Only one day left to Name the Bridge

The Forth Replacement Crossing is due to open in 2016 and the public are getting a chance to vote for its name. Voting has been open for a while now, but closes tomorrow - so if you want to have your say, you'd better get on with it. 

I finally got around to casting my vote yesterday. I have to say that I'm not in any way impressed with the shortlist, although I'm not sure one Twitter correspondent's suggestion of Unnecessary Bridge should have made it, funny though it was. The list of five names is too samey and incredibly boring.

It wasn't too difficult for me to make my choice between the five options:

A Caledonia Bridge: If it were at the Border, maybe, but it doesn't represent the whole of Scotland, it's about crossing between Fife and Edinburgh.

B Firth of Forth Crossing: Honest to god, how boring can you get? Next to the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Bridge (I'm with Billy Connolly on that one, it's not the Forth Rail Bridge, it was there first), you end up with a Holy Trinity of Bland. Underlining in thick red sharpie that the water is called the Forth. I think we know that. Let's do something different.

C Queensferry Crossing: Slightly better than the Firth of Forth crossing, but still too functional.

D Saltire Crossing: Same as Caledonia Crossing, but why would you name a bridge after a flag? I suppose it was good enough for a tv programme, Blue Peter, but still...But we don't have Union Jack Street, or Stars and Stripes Square, do we?

E St Margaret's Crossing. Now you're talking. Women are rarely recognised and even if you're not religious, patron saints are, I guess, part of our culture. St Andrew is everywhere, from cathedrals to a central square in our capital city to schools, to the seat of Government. I really liked what Kate Higgins wrote about her a couple of years ago - and you know a blog post must be good when you can remember it after all that time.

Today we trip the light fantastic to celebrate Scotland’s Patron Saint, Andrew.  Sadly, the heavy snow put paid to many of the planned festivities but it’s clear that we Scots are growing to love our national day and to indulge in ostentatious displays of patriotism.  Hurrah!

But Scotland is a male dominated culture, so it will come as no surprise that in whipping up a ceilidh for Andrew, our other patron saint languishes unloved and unacknowledged.   But actually she – and yes, it is a she – has much more claim to Scotland’s hearts than he does. 

I might have preferred Queen Margaret's Crossing rather than St Margaret's, but my inner feminist won out here. It's important to recognise this woman who, after all, set up the first Forth Crossing as well as doing many charitable works and looking after the poor.

If you feel the same way, go and vote for her here. If you don't agree, vote anyway.

Xmas books for kids is back - please give generously

Last year, the amazing Burd led a project which raised over £3300 to buy books for kids who otherwise wouldn't have them at Christmas.

And she's back this year.

I'm sure she won't mind me copying her words shamelessly:

Last year, together, we bought books for Christmas for 380 vulnerable children and young people in Scotland.  We did this because you helped me raise over £3,300.  All of that is worthy of a very big wow.  And a huge thank you.

So this year, I thought we’d try to do it all again.

Because sadly, there are still children growing up in Scotland without a book of their own.  For some, it’s because their parents are too poor to afford books.  For others, it’s because they leave violent or unsafe homes, often with only what they can carry, and precious things like books get left behind.  Whatever the reason, CHILDREN 1^ST – the charity I work for – supports children who have yet to discover the joy of reading – and reading well – and the difference it can make to their lives and their life chances.

This is something CHILDREN 1^ST understands well.  We work to support vulnerable families, often from a child’s earliest years, so that their children enjoy happy and healthy, safe and secure childhoods.  Encouraging parents to read with their children, nurturing strong bonds, is part of what we do.  Our counsellors also support sexually and physically abused children to recover from their trauma through play, writing, art and story telling.

And that is how powerful books are.  Helping to heal.  Opening up new worlds and possibilities.  Providing escape and adventure.  And most importantly of all, fun.

I know you know this because you love books and books have helped take you to where you are in life.  Close your eyes and imagine if you had never owned a book, what your life might be like today.  Impossible isn’t it?  Which is why I know you will help the Books for Kids for Christmas appeal again this year.

You can give – here, right now.  Donate £10, gift aid it and half of your donation plus the gift aid goes directly to buying a book for a vulnerable child, with the rest going to CHILDREN 1^ST to help towards the costs of supporting vulnerable children and families.

But you can also spread the word by telling, emailing, tweeting, sharing and blogging.  Email me at burdzeyeview@hotmail.co.ukif you’d like to discuss what and how.

The target is the same as last year - £3000 which will allow us to buy books for 300 children. 

Already, we’re nearly half way there, thanks to an amazingly generous donation from the David Cairns Foundation of £1000.  I’ve been saving my pennies too and have put £200 into the pot.  

