Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Rennieversary to Willie and Janet

Exactly 4 weeks ago, we all saw Barack Obama mention his 20th wedding anniversary as he started the first presidential debate.

I will eat my own iPhone if Willie Rennie does similar in Holyrood this afternoon, but the occasion should not go unremarked.

20 years ago today, he and his lovely wife Janet were married in Strathmiglo in Fife where Willie was brought up and where his parents still live.

I am sure that all my Liberal Democrat friends will join me in congratulating them and wishing them many more happy decades to come. 

Willie Rennie "coolly impressive"....as SNP reject openness in the independence debate

Willie Rennie "coolly impressive".....says journalist Euan McColm, who is not known for dishing out praise without good reason.


He was speaking after Willie's contribution in the Scottish Parliament debate on the events of last week, when it emerged that the SNP Government had not even sought legal advice from its law officers on the terms of an independent Scotland's membership of the EU, despite them making every effort to create the impression that they had. To add insult to injury, they spent thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money taking the Information Commissioner to Court over the issue. She had ruled that the Government would have to say whether such advice existed.

I wrote last week that Labour had over-egged the pudding on this by making it all about Salmond lying. That gave the First Minister just enough wiggle room. They need to learn that sometimes less is more. Ming Campbell told Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference in Dunfermline on Saturday that:
Alex Salmond may or may not have lied, but he certainly didn't tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 
That's relevant because it smashes Alex Salmond's and the SNP's credibility to bits, but the important thing is to get to the exact situation an independent Scotland would face when it tried to join the EU. Would it have the same rights as the UK, or would it have to join the Schengen Agreement, the Euro and all that the fiscal stability pact would entail in terms of budget cuts? The truth of the matter is: nobody actually knows, least of all the SNP. Former Labour Special Adviser David Clark argued last week that favourable legal advice, if available, was one thing, but the realpolitik of getting 27 other states to agree that interpretation was quite another.

So, Willie Rennie's focus is on pinning the SNP down on setting out both the legal basis (which is not the advice from Government Law Officers, but the basis of their assertion) and asking them to provide evidence on the political angle - that their case would be accepted across Europe. It's much more precise than the Labour motion  for debate yesterday. Willie asked for:
 in moving forward to publication of the white paper on independence, calls for the full legal case and basis for Scotland’s terms for continued membership of the EU, including consideration of whether Scotland might be required to join the euro or the fiscal stability pact, to be published alongside evidence that the case has been accepted across Europe
That all seems pretty reasonable to me. What is remarkable is that the SNP all voted against it. They rejected the idea of proper openness, with the full facts being known. Their own amendment was simply a load of marshmallow with a bit of bile directed at the Labour Party.

SNP members in the debate didn't so much ignore the ball in play, but they went off to another pitch and started playing with their own ball. They tried to argue that UKIP were going to win the European elections and the UK might subsequently pull out of Europe. Not the most inspiring argument for independence. And then Rob Gibson made some interesting but unsubstantiated predictions about the future of Europe:
The changing EU will be looser, not deeper. It will have new members by 2016. There will be many new nations in the world in that time. Many other nations are vying to become members of the European Union, and that will change the way in which the EU adapts to the new world in which it tries to bring people together.
It's clear to me that Willie Rennie should be a key player in the Better Together campaign. His forensic scrutiny of the SNP, combined with his natural positivity and straight talking will be a huge asset over the next two years. Euan McColm is not the only journalist to be complimentary about him recently. The Sunday Herald this week lamented his absence from First Minister's Questions last week and said:
Since the election, the party, largely through Rennie's ceaseless efforts, has shown it can punch above its weight at Holyrood. Rennie has been ahead of the curve on issues such as the job losses which must accompany police and fire centralisation, and is arguably Salmond's best inquisitor in the Holyrood chamber.

The First Minister's antipathy towards him is a back-handed compliment.
It's been a good week for Willie and the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The launch of the party's Home Rule Commission has given the debate on Scotland's future a kickstart and a potential idea to build a consensus around.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

In full: Jo Swinson's speech to Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference


Jo Swinson gave her first speech to Scottish Conference as a Minister. Her remarks were similar to the speech she gave at Federal Conference last month - but that didn't matter because there many people in Dunfermline on Saturday hadn't heard what she had to say and I'm glad that they did.

I liked her speech because it was very practical and real world. She talked from personal experience how bad she felt at being treated like a number when she worked for a fast food restaurant, and how we should give people more freedom and flexibility at work, how we need to treat people like adults and let them choose for themselves which parent takes what share of the leave available.

Here it is, in full. 

Conference, last month in Brighton I gave delegates a breakdown of just how much of our life we spend doing different things. It’s funny to think about how much of our lifetime we spend doing different things:

Handily, someone has done the research. 

Apparently, we spend one hundred and fifteen days laughing – that’s six minutes a day, presumably somewhat more when The Thick of It is on telly. 

There’s twenty weeks on hold, listening to music while waiting to speak to a human being in a call centre. 

Six months of our life queuing, presumably this figure is UK-specific.  

And seven months of our life waiting for the SNP to admit they didn’t have the legal advice on the EU. 
But another staggering one is this – we spend almost 100,000 hours of our life at work – that’s the equivalent of eleven and a half years. It’s a huge proportion of the time we have on this planet, and it impacts on so much more than just our bank balance: our health, our relationships, our aspirations. Of course, as Employment Minister I’m all too aware that for too many people right now, the challenge is to find a job, any job. The impact of unemployment, especially when people are young, is still felt decades later. That’s why Nick Clegg was right to fight for the Youth Contract, to invest £1bn in wage incentives, training places and more apprenticeships.  And it’s why Mike Crockart and other Lib Dem MPs, I have been running a local employment initiative in my constituency, Get East Dunbartonshire Working.  

