Meeting of Association of Scottish Community Councils

On Saturday, I struggled through the snow with many others to attend this meeting in Glasgow City Chambers. There are over 80 community councils in Glasgow and around 60 were represented.
The highlight was a question and answer session with our Members of the Scottish Parliament. The first question was about the recent defeat of the Minimum Prices of Alcohol Bill. Was this party politics that at work? The Labour MSP immediately launched into party politics and was quite rightly heckled and told to sit down. Some MSPs denied it, but the feeling in the audience was that party politics was to blame. Other questions ranged from Bus Regulation, Factors, Audit Scotland and The Common Good Fund. I had sent in a question in advance. “Glasgow has many health and anti-social behaviour problems caused by alcohol abuse. Is it not about time our Licensing Board stopped granting new liquor licenses?”
Unfortunately the chairman called time before I got the chance to ask it. I don’t mind saying I was disappointed. The meeting began late and the chairman allowed some panel members to go on a bit. I feel that my question was important; and once again I have been fobbed off by those in authority.

Margo MacDonald's Right to Die Bill

Dear MSP

I hope that you will support Margo MacDonad's Bill when it is debated. I believe that adequate safeguards have been built in to ensure that people do not feel pressurised to end their lives. It seems that some pressure groups have exaggerated these concerns.

Surely, at the end of our lives, if we feel that things are no longer tolerable; we should be able to choose to die with some dignity.

Yours sincerely

Kelvinside Community Council

The next meeting of Kelvinside Community Council is 7pm on Monday 13th December. This is our Christmas meeting so bring a bottle or something festive to eat.

The community council gives you the chance to question your Local Councillors and find out what is happening in the community. The Police give a report on local crime.

the lunatics are running the asylum

Our council has just finished a consultation on alcohol. It is also carrying out a consultation on our parks, in spite of having done one about 5 years ago. Would you believe they are also carrying out a consultation about whether they should be doing consultations? If the councillors just listened to their constituents and did what they were asked they wouldn’t need these expensive consultations.

Crime levels in Scotland

Statistics show that over two thirds of violent crimes committed in Scotland, were carried out by people who had been drinking. And the problem is getting worse.
Our police in Glasgow are very stretched, dealing with the drink related anti-social behaviour at weekends. If you have ever tried to call them on a Saturday night, you will know what I mean. What will happen when the number of police is reduced as will inevitably happen?
The answer is to stop granting new liquor licenses and reduce the number of late night licenses.

response to consultation on overprovision of alcohol

Dear Sirs

I welcome the recognition by the Board that there is a growing problem in the West End, caused by the increased number of licensed restaurants and bars

The result has been that levels of antisocial behaviour are approaching that of the City centre. In fact they are the fourth highest in Glasgow. At night now, the area is full of people who have abused alcohol and behave intolerably. This is a residential area, with many families, and I know people who have been forced to move away.

The probems are spilling over into Hyndland Road. Until recently there were only two pubs there; now there are two licensed restaurants and another one about to open. These are efectively pubs with some food; one has recently been granted a late license.

Glasgow has an appalling record on health, we have higher levels of death from alcohol abuse than any other city in the UK. The levels of obesity have inceased greatly; largely due to overeating and overdrinking.

I hope the Board will begin pay more attention to the concerns of the residents and less to the comercial interests of landlords.

Yours sincerely

Alcohol consultation in Glagow

Why is life expectancy so low in Glasgow?

A lot of the blame must go to our Labour Dominated Council; they seem to show little interest in health issues.

Take the example of alcohol. In the past ten years they have allowed an increased number of pubs in some areas. This has led to more alcohol abuse and violence. Glasgow has the highest incidence of alcohol related death in the UK, by far.
Now it seems they want our views on the overprovision of licensed premises in the Byres Road area. If you have any opinions, please contact the licensing Board, before 29th October 2010 . Their email address is LicensingBoard@glasgow.gov.uk or City of Glasgow Licensing Board, 235 George St., Glasgow G1 1QZ

The Byres Road effect

Do you want Hyndland Rd. to become like Byres Rd.?



Ten years ago Byres Road was a pleasant street to live near. Now, at nights it is overflowing with drunk people, taxis and noise. People nearby get woken up at all hours and many have moved away.

The Council wants to the former off licence on 159 Hyndland Rd. to become “a bistro”, serving drinks seven nights a week till 11pm. Nicks, across the road began life as a hairdresser; it got a licence and has now become a pub with restaurant attached. People on Hyndland Road are finding the noise wakens them at night and some have already decided to sell their flat.
Another licensed premises will change the nature of the street and the rot will have started. This is your last chance to protect your quality of life.