And we’re starting earlier to give Santa plenty of time to make his deliveries and hopefully, reaching our target and finishing earlier too on 2 December – the end of Book Week Scotland which provides a fitting finale.

I know times are even tougher for folk this year, but if we all give a little, we can achieve a lot.  And by buying books for vulnerable children for Christmas, we can give them a better start in life and help them to build a brighter future for themselves.

Thanks for your support.

Kate

PS You can keep up to date with the appeal by visitingwww.booksforkidsforchristmas.tumblr.com – please do drop by! 

And if you’d rather not give online, you can send a cheque payable to CHILDREN 1^ST to Kate Higgins, CHILDREN 1^ST, 83 Whitehouse Loan, Edinburgh, EH9 1AT

I'd like you to do three things, please:

1. Give whatever you can to this very worthwhile cause here. 

2. Tell everyone you know, whether in person or on the internet about it and ask them to give too.

3. Put in the comments what your favourite books were when you were a child.

Next week is National Book Week and it would be great if we could help Kate exceed the target before then. Let's get to it.

Secretive SNP's double standards on legal advice

It won't be long before some nationalist comes along and accuses me of smearing the SNP. That's what tends to happen when you disagree with them or point out that they may be guilty of saying one thing and doing another.

This week, they are blowing our hard earned taxes on fighting a ruling by Scotland's Information Commissioner. Labour MEP Catherine Stihler asked them if they had taken any legal advice on an independent Scotland's membership of the EU. The SNP argue that Scotland would have the same rights, the same opt outs on the Euro, and would automatically be part of the EU. They have not provided one shred of evidence to back that up. Their position seems fanciful at best in light of the comments of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso who said that all new states would have to apply to join and be accepted by the others.

SNP ministers have refused to even tell us if they have any legal advice. You can read the Information Commissioner's ruling in full here. It's important to point out that the Commissioner says that if they did have that advice, at this point in the policy formulation process, they would be entitled to keep that secret for the moment. However, as the Referendum gets closer,that information could be very relevant to the debate.

The Commissioner is aware that the Scottish Government is committed to a referendum on the matter of Scottish independence. In her view, the question of whether independence will result in Scotland automatically remaining a member of the EU, or automatically being excluded and having to apply for membership, could have a bearing on how people vote in the referendum, depending on how they view the consequences of either of these outcomes.

In the Commissioner's view, the disclosure of legal advice on this matter could, if it existed and was held by the Ministers, inform the public in making their choice in a referendum, and in participating in the referendum debate.

However, although the contents of such advice could remain secret for the moment, the Commissioner ruled that there was no reason for ministers to refuse to tell us if it existed.

On balance, the Commissioner is not satisfied in this case that it would be contrary to the public interest for the Ministers to reveal whether the legal advice requested by Ms Stihler exists or is held by them. In particular, and as noted above, the Commissioner considers that there is a strong public interest in enabling scrutiny and better understanding of the procedure followed by the Ministers in their policy development processes.

Consequently, the Commissioner concludes that the Ministers were not entitled to refuse to reveal whether the requested information exists or is held by them in terms of section 18(1) of FOISA. The Commissioner has set out below the steps which she now requires the Ministers to take as a result of this conclusion.

I find it extraordinary that the SNP are defying the Information Commissioner and appealing her decision in Court. It's bad PR if nothing else. It looks like they're trying to hide something, especially when they're refusing to publish the Risk Register on independence and to gag a parliamentary committee at the same time.

If the SNP were in charge of an independent Scotland, clearly information would only be released on a need to know basis, with them deciding who needed to know. However, they didn't always think that way. Way back in 2005, Alex Salmond was insistent that the Labour Government should release its legal advice on Iraq.

No doubt nationalists will come up with some reason why there should be one rule for others and another for them. No doubt they'll dismiss me as some unionist harridan with an axe to grind, but they certainly can't do that with Kate Higgins, who supports independence, is actively campaigning for it and is doing all she can to up the quality of the debate. Last month, in a post called Just because you're paranoid, she wrote:

This is not how good government works.  Nor is it the way to gain the trust of the people in what will be the biggest political decision of their lives.

If the SNP Government wants the people of Scotland to trust them enough to vote yes to independence, they need to rediscover the spring in their step of the earliest days of government and put an end to this creeping fog of paranoia, suppression, fear and nervousness.

 I had been hoping that Nicola Sturgeon, now in charge of independence related matters, would have brought some sense to bear on this one. She and Angela Constance between them tend to have more common sense than all the rest of the SNP ministers put together and I just can't imagine why they would think that the secrecy would be a good idea.

