The Rt Hon Malcolm Bruce MP

July Column

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Class act leaves quickly after long goodbye

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So, after a long goodbye Tony Blair has finally left office - in the end surprisingly abruptly - resigning as an MP on the same day.

But Tony Blair, on his own admission never was a House of Commons man and would have found no role on the backbenches.

Now he has the dubious role of potential peacemaker in the Middle East where his close ties to George W Bush and Israel will make it difficult for him to find immediate favour with the Palestinians who will require a major move towards addressing their grievances to be persuaded of his objectivity or good faith.

I was not in the Chamber of the House of Commons for the surprising standing ovation he received. I was in Scotland on a long arranged and twice postponed visit by the International Development Committee to the Department for International Development's Scottish Headquarters in East Kilbride. (See below)

As a performer Tony Blair is without doubt a class act. In front of the Liaison Committee of members who chair select committees he batted questions with effortless ease. Of course, he didn't answer many of them and often changed his ground but he did it with finesse and charm.

I doubt if Gordon Brown will achieve the same rapport although it will be interesting to observe the difference.

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New look Government with new role for Scots

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A new Prime Minister means a new Government and a major reshuffle of ministers. Out go a few stalwarts, some of their own volition others simply sacked.

We have with David Milliband the youngest Foreign Secretary since David Owen - not necessarily an auspicious precedent. Jacqui Smith is the first female Home Secretary and not someone anyone would have forecast.

We continue to have a part time Secretary of State for Scotland but it is questionable whether it is a good idea to combine it with Defence given the pressures our forces are facing in Iraq and Afghanistan - "Ministerial overstretch" is an apt description.

The appointment of Douglas Alexander as Secretary of State for International Development is an interesting one. This is a Department whose reach is growing. It is the only department backed with a commitment for real year on year increases in spending as the UK aspires to achieve the UN objective of committing 0.7 per cent of GDP towards overseas aid and development by 2013.

For this reason the department has been beefed up from two ministers to four, which is long overdue given the number of commitments in over 60 countries on top of support for and engagement with international agencies such as the United Nations, European Commission and World Bank.

Public support for international development is still strong following Gleneagles and Make Poverty History - but this will not last if people can't see tangible results in the form of significant and measurable poverty reduction.

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Scotland's key role in delivering development

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The UK's rising aid and development budget makes us one of the world's biggest bilateral donors (after the USA and Japan). What is less well known is the importance Scotland plays in delivering UK development.

Abercrombie House in East Kilbride shares the role with Palace Place in London as the joint headquarters of the Department for International Development.

Almost 600 staff are based there and an increasing number of policy areas are run out of Scotland.

The new Secretary of State represents a constituency only a few minutes away from Abercrombie House and it will be interesting if under his direction the Scottish base becomes even more closely keyed into delivering UK development around the world.

There is no doubt therefore that Scotland's involvement in delivering one of the most important development programmes in the world is far greater as part of the UK's delivery than the Scottish Parliament could ever aspire to.

Nevertheless, the Scottish Parliament does have its own development aspirations and the committee therefore decided it was important to have an exchange of views with Scottish based NGOs, Linda Fabiani the Scottish Executive Minister responsible for the development programme and members of the external relations committee of the Parliament.

I believe there is recognition that Scotland cannot and should not compete with DFID. However, there can be a useful role raising the profile of development, linking with NGOs and finding one or two areas where Scotland could make a distinctive contribution.

The prime focus has been in Malawi, an exceptionally poor country even by African standards but one associated with David Livingstone. The former capital and largest town, Blantyre, is, after all, named after his birthplace.

Maybe there is potential for some educational links to help train the administrators and service deliverers of the future.

Clearly, if the Scottish Executive stays well focussed, keeps it simple and liaises closely with DFID then the development ties could be of benefit keeping in perspective that the UK's development programme even when the present Scottish fund is doubled is more than 10 times that of the executive in just one country. Internationally it is more than 500 times as much.

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Transport defeats show up NE value for money projects

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The new Scottish Executive suffered its first defeat, as it happened, when I was in the Parliament building. Opposition MPs seemed satisfied with their influence although the eventual outcome over the building of a tram system and airport rail link for Edinburgh remains uncertain. It may be symptomatic of things to come.

The proposals are expensive and it is understandable that the SNP prefer other priorities - but these cannot be processed fast and Edinburgh clearly needs public transport investment nor can the administration fly in the face of a Parliamentary majority.

As costs go, however, the proposed new Forth crossing is spectacularly expensive amounting to at least £2.5 billion.

These projects make the North East's needs - the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, Crossrail commuter line, upgrades to the A90 and A96 plus easing the bottlenecks at Haudagain and Bridge of Dee look like good value for money and deserving of support by all MSPs.

I certainly hope that those who supported Edinburgh will support us here and get the backing of the executive too.

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Terrorist threat requires effective response

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The spate of failed and aborted terrorist attacks across Britain over last weekend raises once again the enormous and long term threats we face from determined foes who will stop at nothing to commit murder and mayhem.

Police and security forces need to be supported in their efforts to identify and thwart threats. In a complex society of 60 million people with open and porous frontiers and a long tradition of freedom of movement tackling these determined threats is far from easy.

It requires real resources directed where they will have most effect rather than dramatic gestures. It is always better to identify the terrorists and head them off but that is extraordinarily difficult.

Summary executions of suspects by security forces will never command wide acceptance in the UK and the tragic case of Menezes shot on the tube by mistake just shows the risks the police take of alienating the vary groups whose co-operation they need most.

Nevertheless, the public do look to security forces for protection. We can't block every loophole. Measures to increase the likelihood of prevention or detection must be considered but must also be measured and proportionate.

The Government should consider the ID cards are very expensive and may do nothing to increase security. (The United States certainly has no intention of going down that road).

The money would be better spent improving the efficiency of our immigration controls and quick and humane response over asylum seekers, bearing in mind that those accused of the latest crimes came here legally as key contributors to the needs of our NHS.

Meanwhile the travelling public face delays and disruption at airports - a minor but no doubt gratifying achievement by the terrorists. As a regular traveller I accept this with resignation but do wonder whether taking longer and longer really makes a difference.

Getting illicit material through airport security and airside is now sufficiently difficult as to act as an effective deterrent leading the terrorists to pursue other routes.

No doubt Parliament will return to this. It will be an interesting measure of the new Prime Minister to see how his approach differs from Tony Blair.

Malcolm Bruce MP

brucem@parliament.uk

0207 2196233