EDINBURGH CASTLE STANDS UPON A ROCK.... AND THERE ARE THOSE WHO WANT OLYMPIC SYMBOLS TO STAND ON EDINBURGH CASTLE

Subrosa had an article yesterday about Historic Scotland's  application to Edinburgh Council for the right to erect massive Olympic Rings on Edinburgh Castle for a period of 9 months, until the end of the games in London.

It is excellent that she has brought this to our attention, and I repeat it here because I think the larger number of people who know about this, the better.


Her correspondents make good points too.


For example Doug the Dug asks, what is this for? Is it advertising? 


He provides his own answer...  The tickets, such as there were for sale (most of them having gone to corporate sponsors), were sold some time ago through a farcical auction system, involving crashing computers and bank accounts being denuded of cash for unknown tickets (but only if you had a Visa card, Visa being a sponsor). 


No. It's all about showing that Scotland and England are one country in perfect harmony. It's Scotland's Games too. 


What nonsense. As Quiet Man says, the Olympics is a London event. It is nothing to do with the rest of England, never mind Scotland. 

Iain Gray

This will doubtless be some daft notion cooked up by London to see if the SNP "picks another fight" with the union. You can just hear the whiny voice of Elmer Fudd complaining that whilst there are 100,000 young people on the dole, the First Minister is worrying about Olympic symbols... (As if in some parallel universe Labour never had massive youth unemployment.)


Edinburgh Council has to approve or disapprove the  sign. However, despite the nominal coalition of SNP and Liberals, I suspect that the unionist parties may join together to force an approval.


Some of Subrosa's correspondents have indicated that they will not visit Edinburgh while (if) the sign is up. I can only imagine that if one of the most photographed buildings in Scotland, becomes a cheap advertising hoarding, it's hardly going to encourage more visitors to our capital.


I hope the people of Edinburgh will make it clear to their councillors that despoiling the castle with unneeded advertising for an event 500 miles away is not going to be to the benefit of Scotland and that said councillors, mindful of upcoming elections, will vote a resounding "NO".

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

ON behalf of Munguin and me, I'd like to say thank you to all the people who voted for the blog on the Total Politics list.

We are really pleased to have made so many friends on line who thought Munguin's Republic worthy of their vote.

Congratulations too to 'Subrosa', up one place from last year at 8, to 'Scot Goes Pop' at number 11, up from 23 last year, and to everyone else who made it into the list.

FIT FOR WORK? LABOUR'S SCHEME LETS PEOPLE DIE WAITING FOR TRIBUNAL

Inspired by an excellent piece by John Souter, on Subrosa’s blog, about the Welfare Reforms introduced by the last government and pursued vigorously by this one, I was encouraged to develop the theme a little, both by comments on the story, and by this story I read relating to deaths of people found fit under the new scheme.

Let’s start of by making it clear that I know that people abuse the system; work and claim benefits, lie about circumstances. There will always be. Just as at the other end of the scale there are and always will be people who avoid paying millions in tax.

Of course one benefit cheat may fiddle a few thousands; a tax cheat, a few million a year.

I condemn both whilst accepting that they as inevitable as the sunrise.

But I caution that whatever the Daily Mail says, most "welfare" goes to people who do need it; people who would work if there was decent and suitable work, or people who desperately need help in their illnesses, or old age.

The new Welfare laws, as well as clamping down on the cheats, put these people’s lives at risk. Witness the stories told in After Atos. In one case the representative of a claimant went to Tribunal to say that his client would be unable to attend due to the unfortunate fact that he had died.

And the decision to cut pensioners’ benefits (Tory policy) is unspeakable. Private or company pensions are flat lining, bank interest which used to be a mainstay of elderly people, is practically zero (unless of course you have your money in the British Virgin Islands), domestic fuel prices are rising at twice the rate of inflation so far this year and more increases are predicted before winter, we already have a jaw-dropping annual death rate from cold related illness, and Osborne cuts £100 from old people’s winter fuel payment?

How would the cabinet feel if their own parents were shivering in the house, wrapped in blankets with one bar of a fire to keep them warm, checking the meter every half hour and spending most of the day in bed, eventually giving up trying to keep warm and just slowly slipping away, alone, cold and miserable?