You can object to this change by:

Putting your concerns in writing and sending them, by email, letter or fax, by 12th November to: The Licensing Board, 235 George Street, Glasgow. Fax No. 0141 287 5569.
Email: LicensingBoard@glasgow.gov.uk

Also contact your local councillor

spend spend spend

The governor of the Bank of England is urging us to spend more to help the economy. At the same time he is rigidly sticking to his outdated Keynesian doctrine. He doesn’t seem to appreciate that the world has changed since the 1920’s. There are many more older and retired people now; and they rely on income from savings and investments. With interest rates at such low rates for so long, their incomes have been decimated. Just how does he expect them to spend money they don’t earn? Go into debt?

Economics of the madhouse

Ian Gray, the Leader of Scottish Labour has little understanding of economics; it appears that he has never worked in business. How else could he seriously propose increasing the hourly rate of pay for lower paid employees in the public sector? He obviously doesn’t appreciate the financial mess we are in. The Government is currently spending about £140 billion more per annum than it receives in taxation; much of that goes in wages and salaries. Employees in the public sector already earn more than those in the private sector, and that is before you consider their superior pensions and conditions.

air pollution in Glasgow

I read that Edinburgh City Council is taking positive steps to tackling air pollution. Large polluting cars will have to pay more for a parking permit; low emission vehicles will pay less.

Once again the inertia of Glasgow City Council in tackling this issue has been shown up. Glasgow’s air pollution is about the worst in the UK and little has been done to reduce it. Having a few Greens on the council has made no impact.

When you consider that our record on heart and lung disease is so bad, it is possible that air pollution is contributing to our poor life expectancy.

Flooding in Pakistan

The flooding in Pakistan, the worst in about a century, ought to remind us of the damage we continue to inflict upon the environment. If you are not convinced, consider what is occurring in Russia. They are suffering the worst drought and heat wave since records began.

Meanwhile, governments continue to fret about the economy and bankers’ bonuses; virtually ignoring the problem of climate change.

Elected police chiefs

Once again we see the police escaping punishment after committing a serious crime. This time it was for causing the death of an innocent man, minding his own business, Ian Tomlinson; previously it was for the killing of Jean Charles De Menezez.

This culture of impunity and lack of accountability is not acceptable in a civilized society. We are heading down the slippery slope towards a police state; similar to what exists in many other countries around the world. Having elected police Chief Constables would at least go some way to creating democratic supervision.

I was at a lunch recently. At my table were mainly women; a varied selection from the cradle to the grave. Like wine, they seem to improve with age. Sitting opposite me was a seventy five year old who works as a painter. She was quite proud of the fact that in the previous year she had gone for cosmetic surgery. Surprisingly it was a “boob job”. She had decided to size down from a “forty four double d”.

The emergency budget

After many hints about how tough on spending this budget would be, it can only be described as a damp squib. Raising VAT to 20% is hardly the precursor to “an enterprise led recovery” acclaimed by the Chancellor. Still, we may be grateful that he slightly watered down the threatened rises in capital gains tax.

You can hardly say that the budget grasps the nettle when it comes to cutting our out of control public spending. So it is hard to see where the reduction in the deficit will come from. By protecting the NHS from cuts he has hamstrung himself; in my experience there are so many inefficiencies in the health service, I could write a book about it. He also announced there will be no reductions in capital spending; that is a luxury no private sector organisations can afford. Below is his list of cuts:
• A two year pay freeze in the public sector (except for those earning £21,000 or less)
• 25% cuts in budgets of departments other than Welfare, Defence and Education
• Child Tax Credits withdrawn from families earning over £40,000

a special relationship?

What are the characteristics of a good relationship?
A good friend would not try to make capital out of somebody’s mistake; a friend in need is a friend indeed. He would not try to pin the blame on you for something that was not entirely your fault. A good friend also takes into account sacrifices that you have made for him in the past.
A lasting relationship must also be one of equal respect; a friend will say when he feels you have gone too far. One party in a successful relationship should not appear to be ingratiating and not let the other feel he has the upper hand.

Monetary policy

The Bank of England seems flavour of the month with the government; I don’t share their confidence. Their policy of keeping interest rates low has hardly been a great success. Growth is anaemic and inflation has predictably increased. Furthermore, they have decimated the income of a large number of savers, often the elderly. These are people who would otherwise have spent money on retail and services. The Bank’s policy has rewarded the profligate; the very people whose penchant for borrowing got us into this mess. The Governor of the Bank is not taking a salary increase this year, big deal; he earns the sort of salary that allows him to make such gestures. What about savers whose incomes have fallen about 50% this year.
Is it not about time that the government reversed their predecessor’s mistake of giving the Bank of England independence on setting interest rates?