But unemployment is not the only problem. There are also large numbers of people in work, but uninspired.  From the graduate who has kept their part-time student job but feels their career is going nowhere, to the employee stuck in a rut in the same job for years, feeling undervalued and unchallenged. So yes, we must tackle unemployment. And we must also improve the working environment for people who have a job. This isn’t just a nice thing to do.   

I feel incredibly lucky to be doing a job I love, as MP for my home seat of East Dunbartonshire. I’m also really enjoying the new Ministerial post with all the exciting challenges it brings. But like most people in this hall I expect, I know what it’s like to have a job where you’re clock-watching, or feeling unfulfilled.  

- I have worked in a fast-food restaurant in Argyle Street where the cries of “how many bodies do we have on the tills?” made me realise I was less a valued member of staff and more a production machine.   
Without a doubt, I know that I have been at my most productive, creative and effective when I have relished going to work. It’s only natural.  

When employment has risen significantly but GDP has not, we do need to ask the question, are we doing all we can to unleash the potential of our most precious resource – our people? Conference, the answer is often we don’t. As a Business Minister, I see three big opportunities for the UK labour market. 

First, inclusivity – we must draw on all of society’s talents. 

Second, engagement – we must harness the energy of employees to build better businesses. 

And finally, entrepreneurial spirit.  Not everyone is an employee and we must nurture the business creators of tomorrow. 

So first – inclusivity.   

In recovering from the most serious economic downturn for decades, it’s a no-brainer that we need to draw on everyone’s skills and potential. Making it harder for people to play an active role in our economy because they are women, or have a disability, or are parents, is a shocking waste of talent. 
For instance, we need to seize the game-changing opportunity that the Paralympics have given us to improve the employment opportunities of people with disabilities. It gives us a chance to make the business case for employing people with disabilities, and we must do it. Too often they have faced prejudice, stigma and ignorance in the recruitment process. For more than twenty years, the Employers’ Forum on Disability, who I used to work for, have recognised the business opportunity that many are missing. One in five people has a disability, or close to someone who is.  So there is a strong case both in terms of tapping into the creative talents of resilient individuals, and better understanding a significant portion of customers.  

And the benefits of a more balanced and diverse workforce are clear.   

Another example is the wealth of evidence from around the world that shows that company boards that are more gender-balanced perform better. Following the Davies report commissioned by Vince Cable, we have seen the largest ever annual increase in women on boards. But it’s not just about women at the top.  It’s about being able to unlock the potential of women across our economy, at all levels. Technology has transformed the ability of people to communicate and work in different ways. Yet our working practices are often rigidly stuck in a time warp that values slogging away in a standard pattern of hours, rather than whatever works to get the best results from the individual.   

We should enable mums and dads to choose how they share time off after their baby is born. We should allow carers the flexibility they need to juggle their responsibilities and their job. We should help parents stay in work by promoting meaningful part-time roles, including at senior levels. 

This Coalition Government is dedicated to revolutionising the way we work: 

·         Introducing shared parental leave.
·         Sharing best practice and challenging outdated assumptions about part-time work.
·         Extending the right to request flexible working to everyone.

 Because inclusivity and flexibility aren’t just for parents, or carers, or people with disabilities.  These changes help everyone to work in a way that suits the realities of modern life. 
  
And this benefits employers too – through reduced turnover, greater productivity and fewer working days lost. 

The second opportunity is engagement.

We should champion the role of co-operatives, mutuals and alternative business models like social enterprises in rebalancing our economy.  But a business doesn’t have to be owned by employees to engage employees.  Organisations that work to engage employees and improve their wellbeing get better results.  According to the Harvard Business Review, happy employees are more productive, more creative and make more sales. Finally, we need to nurture entrepreneurs. Because the workplace is not just about employees – many people are self-employed, and we need to encourage more people to start businesses.  Here again, we are missing a trick with the talents of women. There are less than half as many women entrepreneurs as men. If we could get women to start up businesses at the same rate as men, we’d see 150,000 new start-ups each year.  

I hope we can use the wonderful Olympic spirit as inspiration across a range of fields, not just sport. Heather Stanning, Hannah Miley and Kath Grainger are wonderful role models. They prove that ruthless determination and desire to win at all costs are not exclusively male traits, nor should they be. Seeing such strong women succeed challenges cultural stereotypes about what is feminine behaviour. I want us to translate this energy into women entrepreneurs too. 

So conference why is all of this important?  It’s important because the most successful societies draw on the widest pool of talent. We need to reap the benefits of more balanced boardrooms, and a more motivated, engaged workforce. It makes good business sense. A modern workplace revolution.  An inclusive, engaged workforce.  An inspired new generation of entrepreneurs.

We spend so much time working.   Until now, we’ve had to contort our lives to fit an outdated model.  But we need to create a new model.  A model that works for modern lives. And if it works for modern lives, it will work for business too.

In full: Michael Moore's speech in full to Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference

Good speech from Mike on Saturday - a bit more fire towards the SNP than we normally get from him, which I liked. Also lots of positive reasons to stay in the Union and a "watch out, the Electoral Commission's about" warning to the SNP.

Here it is, in full:


Friends, 

It’s good to see you here in Dunfermline. Again. I think it’s fair to say that as long as Willie Rennie is our leader, Fife will feature prominently and often as our conference venue. And so it should. Dunfermline is a fine town, and Willie is an excellent leader. Both are great choices for the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

 It’s been quite a year. No shortage of challenges for our party, in government. From the constitution, to climate change, to the economy, there are big choices for our country to make. But in these – the toughest of times – the decisions the government is taking are fairer because of us. We cannot control the economic situation in Europe or the wider world. And we cannot insulate ourselves from its effect. But the measure of our party is how we respond to the challenges that creates.

