A Tough Week ...

It's been a helluva week, one way and another; one of those weeks where I've been constantly chasing my own tail to try to get everything done that needs to get done. Anyway, here's a lightning review of the week just gone ...

Community

I learned on Tuesday about the death of Jenni Marrow, one of the giants of activism in North Edinburgh for all the years that I've been on the scene. Housing and regeneration were Jenni's passions and she battled away on these and other issues for years. She got hugely frustrated sometimes - particularly with politicians and officials - but she battled away and never gave in. She was one of the leading lights of the successful Anti Stock Transfer campaign and was a passionate believer in the need - and tenants rights - for good quality council housing. Activists like Jenni are becoming increasingly thin on the ground and a huge wealth of experience has been lost. She will be a massive loss to community campaigns, both in North Edinburgh and much further afield; I came into contact with Jenni so many times on different issues over the years and I will miss her. Her funeral is next Wednesday.

The Drylaw Telford Community COuncil newsletters were finally delivered last weekend so it's been a mad rush to get them out before Wednesday's AGM. Thanks to the usual small band of willing helpers we've just about managed it, but the whole process has been somewhat soured by one so-called 'activist' going in the huff because she couldn't do her own wee patch and wouldn't leaflet anywhere else. So much for overcoming the age old problems of boundaries and territorialism!

As well as delivering newsletters much of the weekend has been taken up with writing up and collating all of the papers needed for next week's meeting, when I will be standing down as Secretary next week after 20+ years. To save a rainforest or two I am lucky that most of our members are on email now - to think that when I started taking Minutes I used a quill and bottled ink and worked by candlelight!

More information on the Fairer Scotland Fund, but more confusion too - and ridiculously tight timescales that mean that some serious mistakes could be made. I will be part of a deputation going to the City Chambers next week to argue for a relaxation of these timescales. Our argument seems common sense to me, but whether the new Administration politicians can be persuaded is another matter ...

Sport

The football season came to a climax this week when everything was finally decided. Rangers were beaten in the Eufa Cup Final and also lost the SPL to Celtic in the final game, but had the consolation of picking up the Scottish Cup after overcoming a very spirited Queen of the South team in a final that was much closer than I would have expected. Rangers massive fixture list may have been their undoing, but losing two Old Firm games in quick succession was really their undoing - they were never the same formidable side thereafter. The Eufa Cup adventure was undoubtedly a distraction too - few would have expected them to get as far as they did, and while their tactics were dull to watch they undoubtedly worked, losing only two goals on the way through to the Final. I always feared for them if they lost a first goal, and so it proved in Manchester - the way they set out their stall doesn't make for an easy tactical switch into an attacking formation. Throwing on strikers toward the end just wasn't enough, and I would have thought that Walter Smith could have adopted a more positive attacking approach in a one-off Final.

They'll be stronger next season though, and I hope I can say the same about Hibs. I attended the (very flat) final home game of the season at Easter Road on Thursday night - Motherwell had already claimed the last European place so there was nothing at stake. Hibs were awful and Motherwell gave them a football lesson which was quite embarrassing at times - the 'Well fans had a great time with their sombreros and beach balls and they were they highlight of an otherwise miserable night. The current Hibs squad just isn't good enough and there have got to be changes before the new season starts. Mind you, we are in rather a better place than Hearts, I think. It seems that Steven Frail is on the way out and Romanov is trying to lure Mark McGhee to Tynecastle! Now Mark McGhee is many things - a talented manager, a good communicator, almost certainly a future Scotland boss - but being daft isn't one of them, and I'd be amazed if he took up any offer from Mad Vlad.

Incidentally I'd be more than happy to settle for finishing second in the League and reaching the Champions League Final - but that wasn't good enough for the Chelsea oligarch, who has just sacked his manager. What is it with these Eastern European money men - they'll be fixing the Eurovision Song Contest next!

Congratulations to Manchester United, though, on their magnificent double (despite being outplayed by Chelsea for large parts of the Final). I always felt it was their destiny this season, being 50 years since the Munich Air Disaster. The problem for Sir Alex is - how do you top that next season?

