Quiet weekend beckons - NOT!

Well it's finally here - moving weekend. Please wish us luck as Catherine, Penny, a van and I transfer my worldly goods from Irvine to Kinross-shire. Now I've just got to remember to tell the gas suppliers, electricity suppliers, Council Tax folks, insurers, bank, Post Office etc. But they all require a different form to be completed.

In some ways I'm very lucky as the bulk of the stuff that is going are my collection of wargames miniatures, books (circa 1200), DVD's, CD's, cooking gubbins and only three or four items of furniture.

The house in Irvine is where I was born and my family have been the only occupants since it was constructed 51 years ago so there is going to be some amount of emotional wrench involved. However there is a huge upside in that Catherine and I get to be together on a full time basis, I'll be living in an attractive rural location, my daily commute from Irvine to Glasgow ceases and becomes a once or twice a week trip from the village to Perth and then to Glasgow (working from home the rest of the time), I'll have my own office/study/wargames room when the large basement is converted and I'll have the opportunity of getting fit by cycling an 8 mile round trip to get my morning paper.

So, farewell to Ayrshire but I'll always be a proud Ayrshireman.

More strange happening on George Square

Further to yesterday's pantomime horse racing, as organised by a friend of mine - see comments to yesterday's post, today sees the square hosting a visit from "Europe's largest sofa"! This appears to be the length of around 30-35 normal sofas and is accompanied by a troupe of cheerleaders and a van bearing the slogan "if nothing happens in this bed don't blame us", not to forget the posse of photographers and camera crews. Even odder is that people are not being allowed to rest their weary bones on the thing. Frankly I'm mystified.

Obama only needs 139 more after John Edwards endorsement

News announced today is that former US Democratic Presidential contender John Edwards has endorsed Barack Obama for President. Despite Hillary Clinton's big win in West Virginia this Super-super Delegate endorsement will undoubtedly harm her chances of gaining the Democrat Presidential nomination, as will the other two Super Delegate announcements for Obama today.

Speaking at a rally in Michigan with Obama, Edwards said: "The Democratic voters in America have made their choice and so have I, There is one man who knows and understands that this is a time for bold leadership...there is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America, not two - and that man is Barack Obama."

Obama now has 1887 pledged delegates to Clinton's 1718.

What the heck????

Has someone slipped some hallucinogenic substance into my coffee or are there really 8 pantomime horses racing round a track, which has four hurdles, on George Square today?

Wish I had my camera with me to prove it to you all!

Europe Day quiz answers

As promised, here are the answers to my Europe Day quiz. many thanks to those who puzzled over it and it's a familiar name who wins the ALDE goodie bag. Take a bow Stephen Glenn!

ROUND ONE
1. How many stars does the European flag have? Twelve

2. Name one of the two top wine producing countries in the world? France (1st) & Italy (2nd)

3. What is the name of the Festival which takes place in Munich every Autumn? Oktoberfest

4. Which country has borders with Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia and Russia? Latvia

5. How many countries are currently part of the Euro area? 15

6. Known as the Holy Mountain it is the centre of Eastern Christian Orthodox Monasticism. set in an area of outstanding natural beauty, it is a treasury housing many artefacts and monument of religious, national and artistic value. Where is it? Mount Athos

7. Which two European cities does Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities describe? London & Paris

8. How many time zones are there in the EU? 3

9. They played a major political, military and cultural role in medieval Europe and the Near East. famed for their martial spirit, Christian piety and their culture, such as their unique architecture. Invaders and conquerors, they established a kingdom in Sicily and southern Italy. Who were they? The Normans

10. Where did the singing revolution take place? Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania 1987-1990

ROUND TWO
1. When was the "Year of the Barricades", student riots in Paris and other cities? 1968

2. Karol Wojtyla became Pope in which year? 1978

3. Year the UK held a referendum on EEC membership? 1975

4. In what year was the Treaty of Rome signed? 1957 (25th March)

5. Year the Berlin Wall was built? 1961 - a couple of days before I was born!

6. Year and location of the 1st Eurovision Song Contest? 1956 in lugano, Swtzerland

7. In what year was decimal coinage introduced to the UK? 1971

8. Date of the great influenza pandemic which killed more than 50 million world-wide? 1918 to 1919

9. Year of the death of Franco? 1975

10. Date of the Russian Revolution? 1917 - 25th October

THIRD & FINAL ROUND

1. What is the name of the Roman road which runs from London to York via Lincoln? Ermine Street

2. Which is the longest river in the EU and how many EU countries does it flow through? Danube and it flows through 6 countries - Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria & Romania. Also flows through non-EU Croatia, Serbia, Moldova & Ukraine.