Despite their best efforts to make us forget it by encouraging a wild orgy of celebration over this extended bank holiday (on credit cards), which is estimated to have cost the British economy in excess of £6 billion in lost productivity, and to have had a -0.25% effect on next quarter’s figures, they can’t hide that we are suffering with static wages, reduced in-work benefits, increased taxation (direct and indirect) and horrific price increases (4% inflation my butt!).

And in the meantime we are fighting two wars from which we are detached, and can afford weddings which they say make the country more cohesive. Well tell that to the “benefit cheat” who died before the tribunal could reverse the stopping of his benefits. He’ll not be feeling like he was part of one big happy Britain.

And remember, that could be you. Not today maybe, but next year, or in 5 years’ time. The stories in “After Atos” happened in Scotland. Ahead of Thursday’s elections I’d love to know if Iain Gray, Annabel Goldie and Tavish Scott support this very unScottish treatment of Scots perpetrated by their London counterparts.

FMQ on SVR by SR

The account of today's First Minister's Questions can be found over at Subrosa's place, and a damned good one it is too.

Warning: This post may cause people to wonder about how much time can be wasted on trivia by highly paid public servants.

Someone told Tavish yesterday that his attack on John Swinney had been statesman-like. (I think it may have been Tavish as he was shaving this morning.) So, he resumed this afternoon where he left off yesterday. A forensic examination of that part of FMQ can he found here at Scot Goes Pop.

Warning: This post may cause uncontrollable mirth.

Pics: Alex Salmond's reaction on hearing that Tavish Scott was out to get him...

THIS WEEK'S FMQ'S IS OVER AT SUBROSA'S PLACE

Subrosa and I have agreed to take week about at writing up a short report on the spectacle of comedy that is First Minister's Questions at Holyrood.

This week it's her turn. You can find her report and a video of the proceedings here

SHOULD SCOTTISH KIDS BE FORCED TO WEAR UNIFORM?

Yesterday I watched some girls come out of school looking like the fantasy of your average middle aged man. The word slappers sprung to mind.

Skirts just below the top of their legs, fish net tights, half open blouses, ties half undone, lipstick, makeup, chewing gum, open mouths. (OK, it may seem that this was an in-depth study, but I was walking up the road when they were coming out of school and walking down the road. There were hundreds of them and I was making a study with this post in mind.) I WAS Niko!!!

The boys were unremarkable. Yes, they tend to wear trainers with their black trousers (maybe because their parents can’t afford shoes and trainers at the same time), but apart from untidy ties they looked fine. Scruffy of course, but boys always look scruffy by 4 pm. Sad lad indeed that went home smart!

I’ve long wondered why we put kids in uniform. Does it improve academic achievement? Is it affordable? Is it good for discipline? Is it widespread? What about design? Would a more modern/casual approach in conjunction with pupils be better?

Across the world there are varying attitudes to uniform. The more authoritarian regimes of course demand uniforms and strict ones too: Burma, North Korea and China. Australia and NZ have informal uniforms : polo shirts, trousers or skirts. Some countries, like Brazil favour jeans and a school polo shirt. And of course some have no uniforms, America, Canada, near neighbours in Europe, Russia and the Scandinavian countries.

Most seem to achieve a relatively high standard of education. However it is hard to say if this is affected by uniform or not. For example regardless of apparel in North Korea you would be expected to be quiet and studious at school. The alternative might be your parents being sent to a correction camp!!

Subrosa’s interesting article on the subject includes her answer to me about a poor parent who was driven into debt trying to keep her daughter in the fashion items that other girls wore. But, in the middle 80s the cost of a Harris Academy blazer was £50! Lord knows what they cost now. And besides uniform there’s the latest phones, ipods, laptops and dongles. A pencil case and a protractor no longer meet the needs! And they need the fashion statement clothes anyway for after school. Why buy the blazer on top?

I’ve done a little bit of teaching in my time: in schools, college, university, and training companies. In none of the places where I taught was there any kind of uniform.... and some of my students were the toughest guys in town. Only once have I ever had a problem with discipline.

There were teachers in my school, where strict uniform was worn, who spent the whole lesson in chaos. Rubbish teachers! If you want to improve discipline, make your lessons more interesting. With a bit of effort you can.

Of course you can say that they have a strict old fashioned uniform policy at Eton, or Benenden and their discipline is nearly perfect and almost everyone goes up to Oxbridge, but then that may be attributable to many other factors, don’t you think?

