Action 4 Equality Scotland

Step up to the Plate

2012-01-28T04:13:00.000-08:00

The BBC has just reported that the chairman of RBS - Sir Philip Hampton - is to give up a £1.4 millon bonus payment - that he was due to receive later this year.

Good for him - let's hope others now follow his example - including the RBS chief executive - Stephen Hester - who is due a £963,000 bonus payment under his contract of employment.

Maybe now MPs in the House of Commons will step up to the plate as well - over the cost of their Westminster staff canteen - which is subsidised to the tune of £5.8 million every year.

MPs have had plenty to say about what's going on elsewhere - but have little or nothing to say about what's going on in their own back yard - see post below from yesterday.

Give to the Needy! (January 27th 2012)

While I'm in the mood for poking a bit of fun at MPs - I thought I'd share with readers one of the great mysteries of our time.

The fact that MPs in the House of Commons enjoy a public subsidy of £5.8 million a every year - for what amounts to their staff canteen.

Now I'm sure there's lots of good reasons for trying to keep MPs in the building - some of them might get lost if they were to venture out into the streets of London - looking for a great meal deal at Subway.

So they're encouraged to stay within the Palace of Westminster with some bargain basement prices - which are not on offer to the ordinary man or woman in the street.

For example:

£2.60 for a pint of beer
£2.35 for a glass of wine
£1.40 to a drink of Lucozade - recently increased from 80p

£2.05 for a lunch dish of braised pork with black pudding bonbon
£2.70 for an apple salad
£4.15 for halibut and soft boiled quail egg with carrot dressing

£7.80 for a rib-eye steak with hand cut chips and béarnaise sauce
£6.75 for haddock and leek fish cakes with tomato and dill cream
£6.75 for a chickpea and lentil curry with red onion fritter

£2.05 for a chocolate and orange torte
£2.05 for a serving of fresh fruit salad
£2.05 for home-made ice creams and sorbets
£3.10 for a selection of fine cheeses and biscuits

Now I'm all in favour of good tasty food being served up to our public servants.

But what I don't get is why it should be subsidised at taxpayers' expense - especially during these straitened times.

Why at £5.8 million every year - the subsidy accepted by our MPs amounts to six times the bonus paid to the RBS boss - Stephen Hester.

Which is getting lots of people very worked up - according to the news media earlier today.

Strange - don't you think?

Second Best

2012-01-28T01:42:00.000-08:00

When I wrote the words 'second best' in an earlier post about Andy Murray - a strange memory flashed through my head - of the days when I studied economics.

The thought that came back to me was about the theory of 'second best' - which effectively says that the hidden hand of market is always right.

So according to the proponents of the theory of second best - it's pointless and futile trying to out-guess or second-guess what the market should do - in any given situation.

Because human beings - in the form of politicians or a government - will always bring about a worse outcome than the market would achieve - if left to its own devices.

So the theory of second best was a favourite with the free marketeers - who thought it was the bees knees - the perfect answer to advocates of government intervention.

Yet the interventionists argued that many many markets - even good markets - still required effective regulation, the real problem being how much and by whom?

Now I never believed in second best all those years ago - and there's even less reason to do so now.

Not least because of the mess that unregulated markets - or at least not properly regulated markets - made of many western economies - including our own in the UK.

Sure some of our politicians had a big role to play in the disaster - not everything can be blamed on the bankers - despite their role as handy whipping dogs these days.

And the obvious sign of that is that not all countries were affected by the crash equally - or in the same way.

But I can't really believe that anyone seriously now believes that things would have turned out a while lot better - if the financial markets had been allowed completely free rein in 2007/08.

I think not - much more likely that the current mess would be on an even bigger scale.

So the question now is how much to regulate and how best to regulate - how much competition is good and who - above all else - should guard the guards?

Because I think it's fair to say that this time around - the guards in the UK were all asleep at the wheel - i.e. the government, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority - to name just three of the key players.

After bringing the banks back under proper control - my three recommendations for other areas of life that could do with much more effective regulation are:

1 The Press and Media
2 Factors and Property Managers - a personal hobby horse
3 Extending FOI to cover all organisations using public funds
4 Trade unions - ever bigger these days, but less ever responsive and representative

Onwards and Upwards

2012-01-28T01:07:00.000-08:00

Andy Murray could be forgiven for waking up in Oz earlier today - and comparing himself to Real Madrid.

Because no matter how well the Men from Madrid play - they just can't seem to overcome their arch-rivals Barcelona.

Even when they play well and even outshine the Catalan club for a while - as they did during the week - Real Madrid always seem to come off second best.

Although - to be fair - the Madrillenos are favourties to win the Spanish league title this year.

But Andy Murray has no need to be hard on himself this time around - because the young Scot crossed a threshold in his five-set, five-hour, semi-final match with Novak Djokovic - in the Australian Open yesterday.

Murray traded blows and swapped shots on equal terms with his opponent as the epic contest see-sawed back and forth - he never gave up and clawed his way back into the match on two occasions - before finally succumbing to the Serbian.

Djokovic was the better player on the day - but only by a very small margin - and for the first time ever - Murray looked to me that had the mental toughness to win a Grand Slam Final.

So it has to be onwards and upwards - 18 months ago Djokovic was in the same position - but he found a way of 'upping' his game by 5 or 10 per cent - when he needed it most.

Andy Murray finally seems to have convinced himself - that he can do the same.

Save Money, Shut COSLA

2012-01-28T00:57:00.000-08:00

I've just had a brainwave on the subject of 'pain free' cuts.

Why doesn't Scottish local government do the hard pressed council tax payer a favour - and save money by shutting down COSLA in its present form at least.

The self-styled voice of Scotland's 32 local councils - is a total irrelevance these days.

What with a five year council tax freeze - what is COSLA's purpose and role - because no one seems to be taking its leadership seriously.

No pay bargaining taking place for quite some time - and that's likely to be the case for the foreseeable future.

So what does everyone at COSLA do with their time - other than talk a great fight about COSLA's role in a mythical partnership with the Scottish Government?

I imagine lots of people go to lots of meetings - but do these meetings produce anything besides vast quantities of hot air.

What it all costs is shrouded in mystery - but the big question is - 'How can it possibly be good value for public money?'

Even COSLA's partner body - the Improvement Service (IS) - has failed to make much of an impact.

Because the IS has been unable to persude COSLA's member councils - to do anything really meaningful on the shared services agenda.

The wizard idea is that councils would pool resources on bakroom services - like payroll and IT - in order to make better use of scarce resources.

But the big project based on Glasgow and several neighbouring councils in west and central Scotland - went down like the proverbial lead balloon.

COSLA is nothing like the voice it was in the days of the Scottish Constitutional Convention - when COSLA carried undouted influence - when major figures like Charlie Gray spoke - with real authority and were greatly admired.

But no longer because times have changed - yet COSLA has not moved with the times - these days it's like the local government equivalent of - the Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club.

Here's a piece I wrote recently - explaining why things have got into such a mess.

Deck of Cards (September 23rd 2011)

According to The Herald yesterday the much vaunted plan by councils in the west of Scotland - to 'share services' and make better use of public money - is now officially a dead duck.

Glasgow is the latest council to pull out of the so-called - 'Clyde Valley Review'.

Which promised a new era of co-operation amongst councils - by eliminating duplication and pooling backroom office functions - such as payroll and information technology.

But after months and years of talking - the whole project has collapsed - like a house of cards.

The death knell was finally sounded yesterday - when Glasgow City Council announced that it too was pulling out.

COSLA and its partner body - the Improvement Agency - must be wondering why they have spent so much time and energy pushing an agenda - that nobody seems to support.

More evidence to show that COSLA - simply isn't punching its weight these days.

Councils and Cold Feet (20th September 2011)

Newspaper reports at the weekend suggest that the much vaunted plans for 'sharing' council services - is on its last legs.

Glasgow is the latest council to voice concerns over the 'shared services strategy' - which is designed eliminate duplication and waste - by pooling back-office functions such as payroll and information technology.

Sounds simple enough - but it seems that as soon as councils get anywhere near having to make a decision about how to proceed - they get cold feet.

Which makes the councils involved look ridiculous of course - along with COSLA and the Improvement Service who have both been championing this cause for years.

Unsuccessfully it appears - which makes you wonder why Scottish local government seems unable to work together - in the wider public interest.

Here's something I wrote on the subject earlier this month - prophetically as it turns out.

As far as I can see the individuals councils that make up Scottish local government - are just ignoring COSLA - and seem to be thumbing their noses at the Improvement Sevice.

If this pantomime continues for much longer - the Scottish Government will have to get involved.

Improving Council Services (September 1st 2011)

Here's the 'team' from Scotland's Improvement Service (IS) - an unelected public body set up by COSLA and the Scottish government some years ago.

See post dated 25 August 2011 - 'Interesting Bomb Pattern'

Now the IS aims to help local councils in Scotland improve their services - by adopting best practice and becoming more efficient - and by sharing services in some cases.

In which case I suggest that some of the 39-strong IS team - ought to be hot-footing it down to West Dunbartonshire Council - where shared services seem to be about as popular as the mention of tram cars on Leith Walk.

Because West Dunbartonshire Council has pulled out of a 'shared services' project amongst councils in the Clyde Valley - and now the whole programme appears to be on a 'shoogly peg'.

So maybe with all these specialist people on its staff - the Improvement Service can help get things back on track.

I certainly hope so.

Information about all the Improvement Service staff, including biographies and contact details.

1 Colin Mair, Chief Executive
2 Mark McAteer, Governance & Performance Management - Director

3 Bob Christie, Governance & Performance Management - Outcomes Programme Manager

4 Sarah Gadsden, Governance & Performance Management - PSIF Director

5 Andrew McGuire, Governance & Performance Management - Programme Manager

6 Jane O'Donnell, Governance & Performance Management - PSIF Project Manager

7 Andrew Noble, Government & Performance Management - Project Manager

8 Tallulah Lines, Governance & Performance Management - Project Officer

9 Alison Clyne, Governance & Performance Management - PSIF Project Officer

10 Konrad Zdeb, Governance & Performance Management - Graduate Support Assistant

11 Paul Dowie, Shared Services - Director

12 Bruce Harley, Shared Services - Change Champion

13 Simon Haston, Shared Services - Change Champion

14 Gerda Bartsch, Shared Services - Change Champion

15 Alexandra Ostroumoff-Croucher, Shared Services - Pensions Pathfinder Project Manager

16 Jim Kinney, Customer First - Programme Director

17 Tom McHugh, Customer First - Programme Manager

18 Martin Brown, Customer First - Head of Customer Relationship Management

19 Sally Buchanan, Customer First - Project Manager

20 Iain McKay, Customer First - Gazetteer Business Development Manager

21 Cameron Walker, Customer First - National Infrastructure Programme Manager

22 Robert Clubb, Customer First - National Infrastructure Programme Manager

23 Fiona Dick, Customer First - Communications and Projects Support Officer

24 Joanna Anderson, Customer First - Project Assistant

25 Karen Williamson, Customer First - Graduate Support Assistant

26 Kate O'Hagan, Organisational Development & Capacity Building - Head

27 Lesley Broadley, Organisational Development & Capacity Building - Senior Project Manager

28 Dot McLaughlin, Organisational Development &Capacity Building - Senior Project Manager

29 Jamie Carver, Organisational Development & Capacity Building - Project Assistant

30 Emma Hay, Planning Development - Programme Manager

31 Ross Pattenden, Organisational Development & Capacity Building - Project Assistant

32 Mike McLean, Knowledge Management - Head

33 Martin MacKinnon, Knowledge Management - Web Development Manager

34 Louise Jenkins, Knowledge Management - Web Content Editor

35 David Friel, Knowledge Management - Reporter

36 Jamie Kirk, Knowledge Management - Graduate Support Assistant

37 Loraine Higgins, Corporate & Business Support - Business Manager

38 Alison Ritchie, Corporate & Business Support - PA & Business Support Assistant

39 Kirsty Markie, Business Support - Graduate Support Assistant

Former APT&C Workers

2012-01-28T00:26:00.000-08:00

A lot of readers have been in touch asking what they can to do speed up settlement of outstanding APT&C claims - following the recent settlement in Edinburgh City Council.

I published a list of all the other Scottish councils with significant numbers of claims - and reproduce this list again below for information and easy reference.

All of these councils have been contacted by Fox Cross Solicitors and invited to settle their own outstanding cases - because the legal issues involved are exactly the same as in Edinburgh.

If claimants in these areas want to lend a hand - then why not write directly to the Leader of the council involved - encouraging that council to do the write thing.

After all the writing is on the wall - and there is no good reason for these councils to continue dragging their feet.

Many A4ES claimants in Edinburgh did so and it seemed to have a very positive effect.

Council leaders - and elected councillors - in other areas may be more inclined to come to their senses - with the local council elections only a few months away in 2012.

