Aberdeen University Labour Club

Great News for Potential Party Members

2011-01-26T05:24:00.003Z

Dear All,

If you are not a member of the Labour Party yet, but want to join, it now costs only 1p for people aged between 15-26.

https://secure2.labour.org.uk/join/

Regards,

Daniel McCroskrie
Aberdeen University Labour Club - Chair

New Year, New Start

2011-01-26T04:42:00.002Z

Dear Members,

As we enter into 2011, I intend to implement various changes to the society to benefit it in the future and allow us to become a far more active society on campus and a far more sociable society too.

Firstly, before the new year broke up, the AULC met to make changes to our constitution. This was an incredibly worthwhile session as it allowed members to debate the future direction of the society and set in stone a blueprint which we will follow.

In this new year, the society should have a brand new website, an on-campus campaign set up and a happy membership!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and all the best in 2011!

Regards,

Daniel McCroskrie
Aberdeen University Labour Club - Chair

AULC Updates

2010-07-09T17:42:00.002+01:00

Summer is upon us and most people are away back home, on holiday in foreign lands or working and living in Aberdeen. There are various different news updates that you all may be interested in. Firstly, the Labour Club met in May to elect a new committee. I (Daniel McCroskrie) am the new chair of the club. Scott Carle is our new Vice Chair, with Jason Butcher as Treasurer and Amy Robertson as Secretary. Members were elected to various other positions and they can be viewed on our Facebook page.
Also we have a Labour leadership contest in full swing. David Miliband, Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and Dianne Abbott are all out canvassing for Labour member support and this is a very exciting time for the party. However, the work that Gordon Brown did for the party was extraordinary and he should be remembered for his firm handing of the UK economy for 11 years and the work that he displayed in getting Britain out of recession.
Conference season is also fast approaching with Labour National Conference in Manchester being held at the end of September and the always enjoyable Scottish Labour Conference in Oban which takes place at the end of October.
The club will be out in full force at Fresher's Week and the year ahead is looking positive!

Joining the club for the remainder of term

2010-05-12T11:20:00.002+01:00

In recognition of the fact that there is only a month or so left of this academic year, Aberdeen University Labour Club will be waiving membership fees for anyone wanting to join us. We understand that a good many students have previously identified with the Liberal Democrats and may no longer feel that the course of the party in recent days is compatible with their beliefs and values. While we are not able to offer party membership at a discounted fee beyond that which is already available to students, membership of the Labour club is a good way to keep abreast of what is happening in Aberdeen and elsewhere over the summer. For anyone feeling betrayed or disenfranchised, or simply that they want to chart their own path independent of the Tory/LibDem government, this offer stands until the end of term.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=111354825571168&ref=ts

2010-04-23T18:33:00.001+01:00

Julian Lewis MP recently expressed his opposition to the equality of age of consent between homosexuals and heterosexuals. His reasoning is that homosexual activity is comparrable to front line military service.

Julian Lewis, as a member of the Conservative front bench team and in the event of a Tory victory looks set to become a government minister.

These views have no place in mainstream British politics and no place in British government.

If the Tories can't change themselves then they can't change Britain.

Here's a Facebook group calling on him to resign:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=111354825571168&v=info&ref=ts

New Labour Strategy

2010-04-01T01:26:00.001+01:00

I need everyone to start revising our ideas for our club election literature in light of this strategic readjustment of message.

Cracking News Stories of the Week

2010-03-04T11:36:00.000Z

Hey all,

Please find below the top 5 news pieces of the week. And what a cracker it has been.

1. Poll lead crumbles

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/28/cameron-party-conference-speech-2010

2. New Economic Growth News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8538293.stm

3. Gordon Brown: The resurrection

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/politics/gordon-brown-the-resurrection-1.1009901

4. The SNP are not doing so good either.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/news/SNP-hit-by-big-slump.6110907.jp

5. The Tories election themes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8539619.stm

Hope everyone is having a good week so far.

Cheers,

Kyle

News Stories!

2010-01-29T22:43:00.001Z

Dear all,
I hope you had a cracking Christmas and New Year. I have gained a bit of weight - the ultimate sign of a good holiday!

Here's to the first set of good news stories of 2010 - the year of a fourth Labour term!

