The final solution?

If the Scottish Nationalists ever seem like actually winning an election, Tony Blair can always look to Belgium for inspiration. As reported on Airstrip One, the Belgian regime is thinking of simply banning the Flemish equivalent of the SNP. I wonder what the EU-loving SNP leader, John Swinney, will have to say.

The SNP campaign

The Nationalists have started campaigning for the May elections to the Scottish parliament. This could well attract votes:

The plans would also mean a 20 per cent cut in the size of the Executive with the 20 ministers reduced to 15, eight in the Cabinet and seven junior ministers.

But perhaps the nationalists need to sort out the financial affairs of their own councillors before they can be trusted with bigger things.

A not-so-new party

The New Party for Britain is planning to contest the May elections for the Scottish parliament. Unfortunately for them, they have made a slightly disturbing mistake:

One issue they are expected to tackle is the embarrassing name the New Party - it was chosen without anyone realising that it has strong links to 1930s fascism - it was the name of Sir Oswald Mosley’s first party.

And what are their policies? According to the website:

WHAT WE STAND FOR

Our policies are being developed from the ground up guided by people with practical experience and overseen by leading academics.

In other words they have no consistent ideology and will therefore get nowhere.

Keep the buses running

I was rather impressed to read that our local bus company has taken action to reduce exposure to fuel price increases in the event of military action in the Middle East.

A golden future?

The Scotsman runs an interesting article today on the prospects for gold:

Ben Bernanke, a recent arrival at the Fed from the academic groves of Princeton, has declared that the Fed will do all within its not inconsiderable powers to "print" its way out of trouble before deflation becomes entrenched.

I know that Mr. Bernanke's recent pronouncements have been causing much speculation across the Internet. The web's goldbugs are aware that:

Now that the Fed has declared it will "print" as many dollars as it takes to combat deflation, holders of US dollar assets would have to be extraordinarily naïve not to realise that an unlimited increase in the supply of US dollars means dollars will inevitably be worth less.

Fans of gold think that:

There is one standard against which this debasement of currencies can be measured and one asset which investors can own to protect themselves: That standard and that asset is gold.

I think that they are correct.

Spanish practices

Scotland's First Minister is trying to improve our eating habits. The Sunday Herald welcomes this dietary intrusion:

Mr McConnell, who comes to this issue with the Damascene zeal of a convert who admits that for eight years in his youth he never ate a vegetable, is to be applauded for his efforts on the dietary front.

Herald columnist, Tom Shields, has been visiting Barcelona, which seemingly has yet to offer diners such homely fare as the deep-fried Mars Bar. Mr Shields is shocked and envious at how inexpensive decent food is in Spain compared with the UK:

I write this filled not only with indignation but filled with lunch. I have just had a three-course meal in a restaurant called the Calandria which means the Lark. It certainly is a lark. The large starter of a rich paella barely left room for the tuna steak with green salad. The waitress has just left a bottle of whisky at the next table with which an old fella is liberally dousing his large slice of sponge cake. Being on a McConnellesque health kick, I have ordered a piece of fruit for my pudding. I am drinking the red wine included in the price merely to lower my cholesterol level. The cost is five euros. I am pondering what kind of lunch you can get for £3.25 in rip-off Scotland.

Yes, that certainly seems to be a good deal. But the real eye-opener was: "The waitress has just left a bottle of whisky at the next table with which an old fella is liberally dousing his large slice of sponge cake." Now if Jack McConnell can arrange for this practice to be adopted in Scottish restaurants, our health would really improve and he could face the May election with total confidence.

Libertarian soap?

On last Thursday's episode of ITV's The Bill, the new Superintendent at Sun Hill was confronted by his boss. Adam Okaro is black and I expected him to be an ever-so-correct Blairite. But he is turning out to be a bit of a libertarian. With increasing drug-related crime on his "patch", he is visited by the Borough Commander who is in a foul mood:

The Borough Commander Jane Fitzwilliam is getting tough on Sun Hill Police Station. But when she hears Superintendent Adam Okaro's radical opinion on drugs she demands he never repeat it again.

And what was Adam's shocking opinion? He called for the total decriminalisation of all drugs. Adam seems to be fan of Ayn Rand too. When Chief Inspector Jack Meadows (a traditionalist on drugs) asks the Superintendent why he was seeking Jack's help, Adam's reply was: "because it's in my own self-interest."

Tory confusion

Why should taxpayers compensate cricketers who don't play in Zimbabwe? The government has rightly (there's a first) said that it is up to the sportsmen to decide whether to take part in the tournament. If the Tories want compensation for cricketers who may - rightly in my view - decide not to go to Zimbabwe, where do we draw the line?

Now I read that:

Scottish Tories appear set to go against the tax-cutting policies of Iain Duncan Smith by refusing to pledge reductions under the parliament’s "tartan tax" variation powers.

The Tories need to sort out their ideas soon. They are a tax-cutting party or nothing.

On why Scotland's politicians shouldn't have access to the nuclear button

It seems quite simple really. You're a member of the government; there is a vote in Parliament; you vote for the government. But not for Cathy Craigie who "mistakenly" abstained in a vote, thus causing the government to lose its motion.