More on Yes Scotland's dodgy digital dealings #yesscam

So, after my mother of all blog rants about Yes Scotland portraying its Twitter followers as supporters, and its son, in which I told you that they had at least partially climbed down by altering their site, there have been more developments today.

Last night they altered the wording near the photographs to read that they were followers on Twitter and Facebook. Today, in a further climbdown, they have removed the words "Powered by people o'independent mind like you." They've also changed the wording to "Already thousands have followed Yes Scotland. Here are some of them."

While yesterday's statement from Yes Scotland had an element of bluster about it, their latest is at least a little more humble:

YesScotland.net is an organic site which is constantly evolving and improving to keep up with demand and great ideas as it is powered by the people who use it. We welcome all feedback and are constantly striving to improve the site.

As it happens, I don't think they've gone far enough, even with their latest improvements. I won't be happy until they are only including the photos on their page of people who have in some way actively signed up to support them, joining the website directly or signing the Declaration of Cineworld. I still think it's a bit misleading and could lead to confusion as it is.

This has been getting some coverage across the media, too. First of all there was the Scotsman article. Then the STV website did this report which has an interview with Yours Truly.

And finally, with a bit of a melodramatic headline, I wrote the whole thing up at Liberal Democrat Voice. I tell you this more than anything as an excuse to show you what Lord Bonkers tweeted about it. Made me howl.

It's good to know that should I ever be banished to a cellar in Brute House (the First Minister's residence for those of you south of the border), that Jonathan would come to my rescue.

And, finally, and I'm really sorry about this, Kate, it seems that Yes Scotland can't even keep their actual supporters happy. There are clearly gremlins in that Nation Builder software, as Kate Higgins tweeted earlier:

Help The Burd buy books for vulnerable kids this Christmas

The charity Children 1st  aims to improve the lives of Scotland's children by providing services to help them and speaking out for them to law and policy makers.

The Scottish blogosphere's Kate Higgins, who writes for Better Nation and her own blog A Burdz Eye View works for Children 1st. She's come up with a cracking idea for Christmas - raising money to buy books for vulnerable kids. As she says herself:

Books were a constant companion in my childhood - they still are.  They've opened up worlds, ideas, knowledge and adventures.  They've made me laugh, cry, tremble and learn - sometimes all at the same time.

But some children in Scotland aren't so lucky and miss out on this vital part of childhood.  Some families can't afford to buy books or lack the skills and confidence to share and enjoy reading with their child.  Yet, reading - and reading well - can make a real difference to vulnerable children's lives.

It's something CHILDREN 1ST - the charity I work for - understands.  We know how important reading is and work with parents to help them help their children read.  Often, it's simple pleasures like this that provide real joy.  Reading together can forge strong bonds and give vulnerable children a better start in life, and better life chances.Today (25 November) is Kilts for Kids Day, our national fundraising day where people celebrate all things Scottish and raise money for CHILDREN 1ST.  Well, I'm not much of a runner.  Even less of a baker.  And I definitely can't sing.

But I do read.  And I know you do too.  And together I reckon we can raise enough to buy vulnerable children supported by CHILDREN 1ST services a book this Christmas.  All you have to do is give £10.

Gift aid it and it becomes £12.50.  £7.50 will be used to buy a child a book and the rest will go to help CHILDREN 1ST pay for things like the cost of a support worker who will encourage a parent to read regularly with their child, or for materials that can help an abused child recover from their trauma by expressing themselves through art, writing or play.

We've got less than a month but I'm sure we'll manage it.  Because I know that you know how important books are and what a difference they can make to a child's life.  And I know you'll give, and then encourage your friends and family to do so too.

Oh, and why not share your favourite book from your childhood when you make your donation?

Thanks for your support.

Books were an essential part of my childhood. I was rarely to be found without my head in one. From the St Clare's and Mallory Towers books, to the Chalet School, to the Secret Seven, when I got a bit older Agatha Christie and Jane Austen, Little Women, The Narnia books. And when I hit my teens, it was, sadly, political biographies. Roy Jenkins certainly improved my vocabulary - you couldn't read anything of his without a dictionary by your side.

 For Anna, it's been Jez Alborough and the "Duck in the Truck" books (if you've never read Fix it Duck, you quite literally haven't lived), to the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness to the Warrior cat series via Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket.

Books have enriched my life every day - and I know how important they are which is why I'm so passionately behind Kate's efforts.

You can donate here and follow her progress on Twitter here.

Please give generously - and if you're another blogger please write about this yourself and encourage all your readers to take part in this worthwhile project.