1. Excellent Economic News

http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/markets-economy/optimism-as-output-grows-1.1000546

2. A ridiculous notion from a ridiculous man

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7001607.ece

3. Interesting discussion on aspiration

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/24/new-labour-aspiration-gordon-brown

4. Tory policy is a vacuum. Jackie Ashley agrees.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/24/conservatives-cameron-policies-election

5. A funny pic. Proof that David Cameron was airbrushed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1245105/David-Cameron-look-like-Elvis-poster-campaign.html

So there you go. Hope all your exams are going well.

Regards

Kyle

Top 5 Pieces of News

2009-12-02T14:28:00.001Z

Hey all,

Here are the top 5 news pieces of the week.

1. Neither a good nor a bad piece about Labour, but a comment that shows, principles and substance are vitally important in a media saturated environmnet.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/28/government-adviser-david-nutt-labour

2. I have never trusted the new Tory think tank 'Respublica' - anyone who strings together a couple of diametrically opposed terms and calls it an idea is an idiot. But here's another reason.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/nov/04/red-tories-phillip-blond-conservatives

3. Yes, it's the Daily Mail, but there's nothing better than infighting.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1231601/Camerons-team-job-says-aide-astonishing-attack.html

4. Another Respublica comment - but you have to understand, we have Giddens for the Labour party - at least he's well respected across the board. This guys a twit.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6934016.ece

5. A piece of news from my home patch - showing that the public won't abide ignorance.

http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/chester-news/local-chester-news/2009/11/26/racist-group-kicked-out-of-town-pub-59067-25254701/

Thanks,

Kyle

p.s. keep an eye out this week for all the news on the SNP's referendum paper.

Domestic Abuse

2009-11-19T23:01:00.000Z

Domestic abuse is a phrase often thought of, but often ignored. It is thought to be a private issue. A new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in conjunction with the Equality and Human Rights Commission highlights that domestic is far from a private issue. It’s an issue that deserves the widest attention.
Domestic abuse can be described as “when a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate another” .In the UK alone, every year, at least one woman in four experiences domestic abuse – be it violence against the body, forced intercourse or rape, financial abuse, isolation or mental abuse. These are just some of the abuses that cause long term difficulties for individuals, families, communities and society. Over 100 women are killed each year as a result of domestic abuse. Disabled women are twice as likely to suffer domestic abuse. There also exist increasing cases of domestic abuse of men perpetrated by women. Whether done by men or women, domestic abuse is a cowardice act.
It is also an act that reverberates across society. Domestic abuse shouldn’t have to be diluted into numbers; it should be something that is universally rejected. That being said, violence against women costs the NHS £1.2 billion a year for physical injuries and £176 million for mental health support. The credit crunch has also affected services for domestic abuse sufferers. A survey of rape crisis England and Wales showed that almost a quarter face closure this year and almost 40% fear closure next year because of a lack of funding.
For those who have suffered domestic abuse, help is not always close to hand. And help is much more than just saying to the individual suffering; leave the relationship, it involves a lengthy and time consuming process to ensure that those who have suffered from domestic abuse are able to regain their confidence, walk down the street without fear and arrive at their house without apprehension.
That help is not always at hand. The report shows that a postcode lottery means that some sufferers of domestic abuse receive better help than others. All because of the area they live in. For example, for the 250, 000 a woman in Glasgow there exists 13 – 16 services available for those seeking refuge and help. Whilst in the Aberdeenshire area, there are merely 1 – 3 services available. It shouldn’t matter where someone lives; victims of domestic deserve the best help.
And the best kind of help revolves around services that provide a holistic service. The report highlights that victims of domestic need specialist help to overcome stigma of abuse, talk about their experiences and regain self – confidence as well as seeking avenues for justice to be served. But most all, victims need a refuge. A refuge from violence and a refuge from fear.
With this report it is hoped that the issue of domestic abuse is highlighted and that action is taken to ensure that everyone is a winner in the postcode lottery and that both men and women know and understand the help that is available. Not enough is being done and a lot more should be done. Because in domestic abuse, there are no ifs, there are no buts. Only victims.

Some things the Sun won't headline!

2009-11-17T20:08:00.001Z

Dear all,

Please find enclosed your new weekly round up of the top 5 good news stories about Labour. With a strong anti Labour media it is important that news about Labour's achievements reache's it's members so that when we campaign on the doors steps we have proof of Labour continuing to change the UK for the better.