I see no point in making children’s lives any more difficult than they are. Teenage years in particular are fraught. Uniforms which are uncomfortable and unfashionable, as well as an additional expense to people with not enough money seem to me as likely to be counterproductive as advantageous to achieving a good education.

I wonder what you guys think... and why?

MoD ISSUES INSTRUCTIONS RE EMBARRASSING DISCLOSURES FROM AFGHANISTAN IN RUN UP TO ELECTION

On Monday Subrosa carried a story about a truth blackout on military matters from Afghanistan in the period of Purdah which as she explains is “the period generally known to be between an election being called and taking place”.
The news comes from a memo written by Mr Gurr, the MoD’s director of Media and Communications. You can read the whole thing at Subrosa’s place from this link (and if you haven’t already read the post, can I suggest you do), but the main thrust is that the MoD is taking steps to reduce embarrassing disclosures.....

I quote this direct from Subrosa’s blog:

“Information on MoD and armed forces websites, it [the memo] says, must be 'cleansed.' Official blogs and websites must 'report factual information only.' Even internal MoD and service journals must be 'submitted for approval before publication' with 'controversial issues avoided' because 'these get into the public domain'. Another order is that 'Any activity that can be delayed should be.'

Subrosa continues: “The most distressing section of Mr Gurr's email, for me, is, 'Fatalities: Can put in public domain as now with Min (minimum I assume) quotes paying tribute to the individual.”

It seems that our government wants to make sure that nothing that might lessen its chances of being re-elected gets into the press. And keeping their podgy little trotters on the levers of power, and in the trough of course, seems to be more important to them than paying full tribute to men who may die for them.

There not a lot about this Wetminster government that I find shocking any more, but this is much lower than even I thought that even they would sink.

I suggested to Subrosa, and she agreed, that we should publish a website with links to English language newspapers in other countries, so that we can keep abreast of any information that the MoD might try to keep from us, and we bloggers can publish to make up for the supine press (at least here in Scotland) who roll over at a word from Brown.

So here’s the link.

And here's a link to Last of the Few's Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=365628811528&ref=mf

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WHO ON EARTH IS THAT ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE SUNDAY POST?

One of the problems that the Leader of the Labour Group in the Scottish Parliament has is the fact that he is not Labour Leader in Scotland. Gordon Brown has insisted that, despite Gray being elected by the whole Labour movement in Scotland including MSPs, MPs, MEPs, Trades Unionists and members, it is Mr Brown himself and only Mr Brown who is leader of Labour in Scotland, or North Britain as he would have it. (Short pause for maniacal laugh.)

Anyway, that’s a story for another day. Today’s story is more about the other problem he has. One that a lot of bloggers have had a bit of fun with over the months. The fact that no one really knows who he is. The results of a survey some months ago suggested that he was recognised by about 12% of the population if I remember rightly. Overshadowed by the much more charismatic leader of Scottish Conservatives (who actually is the Scottish Conservatives' leader) and overshadowed by Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr Murphy, Mr Gray had people scratching their heads, wondering where they’d seen him before... and deciding they probably hadn’t.

Well now all that will change. For Mr Gray has made the front page of “The Sunday Post”. For non Scottish readers this may mean almost as little as Mr Gray does to Scottish readers, but you should know that the Sunday Post is one of our finest organs. In its heyday it had a circulation that suggested that most people in Scotland bought at least 2 copies. It still probably finds its way into the bulk of Scottish households.

So what is he doing on the front page you might ask? Some magnificent policy statement? A huge breakthrough? A coup de grace, de foudre....d’etat?

Nope, none of these things! Much more predictably, Mr Gray, rather like his predecessor as leader of the Labour ... blah blah blah, has got himself involved in an expenses scandal. It seems that his campaign for the said leadership of the.... (well, you know) was partly funded by the taxpayer. Now there’s value for money! NOT.

According to The Sunday Post... and I quote...

It’s claimed local tax payers in East Lothian unknowingly subsidised Labour fund-raising events in Prestonpans.

Both Prestonpans Labour Party and Prestonpans Labour Club gave donations to Mr Gray’s leadership campaign and he launched his leadership bid in the club.

The local Labour club’s annual fund-raising barbecue in Prestonpans has been funded by the council for at least the past 14 years, at a cost of £6700 to council taxpayers.