3. In what year did the Channel Tunnel open? 1991

4. From the 10th century to the present day, pilgrims have made their way to which Spanish cathedral city? Santiago de Compostela

5. developed in the late 1870s by ophthalmologist Dr Ludovic Zamenhof to promote international understanding, it was denounced by Stalin as "the language of spies". which language? Esperanto

6. Name the mechanism where locations in geographically and politically distinct areas are paired, with the goal of encouraging human contact and cultural links? Town Twinning

7. Name 3 of Paris's 6 railway stations? Choose from: Gare du Nord, de L'est, Austerlitz, Lyon, Montparnasse, Lyon

8. Who was the German printer who invented a mechanical way of making books? Johann Gutenberg

9. Originally founded in Spain in 1944, this household name has sister magazines in Britain, Ireland, Greece, Turkey, Serbia, Russia, Thailand, Canada, India, Mexico & UAE. What is the magazine's name? Hello magazine

10. Name the Italian cities where the following airports are located?
A. Leonardo Da Vinci - Rome
B. Galileo Galilei - Pisa
C. Amerigo Vespucci - Florence

RIP Tommy Burns

The sad news of the all too early death of Celtic legend Tommy Burns was announced today. Tommy died from the recurrence of skin cancer for which he was first treated in 2006. This is very sad news for all fans of football up here in Scotland. A full tribute can be fond on the BBC News website.

Huge pro-Union demonstration in Glasgow city centre

Hundreds, if not thousands, of anti-separatist demonstrators have been driving their Union Jack bedecked cars around the streets of Glasgow all morning in a clear signal that the Gnats desire to see the break up of the United Kingdom is very much a minority view. The protesters have even adopted a uniform of royal blue shirt with Carling lager advertising, jeans, trainers and excessive numbers of tattoos. The odd Saltire has also been seen and even a scattering of red hand of Ulster flags have been spotted.

On the other hand Glasgow Rangers are playing in the final of the UEFA cup in Manchester on Wednesday evening and the "Hun run" to that city appears to have started.

As someone who normally has a plague on both your houses attitude to both of the "Old Firm" I do make exceptions for any Scottish team playing in European competition and take this opportunity of publicly stating that I hope that Rangers beat Zenit St Petersburg in Wednesday night's final.

Hillary may quit Presidential race

Terry McAuliffe, Chairman of Hillary Clinton's campaign, has said that Hillary may quit her quest to become Democrat Presidential nominee if she still trails Barack Obama in delegates at the beginning of June. he also said that both Hillary and Bill would then unite behind Barack and concentrate their fire on Republican nominee John McCain.

Meanwhile the Obama camp has been today boosted by the announcement by two more Superdelegates that they are going to be backing him. It seems that one of these new supporters has transferred allegiance from Hillary.

Obama currently has 1849 to Clinton's 1697. The winning candidate requires to hit the magic figure of 2025 which means it is mathematically impossible for either candidate to win from the 6 remaining primaries, which means that the votes of the 260, as yet, uncommitted Superdelegates will be crucial.

Burmese Junta impounds UN food aid

In a move destined to win no friends the Burmese Junta has impounded the first shipment of aid which has been delivered to the devastated country from the World Food Programme (WFP). The WFP has announced that it has no option other than to suspend further shipments until the situation can be sorted. It is feared that up to 100 000 people may have died and up to 1 500 000 may have been affected by last week's Cyclone Nargis.

The UK Government has pledged $10 million in aid whilst the UN has matched the UK figures, the USA a miserly $3 million, Japan $10 Million, France $3 million and Australia $2.8 million.

WFP official Paul Risley commented:
"Three flights were scheduled for Saturday but now we have no choice but to suspend food aid until the food in warehouse is released for WFP to distribute it. It is sitting in a warehouse, it is not in trucks heading to Irrawaddy Delta where it is critically needed."