Of course, it was a mistake. Or was it:

However, one of Ms Craigie’s parliamentary colleagues expressed surprise that she had hit the wrong button on this crucial vote, despite four years of using the equipment without a hitch.

"You have to ask, why did she get it wrong on this vote when she has been voting with the Executive all along? It might have something to do with the election looming and the need to justify her position to the voters," he said.

No, it couldn't be anything to do with the election, could it?

A modest rebuff to the state

Many years ago I read about a Texan multi-millionaire who would blast his television with a shotgun every time Lyndon Johnson appeared on the screen. Given that: (a), Johnson was a fellow Texan, and (b), Johnson was President of the USA at the time, business was brisk in local electrical retail outlets. It has always been an ambition of mine to emulate this heroic gentleman, but sadly I have yet to achieve millionaire status. But now a heroine has arisen in Glasgow:

The contempt with which some drivers regard officialdom was made blatantly clear yesterday, after it emerged that a woman has racked up parking fines of £28,000 in three years.

In a free society roads would be privately owned with charges set and collected efficiently by the operators. In the bizarre world of government roads, the demon parker is an "offender":

"She is probably our worst offender in terms of the number of fines, but she is by no means the only one of this scale. The council refused to name the motorist, but The Scotsman understands that she lives in an affluent suburb of Glasgow.

The lady in question pays her fines, albeit a bit slowly. But what about this:

The council last year collected £4 million in parking fines, resulting in £600,000 profit for the local authority.

How on earth the Glasgow City Council is able to determine what is a "profit" is beyond me. Are the parking charges too low? Is this woman a problem for the city or a useful profit centre? Whatever. You can't imagine a private road company being so disorganised.

Off his trolley?

Have you ever been on a train that stops for no apparent reason? Perhaps this was the explanation:

A buffet trolley worker who clocked up extra overtime by bringing trains to an emergency stop cost a rail company almost £30,000, a court heard.

In response to the current outcry against crime, the court imposed a draconian sentence:

He was ordered to carry out 200 hours community service after a sheriff accepted that Tomlinson was of low intelligence.

Low intelligence? The accused was operating quite a clever scam. The punishment is not sufficiently severe. Mr Tomlinson should be made to drink £30,000 worth of railway tea. That'll teach him.

What's the motive?

What could be the cause of this?

A RAIL link to Glasgow airport will go ahead despite consultants' claims that none of the potential routes would be value for money, Iain Gray, the transport minister, said last night.

This couldn't possibly be connected with the forthcoming Scottish parliamentary election in which Labour needs to keep its many seats in the Glasgow area.

Airport rivalry

A report says that it would be better to invest in a rail link to Edinburgh airport than one at Glasgow:

The report found that the link to Edinburgh Airport, while more expensive than Glasgow at £256 million, would represent far better value for money than Glasgow.

There is of course intense rivalry between the two cities but the eastern suburbs of Glasgow are potentially as accessible to Edinburgh airport as to Glasgow's. Glasgow airport is on the wrong side of the city to be "Scotland's hub".

Oh dear

The First Minister's fall yesterday wasn't quite as accidental as was thought:

Despite an official clampdown on information, the Evening News has learned that workers at Bute House took the decision to use hot water rather than grit or salt to clean the steps of the Charlotte Square premises on Monday morning.

Note the bureaucratic response:

Today a spokesman for the Scottish Executive was keen to play down the latest incident. He said: "We are not aware of it happening. It didn’t appear that water had been poured on the steps and the weather conditions were particularly icy."

Imagine the kudos they would get if someone just said: "Yes there was a screw-up. We won't do it again."

No chance of that.

Bizarre coincidence.

After Saddam Hussein insulted differently-heighted people everywhere by calling George W Bush a "small midget", Scotland's own vertically-challenged leader became so upset that he found himself base over apex:

JACK McConnell was treated for cuts to his face yesterday after slipping on an icy pavement as he left Bute House, the First Minister’s official residence in Edinburgh.

When I heard this news on television last night I didn't pay too much attention, but as the Scotsman points out today:

The late former first minister, Donald Dewar, 63, died shortly after slipping on the pavement outside Bute House in the winter of 2000. He was admitted to hospital in the evening of 11 October after the fall.

This is really spooky.

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,Great chieftain o' the puddin-race,Aboon them a' ye tak your place!

The American food authorities police are threatening the haggis. But folk are fighting back:

New York butcher, Steve Smith, normally has circumvented this threat to Scottish cultural freedom by butchering his own sheep and cooking his own haggis for ex-pats and American Burns’ lovers. Alas, fierce snow storms have prevented Mr Smith from carrying out his plan this year.

I am not so pleased about:

the appearance of a "Hawaiian-style" haggis - a de-boned chicken stuffed with pineapple and ham

Listen to this, ye food-police:

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware,
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!

The people have spoken.

Technophobia

John Stewart writes that a nation needs self confidence. That is absolutely correct:

It is difficult to pinpoint when the tide of our national self-confidence turned and began to ebb away but for many it was 22 January 1972 when we forsook Churchill’s open seas in favour of the sclerotic, bureaucratic labyrinth of the European Economic Community.

