MSP's on Chav Watch

SNP MSP Jamie Hepburn has tabled a Holyrood motion claiming that Venezuela has been "transformed" by President Hugo Chávez. His motion calls on MSPs to show "solidarity" with Mr Chavez's government and has been backed by the SNP's Bill Kidd, Alasdair Allan and Bill Wilson, as well as Labour's Elaine Smith. Let's just be clear here shall we. This is a country that recently devalued its currency and stands accused of becoming increasingly autocratic by imposing restrictions on the media and politicising the military and judiciary. In fact President Chavez is not some warm and cuddly man who you'd want to invite round for tea. What's more it's got bugger all to do with the issues facing Scotland and is a complete waste of the parliament's time and energy.

I wonder what these MSP's constituents would make of it all. "Aye that Hugo Chávez, he's that new signing for Celtic. He's the one one what wears the Burberry all the time.

A Showboat to the Maldives

It's been revealed that Scotland's main climate change champion, none other than our Glorious Leader Alex Salmond is to visit the Maldives en-route to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. It's not as some of you may assume because it's the Maldives Derby or Grand National, no it's so he can study the effects of climate on the Islands. The visit has been promoted because Mr Salmond signed an agreement with the government of the Maldives to help combat global warming at the recent climate change summit in Copenhagen.

Seriously, does his actions make any difference at all? With the problems that beset our economy, news that the NHS in Scotland does not perform as well as in England and all the other issues that we have – like the SNP's wilful desecraeation of Scotland through the gung-ho policy of approving wind farms – does he honestly think this is the best use of his time?

Rather than flying to the Maldives perhaps he should take a showboat

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.

Scottish Minister Being Deliberately Unhelpful

Last Wednesday Jim Hume (South of Scotland Lib Dem MSP asked when the Scottish Executive reporter’s findings in relation to the Fallago Rig wind farm public inquiry would be published. Bearing in mind enquiry took place in February 2008 so it is now well over a year not an unreasonable question.

This was the answer from the minister. Possibly the most unhelpful answer in the history of parliamentary answers.

Jim Mather: The report from the Public Local Inquiry on the Fallago Rig wind farm will be published on the day the ministerial decision is announced. A news release will be issued and the decision details, including the Inquiry report will be made available on the Energy Consents website www.scotland.gov.uk/enterprise/energy.

Of course it's taking so long because it's turned into a matter on national security. The RAF don't want the windfarm because it affects their radar and creates black holes. Torness Nuclear power station is just down the road.

The Trouble For Trump

It's simple really. The Donald's business model is to get people to stump up the money and call whatever they're doing Trump – Trump towers. Trump casinos, Trump resorts etc. Trying to get to the bottom of where he has his money invested is difficult. Certainly the demise of the casino business has cost him dearly but what about the other projects around the world? The slowing of work on the New Orleans project, the apparent problems in Dubai and several other difficult situations do nothing from brand Trump.

When it comes closer to home who exactly are the people who are going to be putting up the money to build, 'the world's greatest golf course'? Will they now be thinking again about digging deep into their pockets to fund the scheme? This despite the protestations of Team Trump that, "The money is there, ready to be wired at any time. If we needed to put the development up tomorrow, we have the cash to do that. It is sitting there in the bank and is ready to go."

Does anyone seriously believe it in the current climate? What's more how bad is the damage to the Trump brand are this week's events? Naturally the Donald is having none of it, his brand is “stronger than ever” and that “sophisticated people understand that the casinos were a very small portion of my net worth and I had nothing to do with the management of the company.”

I wonder what the Scottish Government think now about throwing themselves at the Donald like school girls trying to get close to some X-factor winner, hoping that some of the charisma will rub off. What about those 500 houses? The hotel and all the jobs that were going to come flooding into Scotland as a result of the Donald deigning to come home to the mother country to spread some of his largess? On his web site it opens with a big sounding splash that says 'Welcome to the world of Trump.' Some world!

Billionaire Trump has a Billion

So there we have it. According to the man that runs the Donald's Scottish operation he has one billion pounds, not one billion $, but a billion £, just sitting in the bank ready to fund the building of the world's greatest golf course and a small town in Aberdeenshire. According to Mr Sorial: "The money is there, ready to be wired at any time. I am not discussing where it is, whether it is in a Scottish bank or what, but it is earmarked for this project. If we needed to put the development up tomorrow, we have the cash to do that. It is sitting there in the bank and is ready to go."