1. Without a doubt - our fantastic success in Glasgow.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8358429.stm

2. Some interesting new regarding our achievements in health care.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8356987.stm

3. Top scientists slam the SNP's energy policy

http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/markets-economy/snp-blasted-over-looming-energy-crisis-1.932465

4. Further promising economic signs

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/db5c0082-ceb4-11de-8812-00144feabdc0.html

5. A possible new strategy for Labour party

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1227505/You-wont-laughing-win-New-Labour-poster-morphs-Cameron-Osborne-X-Factor-twins-Jedward.html

Cheers,

Kyle

Cameron's Claims just dont stand up to facts!

2009-11-12T17:43:00.002Z

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics/factcheck+labours+poverty+record/3420402

Once again, David Cameron is too pleased to shout out spin and lies. When will the Tories learn that when it comes to social issues, they have no idea!

The end of conference season

2009-10-15T04:19:00.002+01:00

There are two kinds of speech at a party conference; there are good speeches and there are speeches made by good speakers. The difference is that while the former, though still well delivered, is written in order to promote policies, aims and ideas, the latter is written for the promotion only of the person who wrote it. As year by year we drift further into the realm of personality politics, the line between the two categories becomes increasingly blurred, to the point where it is now hard to judge the value of a party conference at all. Though in the past it has served as an opportunity for the press to put the spotlight on party policy and to give the grassroot membership the opportunity to take on an active role in influencing those policies as the party political system require, increasingly, conference season has become an opportunity for the party PR teams to exhibit their products out on the podium while the role of the membership is reduced in the press to providing lengths of applause as measurements of the popularity of key speakers. Party conferences may still provide members with a means of shaping policy, however as the role of the party diminishes in favour of individual personalities, so too has the value of conferences been undermined

Rolling Back the State?

2009-10-11T12:13:00.001+01:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/11/will-hutton-david-cameron-conference

A fantastic article from Will Hutton about the role of the state in the 21st Century.

The state does have a role to play. What role should that be?

SNP's areas of concerns

2009-09-26T22:28:00.003+01:00

See this news article on the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8275788.stm

It seems that, rather than focus on the issues that matter in this economic recession, Salmond et al are more concerned about symbolic areas of importance to SNP scotland alone.

Maybe if they spent more time focusing on infrastructure, business grants, transport changes and inner city regenerations then Scotland wouldn't be struggling so much.

NUS Opposed to Sexist Freshers' Week Promotions

2009-09-17T22:27:00.009+01:00

The NUS National Women's Officer has launched campaign to oppose sexist marketing by a marketing company on University campuses. The company in question is involved in the promotion of the Miss University GB Competition and plan to distribute free copies of FHM at Freshers' Fairs. This competition and the magazine promote misogynistic views of women and promote the objectification of women and help propagate the deeply offensive idea that a woman's worth is contained entirely in her appearance.

Promotions such as these at Freshers' Fairs presents a lack of inclusivity that could well be alienating to young women who should be made to feel welcome as valuable members of the University. Furthermore it privileges heterosexual males and implies by the lack of inclusivity in the promotions that this group is the only one worthy of the marketeers efforts. This is clearly unacceptable.

From the NUS website:

The NUS Women’s Campaign is making a stand against two recent BAM promotions. BAM are a student’s unions marketing company who offer various promotions, advertising and events sponsorship. It has come to our attention that they supported and facilitated the promotion of the Miss University GB Competition and plan to distribute free copies of FHM at Freshers' Fairs and you can help take action.

In a society where 92% of women under the age of 22 have said that they “hate their bodies,” promoting competitions that openly objectify women and the distribution of a magazine based on the same principles is unacceptable. These sorts of competitions and media will only continue to fuel negative, unrealistic and damaging ideals of what women should look like. And, whilst pointing out the obvious, these two promotions are not accessible to all or in any way inclusive.

Olivia Bailey, the NUS National Women’s Officer, has taken action against these promotions and has sent an open letter to BAM, outlining the Women’s Campaign’s concerns about these promotions. In her letter to BAM, Olivia stated that “It is of course vital that we respect the rights of all students to engage in whatever activities they choose to, and as such we never extend our criticism to the women who choose to enter beauty pageants. Our criticism lands squarely on the shoulders of the corporations who make money out of the exploitation of women students.”

