Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - But in looking at the future, one inevitably sees a range of possible threats, opportunities and outcomes.
Many of those who are frightened by the idea of making all our own decisions, latch on to something in today's world to worry about.
In our debate that was exactly what Maureen Macmillan, Labour member for the Highlands and Islands did.
She told us that Scotland has an enormous and growing deficit, and concluded that we must therefore change nothing. She said that we should stick with present policies and the people who are managing our economy. In effect she was saying that we must endorse failure.
But then with the UK also suffering a large imbalance between income and spending, perhaps she did not wish to criticise a Labour chancellor at Westminster.
To be positive in the debate I gave an outline of the budget speech I would like to hear being made.
"The theme of the speech and the Budget as a whole is Open for Business. There is a natural process of change in our economy and I give notice that the Government will do everything in its power to ensure that our businesses remain competitive.
“I speak of the need to promote success in the face of changing times. Our priorities are to remain competitive within an international marketplace, in which new rivals could emerge from anywhere around the globe. They can impact upon our ability to maintain our current standard of living and provide high quality public services.
“However, in so doing, we must remember the social needs of all our citizens, especially those who are unable to directly participate".
I would want to continue:
"We have received confirmation of our Triple A credit rating from both Standard and Poors and Moody's rating agencies, providing further evidence of the esteem in which our finances are viewed externally.
“In 2004-05, our economy is set to grow at a rate of 4.5% in real terms, a figure that exceeds the expectations of most other countries. We have a capital programme that will continue to afford work to many and promote full employment.”
We might even take initiatives to create small but significant opportunities for us to position ourselves for the future. For example, we might launch a,
"Zero rate of tax to businesses operating within the space industry. There are many new opportunities in this small but exceedingly promising area, including the manufacture, operation, sale or other activities provided in respect of launch vehicles".
Now of course that sounds like pure fantasy if you are already convinced that we are doing well – even with a large deficit.
Or you might think that a small country like ours could not be in a position that our government's money person could give such a speech.
Wrong!
Almost word for word my speech was a straight lift from the Isle of Man Treasurer's speech to the Manx Parliament, the Tynwald, on 17th February 2004. Read it for yourself on pages 729 to 738 of their Official Report if you want more.
The contrast with Scotland could not be more stark.
I have received answers from the Labour-Liberal Democrat government about their future planning. And been ridiculed for asking about their views of our needs in a mere ten years time.
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
And if the debate showed anything, it was that this government has no vision.
Expensive Phone Calls
If you go up to the “man in the street” and ask them what the significance of a telephone number staring 0845 is, many will think they know. They will say, “that's a local call”, or if they are really well-informed, they give it its Sunday name, lo-call.
And if you asked about an 0870 number many would say “that's a National Call”.
But if you asked them what they pay for such calls, they might be puzzled. They might imagine that an 0870 call – a “National Call” - would be charged at the “National Rate”. The reality is that you will pay twice what a call to Cornwall would cost.
So much so that companies providing an 0870 number to businesses will give those businesses about 3p a minute as a reward for encouraging their customers to use such numbers.
And so too with 0845 numbers, albeit much less so.
OFCOM have woken up to this “scam” and we might see something done soon.
Meantime keep your eye on your telephone bill and work out how much an 0870 call is costing you each minute.
