Running the asylum the inmates are

Fast broadband is a very important tool for the development of rural economies. So our Scottish Parliament member John Lamont asks a perfectly reasonable question of the Scottish Executive at Holyrood last week.

"How much it would cost to upgrade the (a) Abbey St Bathans, (b) Cappercleugh, (c) Longformacus and (d) Whitsome telephone exchanges to full platform ADSL exchanges."

The minister, Jim Mather, replies. "Information on the cost of upgrading the Abbey St Bathans, Cappercleugh, Longformacus and Whitsome telephone exchanges to full platform ADSL is commercially sensitive and therefore cannot be released by the Scottish Government."

What utter bollocks! running the asylum the inmates are . . .please rearrange. . . There is no other company providing rural telephone exchanges, no likelihood of any and so how come it's commercially sensitive?

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.

Exactly Why Do MSPs Get Paid?

Supper's ready said Mrs H in a voice redolent of Peter Gabriel and Genesis. A visit to the dentists with nothing much more than a spot of cleaning had me perfectly in the mood for some piazza, salad and a nice single malt. As an accompaniment we tuned into BBC Scotland's news – a privilege denied to most of you I suspect. One of the main items on the news was a piece on council budgets and a debate in the Scottish Parliament - the numptorium, as it's unaffectionately known to many. Clearly this issue is of major importance as there are likely to be some serious job losses and some real negative effects on local economies, particularly in rural areas. The Camera is tight in on John Swinney who is waxing lyrical, as only he can, on the numbers game that is the devolved Scottish budget. Camera pulls back to reveal an almost empty chamber, maybe a dozen MSPs of various political persuasions, but precious few of any one party.

So precisely why do they get paid? Obviously it's not to turn up for work like the rest of us. Wasn't there a load of hubris back in the early days of the parliament suggesting that the Scottish version would be much better than the London one, with MSPs being attentive and attending? You wonder what it is they do? I know I should be much less surprised but it would be nice to think that they did their jobs a little better. Then again perhaps the whole charade of the debate is just a waste of time and they might as well not bother.

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 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.

Nicol Stephens and the Self Serving Lightweights

So first it's Wee Wendy and now Non-entity Nicol, you really couldn't make it up. Apparently the reason is he wants to spend more time with his family! Well, given his leadership performance since the election then I cannot imagine he's spent much time away from his family, other than that as a regular MSP, because he's been practically invisible. The sad and somewhat worrying thing about all this is the imploding nature of Scottish politics. You'd really think that most of them were in it for the money and the opportunity to be important, because there seems so little of substance going on right now.

This all plays right into the hands of the SNP who are making everyone else look pretty silly and ineffectual while they themselves are hardly doing a stellar job, but it's a bit like anything in life. Why waste a lot of effort when you don't really need to. The opportunity to serve one's country is so important yet we seem to be lumbered with a lot of self serving lightweights.

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.

Broadcasting Commission's Carping.

So the Scottish Broadcasting Commission has issued their interim report, somewhat anticlimactic, but then again what did we expect? According to Blair Jenkins its chairman "The main themes to emerge are a demand for more Scottish content. People are expressing a desire and appetite to see more programming of documentaries, history and heritage programmes." It goes on to say that Scottish broadcasting "suffers a lack of ambition" and is "missing out on Scottish talent and creativity" It also says. "People didn't feel the full diversity of life in Scotland was being reflected in their programmes."

There's a sense of inevitability about what the report is saying and a sense of they need to get out more. It's as though living in Scotland is some kind of vacuum in which we gaze endlessly at our historical navel and hanker after a diet of programming that is inward looking. We recently had the Top 10 of Scottish history from the BBC and they've announced another series about Scottish history There comes a point when there is such a degree of repetition of historical subjects that there's little point in continuing. I'm all for historical programmes but the level of audience that these programmes can attract must be limited, once you step outside of mainstream subjects. Now some might say, so be it the BBC is not about ratings, and I would agree. However, it's clear from the viewing figures that most people in Scotland share a love for the mainstream type programmes whether it's Coronation Street, Strictly Come Dancing, The X Factor or whatever else the rest of the UK is watching. Striking a balance seems to be the answer and reading what's been said about Scottish broadcasting has predictability about it. It's as though the Scottish Government has decreed that we must be more Scottish.

Much of what's made by broadcasters now has to compete on a world stage and there's an economic argument in all this that it's difficult to see how the Scottish Broadcasters can compete with if there's a greater amount of Scotland only programming. The Gaelic channel is already running into difficulties about the level of funding. The millions spent on programmes for around 50,000 potential viewers seems out of whack. I wonder if the commission would dare to suggest knocking it on the head and have the money redirected into mainstream Scottish programmes?