We’re not shouting from the sidelines. We’re rolling up our sleeves and doing what’s right. Supporting the young unemployed with a Youth Contract that guarantees support to young Scots who are out of work and down on their luck. Supporting older people with our triple lock pensions policy: the largest cash increase in the history of the state pension. And supporting hard-working people through a fairer tax system. Raising the point at which people start to pay tax, year on year.  And cutting income tax for low and middle income earners. With 160,000 low paid Scots coming out of income tax altogether. Well over two million paying less than they were when we came to office. And, by April of next year, a total of £1.2 billion less tax taken from low and middle-income Scots.

 So, when we go to the polls in 2015, we won’t head into battle armed only with words. We have an armoury of evidence and a record of delivery. With our commitment to fairness, Liberal Democrats have delivered for Scotland what Labour did not, the Conservatives would not and the SNP could not. And it’s by making the right decisions we prove our commitment to Scotland’s best future. We are ensuring that fairness is at the heart of the Coalition. 

There remain plenty differences between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. But one of the things that unites this government – and the Labour Party too – is our commitment to maintaining the UK family. And we will underline that commitment with the decisions we make and the positive steps we take. Because there is a referendum coming. It’s there in black and white. Two weeks ago I reached agreement with Nicola Sturgeon. Signed off with the Prime Minister and the First Minister three days later in Edinburgh. That agreement will provide Scots with a legal, fair and decisive referendum. Made in Scotland. One question. On independence. Held by the end of 2014. 

The Scottish Government is free to give 16 and 17 year olds the vote. And on both the question setting and campaign spending, the rules that apply to referendums anywhere in the UK will apply to this referendum too.

 Central to that is the role of the Electoral Commission. The Commission is tested, trusted and impartial. It recommends spending limits based on precedent, fairness and public interest. And it will examine the Scottish Government’s proposed question, suggesting the changes that will make it clear, fair and intelligible. Just as it has done in previous referendums. There is no other body with the experience and neutrality of the Electoral Commission. To over-rule its judgement would invite the charge of rigging and bias, and tainting the process. So while every UK government has had the power to do so, none ever has.

Now there are those who say that the SNP will break with that precedent. That it will force through the Scottish Parliament its words of choice. That it will demand spending limits that meet its own objectives rather than the Electoral Commission’s standards. Common sense dictates that they should not. The agreement reached between the two governments states that:

“…the referendum should meet the highest standards of fairness, transparency and propriety, informed by consultation and independent expert advice.”

Those words were negotiated by the Deputy First Minister. When she publishes the referendum bill, the world will be watching – and Scotland will hold her to them. The SNP has been clear that the Scottish Parliament must be trusted to run this referendum. And that’s what we want too. 

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Just this week, the SNP got a taste of what happens when politicians play fast and loose with Scotland’s future to meet their own narrow ends. Within the UK, Scotland benefits from membership of the European Union. So it’s no surprise that Nationalists want us to believe that a separate Scotland would inherit automatic membership on present terms. But there is no firm basis for that claim. We know that there is no membership mechanism for a seceding state. We know there are no guarantees about automatic entry nor the terms Scotland would inherit. And now we know that there never was any legal advice to shore up the Nationalists’ claims. When one Minister says that they have called in the lawyers, and another says that they are yet to do so, they can’t both be right.

We can’t have debate conducted on these terms. This referendum will present Scots with the biggest political decision that we will ever take. On all the big issues – the future of our economy, the strength of our defences, our role in the world – people in this country have a right to know the facts. They have a right to know what independence really means for them, their family, their community – our nation. There is no automatic entry to the EU, or NATO. There is no Sterling zone or national seat on the Monetary Policy Committee. There is no Scottish reserve that could bail out the banks in the way that the Treasury did. The Nationalists say that they want a positive campaign. But to get there, first they must set aside the assertions and begin to embrace reality. 

For our part, that is something that the UK government is already doing. Everywhere I go in Scotland I meet people whose lives are better because our family of nations sticks together. Whether that’s the companies and individual savers whose bank accounts were guaranteed by the heft of the UK’s resources. Or the businesses and home owners whose payments are kept down thanks to the UK’s triple A credit rating and record low interest rates. Or the green energy start-ups and consumers who are benefitting from UK-wide subsidy in the Scottish renewables industry. Action that is cutting carbon emissions, generating new green jobs and unlocking Scotland’s potential as a renewables powerhouse in Europe. These things are not just happening within the UK, they are happening because of the UK.

 Of course, for every positive point that we’ve established, there are many more waiting to be uncovered. In the summer, I made a statement in the House of Commons announcing a programme of work that is running across government departments. Our work will look at the issues raised and the choices that would come with a decision by Scots to leave our UK family. It will also look at what Scotland gains from being part of the UK, and what the UK gains from having Scotland within it. Too often the benefits of the United Kingdom go unnoticed or unknown precisely because they are the status quo.

From financial regulation to pension payments to overseas aid, we are stronger together and weaker apart. But no government has ever gone far enough to explain exactly why. So we need to flush out the facts and figures and put them up in lights. And over the coming months that is exactly what we will do. They will be based on fact, grounded in evidence and informed by third parties with expert opinion. We will have an honest and informed debate about Scotland’s future in the UK family. 