I will start with North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) in the next few days - NLC has a large number of outstanding former APT&C claims - and also a large group of male claimants which most councils settled up long ago.

Head in the Sand (January 13th 2012)

A number of readers have been in touch to ask about the implications of their Edinburgh 'Wilkinson' case - for their own outstanding equal pay claims.

Well the answer is that the Wilkinson decision is very significant - and that lots of other councils have been waiting in the wings to see what happened in that case.

Now that the case has been abandoned by Edinburgh City Council - the lead council - it puts all the other councils in a very difficult position.

In theory they could appeal to the UK Supreme Court - but on what grounds that Edinburgh hasn't already considered and rejected?

So Action 4 Equality Scotland is calling on all these councils to do the right thing - to stop faffing around and settle all their outstanding claims from former APT&C workers.

Here's a list of Scottish councils with the greatest number of outstanding cases - Edinburgh has now settled - while Glasgow and South Lanarkshire are in categories of their own.

So let's hope these councils follow Edinburgh's lead - by getting their heads out of the sand without any further delay.

If not the issue is likely to build up a big head of steam - as we head towards the next round of local council elections - which are coming up in May 2012.

North Lanarkshire
Edinburgh
Fife
Falkirk
West Lothian
Renfrewshire
Midlothian
East Lothian
Argyll & Bute
North Ayrshire
South Ayrshire
East Renfrewshire
East Dunbartonshire
East Ayrshire
Aberdeen City

Bullets and Bigots

2012-01-28T00:12:00.000-08:00

Some moron south of the border - probably in London - appears to have emulated the foul attack on the Celtic football manager, Neil Lennon - by sending a bullet in the post to one of the players - ahead of today's match between Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea.

The bullet was sent to Anton Ferdinand who was the subject of racist abuse - allegedly - in a previous match between the two London clubs - by the Chelsea captain, John Terry.

The radio this morning has been urgings fans to turn up early for the game - because they will all be 'body searched' before being allowed into the ground.

Now I'm all in favour of good and tight security - but you have to wonder what that's all about?

I can't believe that the police or anyone else believes there's likely to be a sniper amongst the crowd - taking aim at the QPR player.

Because whoever did this was a complete coward - they wouldn't have the balls or the brains to carry out their threat - even though it is an ugly and sinister act of intimidation.

The police in Scotland managed to track down two men - who are allegedly behind the attack on Neil Lennon - and both are still awaiting trial if I remember correctly.

The likelihood is that they don't have a brain between them - but that's no excuse for not giving them a long spell in jail - to reflect on their vile behaviour.

The same goes for the person or people behind the latest incident in London - where racism rather than religious sectarianism is attracting the headlines these days - and is proving a to be something of a blight on the game.

But as happened in Scotland - I suspect this bullet incident will bring out the best in the two clubs, the players and the fans.

With a bit of luck someone will turn the culprits in - to the authorities.

Give to the Needy

2012-01-27T03:54:00.000-08:00

While I'm in the mood for poking a bit of fun at MPs - I thought I'd share with readers one of the great mysteries of our time.

The fact that MPs in the House of Commons enjoy a public subsidy of £5.8 million a every year - for what amounts to their staff canteen.

Now I'm sure there's lots of good reasons for trying to keep MPs in the building - some of them might get lost if they were to venture out into the streets of London - looking for a great meal deal at Subway.

So they're encouraged to stay within the Palace of Westminster with some bargain basement prices - which are not on offer to the ordinary man or woman in the street.

For example:

£2.60 for a pint of beer
£2.35 for a glass of wine
£1.40 to a drink of Lucozade - recently increased from 80p
£2.05 for a lunch dish of braised pork with black pudding bonbon
£2.70 for an apple salad
£4.15 for halibut and soft boiled quail egg with carrot dressing

£7.80 for a rib-eye steak with hand cut chips and béarnaise sauce
£6.75 for haddock and leek fish cakes with tomato and dill cream
£6.75 for a chickpea and lentil curry with red onion fritter

£2.05 for a chocolate and orange torte
£2.05 for a serving of fresh fruit salad
£2.05 for home-made ice creams and sorbets
£3.10 for a selection of fine cheeses and biscuits

Now I'm all in favour of good tasty food being served up to our public servants.

But what I don't get is why it should be subsidised at taxpayers' expense - especially during these straitened times.

Why at £5.8 million every year - the subsidy accepted by our MPs amounts to six times the bonus paid to the RBS boss - Stephen Hester.

Which is getting lots of people very worked up - according to the news media earlier today.

Strange - don't you think?

Take a Deep Breath

2012-01-27T03:24:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when you read an account of an event in the newspapers - you just wished you were there - because you can vividly picture the unfolding scene - in your own mind's eye.

Now this was the case for me earlier in the week - when I read a sketch in The Times - an account by Ann Treneman of Sir Richard Branson's star appearance - before the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Here is what Ann Treneman had to say.

All inhale at a whiff of Branson wisdom

"Sir Richard Branson blew into Westminster, a gust of glamour, his white-blonde lion's mane blowing behind him, to tell the Home Affairs Select Committee his view on drugs. His very presence seemed to put Keith Vaz, the celebrity committee chairman into orbit. He was on a high, albeit a legal one.

Sir Richard was there because he sits on the Global commission on Drugs Policy. His answer to our drugs crisis is simple - decriminalise the lot and treat it as a health issue. It is an interesting policy but MPs could not quite forget over the fact that the man, the legend, the hair, was in front of them.

"You yourself have smoked cannabis," noted Mr Vaz with a tinge of wonder in his voice.

"I would say 50 per cent of my generation had smoked cannabis," soothed Sir Richard.

Mr Vaz looked at him solicitously. "And it hasn't been detrimental to your health?"

Sir Richard, glowing with his Necker Island perma-tan, bared his two big white teeth, which flashed at us from among his Van Dyke beard combo of moustache and goatee. "If I had been smoking cigarettes I would have been very worried," he said, eyes twinkling.

MPs' eyes already orb-like, got even bigger. They were, very definitely, inhaling now, heady with it all.

David Winnick, septuagenarian Labour, couldn't stop himself from crying: "I've never taken a drug in my life!" Then he added: "Other than prescription."

Mr Vaz tut-tutted. "No need for further confessions. One is enough."

Sir Richard noted that skunk cannabis was too strong but other types were less harmful than alcohol. Mr Winnick looked askance. "You're not saying drugs should be sold in supermarkets?" he asked, adding "Buy your heroin and get your cannabis free !" (Where do MPs get these crazy ideas? Surely that is the maddest bogof ever?).

Are you getting the feeling that the committee has quite a learning curve ahead of them when it comes to drugs policy? At one point an MP referred to drugs as 'the stuff'. It's hardly The Wire.

Mr Vaz began to burble on about how the committee would be going to Colombia as part of its inquiry. (Bogata you have been warned.) "We will be travelling Virgin!" trilled Mr Vaz

Sir Richard flashed that smile again. "We use fuel on our planes," he said, adding something about 'flyinh high'. Then he stopped himself, quite wisely."

And to think these people are involved in running the country - here's a previous post from the blog site about Keith Vaz.

Much to be Modest About (July 13th 2011)

I watched most of the yesterday's TV coverage from Westminster - where a House of Commons Committee questioned a variety of police officers over the phone hacking scandal.

Inquisitor-in-chief was the committee chairperson - Keith Vaz - a former Labour minister and long-serving MP for Leicester East.

Now it seemed to me that Mr Vaz took great pleasure in being rude to some of the witnesses - even if one one of them (Andy Hayman) was his own worst enemy.

In any event, I was struck by the arrogance of the Leicester MP - a man who has much to be modest about, as they say.

So I looked up what the Telegraph had to say about his record on MPs' expenses - and here's the newspaper's report from 9 May 2009.

"Keith Vaz: £75,000 for a flat 12 miles from home"

"Keith Vaz, the senior Labour backbencher, claimed more than £75,500 in expenses for a flat in Westminster despite his family home being a £1.15 million house just 12 miles from parliament.

Mr Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs select committee, also switched his designated second home from the £545,000 flat to a house in his Leicester East constituency and back again in the space of a year.

Keith Vaz Mr Vaz's main home is a house in Stanmore, north-west London, that he bought with his wife Maria for £1.15 million in November 2005. They live there with their two children.

The house is less than a mile from Stanmore underground station, which takes passengers directly to Westminster on the Jubilee Line. According to Transport for London, the 14-stop journey should take about 37 minutes.

His living arrangements will leave him open to the same questions asked of Tony McNulty, the employment minister, who claimed for a house about the same distance away lived in by his parents.

Documents filed with Commons officials showed that between 2004 and April 2007, Mr Vaz claimed more than £69,000 for expenses at the flat in Westminster, which he bought in 2003. He moved in shortly after selling another for £312,000.

His claims included monthly mortgage interest payments of between £1,500 and £1,750, £200 in monthly grocery bills and £50 per month for a cleaner.

On May 1, 2007, shortly after claiming for the flat's £2,073 service charge and £1,022 council tax bill, he began renting it out and designated the Leicester property as his second home. He had no mortgage on it and so used his allowances to fit it with furniture.

In all, Mr Vaz made claims of about £16,000 relating to the house, including more than £480 on 22 cushions, most of them silk, from John Lewis.

He claimed £2,614 for a pair of John Lewis leather armchairs and an accompanying foot stool; £1,000 on a dining table and leather chairs; £750 on carpets; and £150 on a lamp and lampshade.

Commons guidelines said MPs should "avoid purchases which could be seen as extravagant or luxurious".

Throughout the year, Mr Vaz also regularly made monthly claims of exactly £200 for repairs, £200 for service or maintenance and £200 per month for a cleaner. At the time, MPs did not need to submit receipts for claims totalling less than £250.

Mr Vaz also claimed twice for his food, utilities and cleaning bills in June 2007. He later repaid the money after the fees office pointed out his error.

In May 2008, Mr Vaz ceased renting out the London flat, reverted to designating it as his second home and resumed claiming the interest on its mortgage. In the first two months of the last financial year, he claimed a further £6,567 on the flat.

Mr Vaz's claims highlighted the ability of MPs to switch the property they designated as their second home for expenses purposes whenever they liked, simply by notifying the Commons fees office.

A spokesman for Mr Vaz said: "Stanmore is not central London. Like many MPs, he has a flat in central London that is close to the House of Commons."

She added that Mr Vaz had changed the designation of his second home "for personal reasons", and that his London flat "was not available for his use between May 2007 and May 2008". "Mr Vaz's claims have always been in accordance with the spirit and rules of the Green Book," she said. "If they were not within the rules the claims would not have been paid."

Job: chairman, Home Affairs Select Committee
Salary: £78,805

Total second home claims
2004-05: £20,795
2005-06: £21,271
2006-07: £22,110
2007-08: £20,787"

More Hypocrisy

2012-01-27T02:28:00.000-08:00

Professional Pensions magazine is not on my regular reading list - which is perhaps just as well.

But the magazine has highlighted an issue - which for some reason hasn't caught fire more widely - with the mainstream press and media.

The story involves the Labour party saying one thing - then doing another - would you believe.

Apparently, Labour has switched the calculation of its staff pensions - i.e. all the staff directly employed by the Labour party - on to the lower CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation index.

The significance of the move is that this is exactly what the government has done - in relation to public sector pensions.

Because the government argues CPI is a more realistic measure of inflation - which has the added advantage of saving the government money - public money.

Now the trade unions attacked the government for this move - and went to court to challenge the change - but lost.

But Labour also attacked the government and criticised the switch to CPI - yet behind the scenes Labour HQ has done exactly the same.

Here's an extract of what the Professional Pensions magazine had to say - on the subject.

Labour Party pension scheme switches to CPI

"The Labour Party has switched to using the Consumer Prices Index for uprating its own pension scheme despite repeatedly attacking the government for making the change possible.

The party's financial statement for 2010 revealed £4.2m had been cut from the Labour Superannuation Society's deficit by the decision to use CPI instead of the Retail Prices Index which is generally lower.

This was effective from 31 December 2010, shortly after Labour pensions spokesperson Rachel Reeves slammed the government's move to use CPI as the statutory inflation measure as "changing the rules of the game" (PP Online, 8 December, 2010).

Labour lords were also extremely critical of the legislation and tried to revisit the issue during debates on the Pensions Bill three months later (PP Online, 16 March).

But the party's financial report states: "Following the government's announcement in summer 2010, the inflation index to be used to derive statutory pensions increases has been changed from RPI to CPI.

"Due to a number of differences between the indices... CPI is expected to be less than RPI over the long-term which means that the defined benefit obligation has been reduced."

The unions claim "an inappropriate index has been chosen for an invalid reason" and have labelled the switch as "morally wrong".

The Labour Party did not return calls for comment."