Another unidentified aid worker suggested that the Junta was "Murdering their own people by letting them die."

Baroness Michie of Gallanach

Sir David Steel wrote the Guardian obituary on Ray Michie and I reprint it here as it is som much more eloquent than my own words can be:

Baroness Michie of Gallanach, Ray Michie, who has died aged 74 after a long illness, was the daughter of the renowned John M Bannerman (Baron Bannerman of Kildonan), who for many years held the record as the most capped member of the Scottish Rugby Union, and was a well-known broadcaster in Scotland, and long-term chairman of the Scottish Liberal party.
The significance of her parentage - her mother was also a Liberal party stalwart - was that, as a teenager, she supported her father as holding speaker at meetings in the far-flung constituency of Inverness, until he arrived from the previous ones.
John first fought Inverness at the 1950 general election, but he is well remembered for two byelections - in Inverness in 1954, which provided the Liberal party with its then best byelection result since the second world war - and Paisley in 1961. In both cases he astonished the political world, including his own party, by only narrowly failing to win them. A photograph of her late father in his robes as a peer took pride of place in Ray's sitting room.
In the 1987 general election, she fought and won, at her third attempt, the Argyll and Bute constituency, which her father had also fought in 1945. The seat was a Conservative stronghold until February 1974, when it fell to the SNP, who lost it, in their turn, to the able Tory MP and minister John Mackay in 1983.
Rejoicing among Liberals at Ray's victory was great: not only was she seen to avenge her father's near misses, but she was the only female Liberal MP in that Parliament and, in her 14 years of popular service, she steadily increased her majority from 1,400 to nearly 7,000. The constituency is unusual in that it contains 26 inhabited islands, which she was assiduous in visiting, often turning her ferry trips into impromptu surgeries.
Born in Balmaha, on Loch Lomond, Ray was educated at Aberdeen high school for girls, Lansdowne House school in Edinburgh, and the Edinburgh College of Speech Therapy. In 1957 she married Iain Michie and the couple spent 16 years working with the Royal Army Medical Corps in a variety of countries including periods in Germany and east Asia. On return to Scotland he became consultant at the County hospital in Oban, where they made their hospitable home, and she continued work as a speech therapist.
In parliament Ray was Liberal Democrat spokesman on transport and rural development (1987-88), on Scotland (1988-97) and on women's issues (1988-94). She served as chairman - not for her "chairperson" - of the Scottish Liberal party (1992-93) and was a member of the Speaker's panel of chairmen in her last period in the Commons (1997-2001). Her two main aims at Westminster were Scottish self-government and the development of the Gaelic language. She therefore delighted in the creation of her long fought-for Scottish Parliament.
She took the oath in the Commons in Gaelic, and when she retired in 2001 and was made a life peer, she became the first person ever to take the oath in Gaelic in the House of Lords. "This brings home to people," she said, "who have an interest in the tradition and culture of the Highlands how vulnerable the language is and how we want to promote it."
She was a vice-president of the Royal College of Speech and Language and held honorary positions in An Comunn Gaidhealach, the Scottish National Farmers' Union, the Scottish Crofting Foundation, the Clyde Fisherman's Association and the National Council for Women.
When she retired from the Commons, she did so partly to be able to look after her ailing husband and to see more of her nine grandchildren. The travelling distance from Oban to London and subsequently her own ill-health meant she was unable to contribute as much to the Lords as she had in the Commons, but she remained active in local affairs.
She was predeceased by Iain and one daughter, and leaves two other daughters and her grandchildren.
· Janet Ray Michie, Baroness Michie of Gallanach, politician and speech therapist, born February 4 1934; died May 6 2008

Copyright The Guardian

Celebrate Europe day with a Euro Quiz

As promised here is the mammoth Euro quiz to celebrate Europe Day - 9th May. many thanks to the UK office of the European Parliament for the questions. An ALDE & EP goodie bag goes to the person who has most correct answers when entries close at 5pm on Monday the 12th May 2008 at 17.00. If you are feart of public humiliation or don't want to show the world how knowledgeable you are then you can email your answer to iaindale@yahoo.com
Good luck!

