March column

Published on Tue 6th Mar 2007

Malcolm Bruce discussing fair trade with Ethiopian villagers in February

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Fair trade in the spotlight

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Fair Trade fortnight has seen a lot of activities across the country and locally in Ellon which recently became a Fair Trade town.

Of course, consumers all over Gordon seek out fair trade products, which made the start of evidence sessions for the International Development Committee particularly timely.

We took evidence from the Fair Trade Movement, the Prime Minister of Dominica as well as Starbucks and Marks and Spencer.

What we are trying to establish is how far Fair Trade can go to reduce poverty and whether there are any negative effects. Fair Trade is growing at a phenomenal rate and many companies are both buying into the Fair Trade movement as well as setting their own standards.

We need to determine whether these are complementary or competitive with each other.

Meanwhile we were able to press Starbucks over their attempts to block the trade-marking of Ethiopian coffee, which they have now dropped and apologised to the Ethiopian Government for. Their director of Corporate Social Responsibility, who came from Seattle to give evidence, acknowledged that the dispute was damaging their fair trade image, which they insist is founded on real and long established practices.

Over the next few weeks we will be taking evidence with other fair trade organisations as well as Tesco, Nestle and Sainsbury's.

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Anxieties over British staff abducted in Ethiopia

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Talking of Ethiopia I was personally concerned to hear of the apparent kidnap of British officials and their families on a visit to the far North West of the country just inside the Eritrean border.

My entire committee visited Ethiopia just last month and met all the Department for International Development team, the Ambassador and many of the Embassy and British Council staff, so we have a particular concern for the people we know but, of course, for all those who are missing and their families.

Our team in Addis Ababa is particularly important as they are administering Britain's biggest aid budget in Africa as well as maintaining diplomatic relationships with the African Union, which is headquartered in the city.

They made it clear to us that they believe they are short staffed for the demanding role they are being asked to play, so the loss of colleagues in such difficult and trying circumstances will no doubt have a stressful effect on everyone.

The Embassy compound in Addis is under strict security so there is an awareness of very real threats to British staff but it is initially unclear who has carried out this kidnap or why.

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Malcolm Bruce has led calls for more education in British Sign Language

Sign language call raised in Parliament

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I have long been a campaigner for the rights of sign language users and especially for deaf children and their parents to be given support in acquiring sign language. I had the opportunity to raise this in Parliament this week.

Sadly, it seems to me that the support we give to sign language has declined and falls far behind other more progressive European countries.

It is interesting that the countries that do most for sign languages are those where bi-lingualism in spoken languages is well established. In Europe the best role models are the Scandinavian countries where English is a compulsory second language and therefore deaf children learn sign language and their mother tongue.

In the UK the most progressive country is Wales which has a lively and expanding Welsh language curriculum but has recognised the importance of sign language to the minority deaf community who use it.

As a result the Welsh Assembly has adopted an ambitious programme of training interpreters which will raise their number in Wales from 12 to 64. For Scotland we would need to train another 80 and England would need more than 700 just to achieve parity with Wales.

I believe strongly that the parents of newly diagnosed deaf children should be given clear advice on the role that sign language can play in their child's education and themselves be given the opportunity to learn sign language to improve communication with their child.

I also think it would be a good idea for sign language to be offered as an alternative foreign language thus increasing the number of people with some knowledge of sign language and the potential pool of future interpreters. In Sweden, for example, 10,000 people are learning sign language.

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Malcolm Bruce pressed junior minister David Cairns on putting Scotland at the centre of new energy technology

North East's case for Energy Technology Institute reinforced

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I raised again at Scottish Questions Aberdeen's case for the Government's proposed Energy Technologies Institute. The junior minister David Cairns supported the arguments I put but confirmed competitive bids would have to be evaluated.

Here is a case where the Scotland Office should be using its influence as they do not have a great deal to do.

I accept entirely that such an Institute should draw widely on the UK's technological expertise. However, the growing importance of Scotland in all aspects of energy technology would be brought into question if the critical mass of academic and commercial expertise we have in Aberdeen and the North East was not involved.

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Pointing out facts is no smear

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I guess it is inevitable that as we get closer to polling day the elections for the Scottish Parliament will get heated - not lest because the SNP have decided to turn Gordon into a particular battleground.

However their attempts to suggest that the Liberal Democrats' campaign is a smear, dirty tricks or a personal attack will not do.

It is perfectly reasonable to point out what is implied by trying to do two jobs in two constituencies in two different parliaments. The two jobs do carry two sets of expenses and that is a fact too.

To be a party leader also involves spending a lot of time outside the North East borne out by Alex Salmond's latest 28 per cent voting record in Westminster.

So all the Liberal Democrats are doing are pointing out the inevitable conflicts of time compared to the full time commitment of elected Parliamentarians the constituency is used to.