The NUS campaign provided a model letter which can be emailed to BAM (tb@bamuk.com) to register a complaint:

Model letter to BAM – feel free to adapt to include your own views

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to express my concern about two of your recent activities. First, I understand that you have written to all students’ unions on your books suggesting they advertise Miss University GB at their institution. Second, I understand that you have facilitated the free distribution of FHM magazine at the fresher’s fairs of the unions you are contracted to work for.

I believe that Beauty Pageants like Miss University GB, and ‘lads’ mags like FHM, send the dangerous message that it is OK to value women purely on a narrow conception of beauty that bears little relation to the majority of women.

I believe that my institution should be free of the sexism and objectification that women face every day in wider society. I am disappointed that you did not more seriously consider the equal opportunities implications of the products that you have chosen to advertise.

I ask that you retract both promotions, and apologise for the negative impact that your action has had on campuses across the country.

Yours Sincerely,

Name
Institution

New lines of communication for the Labour Club

2009-09-17T21:48:00.003+01:00

Our industrious Chairperson has recently inaugurated a new website for the Labour Club.

You can find it at aberdeenuniversitylabourclub.org.

This website will act as a messageboard for the Labour Club to promote the Club's events and campaigns. As well as this it will also enable members to more easily interact with the Labour Club, and so will hopefully strengthen the Club's democratic nature.

Tschüß,
Secretary

This coming year...

2009-09-15T17:28:00.004+01:00

Dear Member,

If you believe in a progressive and radical society, then your support for the Labour Party is more important than ever before. Depending on how you look at it, this email is either the final of the past academic year, or the first of the new one. Either way, I want to take the opportunity to impress on everyone the political significance of the coming year, and the enormity of the task facing us on our return.

Since we left each other before the summer, three things have changed which together will shape politics for the next decade. Firstly, we are now within a year of a general election. Secondly, the lines along which the election will be fought are now being clearly drawn. Finally, we will be fighting this election in the face of the biggest disconnect between voters and politicians perhaps in living memory. As front line activists, this may be our biggest challenge.

The significance of the coming year for Labour and for the country cannot be overstated. Previous years in politics have been spent debating the price of a pint; this year will be different.

Our generation of students is set to graduate into the jobs market in the harshest of conditions. Further, as people with a political conscience, we are now faced with the daunting process of charting a path out of this crisis. In the former we will be helped in part by a raft of measures, which Labour has already introduced. In making the case for Britain’s future, however, we need to focus not on what we have already achieved, but what we can move on to achieve in the future. When our case is at its strongest, it is crucial that we make it clear. It is vital that, in order to win the next general election, we do not spend our time on doorsteps advocating the status quo to voters, as is the temptation for a party in power, but rather focus on future challenges and our future goals. Defending the status quo is never good politics.

For this reason, the year ahead will be crucial in shaping the form of British politics for the next decade at least. For anyone coming into politics for the first time there may be a natural aversion to joining a governing party, but as I have already said, party membership is about more than just defending the record of the government of the time, and demands the willingness to help shape the future of Labour and of the country. For those considering the renewal of their membership, remember that while governments last for years, parties last for decades if not centuries, and this is something which I have no doubt that more squeamish Conservatives such as David Cameron are now contemplating as they find themselves counted amongst the ranks of the party of Dan Hannan.

The Labour Party has the values and principles to guide Britain through the next parliament. There is no doubt, however, that when Britain emerges from the current period of political and economic strife, the landscape will have changed. As party members, it is for us to help to determine exactly what form that change will take.

Labour members are deservedly proud of our record, which includes the national minimum wage, civil partnerships, a 10.8 million tonne reduction in green house gas emissions in the last year alone and a vastly improved National Health Service which retains the values with which it was created by an earlier Labour government.

However, good campaigning is not about defending what Labour has done but rather setting out what Labour will do, and defending the status quo is no way to go about winning a general election. Labour became New Labour in the nineties in response to a changing climate and the time has come again to take stock and to revaluate. The events of the next year will impact on all of our futures, and it is for us to ensure that Labour remains an innovative and resilient force for change in the decade ahead. We can be proud of our past, but we must be focused on our future.

I look forward to seeing you all next year, and all that remains is to remind everyone that in order to sign up again, either visit our stall at the Societies Fresher Fayre, or else to contact our new club secretary, Andrew, at this email address.