Blood is thicker than water

I recently met an old friend who worked in a family business. His father built it up and is still involved in it. Due to constant family feuds, the son has left the business and isn’t working. Although there are some very successful family enterprises, they are not for the faint hearted. There is an old saying, “clogs to clogs in three generations”.

Some families seem to manage to respect each other and be mutually supportive. At a funeral I attended recently, one of the sons publicly thanked his brother for all the support he had been to the family during a difficult time.

cyclists are second class citizens

About a year ago I wrote to one of my local councillors to complain that inconsiderate motorists were blocking the cycle path near me. I was assured that plans were afoot to upgrade cycle routes in the west end; and that my issue would be addressed then. “At last “I thought “action is going to be taken”. As I heard nothing further, I wrote to the council roads department about a couple of months ago. The matter was in hand I was assured; they were going to paint double yellow lines at the spot. Finally, about a fortnight ago, some traffic cones were deposited on the place I have been writing about. The cones are still there, although some have now disappeared. It all seems a bit haphazard. When I was a local councillor I used to chase things up.

BP oil disaster

Our insatiable appetite for oil is the real cause of this environmental disaster. If you look around Glasgow and see all the four by fours, drinking petrol; you can appreciate why BP is taking so many risks in its search for oil.
If there has been one benefit from the volcanic ash cloud, it has been the reduction in flying it has caused. They say every cloud has a silver lining

Your other national drink

This morning I attended the annual general meeting of a well known drinks manufacturer. Profits are up; the dividend has been raised again, so all in all they have had a good year. AGMs are often fairly routine affairs, unless you happen to be a bank, where they have recently been quite lively. I usually like to have a question up my sleeve, just to keep the directors on their toes. This time I asked about the directors’ long term incentive plan. Most public companies are very generous to their board, often paying them eye watering salaries and bonuses. In small act of rebellion, I also voted against the director’s remuneration policy.
At the end of the meeting the chairman asked me if I was happy with the response I got, which I assured him I was. I was also offered a sample of one or two of the products, an offer I took up, because my mum loves their mango juice. It comes all the way from India.

A prickly subject

During the great depression, my grandpa began growing his own vegetables. By the time I came along he had a veritable market garden; the family was self-sufficient in vegetables.
As we are in lean times again, I thought I would follow in his footsteps. So I have planted cabbage, various herbs and have wild strawberries growing.
A book I was reading mentioned cooking with nettles; something I have plenty of in my garden / jungle. I cut them and washed them, then boiled them for five minutes. After this I added salt, pepper, a bay leaf and garlic. Then I added some kale and fried them for five minutes. I had them for dinner last night as an accompaniment to a curry. No, they don’t sting when eaten and I am still alive and well twenty hours later.

The demon drink

I am rather alarmed at the strong hold the alcohol industry has on our politicians; it is the one subject I have really drawn a blank on with them. I wrote to my Labour, SNP and Liberal Democrat councillors, asking for support for my objection to a late night license near my home. I only got one reply, from the SNP man, and he wasn’t prepared to support it.
I wonder why they are so relaxed about granting more and more licenses. Alcohol abuse causes more misery, illness (mental and physical) and violence than any drug. The police, politicians and medical profession foam at the mouth about the dangers of drinking; yet when it comes to action, they all slink into a corner with their tails between their legs.

Prudential Action Group

The concept of being prudent has taking a hammering recently. Our previous prime minister famously talked about his prudent budgets; and we know where that ended up. I feel that Prudential could be biting off more than it can chew in pursuing such a large takeover. The world economy is lurching from crunch to crisis, is this the right time? Consider what happened to Lloyds Bank when it took over HBOS.
America has been the graveyard of many fine British companies. Our leaders mistakenly believe that because we speak a similar language we have a shared culture. But their ethics are not ours, and even our accounting procedures are different. As it stands, Prudential is weathering the storm well: profits are rising; it is geographically well diversified. Such a huge transaction could pose considerable risks. Thousands of people rely on the company for their pensions, and want a conservatively run business.


http://www.prudentialactiongroup.com/ Tel 0207 788 7589

Brave New World

What is the meaning of life? In Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy the answer was worked out to be 42. Well they were wrong; it is 43. Think about it. David Cameron and Nick Clegg are both 43. The new Leader of Glasgow City Council is also, you guessed it, 43. I hope they are mature enough to take the decisions that go with the jobs. Personally, I think you should have a few grey hairs before rising to the top. In business I have seen so many young testosterone filled men wrecking large organisations.

Nick Clegg is promising to shake up the country, on par with the Great Reform Act.
This is heady stuff; I hope they don’t forget that they need to listen to the people. Look at the example of one of their predecessors; hundreds of thousands of us marched against the war in Iraq, but he didn't listen. These days, leaders surround themselves with fresh faced advisors and seem only to take their advice.