I would certainly agree that 22nd January 1972 was a "day of infamy" that will go down in history. Mr Stewart does not limit himself to our national surrender to the EUSSR but rightly condemns the technophobes:

I believe our future energy requirements can only be met by nuclear generation and our food requirements by genetically modified crops and livestock; no other rational course offers itself.

Quite right.

Fishing: the ultimate question

These two letters urge UK abandonment of the Common Fisheries Policy. David Guild writes:

The only reform that would protect the Scottish fishing fleet and also save the fish stocks would be - in my view - the abandonment of CFP and the repatriation of the appropriate sea areas back to the littoral powers.

And according to Stewart Whyte:

We must leave the Common Fisheries Policy. It has led us to ruin; it is morally corrupt and its credibility is shot to pieces.

Mr Whyte is a prospective Conservative candidate for the Scottish parliament. The question is Mr Stewart: if we could only get out of the Common Fisheries Policy by leaving the EU, which would you chose?

Now hear this!

Sean Connery has the world's sexiest male voice. This is no surprise given that Sir Sean was born a few hundred yards from the Freedom and Whisky bloghouse. But I think that the Scotsman's editor must have still been in post-new year recovery mode by allowing this through:

The top regional accents voted for were Irish, followed by Scottish, then Geordie with the West Midlands, Birmingham and Liverpudlian accents voted as the least favourite.

Irish accents haven't been "regional" for eighty-odd years. Worse, everyone north of the border, unionist and nationalist alike, sees Scotland as a nation, rightly or wrongly within a United Kingdom. "Regional" accents! I can see the protest letters on their way.

Labour's press gangs

Yesterday I mentioned home schooling. This letter makes it clear that the Scottish Executive has identified yet another way to extend conscription of children.

The article referred to in Mr Tait's letter is to be found here and this is what parents thought:

The research, by Vauxhall Motors, found 30 per cent of Scottish parents would teach their child at home, with 60 per cent saying they did not trust the education system.

This is fantastically good news. Scotland is often portrayed as a profoundly socialist country although the four-party system here makes it look as though Labour support is much larger than the numbers who actually vote that way. But, even so: "60 per cent do not trust the education system." The people know that socialism doesn't work, even in education. It's up to libertarians to hammer on about the alternative.

Glasgow Airport

EasyJet has cut its Glasgow to Amsterdam service from twice to once per day:

A spokeswoman for easyJet said: "It is very difficult for us to operate with high landing charges. The market for us in Scotland, with regular flights from both Edinburgh and Glasgow, means services sometimes overlap. We fully expect to meet demand for flights."

There has been persistent suggestion of unnecessarily high landing charges at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, both of which are owned by the formerly nationalised BAA. Non-BAA airports like Newcastle, Manchester, Bristol and Liverpool have expanded considerably. Edinburgh has done well on the back of a booming city economy but I think that it would be beneficial if Edinburgh and Glasgow airports were owned by separate organisations.

Education, education, education

This year I have made a resolution to read Brian's Education Blog every day. Brian Micklethwait has put together an excellent site on a very important subject that clearly needs fresh thinking. I was previously unaware of the existence of Schoolhouse, a Scottish-based home education pressure group and I have added them to my links.

Tories still don't get it

Brian Micklethwait wrote on Samizdata about a possible Conservative revival. The Tories have spoken out against the increasing numbers now becoming liable to pay the 40% income tax rate Fair enough. But what's this:

A Tory spokesman said that this meant many people in ordinary jobs, such as senior teachers, police officers and nurses, were paying taxes at rates initially intended only for the rich. "There must be serious doubt about the wisdom of imposing the top rate of tax on hard-working nurses, teachers, doctors and police officers," he said.

Nurses, teachers, doctors and police officers indeed. What about factory managers, software engineers, shop owners and, dare I say, accountants? Well of course they work in the hated private sector and are therefore of no interest to the new touchy-feely Conservatives. This is ludicrous. Most people aren't employed by the state and we are getting utterly fed-up with NuLab's continual attacks. There is a huge gap in the political marketplace for a tax-cutting and regulation-blasting political party that speaks for the majority. Why can't the Tories see that? Just how many Labour parties do we need?

An unexpected outbreak of liberalism

Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, has come out against the euro and would urge his constituents to vote against!

He emphasises the "desperate need" for his party to re-appraise its approach to Europe, adding: "For too long, otherwise highly intelligent people have simply abandoned their critical faculties where the EU is concerned."

Arguing that the Lib Dems ought to be at the forefront of scepticism about Europe, he advises: "Liberal Democrats should always be sceptical of government - especially where it is in the firm grip of the unelected official - so why not the European Union?"

"Liberal Democrats should always be sceptical of government", he says. Most Lib Dem voters see the party as some sort of mid-point between Labour and the Conservatives. That was probably true in the 1960s, but nowadays a majority of Lib Dem activists are firmly in bed with the state. Mr Carmichael is sceptical. Good for him. Could it be that other Lib Dems may "come out" against big brother?