And the Liberal Democrats will be at the forefront of that. But our commitment to the UK family does not mean that our relationship within it cannot change and mature. It must, and it will. While other parties have struggled with the concept of devolution, Liberal Democrats have taken a strong and consistent approach. We are committed to a federal future, with home rule for Scotland, in a strong and secure United Kingdom.

I am delighted that Ming Campbell’s Home Rule Commission has reaffirmed that commitment. Mapping out the route to home rule in the context of twenty first century Scotland. It is a plan around which to build consensus with others. And it puts as back where we belong – leading the debate on Scotland’s future. Because, in its words, the Scottish people will hear their voice speaking up for the future that they want. Poll after poll has shown that Scots want further powers within the United Kingdom. Our home rule is their first choice. So it’s no surprise that the Nationalists have started to use that term instead of independence. But make no mistake, home rule and independence are two separate things. 

Home rule will strengthen Scotland within the United Kingdom. 
Independence would take us out if it forever. 

For Liberal Democrats, home rule is the long-cherished destination. For Nationalists, devolution, home rule, fiscal autonomy – These are sweeteners on the road to independence. But the public will not be fooled. People understand our commitment to further powers for Scotland. We have a record of delivery. We were at the table designing the blueprint for our Scottish Parliament. We campaigned for the financial powers delivered by the Scotland Act I took through Parliament just this year. And we are here today, leading the debate on Scotland’s home rule future.

 History, momentum and the Scottish people – these are all on our side. And home rule will come to Scotland. Contrast this, with the Scottish National Party. It has the sole distinction among Scotland’s main political parties of never delivering any new powers whatsoever for Scotland.

The message is clear. Vote Liberal Democrat, extend devolution. Vote SNP, end it altogether.  
Friends, these are tough times. But our party is doing the right thing by our country. Rebuilding our economy, protecting our environment, creating a fairer tax system for those who need it most. By doing these things we are proving our commitment to Scotland and the United Kingdom.

 So let’s have the honest debate we need on independence. Let’s settle the issue once and for all. And then let’s deliver home rule for Scotland within our United Kingdom.


Why we are better together #indyref

These lovely people at Better Together have put together a video of young people from across Scotland talking about why they think Scotland should stay as part of the UK. Like they say, nobody's saying we couldn't manage on our own, but we have lots of advantages of staying together with the UK, including a much stronger voice in campaigning for human rights and LGBT equality worldwide and sharing the economic risks at home.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Praise for Willie Rennie in the Herald of all places

It's not, shall we say, anything like usual for the Herald to say anything nice about Liberal Democrats. Sometimes I wonder if they have a special container of bile that they dip their keyboards in before they write about us.

So I got a bit of a pleasant surprise yesterday when their leader was:

a) called "Why we need the Lib Dems

and

b)  full of praise for Willie Rennie.

 Look at this:
Since the election, the party, largely through Rennie's ceaseless efforts, has shown it can punch above its weight at Holyrood. Rennie has been ahead of the curve on issues such as the job losses which must accompany police and fire centralisation, and is arguably Salmond's best inquisitor in the Holyrood chamber.
You'd expect me to observe that Willie would have done a better job with Salmond at First Minister's Questions last week (and I did) but look what the Herald says:
His absence was keenly felt after Labour's Johann Lamont failed to land a serious blow, and Tory Ruth Davidson shot herself in the foot.
They may not have the numbers, but the Scottish Lib Dems are in the process of carving themselves a niche, and our democracy is that bit healthier for it.
You can read the whole article here.
 

Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference according to Twitter

I've done a quick Storify of tweets from Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference - it has lots of pictures and lots of points of view of the day. There's tweets from the keynote speeches, the fringe and the general atmosphere. Oh, and did I mention that the Vine Venue in Dunfermline does the best sliced sausage ever?

I'm not going to embed it here as I normally do because it's a bit of a monster length, but there's something for everyone in there I think.

You can find it here. Enjoy.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Willie Rennie's speech in full to Lib Dem Conference - from Dalai Lama to Rev IM Jolly to nursery for 2 year olds to home rule

In full, Willie Rennie's leader's speech to Scottish Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference in Dunfermline, 27 October 2012:


You know I’m going to start by talking about ‘strong liberal voices’. It says it right here. It says it on the wall behind me. It’s how I live my political life. It’s what all of us try to be every day. Thinking. Working. Speaking up.
You will remember that the Dalai Lama visited Scotland in June.  I was fortunate to have an audience with his Holiness in Dundee.  I attempted to relay to him the joy his visit had brought to our country.  I told him this was impressive as Scots are often regarded as dour.  But he wasn’t familiar with dour.  I called on Rikki Fulton’s character to support my explanation.  I’m afraid that didn’t really help.  It turns out that the broadcast signal of Hogmanay programmes to northern India isn’t what it could be.  Well I’ve now put that right. 
I paid £5.99 to send His Holiness a DVD of Rikki’s work.  I can confirm that the Dalai Lama is now a well-informed fan of the Reverend IM Jolly.  Who says Lib Dems don’t change lives?
But despite his positive spirit it wasn’t all joy and laughter in June.  I was embarrassed by our Scottish Government’s treatment of the Tibetan spiritual leader.  I met him. Nick Clegg showed him respect. Even David Cameron took the time to show his support.  But our First Minister slithered, jabbered and blathered.  He made every possible excuse to avoid the Dalai Lama.  One bit of pressure from the Chinese Government and he buckled. As one keen supporter of his Holiness told me: “If that’s the kind of Scotland Alex Salmond wants then I want nothing of it.”
It was illiberal and it took Liberals to stand up against it.
But our First Minister has a track record of courting the rich and the powerful. Remember, he spoke out for Rupert Murdoch on phone hacking.  Stood up for Donald Trump – that worked out well. And now he’s skulking around under orders from the Chinese Government. Whether you’ve got a billion pounds or a billion people one thing is for sure - you can count on Alex Salmond.
I was annoyed;
Scots were disgusted;
Alex Salmond should be ashamed. 
Since we last gathered here in Dunfermline we have lost good Liberal Democrat councillors.   Back in May I felt the loss.  It was very hard, painful to see so many lose their seats through no fault of their own.  I’m sorry if you’ve lost your seat and I am also sorry for your constituents who have lost a hard working local representative. I want you back.  And I need your help to get you back.  I need your help to win again. 
Why?  Because liberal values are so important for Scotland and for your community.
Donald Gorrie knew that. He worked his way back from bad times at the end of the 1970s and 80s. A thinker. A worker. A winner. And a liberal. A generous public servant. And an inspiration to very many of us in this room.  Donald, I am sure you are up there waiting for your turn in the next debate.  Desperate to show your support for the leadership.  Donald, I am glad you shared your life with us. I’m sorry you are gone. But, Donald, you will not be forgotten.
Over the summer I spent a lot of time on the doors.  In Cupar, Perth, Edinburgh, Lockerbie, Annan, many others but most importantly in Kirkintilloch.  In May we secured 2.5% of the vote.  In September Susan Murray in a great by-election increased our share ten-fold to run the SNP and Labour close.  Susan – for your style, for your energy and your drive - thank you.
Everyone here can help our candidates in two more by-elections: John Paton-Day in Melrose and Hugh Young in Annandale.
Kirkintilloch is in Jo Swinson’s constituency.  Congratulations, Jo, on your new position in government. I know you will be a first class minister on consumer rights, post offices, equalities and business. Another Scot at the heart of government, and one still rooted in campaigning in her constituency. Thank you also for your service as my Deputy.  Alistair Carmichael has a hard act to follow but the arts of the whips’ office will be of great benefit to the referendum debate.
Liberal values are important. Community, Opportunity, Internationalism, Sustainability, Openness and Fairness. We cannot trust these values to other parties. It’s not just the Dalai Lama. Look at the centralisation by the SNP with the creation of the National Police Force.  The SNP are guilty but the Tories and Labour were their partners in crime. We warned them all against the power grab. Now we see big cuts in police budgets. We warned their big bang reorganisation would cost, not save money.  But they did not listen. I must give them credit though – Scotland now has record number of bobbies – but they are to become backroom bobbies. Not police officers on the frontline tackling crime but forced into the back office because their trained civilian support has been made redundant. That’s not the way to make our communities safer.
And our next challenge is to turn back the government plans on corroboration of evidence.  Callum Steele from the Scottish Police Federation said earlier this week:

“The requirement for corroboration where one piece of evidence supports another is a fundamental tenet of Scots law and one which provides safeguards for the public and for police officers."
He’s not alone.  He has the backing of the High Court judges, the Law Society, Justice Scotland and many more. Our MSP Alison McInnes leads for us on justice.  She has been doing an excellent job to warn the Government on this. Her worry, it worries us all, is that feeling of “here they go again” removing parts of the Scottish justice system. Don’t we all remember the threat to our courts from the interfering minister who said: ‘he who pays the piper’?
On corroboration I say this: For the sake of the victims, for the sake of our cherished justice system Kenny MacAskill, turn back and turn back now.
Liberal Democrats with our strong liberal voices make Scotland a more liberal and democratic country. We are needed because who else can you rely on? Not Labour who still have not learnt the lessons of their economic mismanagement.
Not the Conservatives; Dismissing nine out of ten Scots as unproductive, following in the footsteps of that international diplomat Mitt Romney. And wanting to slash benefits and leave the EU. A Conservative government would be free to use the power of the executive unfettered by the Liberal Democrats.
It shows that no matter how uncomfortable, no matter how painful, I’m glad we’re in the coalition at Westminster, acting as a block to a right wing party that is forever drifting from fairness.  
And you can’t rely on the SNP either. They only care about one thing.  They had a reshuffle at the end of the summer. They cut the number of infrastructure ministers. Doubled the number of foreign ministers. Created more ministers for independence. And told every civil servant to focus on winning the referendum.
So, I have to say, it is something of a surprise, with all that effort going on, that they are making such a monumental mess of it. Look at the chaos this week. What a week it has been. The situation is now such that it is no use asking the First Minister for a straight ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer on anything. He doesn’t know the difference between them.  He thinks the two words mean the same thing and are interchangeable. In that light, we will all, need to check very carefully the instructions given to returning officers about how they are to count the votes in the referendum. YES. That pile.    NO. That pile as well. This politics by assertion we have seen from the SNP has to come to an end.
It fell apart this week on three counts. They had asserted that they already had the power to hold a referendum.  But still jumped at the chance to sign an agreement with Mike Moore to give them the power. They asserted that people were clamouring for a second question. But people didn’t want it by two to one. They asserted that Scotland could continue in the European Union on the same terms as now. And, on that one, they just made it up.
I asked the First Minister about all this on 13th September. He said “Willie Rennie seems to be doubting the legal advice even before it is published”. What did he mean? Did he mean doubting the legal advice ‘in the terms of the debate’ that underpinned all government documents that had ever been published in the last six years? Or the legal advice that he went to court to keep secret, wasting taxpayers’ money, fighting the information commissioner even though it didn’t actually exist?
It’s not so much the Thick of It.  It’s more do they really think we’re thick enough to believe this half-baked, bunkum and baloney?
The guessing game on independence has to end. If Scotland votes to be an independent country, there is no going back. People shouldn’t have to guess about the terms to be part of the European Union. If the Scottish Government don’t start negotiations until after a Yes vote, the whole referendum becomes a guessing game. We cannot live off guesses. If they are wrong on Scotland becoming an automatic member of the European Union on the same terms as the UK with the same opt-outs, it gets very serious.
Like for other new members of the European Union, that could mean joining the Euro and being bound by the Fiscal Stability Pact. That means cutting the Scottish deficit from 7.2% of GDP to 3% of GDP.  Five billion off the budget. Or five billion on taxes.  That’s a thousand pounds for every man, woman and child in Scotland.  That could be the price to pay. It’s crazy. The SNP say they want Scots to decide our future by ourselves.  But the SNP want an independent Scotland to be faced with a choice of keeping the pound, under the control of a foreign UK government or adopting the Euro costing us billions. 
Alex Salmond wants Scotland to choose between a Pound rock and a Euro hard place. 
So we cannot afford to let them off the hook.
For a start we can’t let them distract us with the red herring of the ‘ministerial code’.  They want a decision to end a country, to go it alone, to permanently depart. Those who are advocating this change need to set out the legal basis. And that has to be shared. After all, they haven’t just got to convince the Scottish Cabinet – I suspect they are pretty well on board already. They need to convince cabinets in 27 other capital cities around Europe. And the people of Scotland. We all have to see the full argument and the legal basis, and see that it has been accepted across Europe. Because, after a week when confidence in what they tell us has been shattered, we cannot rely on the Scottish Government to faithfully interpret that evidence for us. They have to show us the legal evidence and show us that it has been agreed across Europe.
The SNP have simply got to stop the guessing game on separation. The First Minister told his conference last week that to secure the gains of devolution Scotland needs to back independence. Dismantle devolution to protect the gains of devolution? With that logic he’ll be telling us he wants the Pound, the Queen, the Bank of England to make Scotland independent.  
Alex Salmond is showing all the signs of a leader afraid of his own policy. He now includes more and more of the British state he has previously demonised.  He’s sending us a covert signal. Perhaps he too thinks we’re better together.
The best way to protect devolution is not to destroy it but to build on it. Scotland has an alternative.  If we want to keep our influential place in international bodies, but with strong domestic powers, people don’t have to look very far from this room. Home rule for Scotland in a federal United Kingdom keeps us as a powerful force for good in the world. Thank you conference for supporting the report on Home and Community Rule this morning. Thank you to Ming Campbell for leading the work. It is a credit to him and our party.  It’s another substantial contribution that takes forward the work on home rule and federalism of Russell Johnston, David Steel and Ray Michie. Major transfers of power and authority.  Constitutional power which gives the Scottish Parliament permanent powers not powers on loan from Westminster.  Financial power to the Scottish Parliament with up to two thirds of spending raised through taxes controlled in Holyrood.  That will ensure that MSPs can determine how much is spent as well as what it’s spent on. This puts Liberal Democrats, once again, ahead of the debate.  Leading the way with fresh thinking. 
The challenge for the other parties is to join us in this debate.  We can work with them. I am pleased the Labour Party has started their review.  I am also encouraged that the Conservatives are investigating this too.  All of us in the Better Together campaign want to win the referendum with a clear and significant majority. That will help to settle the issue of independence.  To win big, people want to be assured that No to independence doesn’t mean No to change.  So I urge Ruth and Johann to start the dialogue with me and others on a new package of reforms, to be put to the voters in the 2015 General Election.  A decision to keep Scotland in the UK should open the door to change across the UK.
But the SNP have a role too. I know they didn’t turn up for the Claim of Right, the Constitutional Convention, the Calman Commission or even the expert panel on the referendum question. If they lose the referendum will they join the discussion, to develop a sustainable, stable model for the UK?  I believe they have a role and I invite them to join us.  It’s an open, genuine offer to the SNP. When you are ready we’ll be ready for you.
Our plans for home rule in a federal UK should be the rallying point. It is what people want and we are determined to deliver it. And we will work with other people to make it happen.
And we can work with the SNP too, on next year’s budget. We will work constructively to influence the Government.  We did it last year for colleges, house building and early intervention and we’ll do it again this year. Our ambition is certainly to see our colleges get a fair funding package. But this year we need to go further to address the long term needs of the Scottish economy.
I want to see 2 year olds from the poorest backgrounds get the early education they need, to give them the best start in life. The Nobel laureate Professor James Heckman has worked out that the highest rate of return in education is from investment before the age of three. One pound then saves £11 later. The reason that number is so astonishing is studies have shown that a child’s development at 22 months accurately predicts their development at 26 years. That is why it’s so disappointing that the Scottish Government has plans for just 1 per cent of 2-year-olds to get free childcare and education.
If we can get that up it will have an impact on long term participation in the economy.  Our Scottish growth and prosperity needs 100% of people contributing to our economy and our community. Education unlocks that door for the people who get left behind. So, one per cent should not be the end of the story. In England they are extending childcare to 40% of 2-year-olds. We’ve shown the Scottish Government where they can find the money.  Next year’s priority is to bring in free childcare for those 2-year-olds. Scotland is falling behind the rest of the United Kingdom. I want to discuss with the Scottish Government how far and how fast we can go next year. I say that those children deserve a chance in Scotland.
A chance they will get in England. Conference, you voted for this policy this morning and I am determined to take it to the Finance Minister’s table. With all the long-term pressures on the budget, that makes sense for taxpayers, for our economy and for our children. Strong plans. Thoughtful plans. Good for Scotland. What we achieve in this party comes from the depth of our thought and the strength of our voices.  So, thank you to Mike Moore for the calm, professional approach to his work.  On the referendum powers he cut through what could have been a slanging match between London and Edinburgh.
Thank you to Ming Campbell and his Commission who have given us the well-argued case for federal home rule. Thank you to Jo Swinson who has grown in Scottish politics with us, and now takes her place at the dispatch box as a minister in the House of Commons. Thank you to Danny Alexander – from Lochaber High School to the Treasury.  Delivering bigger tax cuts for low and middle earners than the Tories ever thought possible. And bigger taxes on the banks than Labour ever dared to propose.Thank you to Alison, Liam, Tavish and Jim – the mighty handful at Holyrood. To our big Westminster voices.  To the new friends we made on the doorsteps in Cupar, Perth, Lockerbie and Kirkintilloch.
You know, I have been in this party since the 1980s. I remember that we were the first to talk about investment in education. We were the first to talk about climate change. We have shown that we can achieve so much. That you can’t rely on the others. But we will set out again, from today to be the vital spark of serious thought for the long term.  On early intervention that gives every child a chance; On the environment and energy; On a settled, stable constitution; On an economy that gives every person an opportunity to succeed. Liberal thinking, liberal action – strong liberal voices.

