Lies, Spin, Connivance, B/S, Total Bollocks and Wind Farms

The opening this week of the Whitelee wind farm outside Glasgow exposes the lying and deceitfulness of both the wind farm industry and Alex Salmond.

Hurrah they all trumpeted! The 322-megawatt wind farm is going to be able to power the whole of Glasgow. Except it isn't. Government figures show that it will likely operate at a capacity of 28% which means it will be far from effective but just as expensive. It will do little more than keep half of Glasgow’s lights on, and not do anything to power TVs, dishwashers, tumble dryers et al.

Of course it will make a lot of people a lot of money because of the subsidies that are paid. Especially the Spanish owned company that built it and the landowners on whose land it's built. We will be paying massive subsidies so that these ultimate examples of gesture politics can keep turning.

Meanwhile, according to Jason Ormiston the former PR windbag for Scottish Renewables, which represents the wind industry, the vast majority of wind farms were sited out with highly sensitive landscape areas. What utter bollocks. Try coming to the Lammermuir Hills where most of the wind farms are built on AGLVs (officially designated Areas of Great Landscape Vale) and a SSSI in the case of the Aikengall wind farm. He also said, "One of the biggest threats to wild land is climate change and one of the most effective responses to it is the sensible development of renewable energy." He said this in his capacity of Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, having been promoted from PR spokesman.

He went on to say, "The industry will continue to work with a rigorous planning system so that the building of productive renewable energy projects in the right places continues to follow good practice." He, and his organization, cares not a jot where they are built, just as long as they are. The wind farm planned by that defender of the Scottish Borders landscape, the Duke of Roxburghe on land he owns in the Lammermuir Hills at Fallago Ridge is case in point. It s on peat bogs that will be forever ruined by the concrete bases that are the size of football pitches that will be needed if the wind farm gets approval. It has been awaiting a decision by the Scottish Government's reporter following a public inquiry for over a year now. The reason that none has been forthcoming is nothing to do with the fact that it will complete the decimation of these remote hills, but because the MOD objected. Their radar will not work properly, creating 'holes' in its effectiveness. Ironically it would not be able to 'see' if an aircraft was approaching the Torness Nuclear Power station.

So desperate is the Duke’s company to develop this wind farm that they have got the former Conservative minister and now MP for Kensington and Chelsea, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, to write to Des Browne and another Labour Minister pointing out that they are acting contrary to the Prime Minster’s stated aims.
"As you know, the Prime Minister has indicated very recently the importance the government attaches to the development of alternative energy projects, and clearly wind farms must be a very important part of this overall strategy. It would be unfortunate if one arm of the government was pursuing a policy with such rigidity that it conflicted with the broader arms of the government."
Now that’s a first. A Tory helping the Prime Minister!

Then we have the downright untruths spouted by the great leader who opened the Whitelee wind farm. According to Alex Salmond, "Whitelee in its current form is already flying the flag for onshore wind power in Europe. The benefits of this investment go beyond South Lanarkshire and beyond our real economy. It is an investment in Scotland's potential and ambition to lead the clean, green energy revolution."

Back in January 2007 Alex Salmond was unequivocal. "There is a real difficulty with public acceptance of onshore wind. There should be a cap on future developments. We should concentrate the development of onshore wind into suitable areas.”
He went to say that financial support for onshore wind farms should be looked at again as he believed there was a danger onshore wind developers were getting too much financial support. Of course all that was done in order to help the SNP get elected and gain votes in areas where there was rising opposition to wind farms being built against public opinion.

This volte-face from Mr. Salmond is not totally unexpected; he is after all a politician. But such is the courting of the Scottish government by the renewables industry that even I’m staggered by the complete change in attitude. Does he not understand that wind turbines are inefficient, make little money for Scotland – other than for the landowners and the renewable companies, which are often foreign owned?

Are there any wind farms in Mr. Salmond’s constituencies? In fact how many wind farms have been approved in SNP constituencies as opposed to opposition constituencies? It might make for interesting analysis.

Nadine Dorries MP, Ex-Blogger?

