The Rt Hon Malcolm Bruce MP

September Column

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Looking forward to my 27th tour

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Starting on Saturday and running through next week I will be making my 27th summer tour of the constituency. When I started this only a handful of MPs did anything similar.

Although I hold regular surgeries around the constituency and regularly meet constituents by appointment the annual tour gets me to many smaller places and covers the whole constituency.

This year Royal Mail has delivered detailed information about the tour to almost every household and it is also being advertised in the local papers.

The tour gives me an opportunity to view what is happening in pretty well every corner and catch up on local information when I pop into schools, shops etc.

People can come to meet me to raise any issue. The van acts as a mobile office and offers confidentiality and shelter if required. Sometimes people come to tell me their view or ask mine on issues of concern. Other people may be seeking help or advice on a particular problem they are encountering.

The Gordon constituency is very diverse and the Westminster boundaries are very different from Holyrood since the last boundary review. The electorate is much larger and nearly a third of them live within the Aberdeen city boundary in Bridge of Don, Dyce, Danestone and Bankhead.

Two thirds of the electorate are within Aberdeenshire including Huntly, Ellon and Inverurie and the rural areas contained around them.

If you have missed when I am in your area and would likely to catch up just see local press, visit my website www.malcolmbruce.org.uk or call 01467 623413 or 013398 89120 and one of my staff will give you the details.

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Trying to raise the bar on bus safety

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I am continuing to gather support for the campaign to improve school bus safety. There seems to be an unwillingness to change the law but I am seeking common ground on measures that will I hope reduce accidents and help save lives.

I have been very touched by the personal tragedies of local families who have had children killed or injured in accidents involving school buses.

They are convinced that a 'no overtaking' rule would have saved their children. However, it appears that 'expert' opinion is opposed to this north and south of the border which has dashed my hopes of testing a pilot scheme in Scotland.

The arguments for a ban relate to incidents where pupils were knocked down as they crossed the road by cars overtaking the bus and failing to see them.

The arguments against seem to be that it may encourage a false sense of security in pupils or encourage motorists to cut in front of buses to avoid being caught by the no overtaking rule.

The Highway Code simply says Drive carefully and slowly when passing a stationary bus showing a 'School Bus' sign as children may be getting on or off.

The rule applies across North America but there are apparently no useful statistics to prove its effectiveness.

There are a lot of other issues around bus safety to consider such as the fitting of three point seat belts, use of single deckers only, the fixing of prominent flashing school bus signs making clear the bus is stopping or stationary to allow passengers on or off (much more conspicuous than the small unlit signs mostly used at present) and a number of electronic warning devices designed to make motorists and other road users more alert to the dangers.

I am arranging a meeting of interested parties in the Wyness Hall, Inverurie on Wednesday 23 September between 2 and 4. I know this doesn't suit everyone but I hope a number of key interested parties will attend and others may feed in information.

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Lockerbie - Governments and victims at odds on closure

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The Megrahi decision continues to make headlines in ways that are not comfortable for the UK or Scottish Governments. The extraordinary obtuseness of Gordon Brown has been clumsy. Had the decision been made by a Labour Justice Minister would he have been so reticent at least after the event?

If, as it appears, the UK Government did want Megrahi returned why not say so. That requires explanations from both London and Edinburgh particularly about consideration of the victims views and feelings.

If an assurance was given to the US families that the sentence would be served fully in Scotland then the UK Government needs to explain why they were so keen on the Return of Prisoners Agreement.

As this was so vigorously opposed by Scottish Ministers why did they feel releasing him on compassionate grounds would not caused the same degree of hurt. At the very least a lot more could and should have been done to explain this sensitively to the Americans.

UK victims take a very different view although this appears to be coloured by a belief that Megrahi was not guilty of the offence making it emotionally easier to contemplate his release on compassionate grounds.

Kenny MacAskill, however, emphasised Megrahi's guilt, pointing out that he had been convicted and lost an appeal. Is there any concern that a further appeal had it not been abandoned might have proved embarrassing for the Scottish legal system as well as unearthing some of the shadier sides of international diplomacy.

It seems the British, Scottish and US Governments all want closure on the Lockerbie case. The families of the British victims and at least some of the American victims are aware of too many unanswered questions with very large implications surrounding them. They deserve better but I fear they won't get it.

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Referendum an untimely distraction

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Discomfort over Megrahi may explain why the Scottish Government were so anxious to put an independence referendum at the top of their legislative agenda as a distraction - and distraction is precisely what it is.

I defer to nobody in my commitment to Scotland. I am proud of my Scots ancestry which goes back on both sides of my family into the mists of history (although I am also intrigued by some of my Dutch connections).

Scotland struggled to secure its identity in the Middle Ages but in the end emerged as a nation. Its identity has, in my opinion, far from being lost in the Union has been immeasurably enhanced.

Scots led the industrial revolution and the enlightenment and helped build the New World. Visiting relatives in Canada this summer I was reminded that it was Scots engineers that built the Trans Canadian railway, which explains why the Banffshire born President of Canadian Pacific named the famous resort of Banff and the Last Spike linking east and west was driven at Craigellachie, British Columbia.

I took an active role in securing the Scottish Parliament and believe we can take more control over our domestic affairs. But I equally strongly believe that being part of the United Kingdom is of mutual benefit.

However, having stated my long held position I cannot think of a more inappropriate time to turn in on ourselves to debate independence that neither has majority support nor is high on the list of most people in Scotland.

We are in the midst of the deepest recession since the 1930s. Two of Scotland's banks are majority owned by the British Government. We have a sharply rising national debt that Scotland shares.

So why not give the Scottish people the chance to decide, you may ask? My answer is that it will cause convulsions that undermine economic recovery, damage investment and is fundamentally divisive.

The campaigns of Canada's Quebec nationalists set back Quebec and Canada for years.

Scotland is a cornerstone of the United Kingdom. While not everyone in England accepts this I firmly believe that a threat to the continuance of the Union is a threat to everyone in the UK. It would be viewed with incredulity by the international community that at a time of deep recession we turned in on ourselves and tore our community apart. It is a distraction we don't need.

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Sweet thoughts in recess

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People could be forgiven for thinking that with Parliament in recess, MPs take 12 weeks off.

The fact is that MPs work does not only centre round Parliament. There is a constant round of constituency engagements and other activities related to our Parliamentary work that we undertake.

It is a refreshing change not to be commuting every week to London. Nevertheless I have had reason to be in London to meet with a Minister and for other meetings.

I have also started a fellowship with the Parliament and Industry Trust which helps bring MPs and companies together. I am spending time with Cadbury which is going through an interesting time since its de-merger from Schweppes.

Cadbury derives from a Liberal Quaker tradition that was a characteristic of all our chocolate makers (it was seen as an alternative to alcohol). These values still characterise the company. It has launched Dairy Milk as a Fair Trade brand and promoted a Cocoa Partnership to help cocoa farmers in Ghana improve them prosperity and incomes while improving quality and security of supply.

This is, of course, of interest to me as Chair of the International Development Select Committee.

I have a post graduate degree in Marketing so it is interesting to get up to speed with current consumer marketing and, I cannot deny, I like chocolate!

ENDS