The SNP's Sick Social Experiment

What is it with Nicola Sturgeon and vulnerable people? First she transferred elderly people out of hospitals and into care homes without testing them for Covid, thereby infecting numerous care home residents with the virus, some fatally. Now it transpires that, under her watch, male offenders have been transferred into women's prisons. Some are still in women's prisons although not the double rapist who has caused the First Minister to admit that transwomen are not women in certain circumstances ...

Just over a week ago Calton was sure that the demise of Sturgeon would be at the hands of angry older women. Now it looks like it has all but been achieved by a man in a blonde wig.

One could give Sturgeon the benefit of the doubt over the care home Covid disaster, however it has now become clear that men in women's prisons was deliberate, planned policy. The Scottish Trans Alliance, one of the Scottish Government's pet charities which is bankrolled by the Scottish taxpayer, deliberately targeted prisons as a means of persuading other public bodies to follow its radical trans agenda. Their reasoning was that, if putting transwomen into women's prisons could be shown to work, the rest of their trans-inclusive policies could be rolled out into society. The SNP government fell for this argument hook, line and sinker, with the result that female offenders became guinea pigs in a sick social experiment which Calton does not doubt was approved by Nicola Sturgeon. (A policy was introduced by the SNP Government under Alex Salmond in 2014 of accommodating transgender prisoners according to their chosen gender. Nicola Sturgeon has continued it.)

The death of elderly residents in care homes was carelessness. The traumatising of vulnerable female prisoners is deliberate and the blame lies with the First Minister of the government which introduced the policy of housing men in women's jails and the First Minister who has continued her predecessor's policy. In Calton's opinion, Nicola Sturgeon should not only resign but be charged with dereliction of duty - the duty to care for the most vulnerable in society.

A View from the Terf

Calton attended the demonstration outside the Scottish Parliament organised by the Glasgow Cabbie a couple of days ago to protest against Nicola Sturgeon in general and her sordid sex education and the Gender Recognition Reform Bill in particular. It was very well attended, unlike the counter-protest, with a variety of protesters from different backgrounds there. Calton has invited one of them to do a guest post:

"I am a sixty-something Scotswoman. When I was wee, girls became nurses when they grew up and boys became doctors. By the time I left high school I had acceptances from three Scottish universities to study medicine. I decided to study maths and physics instead and was one of a growing number of young women to do so. In the 80s engineering was the last bastion of male-only studies at university. So I became a software engineer upon graduating, working for a large electronics company in Scotland. I had to put up with manspreading, mansplaining and pornographic pictures everywhere I looked. I was never paid as much as men doing the same job, which affects my pension today. It was a really sexist, misogynistic environment but it was nothing compared to the misogyny I see today coming from the Scottish Parliament, under a female First Minister, and I never felt unsafe in the ladies toilets!

In the last three decades of the 20th century women's rights were improving. There was still a gender pay gap and some way to go but we felt we were making progress. We had our first female Prime Minister, pornography gradually disappeared from the workplace and women were no longer told they could only do certain jobs. Now we are going backwards fast under a female First Minister who claims to be a "feminist to her fingertips" but doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word. Young boys are being taught at school that porn is fine - go ahead and have fun with it. Young girls are being admitted to hospital with serious anal injuries after experimenting with a type of sex promoted in school sex education which I hadn't even heard of at their age. A primary school teacher caught two kids trying to have sex in the gender neutral toilets after sex education. This isn't progress and it's damaging kids, girls in particular.

I never used to think of myself as a feminist but I do now - a TERF and proud of it. Nicola Sturgeon doesn't know what a man is but I do and they shouldn't be in women's prisons, women's refuges, women's toilets or any other space reserved for WOMEN. That's why I attended Glasgow Cabbie's demonstration - to say SHAME ON STURGEON and ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

WOMEN WON'T WHEESHT - for the sake of the children."

Something Rotten in the State of Scotland

There is something rotten at the heart of Scottish politics. Health Minister Jeane Freeman deliberately (in Calton's opinion) misled the Scottish parliament and people with regard to the number of delayed discharge (bed-blocking) patients discharged into care homes since the Covid-19 crisis began. She was forced to apologise and put the record straight after pressure from The Sun newspaper. However she still has the full confidence of the First Minister and, when Jackson Carlaw queried whether anyone else could have confidence in her, he was accused of playing politics in the midst of a crisis. Not something Nicola Sturgeon would ever do, no siree. She's totally focussed on dealing with the Coronavirus threat and if her daily appearances on the telly with not a hair out of place enhance the prospects of a future independent Scotland that is entirely by-the-by.