To say, as the report does, that Scottish broadcasters lack imagination feels like carping. It's a matter of opinion and that is what the interim report feels like. Politics and culture are usually unhappy bedfellows and we may all come to regret messing with things too much.

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.

Media Messing

BBC Newsnight on Tuesday ran a piece about whether there's anti Scottish feeling in England and vice versa. At the top of the piece the presenter introduced it and said. "In a TV poll most people in Berwick expressed a desire to return the town to Scottish control." This is classic misrepresentation of the facts. It wasn't most people, it was a majority of people who voted in the unregulated, un scientific poll; 60.3% to be precise. Given that the population of Berwick-upon-Tweed is roughly 26,000 it also was a minority of people who voted in this TV poll - less than 2,000.

We live in a parallel universe, one in which the media set the agenda and the one in which the rest of us try to live.

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.

Scottish Snouts in the Trough

In March 2006 I wrote about the Runaway Gravy Train, prompted by George Reid, the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament calling for a radical overhaul of MSPs allowances. I said it was good news, but would anything happen; I thought it doubtful. At the time Jack McConnell thought it was a good idea and since then Alex Salmond has thought it a good idea. Still nothing happens.

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. In 2005/6 three MSPs have shown how much money is to be made and how easy it is to do it. John Home Robertson, since retired, who lives in the Scottish Borders, where many people commute from, and represents East Lothian, which is right next to Edinburgh, pays rent on a flat in the city that is 'owned' by his teenage son - shades of Mr. Conway.

Tavish Scott, the Transport Minister and Lib Dem, is another that’s leapt 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." Even Mr. Home Robertson managed to say. “There is no question of any financial advantage to anybody,” concerning his own rental arrangements at the flat his son owns.

Then there's the case of sanctimonious Nicol Stephens, the Deputy First Minister, and another Lib Dem. Mr Stephens saying he acted "in good faith and with no financial gain". Does that mean he will give back the profit on the sale of his Morningside residence if and when he comes to sell it? If this situation were not so serious it would be laughable. He claimed thousands of pounds on a house jointly owned with his wife; the rules state the MSP must be the sole owner. Of course without his wife's salary in the mix he wouldn't have been able to buy such a home.

It's not about whether or not MSPs have followed the rules, it runs much deeper than that; it shows contempt for the electorate. It's no longer good enough for MSPs to say, it’s a new parliament and it takes time to work through these situations. Surely Mr Stephens checked his expense claims to ensure that he was absolutely clean on this? The unstoppable gravy train that ordinary people perceive as running rampant amongst MSPs is a depressing comment on the state of our parliamentary democracy.

So Alex, what's going to happen then?

The Donald and the Saga of Trumptown

Donald J Trump - reality TV star, real estate developer, entertainment mogul, casino owner, the hairdresser’s friend, and son of a Scottish woman from the Isle of Lewis. He’s also a man who, as almost everyone in Scotland knows, is planning to build the best golf course in the world right here in Scotland. Move over St Andrews; move over Loch Lomond, and all you other jumped up Scottish, so called, golf courses, ‘the Donald’, as his former wife used to call him, is, much like Santa Claus, coming to town. A man who is not so much eye-candy and candy floss hair.

Trump is a brand, why even the BBC news is referring to ‘his people’ as Team Trump. Have you ever heard anything so daft? Every time his name is mentioned it’s preceded by the word – billionaire, in order to make us all believe that here is a man who can do no wrong. Of course that’s not quite true. Back in the early 1990s he almost went to the wall when his Atlantic City casino, it too cost a billion (do all his developments cost a billion?) and was built with money from high-interest junk bonds ran into trouble. Such was the level of debt servicing that was required that it ate through most of his companies cash and almost finished him. Trump had to file for bankruptcy protection.

Since then it’s true that his building projects, many of which are called ‘The Trump International Hotel and Tower’, followed by the name of the place where they’ve been built, seem to be successful. However, that too is not entirely true. Several in the USA are struggling and may not make money. On another there are a number of lawsuits pending. Now of course these are the everyday occurrences in the world of mega business where it’s not all about profit, there’s always a cost line and no such thing as a certainty.

