opposition parties to garner the two-thirds majority required (87 of the 129 seats), if the SNP is able to maintain control of its 47 Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs).

6. (SBU) Scottish opposition political figures, like Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray and former Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell, have condemned the decision to release Megrahi, calling it a "grave error of judgment." Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavis Scott said, "The SNP's credibility at home and abroad is in tatters. Scotland's must not be allowed to follow with it."

Compassionate Release for Oil and Gas?

--------------------------------------

7. (SBU) The UK media widely speculates that the UK Government had a hand in the decision to release Megrahi in order to maintain good diplomatic relations with the Libyans and to secure oil and gas deals, citing the now infamous 2004 "deal in the desert" between former PM Blair and Libyan leader Qaddafi, recent meetings and correspondence between PM Brown and "Muammar," a recent meeting between Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and Qaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, and other high-level trade delegations. Qaddafi's personal thanks to Brown, the Queen, and the British Government after embracing Megrahi in a televised statement have fanned the flames and increased calls for Brown to explain the UK's involvement in the decision-making process. Mandelson insisted to the media that it is "completely wrong" and "offensive" to suggest that Megrahi's release was linked to trade deals. A Foreign Office contact reiterated to Poloff August 24 that such speculation is "completely absurd." He acknowledged that the Libyans had raised Megrahi at every turn in their burgeoning diplomatic relationship, but said that Megrahi's release was "never directly or implicitly" linked to any deal.

UK Government Reaction

----------------------

8. (C/NF) Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is currently on holiday in Scotland, has refrained from comment. Acting PM Chancellor Alistair Darling has said, "you either devolve the responsibility for criminal justice or you don't," a position that Foreign Secretary Miliband supported in interviews on Friday, August 21. Miliband affirmed that "the sight of a a mass-murderer getting a hero's welcome in Tripoli is deeply upsetting, deeply distressing." Conservative leader David Cameron has sent Brown a public message condemning the decision and calling on Brown to "make clear his own views" on the decision.

UK-Libya

--------

9. (C/NF) Foreign Office North Africa team leader Rob Dixon told Poloff August 24 that the UK has been telling the Libyan Government, through Saif al-Islam and the Foreign Ministry, that the Libyan Government's handling of its September 1 national day festivities will determine the future of the UK-Libya bilateral relationship. Dixon explained that the UK has explicitly told the Libyans that Megrahi should not be featured in any high-profile way. He said that the UK has also told the Libyans that Qaddafi's personal thanks to PM Brown and the Queen were "unhelpful" and the UK Government's "unhappiness" had been communicated "in clear terms." Dixon said the Foreign Office will take stock after the September 1 festivities.

UK-Scotland

-----------

10. (C/NF) Dixon termed "absurd" MacAskill's comment (in his original August 20 statement about Megrahi's release) that the UK Government's refusal to make representations was "highly regrettable." Referring to MacAskill's welcoming of a public inquiry into the case, Dixon said such an undertaking would be "nearly impossible" given the way devolution works. Dixon implied that the comments were designed to blame the UK Government for putting the Scots in a position to have to make a decision. Dixon told Poloff on August 24 that the Foreign Office had had no contact with the Scottish Government since the decision was announced.

Comment

-------

11. (C/NF) It is clear that the Scottish Government underestimated the blow-back it would receive in response to Megrahi's release and is now trying to paint itself as the victim. It seems likely, especially given the increasing speculation that the UK Government had a hand in the decision, that Prime Minister Brown will have to address the issue publicly. Meanwhile, local Scottish opposition politicians are trying to undercut the SNP minority government's credibility as much as possible.

12. (U) Tripoli minimize considered.

Visit London's Classified Website: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Unit ed_Kingdom

SUSMAN

Like snaw aff a dyke...

Shitting crikey. This weather is not a disaster; it is not catastrophic, Scotland is not gridlocked, there are no Godzilla's roaming the earth munching people in their slow moving cars, flaming meteorites are not thumping into the planet, we are not ruined, we've not ground to a halt, being late to work is not a tragedy, zombie snowmen are not eating your babies as they walk home from school in the snow, roads have no emotions, they are not treacherous, sub-zero temperatures do not equate to a cataclysm. 

It snowed, some people decided to plough on despite the warnings of err snow, more fool them. 

Here's Dougie with the sports news.