Best wishes,

Calum Darling
Chair
Aberdeen University Labour Club

The Lessons of 1937

2009-06-30T00:59:00.002+01:00

Heres a link to an interesting article regarding whether or not to continue with our economic agenda.

I think this phrase sums it up "To switch to austerity in the immediate future would surely set back recovery and risk a 1937-like recession-within-a-recession."

A short video

2009-06-22T23:39:00.002+01:00

An amusing video that we were sent about David Cameron's new allies in Europe:

I really have no idea why David Cameron think's it's a good idea to turn his back on powerful mainstream parties that have are ideologically similair to him (well ideologically similiar to his posture his actions show an entirely different set of principles) and ally himself with the lunatic fringe.

Gordon, no Gordon it doesn't matter: Our message is clear.

2009-06-09T22:21:00.003+01:00

I am unsure of where this party should go regarding our leader. On the one hand, Gordon Brown is an intelligent individual who sees issues as complex ones, that require a great amount of thoughts, which they are - the recession, crime, health, education, immigration are not black and white issues. But on the other hand, all that intelligence and understanding matters for very little when he seems unsure and unsteady in front of a camera. The question is, do we want to accept the de facto image lead life or do we want to try and elevate the public debate. Personally, I want to elevate the public debate. I think a country that debates the issues fully and with a full understanding of the issues raises people up. Increasing tolerance and understanding through continued debate is surely a great thing.
And that's where we should be, every single day, elevating the debate by suggesting our understanding of the society, our ideology, because we believe our ideology and set of beliefs will provide the mechanisms to ensure that every person has the potential to be the best they can. That belief centres on the equality of opportunity. The opportunity to give children a great education, the best in the world, the opportunity to rid communities of violence and anti social behaviour so a civil society can flourish, the opportunity to continually retrain individuals so that they can adapt to the changing economic environment.
Contrast this with the Tories whose small government plans would see hospitals crumble, law order evaporate, we will see our education system as archaic and underfunded. Their economic trickle down theory does not work. They say that a rising tide lifts all boats. What they don't tell you is that some boats just get bigger until all the other boats are invisible and swamped.
Lets get the debate going, lets lift our intellectual boats.

Anne Begg's Week

2009-05-26T16:56:00.003+01:00

Week beginning 18^th May – Goodbye Mr Speaker.

This week was an historic week obviously dominated by the speculation and then the announcement that the Speaker was to resign. As a result, I found myself doing quite a lot of media such as Radio Scotland’s Newsdrive, Scotland at 10, BBC2’s Holyrood Live and a long interview for the online Women's Parliamentary Radio.

Because the expenses controversy has been so damaging to the reputation of Parliament I decided to post all my claims under the Additional Costs Allowance here on my website. It took a large part of the weekend to get them in a form which wouldn’t reveal anybody’s personal data. However, to show that I had nothing to hide, on Monday I also gave access to everything the Telegraph has to the Lobby correspondent for the Press and Journal.

Of course the normal work of Parliament had to continue on as well. Therefore, on Monday afternoon I also chaired a Statuary Instrument Committee on Climate Change. It lasted the full hour and a half which is quite unusual for these types of committees.

Tuesday morning was taken up with a meeting of the Speaker’s Conference which had to take place on an informal basis as we were unfortunately not quorate. However, it seemed that events were overtaking us. I had lunch with Mark Thomson, Director General of the BBC, and inevitably the coverage of the expenses story dominated. The rest of the day was filled with the Speaker’s statement and other meetings but it was difficult to concentrate with such historic events going on around me.

On Wednesday the Pensions Minister, Rosie Winterton MP, appeared in front of my Select Committee as part of our pensioner poverty inquiry. I was able to ask her about the issue raised with my by a constituent just last week. One of the meetings I had in the afternoon was about setting up an All Party Rare Diseases Group, and then it was into the Chamber for a debate on the BBC licence fee for next year. After catching up with some work, the evening was spent at a reception held by the RNIB to say thank you to all the MPs who had helped in their campaign to secure the higher rate DLA mobility element for blind people.

Thursday and it was back to Aberdeen for constituent surgeries. I also managed to pop in past the All Energy Conference at the AECC and meet some renewable energy companies from Aberdeen. It is a conference which has really grown and is much more professional every time I visit.

Friday consisted of more surgeries and meetings about subjects ranging from the future of Aberdeen Airport to the Shopmobility scheme.