Nadine Dorries the Tory MP has had her blog taken down overnight. Apparently her less than well thought out remarks on the Barclay Brothers having some kind of agenda against British politics has caught up with her. As I said yesterday her new media profile could back fire on her, and it has. I read her blog last evening before I went to bed and I have to say it made pretty dire reading. Having read it occasionally I didn't think it was that well written and having watched her on Question Time a couple of weeks ago my immediate reaction was, thinks she's smarter than she is. She is/was clearly in a bit of a spin over all the Telegraph's coverage and she announced on her blog that she is going on holiday. I think she needs one. I bet David Cameron thinks likewise.

Update
There's a short article by Ms Dorries in the Indy, it does not reflect well on her. She calls what is happening to MPs, "torture" – a very poor choice of words. She also complains that MPs should be paid what they are worth; I think a lot of us feel that too. I get offered some small amounts to write some books, I accept it and get on with it, or I don't and I don't. I'm not complaining, it's the way things are. She's been in the House for 4 years and already she's a fully paid up member of the club.

Ryanair's Results as bad as British Airways?

British Airways losses this year are large, but none too surprising given what has happened in the last 12 months, although if I were Willie Walsh I'm not sure I would have gone on the BBC and said there were absolutely no signs of any recovery. Still, we shall see.

In a few weeks the Ryanair results will be published; all may not be good at Michael Gerard Joseph Mary O'Leary's low cost carrier. Last year the airline made a profit of Euros 481 million, despite a loss of euros 101M in the 4th quarter, that's the one ending in March 2008. This year Ryanair, up until the end of the third quarter is showing a cumulative profit of euro 134M, compared to 582 million in 2008. Ryanair's full year results are due out in June and it's hard not to believe that they will not be showing a loss for the full year. It could be anything – 50 million Euros, 100 million. . . what am I bid?

Could We Have Some Government Again Soon?

Nadine Dorries on Today this morning can be heard HERE.

Several points.
• Nadine Dorries has turned herself into a bit of a media turn. . . it may well back-fire
• This morning she argued her case pretty well against the questioning
• However, she, like a number of MPs has to 'get' the mood of the country a little more. Saying that it's a McCarthy style witch hunt is not credible.
• She also has to be careful arguing the 'we are worth this much (salary + allowances)' so we shouldn't be attacked.
• I think she has some good points to make, but the arrogance of some MPs and I'm thinking of the likes of Hoon, Darling, Blears here, Ministers who expect people to do as they are told, when they are totally comfortable with flipping their homes and making money as a result, is not going to wash.
• Ms Dorries in in the kitchen and the heat having been turned up is finding it difficult to cope with it. Nobody was dragged kicking and screaming to be on the ballot paper. There is just the hint of hypocrisy in all this.

Having said all that, would many of us have done any different to what it appears the majority of MPs have done? I think not. Most of us would have been lining up to line our pockets. However, that's what leadership is about, and it's what ministers just don't seem to grasp. If you get the big gigs then you have to be above reproach. Gordon Brown going on TV saying, "I was the only one trying to get this problem fixed" is absurd. He now won't deal with his ministers who flipped and flapped and milked the system. He cannot sack Hazel Blears because it would begin the domino effect.

As in all such situations we shall see some good people go from politics; however, we have needed the system to be fixed for a long while. We can but hope that the fires of the public's outraged indignation will burn themselves out soon. We need our politicians to get back to the job of government.

The Brown Snouts of Discovery

Nick Brown, who suspended David Chaytor MP over his memory lapse about when his mortgage was paid up, claimed £18,800 over four years in unreceipted expenses for food consumed at his designated second home in Newcastle. Anything to do with why he has consistently voted against a transparent parliament? Then again Mr Brown, as a former Minister of Agriculture, knows a thing or two about snouts in the trough. . .

UPDATE
Mr Brown has since said that his claims were "not unreasonable" and reflected real costs that he had incurred. He claimed £87,708 under the second homes allowance between 2004 and 2008 that included £18,800 for food – he regularly got £400 a month during recess without receipts. According to Mr Brown, "This has to be seen in the context of my working life. I am working flat out for the people that I represent and the politics that I believe in."

