Coal - the answer to fuel poverty

The coalition government in Westminster obviously hasn't a clue about how ordinary people are struggling to pay their energy bills, otherwise they wouldn't have just voted for a £100 rise in our annual bills by 2020! Their energy policy is a shambles, and the Scottish Government's one is even worse. There is no ideal way of generating electricity and the sooner our politicians grasp that nettle and start thinking about their constituents, the better. In the years following WW2 this country invested hugely in building steam locomotives when the rest of Europe was going electric. The reason? We had massive reserves of coal and didn't want to be dependent on any other nation. Would that today's governments had the same sense. We still have large reserves of coal, which could produce cheap energy without us being dependent on any other nation, and Calton doesn't see why we shouldn't be using it, especially when China is building coal-fired power stations like there is no tomorrow. The Greens will answer that there will be no tomorrow if we keep burning fossil fuels, however a couple of coal-fired power stations in Scotland is a drop in the ocean, especially if we invest in carbon capture. The real answer is to put money into improving our housing stock so that it takes less energy to heat it. That way, we all win.

Plumbing new depths

Alex Salmond plumbed new depths in FMQs today by dragging in the Iraq War in his attempt to deflect attention from the real question of funding for Scottish colleges. Unfortunately Johann Lamont's questions were so wordy the substance got lost in the detail, and, with it, the killer thrust that might have skewered Slippery Salmond. Ruth Davidson and Willie Rennie both made a better fist of it by adhering to the philosophy 'less is more', however even they faced an uphill struggle against the SNP majority. It is understandable that opposition MSPs became rather heated yesterday over the question of corrections to figures and ministerial accountability. It seems to be all too easy for Ministers to make a mistake, go back and correct it later (with or without a 'mea culpa' to the chamber) and think that that is the end of the matter. It also seems that there is one rule for the SNP and another for Labour, given that the leader of the SNP expected his apology for his mistake over college funding to be accepted with 'good grace' but the Presiding Officer has not extended the same 'good grace' to Labour MSP Michael McMahon. Having asked for, and accepted, an apology for his wholly inappropriate outburst yesterday, she subsequently decided that it was not sincere enough because it had been tendered too quickly and has suspended him for a day! McMahon's comment was made in the heat of the debate, he apologised immediately, that should have been the end of it. Instead, it is Marwick, if anyone, who has undermined her position by her heavy-handed actions, in Calton's opinion.

It's the economy, stupid!

It's a pity Alex Salmond doesn't read this blog - if he did, he would have known that the renewables industry only provides 11,000 jobs in Scotland, thus saving him another embarrassing climbdown. The First Minister also doesn't seem to listen to Radio Scotland's Business Scotland program on a Sunday morning. Calton would have thought that that would be mandatory listening for any politician keen to help the Scottish economy. Perhaps Salmond thinks he has more important things to think about although Calton finds it hard to imagine what. Standard Life are axing 130 Edinburgh jobs, Vion are pulling out of Scotland throwing more jobs in the meat processing industry in doubt (in addition to the hundreds going at Broxburn) and, while the announcement that Areva is bringing turbine manufacturing jobs to Scotland is welcome, we'll need to wait and see just how many actually materialise. The biggest issue on most voters' minds is jobs. Is it too much to ask that our First Minister also makes it his top priority?

Mike Russell - nil points

What has got lost in all the recent calls for resignations and fulsome apologies is the fact that funding for Scottish Colleges has indeed dropped this year. We have also seen the resignation of a College Head amidst accusations of spying on the one hand and bullying by the Education Secretary on the other. This does not give Calton confidence that the Scottish Government are tackling the problem of the number of NEETs in Scotland. Not that he would have any more confidence if Labour were in power - they were the ones who removed a large number of school-leavers from the unemployment figures by the simple expedient of keeping them in school or further education, regardless of whether or not that led to a job in the longer term. Calton thinks it is high time the Education Secretary got round the table with business leaders and worked out a plan to ensure that our young people are employable when they leave education, at whatever point they choose to leave it, instead of indulging in party political point scoring. At the moment he gets nil points from Calton.

NEET - Not in Employment, Education or Training

Heading for the buffers

John 'The Signalman' Swinney is just itching to get his hands on the economic levers he thinks independence will give him. Trouble is, there's only going to be one lever - oil - and a pretty dodgy one at that. Calton wouldn't like to depend on it to stop the Flying Scotsman heading down the wrong track towards the buffers. Scotland is a one-commodity economy (or will be when Alex Salmond has trashed tourism with all his windfarms) with a high level of public spending. Can the SNP not recognise an imminent train crash when they see one?