Accusing the Scottish Tories of being party political was obviously the message de jour from SNP HQ because John Swinney (suitably outraged) used it on Radio Scotland this morning to avoid answering the same question of whether the public could trust a word Jeane Freeman says and Sturgeon was back at it later in an attack on Ruth Davidson, who had dared to criticise the Dear Leader. Nicola is very good at telling us that she is above all these petty considerations and is just getting on with the job. Except that she isn't. Was there ever a Scottish Executive which executed less, and with more moolah from Westminster, than this pathetic excuse for a government? They are still in lockstep with Westminster, except that now they are three steps behind, and they've already had to row back on the stipulation that you only travel 5 miles to visit relatives (once you are allowed to) after a twitter backlash. Now it seems you can go further, provided your bladder has a good mpg.

If it wasn't so serious it would be funny. Scotland's tourist and hospitality industries are facing disaster, we are seeing around 50 excess deaths a week caused by lockdown, not Covid-19, and the First Minister is worried about whether or not you might need to visit the loo if you visit your parents. Maybe she should try treating us like grown-ups. Maybe she and her ministers should also try being honest and straight with the Scottish people they claim to serve. Then we might have confidence in what they say.

Let the Scottish Government be the Baddie

Although Calton now lives in Edinburgh he grew up on the west coast of Scotland and still has relatives in the Highlands, some of whom earn their livings through tourism. So he has a dog in the fight when it comes to Covid-19 and its effect on the Highlands and Islands. He understands the concern of those who live there when faced with an influx of sasunnachs wanting to escape the virus. Unfortunately the way that concern has been expressed runs the risk of doing long-term damage to the industry which many in the Highlands depend on. Hand-made posters saying "tourists go home" will not be forgotten once this pandemic is over and neither will flat motorhome tyres. Visitors were not buying up all the food in the shops - the locals were managing to do that for themselves quite nicely well before Easter and the traditional influx of tourists (which the shops are geared up to cater for). Fears that sick visitors would swamp local health services were legitimate but, here's the thing, this should have been addressed by the Scottish Government, that SNP Government voted in by a majority of the Highlands, and not left to individuals or communities to deal with themselves.

The Scottish Government closed the schools on Friday 20th March, the forecast for that weekend was superb and yet those in power didn't seem to realise that a considerable number of people might, quite literally, head for the hills (or at least the carpark at Nevis Range). It wasn't until Sunday 22nd that the Government announced a ban on non-essential travel, including travel to second homes, and even then, their Chief Medical Officer thought that the advice was optional. That left vulnerable rural communities across Scotland unprotected for two whole days. It's not surprising that some of them decided to take the law into their own hands but it was extremely unfortunate and unwise.

Now that the travel ban is in place and is being enforced by Police Scotland, Calton would like to see all the unwelcoming signs taken down. Let the Scottish Government and the Police be the baddies, not local people. That's the smarter way to handle this. Covid-19 is decimating the tourist industry right now but it won't last long. A bad reputation will last a lot longer and the effect on the Highlands will be much deeper.

HOW much?

Why are the Scottish Government spending taxpayers' money on a report which will only kick in if Scotland becomes independent? Talk about pre-empting the referendum result! Sounds to Calton more like a bribe to vote YES - if you are on minimum wage - and this from the selfsame government which refused to mandate the living wage for government contracts in the recent procurement bill. At the time they used the EU as their excuse, which is a bit rich from a party committed to an independent Scotland remaining in the EU.

The scourge of the working poor is one which Calton would like to see removed from our society but we need to be careful that hiking the minimum wage does not cost jobs. Trying to mitigate the hike by reducing employer's NI contributions will not always work, particularly for the likes of cleaning employers who typically employ people on part-time contracts where the hours are so low that they do not pay NI.

As for the rest of the report, the only positive measure is the proposed increase in carer's allowance - the rest is just a return to the bad old days of a bloated benefit system where many were better off on benefits than in work and, as usual, it is unclear how the Scottish Government would pay for it all. Calton is just thankful that it is unlikely to be implemented as, even with blatant bribes such as this, the Yes campaign are still failing to make any headway in the polls. They just don't get that canny Scots want to know how much something will cost before committing themselves! And, while we're on the subject, how much did the expert group on welfare's report cost us?