ROUND ONE
1. How many stars does the European flag have?

2. Name one of the two top wine producing countries in the world?

3. What is the name of the Festival which takes place in Munich every Autumn?

4. Which country has borders with Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia and Russia?

5. How many countries are currently part of the Euro area?

6. Known as the Holy Mountain it is the centre of Eastern Christian Orthodox Monasticism. set in an area of outstanding natural beauty, it is a treasury housing many artefacts and monument of religious, national and artistic value. Where is it?

7. Which two European cities does Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities describe?

8. How many time zones are there in the EU?

9. They played a major political, military and cultural role in medieval Europe and the Near East. famed for their martial spirit, Christian piety and their culture, such as their unique architecture. Invaders and conquerors, they established a kingdom in Sicily and southern Italy. Who were they?

10. Where did the singing revolution take place?


ROUND TWO
1. When was the "Year of the Barricades", student riots in Paris and other cities?

2. Karol Wojtyla became Pope in which year?

3. Year the UK held a referendum on EEC membership?

4. In what year was the Treaty of Rome signed?

5. Year the Berlin Wall was built?

6. Year and location of the 1st Eurovision Song Contest?

7. In what year was decimal coinage introduced to the UK?

8. Date of the great influenza pandemic which killed more than 50 million world-wide?

9. Year of the death of Franco?

10. Date of the Russian Revolution?

THIRD & FINAL ROUND
1. What is the name of the Roman road which runs from London to York via Lincoln?

2. Which is the longest river in the EU and how many EU countries does it flow through?

3. In what year did the Channel Tunnel open?

4. From the 10th century to the present day, pilgrims have made their way to which Spanish cathedral city?

5. developed in the late 1870s by ophthalmologist Dr Ludovic Zamenhof to promote international understanding, it was denounced by Stalin as "the language of spies". which language?

6. Name the mechanism where locations in geographically and politically distinct areas are paired, with the goal of encouraging human contact and cultural links?

7. Name 3 of Paris's 6 railway stations

8. Who was the German printer who invented a mechanical way of making books?

9. Originally founded in Spain in 1944, this household name has sister magazines in Britain, Ireland, Greece, Turkey, Serbia, Russia, Thailand, Canada, India, Mexico & UAE. What is the magazine's name?

10. Name the Italian cities where the following airports are located?
A. Leonardo Da Vinci
B. Galileo Galilei
C. Amerigo Vespucci

Yet another facet of our "Big Brother" society

It's being reported a number of private sector employers are clubbing together to produce an online database of workers accused of dishonesty and theft. The National Staff Dismissal Register (NSDR) is going live later this month.

Reed Managed Services, Mothercare, Harrods and Selfridges are amongst the companies who have signed up for the scheme which will allow them to check whether job applicants have faced allegations of causing loss to employers & suppliers, fraud, forgery, damaging company property and theft.

Employees who have had any of these charges levelled at them will be included on the database regardless of whether the Police have charged them with any crime. Workers who have left their jobs before disciplinary action commenced will also be included in the lists.

The TUC and Liberty have raised serious concerns about this database. TUC spokesperson Hannah Reed said:
"The TUC is seriously concerned that this register can only lead to people being shut out from the job market by an employer who falsely accuses them of misconduct or sacks them because they bear them a grudge. Individuals would be treated as criminals, even though the police have never been contacted."

"The Criminal Records Bureau was set up to assist employers to make safe appointments when recruiting staff to work with vulnerable groups. The CRB already provides appropriate and properly regulated protection for employers. Under the new register, an employee may not be aware they have been blacklisted or have any right to appeal."

Liberty's Legal Director James Welch added:
"This scheme appears to bypass existing laws which protect employees by limiting the circumstances when information about possible criminal activity can be shared with potential employers."

I would ask that all Lib Dems reading this who are as appalled at this gross invasion of our privacy as I am, please contact our Lib Dem MP's and ask them to get a campaign together to stop this monstrosity. These matters should be a matter for the Police and Courts not unaccountable private firms.

P.S. This is actually quite scary as last night I finished reading "The Dark River" which is book 2 of John Twelve Hawks Fourth Realm trilogy in which "Travellers" battle to stop "The Brethren" from creating a 21st century world-wide version of Jeremy Bentham's Pantopticon and here I find a facet of it in real life UK.

