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The Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Bruce MPLiberal Democrat MP for Gordon |
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June Column 2
June 19, 2007 10:42 AM
By Malcolm Bruce MP
By Malcolm Bruce MP
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Swan song PM shifts his ground to make his case
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This week was marked by Tony Blair's final appearance in front of the committee of MPs who chair parliamentary committees. As usual in the engaging way he has he did not answer our questions but his own.
I pressed him on Afghanistan and Palestine and at least sussed out what he does when challenged. He just shifts his ground or even re-invents recent history.
The September 11 attack was planned before George Bush became President so any US president would have had to respond. That was in answer to questions about Iraq with no acknowledgment that Al Qaida never operated in Iraq until after the invasion.
He did not accept that going after the Taliban in Afghanistan risked civilian displacement and casualties and losing the hearts and minds of the people.
He saw no anomaly in invading Iraq and Afghanistan to install democracy and refusing to accept the results of free and fair elections in Palestine.
I have no brief for Hamas or what they did in Gaza and the way they did it - but isolating the Palestinian Authority after the elections last year increased poverty and hardship driving people predictably to extremes.
Worse still a hard negotiated Government of National Unity elicited no positive response from the International Community.
Do we now seal off Gaza and support President Abbas and Fatah regardless of the fact that they lost the election and had a record of corruption?
However you debate with the Prime Minister the rightness of his own position is beyond doubt whereas any counter view he deliberately misrepresents or just rejects.
It's impressive and we will miss him. But I'm not sure it's leadership.
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Glasgow has health issues but Scotland no failed state
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We should not accept at face value the Federation of Small Businesses' annual Index of Wealth report which placed Scotland as the worst performing small country in Western Europe.
The index compares a variety of factors including economic performance, employment rates, health and education and it is widely acknowledged by the author himself that poor health in Scotland was the single most contributing factor for the dismal position that Scotland finds itself in this poll.
While we need to address the health situation across the country, particularly in Glasgow and its surrounding area, we must not lose sights of the positives.
We must not allow this report to portray Scotland as a failed state especially since most of the country is doing well and is being competitive.
There are pockets of social deprivation in even the most prosperous areas of the country and poor and deprived people wherever they are in Scotland deserve support.
The report must not be used to deny those areas of Scotland considered prosperous, such as the North East, adequate or fair investment in their local public services which after all are contributing to Scotland's improving performance.
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Face Economic facts - don't cry wolf
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I stressed this in Scottish Questions when I asked the Secretary of State to recognise that businesses in the North East wanted the investment in the Western Peripheral Route and commuter rail services for Inverurie to Stonehaven; a fair and competitive taxation regime in the North Sea to encourage long term development in the face of global competition and a strong Scotland in a strong UK.
In this context I am disappointed in the Shell decision to sell of North Sea asserts and abandon their plans for a new headquarters but local Labour politicians are being absurd to blame it on the new SNP executive in Edinburgh.
But then they have defended the Chancellor's damaging tax changes and are looking for a scapegoat.
The time may come when an executive decision will damage Scotland's interests. Crying wolf before they have had the chance will make it harder to pin the blame when it is justified.
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Local taxes for local services
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The Prime Minister defended the funding mechanism for Scotland and headed off any plans to change the Barnett formula. This has been stirred up by the right wing press in England in the wake of the agreement to prescribe a number of drugs in Scotland that the NHS in England have not and to abolish prescription charges north of the border.
I support both of these decisions and deplore the way it is presented as if MSPs decide and English taxpayers write the check.
There is extra funding in Scotland but much of it is based on need - e.g. we have more farmers, more pupils staying on at school after 16, more pensioners and more transport miles per head of population - a function of sparsity and remoteness.
I wish the PM however had acknowledged we need more transparency in taxes raised and spending allocated.
When I was on the Scottish Constitutional Convention I favoured assigning revenues for certain taxes direct to the Scottish Parliament. I still do, although I would go further and allocate a share of taxes direct to local authorities and health boards to give them more accountability.
Basically, I would like to see local taxes for local services.
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London should think but let's avoid petty pique
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The row over the revelation that the UK Government was starting talks with the Libyan Government about a possible agreement for prisoners to be returned to their respective countries was probably overblown but it is indicative of the way relations between Holyrood and Westminster are changing.
Alex Salmond milked it for all it was worth as a sign of the contempt for Scotland within the Westminster Government.
Given that Ali Mohmed Al Magrahi is such a high profile prisoner Number 10 and the Foreign Office should have been quicker to consult the Scottish Executive.
However, there is an appeal process in Scotland that could shortly lead to the conviction being set aside as unsafe. Even if that does not transpire any return to Libya would be a decision for the Scottish authorities who will be consulted about the treaty, which is similar to ones we currently have with 96 countries.
It would be absurd if every UK department was expected to consult Scotland on every proposal that was being discussed and it would be absurd for Scotland to jump up and down every time it did not happen.
Nevertheless the fact that the Prime Minister could not bring himself to congratulate Alex Salmond is indicative of how snubs and misunderstandings could arise unnecessarily. Mind you Alex can be selective too so I suggest we will get tired if both parties make a habit of petty pique.