I would also like to listen to my readers, so if you have any comments, please let me know. It would help stimulate my grey matter, and I don't mean my hair.

People can be thoughtless

Last night I was wrenched from my slumber at around four a.m. by what sounded like a riot in our hall. It was only the neighbours coming back from clubbing. It’s a common occurrence; so much so, that I considered renting another flat. Unfortunately for me, someone else has offered a more money.

It has been a week of being thwarted. I was at a party, and got talking to an attractive lady; then some pushy guy barged in and took my place.It's not the first time I have lost out to a predatory male. It seems that ladies like assertive men.

Cutting the deficit

The Dave and Nick partnership has had a good start; but it sounds as if they are about to make their first mistake.
Raising Capital Gains Tax will not hit the wealthy, but it will punish small investors, who have had a pretty torrid time. Savers, often the elderly, have been the real victims of the banking crisis. Interest rates have been at half a percent for about two years; inflation is at around four per cent, so their capital is eroding. The only way to make any income is to invest in shares, in the hope of making a capital gain. Now the government is signalling that capital gains tax is going to be raised to 40%. They may also drastically cut the annual tax free allowance.
The coalition should focus on cutting public expenditure, not raising taxes. Over the past thirteen years the public sector has had a bonanza. Civil servants have had big salary increases and the number of employees has risen dramatically. In spite of all this extra money, productivity has decreased; billions are wasted on quangos and bureaucracy.

Gender balance

Why should people be given jobs on the basis of sex? Some women have already been complaining that there are not enough wimen in the cabinet. If you read my book, Halls of Infamy, you might appreciate what I mean. On several occasions during my political career I failed to get selected for seats because the party believed in “positive discrimination”. As often as not, the successful female turned out to be a rather lacklustre performer. That is almost inevitable when you don’t promote on merit alone.

Out goes the old guard

Gordon Brown’s final attempt to save New Labour failed. His resignation, welcome as it was, didn’t alter the fact that Britain had rejected his party. I hope the new government will dismantle the authoritarian regime Comrades Blair and Brown tried to foist on us. That included Identity Cards, extraordinary rendition and a whole host of legislation they tried to justify in their so called “war on terror”. Our country also has a one sided extradition treaty with the United States, which typified the unhealthy relationship between the two governments.

That relationship spilled over into our business connections. A British habit of accepting all things American, not asking enough questions, and lack of common sense, brought our economy to its knees.

Public Service Ethos

The problem about living in a one party state is the complacency it breeds. The attitude of our politicians is passed down to public ‘servants’. If you have ever tried to complain to the National Health Service, you will know what I mean. You have to have great perseverance and patience if you want a reply.

I have found another body that don’t seem to like replying to members of the public. The Care Commission of Scotland.

We have been having problems with my mother’s care home management, so I decided to contact The Care Commission. I sent an email to the lady responsible, no reply. A few days later I sent on to the Commission itself, no reply.
I waited, and then used the Care Commission Complaints Service, no response from them either.

Health and Safety gone mad

I pity patients at the NHS. The overpaid managers have decreed that visiting hours are to be cut, because they have not been doing their jobs and keeping wards clean. All these muddy boots visitors wear. Anyone who has been in hospital knows how important visitors are; they relieve the monotony and keep the staff on their toes. In my mother’s case, if family members hadn’t questioned the doctors and nurses, she might not have recovered.
A few years ago they forbade visitors to bring in flowers; it was claimed they spread infections. Now it is visitors who are being blamed. The suspicion is that managers are just looking for an easy life.

Proportional Representation

Here’s hoping the Conservatives agree to some form of Proportional Representation; it would be good for them too.

Otherwise they are ensuring that we in Scotland are going to be governed by Labour MPs for ever. It doesn’t matter what they do (or don’t), the Scots have blind loyalty. It means that Labour MPs could disregard their constituents in the knowledge that they will get re-elected.

I for one, don’t think I will be able to summon up the interest to vote again in a first past the post election. Why bother? Labour always gets in.

Mr Brown moves to the country

Comrade Supreme Leader Brown seems strangely attached to his flat in London, in spite of all the decoration done to his home in Scotland. But who could blame him? The peace and tranquility of Fife is no match for the limousines, private jets and weekends at Chequers.

He must be perplexed that his beloved financial markets are imploding as he sits it out. Billions of pounds have been wiped off pension schemes since the election finished; and the rout could accelerate on Monday, if he doesn’t call the removers. Black Monday will pale into insignificance compared to Brown Monday.

But why change the habits of a lifetime? He has already presided over the worst financial crisis since 1930, might as well finish the job.

