Celebrating our past and deciding our future

St Andrew’s Day is a day that has for centuries held national importance for people in Scotland. Yet this year it took on a special significance, marking as it did the end of one national event and the start of another.

The diverse and hugely successful Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations culminated in a series of festivities around the country to cap off an outstanding year of events. Across the country people from Scotland and the rest of the world have joined in events celebrating the core themes of homecoming throughout the year.

Early figures show that for an initial outlay of £5.5 million, the year’s Homecoming celebrations have benefited the Scottish economy to the tune of at least £19.4 million and are on course to exceed the £44 million target set when the project was first devised. In the difficult economic circumstances we find ourselves in, the Homecoming celebrations have provided a real boost to Scotland’s tourism industry.

The celebrations were timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, a date of historic importance. Yet while those celebrations came to an end on St Andrew’s Day, a new piece of Scotland’s history was written.

The SNP Government was elected on a promise to give people in Scotland the choice on their future that they have never had before with a referendum on independence. Thousands of people across Scotland have taken part in a National Conversation on the shape of Scotland’s future and this work culminated on St Andrew’s Day with the publication of a white paper on a bill for a referendum on independence.

The Scottish Government was elected on a promise to deliver this choice to people in Scotland and we are determined to do all that we can to see that referendum take place with the necessary bill coming before the Scottish Parliament next year.

Scotland needs the powers of a normal independent country if we are to successfully create the conditions we need to recover from the economic situation. The artificial limits of devolution mean that too many decisions that could be made to help Scotland recover either do not happen or are made in ways that actively cause damage through their unsuitability for Scotland. From taxation to immigration; transmission charges to having our own voice in Europe, the powers of independence are essential to creating the future for Scotland which we would all want to see.

Whatever side of the independence debate they are on, however, people in Scotland have consistently shown a desire to make their views on the shape of Scotland’s future known through a referendum on the issue. If the opposition politicians in Holyrood are determined to deny people the voice on the issue to which they are entitled, they will have no choice but to face the public’s anger.

Restraint and reconciliation

I was recently delighted to attend a sermon from Reverend Stephen Brown of Fraserburgh United Reformed Church in the Scottish Parliament. The Parliament opens its weekly sessions with a Time for Reflection conducted by representatives of the many diverse faiths practiced in Scotland and it was particularly welcome that a speaker from Banff & Buchan was invited to deliver such an address.

Reverend Brown highlighted the need for restraint and reconciliation during the often robust debates surrounding the shape of Scotland’s future. It is a principle that members of all of Scotland’s political parties can at times lose sight of and which we could certainly do well to remember in our discussions.

Getting the best deal for Scotland

As all within the fishing industry will know only too well, we are once again approaching the annual fishing negotiations that will determine the fishing restrictions that skippers will face in the coming year. The SNP is in no doubt that the common fisheries policy under which this is decided has utterly failed to either conserve fish stocks or protect the economic livelihoods of those in the fishing industry. Clearly it must be replaced with a system that returns responsibility for managing fishing grounds to regional control, so that fisheries are managed by those who know and have a stake in those waters.

However, reforming the way business is done in Europe is never a quick process and we must deal with the short term situation first. It has been a difficult year for the industry as the recession and European restrictions have combined to damaging effect and it seems likely that next year will also be tough.

Yet despite this Scotland’s fishing fleet has once again been at the forefront of implementing new conservation measures, something that deserves to be recognised in the negotiations that will take place. Just recently, the Scottish Government announced funding for the trial of new fishing gear in the whitefish and prawn fleets that will help skippers be more selective about what they catch. This will let fishermen land more of what ends up in their nets rather than being forced to discard healthy fish. If it proves successful during its trials, vessels that adopt the gear will be able to buy back more days at sea under the conservation credit scheme.

Over half of Scottish fisheries by value have been accredited as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, with more set to follow suit. This is an important selling point as people become more conscious about where their food comes from, but also reflects the efforts Scottish fishermen have gone to build a sustainable, profitable industry.

The Scottish fleet has time after time been leading the way across Europe when it comes to finding innovative ways to fish sustainably and I know my colleague Richard Lochhead will push hard to see them rewarded with the best deal possible for Scotland in coming negotiations. Whatever the outcome of negotiations, the Scottish Government and the fishing industry is developing an action plan to set out a shared vision of the industry’s future and to help Scotland’s fishing communities deal with circumstances that are beyond their control.

The SNP Government knows just how important fishing is to Scotland’s economy and to the coastal communities that rely upon it. While other parties may have shamefully described the industry as “expendable” in the past, everyone in Scotland’s fishing communities know that that is something the SNP will never do.

One of agricultural journalism’s leading lights

I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Dan Buglass, one of Scotland’s leading agricultural journalists recently who wrote for a variety of press titles during his career. Agricultural journalists play a vital role in providing the kind of specialised news which farmers, and those in linked businesses, need and Dan was one of the field’s most respected journalists throughout his thirty year career.

Dan will be sorely missed be everyone who used to enjoy his insightful articles and my thoughts are with the family and friends he leaves behind during this difficult time.