Upbeat Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference braves nationalist abuse

Friday night was not good. I sat down to watch a little television and all of a sudden felt very ill. Seriously, I couldn't even drink a glass of wine. I wondered how on earth I was going to cope with Liberal Democrat Scottish Conference the next day.

I felt a bit better in the morning and hoped that the adrenaline would get me through the day, but I set off for Dunfermline feeling not very enthusiastic and wishing I could just stay curled up on bed - or at least on the sofa in sympathy with our poorly sick hamster. Aurora is not a well girl at all - she's having to have oral antibiotics (0.07ml) fed to her through a tiny syringe and is on a liquid diet fed to her at regular intervals via a slightly bigger syringe.. She is not out of the woods yet, but certainly seems happier than she was on Friday.

Anyway, I made it to Dunfermline, past the dozen or so pro-independence protesters who had set themselves up in front of the venue's car park. They were quite well behaved then, but people were arriving together. It was later on, as it was getting dark, that they turned nastier. I know of 3 women who were verbally abused by them. In fact at one point they came into the car park as a female member of staff was loading her car which was quiet scary for her. I personally know of one woman who was called an f***ing Tory by them, and another who was called a c**t.The first was actually fetching her 4 year old when that happened. If that's the way independence campaigners are going to behave, then, frankly, it's not going their cause any good.

I was really glad that I got there, not least because the Vine Church in Dunfermline does the best sliced sausage rolls you could ever imagine.  The day was very uplifting with keynote speeches from Jo Swinson, Mike Moore and Willie Rennie. Jo gave a very practical speech about what she was doing to encourage not only equality in the workplace but also a fulfilling work environment. She said that some might think that business and equality were incompatible, but to her, they were inseparable.

Mike Moore gave a robust analysis of our record in Government:

We’re rolling up our sleeves and doing what’s right. 
Supporting the young unemployed with a Youth Contract that guarantees support to young Scots who are out of work and down on their luck. Supporting older people with our triple lock pensions policy: the largest cash increase in the history of the state pension. And supporting hard-working people through a fairer tax system. Raising the point at which people start to pay tax, year on year. And cutting income tax for low and middle income earners. With 160,000 low paid Scots coming out of income tax altogether. Well over two million paying less than they were when we came to office. And, by April of next year, a total of £1.2 billion less tax taken from low and middle-income Scots.
So, when we go to the polls in 2015, we won’t head into battle armed only with words. We have an armoury of evidence and a record of delivery. With our commitment to fairness, Liberal Democrats have delivered for Scotland what Labour did not, the Conservatives would not and the SNP could not.
It was also great to see Menzies Campbell propose the Home Rule Commission motion. He mentioned the events of the last week and said, of Alex Salmond that he "may or may not have lied, but he certainly didn't tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." I had to leave the hall so I didn't get to see Charles Kennedy's speech in the debate. If anyone wants to fill us in on what he said, I'd be ever so grateful.

Willie Rennie is such a natural at the speechmaking stuff. He combines humour and his straightforward, plain speaking style with  a serious, grown up message. Only Willie could think of getting the Dalai Lama to watch Rikki Fulton's Rev I M Jolly to explain the concept of dour. Although, frankly, he didn't really need to go to the expense of sending the DVD. A You Tube link would have sufficed.



Willie went to see the Dalai Lama privately when he was here in June, but he still feels embarrassed by the way the First Minister treated our eminent visitor.

I was embarrassed by our Scottish Government’s treatment of the Tibetan spiritual leader.  I met him. Nick Clegg showed him respect. Even David Cameron took the time to show his support.  But our First Minister slithered, jabbered and blathered.  He made every possible excuse to avoid the Dalai Lama.  One bit of pressure from the Chinese Government and he buckled. As one keen supporter of his Holiness told me: “If that’s the kind of Scotland Alex Salmond wants then I want nothing of it.”
It was illiberal and it took Liberals to stand up against it.
He spoke about our vision for home rule for Scotland in a federal UK as a way to keep Scotland as "a powerful force for good in the world."