Maybe it's not surprising that the Labour party did not return calls - because there really no answer to the charge that they've behaved - like first class hypocrites.

Less suprising is that the craven Labour-supporting trade unions - have all been as quiet as church mice on the subject.

Britain's union bosses (the Bubs) have lots to say when it suits them - but strangely seem to lose their voices - when the going gets tough.

Man from Montana

2012-01-27T01:47:00.000-08:00

The new American ambassador to Russia - Michael McFaul - was born in Glasgow would you believe.

But Glasgow, Montana - not Glasgow, Scotland.

Yet with a name like that he's bound to have some Scottish roots - or I'll eat my hat.

McFaul's appointment as ambassador has caused a bit of a stir - and the Russian Parliament (Duma) has attacked the man from Montana - for meeting activists campaigning against election fraud and the likely return as Russia's President - of a certain Valdimir Putin.

Some of the opposition activists are members of the Russian Duma - the equivalent of our own MSPs and MPs.

Now I can't see what the problem is because the opposition activists have a great case - they have forced the government to begin installing 'web cams' in various polling stations - where complaints of voting fraud were rife in the recent parliamentary elections.

Although this is likely not to affect the outlying, more rural stations - were corruption was allegedly at its worst - the opposition is at its strongest in Russia's bigger towns and cities.

Another enterprising citizen - a member of the opposition I suspect - is taking the government to court over an issue which would not be caught and stamped out by web cams.

The person involved was an election monitor at a local polling station in the recent Duma elections - and he signed off the voting record for Vladimir Putin's United Russia party - at 42%.

Yet when the result appeared on line the result had been magically transformed into an overall majority of 55% - so you can see why lots of people believe the books are being cooked.

Now I can't imagine that if the position were reversed - if the Russian ambassador to America sat down with the 'Occupy Movement' protesters, for example - that America would give two hoots.

I suppose it would receive a bit of coverage and mixed comment in the media - but I can't see the same kind of storm being whipped up - accusing the people who met with McFaul of treachery and suchlike.

To my mind it's a very encouraging sign - and without being rude or overplaying his hand - I hope that Michael McFaul keeps pressing for more dialogue with a wide range of social forces in Russia - because that's what democracy and freedom of speech are all about.

Small Beer

2012-01-27T01:16:00.000-08:00

When I wrote the post earlier about the sound and fury surrounding Stephen Hester's latest bonus payment - I hadn't scanned the newspapers to any great extent.

But predictably you can find a whole range of Britain's union bosses (the Bubs) - queueing up to condemn the whole business as 'disgusting', 'outrageous' and 'completely unacceptable'.

Yet what never ceases to amaze me is that the same effort was never put into highlighting another - much bigger scandal - that of equal pay for low paid council workers.

Many of the same union bosses presided over pay arrangements which cheated their women members out of tens of millions of pounds - hundreds of millions of pounds - over the years.

By comparison Stephen Hester's £963,000 bonus package is small beer - and simply pales into insignificance it has to be said.

But the Bubs choose to get worked up over one thing and not the other - which speaks volumes about their attitude towards equal pay.

To my mind it's easy to get worked up into a lather over something you don't control - because in many ways it's just playing to the gallery.

Yet when it came to equal pay many of these same unions just sat on their hands - and did nothing to help their women members.

Because it would have upset the big Labour councils and Labour government which ruled the roost at the time.

Now I suspect that most low paid women workers would have preferred - if offered the choice - for the Bubs to 'get out their pram' on an issue much closer to home - which directly affected tens of thousands of low paid council staff.

Instead of reserving their fury for a bonus paid to the the chief executive of RBS.

Hypocrites and Hester

2012-01-27T00:48:00.000-08:00

All of this moral outrage about the £963,000 share bonus awarded to the boss of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) - Stephen Hester - leaves me with decidedly mixed emotions.

Because while I think many top executives are over-paid and over-rewarded - this is not a new phenomenon - the issue has been around for some time and is clearly not restricted to the banking sector.

The fact is that Stephen Hester was 'head-hunted' to take on the RBS job by the last Labour government - and he was assured of a pay package worth at least as much as the job he was leaving in the private sector.

So while the whole issue of top executives' pay seems completely crazy to me - there is little to be gained from turning Stephen Hester in another 'whipping dog' - another Fred Goodwin.

Except a lot of self-righteous sound and fury.

I imagine this won't stop a whole variety of people putting the boot in nonetheless - life and politics being what it is these days.

But where was the same moral outrage when a £500,000 golden goodbye package was paid to a senior official in Glasgow recently?

One who was at the head of an organisation set up specifically to tackle poverty and deprivation in the city - whose hands were not tied by contractual obligations and who used their discretion to boost the boss's pension pot by over £200,000.

The decision was taken by a board involving three Labour councillors from Glasgow City Council - the money used was intended to go towards refurbishing a local school in Dalmarnock - and the official was not the head of a worldwide, multi-billion pound business.

See posts dated 16 and 17 January 2012 - 'Death Wish 2012'.

Yet despite the highly questionable behaviour involved - the public outrage has been minimal.

Has anyone noticed the Labour party and the trade unions queueing to condemn what was going on - in the heart of one of the most deprived areas of Glasgow?

Not that I've noticed.

Talk of the Steamie

2012-01-26T05:20:00.000-08:00

The New Satesman magazine has just released a very interesting poll - about the forthcoming referendum on Scottish independence.

The key points are:

72% of Scottish voters believe that the Scottish parliament should control the referendum

51% of voters believe Scotland should have full control over tax and spending - or Devo Max

32% of voters say No - to Devo Max

45% of Scottish voters say No - to independence

44% of Scottish voters say Yes - to independence

Here's the full article from the New Statesmen - which is the talk of the 'steamie' or talk of the town - in Scotland today.

For non-Scottish readers - a 'steamie' is an old Scots word for the place women used to gather to do their washing - a communal area before the advent of washing machines.

So it's where all the news and gossip of the day - was discussed - seldom used now, but what a lovely, expressive word.

"'Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?"

That's the question that Alex Salmond intends to put to Scottish voters in autumn 2014. But how many are on the First Minister's side?

An exclusive New Statesman/ICD poll has some encouraging news for the SNP leader. Asked if Scotland should become an independent country, 45 per cent of Scottish voters say no and 44 per cent say yes, a higher level of support for independence than previously indicated by polls.

In total, 38 per cent of British voters say that Scotland should secede from the UK, with 34 per cent opposed. Just 20 per cent of UK voters believe that Scotland would be better off if it became independent, compared with 52 per cent who believe it would be worse off. Conversely, 36 per cent of UK voters believe that England would benefit if Scotland left the UK, compared with 34 per cent who believe it would suffer.

The survey also confirrms that a majority of voters support full fiscal autonomy or "devolution max" for Scotland, an option that Salmond has insisted should be included on the ballot paper. Asked if Scotland should be given full control over its tax and spending, 51 per cent say yes and just 32 per cent say no, with 17 per cent undecided.

Voters are divided on whether the Scottish government or the UK government should determine the wording and timing of the referendum. Forty one per cent of UK voters say that Westminster should, while 34 per cent say that Holyrood should. However, encouragingly for Salmond, an overwhelming majority of Scottish voters (72 per cent) say that his government should have control over the referendum.

Have Your Say

2012-01-26T04:47:00.000-08:00

The Scottish Government is pulling out all the stops to allow - and encourage - people to have their say in the forthcoming referendum - planned for the autumn of 2014.

The questions or questions to be put before the Scottish people - have still to be decided - but there will at least be one question on whether or not Scotland should become an independent country.

But whether you think that things should remain just as they are right now - or you support independence - or something in between like Devo Max - then this is the chance for your voice to be heard.

Which is a good thing - to my mind - because otherwise everything is left to the professional politicians and political parties to decide.

I have already downloaded the Consultation Paper and Response Form from the Scottish Government's web site at - www.scotland.gov.uk

Here is an extract from the Consultation Paper - along with some links that readers might find useful - I plan to read all the papers and submit my own response in the next week or so - once I've reflected on all the issues.

I will put my own response up on the blog site at that stage - but this is a unique opportunity for everyone to have their say - and their voice heard.

So take my advice and grab the chance with both hands.

5 How to Comment

• This consultation is your opportunity to shape the referendum on Scotland’s constitutional future. Responses should be made by Friday 11 May 2012.

• It would be helpful to have your response by email or using the electronic response form. The electronic response form can be accessed at the following website address: https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/.
You can also email your response to the mailbox below.
• We are, of course, happy to receive written submissions too.
It would be helpful to have your response using the electronic response form. The electronic response form can be accessed at the following website address:
https://consult.. scotland.gov.uk

You can also email your response to referendum@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Written submissions:
Referendum Consultation
Elections and Constitutional Development Division
Area 3D (South)
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ

We would be grateful if you would use the consultation questionnaire provided or would clearly indicate in your response which questions or parts of the consultation paper you are responding to, as this will aid our analysis of the responses received.

This consultation, and all other Scottish Government consultation exercises, can be viewed online on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Government website at:

www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations.

You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public internet access point is. The Scottish Government has an email alert system for consultations. This system, called SEconsult, allows individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email with details of all new consultations (including web links).

SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces, Scottish Government distribution lists. It is designed to allow people with an interest to keep up to date with all Scottish Government consultation activity. You can register at SEconsult:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/seconsult.aspx.

Glasgow's Rubbish

2012-01-26T03:53:00.000-08:00

For the umpteenth time I've had to get in touch with Glasgow City Council - to complain that the building's recycling bins haven't been emptied.

But what do you think the council person said in response to my most recent complaint - to the refuse collection service.

Incredibly the council person explained - with disarming honesty - that Glasgow City Council was not really keen on all this recycling business - that it's the government that makes them do it - otherwise they wouldn't bother.

And the reason that people's recycling bins are often left unemptied - is that if they get a bit behind with the 'normal' refuse collection - then the crews just leave the recycling bins alone and concentrate instead on their 'real' work.

Can you believe that?

Now if residents complain, they go back and do what they should have done in the first place - but only if people complain and make a big fuss.

Now I don't believe that this nonsense is the official view of Glasgow City Council - but I do believe it's the way the system works - because I've experienced the same problem so many times.

So it must be time to raise the issue at a more senior level - with some people who actually take the issue seriously.

Because I'm a real convert to recycling - if you get organised, the amount of 'rubbish' that you throw out is actually very small - maybe one small bag a week.

And if you go most anywhere in continental Europe - recycling is made very easy with colour coded bins everywhere - handily dotted around the public streets.

So I think I'll be getting in touch with my local Glasgow councillor - to say I've got a few fireworks left over from Guy Fawkes Night - and that the council's refuse collection service needs a rocket - up its arse.

Equal Pay

2012-01-26T03:29:00.000-08:00

I get regular e-mails from male readers who want to know why male workers - 'had essentially the same equal pay claims as women - and why nothing was done about it for so long.

Well the answer is the same for men and women - the trade unions kept their members in the dark for years - both men and women - but male workers had perfectly valid claims so long as the women's claims were successful first.

For a long time the trade unions seemed not to understand this - and told many of their male members to get lost - when they raised a query about equal pay.

I've lost count of the number of male union members who have told me the same story - when the issue was raised at local union meetings.

So here are a couple of previous posts from the blog site - which explain the background.

Male Claims (May 27th 2010)

Enquiries continue to flood in from readers who want to know what the rights of male workers are - in terms of equal pay.

Here's an article explaining the background - that was first published on the Action 4 Equality Scotland blog site in 2009 - the contact phone number has been changed, but nothing else.

The current position is that non-bonus earning male workers, generally speaking, do have a valid claim - but the situation varies from council to council.

So, if you need a word about the position in your own council - contact Mark Irvine or ring Action 4 Equality Scotland on 0131 652 7366.

Male Workers' Claims (August 10th 2009)

The recent breakthrough case male claimants at the Employment Appeal Tribunal – see post dated 25 June 2009 - has understandably generated a great deal of interest.

Lots of readers have been in touch to say “Well done” to Action 4 Equality Scotland - and Stefan Cross Solicitors.Because when male members raised the issue with their trade unions – they were told to get lost - that they had no chance of success.

But now the worm has turned – and the stance taken by Action 4 equality Scotland has been completely vindicated - by the recent landmark case of McAvoy v South Tyneside Borough Council at the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

The underlying issue was always about common sense and the right equal treatment under the law – about treating both men and women fairly – even though the majority of equal pay claimants in Scotland are female.

The key point is that the groups of male workers - who never received bonus payments – always had an argument – so long as female council workers were successful in establishing their own claims.

Once a settlement for the women had been achieved – the employers were in the difficult position of having to justify why the non-bonus earning male group – should be treated any differently to the non-bonus earning female group.

The court was invited to agree that to do so - without good cause - amounted to sex discrimination against the men.

