Get Your Message Across
Joan McAlpine MSP wrote a thoughtful article for the Daily Record last week - which caused a big rammy for some reason and seemed to upset the Scottish Labour party no end.
More of that later - but in the meantime here is what Joan McAlpine had to say in her new Daily Record column:
"Time to end Scotland's culture of dependency"
By Joan McAlpine
"Women understand independence instinctively. They know the alternative is dependence - and who in their right mind wants that?
Dependence leaves you vulnerable and exposed. The union between Scotland and England is a bit like the marriage of a talented, well-educated girl with good prospects and her own income, to a domineering man
She could easily stand on her own two feet thanks to a fortunate inheritance of oil revenue, exports of whisky, food and engineering - along with tourist attractions that bring in millions.
But the husband complains she can't be trusted to manage her own money. She would squander it. Anyway, it isn't really hers, it belongs to both of them. How selfish and greedy is she to even suggest keeping it to herself!
Here's the deal. She hands over all her assets to him and he will give her a handout in return. He'll decide the amount, but she can then spend it as she likes. Who can argue with that? But if she gets uppity, mind, her money will be cut. She should remember how lucky she is.
Eventually she recognises the relationship for what it is - an abuse of power. Her husband makes the most appalling investment decisions that threaten to bankrupt them both - macho stuff like war games and a £100billion new Trident weapons system - the ultimate boy's toy. That was money she could have spent on the kids' future.
Sometimes, translating a political relationship into a human equivalent makes us see things clearer.
The anti-independence parties - Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat - have formed a united front to tell Scotland she isn't capable of controlling her own economy, taxes, resources, benefits and pensions. They are just like the sexist old dinosaurs who insist men should handle the finances.
Fortunately, that kind of prehistoric attitude is dying out in families. So why put up with it in politics? Women in Scotland have good reason to challenge this unequal union with England. Decisions made by a Westminster Government that Scotland did not vote for have hit them hard.
The Con-Dem cuts have led to mass unemployment - and because more women work in the public sector, they are more likely to lose their jobs.
Women who do work are generally lower paid than men. They are hit harder by taxes that affect rich and poor the same - like VAT, which the UK Government hiked up. Welfare is also controlled in London and is being slashed - a survey by the Fawcett Society found 70per cent of those suffering the benefit cuts are women.
The London Government regulate energy prices - badly. They tax petrol - mercilessly. So the astronomical cost of heating your home or filling up the car is down to them. Why do we tolerate this in Scotland, one of Europe's leading oil producers? Meanwhile, over in Norway, which has similar oil reserves and a smaller population than Scotland, families have the best childcare in the world - with subsidised places from the age of one through to after school and holiday care.
When the Labour Government ran the UK Government, things were little better. They promised to cut child and pensioner poverty but instead watched it rise - even in the boom years. Incomes of the poorest 20per cent of households fell between 2005-06 and 2006-07, while those of the richest households rose.
United Kingdom? There's more unity for some than others.
In Scotland, the SNP Government have done their best to keep down costs they do control. They made university tuition free, froze the council tax, ended prescription charges and bridge tolls, and cut rates for small business. Women who manage a tight budget appreciate having more money in their pocket as a result.
We could do much better with power over the economy, taxes and benefits.
Scotland is as capable of running her own finances as England.
Just as women are as capable as men. In fact, we could do a lot better."
Now this seems a pretty reasonable argument to me - even if you disagree with some or even all of its conclusions.
Especially in a tabloid newspaper famed for its traditional support of Scottish Labour - the point being that if youre going to get a message across - you need to capture people's attention.
And on that score Joan McAlpine succeeded beyond her wildest dreams - perhaps because she was a well-known and widely respected journalist before entering politics and an SNP MSP.
In her previous life as an editor at The Herald newspaper - I seem to recall that Joan McAlpine supported a public debate on equal pay - which few MSPs or other Scottish politicians can say.
In fact I'm sure I wrote an article on equal pay for the The Herald - while Joan McAlpine was there - back in 2005 which I'll put up on the blog site if I can track down a copy.