So the local Labour club and party seem to have been getting money from the council tax payer, and, both then gave money to Mr Gray’s leadership bid. The Labour club to the tune of £1500 and the local party to the tune of £800.

Local councillor Paul McLennan has challenged the Labour party to reveal how much money they have received from council-backed events and to repay it.

A Labour Party spokesman claimed Iain Gray had accepted the donation from the branch in good faith.

“The matter needs to be sorted out between the Prestonpans Labour Party Branch and the council,” he said. "When that matter is dealt with, if any action needs to be taken on this donation, it will be taken.”

It seems to me that when politicians (of any party) are making a bid for leadership, they must be totally sure that there is nothing at all dubious about the funds with which they are doing it. There are too many instances of poor administration, bad accounting or lack of understanding of the law in the recent cases of Peter Hain and of Wendy Alexander.

It is all very well to complain about how busy they were being MPs or MSPs , or how they left it to other people to check. For some jobs that might be acceptable. But these people were standing for high office. Hain was standing as Deputy Leader of the UK Labour Party (some might have reasonably thought Deputy Prime Minister). Ms Alexander was standing in a position where she might one day be the First Minister of Scotland! If you can’t manage a leadership campaign and the money that that involves at the same time as doing your constituency work, how can you run the country?

As for what’s going on in Prestonpans, it’s up to them, I guess. But I don’t think that the taxpayer should be subsidising the Labour Party or the Labour Club, any more than it should be doing it for any other political party.


Hat tip to Madame Subrosa for pointing me in the direction of this story. This is one of the few households that doesn't take the Sunday Post.

More Blogs Hit the Buffers

So it seems one by one my blog mates close down their sites.

The other day it was AMW, last night Niko, and today Subrosa. Further I learn that Scunnert has it planned to stop blogging on the anniversary of his blog: December 17.

Niko quite rightly stated that so much of the fun has gone out of blogging since the sad business with Wardog, a brilliant blog that should never have been closed down. The demise of Monty Burton’s blog the week after was also sad. Until his last few posts it was an intelligent, funny, well written blog.

Of course AMW just found that his busy life, a new job with ever more responsibilities, a new home life situation, and huge demands on his time for his beloved football, and the kids he trains, was no longer conducive to running a busy and popular blog.

Subrosa has been forced to close down her blog by some saddo who seems to have done a power of research and has her full name and her address. What on earth for I have no idea; she’s not been subversive. She has stood up for the rights of troops, as I hope have we all. If there’s something underhand about that then I’d like to know what kind of Scotland we are living in. Of course it has made criticism of the Defence Secretary rather necessary, but the last time I looked that wasn’t YET an offence. However this person has made enough of a nuisance of himself for her to be persuaded by professionals that this is the best and safest thing to do for the sake of both her and her family.

The trouble with the internet is that you can find yourself in contact with strange, no, weird people; people whom you have never met, and would never want to. Some of them are less than savoury; some you would cross entire continents to avoid. You know what I mean?

Scunnert has simply decided that he’s given a year of his life to blogging and that that’s enough. And, of course, that’s fair dos. Blogging is time consuming and you do have to always be trying to think of something interesting to say and good pictures or videos to go with it. There is research and reading behind most of the posts as you all know. If you are like any of the above named people, you also then have to watch for posts so that you can reply to them. That takes up valuable living time.

Well, as I said the other day, all good things come to an end, and even though I didn’t agree with everything any of my mates wrote, I respected them and their views and I enjoyed reading them. I’ll miss them very much and it will be strange without them around.

As for Munguin’s Republic, well, we’ll stick at it for a little longer and see how it goes. If we think we’re doing some good and/or entertaining a little then we will continue. The MSM needs to be balanced with good news stories from the independence camp. If we relied on the Herald, the Scotsman and the Daily Record for our news, then we should surely believe that Iain Gray was the best sing since well before sliced bread and that Gordon Brown was indeed the saviour that had led the world out of recession (albeit from behind.... far behind). {Did Spain recently join the G20 nations then Prime Minister, or was that just in some wee dream you were having?} We would also, doubtless, be persuaded to believe that the First Minister was the devil incarnate and that he was leading us down the road to hell. Can’t have that can we?

So, we’ll be here to bother you for a bit longer, as long as there are hits and comments......

Bye bye to my mates. Hope you’ll stay in touch by posting on this blog... or at least in some way.