Have you ever heard such guff? Ready waiting to be wired to whom exactly? No one person is building this thing, no one organization will be in receipt of the money; it is a properly (we hope) funded and costed project with a whole raft of suppliers and companies that will be involved. Of course it's all bluff and bravado, because there are hints that all is not good in the trump empire with at least one law suit against one of his developments.

Let's not forget the Government's involvement in all this, a set of circumstances that may still come back to haunt them and the project. I can just see it all becoming a touch unravelled and the Government having to step in to save the project. . . with our money of course.

And another thing. . . it's one thing having the money to build the thing but you've also got to sell it Mr. T.

The Loco Income Tax

So Alex Salmond has set out his minority government's programme for the coming year at the heart of which is the local income tax plan. Clearly every party, including the Greens, are opposed to it in someway or another - even the LibDems - and despite some of the more looney comments on the Scotsman's web site it will be difficult for the SNP to get it approved by parliament. Quite a few of their commentators seem to be unaware that the SNP is a minority government. Then again AS knows this and quite likely doesn't care anyway. So much of what the SNP does has nothing to do with governing Scotland today, it is all geared towards gaining independence tomorrow. Anything that pitches David against Goliath is sesn as opportunistic politics by the SNP. Moves are made, speeches are given, comments are offered on everything and every action by the SNP is geared towards trying to show that Scotland would be better with independence. I have no argument with doing that, I'd probably do the same. But it's always best to keep in mind that what we're seeing is not what we're likely to get.

On a more mundane level it's interesting that so many people have come out and said it's the practicalities of a local income tax that are unworkable. Breaking up the Union and running Scotland as an independent country will all be about the enormously complex practicalities and the costs involved with such a break up. I've always argued that I get the emotional idea of independence, but it's the practicalities that scare me. Add to this ego and ambition and the longer this goes on the bloodier it will become.

Presumably under a LIT regime anyone owning a second home in Scotland, whether or not they live in Scotland will not specifically pay anything more for that property. It seems to me that both the Borders and the Highland's councils will see a reduction in their revenue. I wonder how many properties in Scotland are owned by people who live in England? They presumably will not pay a penny.

Loco = wildly irrational

I'd Bet Against a Yes Vote For Independence

With a referendum on independence becomming an increasing inevitability it's interesting to muse on the way that any vote might operate and to take a look at the numbers. Would the referendum be as simply as a majority vote? So that if 50.1% of people voted for independence, and 49.9% didn't, does that mean we shall seek independence from the rest of the UK?

Just say we get a 65% turn out, the last general election was close to 52%, that could mean that 1,280 people in Scotland, out of a potential voter's roll of just under 4 million, might potentially decide the fate of the nation.

At the last election in the constituency count the votes amassed by the SNP were 664.227, that's 17% of the entire electorate - that's still less than a third of the total votes cast. If the SNP are to achieve that 50.1% share of a 65% turnout then they will have to persuade close to 620,000 more people to vote for them, or for independence, which I agree is not quite the same thing....but it's not far off!

I'd still bet against independence being voted for.

The SNP are Delusional

The SNP are getting like some tired old broken record and they've only been in government for a year. The news that Zoom the Scottish airline has gone belly up with debts of, apparently, £50 + million was inevitable as the old, what goes up must come down theory. With just seven aircraft and a handful of routes the business model just doesn't stack up. It might just work in a booming economy but it has no chance in he current one. Falling demand, rapidly rising costs, fighting off high oil prices for months and an over-riding climate of difficulty mean that forward bookings would have been sliding for months.

However, when asked for a comment all the SNP government can say is "This is one more symptom of the damage being inflicted by soaring fuel prices, which is why the UK government must use its own energy tax windfall to help the economy." They use every opportunity to have a pop. If they seriously think that this wouldn't have happened in an independent Scotland under the SNP they are delusional.

Wind Turbines are so Great for the Scottish Economy - Except they're Not!

There's big news here in Scotland this morning because Vestas, the wind turbine manufacturer, is closing it's Argyll factory with a loss of around 100 jobs. In the Scotsman there's much gnashing of teeth saying it's a blow for Alex Samond's wind aspirations, it's because the planning process is cumbersome, it's because the factory doesn't build the biggest turbines (surely that's their decision? - Ed) and the government 'should intervene' says a union leader. According to government minister Jim Mather, "As a government, we are ready to do whatever we can to try and find a sustainable future for the yard."

