Anniversaries

In any given week there will be anniversaries of importance to someone.

It was my wife’s birthday on the 9th and a distinct coolness on that day was explained when she reminded me of that fact on the 10th. My staff have helpfully promised to save me next year!

Five years ago Scotland voted overwhelmingly for the establishment of a Scottish Parliament.

And 29 years ago a Chilean dictatorship committed mass murder against its citizens.

But dominating the newspapers and TV was remembrance of the events of 11th September when nationals of some 70 countries died in the attacks on the USA of that date in 2001.

And it was right that our Parliament debate the close relationship we have with our friends across the Atlantic on the 11th.

The hunt for the terrorists has claimed a similar, some say greater than on “9-11”, number of lives in Afghanistan. Action in Iraq may claim more. And there are some pacifists in most parties in Parliament for whom war is anathema.

I am not one of those. What I hope is that when Westminster assembles on the 24th that we hear evidence of a character that removes ambiguity and maps a way forward. Be it for peaceful ways of dealing with dictators or otherwise.

Healthy Options

My sister-in-law is a very healthy lady who will reach retirement age this week. And she prompted me to ask our Health Minister how many nurses will retire over the next ten years.

The answer was worrying.

While the average age of our population continues to rise, we will also see retirements from nursing more than double within five years.

Just like recruitment of dentists and general practitioners, the supply of new people coming forward for nursing training just ain’t enough.

And the incentives for encouraging trained nurses back, perhaps after raising a family, are limited.

Perhaps this might be some of the explanation for why just spending more on the health service is yet to deliver the real improvements we cry out for.

The recent debate which saved Peterhead Prison highlighted that it was people that deliver excellent service, not buildings.

Health and the public services generally do need extra money – but they need more people even more. And that must mean more more for these people.

Summer at Last?

As I write here in Parliament, I have every available window open. For someone like myself who worked for 20 years in a windowless computer centre, this is almost unimaginable luxury.

In winter, we only used to see the sun at weekends. It was dark in the morning and black at night. We only knew that the snow could make our journey home a difficult one, when someone phoned us or when we left.

But the reason for the open windows is not self-indulgence. Summer has arrived and it is too hot!

And the Parliamentary business reaching my plate today would seem to confirm that. For I have to consider “The Common Agricultural Policy (Wine) (Scotland) Regulations 2002”.

Now I admit to the occasional quaff of Cairn O’Mhor’s excellent wines from Perthshire – the ‘dry oak leaf’ springs to mind at once - and a glass or two of wine produced north of Inverness.

However I can’t recall any locally grown grapes being converted to wine. But that’s what the regulation is about. So maybe the government has discovered the secret of political success – an ability to control the weather?

For a single day perhaps. But certainly no more.

Emergencies

There are many groups across Scotland organising meetings, setting up conferences, having debates. And on a wide range of subjects.

It may be curious to some, but many feel that it adds credibility and spice to invite along a politician or two.

It was my turn. And the topic? - "How Politicians Relate to Emergency Situations" with the meeting set up by Scotland’s Emergency Planning Officers. An all too topical subject for the week.

My initial conclusion was that it wasn’t a hot topic for Parliament.

An exploration of the Parliamentary Questions database revealed that only 13 questions on the subject had been asked on the subject in over 3 years. That out of a total of 29,563 questions answered. Mine was on arrangements for detecting anthrax in letters to Parliament – and it told me little.

One answer was particularly revealing. It showed that our government only allocated £3.5 million a year to local councils for this subject. Just about enough for each to employ a couple of people in a back room.

And yet the cost of our most recent emergency – foot & mouth disease – cost several hundred times as much. So it seems clear that the money is there to clear up afterwards but not to plan for or prevent them happening.