Scots Independent
March 1996
Owned, Edited and Printed in Scotland - First Published in November 1926
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Cartoon - by Macdonald
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Radio Scotland, a political carve-up - Colin Campbell
I have raised before the dubious integrity of Radio Scotland's
Friday phone-in programme Headlines. From a mere
numbers point of view its audience ratings are probably as
low as for any of that station's serious output, but nonetheless
the programme is supposed to be an opportunity, on a par with
Radio 4' s Any Questions, for ordinary callers to raise and comment upon political matters of the day--as far as they affect
Scotland.
We all know that there are four main political parties in
Scotland which, in order of popular support, are Labour, SNP,
Tory and Lib Dem. On Radio 4's Any Questions, where in
England there are only three main parties, they invariably have
at least four panellists; thus showing that such a number is
perfectly reasonable to handle on the air. On Headlines there
are only ever three panellists and one of them is often of a
supposedly non-political nature. As a direct consequence of
this editorial policy it is never possible to have the views of
each of the four main parties represented on the panel; and
this deprives the programme of any sense of balance or indeed intellectual frisson. This alone would be reason enough
for extending the panel to include all four strands of opinion;
but what is much worse is that the present arrangements are
used to further distort any sense of fairness: by apportioning
seats on the panel on a discriminatory basis. In its early years
Headlines used to be dominated, week by week, by Labour
panellists in one guise or another. At the same time the SNP
and Lib Dems got a look in on an alternative weekly basis.
I remember feeling (almost) sorry for the Tories who seemed to be getting a short ration of appearances. At that time
the third panel place was nearly always given to an 'outsider'.
What has happened now appears to be the direct result of Tory
pressure for instead of being made to languish in the wings
they share weekly with Labour a regular seat on the panel
bench. For the SNP and Lib Dems the situation has worsened so that in order to allow 'outsiders' to appear now and again
they are restricted to appearances on less than an alternate
weekly basis. Now this, in my view, is plain political skulduggery being exercised by courtesy of Radio Scotland.
On a number of occasions I have telephoned the programme
to question the continuing bias displayed in the allotment of
panellists--a bias which seems to reflect, not the state of
politics in Scotland, but what BBC Scotland would prefer that
state to be. Habitually I get nothing more than a polite
acknowledgement of my call.
There is absolutely no plausible reason why Headlines
should not have representation each week from each of our
four main parties and the only explanation that we can deduce
from the present arrangements is that BBC Scotland's well
known Labour bias persists but that its producers have succumbed to pressure from the Government, or the Scottish Tory
party, to allow them to have equal representation with Labour
--and to hell with everyone else. Headlines has become, in
my view, the most blatant and undisguised attempt that BBC
Scotland has ever made to misrepresent the political climate
in Scotland by denying full access to the constitutional debate
between Independence and the Union. I have promised to take
the case to the Director-General of the BBC in London--since
BBC Scotland's standing is, by its own choice, of mere
regional stature--but if readers themselves feel like joining
the struggle: Headlines is on Fridays, at 1 pm, (lines open
at 12.30) and the number to ring is 0500 969800 and it's free!
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Editorial - Union Without Honour
When the Scottish constitutional question was first
raised with John Major in the Commons--after
he had toppled Mrs Thatcher -- he made the
memorable comment that it would be sad if Scotland
'decided to leave the United Kingdom'. Having thus
displayed his profound ignorance of the constitutional
nature of the United Kingdom--which, of course,
would cease to exist as a unitary state should Scotland
regain her independence--his error has now been
compounded by the deputy prime-minister, Michael
Heseltine, in his recent gaffe about the value of Scots
'in the English cabinet'. But before we get too hot
under the collar about such historical ineptitude in high
places we should perhaps ask ourselves if, in a contemporary de facto sense, they are not right and are
simply telling us the way things are as they see it--
whether we like it or not. What has happened is that,
with the demise of Empire and the abandonment of
Commonwealth in favour of Europe, only the English
with all their visible institutions still intact, can continue to dream of the UK as still having the influence
of a major imperial power. When, after the Suez
debacle, the US Secretary of State declared that 'Britain has lost an Empire and hasn't yet found a role'
great umbrage was taken in Whitehall but of course
he was right, as events have shown.
Mrs Thatcher's Falklands War was a desperate and
nearly catastrophic gamble in old-style gunboat
diplomacy whose undeserved success spawned that latterday English jingoism which still sweeps the playing
fields of Europe to the disgust of all beholders. In the
Gulf War, backed up by American involvement, one
autocratic regime (armed by Britain) was backed
against another autocratic regime--also apparently
armed by Britain--not for any reason of moral imperative but for sheer national self-interest in preserving access to Gulf oil. Once this precious commodity
was safeguarded the human cost to the Kurds and
Marsh Arabs, in leaving them to the vengeful mercies
of Saddam Hussein, became a bearable price to pay
for 'stability' in the region.
Any residual sense of Britannic honour that might
have remained from the days when an identifiable
United Kingdom took on tyrants, against the odds, in
the cause of freedom was utterly dissipated by Messrs
Major, Hurd and Rifkind early in the Bosnian Crisis.