Glasgow North Election Result

Labour 13,181 (44.5%)
Liberal Democrat 9,283 (31.3%)
SNP 3,530 (11.9%)
Conservative 2,089 (7.1%)
Green 947 (3.2%)
BNP 296 (1%)
TU&SC 287 (1%)



POOR OLD GLASGOW

Tactical voting

It is not good for democracy to let one party stay in power for more than about ten years. They begin to get complacent and stop listening to the people. It is a salutary lesson to spend some time in opposition; it reminds you not to take your constituents for granted. I believe that competition is a good thing; I never give all my business to one supplier. If you want to keep people of their toes, you have to occasionally remind them that there is someone else who can do what they do.
I also believe in rewarding effort; at election time I think, “Which candidate has tried hardest to get my vote?”
One of the reasons why our city has such a poor health record, why our life expectancy is so short, is the people who lead us. Our politicians don’t appear that interested in health or the environment, they seem more interested in enjoying the fruits of office.

Big brother is watching you

In the 12 years that we have been privileged to be ruled by New Labour, we have become one of the most spied upon people on earth. A seemingly innocent trip to the bank makes one feel like a criminal. To open or close an account requires you to bring your passport and one other piece of identity. On top of that you have to write your life story on a form. Our phone calls, emails and faxes are now routinely monitored; details are stored on huge databases for years.

The ever decreasing proportion of us who work in the private sector, are swamped with more and more regulation. Health and safety has tied us in knots. All this data collection has had serious consequences; police officers have to spend so much time doing it, that they are kept off patrolling.

In our public services, in spite of record investment, the buck seems stop nowhere. If you have a problem, trying to complain wears you down. Customer service is not a concept they understand. And now the Royal Bank of Scotland has joined the civil service, will it go the same way?

The campaign in Glasgow North

Finally, after much deliberation I’ve decided how I’m going to vote. In my constituency the most likely candidate to beat Labour is the Liberal Democrat candidate. Having decided that, I thought I would do my bit for democracy and help her deliver leaflets this weekend. Whilst my friends have been away hill walking I have been scaling the tenements of the West End of Glasgow.
It is a well organised campaign; we were all give bundles of letters to deliver, complete with a map of our specific area. The only blunderer was me; I posted my map with a letter through someone’s letter box.

If they are to win, the LibDems need as many people as possible to make the effort and vote for them. Labour is quite entrenched; some people vote for them out of force of habit. When I was a candidate in West Dunbartonshire a few years ago, a man told me “Son, you’re wasting your time, my grandpa voted Labour, my dad voted Labour and I vote Labour”

The unaccepable face of capitalism

I’ve just about exhausted what I can say about politicians; anyway, at least we get a chance to get rid of them on Thursday.

Compared to the ladies and gentlemen who run our public companies, they are amateurs when it comes to spending other people’s money. Many of the executive directors of our top listed businesses pay themselves well over a million pounds per annum. On top of this there is a system of expenses, share options and bonuses that would make your jaw drop. We private shareholders fume at them, but are totally impotent. Each year when we get to vote on their remuneration our votes are irrelevant. The fund managers who manage our pensions and unit trusts own the vast majority of the shares; and they mainly turn a blind eye to what is going on. Probably that is because they are all earning similar excessive salaries and don’t want to rock he boat.
The directors all argue that you need to pay these massive salaries to attract the best talent. Yes, and we all know how talented were the gentlemen running the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS. They made a remarkably good job of running these companies, and displayed breathtaking levels of skill and financial acumen.

Greek trajedy

I have now read most of the election leaflets put through my door. One of the most common themes is protecting public services. Also mentioned much are bankers, nuclear weapons, poverty, renewable energy and immigration.

There was almost no mention of Government Debt. For those of us involved in financial markets; this has been a worrying week. Greek Government Debt has been classed as Junk Bond status. This makes it very difficult and expensive to raise money, so they are reliant on the IMF. The country faces savage public spending cuts and big tax rises.
This could be the shadow of things to come in Britain if we don’t tackle our Government debt mountain fairly quickly.
Comrade Supreme Leader Brown says it would be irresponsible to cut spending till 2011. Somehow these pin stripe suited people who buy our government bonds are unlikely to be impressed by that. In contrast to the clunking fist, the young whippersnappers, Clegg and Cameron, talked about pay restraint, axing Identity Cards and scrapping the Euro fighter. It may not be enough, but at least it is a start.

postal voting

My mum received her postal voting form today. Coincidentally a letter also arrived from her Labour MP. His sources of information advised him that she had a postal vote. He took the chance to remind her what a wonderful job his party has done managing the economy. He also explained how to fill in her ballot paper, and how to put a cross next to his name.

What he forgot to mention was that he didn’t actually reply to the letter she sent him about a year ago.