Thankfully the Employment Appeal Tribunal agreed.

So, if you’ve been let down by poor union advice – and you want to pursue an equal pay claim via Action 4 Equality Scotland – then get in touch.

You can either drop Mark Irvine a note at: markirvine@compuserve.com or ring Action 4 Equality Scotland on 031 652 7366.

Holy Mackerel

2012-01-26T03:12:00.000-08:00

Smoked fish is one of Scotland's great treasures - and it's one of the few things that you can't get easily if you travel abroad.

Now the countries around the Mediterranean Sea have a wonderful cuisine.

But they don't do kippers, smoked haddock or smoked mackerel - which are some of my favourite dishes in the whole world.

So as I'm going to have a Smoked Mackerel Salad for my lunch - I thought I'd share the 'recipe' which requires no cooking - just good ingredients and some imaginative assembly.

Smoked Mackerel Salad

Ingredients
1 good sized smoked mackerel
1 small red onion
1 half of a cucumber
12 ripe cherry or other nice tomatoes
1 handful of coriander or parsley
2 or 3 tablespoons of good olive oil
1 or 2 tablespoons of good vinegar - balsamic or rice vinegar are both good
1 or 2 chillis - as hot as you like
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Skin the mackerel and cut into nice bite sized pieces
Chop the tomatoes, onion, cucumber, chillis and herbs
Add all the chopped ingredients to the mackerel - along with the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper
Leave standing for 10 minutes so all the flavours can mix and mingle really well

I like mine with a strong vinegar taste - which goes really well with the oily, smoky fish.

And since oily fish are supposed to be good for you - good for the brain - I'm going to send a copy of the recipe to Scotland's Lib Dem leader - Willie Rennie.

See previous post - 'Ask a Stupid Question'.

Timorous Beasties

2012-01-26T02:49:00.000-08:00

I didn't vote for David Cameron or the Conservatives at the last election - which probably comes as no surprise.

But any reasonable person would have to admit that the Prime Minister has courage - whether over Libya or Scottish independence - he has got stuck in and taken the fight to his political enemies.

Unlike his immediate predecessor - Gordon Brown - who allegedly had Scotland all tied up at one stage - David Cameron has seized the initiative and confronted the issue of independence - which Labour simply ducked for years.

Now I think that this may ultimately backfire - because the Tories are such a toxic brand in Scotland.

But while I won't be voting for David Cameron or the Conservative party any time soon - I think it's impossible not to admire his leadership qualities.

One area that needs some urgent work though - is his appreciation of Scotland's national bard - Robert Burns.

Because at Prime Minister's questions yesterday David Cameron rather put his foot in it - by mispronouncing his lines.

While accusing his enemies of being 'wee, sleekit, cowering, timorous beasties' (pronounced beesties) - he went on to fluff his lines.

By saying that they were all panicking in their 'breasties' which should - of course - be pronounced 'breesties' to ryhme with 'beesties'.

Yet the PM said 'breasties' as in 'chicken breasties' - which spoiled the effect of what he was trying to say.

So he'll have to do better in future - if he's going to strike fear in the hearts of his political opponents in Scotland - by quoting Robert Burns.

Still he tried I suppose - which is more than you can say about some of the timorous wee beasties from years gone by.

To a Mouse - by Robert Burns

Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty
Wi bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murdering pattle.

I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth born companion
An' fellow mortal!

I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen icker in a thrave
'S a sma' request;
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't.

Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's win's ensuin,
Baith snell an' keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,
An' weary winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.

That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!
Now thou's turned out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld.

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Still thou are blest, compared wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!

Slovakia

2012-01-26T02:17:00.000-08:00

The blog site has had a rush of new visitors from Slovakia - and I wonder if this includes any of my old acquaintances.

Because I worked in Slovakia on and off over a couple of years - going backwards and forwards for a week or two at the time - on a project that was financed by the European Commission and the World Bank.

My role was to help the Ministry of Labour establish a network of local and regional partnerships - with the aim of using European 'social funds' to promote employment in deprived areas - and in particular amongst the Roma communities.

Now I really enjoyed the project and I came to know Slovakia quite well - it is a landlocked country, similar in population size to Scotland - which became and independent country in its own right back in 1993.

Before that Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia - but the two countries agreed to go their separate ways - quite amicably - after the political collapse of the Soviet Union in 1988.

Slovakia's capital - Bratislava - is a lovely city - not quite as picturesque as Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, but a great place to visit nonetheless.

The Tatras mountains - along Slovakia's northern border with Poland - are quite magnificent and wonderful for skiing.

To the east is the Ukraine - to the west Austria - and to the south Hungary - so Slovakia is an ideal place from which to base a little tour of central and eastern Europe.

I must go back for a visit to Slovakia sometime - here's a little article I wrote for one of the newspapers - when I was last there.

Letter from Slovakia

Slovakia is a small landlocked country at the heart of central Europe, surrounded by bigger or more powerful neighbours: Poland, Ukraine, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Glasgow Celtic fans will be familiar with its two most famous exports, so far at least, in local footballing heroes Stanislav Varga and Lubomir Moravcik.

But this is a nation in a hurry – today, May 1st 2004, Slovakia becomes one of ten new member states to join the European Union. How enlargement will impact long-term is difficult to predict though these ‘new kids on the block’ will clearly play an increasingly important role in the future direction of Europe.

In 1993, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, 5 million Slovakians decided that a civilised divorce from their Czech neighbours was for the best, and without an angry word, never mind loss of life, a new democracy was born. Early coalition governments had a distinctly nationalist tinge and were unsure whether Slovakia should face east or west - in the best political traditions they tried to keep a foot in both camps.

Slovakia’s recent presidential elections rang a few alarm bells with the return of some old ghosts from the past, but a stable centre-right coalition government has held power since 1998 and has a strong mandate for introducing an enterprise-based economy and far-reaching social reforms. All the major public utilities have been privatised and state-run industries opened up to competition.

Great sacrifices have been made to restructure Slovak society: real wages and living standards have remained frozen for the past five years. Big hopes now rest on an ambitious and enterprise driven strategy to grow the economy at 4 to 5% per annum over the next decade.

Likewise in the field of social policy where the new mantra is that the benefits system should reward and actively encourage work. So, a huge effort is being made to tackle long-term unemployment, which is partly a hangover from the socialist era and partly the result of changes needed to introduce a modern market economy.

In practice, this means that welfare benefits are being reduced and replaced with government initiatives that promote employment, labour mobility, re-training and acquiring new skills. Slovakia’s policy echoes the famous ‘hand up, not a hand out’ approach inspired by Bill Clinton and American Democrats in the 1990’s.

Some groups face enormous challenges, especially the Roma people who have been at the margins of Slovak society for years, often living in desperate poverty and in segregated settlements. As minority group maybe, but according to some estimates there are 500,000 Roma - 10% or so of the entire population. For most Roma, unemployment and discrimination has become institutionalised, a way of life and if this vicious circle is to be broken, some new thinking is needed.

So, Slovakia has established a social development fund to target resources on the most excluded groups. Just as Scotland has enjoyed financial support from Europe since the mid 1980’s - 2.665 billion (EUR) in European structural funds is being committed to Slovakia between 2004 and 2006. The budget will help tackle the deep-rooted problems in Roma communities, which have great infrastructure needs and often lack the most basic social services.

Instead of the old ‘top down’ ways of working, the new Slovakia is creating active community based partnerships as the best way to deliver sustainable change. Partnerships operating across the public, private and ‘not for profit’ sectors’, eschewing party politics and old ideologies, empowering local communities to share responsibility for doing things differently in future.

Time will tell whether this bold strategy pays off. Countries with fewer, less intractable problems than Slovakia find new ways of working notoriously difficult to achieve, but having made a strategic choice - by nailing their colours to the democratic, plural, inclusive and multi-ethnic values of the west - Slovakia is quietly determined to succeed.

Mark Irvine

April 2004

Ask a Stupid Question

2012-01-26T01:54:00.000-08:00

I watched some of yesterday's coverage from the Scottish Parliament - which focused on the government's plans to hold a referendum in 2014 - on whether or not Scotland should become an independent country.

Now I'm quite relaxed about the whole business - even if others are getting their knickers into a terrible old twist.

Take the Lib Dem leader in Scotland - Willie Rennie - he seems to think he's asked the world's smartest question - by thinking up difficult scenarios or outcomes that a future referendum might throw up.

'What would happen if 51% of people voted for independence - but 99% of people voted for Devo Max?', asked the Lib Dem leader.

Disingenuously - of course - because if the Lib Dems get their way, the Scottish people won't get to air their views on Devo Max and more powers for the Scottish Parliament.

Because along with the Labour party and the Tories - the Lib Dems want to have only one question on the ballot paper - a straight Yes or No choice between independence and the status quo.

But the obvious answer to Willie Rennie's riddle is that you decide things in order - you don't move on to a second or even a third question - until you've got an answer to the first question.

To my mind the way to do this is to ask first of all:

Question 1
Should Scotland become an independent country?

Yes or No

Now if the answer to the first question is a majority for Yes - then that's that - the people have spoken.

But iIf the answer to the first question is a majority for No - then you move on and count all the votes for the second question - the precise terms of which has still to be decided.

In reality all Willie Rennie and his chums are doing is to construct an Aunt Sally argument - a ridiculous scenario of their own choosing - then knocking it back down again.

Hoping that people will appreciate his cleverness and agile Lib Dem brain.

Well I think the point he's making is facile and stupid - but if Willie Rennie and the Lib Dems want to find a way of giving people a proper choice - by having a second or even third question on the ballot paper - then I'm all ears.

As for Johann Lamont and Scottish Labour - their big claim is even less worthy - with the Labour leader arguing that now is not the right time for Scotland to strike out on its own - what with the recession and all.

Now if I had a pound for every time people in the Labour party told me this is not the right time - I could retire to the Bahamas.

I remember well my days in Unison - at Scottish Labour party conferences - where people would say 'don't rock the boat' - over PFI, for example, or some other controversial policy - because an election was just around the corner.

If that's the best argument that Labour and the trade unions can come up with - then they're in a bigger mess than even I think.

Because the Labour party at Westminster is arguing for the coalition government to take a different path - when it comes to economic growth and public spending.

And as far as Scotland is concerned - only independence or Devo Max would give the Scottish Parliament such powers - the status quo would simply deliver more of the same.

So I hope the standard of debate will improve over the next few months - because ridiculous scare stories and Aunt Sally arguments are not what people want to hear.

Halley Came to Jackson

2012-01-25T07:58:00.000-08:00

My earlier post today about Halley's Comet and its connection to a referendum on Scottish independence - must have been inspired by my great fondness for a truly wondrous song.

And the one that comes to mind is - 'Halley Came to Jackson' - by Mary Chapin Carpenter (MCC), a famous American musician and wordsmith.

I used to play this song to my children when driving in the car - young children that is - not grungy teenagers who are sometimes impossible to satisfy.

But instead of the normal fractious noises that harassed parents often have to cope with on long journeys - for a short while at least - MCC's song instilled a wonderful, peaceful calm - as well as lots of questions that I couldn't answer convincingly at the time.

Nowadays I can bore for Scotland on the subject of Halley's Comet - which is dead easy - but the much more important point is that the Mary Chapin Carpenter song - has retained all of its human warmth and folksy charm.

So if you don't like this, there's something wrong with you - in my opinion - especially if you've got children.

http://youtu.be/cxpSNABnGcM

Halley Came to Jackson

Late one night when the wind was still
Daddy brought the baby to the window sill
To see a bit of heaven shoot across the sky
The one and only time Daddy saw it fly

It came from the east just as bright as a torch
The neighbors had a party on their porch
Daddy rocked the baby, Mother said "amen"
When Halley came to visit in nineteen ten

Now back then Jackson was a real small town
And it's not every night a comet comes around
It was almost eighty years since its last time through
So I bet your mother would've said "amen" too

As its tail stretched out like a stardust streak
The papers wrote about it every day for a week
They wondered where it's going and where it's been
When Halley came to Jackson in 1910

Now Daddy told the baby sleeping in his arms
To dream a little dream of a comet's charms
And he made a little wish as she slept so sound
In nineteen eighty-six that wish came 'round

It came from the east, just as bright as a torch
She saw it in the sky from her daddy's porch
As heavenly sent as it was back then
When Halley came to Jackson in nineteen ten
Late one night when the wind was still

Halley's Comet

2012-01-25T03:44:00.000-08:00

Referendums are rare events in Scotland - not as rare as Halley's Comet which visits our solar system every 75 to 76 years - but they don't take very often that's for sure.

Which us why I don't trust the politicians who say:

'Let's keep this referendum business as simple as possible - let's just have one question - a straight Yes or No to independence for Scotland - then we can all return to the powers of the Scottish Parliament at a later date.'