Let's hope for the sake of his political career that his voters believe him. On the other hand he will from here on in have to look in the mirror every morning and tell himself that he's good, and moral and what he did was completely right.

One of his colleagues in the Labour whip's office, Ms Butler has issued a statement denying she had claimed for a whirlpool bath. She said all the claims were for "legitimate expenditure". She went on to say, "I totally refute the allegation that I claimed for a whirlpool. I am taking advice on legal action,"

Like some other MPs she has threatened legal action. Just how many have taken any?

Be Careful Out There. . .

According to the News of the World Apprentice contestant Ben Clarke, 'swallowed a live goldfish in a sick stunt at a birthday bash'. It was part of a table decoration and he gulped it from a shot glass, 'forcing it to die a horrific death dissolving in stomach acid. He could face an investigation by the RSPCA.'

Mrs H cuts up slugs with scissors. I've advised her to adopt a disguise and lay low for a while.

Tavish Scott Should Not Hide From The Truth

Back in March 2007 I wrote on this blog about the Runaway Gravy Train. Part of that post was about Tavish Scott and his property developing. It followed on from George Reid, who was retiring as the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament calling for a radical overhaul of MSPs allowances. This is a part of what I wrote.

The big money fiddle is in the amounts that MSPs can claim for accommodation in Edinburgh. Mr Reid chose to save the taxpayer money by staying in a hotel; many choose to buy second homes in the city.

Tavish Scott, the Transport Minister and Lib Dem, is another that’s climbed aboard the gravy train. He first of all lived in his sister's Edinburgh flat, bought it and then sold it for a profit of over £30,000 Mr. Scott now has a mortgage on a 'substantial' Morningside property that he apparently shares with a BBC journalist. When questioned Mr Scott has used the 'no comment' defence, probably hoping that things will blow over. Why should they? Why should he operate within the letter of the code but clearly sit outside the standards of behaviour that we expect from our MSP's. We have so far paid over £50,000 towards Mr Scott's properties, he's pocketed a decent sum of money, is potentially in line to make more and he can't even be bothered to say anything other than, "I'm not going to comment on anything to do with this."

Fast forward to the Herald on Sunday today.

The Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats was last night refusing to reveal whether he paid capital gains tax (CGT) on the profits made on the first of two taxpayer-funded flats. A spokeswoman for Tavish Scott, who made a £36,000 profit in 2005 after selling a publicly-subsidised property, refused to give an answer on the "private" matter.

Private matter? No it's bloody not it's our money. How can he be so out of tune with the mood of the nation? Just because he's an MSP and a long way from Westminster doesn't mean he can just plead that it's a private matter. In the last Lib-Dem Manifesto it quoted the then leader Nichol Stephen as saying "I want to see the government consultation process reformed...we should give them (the people of Scotland) the facts, meet them face to face, ask their opinion and then tell them the truth." It's hypocrisy - nothing more, nothing less. He, like many of our politicians, has lost sight of what they are there for. It's not self-advancement or anything about self. It's all about service.

It's not about whether or not MSPs have followed the rules, it runs much deeper than that; Tavish Scott is showing contempt for the electorate. Of course he's far from alone and is just one of the 'public servants' who thinks they are better than those they serve.

The Brownies

David Chaytor MP was yesterday suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party; the man who did the deed was none other than Chief Whip Nick Brown, one of PM Brown's most loyal allies. He's also someone who has consistently voted against a transoparent parliament. Could it be because he ranks 42 out of 645 MPs in the level of their expenditure? So far the Daily Telegraph have not trained their keyboards on the MP for Newcastle Upon Tyne, it can only be a matter of time.

Owl Watch Update

Mrs H. was up early this morning and captured the owl, through the bathroom window, out hunting for food. It was a very wet night and with owlets and a mate to feed he needed extra time.

The Tory, The SNP and The Cosy Alliance

Malcolm Rifkind QC is the Conservative MP for Kensington and Chelsea. From all the information that is available it appears he has never voted on a transparent parliament and he's someone who votes well below the average amongst MPs, yet he seems happy to take on a lobbying job for North British Windpower, a company trying to get permission to build a giant wind farm in the Lammermuir Hills in the Scottish Borders.

