Haste Ye Back

It hardly seems credible that it was only last week that we were in Aberdeen. And I have yet to hear a word against the city from MSPs dragged, less than willingly in some cases, from the cosy centre of Edinburgh.

Leaving the city for the week was not a voluntary act of course. We normally meet in the Church of Scotland’s Assembly Hall. But last week the Kirk had its annual shindig and we were homeless.

Since Labour’s Scottish Secretary, Donald Dewar, decided even before the elections for our Parliament, that our new building should be at Holyrood in Edinburgh we have been waiting, waiting, waiting … for our permanent home to be ready.

And the £40 million figure produced by him as the cost to build it has risen, risen, risen … while we will have spent our whole first term in temporary accomodation.

But it has always been said that Scotland’s Parliament should be for all of Scotland. Just how much work we have to do to make that true was illustrated by debates and lobbying in Aberdeen.

It came as a surprise to members to find how primitive our transport infrastructure is in the North-East … poor rail, no city bypass and limited international air services.

A debate on the provision for helping drug addicts, and hence reducing the impact of their crimes on the rest of us, flushed out that we get only four fifths of the money that the rest of Scotland gets. And we only get 90% of the health funding per head in Grampian that Scotland gets. We have half the dentists that Edinburgh has.

An Oil & Gas debate was more positive … about our past at least. The future looks less certain with new taxes from Gordon Brown putting a severe damper on future development.

For me personally a week working in Aberdeen meant I could commute from home rather than relocate for the week to Edinburgh as usual … oh joy!

But just as my colleagues in the Parliament took happy memories of the North-East back to the south, I revisited happy old ones.

I met the pupils of Banff Academy and from Mintlaw in my old ‘Logic and Metaphysics’ lecture theatre. And … no … I can’t remember much about the subject even though I passed the exams.

So should Parliament make regular forays out to meet Scotland? David McLetchie, Tory leader in Scotland, thinks it is a waste of time and money. But then he is an Edinburgh lawyer and there is no more parochial breed.

Every other political persuasion appears to think it worth considering. Although less than 40 Committee meetings of Parliament have travelled from our capital, the frequency seems to be rising and communities seem to value this.

So I am far from being in a minority in being fully signed-up for taking us out of the central belt at least once a year.

In Free Fall?

And just as travel around Scotland can extend the understanding of MSPs in general, I have been working on increasing my personal knowledge.

The Peterhead Prison saga grinds on. And it is worth remembering that the greatest power of government is not their ability to change things. Neither is it to make laws. It is very simply to delay. That is the most powerfull tool for wearing down opponents.

In Banff, Chalmers Hospital campaigner Sandra Napier has highlighted that after initially encouraging news from our health board, we now seem to be entering a period of worrying delay. Well I know Sandra well and she and her colleagues won’t let them wear them down.

But I have been focussing on the Prison. I have just returned from France where Euro MP Ian Hudghton and I visited La Bapaume prison.

A nice jolly for your MSP? Not quite. The Parliament gave me a budget for the visit…a small one. And it was nearly blown out of the water straight away when I got the quote for our one day trip.

To fly from Aberdeen I was quoted nearly £1,000 for two. Edinburgh was only £2 cheaper.

So Ryanair and Prestwick Airport got our business and charged under £200 for our flights to Paris. The planes left on time and arrived early both times. And we didn’t miss the meal and coffee an expensive flight would have given us!

Our visit to the French prison confirmed that the Scottish Prison Service just has not done its research. There are workable examples of how to build prisons which are affordable and sensible.

But perhaps the greatest surprise was the range of ‘outside’ activities for prisoners. Who would have thought that a prison team would be participating in the French free-fall parachuting championships next month? Strange but true!