Because the last referendum Scotland voted on - was the one that set up the Scottish Parliament in 1999 - fifteen years ago by the time we get to the next one in 2014.

And the one before that was in 1979 - when some Labour MPs introduced a wrecking amendment that scuppered the chances of home rule for another twenty years.

So the reality is that lots of us might die waiting for the politicians to let us have a direct say - and while I don't think you can govern a country by referendums - I do think it's reasonable to argue that the people's voice should be heard more often.

History tells us that the politicians will keep the debate to themselves - if they can.

Now if Scotland main opposition parties - i.e. Labour, Tories and Lib Dems - are so keen on a referendum the obvious question is why didn't they call for and organise one - long before now.

The Labour party and Lib Dems ran a majority coalition government between 1999 and 2007 - yet the didn't do so.

Labour, Tories and the Lib Dems could have outvoted the minority SNP government between 2007 and 2011 - but they chose not to put the issue in front of the Scottish people.

Likewise a Labour government was in power at Westminster for 13 years between 1999 and 2010 - without any moves to have a referendum.

So I say don't trust the politicians or the parties that would restrict people choices - and limit the debate.

Because you can't trust them to deliver - and we might wait for Halley's Comet to come around again - before the people of Scotland get another chance.

What's the Deal?

2012-01-25T03:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a list of names published in The Independent newspaper the other day - along with the following impertinent, but very relevant question:

"So, why is no one calling for these bankers to lose their gongs?"

Now to my mind there's no answer to the newspaper's 'killer' question.

But if there is, I'd like to hear what various folks - including David Cameron and Ed Miliband - have to say.

Because as far as I can see - most of these people, if not all - were honoured, en-nobled or knighted by the last Labour government.

1. Sir Victor Blank
Knighted 1999. Chairman of Lloyds during the HBOS merger, just before it was bailed out. Faces US legal action

2. Lord Stevenson of Coddenham
Ennobled 1999. Resigned as HBOS chairman after the Lloyds merger. Has apologised for bank's near-collapse

3. Sir James Crosby
Knighted 2006. Resigned from FSA in 2009 after allegations he ignored a whistleblower while head of HBOS

4. Sir Tom McKillop
Knighted 2002. RBS chairman in Goodwin's reign. Later admitted he had no banking qualifications

5. Sir Philip Hampton
Knighted 2007. Chairman of RBS since 2009. Presided over rows about chief exec Stephen Hester's bonuses

6. Sir George Mathewson
Knighted 1999. RBS group chief exec 1992-2001, chairman to 2006, then a £75,000-a-year consultant to the bank

7. Sir John Bond
Knighted 1999. HSBC Holdings chairman until 2006. Vodafone row over £1.25bn tax bill blotted his copybook

8. Helen Weird, CBE
Honoured 2008. Lloyds TSB finance director was awarded £875,000 bonus while retail executive director

9. Philip Williamson, CBE
Honoured 2008. Ex-Nationwide chief exec got £1.6m on retiring, plus £605,000 salary and £374,000 bonus

10. Lindsay Tomlinson, OBE
Honoured 2005. The ex-Barclays executive sold £5.5m-worth of bonus-scheme shares leaving him with £25m

Iraq

2012-01-25T03:03:00.000-08:00

The blog site had its first visitor from Iraq the other day - which for some reason pleased me no end.

Maybe it's a sign of some sort of normal life being restored to a country - with such a troubled and bloody past?

I hope so.

Because while the suicide killers continue to try and prevent Iraqis from building a new future - there is at least a power sharing government in place which recognises the rights of minority groups - not just those of the majority.

Which is a difficult concept to grasp in the middle east and - to be fair - other parts of the world as well.

But the middle east and Arab countries are the centre of attention for the moment - because so many of them are feudal and tribal.

Where the rights of minorities are not just unimportant - in many cases they have no rights at all to speak of - at least as we would understand them in the western world.

So while in the UK a mosque can be built in relative peace and harmony - just about anywhere - a Christian church would not be tolerated in Saudi Arabian.

The authorities wouldn't allow such a thing to happen - before even the fire bombers burned it down.

The exception proves the rule in countries like the Lebanon where - despite all kinds of other problems - people of different religious faiths and beliefs live side by side - in relative peace.

Although like the former Yugoslavia - you get the impression that some people would quite happily start murdering their neighbours - if they ever got the chance.

So it will be interesting to see how things develop in Iraq - and in Egypt as well where Islamist parties have won a majority of seats - in the new Egyptian parliament.

A tyranny of the majority over the minority - is not democracy at all - as the world has discovered over time.

But things can change by peaceful, non-violent means - as the civil rights movement in America, for example, proved.

More Company Scams

2012-01-25T02:31:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine has just run into one of these really annoying big company scams.

My friend booked a return flight to the UK with Opodo - although the actual airline delivering the 'service' was good old, reliable old - British Airways (BA).

The world's favourite airline?

Think again.

Because BA went on to cancel the flight - for reasons which have not been explained - and then had the cheek to say it will take between 2 and 12 weeks to return the customer's money.

Have you ever heard the like?

Meantime BA are presumably using these funds to bankroll and cash-flow the giant company - at the little guy's expense, of course.

Which means that unless the little guy is flush with lots of dosh - then they have to wait for up to 3 months before the person can book another ticket.

Now I don't know about anyone else - but that sounds like a good old-fashioned scam to me - and being a helpful sort of person I tried to help by ringing up Opodo in the UK - to give them a piece of my mind.

Predictably, Opodo blamed BA - most of the money had been passed over to the world's favourite airline - said Opodo.

It's the big, bad BA and other giant airlines who adopt this practice - poor old Opodo can't do anything about it - and while they feel very sorry for the little guy who's the penniless 'piggy in the middle' - all Opodo can do is to feel their customers pain.

Bollocks! - is what I say to that.

So my advice - to my friend - is to complain to Opodo, complain to BA - and complain to the independent regulator - who in this case is ATOL which issues licences to airlines and air travel companies.

Interestingly, the ATOL web site says that in the event of cancellation the operator has a duty to offer a choice between:

1 Reimbursement of the ticket within 7 days
2 Re-routing the traveller to the final destination under similar conditions
3 And if necessary, care (such as free telephone calls, food and refreshments etc)

So far absolutely none of this has happened - but the fight will continue until justice is done.

I will keep readers posted.

Because the practices of some of these big companies are a complete disgrace.

And the more people who try and hold the buggers to account - the better it will be for the rest of us - the long suffering travelling public.

Benefits Culture

2012-01-25T02:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a previous blog site post from earlier this month - in which I welcomed the Labour party's decision to get real about benefits reform.

After 13 long years of doing nothing to tackle the issue - while the party was in government.

Now it gives me no pleasure to see Labour baulking at the very first hurdle.

Yet again the party says that Labour agrees with the need for reform - in principle - but then goes on to help block proposals for change - in the unelected House of Lords.

To my mind Labour is weak, confused and leaderless at the moment - and not just on welfare reform - but on many other issues as well.

Someone needs to get a grip - or the party will find itself in opposition for years.

Benefits Culture (January 4th 2012)

I read somewhere the other day that the Labour party is reviewing its policy on what is commonly referred to as - the 'benefits culture'.

Apparently the party is going to take a tougher, much more realistic stance - and agree that there is a significant problem - in the sense that relatively large numbers of people would stay on benefits their whole lives - if you let them.

Me, I'd turn off the benefits tap after a period of time - 3 or 5 years at the very most seems reasonable, generous even, to me.

After that if you're not making some kind of contribution to society - the music simply has to stop - even if that means hard choices because that's what life is all about.

So it seems that Labour is finally catching up with what one of their own MPs - Chris Mullin - had to say back in 1999.

Even at a time of relative full-employment Chris Mullin's could see that the benefits culture was a big challenge for Labour to tackle - yet it failed to do so over its 13 years in government - when in fact the problem got worse.

So it's good to see the people's party waking up, thinking differently and - potentially - taking a new approach.

Better late than never - as the say.

Hand-Up v Hand-Out (September 28th 2011)

Listening to the proceedings at the 2011 Labour party conference convinces me of one thing - people attending these events hear only what they want to hear - and all too often leave their brains at the door.

Take the 'darling' of the conference so far - young Rory Weal - who made a good, if somewhat deluded, speech about the importance of the welfare state.

Young Rory has now been 'cursed' - by being tagged as Labour's answer to William Hague - another precocious 16-year old conference virgin from the days of Margaret Thatcher.

Rory's back story was that the welfare state is a good thing - which it clearly is - and vital in the case of his own family - who were down on their luck for a while, but are now back on their feet.

Good for Rory - and his mum and sister - but if he doesn't mind me puncturing his balloon too much - that's hardly the point.

The real point is that too many people have been on welfare benefits for far too long - not the majority but very significant numbers - for whom a 'hand-up' has become a 'hand-out'.

A way of life which they settle into and don't want to change - because they have no hope or aspiration to make anything more of themselves - or their children - and a lifetime on benefit will do fine - thank you very much.

And if you don't believe me - then read this entry from Chris Mullin's diary from 11 June 1999 - which is taken from his book - 'A Walk On Part'.

"Friday 11 June

Sunderland

The surgery lasted three hours. Full of people locked into the benefit culture. Three were threatened with the loss of disability benefit on the grounds they were no longer deemed to be disabled.

Two were men in the mid-fifties and one a woman of only thirty who had never worked in her life. They all huffed and puffed about the wickedness of it all, but increasingly I find it hard to sympathise. They all seemed to have given up on life and could not envisage living without benefit.

The woman claimed a combination of gynaecological problems and stress. So far as the stress was concerned, I couldn't resist suggesting that work was the best antidote. The men, one of whom was middle class and seemed to be recovering from a nervous breakdown, both used the phrase 'I have worked all my life'.

When probed, that turned out to mean in one case until the age of forty-two and , in the other, until the age of about fifty-three. As if that somehow entitled them to take a holiday, funded by the taxpayer, for the remaining one or two decades of their working life.

The forty-two year old, who was the most indignant and laid claim to a vast range of symptoms, also used the phrase 'I am a socialist', which I find often features in conversations of this kind. This definition of socialism never seems to place any burden on the person laying claim to it.

On the contrary, it usually implies entitlement to live for the rest of his life at the expenseof his fellow citizens. Am I getting too cynical? Have I been in too long in this job?

The more I reflect the more I am certain we are right to challenge the benefit culture, however painful that maybe to some of our natural supporters."

Chris Mullin was of course a Labour MP from 1997 to 2010 - a period of relatively full-employment - during which the Labour government never really got to grips with its declared intention of reforming the welfare state.

While people are free to disagree with the coalition government and its plans - the fact is that the Labour government failed to make any serious reforms - during 13 years of unbroken rule.

Even though MPs like Chris Mullin (not a mad right-winger) were acutely aware of the scale of the problem - and the need to do something about it - from very early on.

Bish Bash

2012-01-25T01:32:00.000-08:00

The Daily Mail has a big scoop today with an article written by Lord Carey - the former Archbishop of Canterbury and former head of the Church of England.

In essence Lord Carey weighs into some of his fellow bishops - by giving them a metaphorical 'boot up the arse' - in the style of that great TV hero Father Ted.

Here's an extract of what the Daily Mail has to say about Lord Carey's article:

"Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey today launches an astonishing attack on the five bishops trying to derail the Government’s £26,000-a-year benefit cap.

In an article for the Daily Mail, Lord Carey insists the sheer scale of Britain’s public debt – which yesterday hit £1trillion – is the ‘greatest moral scandal’ facing the country and warns the welfare system is rewarding ‘fecklessness and irresponsibility’.

He is scathing about all opponents of the proposed limit on benefits – who include Labour peers and Liberal Democrat rebels – but reserves his most outspoken criticism for the Anglican bishops, who led the rebellion in the House of Lords.

He said they encouraged the culture of welfare dependency which led to ‘poverty of aspiration’, and warned them that they could lay no claim to the ‘moral high ground’.

‘If we can’t get the deficit under control and begin paying back this debt, we will be mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren,’ he writes.

Lord Carey hails Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith as a ‘committed Christian’ who is trying to reform a welfare system which is ‘fuelling vices and impoverishing us all’.

Downing Street insisted last night that its plan to impose an annual limit on welfare payments would be implemented ‘in full’ despite the dramatic defeat in the Lords. Labour leader Ed Miliband’s decision to try to derail Government plans for a cap, designed to ensure workless households cannot receive more than the average working family, was branded a ‘total disaster’ by his own shadow ministers."

Now this is an interesting development to say the least.

Because the moral authority of the church is being challenged by one of its own leading figures - who no doubt has an impressive track record - in standing up for the poor and dispossessed.

Yet on this occasion the former Archbishop of Canterbury says it's not so simple - people have got to look at the big picture - the mountains of debt being passed on to future generations.