CND hustings in Hillhead Library

I must be a glutton for punishment, going to two hustings in a week; this one was organised by CND. Four candidates attended; I still haven’t seen the Conservative or BNP candidates. It was much the same format; each candidate gave a short opening speech. The Liberal Democrat position is that they are not in favour of replacing Trident, but in favour of some nuclear deterrence. The SNP are against Trident and would get rid of nuclear weapons immediately. The Trade Union and Socialist Party would scrap Trident and all nuclear weapons too. Likewise the Greens.

The prize for the most unusual speech goes to the Green candidate who went out of his way to praise the absent Labour candidate. Apparently she put a message on some website stating her opposition to Trident. A member of the audience pointed out that she votes according to her party line, which is in favour of Trident, so that was confusing.

Yours truly plucked up the courage to ask a question. “In the last few years we have seen small defenceless countries being bullied and invaded by nuclear powers, so don’t you think we need some deterrence?”

The SNP man replied that deterrence was a thing of the past. The Green man likened it to giving guns to the elderly to defend themselves against knife carrying yobs.

On the whole I think the jury is still out. I feel we should gradually work towards disarmament while maintaining some deterrence. We ought not to go about invading other countries and starting expensive and unwinnable wars.

Quality of Life

The only interesting article I read in the newspapers yesterday was about noisy neighbours. It seems that many people, myself included, get woken up regularly by things that go bump in the night. Apparently door slamming and heavy clumping footsteps are two of the major offenders. People running down the stairs can sound like a herd of elephants.

The article mentioned loud music and pets as other major sources of noise. It seems that people can be quite inconsiderate. Another source of noise pollution increasingly mentioned is from people leaving pubs and clubs.

Our city council has allowed an increased number of pubs in residential areas, and now, they have a policy of granting later licenses. They appear to think it is unreasonable of us to want a good night’s sleep.

Report on hustings in Glasgow North on 25.4.10

One of our churches held a hustings for the local candidates. It was a full house; who says religion and politics don’t mix? Of course, being the west end it was very civilised and everyone was polite. Each candidate spoke for two minutes then it was the turn of the audience to ask questions. Predictably someone asked about the greedy bankers. All the candidates seem agreed that they are going to tax them more. It is going to be like getting blood from a stone, as banks are making eye watering losses. Further taxes will ensure shareholders, including the taxpayer, will have no chance of a dividend.

There was a question about treatment of asylum seekers. The best answer to that came from the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidate. She pointed out that many of the asylum seekers have fled their homes as a result of our Government’s foreign policy. For example the invasion of Iraq.

The final questioner asked the panel what they thought about more devolved powers for the Scottish Parliament. Again they all seemed agreed that Scotland should have tax raising powers. Don’t we all pay enough tax already?

The candidates summed up. Our sitting Labour MP mentioned the government’s record of eradicating pensioner poverty. Pensioners have much to be grateful for: exceptionally low interest rates on their hard earned savings; collapse in the value of shares they own in banks; rising inflation further eroding their standard of living.

It's the economy

Comrade Supreme Leader Brown has put his handling of the economy centre stage; he portrays himself as a “safe pair of hands”.

This week the office of national statistics released our paltry growth figures. The UK economy grew at an anaemic 0.2 % in the quarter to 31st March. That is 50% decrease in the low growth of 0.4% to the end of December. So it appears that the economy is heading back into recession.

UK National Debt stands at a staggering £890 billion. This year our Government overspent by £163.4 billion, almost double last year. As a proportion of national output, our public borrowing is even higher than that of Greece.

To add to this worrying picture, inflation is beginning to rear its ugly head. The Retail Prices Index rose to 4.4%.

It doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence over the handling of the economy. The same old solutions don’t seem to be working. I think we need someone with some new ideas about how to tackle this problem.

Hustings meeting in Glasgow North

There is a hustings meeting tonight, Sunday 25th April at 7pm in Hillhead Baptist Church, Cresswell St.

A caring society?

One of the areas discussed briefly on the leader’s debates, was how we treat the elderly. It’s something close to my heart as one of my parents is in care, and the other is being looked after at home.
The impact on my family has been huge. We have had to devote much of our time and energy to looking after them. What assistance do we get from the Government? Almost nothing; nobody from social services asks us if we would like a break, or offers any assistance.
My parents worked hard and saved hard. If they had blown their money on drinking, fast cars or holidays, the state would pay for their care. This Government has rewarded those who make no effort to save and penalised those who prepare for the future.
Interest rates have been kept low, hammering pensioners and savers. It is the profligate that are rewarded. One of Comrade Brown’s first actions as Chancellor was to withdraw tax relief from pension companies. In return for all this, what do pensioners get? A free television license!
If the issues I have raised have rung any bells, please pass on this blog’s details to someone else.