The Scotsman miss one vital point. Yesterday Vestas also announced the expansion of their facitlity in the Isle Of Wight with plans to provide 300 plus more jobs on the English island. All the turbines that are being approved in Scotland are not exactly doing a lot for employment north of the border are they? The First Monister constantly trumpets how good all these wind farms are for Scottish jobs. First we have the Norwegian company behind Crystal Rig giving the ground works to a Welsh company and now this.

Labour Lions Being Led By Donkeys?

I would have bet against an SNP victory in Glasgow. I thought there would be a big closing of the gap but not a swing of that extent. Clearly the SNP will hail this as a vote for independence and become even more bullish about the prospect of breaking away from England. However, the reality may be a little more complex and the future a lot less certain. 

There's little doubt that this was all about being anti, a Brown led government. His leadership style, if you can call it a 'style', is all about detachment, distancing one's self from things, while this was a campaign that Alex Salmond embraced and got out there to fight. There's no doubt that it was a superb effort by the SNP and credit to them for fighting such a good fight, but they will not find it so easy to pull it off across Scotland. Indeed, if independence ever happened there would be no MPs in Westminster. In the meantime we're in for an increase in the rhetoric from the First Minister but when the reality sets in, things will probably work out very differently. Not least of all because this will send a splinter up the bottom of Labour back benchers. 

Gordon Brown is not the solution, he's the problem - that and his bunch of lightweight cabinet ministers who just don't get what politics is all about. Can you imagine this happening with the likes of John Reid and Prezza on the team? They would have been battling in the way that Labour have traditionally done best. Our current crop of Labour so-called heavyweights in their sharp suits and TV smiles just think they have to go on the Andrew Marr show and the Today programme and all will be well. Frankly there's not a lot of attention paid to such programmes in Glasgow East and many, so called, Labour strongholds. This may not be Gordon Brown's Waterloo but he is certain to come under extreme pressure. God help the Labour MPs in the marginal seats across the UK, but then again, God helps them that help themselves. For me Labour MPs are no lions, but they're certainly being led by donkeys. 

Is Alex Salmond a Liar?

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 week the farce minister said that Scotland was on the brink of a renewables revolution as he gave the go-ahead for the largest wind farm in Europe. He told the World Renewable Energy Congress in Glasgow that his government has given the green light had been given to a 152-turbine project in South Lanarkshire. The chairman of the congress hailed Mr. Salmond as the "saint of renewable energy".

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. Is he stupid? 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? Here in the Lammermuir Hills we are still waiting for a decision on the Fallago Ridge wind farm that was the matter of a public enquiry in January and February this year. The longer it goes on without a decision the more likely it is to be approved and the greater the damage to these hills.

Some questions. Why if wind farms are so benign are they not being placed along the M8 corridor, close to where the majority of Scotland’s electricity is consumed and more convenient for export via the grid? Are there any windfarms in Mr. Salmond’s constituencies? In fact how many windfarms have been approved in SNP constituencies as opposed to opposition constituencies? It might make for interesting analysis.

It's Not Good News For Scotland

So Wee Wendy’s gone. Surprising in some ways because the whole row about her accepting donations was more about technicalities than it was about serious wrong doing. The rules are confusing and there’s no doubt that her political opponents, mostly the SNP, have made capital out of her mistakes, and who can blame them? More to the point her leadership of Scottish Labour and therefore the opposition in Holyrood has been far from glorious, in part because of the wounding effects of the donations scandal, but it lies deeper than that and involves both the Lib Dems and the Tories. The fact is when compared to the SNP the other three parties have all lacked effective leadership, none of them have a voice that resonates, or a leader who can challenge Alex Salmond.

With the litany of broken SNP promises the opposition parties should be far more effective in challenging Shrek, but don’t seem to be able to find the voice to do it. In fact the resignation of WW is going to damage the whole opposition unless someone can emerge in the Labour party with a voice and a style that says, ‘I’m your leader’. The fact is it’s not about policies it’s about prizes and at every level and in every contest the SNP walk away with the prizes because AS has the leadership skills.