Sir Ian sees the wood from the trees

With youth unemployment running at nearly 20%, Calton welcomes any initiative to get our young people into work and the Wood Report, published today, seems to have some very positive ideas. It is good to see that the report recognises the importance of vocational training for the businesses which exist in a particular geographical area and recognises that academic studies are not the best way into work for all youngsters. It is now up to the Scottish Government to start implementing the ideas in the report. What concerns Calton is the fact that, if the SNP persist in their aim of bringing thousands more immigrant workers into Scotland, our young people will still be up against it when looking for a job. Businesses may want to employ Scottish youngsters but if their communication skills, plus their motivation, are not up to it, the jobs will go to immigrants who do have the skills employers are looking for. Put more simply, the unrestricted immigration from the EU in recent years has hidden the fact that some of our young people are unemployable and the Scottish Government seems to have been quite happy to allow a lost generation of unemployed to grow up under our noses as long as businesses were not complaining and the wheels of commerce kept turning. It's just not good enough. Parents need to take some responsibility for kids who can't get out of bed and do a decent day's work but if they can't read and write properly, there's something wrong with our education system. Businesses have told the Government what they need - it's now up to the Government to come up with the goods and simply increasing immigration to fill the jobs is not the right answer.

Another eagle lost

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. It seems like only yesterday that I was congratulating a young East Coast pair of Sea Eagles on their first fledgling. Now that young male is missing, presumed dead, in an area of Aberdeenshire fast becoming known as the Bermuda Triangle for eagles. Thanks to modern technology, his last known movements have been pinpointed to the North Glenbuchat Estate in Strathdon and police investigations there are ongoing. Coming so close on the heels of the mass poisoning of Red Kites and Buzzards in Ross-shire, this sad incident confirms 2014's designation as the Annus Horribilis for raptors in Scotland and we are not even one-third of the way through the year. I can only hope that some good will come of these terrible events and the Scottish Government will finally take action to stop the slaughter. A good start would be to re-examine the whole issue of Scottish estate ownership, as highlighted in an excellent article by Andy Wightman. How the SNP can talk about wanting a fairer Scotland where wealth is shared more equally and yet continue to allow estates to be owned by companies based in offshore tax havens is beyond me. Such non-transparency of ownership makes it very difficult to hold an owner to account for the actions of their estate workers. It's time the Scottish Government stopped kowtowing to wealthy landowners and made it clear that no-one is above the law in this country, no matter who they are or how much money they have. Choosing the Eagle, rather than the Red Grouse, as Scotland's national bird would be a good signal of their intentions. Meanwhile, I grieve the loss of a promising young Sea Eagle and hope that future East Coast youngsters will be born into a safer Scotland without the threat of poisoning.

Precious metal

As long as it is possible to do, as Calton did today, and walk into a Scottish scrapyard with a few bits of copper pipe (which he found in his loft) and get £3 per kg cash with no questions asked, idiots will continue to risk not only their own lives but those of others in pursuit of a quick quid. Calton was under the impression that the Scottish Government was going to bring licensing of scrap metal merchants into line with that of England and Wales but it doesn't seem to have happened yet. "Bring it on" is all he can say, a sentiment probably echoed by the residents of Greenock, not to mention communities across the north of England where metal theft is high due to the ease of shipping the stuff north over the border for conversion into cash. Alex Salmond likes to think that an independent Scotland would attract business but Calton doubts he was thinking of the illegal cross-border scrap metal trade. This is one area where having the same approach as England and Wales would definitely be a good thing.

It's not the immigrants who are the problem

Calton has never disputed the fact that most immigrants to this country are hard-working and make a positive contribution to our economy. It is no surprise to find that, in recent years, they are less likely to be in receipt of benefits than Brits. The problem is, the ready supply of skilled people with a good work ethic has allowed us to ignore the fact that many of our young people are unemployable and many of our unemployed do not want to work. If we did not have uncontrolled immigration from the EU, genuine jobseekers would find it a lot easier to find a job and the work-shy would find it a lot harder to hide. We would not have such a huge problem with youth unemployment and business owners would be putting a lot more pressure on the government to sort out our education system so that it turns out employable youngsters. As it is, the influx of Eastern Europeans is masking a growing problem within our society. It is also fuelling resentment because, now, they are not just doing the jobs Brits don't want to do - they are doing jobs that some Brits do want to do. Recession has made us less fussy when it comes to a job, which would be no bad thing if the jobs were available. Given the announcement today of up to 1000 job cuts at BAE Systems yards north and south of the border, it is time for both the Scottish and Westminster governments to take a serious look at whether we can afford a further influx of Eastern Europeans at the end of the year, especially when we have no idea how many will come. We should let in the immigrants we need and the ones who need asylum but call a halt to unrestricted immigration from the EU.

