Female Talent

One of my nieces, Jo, visited me in Parliament within the last few weeks. As a member of the UK Orienteering squad she is a top line athlete and lives in Sweden.

And she has until recently been a recipient of a development grant from sportsScotland. So when we saw Scotland’s Sports and Culture Minister at the next table when we went for lunch in the canteen, I nobbled him to come across for a chat.

Now while orienteering – nicknamed “cunning running” – is a very popular sport and attracts thousands of participants for its Scottish Week event each year, it is not an Olympic sport. And it has therefore been taken off the list of sports being supported by our government.

That despite it being a very cheap sport, and a sport where we do well. Jo’s brother Jamie won the world sprint orienteering championship last year and others do very well.

So while Frank McAveety made encouraging noises, seemed interested at how little it took to support a sport that only needs the countryside as its resource, and asked Jo to write to him, I counselled speed.

Rumours of a re-shuffle were rife and Frank’s coat was generally thought to be on a “shooglie nail”. For it was he who had been eating a mutton pie, beans and chips in the canteen when he should have been I front of Parliament answering questions.

In any “proper” government, Frank would have had his jotters that same day.

Instead it took until the beginning of October – many months later – before the First Minister finally gave Frank the right to linger in the canteen for as long as he wants.

But while the fate of Frank might concern my niece and her fellow orienteers – personal contact made, personal contact broken in less than a week – the re-shuffle has a more interesting story to tell.

Our new leader of the opposition – Nicola Sturgeon – is the first woman to have held a party leader’s position in our Parliament. And Jack has struggled for every one of the five weeks of encounters at First Minister’s Question time.

That tells us something about our First Minister. But so does his continuing failure to use the undoubted talent of impressive women on his own backbenches such as Susan Deacon, Jackie Baillie and Wendy Alexander.

The question is whether they were asked and said “no” or why were they not asked.
In a new Cabinet with as little talent as the old one, many are now coming to the conclusion that Jack is afraid to have talent in the same room as himself.

The poor soul is now besieged by clever females behind him and in front.

Open At Last

George Reid was elected as the SNP member for the parliamentary constituency of Ochil in 2003. Previously a list member, he had been one our Deputy Presiding Officers.

In this Parliament he was promoted – by secret ballot of all MSPs – to Presiding Officer.

In this role he keeps order during our debates. But, more critically, he chairs the Corporate Body that manages the operation of Parliament.

By general consent, it has been George who has finally knew how to crack the whip and get our new building ready for its formal opening on 9th October.

As a senior official at the Red Cross in Geneva, he had been involved in disaster relief and knows how to make things happen. He tells of one occasion when he arrived at an earthquake zone ahead of much needed Red Cross supplies.

They were stuck in customs and local officials were insisting on seven copies of each bit of paperwork. And insisting on one original and six carbon copies – photocopies would not do. The snag was no one in that country had carbon paper.

George simply chartered a plane from Germany to bring carbon paper and the relief work went ahead.

So it was no surprise that when George took charge of our faltering, failing building project, things started to happen.

On a fair but chilly day, I found myself on the “Riding” from the old Scots Parliament – the oldest purpose built such building in Europe and now an ante-room to our highest court – down the Royal Mile to our new home at Holyrood.

A “riding” it may have been called – after the ridings of the old parliament – but we walked down the hill. There were a few muttered curses from the ladies – high heels, long walks and cobbles don’t mix – but we enjoyed it.

My guest for the day, Ellon Steele from Chalmers Hospital A&E, and I waved and laughed with the crowds. And yes, she gave our First Minister a brief insight into life at the NHS coalface.