In Memorium - Ray Michie

It is with great sadness I discover the death of Baroness Ray Michie at the all too early age of 74.
I simply do not have the time to post a full tribute until tomorrow but will for the time being point you towards the BBC News Website. This news is a great sadness to all of in the Liberal Democrats and to the people of Argyll & Bute whom she represented in the Westminster Parliament until her 2001 retiral.

Ne'er cast a cloot til mey's* oot

In other words don't start removing layers of clothing until the mey plant is in bloom. Well the west of Scotland is rather chock full of people ignoring the advice of the old Scottish proverb including in Glasgow's George Square, over which my office window looks - it's absolutely packed with people soaking up the sun and, I dare say unwittingly exposing themselves to increased chances of melanomas. It's being so cheerful that keeps me going. If the truth were to be told it's simply jealousy on my part as I can't go home and get into my shorts and soak up some of the glorious weather myself, instead I must take the train to Edinburgh and visit the party accountants to prove that I'm not an international money launderer or an English Tory blogger!
After that it's Office Bearer's for, at least, a couple of hours and home for just before 10pm, at the earliest. Grumble, gripe and groan.

* If you pardon the pun, I may have the spelling wrong.

It doesn't surprise me at all

The BBC news website has a story concerning a new report which states that the liberalisation of the postal service in the UK has had "no significant benefits" which, quite frankly, does not surprise me one jot. fact i believe that the postal service has deteriorated significantly in the last few years. I am quite suspicious that my street has not been getting daily deliveries for some months now as mail seems to arrive in large batches every two or three days rather than the previous couple of letters every day and when it does arrive it normally between 1pm and 3pm. Many people I know have given up their jobs as posties because of the aggressive tactics of the management and many others are sorely demoralised. Successive Tory and Labour Governments have decimated the post office and sub-post office networks - the main PO in Irvine is now stuck at the back of a Spar shop. Labour certainly made things worse when they insisted that pensions etc would have to be paid into bank accounts and did away with the Post Office as the exclusive outlet for TV licensing.

Perhaps we should think again about our on policies on postal services and accept the Post Office and Royal Mail as National assets, not semi-private cash cows for milking.

A few views of Scotland

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One of the great aspects of my job is that I get to travel all round Scotland when Elspeth is making constituency visits (yes, the whole of Scotland is one EP constituency) and meeting up with local Lib Dems. Here are a selection of photos from my travels over the last few years which I believe show just how beautiful Scotland can be.

They are in order:

1. St Andrew's harbour

2. Edinglassie Estate in Aberdeenshire

3. Dunure Castle in Ayrshire.

4. The solway firth in Dumfries & Galloway.

5. The falls of Clyde by New Lanark.

6. The Forth estuary taken from Kinghorn in Fife.

7. Another view of the Solway Firth - this one taken from Carsluith.

8. The P.S. Waverley steams towards Largs.

9. Me monster hunting on Loch Ness. Didn't find Nessie but got "mosnstered" celebrating Danny Alexander's election as Member of Parliament for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey.

10. Evening view from the new control tower at Edinburgh Airport.

11. Unusual view of the Scottish Parliament.

12. Moors near Tain.

13. Foggy Christmas morning in Craigend, Perthshire.
14. Irvine harbour.

A week is a long time in blogging

Blogging hiatus for the last week as I've been up in Aberdeenshire with the boss and relaxing over the bank holiday weekend so have been away from the net for much of that time. (The photo is of part of the 17,000 acre estate we visited)

Whats happened since I last blogged? Well there has been a round of local elections in England & Wales where Labour got absolutely trashed by the electorate across the board, Tories had a fantastic night and we had a better than expected night ending up with a net gain of 30 odd seats - personally I'd been expecting a loss of anywhere up to 100. Londoners have shown themselves to be political plonkers by electing Boris "blethering idiot" Johnstone as their Mayor and putting a fascist scumbag into their Londim Assembly in the shape of a BNP member. Ken wasn't worthy of re-election but I was very disappointed that the stand out best candidate, Brian Paddick, came 3rd.