Politics

As universally predicted Labour took a hammering at the Crewe and Nantwich by-election and there have been calls for Gordon Brown's head. Whoever decided on the 'Tory Toff' campaign strategy needs a serious kicking - metaphorically of course, well ... - but, given all that is going on just now with falling house prices, risisng fuel and food prices, etc. etc. - defeat was inevitable from the day the by-election was called.
It's not a new leader we need - it's a return to core value socialist policies and a purge of the New Labour arrivistes. Dare I say 'back to basics?' However there is the stench of decay about this government and it seems we are witnessing an inexorable slide to a resounding defeat at the General Election. Brown won't go - nor should he, and honestly who would want the job right now? - and any cabinet reshuffle is going to look like an exercise in rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It's looking increasingly bleak, and time is not on Labour's side.

Meanwhile, over the Pond, Hillary Clinton refuses to accept the democratic will of her party and battles on, regardless of the damage she is causing and the advantage she is handing to who should be her real opponents - the Republicans. However I've always believed that Hillary's real commitment is to, well, Hillary, and so it's proving. Staring defeat in the face, she's now questioning the technicalities of the process in a hope of bending the rules and, predictably, has now raised the spectre of 'sexism', surely the last throw of the dice of a desperate woman. Admit it Hillary, it's over. Have some dignity and, if you really care about your party, concede now. Accept the decision of your Party members and then you may retain at least some credibility. It's going to be a bit of a headache meeting those campaign bills, though ...

And Finally ... Bright Sparks!

If Bill and Hillary may have to tighten their belts a bit to meet a few bills, they are not alone - we are all struggling to make ends meet. However there is light at the end of the tunnel, as I can now exclusively reveal ...
As a 'loyal customer', I received a pack of four free energy saving light bulbs from British Gas last week. These arrived a few days after my new, revised gas bill dropped heavily through my letter box - another massive hike in my direct debit. Still, free light bulbs, eh? That makes it all worthwhile! Rejoice!

Disasters

NO, not these two chaps - the Taggart actors called in to North Edinburgh Arts Centre last week to help launch the latest leg of the government's 'Cash Back for Communities' anti-crime initiative which returns the ill-gotten gains of drug dealers and the like into the communities they destroy. I was hoping for a headline like 'Taggart stars murder Rolling Stones classic' but the truth is they didn't - 'The Boss' gave us a very good 'Halleluyah' and a more than passable 'Not Fade Away', while his sidekick was more than happy to play a supporting role once again. All good fun, enjoyed too by government ministers Linda Fabiani and Kenny McAskill.

Disaster is an over-used word, but there's no doubting the scale of the carnage caused by the recent natural disasters in both China and Burma. What's interesting is the way in which these countries have reacted to offers of international aid. China - still one of the world's most insular nations - has allowed access to foreign press and appears at last to be taking small steps to becoming part of the wider world community. Of course there are still all the outstanding problems of human rights abuses, but if anything good can come out of this truly awful tragedy it's that China will see that the Western world isn't the Big Bad Enemy it has always been portrayed as. Yes, the sceptics will say the Chinese attempt at openness has more to do with the forthcoming Olympics than any new found trust but we can only wait and hope ...
In Burma, though, the military junta remains resolutely aloof while thousands of tons of foreign aid waits in vain for access. For these mysterious men the ideological war has never gone away, and if their people must suffer and starve to death in their tens of thousands - so be it. If ever there was a time for the United Nations to show it's teeth this is it - this is a time for actions, not lengthy resolutions, however well-intentioned.