Election Fever

I received a red coloured glossy election flier from my local Labour MP. She is apparently a hard working campaigner, campaigning against all sorts of things, whatever that means. Included in her campaigns have been bank charges, post offices and jobs (her own perhaps).
It reminded me that I have written to her twice this year concerning things I felt strongly about. On both occasions I only received a standard email response “Your email communication is acknowledged and the information has been noted”.
Perhaps I have high expectations, but that wasn’t really the response I wanted. What I hoped was that she would support the objection I have written to the Licensing Board. Until recently, my area has had relatively few pubs, but something odd happened a while ago. A hairdressing salon asked for a license; apparently their customers needed a gin and tonic to calm their nerves. Of course the councillors granted it; albeit with a bit of mirth. And what do you know, the hairdressers has morphed into a bar. Now they want to increase licensing hours till midnight. This is what happened in Byres Road a few years ago, now the residents in the area have to put up with sleepless nights due to disorderly behaviour. Some have been forced to move away.

What's wrong with a hung parliament?

Many in Government and the City are trying to scare us about the consequences of a Hung Parliament. Should we be worried?
Well, actually we have had one in Scotland since 2007. It has forced the ruling party to seek consensus, and so far, prevented them from unleashing an Independence Referendum on us. Many of the disasters of the last ten years have been because of large majorities:

For example, it would have been hard for the Government to have invaded Iraq if they had a wafer thin majority.
The Labour group in Glasgow City Council was able to set up all these private companies and hand out jobs to elected members, because the opposition could be ignored.

Forcing governments to negotiate and compromise can mean less laws, but better ones.

Some common misconceptions about politicians

There are some misconceptions that regularly get bandied about regarding politicians. I often hear “Why bother voting, they are all the same”.
Would it be correct to say that Michael Foot was the same as Tony Blair? If you have ever tried to contact your local politicians, you might notice that some are quite diligent and others try to fob you off. In general, the ones with small majorities are keener than the ones who expect to get back in at each election.

It is also widely believed that all politicians are dishonest. My stint in that profession taught me that there are quite a few who don’t fiddle their expenses.
People, understandably feel that their one vote doesn’t really matter. Well, I beg to differ. When I got elected, my majority was 43 votes.

Remember the environment

In the rush to save the banks, the Government seems to have forgotten that we need to save the planet. Fortunately some of us still feel that protecting the environment is nearly as important as protecting our wallet.
I was interested to attend a hustings meeting where people had the chance to question candidates. All the main parties were involved. It was interesting to see that Labour has selected the previous MP’s son to represent them. Keep it in the family, I say.
He explained his party’s pledges to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions by 30%. Having targets is very eye catching, but has a poor record, and is no sustitute for taking concrete actions. In Kyoto in 1997, the developed nations agreed to a 5% emissions cut by 2012. But by 2007 these emissions had risen by 11%.
In Great Britain it is calculated that around 24,000 people die prematurely from breathing polluted air. We have agreed targets to reduce this. Unfortunately we have not met our targets on Nitrogen Dioxide or Particulates. Not to worry, the American Journal of Epidemiology estimated that victims of air pollution only die 9.8 years early.

Today I was lucky enough to read his exciting election manifesto; the headline, “Fair for All” is full of originality. Perhaps it might have been called “Don’t mention the Deficit”. It is crammed full of wonderful new recycled policies; I was especially impressed by his cunning plan to improve failing hospitals. As we know, hospitals are allowed to be the judge of their own performance, this is quite correct; it would be unfair if an external body was to monitor them. The Supreme Leader’s plan is: if the hospital judges itself not to be successful; it will be taken over by a more successful one. This is similar to Turkeys voting for Christmas, and cannot fail to work.
It was also reassuring to see his pledge that referrals to consultants would take no more than 18 weeks (approximately 4 months). If I were to be ill, I will be very patient and happily wait that length of time; after all, we have been doing so for a number of years.

Identity Cards

He also kept a very tight rein on his Government’s expenditure, diligently avoiding any unnecessary debt. The many billions he poured into the health service for example, have created a very valuable army of managers, who have been worth their weight in gold. It is very satisfying to hear of so many managers earning over £150,000 per annum.
It is astonishing to hear the global financial markets comparing us with spendthrift governments like Greece and Iceland.

His rivals at this election are unable to take the tough decisions he has done. They are suggesting that he cancels his plan for a National Identity Card. Comrade Supreme Leader feels it is well worth borrowing another £10 billion or so, to be able to eavesdrop on his citizens. It is quite wrong to suggest that civil servants could lose peoples’ private details, that has never happened. As a precaution he believes that our private details such as medical records, tax records, political activities and credit histories should be kept in a central database. At present they are kept in all sorts of separate files and that makes it difficult for fraudsters and private companies to access them.