More from the Biased Broadcasting Corporation

Calton was frankly horrified to hear questioner Stephen Bedford ask 'does Israel deserve a future' on Radio 4's Any Questions? program last night and equally horrified that the BBC should allow such an obviously biased question. (For those who didn't catch it, fast forward to 12 minutes in the iPlayer version, unless you want to listen to a ten minute discussion on the election of Police Commissioners in England.)

To suggest that any nation does not deserve a future is tantamount to advocating genocide and Calton is wondering if, in fact, the question constitutes a hate crime under our new legislation on such matters. Perhaps someone should phone the police and find out. What is encouraging is that all four of the panel stated quite clearly that Israel has a right to exist and two at least were just as shocked as Calton was at the way in which the question was framed. In these days of heightened tension in the Middle East it is quite reasonable to question whether the actions of Israel or any other nation are legitimate or proportionate, however, questioning a nation's right to continued existence is not reasonable. Nor is it helpful.

Yet another example of BBC bias. Shame on them.

PS. It also didn't escape Calton's attention that Jonathan Dimbleby gave the number of Israeli strikes on Gaza but omitted to mention the number of rockets which have been fired into Israel from Gaza. Calton was just so incensed last night that he forgot to mention it!

Big Brother is watching you

Calton is very relieved to see that Adrian Smith has won his case against Trafford Housing Trust. Mr Smith wrote a comment on his personal facebook page, in his own time, on his own computer, saying that gay church weddings were "an equality too far". Trafford Housing Trust demoted him and slashed his pay because it thought that his comments "might upset co-workers". Now, if Smith had used the Trust's email system to send an email to all his colleagues airing his views on same-sex marriage the Trust might have had a point. As it is, Calton finds it very worrying that an employer should seek to have so much control over the expression of religious or political views by its employees in their own time and on their own personal social media pages. It's bad enough that you can now get your collar felt for upsetting someone by stating your opinions (or displaying Bible verses). Trafford Housing Trust have taken this one step further by disciplining an employee for expressing views which 'might' upset someone! If this sort of thing continues, the title of George Orwell's seminal work will only have been out by 28 years.

How to worry a rat

Calton is surprised to find that Labour has never called for Alex Salmond's resignation. That glaring omission may well be rectified in the light of the First Minister's subsequent admission that the figures he quoted at Johann Lamont in FMQs today were in fact wrong. Looks like a ding-dong argument has been followed by a right clanger. It wouldn't be so bad for the First Minister if he hadn't kept on repeating the incorrect figures. As it was, he reached bedrock in his enthusiasm for digging and so has all the further to climb to get himself out of the hole. It will be interesting to see if he dumps all the dirt on his hapless Education Secretary Mike Russell. Given that Salmond trotted out the incorrect figures in defence of Russell at FMQs, the question of the Education Secretary's future is still moot, especially since it is clear that Johann Lamont is not going to let the matter drop any time soon. A terrier with a rat would hardly be more tenacious.

Working for a living wage

There is an argument which says that paying workers a 'living wage', as Angus Council has just pledged to do, will cost jobs however, on balance, Calton thinks it is a good idea. It is true that some workers on minimum wage can get their income topped up by tax credits however there are stringent rules which prevent many part-time workers being able to claim working tax credit which disproportionately affect women, since they are more likely to be in part-time, low-paid jobs. The living wage will therefore benefit those women and that is to be welcomed. After all, let us not forget that the burden of caring, not just for children but also for the elderly, falls on women and often prevents them from taking full-time employment or from progressing in their career beyond low-paid work. It is also a fact that, if you give more money to low-income families, they spend it, with a resultant boost to the local economy. And a rise in wages means a drop in the need for top-ups from the state. Sounds like a win-win situation to Calton.

No flies on them

Nice to see that their Lordships are awake enough to recognise a leading question when they see one. Not only awake, but unhappy that, once the section 30 order giving Holyrood the power to hold the independence referendum has been passed, Holyrood will then be in control of the question and the campaign finance limits. They are quite right to be concerned, as Calton has already highlighted. The House of Lords does an excellent job at scrutinising the fine details of legislation. If they have concerns about the Edinburgh Agreement, they should be addressed. The independence referendum is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It has to be both fair and proof against any legal challenges. Thankfully their Lordships are on the case.