Disaster is a word often used in a sporting context too, and this week we had the spectacle of tens of thousands of 'loyal' (sorry, couldn't resist it) Rangers fans making their way down to Manchester for the Eufa Cup Final.
The Manchester authorities did their best to make it a jamboree occasion for the Rangers fans but the end result of the Fun Day was over 40 arrests, widespread damage, one Russian fan stabbed and a number of police officers battered, two at least captured on horrifying video footage.
Perhaps Greater Manchester police thought they would be dealing with a vast horde of Tartan Army supporters - friendly people who wear 'see you Jimmy' hats and kilts, sing jolly songs and get happily drunks before heading for home (usually after a gallant defeat). A sizable minority of the Rangers support is just not like that, however. The songs they sing are rather more sinister, and many 'supporters' who attach themselves to the club on big occasions like this are after only one thing - trouble. Scotland has yet to grasp the continental cafe culture idea, and twenty-four hour drinking is a recipe for - if not disaster, then at least serious disorder.
Yes, the failure of a giant screen was undoubtedly a real pain, but do you think the reaction of the 'fans' would have been the same if they had been drinking tea all day?
And another 'disaster' looming? It appears that despite having redressed the 10p tax rate issue and effectively (well, as effectively as is possible when there are huge disagreements)closed down the arguments over a Scottish referendum, the government is still staring defeat in the face in Thursday's Crewe and Nantwich bye-election. A disaster? Again no, but Gordon Brown doesn't have his troubles to seek. The Prime Minister addressed the General Assembly last week, and as a 'son of the Manse' I'm sure he found a more supportive and sympathetic audience there than he has at any other event over these turbulent few months. Perhaps the prayer is for Divine Intervention now ...
And finally, disaster averted (but only in my tiny wee micro-world, and not a real disaster - just a nuisance really ...). On Thursday my anti-virus software was corrupted - nothing I had done, it just happened. Computers are great when they work - aren't all machines? - but I've had a couple of days spent hunched over a keyboard trying to recover files in a race against time - can I fix it before the malicious viruses get to work? Well, it's Sunday afternoon and it's sorted at last, with no obvious damage done. Your correspondent is safely back on-line once again, to the relief of thousands.
No disaster this week either at the Edinburgh Unionist Club's annual general meeting on Monday. It was expected to be a pretty poisonous event - there has been a lot of ill-feeling between opposing cliques. However the anticipated aggro failed to surface and it turned out to be a fairly constructive meeting. Against my better judgement I took on the role of Secretary - work I don't need but I'll do my bit to ensure calm waters for at least the next twelve months.
Other meetings were less positive, and there are storm clouds gathering over the NEN's future funding through Fairer Scotland - more on this next week, but whatever happens I will avoid calling it a disaster.
Farewell.

How do solve a problem like Wee Wendy?

If my blood pressure is high (see below), I wonder how Gordon Brown is coping? Hot on the heels of a trouncing in the local elections in England and Wales, and Boris Johnson's victory in London came poll ratings showing Labour at it's lowest level since polling began. Cherie Blair publishes her memoirs, the latest revelations from John Prescott's autobiography are less than flattering and the 10p tax band row rumbles on and it looks like this month's Crewe bye-election is already all but lost. How can things get any worse? Step forward Wendy Alexander!
Last weekend oor Wendy took an opportunity to grab some headlines on the lunchtime Politics Show. It appears that the gallus wee besom decided unilaterally to change Labour's position on the independence referendum. "Bring It On", the Bold Wendy challenged Alec Salmond.
A week later, the damage is still being calculated. It's opened the split between Westminster and Holyrood for all to see, it's made Gordon Brown look even weaker and more uncertain, and it's undermined - although not fatally - the Calman Commission and the working relationship with the other opposition parties at Holyrood. It's also the SNP yet another golden opportunity to exploit.
Why did she do it? To show that she is her own person, and will not be dictated to by London? If so, and it's a direct challenge to Gordon Brown, there will only be one winner and it's not going to be Ms Alexander. In saying that, the real winners slightly longer-term will be the Tories and the SNP.
Last Monday, in a desperately inept damage limitation exercise that bordered on farce, Brown and Alexander claimed they were saying the same thing. That defence crumbled during the course of the week and resulted in Ian Gray, an able Minister and a decent guy, being forced to try to defend the indefensible and explain the inexplicable on Newsnight Scotland. It was the most uncomfortable interview I have ever seen, almost too awful to watch. No amount of 'spin' can get Labour out of this shambles, and to attempt to try to treat people like idiots is very unwise.
I've always thought that having the Referendum early in the Parliament would have been a good idea - despite the SNP's victory last May I still believe that the majority of Scots would opt to remain in the Union. However that was before the SNP was able to build up a head of steam, and before the Labour Party had shown itself both totally inept as an Opposition in Scotland and became increasingly unpopular at Westminster.
To call for that referendum now is madness. If called, it would in all likelihood become a vote on the popularity of the respective governments at Holyrood and Westminster (Labour versus SNP, not Union versus Independence) and the result could be cataclysmic. Wendy Alexander should never have used a ploy or tactic like this to try to wrong foot the SNP - the result could have been devastating. The future of the nation is far too important to be used for a wee bit of petty party political point-scoring. Who advised her that this was a sound tactic? Did anyone suggest thinking this thing through? It was worrying to hear that Wendy had the unanimous support of Labour's MSPs too - did every single one of them think Alec Salmond will bide his time, quite rightly saying that he is sticking to his manifesto commitment (remember Labour promised a referendum of the new EU Treaty too!) As it is, the SNP are further strengthened and the Labour Party looks split, disorganised - and unelectable.
At the time of writing Wee Wendy is back-tracking so it's just possible that, come my next post, the Party's position on the referendum could have changed again. A week is, indeed a long time in politics! In this surreal state anything is possible - it looks like policy is now being made up as we go along, off the cuff as we go from interview to interview.
Readers of this blog will know that I have never been Wendy's most ardent admirer. As far as I am concerned she should have gone a long time ago but this latest - again, completely avoidable - fiasco must surely be the final straw. If Labour is to recover from what seems like a hopeless position the fightback must start now. Gordon Brown would be showing real leadership if he dispensed with the services of the calamity that is Wendy Alexander. That would be a positive first step, but would need the support of the Labour group at Holyrood. Those MSPs must now have the sense to put party first, before any misguided personal loyalties. If she stays, recovery of Labour in Scotland is remote and that will have dire consequences in next year's EU elections and the General Election in 2010. Not to act will consign Labour to the political wilderness for years to come.
Wendy must go - as the lady herself so rightly said: bring it on!