The trouble here in Scotland is the way most everyone is behaving; from, Alex (no I met him in my capacity as a constituency MSP) Salmond to ordinary folk the BBC doorstep for a comment. You’d think that Trump only has to say he’s going to build something and it will just be a runaway success. How many of them know that it’s not all the Donald’s money that finances these projects, it’s done with borrowings and investors. Trump is a risk taker – yes, but he’s also a salesman first and foremost.

Trump has a number of golf resorts around the USA and at least one in the Caribbean. One of his US developments in Westchester County, New York took four years to get under way due to local opposition; another one didn’t even get off the ground. The fact is the Aberdeenshire development is a big departure for the Trumpies. It’s a long way from home and the rules of engagement are different here. So far he’s managed to wow just about everyone. Not though Mr Ford, who was the councillor whose casting vote carried the planning group’s objection to the project. Ford has now been voted off that committee by 26 votes to 10, although it should be pointed out that 29 councillors didn’t vote. It makes you wonder what they really think? How are they feeling today?

The plan to build all these houses and the huge hotel and the two best golf courses in the world may look great on paper but there’s a big question mark against it working in Scotland. The whole mentality of the market here in Britain is different from the USA. And just who is going to buy those 500 homes? And are any of the houses going to be ‘affordable homes’ in his gated community?

Donald Trump may be able to walk on the water, but does he blow-dry his own hair? We may well know the answer to the first question in due course, the second probably never. But whatever way you look at the Trumptown saga, whichever side of the argument you’re on, there’s little doubt that it damages the credibility of the local planning mechanism. Add to this the fact that the whole sorry mess is one built on ego and greed. John Swinney is going to have to think long and hard about all this, at least you’d like to think he will, because he’s not only the Minister for Finance he’s also Minister for Sustainable Growth.

I wonder if, once the housing development is finished and the golf course too, locals and tourists will be able to wander freely across the area. The right to roam is something that cowboys understand; let’s hope the Donald does too.

Wendy Alexander, Clinging To The Wreckage

Wendy Alexander would probably deny that she's clinging to the wreckage but that's certainly what it feels like. Her ability to hang on in is in reality no ability at all. Laying low and not facing either her colleagues in Holyrood or a full on press conference means that it's no great feat. The fact is she can do little else as she must be 'under orders' from Westminster because, as almost every commentator has pointed out, if she goes so does Harriet Harmen. Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life has said it is surprising that somebody of WA's experience had run foul of the regulations and "clearly wasn't aware of the detailed rules". Meanwhile the press in Scotland have, I think, given her a relatively soft ride. Is it because they fear the alternatives? The fact is it seems that WA is the best the Labour have to offer, the one most likely to give the SNP a run for their money. However, if this goes on very much longer even with the public's short memories it could send Scottish Labour into the dark ages. With no effective Tory or Lib Dem opposition Scotland seems doomed to an SNP hell bent on independence.

Promises are a bit like presents - they're only good when you get them.

The SNP have behaved just as one would have expected from a party trying to get into power and promised more than they can deliver. They also have another problem - they've got into one kind of power, but it's not the power they want. Independence to them is everything and instead of getting on with the job of playing the cards they've been dealt they want to change the game, the rules and of course get a fresh hand.

John Swinney's pronouncement that EVERY household in Scotland will be £10,000 a year better off within a decade (under an independent Scotland run by the SNP) is just plain stupid. He bases his prediction on boosting small and medium-sized businesses, investing in industries of the future and better training, resulting in better-paid jobs. It all looks good on paper but of course like many such predictions it's also based on statistical extrapolation. Having been involved in economic planning at one time in my life I came to realise that forecasting was as much as anything a matter of luck. As often as not getting to the right answer depended on so many factors out with your control and correct forecasting happened a lot less often than it did.

Swinney said the £10,000 rise in average wealth would be achieved by economic growth reaching 4% per year, the same rate as small independent countries in the EU, compared to Scotland's current 2.1% rate. Of course it all depends on Scotland becoming independent, which is still an unlikely outcome. However, it's tactics like this by the SNP that are designed to make it more likely. Promising the earth and then having to deliver it is always a tricky political manoeuvre. In this case it's amateur forecasting that Swinney well knows will never be tested and all he's doing is grabbing some headlines for the SNP. It's also designed to divert attention from some of their other failed promises (notably class sizes and the extra policeman).

I guess this is also another example of the SNP having a ‘conversation’ on independence; pretty soon people are going to realise that it's a pretty one sided. Isn’t it about time we started talking about the cost of independence? It is inconceivable that the cost of running an independent Scotland will not rise. The SNP and John Swinney are a bit like salesmen - all they think about are their revenue targets. Would I trust a man like him to run my business? It’s all very well having a man with “a work rate the size of Jupiter”, multi-tasking, as John Swinney does, but it would also be good if he also had "a brain the size of a planet".