Despite, it would appear, after a public enquiry well over a year ago, and the Scottish Government's Reporter recommending against this wind farm, the SNP government are doing everything in their power to find a way to get it approved. The reason that the wind farm was rejected is because the MOD have objected to it because it will create 'holes' in their radar. The radar that they use to see if there might be a possible threat against the Torness Nuclear power station, which is not many miles east of the Fallago Ridge wind farm site.

Now why would Mr Rifkind, whose constituents are a good way away from the Lammermuir Hills, have an interest in such a thing? Could it be the offer of the dreaded wonga! Or is he just so mad keen on wind farms that he sees it as his duty? I wonder if he consulted the local Conservative MSP in Berwickshire to gauge public opinion? I doubt it. Has Mr Rifkind ever been to the Lammermuirs to see for himself the scale of the developments of windfarms? Having moved south after losing his Edinburgh Pentland's seat I don't suppose he really cares.

And while we're on the subject how come the Energy Consents Unit here in Scotland seems so cosy with North British Windpower, to the extent that they apparently offered to go to London to meet with the MOD, along with NBWP? It seems that there's an agenda afoot. Let's cover the South of Scotland with turbines, an area where the SNP have absolutely no chance of ever winning a seat outright, so that we can keep turbines away from all those SNP strongholds.

Monopolygate?

Guido Fawkes is asking, "The MPs expense scandal is un-named. “Expense-gate” somehow isn’t right. Guido likes “The Troughalypse”, though that isn’t self-descriptive. Maybe “Snoutgate”

For me it should be Monopoly-gate They move their houses around with abandon. They use our money as if it isn’t real and get more without really having to do anything. Only problem is the ‘go to jail’ card seems to be missing.

Getting Closer to Buddy Holly

Spencer Leigh writes meticulously researched books on music. His most recent title is Everyday: Getting Closer to Buddy Holly and it is a fantastic piece of work that will delight any fan of Buddy and anyone interested in musical and cultural history. Spencer has interviewed countless numbers of people who knew Buddy, worked with him or were simply touched by his music. In the introduction Spencer writes. "In 1984 Ian Dury made an album called 4000 Weeks Holiday. The title scared the hell out of me because I realised that's all the time we've got on earth." Well my advice is to spend part of one of those weeks reading Spencer's book. You can see details HERE before popping into your local bookshop to order and buy it.

The World's Most Expensive Photo?

This photo cost $300,000 and one man his job!

How Much is a Moral Compass?

. . . and where do you buy one? No doubt if you're an MP it's from John Lewis and by the looks of the Prime Minister's expenses in this morning's Telegraph you definitely charge it to us, the taxpayer.

Apart from charging twice for his plumbing repairs, no doubt a genuine error, and trying to get his kid's blinds paid for I'm sure our PM has done nothing outside of the rules. Debating how daft are the rules will carry on even after the new ones eventually come into force, but that's to a large extent not the issue here. Gordon Brown has long wagged on about his moral compass, played up his standing as a son of the manse, I'm just an ordinary guy type stuff, yet what his expenses prove is that he is out for himself, and his family, and bugger us the tax payer. It's no defence to say it's 'within the rules' and"I'm the one who is going to change them."

Ten days after Blair announced he was standing down Brown switched his second home to that of his constituency house in Fife. In that way he's bagged a hat full of cash and is laughing all the way to the bank. He knew very well what he was doing. His moral compass should have said, hang on a minute, ordinary people can't move there properties around like a house on a Monopoly board. If you're a leader then you have to lead by example not just by telling others what to do, shouting the odds or claiming that you are a decent guy. What Gordon Brown has done is indefensible. Yes others from every party have done similar but he's the one at the top of the totem pole. And it's not just since he became PM. He elected to live in a flat while he was Chancellor, not in the grace and favour home he was entitled to. This enabled him to claim for it as his second residence and therefore build up his property portfolio.

So what do we have so far. A catalogue of ministerial nose-bagging led by the Vasco de Gama of MPs expenses who has regularly consulted his moral compass to ensure he remains just an "ordinary guy " and of course, "within the rules." It's just a pity he wasn't as prudent with the country's money as he's been with his own.

