Do the handcuffs fit?

A statement this week in Parliament from Liberal Fisheries Minister Ross Finnie has confirmed, in his words – “further difficulties” – for our fishing industry.

And we do not have to take his word for it. Fishermen know it. And they look with envy at – for example – Danish and Belgian fishermen.

Our fleet has seen two successive years of de-commissioning – state-sponsored redundancy without money to the people most affected by that – to the point where the number of people in the white-fish sector is as small as it has ever been, others sail on and fish on.

Even though the number of “trawler days” available to Scots fishing have been dramatically cut by the huge reduction in our fleet, there is no relief from the drastic days-at-sea limits.

But while our boats have to sit in the harbour for half the month, the Belgian and Danish fleets – unaffected by draconian de-commissioning – have no restrictions on day to fish.

I asked Finnie why so in Parliament after his statement. Answer came there none.
No surprise there.

With a Euro election on 10th June, perhaps that’s when our industry’s people with give him their answer. And it won’t be a surprise either.

Fat or fit?

January may be an awkward time for some to look down at the news from the bathroom scales. But with over a fifth of Scotland’s population obese there is probably no more appropriate time.

When my wife and I married nearly 35 years ago, one present we received was a set of such scales. Time has taken its toll and we binned it recently.

The space next the bath they once occupied remains empty and I measure my weight by the notch on my belt and the occasional glance at the mirror.

Before Parliament I had a very sedentary occupation and there was little opportunity during the working day for exercise. And my belt showed it – notches progressing rightward across my front with time.

But I now get my thirty minutes exercise a day and the presence of two previously used belt notches now reclaimed by my shrinking waistline boast of it.

Not that I go out of the way to the gym. My treadmill is free – or at least paid for by Edinburgh taxpayers – the streets and steps between accommodation and Parliament. And I very rarely use the lift between my second floor office and the debating chamber up the street.

If my legs feel a bit tight and stiff at the end of the day, I see that as good news. More exercise than usual.

Walking is good for you and requires no special equipment.

But not everyone has such a simple solution to achieving the health professionals’ recommendations of 30 minutes of exercise per day for adults and an hour for children. If your work requires the walk, you get the benefit, otherwise you need make a positive decision.

There are some signs that Scots are taking their health more seriously.

Numbers smoking have fallen. The Charity, Cancer UK, has found that a quarter of men are now ex-smokers. And the payoff is seen in a three-year drop of an eighth in the number of lung cancer cases among males.

Women are not doing so well – yet. A slight fall in lung cancer. Too many young women taking up smoking and not enough giving up.

For health care professionals it has been a 20-year struggle to persuade people to stop smoking and they still have nearly a third of our population who remain smokers to work on.

It is today’s dramatic rises in obesity that can present the biggest future challenge.

So this week’s announcement of “fat czars” – 600 of them – to work in schools to raise exercise levels sounds a good idea.

However when you look at the funding which – to quote from the Scottish Government’s press release, “is funded by the Executive from the £24 million set aside in the 2002 Scottish budget” – one is left unclear how much will be available. Even if it were the whole £24 million, that is still only about £9.50 per year for each obese person in Scotland.

And if our children’s diet remains dependent on prepared meals from the supermarket – high in fat, high in sugar, high in salt – low in locally-sourced, quality ingredients – increasing exercise, welcome as that would be, might not make enough difference.

Who are the government’s new 600 people and what qualifications will they have. Are they ersatz physical education teachers – all the responsibilities but none of the training? Is this PE on the cheap? What are these “co-ordinators” to co-ordinate?
If exercise, diet and obesity is moving up the political agenda, that should be welcomed.

But it will take more than £24 million to replace fat with fit.