While on the same subject I also listened to a TV programme the other day featuring the former Labour MP Chris Mullin - whose diaries I have quoted with approval before on the blog site.

Now Chris was all over the place on welfare reform - refusing to say whether he and the Labour party supported the government's proposals - Chris took the easy option by saying that the best way to reduce the welfare bill - was to get people back into work.

Yet I seem to recall a previous post on the blog site - taken from Chris Mullin's diaries - in which Chris identified the problem as significant numbers of his own constituents not really wanting to work - ever.

Even during a period of relatively full employment.

To my mind there is a world of difference between people who are prepared to spend years - or even a lifetime on benefits - and those who fall on genuinely hard times.

And the challenge for welfare reform in the UK - is to devise a system that treats the two groups very differently - because they are not one and the same.

If that's what Lord Carey is trying to say - then I agree with him wholeheartedly.

Unlucky For Some

2012-01-25T01:00:00.000-08:00

A regular reader from America has been in touch to say that Mitt Romney's elections chances are now toast.

The reason being the tag line which I came up with yesterday - Mr 13.9% - adds up to an unlucky omen since 1 + 3 + 9 = 13 which - for some folks - is a number to be avoided at all costs.

Now I'm not sure if I agree with the thought process involved here - because it's really just superstitious mumbo jumbo.

I have a friend who's lucky number is 13 - in fact he bets on it all the time and doesn't even stay indoors on Friday 13th, the mad fool - yet he's still alive and breathing - and not living in penury as far as I know.

So while I agree with the blog site visitor from America - I think Mitt Romney's toast for a different reason.

And that is he's been caught out - the Millionaire Mormon from Massachusetts (MMMM for short) - was caught out dissembling - not lying outright, but failing to come clean over his tax affairs.

Then lo and behold he really does have something to hide - so almost overnight Mitt starts to look shifty and untrustworthy - as far as the potential voters are concerned.

The problem is that all this might achieve is to propel the even shiftier and crazier - Newt Gingrich - towards the Republican nomination and his chance at the American Presidency.

In one sense what do I care - because I wouldn't vote for either Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich if I had a vote in America.

But a victory for old Newt would be a further sign that Republican politics is becoming even more fundamentalist - moving even further to the right.

And to my mind that would be a bad for America - and the rest of the world.

Mr 13.9%

2012-01-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

As if to prove my point from earlier today - about very wealthy people paying very low marginal rates of tax - the following example comes winging its way to me from across the pond - in America.

Apparently, the USA presidential hopeful - Mitt Romney - who is standing for the Republican nomination - expects to pay only about $6.2m (£4m) in taxes - on income of $42.5m which he has earned in the last two years.

Now if you do the math over the two years - this breaks down into a tax rate of 13.9% in 2010 and an expected rate of 15.4% in 2011 - according to the Romney campaign.

Which has finally released the figures today - to a hungry press.

But only after coming under great pressure - to be more open and transparent about his tax affairs.

I am told that investment income is treated much more generously in America - than earned income - and this is probably true across the rest of the world as well.

Yet what this means is that going out and doing an honest day's work is taxed more heavily - than just sitting on your ass - waiting for your stocks and shares to put food on the table.

And $42.5 million buys a whole bunch of Popsicles in 2012 - a darn sight more than any one person can eat, I would say.

So why should it be investment income be treated so much more leniently - than earned income?

Who knows - maybe the Book of Mormon has the answer.

All Greek To Me

2012-01-24T03:48:00.000-08:00

I was watching some TV late last night and caught part of the Karl Pilkington travel programme - An Idiot Abroad.

Now sometimes this is schoolboy humour at its worst.

But at other times it can be entertaining and even fascinating - as the professional 'big Jessie' Karl is sent to weird and occasionally wonderful locations - by his two tormentors, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.

And last night was one such occasion - as Karl landed on the south sea island of Tanna in Vanuata.

Where the local Yaohnanen tribe believe that the Royal Consort of Her Madge the Queen - none other than curmudgeonly old Prince Philip - is a divine being.

Apparently the Yaohnanen tribe have convinced themselves that Prince Philip - the Duke of Edinburgh is descended from a mountain spirit and according to ancient folklore - he travelled across the oceans to a distant land - where he married a powerful woman.

So far so good - and spookily accurate, you have to admit - because Prince Philip is actually Greek by birth, if I remember correctly.

Anyway, back to the Yaohnanen tribe - who believe that the male descendant of this mountain spirit would return in time.

Which Prince Philip duly did on a royal visit to Vanuatu in 1974.

So now Prince Philip is officially a God - with his pictures on display around the Yaohnanen village - a very nice touch which must have made Karl Pilkington feel very much at home.

But before anyone laughs or sniggers at the religious beliefs of the these south sea islanders - I'd just like to say they're not any crazier - to my mind anyway - than the Book of Mormon or the Bible.

And the good thing about the Yaohnanen tribe is - they don't seem to feel the need to force their beliefs on anyone else.

Now that I admire - even if I will never put Prince Philip on a pedestal, religious or otherwise.

More Moonlighting MPs

2012-01-24T03:08:00.000-08:00

While reading the Sunday Times at the weekend I also came across the following piece by Roland White - which probably helps to explain the low profile of a certain David Miliband these days.

The older Miliband brother seems to have voted with his feet - and his wallet.

And just like the former Labour Prime Minister - Gordon Brown - David Miliband seems to spend an awful lot of time away from his day job in the House of Commons - pursuing other lucrative interests.

Miliband priced out of the Labour market

"It's sometimes suggested that David Miliband could still lead the Labour party once his little brother has finished playing with it. But could he afford the big drop in salary?

The former foreign secretary has just become an adviser to a private equaity company in Pakistan. He says he is "delighted" to be joining Indus Basin Holdings, which specialises in agricultural investment.

It would be churlish - and wrong - to mention Labour leader Ed's party conference speech lastyear, which was widely reported as an attack on private equity companies. So instead let's admire David's growing portfolio. As a director of Sunderland FC, he earns £75,000 for "up to 15 days" work a year. He made about £130,000 from speeches last year, and pocketed a fee of £24,000 for a week's teaching at an American university. It's not quite Tony Blair's £12 million a year, but it's a start.

Up the workers!"

The essential difference between Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Miliband - is that Tony Blair actually resigned his seat - he is no longer an MP and is therefore free to do exactly as he likes.

But that is not true of David Miliband and Gordon Brown - and many MPs from other parties - who take £65,000 plus tens of thousands of pounds in office expenses.

The bottom line is that if being an MP is a full-time job - then MPs should not be allowed to treat it as a part-time one.

Because it's the public that's being short-changed.

So why don't they just stand down and let someone else do the job - who is willing to give it their full commitment?

Drowning Not Waving

2012-01-24T02:43:00.000-08:00

So it seems that voters are beginning to make up their minds about Ed Miliband - who has been the Labour party's leader since September 2010.

In a poll released today by the Guardian newspaper - Labour is going backwards despite the recent attempts to repackage and relaunch the party and its leader - as a man of 'true grit'.

The Guardian reports the state of the parties as:

Conservative - 40% (+3%)
Labour - 35% (-1)
Lib Dem - 16% (+1)

But there was even worse news for Labour at the weekend - in the following polling date released by the Sunday Times:

Conservative - 42%
Labour -36%
Lib Dem - 9%

The Sunday Times poll also asked the following questions - about the Labour leader's performance.

Is Ed Miiband doing well or badly?

Badly - 66%
Well - 20%
Don't know - 14%

Is Ed Miliband the best leader for Labour?

Yes - 14%
No - 65%
Don't know - 21%

Now I don't know Ed Miliband - and I certainly don't bear him any personal malice.

I didn't have a vote in the Labour leadership election - but if I did I would have voted for his brother - David Miliband - as did the majority of ordinary Labour party members and MPs.

So the initial problem for Ed to overcome is that he appears not to be his own man - but the choice of a handful of union bosses and union activists - who ganged up to deliver the crown to someone they believed to be in their own image.

In the process party members were denied their first choice or preference - and ever since Ed Miliband's leadership has suffered from a hollow ring.

Like a cracked bell - Ed's leadership just fails to strike the right note somehow.

And that's very dangerous for Labour.

Because these poll ratings are not just bad they are absolutely disastrous - and seem to confirm that in the mind of the voters - Ed Miliband is regarded as some kind of well-intentioned 'goofball'.

If he doesn't overcome that soon - he's toast - because in a few months time the voters will have made up their minds for good.

An Organised Scam

2012-01-24T02:09:00.000-08:00

I like Harry Redknapp - the plain-speaking manager of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has a down to earth personality - and talks a lot of common sense.

But Harry appeared in court yesterday over charges of tax evasion - specifically that £190,000 was paid into foreign bank accounts while Harry was in charge at Portsmouth FC - in a effort to avoid paying tax and national insurance in the UK.

Now it will be a few weeks before we know whether football's cheeky chappy is judged to be guilty or now - though one thing is for sure.

Organised tax avoidance is a widespread scam in the world of football - with star players, owners and managers - often setting up off-shore companies and banking arrangements.

Which means - of course - that they pay a tiny percentage of their film-star salaries in tax.

So a 40% or now 50% tax rate isn't the problem - the real problem is that so many people these days channel their funds into fancy tax avoidance schemes - and so end up paying marginal tax rates of only 2% or 3%.

In fact it's not just a problem in the UK - it's rife everywhere - Mitt Romney who is currently fighting for the Republican nomination to stand as President of America - admitted the other day that the rate of tax on his earnings was less than that of an office cleaner.

And this racket has been going on for years - and years.

So you would think that all the political parties would come together and agree - that enough is enough.

Maybe the Labour party might pick the issue up in a constructive way - without turning it into a political football - if you'll pardon the unintended pun.

Although that would require Labour to explain why the party did nothing about organised tax avoidance - while in government for 13 years.

Here's what I had to say on the subject - back in November 2011.

A Taxing Problem (November 21st 2011)

When I was down in London last week - I visited the anti-capitalist protest camp at St Paul's Cathedral.

I must have been less well turned out than normal - because an earnest young chap came along and asked if I would fill in a survey form - to explain why I had joined the protest.

I answered that I was just passing by and we had a thoroughly pleasant chat - about what brought him and his friends to St Paul's - but I came away believing that they were just having a laugh.

Serious minded and well intentioned as they are - the protesters are a mixture of alternative lifestyle drop-outs, full-time political agitators and some others - whom life has not smiled upon too kindly.

But they have no idea what they're about - in terms of trying to engage with the wider public - many of them don't have jobs and have no interest in working - as far as I could tell.

So they don't pay taxes or make any other kind of contribution to society - other than to appoint themselves as the spokespeople for the 99% - whom allegedly hate greedy bankers and capitalists.

Now I'm the first to admit that I hate greedy bankers and greedy capitalists - but I hate greedy politicians too - and I hate double-plus-extra-good the useless, incompetent and dishonest ones - some of whom pretended to be running the country - before the economy went up in smoke.

But hating nameless greedy bankers 'does not a movement make' - instead it's just a small rabble camping out and having a good time - before the bad weather sets in and everyone gets fed up and sends them on their way.

What I want to know is - what do they want, when do they want it and - more to the point - how are they going to get it?

Me - I'm less put out by nameless greedy bankers.

Because we've nationalised and own most of the banks these days - so what exactly is there to gain from beating up the Royal Bank of Scotland, for example?

Far better than empty slogans about banks and bankers - the country should be turning its attention to the widespread use of tax avoidance - as a way of replenishing the public coffers.

It's not just the bankers and politicians who have been getting away with murder for years - the fact is that professional football clubs engage in what amounts to organised tax avoidance schemes - for all their major stars.

Which mean that start players - like Wayne Rooney - hand over only a small percentage of their earnings in income tax - unlike most ordinary working people - because their clubs pay their 'salaries' into tax-avoiding-trusts.

Rangers Football Club is currently fighting an HM Customs & Revenue million back tax bill for £49 million - and Scottish football is small beer compared to England's Premier League.

And football is probably small beer compared to what goes on - in the wider business world.

So why not focus on the huge amount of organised tax avoidance in the UK - along with other measures to make the world a better fairer place?

The protesters at St Paul's don't represent ordinary people who go to work every day - people who pay their fair share of taxes - which support public services and a civilised society.

If the trade unions became less about the vested interests of their members - and dropped the 'what we have we hold mentality' - then the unions could become a real movement for change.

But at the moment there is no inspiring leadership.

Everyone is in favour of higher taxes - so long as someone else pays them.

Just as everyone is in favour of cutting public spending - so long as someone or something else faces the chop.

How many trade union leaders or senior public sector workers have you heard say - 'I agree, final salary pension schemes are a disgrace - they favour the better-off and represent a tax on lower paid workers'.

None - and that's part of the problem.