John Kenneally, VC

For reasons too complex, and probably not too fascinating I was googling anyone who was Irish who had been awarded the Victoria Cross when I came across this obituary in the Times. Here's a taster

John Kenneally won his VC as a lance corporal in the Irish Guards during the penultimate phase of the Tunisian campaign in April 1943. . . John Patrick Kenneally was an assumed name. He was the illegitimate son of a wealthy Jewish textile manufacturer in Manchester. . . His mother was an 18-year-old un-married daughter of a Birmingham pharmacist, who was disowned by her family. His mother earned enough as a lady's hairdresser and a high-class prostitute to give him a good education at King Edward's, Birmingham. . . He deserted, joining a gang of rough Irish building labourers, whose leader purloined for him an identity card and national insurance number, belonging to an Irishman. Armed with this new identity, he enlisted in the Irish Guards - no questions asked.

You can read the whole thing HERE....it really is fascinating. There's some more HERE, including some photographs

The Return of Quango Watch. . .it's Rocket Science

William Roe is the chairman of an Edinburgh based consultancy firm named Rocket Science (oh how very bloody 80s). The 'internationally recognised facilitator' is also Chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). So it will probably come as no surprise that HIE are a customer of the Edinburgh based Rocket Science who also have offices in London and Newcastle.

According to the Scotsman, "The firm recently had to repay an £8,000 consultancy fee to HIE following claims it had plagiarised information on a report on skills utilisation. HIE is now reviewing all reports from the firm to discover whether the error was a one-off or not." It sort of confirms your worst fears about consultants.

It gets worse, "The agency has awarded 15 contracts to Rocket Science since 2005, totalling about £103,000." What have they been for? International facilitation?

Mr Roe was recently appointed Chairman of the Scottish Executive's 21st Century Social Work Group. Mr Roe gets paid £47,905 per year for 2 and a half days a week at HIE. We can presume he also gets paid by 21st Century social work, which is also our money.

Overall not a bad ride on the Scottish gravy train. The Scotsman said that HIE are doing an internal audit of their relationship with Rocket Science and a report will be sent to Audit Scotland. Any chance Rocket Science will have to pay anything back? Any chance anyone will lose their job at HIE; particularly Mr Roe? Trouble is Rocket Science also work for Audit Scotland!

Well done to the Scotsman, and John Ross in particular, for highlighting this story. This is what they should be doing as a newspaper, getting stuck in. For too long the Scotsman has been towing the line and not doing an serious investigative stuff. What they have to do now is keep on the case and not just drop it like they have before.

Bob Dylan in Edinburgh

Last night it was Bob Dylan at the Edinburgh Playhouse, not a vast shed with total audience disconnection, thank goodness. I'd planned to meet my old friend, who is Dylan's promoter here in the UK, but he couldn't make it up from London; so what to do with the spare ticket? After phoning around no one either needed it or could make it so Mrs H. gamely agreed to come with me. Gamely, because she's not a Dylan fan and she in all honestly would have preferred a night in front of the TV.

We got there to find we had two seats in the directors box – help yourself to wine, we didn't as it's a long drive back to the Borders and we hadn't decided who was driving (I think Mrs H. had already decided it was, not unreasonably, me). His Bobness came on sharp at 7.30 with his band consisting of 2 guitarists, bass, drums and a pedal steel playing multi-instrumentalist – they were magnificent. I've not seen Dylan live in nearly 40 years but I'd been briefed by the Dylanafia that it's not like it used to be. I'd heard Modern Times, liked it but hadn't bought it to add to all the 1960s albums. Did I enjoy it?

Short answer, yes, but not exactly or overwhelmingly. It was a great vibe with wonderful sounds, although the tunes were barely recognisable from the originals. He played for 2 hours and did not say a single word to the audience, which strangely enhanced the whole affair. It was like eavesdropping on a rehearsal without a single break. Except they did go off after an hour and 45 minutes. So certain were the audience that he would be back that hardly a soul shouted for more. Everyone just waited. This is the set list and Bob played keyboards except where indicated.

1. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
2. Lay, Lady, Lay (Bob on guitar)
3. Tangled Up In Blue
4. When The Deal Goes Down
5. Rollin' And Tumblin'
6. Tryin' To Get To Heaven
7. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
8. Sugar Baby
9. High Water (For Charley Patton) (guitar)
10. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) (guitar)
11. Po' Boy
12. Highway 61 Revisited
13. Ain't Talkin'
14. Summer Days
15. Like A Rolling Stone
(encore)
16. All Along The Watchtower
17. Just Like A Woman (guitar)
18. Blowin' In The Wind

Dylan didn't introduce the band, but these are they
Tony Garnier - bass (originally a member of the very brilliant Asleep at the Wheel)
George Recile - drums
Stu Kimball - rhythm guitar
Denny Freeman - lead guitar
Donnie Herron - violin, banjo, electric mandolin

Best moments for me were Highway 61, All Along the Watchtower, Rollin and Tumblin, I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) and Like a Rolling Stone. Afterwards it was interesting watching people leave; there was none of the usual ecstatic, smiling, faces you see after a great concert; maybe it was the age of the audience. We met up with a well-known Edinburgh crime writer and another friend who is a jeweller – they had both taken their sons. As we stood having a drink the writer said, "My son was desperate for Dylan to play acoustic guitar so he could shout Judas!" Made my evening.

Anyone Caught Bird Flu?

Is it true that, like politicians and governments, we get the news we deserve? Well I’d like someone to explain what we have done to get the hysterical news coverage over swine-flu. Today we get headlines like ‘Tamiflu: What you MUST know as swine flu threatens to strike,’ in the Mail on Sunday. While the Sunday Telegraph gives us – Flu pandemic could be as severe as 1968. The Sunday Times wades in with – ‘New swine flu alert despite doubts over dangers’. It’s the second item on the BBC’s home page.

Contrast the New York Times. I get their daily email news digest and there’s a small piece way down their headlines in the New York section. Similarly the LA Times, which is a great deal closer to Mexico, has barely a mention. Overall it’s a much lower level of reporting and a lot less hysterical. I’d tell you what is in the French and Dutch and German papers but I can’t read the language, but I bet it’s less there too There’s no doubt that something is sadly wrong with our type of media coverage of all these global scares and doom laden scenarios.

However, consider this. In America there are 160 confirmed cases of the virus and in Britain 15. There are thousands of times more visitors to Mexico from the USA than there are from Britain; added to which there are millions of Mexicans visit the US every year. So how come we have so many cases compared to the USA?

I don’t doubt that the two things are unconnected but it does seem that in our 24-hour news obsessed country that we just love a disaster.

Not So Divine, Jim Devine

According to the Sunday Herald this morning, Jim Devine, the Labour MP for Livingstone, has claimed a total of nearly £17,000 in "car" and "mileage" costs, saying his office manager drove him around his constituency in her own vehicle and he repaid her costs in full. But the office manager, Marion Kinley, told the Sunday Herald: "I received only £60."

I suppose this would be the reason that Mr Devine has never voted on the issue of a transparent parliament. Anything to do with the fact that he’s ranked 21 out of our 645 MPs in the level of expenses they claim? With a 2,680 majority he's one who's likely under threat from the SNP (Mr Devine replaced Robin Cook following the former Foreign Secretary's death)

We Have Gone Bonkers

We have totally lost the plot over swine flu. This from Iain Dale

"And I gather the couple who got it on their honeymoon have just been signed up by Max Clifford. Jesus wept. Doesn't that just about sum up our society?"

Watching the various news programmes tonight I found myself shouting at the TV given the absurdity of the way in which things were reported. Best, or is that worst, was ITV Borders news who had a GP on who made a mockery of credible medical assessment. I just seemed so pleased with himself for being on the telly!

UPDATE

It seems, according to the BBC on Saturday morning, that the flu outbreak may just be a seasonal affair. The number of deaths appears to have dropped by around 40%. You have to ask yourself, are the number of suspected cases in the UK and the over 600 being tested anything to do with the hysterical media coverage?