I would have some witty and intelligent analysis to share with you but alas I have an exam tomorrow so it'll have to wait. ;)

A 21st Century Parliament requires a 21st Technological Revolution

2009-05-22T22:08:00.002+01:00

I am no fan of those that have used the expenses system for their own personal gain. And that includes all parties in parliament. Although, as with most press related campaigns there are incompatibilities that have forever tainted the work of fantastic MPs. These claims can never be removed and it is to the Telegraphs detriment that political journalism has made way for political point scoring and dilletant journalism. As I understand it, the Telegraph also has the information regarding MPs staffers (me being one) and their bank accounts. I hope that the Telegraph understands the implications of what they have done. Whilst those who have defrauded the public should face repercussions as should the civil servant who broke the most precious of democratic functions, that of the objective and annonymous civil servant.

But that is not the purpose of this blog. If expenses in parliament are currently the most noticed part of democracy, let us think of the repercussions. Creating a system of expenses that denies MPs the neccessity of expenses to ensure they can live day to day will mean that parliament will be full of individuals that can afford that lifestyle, thereby eroding the democratic value of equality of opportunity. This means that people can enter parliament regardless of wealth and ensure that they can fully represent their constituents without the worry of financial hardship.

But lets go beyond this to this question - do we need parliament? I am in no way suggesting that we get rid of parliamentary democracy. How about voting form wherever an MP is, using voice recognition and, just like businesses, utilise conference calling for committee meetings. This would ensure that expenses are kept at a minimum and would also ensure that MPs are closer to the people they serve. What does everybody think?

"I'm not greedy, you're jealous!"

2009-05-22T14:16:00.002+01:00

This is what the Tory Party is all about. Individuals who are so privileged and comfortable that they have absolutely no ability to see things other than from their own rich man's point of view, and unable to understand that their wealth and position do not come about through their own innate superiority to the plebians. This Tory cannot conceive why anything he has done could possibly be criticised so he superimposes motives on others that are most flattering to himself.

Well here's news for you Steen. People aren't jealous, they're angry!

Hope not Hate

2009-05-13T12:37:00.002+01:00

This is an extremely illustrative video showing exactly why it is so important that we make sure that the BNP don't attain electoral success. As the video points out just 9% of the vote would be enough to get Nick Griffin a seat in the European Parliament.

Thanks to John's Labour Blog:

Tackling Crime and Criminals

2009-05-11T22:44:00.002+01:00

Working in a spar shop I see a disproportionate amount of crime. It's just the nature of the job. But the vast majority of crime I witness is perpetuated by the same people and the items they steal are not everyday items that are essential to everyday living like bread and butter, milk. The items that the thieves seem to take are bacon, carlsberg special brew, deodorants and dog food. If the coffee wasn't behind the till then I am fairly certain that would be stolen.
Why do I tell you this? Well, its because I believe that the current belief on crime needs readjusting slightly. It is right, still, that crime is a cause of poverty and alienation and a lack of ownership with their surroundings. The notion that crime is committed by an individual, who made an individual choice and that these people are essentially bad people, wrapped up in their own selfish means is antiquated.
And its also right that we provide the means for people to reach out of the traps of poverty by ensuring they have the financial means to provide for themselves, and providing the educational means to better themselves and securing their surroundings so they do not live in fear.
But with crime in shops, there needs to be a restructuring. Crime in shops is almost always done by the same people, the kind of people that have been trapped from early on and have become so institutionalised and see nothing but crime. For shops, the government must take a role in providing strategies for preventing crime occuring including the correct placement of products that are prone to be stolen, funding for improved CCTV, training for the correct way to deal with thieves. Added to this, I have found that the hardened criminals seem to hit an area, which is why I think its important to create a network that responds when an area gets hit. This, essentially, would be a phone network to be able to inform other shops.
Hopefully, these can help to further cut the rates of crime.

Anne Begg's Week

2009-05-06T20:46:00.002+01:00

[Disclaimer]: Aberdeen University and its blog are not connected to Anne Begg MP in an official capacity. The writers of this blog are solely responsible for its contents, and therefore this blog may not reflect the views or positions of Anne Begg MP. For Anne Begg MP's official website please go to www.annebegg.com.

Week in Westminster - from soldiers to stadiums.