Is Scotland So Broke It Needs Fixing?

Back in August Alex Salmond announced his plans for a national conversation on independence. Since then the conversation has been all one sided with the FM and his party never missing any opportunity to bang on about independence. Today at the SNP conference we hear that Mr Salmond is going to say, amongst other things, that Scotland could be one of the richest countries in Europe and independence is getting closer and it is the top of the SNP’s agenda.

I continue to be sceptical about the SNP’s ability to be a government and I'm absolutely sure that independence is a poison chalice. I have no issue about living in a country that is independent from England, it's not an emotional issue it is one of practicalities and unanswered questions. The Black gold argument is powerful, but it is a little bit like a football team relying on one striker to score all its goals. What happens if he gets injured or sold?

To me the SNP's desire for independence overshadows all their thinking and traps them on a course that is not necessarily right for Scotland. For me there are too many questions that just don't get addressed and the "it'll be alright on the night" philosophy is not something we should be countenancing when it comes to the lives of 5 million people. How badly 'broke' is Scotland that it needs fixing? How bad are our lives? How much better will life, definitely, be under an independent SNP Scotland?

Salmond's Red Herrings

According to Scotland on Sunday Alex Salmond has launched ‘an audacious bid’ for Scotland to take part in talks at the UN aimed at ending the nuclear age. The First Minister has written to representatives of the 189 countries who have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) - including Iran and Zimbabwe - declaring his aim for the SNP administration to be involved in future discussions. Last night, UK ministers reacted with incredulity, accusing him of ‘undermining Britain's foreign policy and making common cause with nations hostile to British interests’.

Here we go again, more red herrings from the Salmond. This whole thing is becoming a game designed to position the SNP as the champion of all causes likely to win votes. If only life and politics was so simple.

Naturally the rhetoric from the Labour government has already started accusing the FM of failing to deal with bread and butter issues. It’s all rather like the LibDems who are able to tilt at any windmills of their choosing without facing the consequences of delivering. The problem for Scotland is we need the SNP to deliver on practical matters and so far nothing of too much substance has happened.

Methinks that this tactic will continue throughout the life of this parliament and at some point Salmond will pick a fight, of his choosing, and then cause an election which will see the SNP make substantial gains against Labour. I remain skeptical about an independent Scotland but I see it as ever more likely that the SNP could gain a majority in Holyrood next time around. Of course that’s still a lot different from a majority wanting independence. The key question will always be how will any referendum be shaped and how will those who don’t want independence feel.

Club Scotland - The Ultimate Closed Shop

Not content with making their expenses work for them it seems many MSPs are now getting their family to work for them too, and we're paying for it. Forty-seven have hired a relative since 1999 and it's getting worse. Since the election in May, 18 are currently employing a family member, including seven new members of the Scottish parliament. This includes Nicola Sturgeon, who used to employ her sister Gillian, and is currently employing her mother. Communities minister Stewart Maxwell has hired his wife Mary, according to the register of member's interests. Clearly most everyone's mum is a considered a great person, but best for the job? Margo MacDonald, the Lothians MSP, defended the practice of MSPs employing their spouses. "There are a number of husband and wife partnerships at Holyrood and Westminster, and I wouldn't condemn it. It keeps a marriage secure in a profession that is notorious for causing marriage break-ups. " What about people who have normal jobs? Ah, of course politicians always plead the one rule for you and another one for us.

Meanwhile with the SNP in power still nothing is being done about MSPs being able to claim allowances for buying a property in Edinburgh. Many have done this since the parliament began and of course a number have then gone on to make money when they resell their property. We're paying their expenses and they're pocketing the cash. Successive First Ministers and the last presiding officer said something needed to be done but no one does anything?

Welcome to Club Scotland where politics is the inner sanctum. Of course we all know that politicians are by and large incapable of talking the talk and walking the walk but we have a really suspect bunch. And they ask why people are less and less inclined to vote and feel disengaged.

Holyrood We Still Have A Problem

Three years ago, just 8 per cent of people thought that the Scottish parliament had achieved "a lot" since its creation in 1999. Now these figures have increased to 20 per cent, according to the Progressive Scottish Opinion survey. A further 52% believe the parliament has achieved "a little," while 12 per cent believe it has achieved nothing at all. Three years ago 49% believed it had achieved a little

And this is supposed to represent the public's faith "bouncing back" according to the Scotsman.