By seeking to prevent the UN Security Council from
ordering early intervention in that war their names will
go down in history as being among those directly
responsible, by default, for the subsequent barbaric
ethnic cleansing, mass murder and slaughter of innocents that the UN's final grudging intervention,
under NATO's banner, has at last halted. Their shame
is our collective shame and the stain on Britain is now
ineradicable.
In Scotland we are to all intents and purposes ruled
by England's political Establishment whose predominant reason for wishing us to remain within the Union
is one of national aggrandisement coupled with access
to our natural and human resources. The concept of
a United Kingdom as a great God-given force for good
in the world has long since been torpedoed by the ignorance, selfishness and lack of statesmanship of latterday politicians still suffering from delusions of
grandeur. The measure of their concern for anyone
other than the English--sorry 'British' nation is summed up by more of Mr Major's and his aides' words:
"We are only in the European Union for what we can
get out of it".
It could surely be only the most starry-eyed of Scots who would not now admit that all today's
evidence shows that English politicians view the Union
with Scotland in exactly the same light.
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'London Levy' holding Scotland back
SNP leader Alex Salmond MP has mocked the Chancellor
of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke for his bullish assessment
of the Scottish economy. He told the Scots Independent -
"What Ken Clarke knows about the Scottish economy could be written on the back of a cigarette paper. UK
economic policy is devised by and for London and the south
east of England, with no reference to Scottish interests--
which is why Scotland has under-performed within the
Union.
"A look at the only other hydrocarbon rich economy in
northern Europe--Norway--shows how London rule has
held Scotland back. Since 1979, Norwegian economic growth
has been 2.9 per cent per annum, compared to 2.0 per cent
in Scotland. This means that Norwegian GDP has grown by
over 20 per cent more than Scottish GDP since 1979.
"The SNP's "Towards a Better Scotland" programme
details how a Scottish economic strategy could deliver higher
economic growth than is attainable within the Union.
"It is the Kenneth Clarke's 'London levies' which are
holding Scotland back. Scotland is more highlv taxed than
the rest of the UK. paying an extra £10 per taxpayer per
week into the London exchequer.
"Higher business rates in Scotland amount to a 'London
levy' of a massive £1.5 billion paid by Scottish businesses
since l990. The Chancellor's own petrol tax hikes amount
to a 'London levy' of £150 per annum on Scottish motorists.
And over £100,000 million of North Sea revenues have been
taken from Scotland since 1979--the biggest 'London levy'
of all.
"Instead of being sucked dry by London, Scotland needs
an independent Parliament so that Scottish resources can be
invested in the Scottish economy."
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Pensioner's Package in an Independent Scotland
by Kay Ullrich (SNP Social Security Spokesperson)
Scottish pensioners are now among the worst-off in Europe. This in a wealthy
wee nation like Scotland, is nothing short of a scandal. The elderly population represents a major part of Scotland's future. By the year 2021 over
a million Scots will be of pensionable age -- almost a quarter of our population. This
presents a challenge to Scottish society in terms of social
justice provision -- a challenge which can only be met with independence in
Europe. The Scottish National Party has the will to meet the challenge. We aspire to a standard of living and a quality of life which will bring our elderly population the same comforts enjoyed in other comparable European nations.
In our recently published and fully costed Budget document "Towards a Better Scotland", we have outlined a ''Pensioner's Package" designed to
address the needs and aspirations of the elderly. We have budgeted for these proposals so that they can be implemented in the very first term of an independent
Parliament .
An increase in State pensions is of urgent importance and commensurate with our
aim of bringing Scottish pensions into line with the European average. We will immediately increase pensions by £5 per week for a married couple and £3 per week for a single person. Thereafter, we will continue to increase pensions until Scottish pensioners are as well off as their European counterparts. In another
measure to put money into elderly pockets, we will abolish the unfair standing
charges on gas, electricity and telephones.
I have described Scotland as a ''wealthy wee nation'', but
we all know that it is also a ''cold wee nation''. It costs at
least 30% more to heat your home in Nairn than it does in
Nuneaton. The SNP is pledged to the introduction of a Cold Climate Allowance, paid
automatically during the months of December through to March, to all those in
receipt of State Retirement Pension, Income Support, Family Credit and Housing
Benefit. The weekly amount will be £11.15 per week in Northern Scotland and £7.40
per week in the South. In this, the most energy-rich nation in Europe, fuel poverty amid fuel plenty is an obscenity that will
no longer be tolerated. In addition we will immediately reduce VAT on fuel from 8% to 5% . The SNP has spent the last 20 years trying to raise the
issue of fuel poverty in Parliament. We never expect support from the callous Tories,
but we should surely have received the support of the Labour Party--but in each
and ever occasion that we have proposd a Cold Climate Allowance or indeed, a reduction of VAT on fuel, the Labour Party, Scots members
included, have to their eternal shame sat on their hands and
abstained. Only with Independence can Scots pensioners receive fuel justice in
their fuel-rich country.