Keeping Well?

I've had better weeks ...
A couple of weeks ago I was summoned to my doctors' for a Keep Well check-up. Keep Well is an initiative launched by the Scottish Government (actually Executive, it was a Labour initiative so I'll blame them)that targets Over-50's (don't rub it in) with the aim of catching illnesses at an early stage to prevent things getting worse.
Well, as you can see from the picture above (I am the slightly flushed chap on the right, pictured with my youngest son Kevin), I am a man in the full bloom of rude health, so the appointment held no fears for me. Yes, perhaps I am just a tad overweight; yes, I do smoke; no, I don't take exercise; yes, I am partial to the odd bridie and occasional packet of cheese'n'onion, but other than that - no, no problem! My blood pressure and a blood sample were taken and I was on my way ... a totally painless exercise
However I received a letter (containing a booklet about cholesterol - what could that possibly signify?) asking me to make a further appointment, so I dutifully returned to the surgery on Thursday.
I have had more comfortable half-hours. I won't bore you with the medical details, but ... I'm overweight, blood pressure is too high, cholesterol is too high and, put simply, I have a 50% chance of having a heart attack during the next ten years.
Not the most cheery of news, but not totally unexpected either. Given a fairly stark choice I had decided to drastically alter my lifestyle, with immediate effect (well, starting next Monday) - not that I have had a fright, mind, it was always on my 'To-Do' list, and has been for years ...
The days of the fags, crisps, chocolate and junk food are over. Gone are the days when I jumped in the car to go to the baker for pies and cakes. My cupboards are now bulging with cereal bars, fruit and veg; healthy options abound.
Soon, you won't recognise the man. I remain focused on running in the marathon at Beijing in 2012. Keep Well? Well, I'll have to get better first ...

Cripes!

"HOORAH! It's the Bank Holiday Weekend! Yippee!", shouted young Boris, leaping out of bed and flinging back the curtains. "Let's go punting on the river - then we can have a slap-up lunch - caviar, oysters and lashings and lashings of lovely champers. I'm ravenous already!"
"Boris, Boris, calm down ... you can't go out to play. You won the election, remember? You've got to go into the office and run London, you silly billy!"
"Crikey, I forgot!", exclaimed Boris. "Bugger. Afternoon tea, then?"

Some hours later, after a leisurely breakfast of kedgeree and kippers, young Boris sits behind his new desk in City Hall. Outside on the streets, a troupe of happy young chimney-sweeps dance and sing, cheered on by Pearly Kings and Queens.
Heaped on the desk in front of Boris is a mountain of files - Anti-Terrorism, Housing, London Transport, Congestion Charging, Youth Crime Statistics, Olympics 2012, Ethnic Minorities, Failing Schools ...
"Gosh, this is a bally mess. What is a man to do? Ah ha, brainwave! I know, I will call my chum Red Ken - he'll know what to do. Good thinking Boris old boy, we can get this lot sorted out and we'll still have time for a decent supper ..."
London, May 2008