Dangerous dogs!

I'm getting to this issue a little late, but I personally feel it's very important. The Scottish Parliament has recently passed legislation on dangerous dogs. The Private Members Bill was begun by Alex Neil MSP before he became a Minister, and steered expertly through Parliament by Christine Grahame MSP. Info on the background to the Bill can be found here.

The main thrust of the legislation, which amends the 1991 Dangerous Dogs act, is to recognise that any dog can be dangerous and that attacks can and do happen in any location. It also recognises the issue of dogs which seriously harm or kill other animals as well as humans. Incidents range from a bite to the most horrendous cases; it's clear that there needs to be more responsibility taken by owners for their pets, and hopefully this will be a step in the right direction.

The act introduces the so called 'dog asbo', the dog control notice. A person now has the option of reporting an out of control dog should it's behaviour cause reasonable apprehensiveness or alarm. The burden of investigating and enforcing the notice falls to local authorities.

I hope that this legislation is successful in bringing in that change, and I for one will certainly be encouraging all my constituents to report any concerns they have about dogs in their area.

Tir Conaill Harps

I had the pleasure of being invited along to the Tir Conaill Harps Awards Dinner on Saturday night.

The Harps run lots of activities for young people, including gaelic football, hurling, camogie, women's shinty and ladies gaelic football. They also run exchange trips to Ireland for young people from Glasgow. I've attended an event in the past where some of the young people involved have spoken about their experiences, and I know they got a lot out of it. Mainstream sports like football aren't for everyone, and it's clear that a bit of variety and the chance to try something different really has an appeal; it also has the benefit of getting young people to participate in exercise.

It was inspiring to hear about their work over the past year, and to join in celebrating the success of committed coaches, teams and young people. We were also given a demonstration of Irish dancing by some prizewinners from the recent Championships held in Glasgow. I'm very grateful for the warmth with which I was welcomed, and thank Tommy Main and all involved for having me along.

The Harps minibus and the sports equipment stored inside was recently set on fire, and they have been fundraising hard to obtain replacements. If you'd like to help with the appeal, please contact the Harps through their website linked to above.

I'm a nat!

Labour caught fibbing

One thing I just can't stand is politicians deliberately misleading the public, spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt. Once a leaflet is out there, the damage is done - I've never heard of a party putting out retraction leaflets, or writing to people afterwards to clear up the misunderstanding.

I missed the leaders debate tonight as I was attending the Evening Times Community Champion awards (more on that tomorrow), but watching Newsnight, it seems that Gordon Brown has been caught lying to the public in a leaflet put out in his own constituency.

Coming on the back of their abhorrent mailing targeting cancer patients, Labour have been scaremongering on concessionary travel. In the debate, Brown said "I have not authorised any leaflets".

Maybe he didn't authorise it, but a leaflet put out on his behalf in his own constituency clearly states that Gordon Brown will "fight against SNP cuts to concessionary travel".

What cuts would those be? The SNP Government has actually expanded the concessionary travel scheme to include disabled veterans from April 2011. Our manifesto reinforces our commitment to the current scheme for pensioners.

This is an issue that really matters to pensioners - it allows them the freedom to get about and to visit friends and family. Once Labour spread this kind of untruth, SNP activists and candidates have to fight doubly hard to win back the trust of voters.

Brown's leaflet also wanders into other devolved matters , mentioning making communities safer - that'll be the SNP delivering record numbers of police - and improving town centres - that'd be through the SNP's successful and popular Town Centre Regeneration fund.

Any campaign I've been involved in has agonised over the wording of leaflets, semantics, pedantry and meaning taken apart and put back together several times by a team of people before a leaflet goes out. It's unacceptable in my view to deliberately mislead the public, especially when it attacks another party.

I'm really glad of websites like www.thestraightchoice.org and Channel 4's factcheck, who allow us now to see all the leaflets and give the voters a better chance of finding out the truth.

Lib Dems: Woolly on Nukes

Somewhat typically, the Lib Dems have come over all woolly on the topic of nuclear weapons and trident replacement. It's an important issue - one of principle and one of cost.

Trident replacement is costly, and even Generals are calling for a re-think.