Means testing of the elderly for residential care is a scandal of growing proportions. More and more elderly people are having to face the heartbreak of selling the family home in order to pay for their residential care. They are having to suffer the indignity of means-testing for a service that was previously provided from
their contributions. The Tory Government have 'moved the goalposts' and at a stroke,
reneged on a promise made when people started paying
their contributions to the Health Service. We propose to abolish means testing of the
elderly who require long-termcare. This will be an immediate priority in the first term of
an independent Parliament.
The Scottish National Party's commitment to pensioners
is firm, clear and will never waiver--we believe that people who have worked hard all
their lives, who have put their share into the public kitty, deserve dignity and comfort in
their old age. We are unequivocal: we will raise the standard of living of our elderly citizens to the standard of decency enjoyed elsewhere in
Europe -- and unlike our Unionist opponents, we are prepared to show exactly how
we will pay for it. The truth is--for the old, as well as the
young, Scotland's future depends on our Independence
in Europe.
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Seirbheis Nàiseanta Rèidio A-Nis - Alasdair MacCaluim
Tha mi duilich ach tha agam ri sgrìobhadh mun Ghàidhlig a-rithist!
Carson a tha mi duilich? Uill, ann an Sprantis (Esperanto) thuirt cuideigin mar fhealla dha "Esperanto estas la lingvo kiun oni lernas se oni volas paroli pri Esperanto".
That sin a' ciallachadh "'S e Sprantais an cànan a dh' ionnsaicheas tu ma tha thu airson bruidhinn mu Sprantis". Bho àm gu àm bidh mi a' smaoineachadh gur e an aon rud leis a' Ghàidhlig. 'S e rud cunnartach a tha seo. Ro thric cha bhi cuilbh agus programman anns a' Ghàidhlig a' bruidhinn mu
rud sam bith ach a' Ghàidhlig. A dh' aindeoin seo tha mi a' sgrìobhadh
mun Ghàidhlig a-rithist am mios seo a chionn 's gu bheil mi cho feargach leis a'
BhBC.
Tha sinn air mòran chluintinn mun t-seirbheis ùr Gàidhlig a tha tòiseacheadh anns a' Ghearran. Mar a tha fhios agaibh, chan eil ach uair a thìde de Ghàidhlig air an rèidio gach latha air a' Ghalltachd. Tha seo air MW. A dh' aithghearr, bidh làn sheirbheis Gàidhlig ann am meadhon na h-Alba agus bidh a h-uile program Rèidio nan Gaidheal ri fhaotainn
ann an Glaschu, Dun Eideann 7c. Bidh Rèidio nan Gaidheal aig a' mhòr-chuid de dh' Albannaich. A dh' aindeoin seo, na èisdibh ri
daoine a tha ag ràdh gur e "seirbheis nàiseanta" a tha seo. Chan eil i nàiseanta idir.
Bidh na programman Gàidhlig air MW a' stad a dh'aithghearr. Air an adhbhar sin, cha bhi Gàidhlig sam bith anns na haiteachan far nach eilcrainn-sgaoilidh FM. A-rèir mapa a rinn a' BhBC fhèin, cha bhi rèidio Gàidhlig ri fhaotainn anns na Criochan, Dun Phris 7 Gallghaidhealaibh, Taobh Tatha no anns a' mhòr-chuid de Roinn a' Mhonaidh no Fiobh. Nàiseanta? Cha channains gubheil. Tha seirbheis nàiseanta againn mar thà air MW ged nach eil ach uair a thìde ann gach latha.
'S e th' anns a' Ghàidhlig ach cànan Albann a tha cudromach do dh' Alba gu leir. Bha i air a bruidhinn air feadh na h-Alba linntean air ais. An-diugh tha fileantaich agus luchdionnsachaidh air feadh na duthcha fhathast agus tha iad ag iarraidh rèidio Gàidhlig. Tha rèidio air leth cudromach do luchdionnsachaidh gu h-àraidh an fheadhainn a tha a' fuireach anns na h-àiteachan far nach eil mòran Gàidhlig. Bidh mòran dhaoine air taobh a-muigh Alba ag èisdeachd ri Gàidhlig cuideachd air MW. Cha bhi e comasach dhaibh seo a dhèanamh ann an ùine nach bi ro fhada. Bidh an t-sèirbheis ùr sgoinneil airson nan daoine aig am bi i. A dh' aindeoin seo, cha bhi i math gu leòr airson na h-Alba no na
Gàidhlig. Tha feum air rèidio Gàidhlig air feadh na
dùthcha, fad na h-uine. Mur a gabh seo a dhèanamh an dràsda,
feumar uair no dhà a thìde a chumail air MW gus an gabh e dhèanamh. Cùmaibh a' Ghàidhlig beò, cùmaibh a' Ghàidhlig nàiseanta!
Ma tha sibh ag iarraidh seirbheis naiseanta, sgriobh gu:
Seamus Boyle,
Ceanard Rèidio BBC na h-Alba,
Slighe na Ban-Righ Mairead
(Queen Margaret Drive),
Glaschu G12 8DG.
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