Never Trust a Ferret

2012-01-24T01:38:00.000-08:00

A hunting ferret

Janet Street-Porter is a woman of strong opinions - and one of the few women in the UK ever to have edited a national newspaper.

But what I most like about Janet is her 'spit in your eye' attitude - towards goings and public honours which she wrote about in The Independent on Sunday.

Like me, Janet wouldn't cross the road for an OBE or a knighthood - and ridicules people that do - the kind of people who pee their pants just waiting in the queue.

Like me, Janet has not time for Sir Fred 'the Shred' Goodwin - who 'looks like a ferret' she says and that's a good enough reason for mistrusting him in my book.

But of course Sir Fred wasn't mistrusted - quite the opposite in fact.

Because as everyone knows Sir Fred was actively courted and fawned over by senior figures in the last Labour government - which did 'bugger-all to deal with banking excesses' - according to Janet.

And you know what - she's absolutely right - here's what Janet had to say in her newspaper column at the weekend.

They pile in to damn Sir Fred's gong, but what will it change

Politicians are jumping over each other to demand that the disgraced former RBS chief Fred "the Shred" Goodwin should be stripped of his knighthood. Why? What difference would it make? I can see that the ritual of public humiliation might turn some people on, but this futile gesture won't help the huge number of folk fruitlessly looking for work or trying to pay bills. It won't build a single affordable home, fund a crèche or keep a library open. Ed Miliband is the latest lemming to demand Fred's head on a platter, telling anyone who'll listen that Gordon Brown should "never" have handed out the accolade in the first place.

Goodwin is an easy person to loathe. He's a bit common, looks like a ferret, and has never publicly graced us with a full apology. He still lives in a posh house with mega-security in a swanky part of Edinburgh. What do Dave, Cleggy and Ed want? That he should walk down Whitehall in sackcloth having custard pies chucked at him by angry voters?

There are plenty of people as loathsome as Sir Fred – our former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, for starters, with their self-important charitable foundations and conspicuous lack of humility about their track records; their huge "expenses"; their trumpeting of their desire to "help" the underprivileged on a global scale; their refusal consistently to accept blame.

Taking away Goodwin's knighthood will not make any difference to the bonus culture or the deeply entrenched mindset in the City. The people who run our country have had more than three years to get cross about his gong, so why are politicians so incandescent with rage now? Almost certainly because they know they are powerless to prevent the steady flow of bad news on all fronts.

Unemployment is at a record high. The high street is in crisis, with liquidations every week. More young people than ever have been sitting around doing nothing for more than a year. There's the ever-present danger of a double-dip recession. The euro teeters on the brink of collapse. We seem to be blundering through a maze of misery, so (they seem to have decided) why not pick on an easily identifiable bloke and make him the scapegoat for all the current woes? Why not try and distract voters with a fall guy?

The truth is, Fred G was just one of many. The Labour government did bugger-all to deal with banking excesses. And when the crunch came, they still treated bankers as a special case. Ann Godbehere, the woman brought in by Labour to sort out Northern Rock's financial mess, was allowed to base her tax affairs outside the UK. And they appointed a new chairman, Ron Sandler, a non-dom whose £8m London house was owned by an overseas trust.

Labour chose these two key people to be in charge of billions of pound's worth of public money when we bailed out the bank – people who enjoyed tax breaks that were denied to ordinary people. So forgive my cynicism. I can't see that any politicians are committed to changing the way that bankers and tax avoiders operate. If they did, we would have signed up for the Robin Hood Tax, a levy on all financial transactions, a simple decision that would change charitable giving overnight and really help the needy.

Another thing about knighthoods is that they're worthless, a snobbish relic that reinforces our class-ridden, socially stagnant society. Terry Leahy, Philip Green, Stuart Rose and Richard Branson were all knighted for services to retail and various types of enterprise. In reality, they were already lavishly rewarded financially for their job. So why garnish their CVs with a gong? In the US, knighthoods don't exist, you are valued by your peers according to how well your business is doing. The US is a true meritocracy. We still believe titles carry clout.

When Simon Schama trashed Downton Abbey as "a steaming, silvered tureen of snobbery", he hit the nail right on the head. There's a nasty little corner buried in the British psyche that secretly aches for a gong, that can't help itself genuflecting to a title. Sir Mick Jagger sold out when he accepted one. Ditto Sir Bob Geldof. Sir Fred's title is an irrelevance, not worthy of a moment's concern.

A hunting Sir Fred Goodwin

Mockery of Justice

2012-01-24T01:12:00.000-08:00

A murder trial has been taking place at the High Court in Glasgow for the past couple of weeks which - to my mind - makes a complete mockery of Scotland's criminal justice system.

One young man - Craig Roy - is accused of murdering another - Jack Frew in May 2010.

The person accused of murder denies the charge - but has admitted killing the victim.

According to a pathologist - which gave evidence to the court yesterday - Jack Frew was stabbed no less than 20 times, he had his throat cut and suffered 'defensive wounds' to his right hand - almost certainly as he sought to fend off blows from the knife that killed him.

Yet his killer denies murder and puts the victim's family through all the horrors of a trial - never mind the cost to the public purse of presenting all the evidence in the case.

Not only that the accused - Craig Roy - appears at court each day accompanied by his mother and other members of own family.

So he must be free to walk the streets even though he has committed a grievous crime by his own admission - notwithstanding the charge of murder which has still to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Now I can't really follow the logic of that - maybe the accused is not regarded as a threat to others - but he has admitted killing another defenceless human being - and stands accused of murdering his victim.

To have allowed this young man his freedom since May 2010 - seems to send out all the wrong signals to me given all the circumstances involved - and I imagine the young victim's family feels exactly the same way.

Obvious Question

2012-01-23T03:28:00.000-08:00

I'm a great fan of Europe.

Despite the hash the powers that be have made of the Euro - I still support the European Union (EU) and its expansion further afield - into other countries such as Turkey.

I agree with the right of people to travel freely - to live and work abroad - whether temporarily or by going the whole hog and emigrating to a new land.

My own family has an immigrant background - like many Scots I have ancient ancestors who come from Ireland- and relatives who now live in America.

And if all my dreams came true - I'd like to go and live in New York for a while - and then retire to Spain.

But if that were ever to happen - I wouldn't expect to go and live off benefits from the state.

In fact if you said I could go and live in America or Spain without having to support myself - I'd say you were more than a little bit mad.

So what I don't understand is how people seem able to do this so freely in the UK.

Maybe our rules are completely bonkers - not just different but much more generous than everywhere else.

But the recent story of a Romanian woman - Firuta Vasile (27) – who came to the UK five years ago with four children - suggests that there is something badly wrong.

Last week Firuta was successful in persuading a court that she was entitled to £2,500 in housing benefits - on top of the £25,000 that she receives at the moment.

Now I don't bear any ill will towards Firuta - she is only exploiting a system that's there to be exploited - though it's difficult to understand how someone who has not made any contribution to this country - can come here and be paid £27,500 a year.

To get that amount of money in your hand - you would normally have to earn £40,000 a year - yet somehow or other people can come to the UK and live off the state without being in a position to support themselves - or their children.

And that's not counting the cost of other services - such as education and health.

To my mind that's just plain wrong - and it's the kind of crazy example that gives the EU a bad name - and immigration more generally.

I listened to a debate on TV yesterday about reforming the welfare system - and I was struck by the attitude of the Labour spokesperson - who said the Labour party agreed, in principle, with the need for reforms.

But he disagreed with the present coalition government's proposals for change - which prompted me to ask myself:

'Well why didn't the Labour party do something about it - while they were in government for 13 long years - between 1997 and 2010?'

But sadly the interviewer never asked the chap this rather obvious question - so I guess I'll never know.

Tough at the Top

2012-01-23T02:53:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting story about the goings on inside South Lanarkshire Council - which appears in this week's East Kilbride News.

People still fighting for equal pay in South Lanarkshire will be pleased learn that while it's hard going being one of life's low paid foot-soldiers - it's just as tough at the top.

Council spend thousands extending top official’s contract despite being strapped for cash

Cash-strapped South Lanarkshire Council are to spend thousands of pounds extending the contract of a top official.

Robert McIlwain lost his job as corporate department director in a management shake-up last year.

But he has been controversially kept on to ease the transition to the new departmental structure.

He is also helping oversee next year’s council elections – even though the council’s new chief executive Lindsay Freeland receives part of his salary of around £150,000 for acting as returning officer in elections in South Lanarkshire.

The move has angered East Kilbride Tory councillor Graham Simpson who described Mr McIlwain’s contract extension as “nice work if you can get it”.

Robert McIlwain earned around £120,000-a-year as director of corporate services.

In May last year, the council announced plans to cut the number of departments from seven to five, saving more than £500,0000 a year.

The departments of corporate services and finance were merged and finance head Paul Manning was in October chosen to head the new and enlarged department.

Mr McIlwain was expected to leave the council but it has emerged that his contract, which expired on March 31 last year, has been extended to June of this year.

The move is likely to cost the council around £150,000 at a time when they have had to make savings this financial year of £25m and are seeking £12.4m of cuts for 2012-13. More than 500 posts will also go before the end of March next year.

Mr Freeland became chief executive, on salary of between £142,579 and £149,952, on January 1.

He was appointed returning officer for South Lanarkshire at December’s executive committee meeting, and receives a fee for performing the role.

His predecessor as chief executive, Archie Strang, was paid more than £10,000 a year for acting as returning officer.

Yesterday (Wednesday), a spokesman for the council insisted they were still on track to make savings of £500,000 from the management shake-up despite extending Mr McIlwain’s contract.

She added: “The report on departmental mergers, agreed by the executive committee on May 11, 2011, clearly states the aim is to implement the restructuring by the end of the current financial year.

“These mergers are progressing on schedule and the savings of £550,000 as stated in the report will be made. As part of the merger arrangements, Robert McIlwain’s contract was extended to June 1, 2012.

“This allows a comprehensive handover of responsibilities to the new executive director of finance and corporate resources.

“It also means Mr McIlwain, in his role as depute returning officer, will oversee the significant work required for the May 3 local government elections this year, making use of his considerable and valued expertise.”

SNP Group Leader Anne Maggs said she had no problem with the extension to Mr McIlwain’s contract if it meant there would be no repeat of the “fiasco” at the 2007 elections when glitches with the computerised count delayed declaration of the result.

However, Tory councillor Simpson described as “eye-watering” the amount of money Mr Freeland received for his roles as chief executive and returning officer.

He pointed out that before last year’s Scottish Parliament elections some chief executives donated their returning officer fees to charity.

He added: “It would be particularly disappointing were Mr Freeland to pocket his returning officer fee since South Lanarkshire Council have kept on another highly-paid official, Robert McIlwain, beyond what was to be his leaving date, to make sure the elections this year go smoothly.

“Mr McIlwain was also kept on to ease his successor, Paul Manning, into his new six-figure salaried role – a job he is well capable of doing without any such assistance.

“It's a case of nice work if you can get it for Mr McIlwain and maybe for Mr Freeland too.”

If You Can't Beat 'Em....

2012-01-23T02:36:00.000-08:00

I read yesterday that another 'august' body - the 229-year old Royal Society of Edinburgh - is the latest venerable organisation to call for Sir Fred Goodwin to be be given a good kicking.

Apparently, the Royal Society bestowed its own honour on Sir Fred in 2008 - which was the year after the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) spent £45 billion - acquiring the Dutch bank ABN Amro.

But while the Royal Society of Edinburgh clearly though that Fred the Shred was the bees knees only four years ago - some of its members want to strip Sir Fred of his fellowship of the society - a great honour allegedly.

As I said the other day - I have no time for Sir Fred or the honours system more generally - but it seems there's no end to the queue of people - lining up to humiliate publicly this former big-shot banker.

So in an effort to outdo absolutely everyone else with my moral outrage and very public indignation - I am calling for Sir Fred to be put in the stocks for a week - on Edinburgh's famous Royal Mile.

Because that way Edinburgh's local citizens - and anyone keen to travel from further afield - could throw rotten fruit or maybe something much harder - at the disgraced former head of RBS.

And all the people who get their rocks off by doing such things - would be in ecstasy, seventh heaven for a week.

Even the ones who were fawning all over Sir Fred - and bestowing him with fabulous honours back in 2008.

The brave figure who is leading the charge against Sir Fred - Bristow Muldoon - was quoted in the newspaper's yesterday - announcing solemnly that the Royal Society of Edinburgh would deal with the matter at its next meeting in February.

Bristow Muldoon is a former Labour MSP of course - unless there's another person with the very same name - but what I would like to see is a list of the people who voted to give Sir Fred his membership of the Royal Society in the first place.

Now that would make interesting reading.

Dog's Dinner

2012-01-23T01:44:00.002-08:00

Here's another old post from the blog site archive - which mentions North Lanarkshire Council in dispatches.