On the fitba front Rangers made it to the UEFA cup final in Manchester whilst Manchester United and Chelsea made it to the Champions League final in Moscow - wonder if Abramovich manages to turn up to that one? sadly Irvine Meadow lost two nil away to Pollock which put our title hopes in serious jeopardy :(

Up here in Scotland wee Wendy has done a scorching U-turn on the question of an independence question in a constitutional referendum. Time for our Scottish Lib Dem leader Nicol Stephen to also have a change in heart methinks. It is well worth remembering that our Scottish Conference has not debated this position and that the Leader announced the policy off his own bat during last year's election campaign. Methinks I feel a conference motion coming on.

Other news: a crane collapsed at the BAE systems shipyard in Govan this morning causing damage but fortunately no serious casualties; A typhoon in Burma has killed thousand and made hundreds of thousands more homeless, thankfully however, the Junta has said that it will accept assistance from international aid organisations; It would seem that our "Big Brother" state of millions of CCTV cameras has failed to cut crime - no surprise there then. Obama and Clinto are still going head-to-head in Indiana and North Carolina - go Barack go!

Finally the Labour whips in the Commons have failed to suitably honour the memory of Gwyneth Dunwoody MP, the recently deceased member for Crewe & Nantwich, by calling the by-election even before her funeral. Very, very distasteful sharp practice.

Answers to last weeks Euro-quiz

Sadly only one person brave enough to stake their reputation by giving written answers. Take a bow Stephen Glenn. Here are the questions again but with the answers this time:

Q1. How many members states are there in the European Union? A: 27

Q2. How many official languages does the EU have? A: 23

Q3. Which is the biggest country in the EU by land mass? A: France

Q4. To the nearest full percentage, what percentage of EU citizens live in cities? 80%

Q5. According to reports in the press, about 98% of all Spanish people participate in what every Christmas? (1st begun in 1812) A: The national lottery

Q6. Which country has most public holidays in the EU and which country has least? A: Finland 14 (most) UK 8 (least)

Q7. Which country has won the Eurovision song contest most times? A: Ireland - 7 times. (Luxembourg, France & UK - 5 times)

Q8. Europe is the continent visited by most tourists: in fact, six EU countries were in the world's top ten destinations in 2006. Name them? A: France, Spain, Italy, UK, Germany, Austria

Q9. To the nearest thousand, how many staff are employed by the European Commission? A: circa 30 000

Q10. Which EU countries have the greatest and least population density? A: Netherlands (474 inhabitants per km2) & Finland (17 inhabitants per km2)

As promised, I shall try to post a longer, more general, euro-quiz on Europe Day May 9th and offer some form of European prize to the winning entry, should there be more than one entrant.

Fuel gloom

Grangemouth refinery strike with possibility of more to come, predictions of unleaded costing £1.50 a litre by the end of the summer,record profits for BP and Shell, OPEC waring of the $200 barrel of oil, BA announcing fuel duty surcharge etc. No wonder I'm feeling somewhat gloomy about transport prices today.

Although I'm a non-driver I shall shortly be moving to a rural location where I will be dependent on my partner and her car (or taxis) for transport to the nearest town. The car is fuel efficient as it gets about 11 - 12 miles per litre and, because of the small engine, attracts the lowest Road Tax charge. The fuel costs don't just affect how much we travel it affects almost every aspect of our lives. Fuel goes up, flights go up and holidays abroad go up. Fuel goes up, haulage costs go up and food, drink & clothing goes up. Fuel goes up and public transport fares go up and so on. We, as a society, need to take a thorough look at our love affair with cars and roads and we need to do it before it's too late.

Some off the top of my head ideas: more freight onto the rail network and new track laid; reduce road tax for rural postcodes; more buses at more useful times in rural areas; severe tax surcharge for "Chelsea tractors" registered in urban postcodes; tax surcharge for each vehicle above one registered at a domestic address; scrap the fuel duty escalator and instigate a cut; ban gas guzzling motor sports such as rallying and f1 (sorry DoctorVee); windfall tax on oil companies and I'm sure that there are many, many other potential options. Any suggestions welcome.

Watch the missing idiot!

I know most people in Scotland don't see that the London Mayoral campaign has much relevance to them but this little film pretty much hits the mark about Boris.