He spent some time on the constitution, but he didn't forget, unlike the SNP often seems to, that we need good government now. Kids need to be educated, sick people need to be looked after, people need somewhere affordable to live. Willie is passionate about nursery education for 2 year olds:

I want to see 2 year olds from the poorest backgrounds get the early education they need, to give them the best start in life. The Nobel laureate Professor James Heckman has worked out that the highest rate of return in education is from investment before the age of three. One pound then saves £11 later. The reason that number is so astonishing is studies have shown that a child’s development at 22 months accurately predicts their development at 26 years. That is why it’s so disappointing that the Scottish Government has plans for just 1 per cent of 2-year-olds to get free childcare and education.
If we can get that up it will have an impact on long term participation in the economy.  Our Scottish growth and prosperity needs 100% of people contributing to our economy and our community. Education unlocks that door for the people who get left behind. So, one per cent should not be the end of the story. In England they are extending childcare to 40% of 2-year-olds. We’ve shown the Scottish Government where they can find the money.  Next year’s priority is to bring in free childcare for those 2-year-olds. Scotland is falling behind the rest of the United Kingdom. I want to discuss with the Scottish Government how far and how fast we can go next year. I say that those children deserve a chance in Scotland. 

 I am slightly concerned that Willie has so wholeheartedly opposed the Government's recommendations on corroboration. I actually don't know enough about the issues involved, but I am worried from the sexual offences and abuse side of things. We have a hellishly low conviction rate and, let's face it, these crimes are not exactly carried out in front of witnesses. I need to get my head round the arguments on both sides. When I have, I'll come back to you.

I went to a fringe meeting at lunchtime organised by the Hardest Hit, a coalition of organisations such as RNIB and SAMH which campaigns on the effects of the welfare reforms on disability. The meeting was packed and very informative. I'll write more on that separately.

I had to make a speech myself, proposing a motion in the private party business session. I joked that I was going to live tweet my own speech like I did everyone else's.

I also had a bit of an emotional moment as I had been asked to do a tribute to Nikki Thomson, my friend and great supporter of both Liberal Youth and Scottish Women Liberal Democrats who died in June.

I really enjoyed the day. I had fun giving away sweeties on the membership stand as well and am looking forward to all the members people are going to recruit for us in return. I'm glad I struggled out of bed to get there, even if I feel a bit rubbish today. But now I'm off to McActivate, the Liberal Youth training day. I really wish they'd put an a in there so it was MacActivate, but never mind. It should be fun. I don't want to cramp their style too much, but I do want to go to the session on the Obama campaign.





Friday, October 26, 2012

Strictly Come Dancing Week 3 - Hollywood week

We were in London so I didn't get the chance to watch Strictly live last Saturday. In fact, I even managed not to find out who had gone out until I had watched the results show on Wednesday.

For once I liked Tess's dress - this week a long clinging, silvery, glittery affair which befitted a Hollywood special.

A highlight for me was that Dani had a little Toto dog run on at the end - which you saw actually dancing on the Len's Lens bit on the results show.

My biggest disappointment is that Michael Vaughn, bless him, isn't very good. And he isn't very good in a kind of nondescript sitting about and looking a bit limp kind of way, not even a funny John Sergeant sort of a way.

But, all in all, they are a pretty good bunch this year.

I was just getting into Jerry and I'm sorry she's gone - and most especially Anton. Although he usually gets to do loads of stuff on ITT after he goes so there may well be compensations.

I'm feeling a bit better about Darcey now - she is useful and constructive in her comments and is a good foil to Craig. Len seems to have his Mr Grumpy hat on at the moment, but hopefully that will stop when Dancing with the Stars is over.

Anyway, here are my tweets from the shows. Better late than never.

Childcare, Home Rule and Hardest Hit - my most anticipated events at Scottish Liberal Democrat conference

Tomorrow we Scottish Liberal Democrats hold our Autumn Conference. We're going back to the Vine Venue in Dunfermline and have a really busy agenda.

For me, the debate I'm most looking forward to is the one on affordable childcare, calling on the SNP Government to do more to invest in nursery education for 2 year olds. They accept that it makes a difference for vulnerable 2 year olds, but only provide places for 1% of our toddlers as compared to 40% in England - a move championed by Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats.

I particularly want to talk about the difficulty of obtaining childcare outside normal working hours. It can be challenging enough finding it between the hours of 8 and 6 but imagine you're a nurse, for example. What if your relationship breaks down and there's nobody to look after your children? What do you do if yo have no family around and you have to work 12.5 hour shifts, day, night and weekend? You might, if you're lucky, be able to find someone who'll take your kids in at 7 am and keep them until 8 at night, but few would take them at nights and weekends. Your ability to provide for your family would be severely compromised. It would cost the state far more in the long run if you had to give up work than to provide some sort of affordable childcare.

The second thing I'm awaiting with great interest is the debate on the Home Rule Commission. As I said on Lib Dem Voice last week, the Report has been written both with intelligence and feeling, incorporating our values. I do think that it should have considered immigration, however.

There are fringe meetings on Land Reform, whether independence would be good for the environment, how Lib Dems can help with Better Together and the one I hope to get to, by The Hardest Hit. I'm glad that they are coming to talk to us. We need to know the specifics of how the welfare reforms are hitting vulnerable people to build an evidence based case for change. However unhappy I might feel about certain aspects of the reforms, I know that our ministers have succeeded in changing much. I am well aware that these reforms cause real suffering to people who are sick and disabled and it's not easy to live with. I will continue to try to change things, though and throw my energies into making sure Cameron and IDS don't implement their even crazier ideas to cut the welfare bill even more. Ken Reid, Chair of RNIB Scotland and Carolyn Roberts of SAMH are among the speakers.

All that and the hustings for the European election selection contest as well.... There will also be keynote speeches from Mike Moore and Willie Rennie and a Q and A with Danny Alexander.

That's a lot to pack in to a day. I'll be shattered by the end of it...I'll be tweeting my way through the day using the hashtag #sldconf.

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