SNP energy policy - turning folk blue?

So, let's just see if Calton has got this right - not only are hard-pressed consumers paying 9% of their energy bills to subsidise green energy, the taxpayer is paying £725,000 to councils up and down Scotland to help them cope with the avalanche of wind farm planning applications which is threatening to bury them alive. More than 2500 in the last 18 months. If building windfarms is so popular, why are we subsidising it? You only subsidise things which need encouragement. It's time this scam scheme was stopped, before it pushes even more families and pensioners into fuel poverty. If removing the subsidies results in fewer planning applications, so much the better because then councils will be able to cope with them. Councils should also be left to make the decisions on individual planning applications without Scottish Government interference - Calton does not believe that the Scottish Government is able to strike the right balance between providing green energy and the need to satisfactorily address the impacts on communities and the environment, due to its over-ambitious green energy targets. If the SNP/Greens have their way, you won't be able to see Scotland for a forest of turbines and we can wave bye-bye to our tourism industry. Forcing price freezes is not the way to go - governments can't rig the market - but removing unfair subsidies is within the control of the Westminster Government and would be within the control of an independent Scottish Government. Don't hold your breath if it's SNP. Your face will turn as blue as your frozen extremities.

It's not worth the paper it isn't written on

Calton is just not convinced that registrars (and other marriage celebrants) will not be forced to conduct gay marriages against their religion or principles if it becomes legal in Scotland, no matter what Alex Neil says, because some militant homosexuals will not be happy until they have forced everyone to agree with their viewpoint. The ink will hardly be dry on the legislation before a legal challenge is mounted, especially since the Scottish Government have made it clear that there will be no discriminatory opt-outs for public servants, including registrars, written into the legislation. The lack of such opt-outs also means that teachers who do not want to teach about same-sex marriage will not be protected. It seems that David Cameron has now realised that it was a mistake to force through gay marriage legislation in England, not least because of the slump in membership of local Conservative Associations. If only Alex Salmond would learn from others' mistakes. Deputy Presiding Officer Elaine Smith's suggestion that Scotland put same-sex marriage legislation on hold, until the impact of the change south of the border can be assessed, is eminently sensible in that context. Her fears that redefining marriage on the basis of 'love' will lead in future to the legalisation of polygamous relationships are entirely reasonable - after all, why not? - and it is to her credit that she is willing to speak out, given the vilification she has been subjected to. How many other MSPs have effectively been silenced by the virulence of pro-gay marriage campaigners?

Do we want to see ourselves as we really are?

Given that Scotland is now the second-fattest nation in the world, do we really want our High Street mannequins to more accurately reflect society? It might be quite effective shock therapy mind you. Shops could always put a burger in one hand, a coke bottle in the other and a fag hanging out the mouth to add to the effect. Calton is struggling to think of any other way of getting Scots to realise how fat and unhealthy they are. It was interesting to hear Jo Swinson wriggling out of directly answering John Beattie's point today that the average woman's dress size has increased from a 12 to a 16 in the last few years but does that mean that we should now be promoting size 16, which is overweight for a lot of women, as normal? Calton thinks not. Being even moderately overweight increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, cancer and other health problems and if a woman is overweight in her 20s, she will probably be obese by the time she is 40. The same applies to men. Yes, there is a problem with anorexia, body image and self-esteem among young people and the use of size 8 or 10 mannequins does not help, however there is an even greater problem now with obesity and there is a danger that using size 16 plus mannequins will simply normalise being overweight. It would be better if models and shop dummies were a healthy size, neither too thin nor too fat. Otherwise Swinson's latest campaign risks undermining all the Scottish Government's efforts to tackle obesity.

