October Column

Written by Malcolm Bruce MP on Mon 22nd Oct 2007

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Ming's surprise trips leadership election

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I can honestly say that the decision by Ming Campbell to resign as leader of the Liberal Democrats came as a complete surprise to me and all my colleagues.

He has led the party with total commitment and efficiency taking forward policy development and welding together a team of talented MPs.

Had he chosen to join other parties he would almost certainly have graced a Labour or a Tory cabinet. He didn't because, quite simply he is a Liberal and the only party that ever suited him was the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democrats.

He was no doubt influenced by Gordon Brown's extraordinary decision to light the touch paper for an election then abandon it for the foreseeable future.

Well Ming has left with dignity and created the space for a leadership contest that I believe will give credit to the party.

Chris Huhne was runner-up last time and will be standing again. This time Nick Clegg will be standing and I believe people will see him as an attractive candidate.

Both are bright competent and able. Nick Clegg has, in my view, the edge in that he will appeal to people outside the Liberal Democrats and indeed outside politics.

He sees his mission as to persuade those people of a liberal disposition to support the Liberal Democrats.

I believe he is a breath of fresh air who will break open the cosy consensus and help to make politics interesting.

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Focus on maternal health tragedy

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While the Lib Dems were engaged in our own internal changes Parliament was returning to business as usual which many thought about to be abandoned.

We had the Prime Minister's statement on Iraq and the Government's financial statement which focused on parties stealing each other's policies - no doubt to cover up another stealth tax in the form of increased National Insurance contributions.

The International Development Committee, which I chair, has started an enquiry on maternal health which is the most off-track of all the eight UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG5).

Women in the developing world face risks in pregnancy and childbirth which are ancient history in our society. 529,000 women die as a result each year - 99% in developing countries. In Sierra Leone, for example, a woman's chance of suffering maternal death is one in six compared with one in 3,800 in the UK.

There are many causes of this state of affairs and no one solution. However, the general view is that women lack the support of skilled birth attendants and access where necessary to medical or surgical intervention.

In simple terms, poor countries need a functioning health service and, as we know, that costs an awful lot of money. What is worse is that the status of women in many developing countries is low. Yet, every maternal death is not only a personal and family tragedy it weakens these society's capacity to develop by reducing family income and forcing other children to look after their siblings or go to work instead of going to school so undermining other important millennium development goals.

The leading research into maternal health has been carried out by Immpact at Aberdeen University who will be advising us and giving us evidence. Their £20million four year programme collecting data on maternal health and drawing lessons was funded by the Gates Foundation, the Department for International Development, the European Commission and USAID and last week presented its findings to an international conference in London.

The committee is also looking at the new arrangements for trade which give the lead to the Department for International Development while challenging the Government to do more to prosecute British companies who engage in bribery and corruption. I will report more on this in a few weeks.

Our troops may be being slowly withdrawn from Iraq (although not fast enough) but they are heavily engaged in Afghanistan where the committee will be looking to see if real development is possible in one of the poorest countries of the world. More of that too, soon.

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Farmers need compensation - not Government squabbling

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North East farmers have suffered losses as a result of the movement restrictions arising from the outbreaks of foot and mouth in the south of England.

Nobody doubts restrictions were necessary to curb the outbreaks but the fact that the source was a Government research centre naturally arouses anger and an expectation that compensation should be forthcoming from the responsible department - DEFRA.

Nevertheless what farmers need is a detailed and fair scheme of compensation administered by the Scottish department SERAD.

The squabble between London and Edinburgh is unedifying and better kept internal if long term working relationships are not to be prejudiced - but farmers need to know what compensation they will receive and how they can claim - that is what matters.

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Scottish Post Office closures creep towards the North East

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The first round of proposed post office closures in Scotland is now being released and it makes uncomfortable reading for areas like ours where we will not know where the cuts may fall for a few more months.

In Argyll and Bute and Stirling proposed closures are less than anticipated whereas in Glasgow they are higher.

Given that the Post Office has an overall target to close 2,500 offices across the UK if the cuts are lighter in the earlier rounds there must be a fear that those in the later rounds may face shocks.

Most of the offices in the rural North East are essential both in terms of customer needs and support for village shops. People cannot travel even two or three miles if they have no transport and there are no regular bus services.

We have already lost a few by forced and voluntary closure. We cannot afford more.

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Growing Aberdeenshire needs chance to invest in public services

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I congratulate councillors and others who are campaigning for a station at Kintore as a project in its own right. I hope it will be possible to come up with the right answer and the funding before too long.

By the same token I hope that Aberdeenshire will not be kept waiting too long in securing an allocation for capital expenditure on schools and leisure facilities across the area.

The pressure of population within the commuter belt requires a significant investment and soon. The new administration in Edinburgh has postponed all capital consents pending a review of the funding mechanism. It has also called for a council tax freeze without indicating how it will be funded.

This leaves the council with little room to manoeuvre in the face of severe pressure. Decisions need to be made soon if the council is to have the time to bring forward plans.

New health centres and community and hospital upgrades have been a positive feature of recent years. The refusal of planning for a much needed health centre in Inverurie leaves the problem as yet unresolved.

One way or another the growth of Inverurie and Kintore gives urgency to coming up with solutions that meet real need and do not leave the community with inadequate services.

One day I hope that more of the taxes we pay locally will stay locally so that our elected representatives do not always have to wait for decisions to be taken in Edinburgh and London. Then local taxes really will pay for local services.