Of course a new Labour leader in Scotland may emerge that does not have all the negative trappings of the Gordon Brown era, but I’m not holding my breath. From amongst the die hard old West of Scotland Labourites I’m sure there’s a danger that they’ll regress and that is bad for the Scottish parliament; because you can’t see Nicol Stephens or Ms Goldie stepping up to the plate. We continue to be dogged in Scotland by a political elite (I use the term loosely) that seems in the main to be second rate. Most people I talk to mention the fact that we have the also rans, the reserves and a team of substitutes. Whichever way you dress it up that’s not good for Scotland, but it’s awfully good for Alex Salmond.

Philanthropic City Financiers?

By and large city financiers are not well known for their desire to save the planet or by large-scale philanthropic gestures that will aid the needy and the less well off. It’s not to decry those that do make chartable donations and gestures it’s just to make the point that they get their rocks of by making money.

There’s news today that Nicholas Oppenheim the man behind the Beinn Mhor Power company who wants to put a 53 turbine wind farm on Lewes wants us to believe that he’s bucking the trend. An enquiry yesterday was told that six of the turbines have been signed over to the community and will bring in more than £1 million a year and the development will also create up to 100 direct and indirect jobs. Beinn Mhor Power’s plan was originally for 133 turbines at Muaitheabhal but has been reduced to 53, of which 27 would be within a National Scenic Area.

Obviously there’s a lot of people objet to this scheme, many of them local people who have a stake in the tourism industry in one way or another, others just don’t want to live in earshot, or eye line of the wind farm. Mr. Oppenheim’s company argues that it will be good for local people and largely because the city financier, who sometimes flies from Stornoway to Wall Street by private jet, is being so generous in giving the locals six turbines of their own. Clearly such an act of philanthropy must mean that his company stands to make a huge amount of money from the remaining 47 turbines? Indeed that’s what is so wrong about the whole on shore turbine business. The subsidies dolled out by government to windfarm developers and landowners are so obscene that it’s a huge temptation for any man who has the inclination to build.

While it’s clear that the money will be of some benefit to the community it’s difficult to see quite how. What businesses will be built up on the back of it? Certainly not tourism. There’s even an argument that suggests that rather than encouraging more people to move to the Outer Hebrides it might cause many who don’t want a wind farm as a neighbor to move away. There are also implications for the eagle population, which looks like taking a battering, literally, from the huge turbines.

As Catriona Campbell, a protester against the development, said it was senseless to destroy the National Scenic Area to provide green energy: "You violate one green thing to achieve another green thing. In principle, I support renewable energy but I think this scheme is wrong."

All over Scotland Areas of Great Landscape Value, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and National Scenic Areas are being blighted by the windbaggers intent of lining their pockets with our money on schemes of questionable value. The SNP continue to speak out of both sides of their mouths on the whole business of wind farms and still give no clear lead on the matter. Here in the Lammermuir Hills we are still awaiting the results of a public enquiry on a wind farm even bigger than this one. It took place at the start of the year and still no word. Meanwhile another opportunistic local Borders landowner has opted to apply for yet another windfarm that will make him a lot of money while quite possibly adversely affecting the value of nearby properties and certainly doing nothing to enhance this area of great landscape value. In years to come some may feel the shame of their actions but I doubt that many city financiers will miss a beat while flying around the world in the private jets sipping a G&T while contaminating the atmosphere.

Christopher Harvie MSP - A Loony on the Loose

Just when you think the SNP are controlling their urge to resist shooting themselves in the foot up pops Christopher Harvie MSP. Yesterday in the Scottish parliament he spoke during a debate on tourism and this is just some of what he had to say about a trip through the south of Scotland.

"On getting to Lockerbie, I discovered the place is a dump – Tescotown. It should really have a certain attraction of a rather sombre kind, as a place where something terrible happened. There are, after all, places on the Western Front and that sort of thing that have such an attraction for families who have lost people there."

It was then youth on which he vented his wrath. "...there ere were lots of kids hanging around the place smoking, drinking and so on. It was not in the least attractive." The MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife, went on to criticise the attitude of some youths he encountered travelling by bus from Galashiels, complaining that they put their "big muddy trainers" on the seats, and went on to attack young people for the "ugly" clothes they wear. Apparently it's all Tom Hunter's fault. The founder of Sports Division has caused this "from selling people what must be the ugliest clothes worn by anyone on the entire continent." The former lecturerer in Germany went in to praise German kids. "Bavarian kids rarely wear anything other than knickerbockers, or something like that." before returning to his attack on Scotland. "...but here that is replaced by universal sports goods, barely concealing the fact that Scotland is perhaps the least healthy nation in western Europe."