Give them a bike

In the 19th century, people moved from other parts of Scotland to Glasgow to find work. Now it seems that a reverse migration is needed, with the news that Glasgow has the highest number of workless households in the UK, never mind Scotland. Unfortunately, the sluggish state of the housing market and a general lack of affordable rented homes in most, if not all, parts of Scotland makes moving to find work very difficult. It also seems to Calton that the welfare system does not encourage relocation. Moving costs money, something which the unemployed do not have. It also requires motivation - the confidence that a move will bring an improvement. The sad thing is that Eastern Europeans are more motivated to come and work in Scotland than some Scots are to move to the other side of the country to find a job. Instead of taking the initiative, many unemployed seem to expect the state to provide for them, both in terms of benefits while unemployed and also by subsidising companies to set up businesses in areas of high unemployment. Instead of moving to find work, people expect work to come to them. Sadly, companies which receive large amounts of public money to locate in Scotland quite often leave when the subsidies dry up. The Scottish Government would be better advised to spend the money on improving public transport and providing affordable rented homes in areas where there are jobs. Grants to enable unemployed families to relocate to areas where workers are needed might also be a good idea. The Government needs to encourage mobility but there's no point in telling people to get on their bike when they don't have a bike to get on.

Getting it badly wrong for every child

It may seem like a good idea, especially in a week that has seen details of the horrific abuse suffered by Daniel Pelka at the hands of his mother and partner, to assign every child in Scotland a 'named person' or sort-of guardian angel to ensure their wellbeing, as proposed in the Children and Young People bill currently going through Holyrood. In fact, it is the complete opposite. Our social services are struggling to cope as it is, with many social workers not feeling confident that they could identify children at risk from internet grooming, just to take one example. Assigning an approved adult to every single child, whether they need it or not, is just going to take resources away from where they are really required. Legal experts are concerned, and so is Calton, that such legislation could be illegal under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), which protects a parent’s “private and family life”.Whereas, previously, the criterion for intervention was that a child was 'at risk of significant harm', under the new legislation, the named person will be able to intervene if he/she considers that the 'wellbeing' of the child is at risk, 'wellbeing' being defined by the Government. This sounds to Calton like a charter for politically-correct liberals to impose their view of an appropriate upbringing on families whether they want it or not. Religious families who wish to bring their children up in the faith may well be told that it is not in the childrens' best interests. It could be a way of outlawing smacking, and other forms of discipline, by the back door. Instead of children, it will be parents on the naughty step. If, like Calton, you are concerned about the ramifications of this dystopian legislation, you can read more and sign a petition urging MSPs to reject it here. Calton strongly believes in protecting youngsters but interfering in family life to this extent is not the way to do it.

SNP - changing direction with the wind?

Well that was quick. No sooner has the First Minister told us that oil and gas are important to the Scottish economy when a leaked Scottish Government document says that we need to move away from "price volatile fossil fuels". Calton tends to think that the leak is more trustworthy, since it is more in line with the SNP's policy of covering the countryside and coastline with windfarms, subsidised by the Scottish consumer. If the SNP are serious about tackling fuel poverty in an independent Scotland they can start by removing this subsidy, which hits the poorest hardest, and telling windfarm developers to stand on their own two feet financially. That's exactly what English consumers will be telling us to do if we vote for independence but expect them to continue subsidising our renewables industry! And just where is the evidence that Scots are more pro-windfarms than the English? Is this just another 'wishful assertion' by the SNP? Or, to put it another way, yet more hot air from a government which does not listen to the electorate? (And, while we are on the subject of renewables, the link Calton put for the tidal project at Kylerhea in an earlier post ceased to function shortly after he linked to it but it seems to be back up again and can be viewed here.)

Alex oils out of the tricky questions

If Calton remembers rightly, it was not so long ago that Nicola Sturgeon was calling for positive debate on the independence referendum. She must have forgotten to tell Alex Salmond, who spent a large part of his slot on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme this morning slagging off Westminster. The man really doesn't do himself, or us, any favours. One minute he's saying that we don't really need the oil revenues - they are just a nice wee extra - and the next minute he's talking about squeezing every last drop of oil and gas from Scotland's waters, or so it seems. We'll certainly need every last drop if we're to see anything like the figure of £300k for every man, woman and child in Scotland. When pressed on when we would start saving into an oil fund, post-independence, the First Minister would not be drawn, presumably because he knows that, although it sounds like a good idea, it is not without its problems, and he would not comment at all on the issue of fracking. What Calton really wants to know is why we are covering our mountains with windfarms when there is still lots of oil and gas out there which the Scottish Government has every intention of using to the max?