Humble origins

Our dearly departed Leader was the pin up boy for New Labour; fêted by the party as a future First Minister. One of his last engagements was a meeting with Comrade Supreme Leader Brown. We will never know what passed between them, but shortly after, he announced his resignation.
Our comrade Supreme Leader Brown is, as we all know, of very humble origins. Brought up in a miner’s cottage, the family of six slept in one bedroom. As they had no running water, they took turns to bathe in a nearby river. There is a Tory smear which says he injured his eye in a rugby match; we all know he would never have played such a decadent upper class game. Actually his injury was sustained saving the life of an injured miner after an accident in the pit. There are further scurrilous Tory accusations that he attended University and was parachuted into a safe Labour seat.

Of course, our comrade Supreme Leader has been financially astute. He very cleverly spotted the bottom of the gold market and sold the country’s gold reserves at that time. During my career in the financial markets I now recognise my wrong thinking. I have in some cases bought shares at low prices and sold them at a profit.
He also, very cleverly, set up a new system for monitoring the banking industry, and we owe him a huge debt for that. Due to his careful scrutiny, they did not get involved in any hanky panky. As Chancellor of the Exchequer, he abolished boom and bust, and in no sense was he responsible for the reckless lending of some banks. If two Scottish banks over extended themselves and lent money to all and sundry, can he be held accountable? That was the fault of the Americans, with whom we have a special relationship.

This is the type of person that the dearly departed Leader had rewarded with positions of responsibility throughout Glasgow. His largesse was also extended to key players in the opposition; he wasn’t stupid, he realised that it was in his interest to keep them on side. The leader of the Liberal Democrats, was created Chair of the body who monitors these quangos. The glorious ex-Leader has been repaid by the support of the Liberal Democrats in preventing an investigation into the whole affair. It appears that the leader of the official opposition, the SNP, was also sitting on one of the boards.

Glasgow has the title of the unhealthiest city in Britain; we can expect to live many years less than anyone else in the country. The Council tried to blame the ills on poverty and deprivation, but that has not stood up to scrutiny. The poor life expectancy travels through all social classes. If we are honest with ourselves we can perhaps see some of the problems. We drink too much, do too little exercise and are not really interested in the pollution we are causing. When I raised the issue of Glasgow’s poor air quality, other councillors fell about laughing.

We saw what happens when these colleagues are put in charge. There was a Labour councillor running the body in charge of public transport. I remember him well from my time in the Council. He came to speak at a conference in Dundee. Myself and my colleagues travelled by train; Dundee is well linked with public transport. He took his car, and I asked him if as a representative of the public transport industry, he ought to set an example and use it. Well, he told me he didn’t go in for gesture politics.
At any rate, it appears that his co-directors had a jolly good time, jetting off around the globe, staying in luxury hotels and even attending a football cup final These trips were presumably for the purpose of seing how other cities run their public transport systems, and to learn lessons from this.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. The one time golden boy of the Labour Party has crashed and burned. In his wake he has exposed a tangled web private businesses running council services.
In my previous book I touched on the regimented nature of the political groups of the Council. What I underestimated was the magnificent system of patronage designed by the dearly departed Leader. Towards the end of my time in office, there was a rush to privatise Council departments. Culture & Leisure and a rash of other departments were removed from Council control and arms length companies were created to run them.
I was slightly bewildered; here was a Labour politician taking public sector departments into private ownership; even Margaret Thatcher would have been proud of him. I found myself, a businessman, in the position of rebel against the so-called left wing Labour Party.
From the outside this could look like jobs for the boys (and girls). By giving his colleagues well paid positions on the boards of these companies, he could ensure loyalty.

Glasgow Herald

Jon Findlay, the new chairman of SPT, makes a poor attempt to explain the cuts in services for the subway. The company made an extra loss last year, a large proportion of which can be explained by the excess expenses of his predecessor.
Perhaps it is time that we had someone other than a Labour councillor running the show.

It is no surprise to see Strathcyde Passenger Transport (SPT) executives enjoying the gravy train
.
But hundreds of pounds on taxis is particularly galling: these people represent public transport so should use it.
When I was a politician, their Chairman spoke at one of our conferences. He came by car and I used the train. Some example.

No wonder the train fares are so expensive.

Dear Sirs

Jim Murphy is clutching at straws when he links New Labour with christian values.
His party's tenure has seen two wars, extraordinary renditions, expenses abuses and possibly bullying.
If God has a vote; I wouldn't think he will be voting Labour.

James MacDonald


James was born in Glasgow and educated at St. Andrews University, where he studied History and Economics. He then tried Accountancy, but was a square peg in a round hole. Following a period in his family business he set up on his own. He entered politics after growing unhappy with the Government, in the run up to the war in Iraq.
His interests include walking, cycling and the environment.