Another shortish week in Westminster as I returned to Aberdeen on Thursday morning for a meeting with Aberdeen Football Club about their plans to build a new stadium at Loirston Loch. The fans are against it, the people of Cove are against it, the people in Kincorth who use the area extensively are against it, and the land was zoned as Green Belt as recently as last year. Difficult to see how it can be supported.

However, it did mean I missed the votes on MPs' expenses. If anything is a poisoned chalice this is it.

Arrived in Westminster at lunchtime on Monday to speak at and then Chair a couple of sessions of an IPU (Inter Parliamentary Union) discussing the implementation of the UN Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities. The UK has signed up but has not yet ratified so much discussion around the UK reservations. The IPU brings together Parliamentarians from all around the world to discuss issues of common interest. The majority of the delegates on this occasion were from Eastern European countries.

The Equality Bill was also published on Monday so I attended a launch event with Harriet Harman who has been the driving force behind getting a Bill that was a well received as these things can be. (Harriet also came up to Aberdeen on Saturday to promote the bill)

If it's Tuesday then it must be Cambridge. My Select Committee was out and about speaking to pensioners about how they were managing financially as part of our new inquiry. I think it is important that MPs don't do everything in the Westminster bubble but get out into the 'real world' as well.

It was then back to Westminster in time for all the votes on the Budget resolutions. Only 4 this year went to actual vote so finished around 11 pm. Some years it takes us to well after midnight.

Wednesday began with a 6.55 am interview on Good Morning Scotland about my Select Committee Report on the Equality Bill which was finally published today. If you live in Aberdeen or the North East and listen to GMS but didn't hear me, that's because there is the North East opt out at 6.55! (Perfect timing)

Later that day, Prime Minister Questions is dominated by the Gurkhas. As is the discussion on Holyrood Live on BBC2 which I take part in at 3 pm while the debate was going on in the Chamber. At 4pm there was the surprise defeat of the government motion. The meeting of the Scottish Group with the Prime Minister which was to take place in No 10 is therefore moved to his Commons office. Interesting discussion! The day ended with a statement on what the government would do about the Gurkhas in light of the vote.

Oh, and a group of us had lunch with the Faeroese Foreign Minister.

As I said earlier, I came up early on Thursday to have a meeting with Aberdeen Football Club and then the rest of the day, and the whole of Friday, was taken up by constituent surgeries. I then got to spend an enjoyable night on Friday speaking at the Aberdeen University Debater.

An interesting week in Westminster it seems. Hopefully the issues regarding the Gurkhas can be resolved, given the work they've done for this country I think they deserve the right to live here and receive the benefits of our healthcare system.

Did anyone go to the debate? I was busy so i couldn't make it, and I haven't heard how it went.

Tory frontbencher with two jobs gets grilled

2009-05-04T21:30:00.003+01:00

Tory Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley admitted earning £24,000, in addition to his work as an MP, for "ten or twelve" days work a year as a non-executive director of a company, which is gross in more than one way.

Clearly for a number of front bench Tories, including the shadow foreign secretary and de facto deputy leader of the party, beng an elected representative isn't a full time job.

It begs the question, what would they propose to do with these directorships if they entered government? Would they keep them? If they propose to drop them, do they mean to say that they believe that they hold themselves to a lower standard than their government counterparts? There aren't many corporate directors on the Treasury bench.

Tories sing from "same hymn sheet" as BNP

2009-04-29T12:32:00.002+01:00

Following Blackburn Labour Parties twitter I came accross this story about The Conservatives trying to intice former BNP candidate to stand in the local elections in June under a Tory Ticket.

Nick Holt who lost heavily to Jack Straw in 2005 said that a long standing Tory asked him to stand for his party saying that both parties "sang from the same hymnsheet".

Who says the parties are all converging to the centre? This story may shock at first but it should not suprise us.

Compassionate , caring Conservatives? You are having a laugh!

The aparthied jolly that cost Cameron his image

2009-04-28T20:28:00.005+01:00

Any claim David Cameron had to moral authority now lies in ruins.

The revelation by the Independent that David Cameron visited apartheid South Africa and enjoyed the hospitality of an anti-sanctions lobby group exponses as a farce his claim that his party's anti-apartheid policies were of an era to which he did not belong.

The fact that while Mandella languished in prison Cameron enjoyed what his then boss described as a "little treat" which was "terribly relaxed... just a jolly" was unknown when Mr. Cameron met with the former president in an attempt to distance himself from his parties aparthied stance.