I wrote this almost five years ago - would you believe?

Yet many council employees in North Lanarkshire are still fighting for equal pay - all this time later.

So let's hope that 2012 is the year that North Lanarkshire finally gets its act together.

Maybe the prospect of elections in May will concentrate people's minds - and persuade the council's top brass to resolve all the outstanding claims.

Odd Allies and Strange Bedfellows (April 16th 2007)

North Lanarkshire won't win any prizes for the council's handling of equal pay, but it has thrown up some odd allies and strange bedfellows.

Take Jim McCabe, leader of the outgoing council. Now Jim is a decent enough fellow, not a political heavyweight, but an experienced Labour party man and a former Nupe (now Unison) shop steward. So, he understands all the issues when it comes to equal pay - or ought to at least.

Yet, Jim's greatest claim to fame is not fighting against discrimination or low pay. Oh no, he is best known locally for dropping his pants at the office Christmas party - much to the embarrassment of fellow guests.Jim followed up this PR disaster with another - by puffing away in his office during an interview with a journalist. Effectively, thumbing his nose at the council's strict no smoking policy and the Scottish Parliament's smoking ban. Guess what made the headlines!

Jim is also leader of the CoSLA Labour group - CoSLA being the umbrella body for Scotland's 32 local councils. In recent months, Jim has been joined at CoSLA by a new chum, Joe Di Paola. Joe has been appointed as the secretary/adviser to the employers' side of the collective bargaining machinery, which negotiates with the unions on a wide range of vital employment issues. Including, of course, equal pay.

The spooky thing is that - until very recently - Joe did exactly the same job for the trade union side and 'led' the negotiations on implementing equal pay (and single status) from 1999 to 2006. Negotiations that stalled and made absolutely no progress under Joe's stewardship. With a track record of failure, Joe has now jumped ship to the employers' side, but his new bosses should remember the old saying: "You can only ride two horses at the same time, if you were born with two arses."

One of Joe's best buddies in the whole world is Grahame Smith, another Labour 'placeman' and new general secretary of the STUC (Scottish Trades Union Congress). As everyone knows, the STUC is the progressive and left leaning voice of the trade union movement. Needless to say, it's 100% in favour of equal opportunities, equal pay, motherhood and apple pie and so on. And the STUC is completely, utterly and resolutely against any form of discrimination. Oh yes!

What a surprise then that Grahame and the STUC's 'band of brothers' have been as quiet as church mice on equal pay - while one of the biggest employment rows to hit Scotland in years has raged in the press and media. The explanation is that General Council - the executive body that runs the STUC - is now controlled by only four big unions: Amicus, GMB, TGWU and Unison. So, they can appoint someone in their own image - absolutely tame, non-threatening and very much part of the establishment.

One of Grahame's General Council comrades is Mike Kirby - convener (senior lay member) of Unison Scotland since 1993 and key figure in the Unison Glasgow branch. A branch that kept their members in the dark about equal pay for years - then lost low paid workers thousands of pounds, by encouraging them to accept settlements that were worth much less than the real value of their claims.

Would things have been different with a woman at the figurehead at Unison? After all, women account for around 70% of the union's membership and had most to gain or lose. Mibbees aye, mibbees naw. The issue is more complicated than it seems because Mike's former long-time partner was none other than Iris Wylie - head of personnel at North Lanarkshire and key figure in the 'dog's dinner' that Scotland's 4th largest council has made of equal pay (back to where we started).

North Lanarkshire sat on its backside for years, then hurriedly cobbled together a new pay structure when Action 4 Equality arrived on the scene and let the cat out of the bag. The workforce threw the proposals out, following a secret ballot, so the council abruptly decided it would impose the new arrangements - the council didn't need the support of its employees and the trade unions after all. Wonder who gave the council this brilliant piece of advice?

So, the strange world of equal pay is laid bare for all to see - the wheels within wheels and strange goings on that connect North Lanarkshire Council, CoSLA, the Labour Party, the STUC, Unison and North Lanarkshire Council (again).

Scotland is such an interesting place to live and work.

Fair's Fare

2012-01-23T01:44:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend it was reported that 207 people (mainly women) have died since losing their money in the Farepak scandal - without receiving any compensation for their loss.

Farepak - many people will recall - was a Christmas saving scheme which involved putting a little money away each week - before getting it all back to spend on presents and whatnot for the festive season.

But Farepak went bust - almost overnight five years ago - and lots of people lost their money - people who could ill afford to do so.

Ever since there has been a campaign to compensate the victims of the scandal - but 207 have died while waiting for some kind of justice to be done.

And a Scottish MSP - Mike Weir, SNP spokesperson on consumer affairs is calling on the UK government to speed up the compensation claims - so that whatever people are due they can at least get their hands on the money - while they remain on this earth.

Now I have every sympathy for the people involved - although I can tell you that a many council employees are affected in exactly the same way - waiting for their equal pay claims to be settled.

I don't have any exact figures to hand - but I have spoken personally to the spouses of Action 4 Equality Scotland clients - who have literally died while waiting on their equal pay claim to be settled.

Not a pleasant experience for me - and I'm sure an even worse one for the families of the clients involved.

Many councils are still dragging their feet - for example North Lanarkshire - which has been in the news for other reasons recently.

So I'll think I'll contact this MSP - Mike Weir - in fact it would be even more effective if people directly affected - were to do so themselves as well.

The Dunce's Cap

2012-01-22T03:54:00.000-08:00

I was touched yesterday when I read a story about the trade unions - bravely riding to the rescue of Labour-run North Lanarkshire Council - one of the largest councils in Scotland.

In case readers missed the row, Alex Neil - a Scottish Government minister and SNP MSP - gave the council a bit of a kicking - describing it as 'bloated' and 'barely fit for purpose'.

Specifically Alex Neil is quoted as saying that the council was badgering people on the lowest of incomes, that the council's education department was over-staffed - and that the council was letting homes that were not in a proper state for families to live in.

Now I suspect these claims are largely true - if stated a little starkly - with one eye on the forthcoming council elections in May 2012.

But they drew a furious response from the Labour-run and touchingly from the trade unions - who immediately leapt to the council's defence.

So let me get my tuppence worth in - because I can say 'hand on heart' that when it comes to equal pay - North Lanarkshire is one of the worst councils in Scotland.

Action 4 Equality Scotland has over 2,500 equal pay cases still running against North Lanarkshire - which has still to make any offer of settlement to former APT&C workers - or male workers.

Compared to other councils which settled these case long ago - Edinburgh City Council for example.

Here's what I said about North Lanarkshire Council back in March 2010 and it seems like some of these chickens are coming home to roost.

But the bottom line is that the relationship between the Labour-run council - and the Labour-supporting trade unions - stinks to high heaven.

North Lanarkshire Council (March 3rd 2010)

Came across this previous post on North Lanarkshire while looking through the blog site archive - thought it might remind readers just how badly they've been treated - by both the council and the trade unions.

North Lanarkshire Council

All of Scotland's 32 local councils have behaved appallingly over equal pay, but undoubtedly the Dunce's Cap should be awarded jointly to the management and trade unions in North Lanarkshire Council.

First of all, the council agreed a Job Evaluation scheme with the trade unions, but then they both refused to share the details with the workforce. So, exactly how were staff expected to have any confidence in the outcome, especially if they could not see or understand the scores and how the new grading structure rewarded different groups of workers?

Maybe they were supposed to to take it on trust from the same people who had kept them in the dark for all those years.

Then the council put the scheme to the workforce in a democratic ballot - a wizard idea supported by the best brains amongst the unions. However, things did not go according to plan and to the enormous shock of the council and the unions, the ordinary union members very sensibly voted the package down - and by an absolutely overwhelming majority.

Next the council made one-off 'buy-out' offers to sections of the workforce - some but not all of the manual workers - although these compensation payments were just about the lowest across the whole of Scotland (for Home Carers especially), and simply added insult to injury.

Soon afterwards, the council decided just to ignore the workforce ballot that it was so keen to hold only a few months before - on the basis that it would impose the new pay and grading structure by issuing staff with new contracts of employment. Many people on the ground believe this was done with the unions tacit approval because the unions certainly did little to stop the council in its tracks.

Needless to say, the unions went along with the general strategy and effectively did the council's dirty work by failing to give their members proper advice or support at crucial times - which is why so many of them decided to pursue and equal pay claim with Action 4 Equality and Stefan Cross.

Now, as so often happens in life, things have come full circle and finally, if very belatedly, the unions have at last seen the error of their ways. Unison is now advising members of their rights to take up an equal pay claim - albeit 7 years too late.

A letter from the local Unison branch secretary dated 2 February 2007 advises members that they have 6 months from 6 November 2006 (the date of the new North Lanarkshire contract) to register an equal pay claim.

The letter is not terribly enthusiastic, it has to be said, and deliberately puts the onus on individual members to decide whether they have an equal pay claim - instead of the union explaining the size and nature of the pay gap with the men - which the unions' know fine well because they negotiated these pay agreements with North Lanarkshire Council.

Instead of offering leadership, advice and practical help the letter goes on to detail a long and bureaucratic procedure for members to follow in submitting a claim, which seems designed to make life difficult for ordinary members with no experience of dealing with such issues.

However, this letter simply begs the question:

"Why did the Unison North Lanarkshire Branch not issue this advice to members in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004. 2005 and 2006?"

The unions failure to act has cost its low paid members dearly - and that's why so many are now suing for the money they've lost through their unions negligence and incompetence.

In addition, many hundreds of workers either left or retired from the North Lanarkshire Council during the past 8 years. Sadly, these individuals have lost the right to register an equal pay claim because of the 6 month time limit."

'Don't Mix the Two Up'

2012-01-22T03:22:00.000-08:00

Here are two of the best lines from my newest favorite film - Rango - starring Johnny Depp and a whole host of other zany characters.

See post dated 19 January 2012 - for the low down on the plot - but in the meantime here are the lines from a couple of scenes - that made me laugh out loud:

Sheriff Rango

This is a crime scene - clear the area. I want a urine sample from everyone - and get me a latte.

Don't mix the two up.

Two members of the sheriff's posse - searching an 'aquifir' for the source of Dirt town's water.

Q Whit's an aquifir?

A It's fir aqua.

Sounds silly I know - but like the rest of the movie, crazy as it is - the whole thing really works.

Council Whistleblowers

2012-01-22T03:10:00.000-08:00

In a post yesterday I expressed my surprise that South Lanarkshire Council had apparently dismissed a complaint - just because it was made anonymously.

See post dated January 21 2012 - 'Council Faces Probe'.

But as I was writing I remembered that the council has received anonymous complaints before - which were investigated at the time.

Not just that - senior Labour councillors were actively campaigning for tough action from the chief executive - calls which were supported by the trade unions as I recall.

One of the local Labour MPs - Tom McCabe, a former leader of South Lanarkshire Council - got in on the act atthe time and demanded that heads should roll.

What a difference - you have to admit - when serious allegations are made about the ruling Labour administration.

Where are the senior Labour councillors and Labour supporting trade unions now?

Nowhere to be seen - and instead the official line is 'no comment'.

So here's a previous post from 2010 to remind readers what this whole business was all about - yet again it led to a highly paid council official walking away with a big 'golden handshake' - courtesy of the public purse.

Council Wars (October 8th 2010)

A regular reader has kindly sent me a copy of the incendiary e-mails - that seem to have sparked a civil war in South Lanarkshire Council.

The first is from Councillor Hugh Dunsmuir - Chair of Corporate Resources - who received an anonymous complaint from people claiming to be disgruntled members of staff.

The councillor shares the e-mail with the council's chief executive - Archie Strang - which is how you would expect any responsible councillor to behave.

But Councillor Dunsmuir also copies his e-mail to the chief executive - along with the anonymous complaint - to all and sundry within the council - which was of course a very silly and potentially vindictive thing to do.

Especially as Councillor Dunsmuir says in his e-mail to Archie Strang - "...I would urge you as chief executive to investigate these matters and also let it be known that any member of staff can come to you and it will be treated confidentially."

So, while the councillor is keen to respect confidentiality in some circumstances - he seems quite prepared to share an anonymous complaint - by circulating the details far and wide to all council employees.

Sounds like plain old-fashioned party politicking - if you ask me.

Anyway the chief executive - Archie Strang - responds that same day to say Councillor Dunsmuir or anyone else is perfectly free to raise any issue of concern with him as Head of the Paid Service.

But he goes on to say that it was not appropriate for Councillor Dunsmuir to have copied the e-mail to staff - particularly as the complaint was anonymous and unsubstantiated.

Shortly afterwards all hell broke loose - as the Sunday Post reported last week - and ever since senior councillors and senior officials seem to have been at war with each other.

Let's see what the weekend brings - but if things go on like this - you would expect the Scottish Government to begin asking some serious questions about what's going on.