To be clear, the SNP's manifesto states:

"We have a moral objection to nuclear weapons and are firm in our belief that when the UK government is planning cuts in important budgets, they should not be wasting £100 billion on buying a new generation of nuclear bombs. We have been proud to stand alongside Scotland’s faith groups, the STUC and community campaigners in opposition to Trident and its replacement and we will continue to do so."

The Lib Dems say they are:

"showing leadership by committing not to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system on a like-for-like basis"

What exactly does this mean though? One fewer sub? A couple fewer nuclear warheads?

Following comments by the Lib Dems foreign policy spokesperson Ed Davey on the Daily Politics, Kate Hudson of the CND blogged:

"Sorry to say there is a disappointment today on LibDem nuclear policy. Ed Davey, party spokesperson on foreign policy, was on the BBC Daily Politics debate earlier on today, with Hague and Milband. When pressed to more fully explain LibDem nuclear policy, he confirmed that they did want Britain to have nuclear weapons.

They have consistently argued that they do not want a 'like-for-like' replacement for Trident - in other words, presumably not building four new subs, designed primarily for nuclear weapons use. There has been some confusion as to whether they have wanted to go for other nukes or abolish Britain's nukes altogether. This uncertainty has clearly reflected differences within the party about this issue, as has already been clear in these blogs over the past few days.

But Nick Clegg has made it clear in recent statements that they intend to have some form of nuclear weaponry, and again today Ed Davey has made it absolutely clear that the LibDems do favour an alternative form of replacement. But it is not clear what this might be. An air-launched system has generally been ruled out as being insufficiently secure. An alternative submarine system that has periodically been suggested is to put put nuclear warheads on submarine launched cruise missiles, carried on Astute class submarines, modified to carry the load.

The problem with this is that the recent US nuclear posture review is retiring their submarine launched nuclear cruise missiles. So there will be no easy option of getting missiles, and all the associated systems, off the shelf from the US, as we have done with Trident. So presumably we would have to make them ourselves. I can't see that saving any money. After all, cost was a big part of why we gave up making our own in 1960, fifty years ago this month, and bought into US systems - first Polaris and then Trident.

I think the LibDems need to go back to the drawing board on this one - or, to mix my metaphors, get off the fence and come down on the side of genuine nuclear disarmament."

All three major UK parties seem to agree that nuclear weapons are ok - it's just the numbers they need to work out. Don't be fooled by the Lib Dems on this one. Only the SNP will stand up for Scotland, and work to remove immoral nukes from our waters.

European money for Bridgeton

I was really pleased to see this morning that £1,157,086.00 has been secured from the European Regional Development Fund for Clyde Gateway's SME Business HUB in Bridgeton.

This money will go a long way to sustain real jobs and businesses in the East End, and have a large part to play in the regeneration of the area. This is on top of other money from the Scottish Government from the Town Centre Regeneration fund.

The SNP know that to get through the recession, we need to continue to invest in our people and our communities. This particular money is coming from the EU, not the UK.

Commenting on the news, John Swinney said:

"While there are signs of a fragile recovery, this undoubtedly remains a very challenging economic climate. It is absolutely right that the Scottish Government uses all of the levers at its disposal, including European funding, to support projects which can maximise employment opportunities and support our economy through the downturn and towards sustainable economic growth.

"I am delighted by the variety of projects supported by this latest cash injection, from new business facilities to the renewable energy industry. The projects have the potential to support the creation of around 950 new jobs in Scotland.

"This builds on the Scottish Government's Economic Recovery Plan, which has already directly supported up to 15,000 jobs in the Scottish economy at this difficult time. This funding will provide a further and timely boost to our recovery prospects and be warmly welcomed in many Scottish communities."

Leading the debate in Scotland

Commenting on the Leaders’ Debates which took place tonight, SNP Leader Alex Salmond said:

“All the debate confirmed was that the London parties plan deep cuts to Scotland’s budget and public services. That’s why Scotland needs local and national champions in the House of Commons to break through this cosy Westminster consensus and win a better deal for Scotland.

“Over half the debate should have been captioned ‘Except for viewers in Scotland’.

“It was billed as a historic event but we got was three Westminster politicians looking the same, sounding the same and saying nothing of relevance to Scotland.

“From Wick to Whitburn, viewers would be turned off by television which simply didn’t address the issues which matter to them.”



Excellent pre-debate comment from Lallands Peat Worrier.