This is far from the first time that the MSP has gone public wih his over the top views and I was surprised no one picked him up on this in January when he said. "I can - just - get this down on the laptop, despite the swaying and swerving (he was on the bus from Galashiels to Edinburgh). But in winter feet turn to ice in the ill-heated buses, often late, often overcrowded, failing to make connections, sometimes not appearing at all. Evenings bring methadone men, pulling the windows open to the bitter draught because "Ah'm roastin' in here!" Or big men with bigger problems who've taken a mental battering in Iraq or Afghanistan and want their captive audience to know about it. The Borders bus is a slice of Scottish life to be contemplated, "with a seriousness approaching to despair"

He also attacked opponents of the Waverley rail line last month saying. "Here were a lot of RP (Received pronuociation) accents among the line's opponents. There are many English railway buffs (it is a national speciality, after all) on our side, but the St Boswells majority actually did not want to be connected to the Scottish central belt. The isolation of the Borders region suited these retirees, who once might have settled in, say, Rothbury or Wooler but had come north of the border, where the Scots, supposedly, get a better deal."

Of course there's issues across Scotland where their towns centres have been adversely affected by out of town supermarkets. There are clearly issues over kids and under-age drinking and all sorts of other social problems that affect the young (not least a lack of government investment in activities targetting the young) but Harvie's attacks have an air of arrogance, and mis-placed use of the language that inflames debate rather than furthering it.

Scotland, England? (Daddy, Chips?)

All this talk about Berwick-Upon-Tweed becoming a part of Scotland again (The town has changed hands between the two nations at least 13 times) is typical of the media driven political world in which it's our joy to live.

According to a 'referendum' for Monday's ITV1 Tonight programme, 1,182 voters in favour of becoming part of Scotland and 775 in favour of staying in England. Now that is clearly a 'vote' in favour but I wonder if it would stay that way if a real vote was taken . A vote in which all the pros and cons were considered in a more thoughtful and less simplistic way. Particularly when it's considered how much it will cost to make all these changes, and who is going to pay for them?

According to the survey it was better financed public services, including free personal health care for the elderly, which were the main reasons for a pro-Scottish Berwick. However, how will that really shake down if suddenly the perceived advantages of being part of Scotland were to change? We can assume that Berwick-U-T will become part of the Scottish Borders. How will they like being administered from Newtown St Boswells - it's almost 50 miles away? Already the focus of Scottish Borders Council is very 'central Borders centric', will this make any difference? Could it even put up council charges for the rest of us who live in the Borders?

It's a Scottish SNP MSP that is behind the current talk and of course it suits their purpose well to try and highlight how much better 'living in Scotland' is. But, most of what is perceived as being better was as a result of the Labour administration and may well not be deliverable in the long term.

The Desecration of the Lammermuir Hills

In all the rhetoric and argument over the Lewis wind farm proposal what is happening on our doorstep is largely ignored. Of course it is not such an emotive argument as that concerning the Outer Hebrides, but it is arguably more significant. Last week the Scottish Government's approved a 68-turbine site in Perthshire, it’s great news according to the energy minister Jim Mather. "There is no doubt that this country can become the green energy capital of Europe." This mantra's beginning to wear a bit thin and its time we started to think in a more holistic way about of impact of wind farms; especially as it affects tourism. This is especially important in the Borders where tourism is our single biggest industry. And as some of you may recall Alex Salmond said, before the election, that there needed to be a curb onshore wind farm development.

Over the past six years the Lammermuir Hills have steadily been allowed to become the wind farm capital of Scotland - and arguably Europe - as there are already 188 turbines either operating, being erected or approved. Today a public enquiry is to begin in Duns over the latest scheme, the Fallago Ridge wind farm, on land owned by the Duke of Roxburghe.

This latest wind farm, if approved, will increase the number of turbines in the Lammermuir Hills to 236, which would represent 15% of the total turbines in Scotland. Naturally it will be argued that the scheme will help to make Scotland the green energy capital of Europe and little attention will be paid to how much money is to be made by both the developer and the landowner. Unusually in the case of Fallago Ridge the landowner and developer are inexorably linked because the Duke is also a shareholder in North British Windpower. This means that some of the huge subsidies that are paid to developers will benefit the Duke to the tune of tens of millions of pounds over the lifetime of the wind farm. We can also assume that he will also receive some additional benefit as a shareholder in the development.