A true reflection?

Calton does not know how Alex Salmond can say that, in a newly independent Scotland, Scottish voter's wishes would be truly reflected when his government has ignored the majority of voters who responded to the consultation on same-sex marriage saying they didn't want it, ignored the 51% of Scots who say they will be less likely to visit a scenic area which has turbines and ignored local democracy when it didn't agree with Scottish Government policy. The only thing that will be truly reflected in an independent Scotland is the size of Salmond's head in the narcissistic pool he's looking into. If the First Minister truly believed in democracy he would not only be giving us a referendum on being part of the UK, he would also be offering us one on our membership the EU. Salmond and his sidekick Sturgeon don't believe in democracy any more than Calton believes in letting seagulls get away with all the fish. What they really believe in is rule by a political elite on the basis of what they think is 'right', if their words and actions are anything to go by. Salmond may be in love with his reflection but handsome is as handsome does in Calton's book and Eck ain't looking so good by that standard.

Crackdown still leaves silent killers

Calton welcomes the new crackdown on killing of birds of prey, although raptor persecution has been illegal for quite some time now and that has not stopped it happening. At least the new measures announced by Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse indicate that the Scottish Government means business on this. That, or they have realised that the public don't like hearing about yet another poisoned eagle, buzzard or red kite. Calton wonders when the penny will drop that the public also don't like hearing about birds being killed by wind turbines. Eradicating poisoning, trapping and shooting of raptors will still leave silent killers dotting our hillsides, just waiting to clatter an unwary bird on the back of the head. The SNP's slavish adherence to ridiculous renewables targets is not only impoverishing the Scottish population, it is also trashing the countryside, killing wildlife and ruining our tourist industry. And it's not only wind turbines which threaten the countryside and wildlife - a proposed tidal scheme for Kylerhea will make a mockery of the scenes we have all recently been watching on the BBC Hebrides programme. Four towers sticking up out of the water just north of the ferry route have the potential to scare off the seals, and, with no seals to force the fish to the surface on the flow tide, the seagulls will not fish, and if the seagulls don't fish, the sea eagle will not be there to steal their fish and delight the tourists. Plus, it's just an accident waiting to happen with a combination of strong tides, amateur yachtsmen and four large obstacles in the water. It will spoil a beautiful, scenic spot and how many local jobs will it provide? Precious few, Calton suspects.

Teth aile nan Eilean Siar

Calton finds it really hard to believe the unnamed Scottish Government spokesperson who said, apropos the proposed Western Isles interconnector, that "Improved grid connections will enable the huge renewable energy resources of Scotland's islands to create jobs - up to 3,500 jobs in the Western Isles, almost 2,900 in the Shetlands and over 4,500 in the Orkney Islands by 2030." In the construction phase maybe but permanently? When, as Calton has already pointed out, a seven turbine windfarm can be managed by just two part-time technicians? If you do the maths, that means that there would need to be about 25,000 turbines on the Western Isles to give that level of full-time employment. That's 21 turbines per square mile and 8% of the total Western Isles population working on them. Well, they'll probably need to be right enough, because their tourism industry will have suffered the same fate as the White-throated Needletail and there will be no birdlife left anywhere on the islands - just a lot of sad little corpses littered around the bases of the turbines. Just as well the BBC filmed 'Hebrides' when they did. Or maybe the unnamed spokesperson is talking a lot of hot air?

A close escape

Calton is just glad he didn't decide to go to Harris for his holidays. Otherwise it might have been him lying on the ground under a community wind turbine. Having said that, Calton is generally in favour of small, local wind turbines and it is just really unfortunate that a rare visitor to our shores fell foul of one. What a majority of the visitors to our shores do not want to see is large scale industrialisation of our countryside with large windfarms, if the opinions of Scots are anything to go by.  It is encouraging to see that most Scots support the idea of protecting our wild land. Calton just wishes that more land would be designated as wild. Wildlife tourism is becoming increasingly important to the Scottish economy, helped by TV programmes like Hebrides, and it is about time the Scottish Government recognised this. How many more birdwatchers would have visited Harris if the poor White-throated Needletail had not come to an untimely end?