On the Duke's web site he proudly announces. "I have endeavoured to expand the Estates operations into the more commercial tourist related areas, which complement the stunning Borders countryside I and my family are fortunate enough to live in" Does he think the Fallago Ridge wind farm will become a tourist attraction? Or is it that they are sited far enough away from his estate at Kelso as to not affect his tourism income? The fact is that local councils and the Scottish Government have allowed the systematic ruination of the Lammermuir Hills in the pursuit of the elusive green energy ‘goals’. Areas of Great Landscape Value, SSSI's and local opinion have been ignored. Meanwhile one of the south of Scotland's last wild places is steadily being taken by stealth allowing the rich to get richer while Scotland becomes the poorer.

The Currency of Opposition

You have to marvel at politicians, their ability to speak out of both sides of their mouths - simultaneously - amazes me. There's an interview with Alex Salmond in the Scotsman this morning and it's a master class in the art of doublespeak. First he was asked, "You have been in government for six months now. Which aspects have been more difficult than you imagined?

“None. (my emphasis) There are some fairly challenging changes we are trying to make to the nature of public governance of Scotland, in terms of the civil service, the number of government departments, in terms of the number of bodies and agencies and the streamlining [and] decluttering of the public sector in Scotland. That is fundamentally important and I thought that would be more difficult to get under way. (again my emphasis) Obviously it will take years to complete, but it is certainly well under way. I have been pleasantly surprised by the willingness of people to buy into that move.

He was then asked, "Which parts have been easier than you expected?"

"Initially, I knew we had a number of immediate priorities - saving the accident and emergencies, getting rid of the [Forth and Tay road bridge] tolls, scrapping the graduate endowment and so forth. I have been pleasantly surprised by the way we have managed to deal with some of the more underlying issues - the skills strategy, the enterprise strategy, the economic strategy."

This is the best bit of all. He actually thinks that a strategy, which revolves around setting up a 'council of economic advisors is in some way a solution. It's not dealing with the problem it’s just a talking shop you daft beggar! As for the enterprise strategy Scotland has had one in place since 2001 it's called 'Smart Successful Scotland' and it's done no good. The SNP's strategy seems to revolve around realigning Scottish Enterprise in some, as yet, undefined way. Again it's not a solution as such, it's merely a desire to change it - nothing difficult in that Mr Salmond. These remarks seem to equally apply to a skills strategy.

Our First Minister needs to realise that talk is cheap, it's the currency of opposition and what we need are results. The SNP prove they can talk the talk; they have yet to show they can walk the walk.

Island Life (A Quango of Sorts)

Just when you think the issues in Scottish government are settling down and the way forward on what might need to be tackled over the rest of the term of this parliament out come the nay-sayers. According to the Scotsman this morning Scotland's islands are under-represented and should have a dedicated Holyrood minister or government committee, community leaders have claimed.

At a conference yesterday it was suggested that the country's 95 inhabited islands should have a common voice to help tackle issues such as high transport costs and delivering health services. Jim Mather, the enterprise minister, will address the Scottish Islands Federation (SIF) conference in Mull today, but he appears to have already ruled out an islands minister or committee.

The SIF, an independent forum for islanders which receives European Union funding (here we go again!), said its study of 52 individuals and organisations found 40 supported the idea of an islands minister and a similar number were for an islands committee of the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Islands Federation, according to their web site, are funded by our taxes, European money and money from a number of councils. It's another Quango!

Ian Gillies, the SIF convener, said: "Our islands are a unique and highly valued resource and with a population exceeding 90,000 residents, it is clear that islands are also economically important to Scotland and within the EU." Mr. Gillies you've shot yourself in the foot. All the islands are individually unique and the idea of a minister representing the disparate interests of all 92 is plain daft. The fact is that's why we have MPs and Jim Mather is absolutely right to reject the idea - we don't need more bureaucracy, we need less.

Some Tale or a Conversation

The 'national conversation' on Scottish independence as described by Alex Salmond continues with his assertion yesterday that he anticipated Scotland would break away from the United Kingdom in a decade. Now I've always thought, and that's how the dictionary defines conversation, that it was (at least) a two sided affair. Interestingly there's not a lot of people n Scotland who seem to want to join in the conversation, perhaps most people, as the polls indicate, just don't want independence? The SNP are fond of comparing us with Norway where the word for conversation is ‘Samtale’. Maybe we should adopt a new word for the type of conversation that the FM wants - Sometale....