Attempts by his office to paint the excursion as a fact finding mission were thwarted by his then boss Alistair Cooke, who said "It was all terribly relaxed, just a little treat, a perk of the job", and spokesperson offered up the excuse that "the Conservative Party at that time was against sanctions".

Such feverish towing of the party line even on something as awful as opposing sanctions on a repressive and racist regime raises serious questions about the moral character of a man who never tires of attacking others who he accuses of lacking such credentials.

The contrast was made clear by anti-aparthied campaigner Peter Haine MP, who pointed to the example led by prime minister Gordon Brown, who was an anti-aparthied campaigner. The prime minister, who in addition to his anti-aparthied work also devoted a chapter of his book to and unveiled a statue of Nelson Mandella, contrasts strikingly with the blasé attitude of David Cameron, with the sickening attitudes of his then collueges, who are reported to have worn badges bearing the slogan "hang Nelson Mandella" and with the outrageous stance of their then-leader Margaret Thatcher, who branded Mandella "a terrorist".

These revelations, described by Peter Hain as a measure of character, deal a serious blow to the credibility of the man who has gone to great lengths to rebrand the Conservative party. Though he himself has said that people must be allowed to "err and stray" in their past (in reference to allegations of his use of cocain), this was not something he did as at Eton or at Oxford; he chose to take this jolly to aparthied South Africa as a backroom politician in the Conservative research department and it was offered to him as such.

No matter how many licks of paint David Cameron tries to put on the Conservative party, he seems to find it just keeps coming off, washed off first by the economic crisis which exposed wide gaps in his economic policy (in that he didn't have one)and now stripped clean by his own actions, as a Conservative party employee. Mr. Cameron would do well to learn that selling a party isn't just like selling a car; try as he might to wind back the mileage, there will always be someone who remembers. The past doesn't go away just by saying so. But we won't hear that from the man who aspires to be the PR PM.

Anne Begg's Week

2009-04-28T16:39:00.005+01:00

Week beginning 20^th April - A day and a half in Westminster.

A shorter week than usual at Westminster as I had the funeral of a University friend, who died suddenly, in Edinburgh on Wednesday afternoon. This meant missing the Budget Speech and the frision of excitement that reverberates around the Chamber. However, I can't be in 2 places at once. Nevertheless, I still managed to have an incredibly busy week.

In the day and a half I was in Westminster I managed to pack in a huge amount. On Monday we agreed the text of our latest Select Committee Report on the Equality Bill which will be published next week. I also had an Adjournment Debate at the end of Monday's sitting on Pain Services in England. As there is no vote, my debate began just after 10 pm and I have to explain why a Scottish MP was talking about an English topic when pain services for my own constituents are the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament. It is because I am the Chair of the newly formed All Party Group on Chronic Pain.

Members of the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition were in the Gallery to hear the debate so I took them for a drink in Strangers bar afterwards. It was soft drinks all round - honest. The Minister who had replied to the debate, Ann Kean, also arrived so I was able to introduce them to each other. The members of the Coalition all went home very happy.

Tuesday began with another public evidence session of the Speaker's Conference with representatives from the 3 main parties. We were very topical as there had been a great deal in the weekend press about 'Smeargate'.

Later I grabbed a quick bite to eat with Frank Doran, MP for Aberdeen North, and one of my constituents, Professor Hugh Pennington, and then rushed over to the Treasury for a meeting on the Seafarers' Earnings Deduction with the Chief Secretary, Stephen Timms MP. I won't bore you here with all the technical details but feel free to e-mail me if you are interested and want to find out more.

It was then back to Portcullis House for a preview of the rough cut of the new YouTube video which the Speaker's Conference will be launching to encourage people to participate in our deliberations. I thought it was ten times too long so it will have to be cut quite a bit before it goes online. After that I had a meeting of the All Party Offshore Oil and Gas group with the Energy Minister, Mike O'Brien. Luckily there is a hairdresser in the House of Commons so I was able to fit in a quick hair cut before meeting with someone from POST, the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology, which is charged with making sure Parliamentarians understand scientific issues.

Of course there was also voting to be done before I was able to get home at around 10.30 pm, setting the alarm for 5.15 am so as to get up in time for the plane back to Edinburgh in time for the funeral.

It was then back to Aberdeen on Wednesday evening in time to get to a meeting of the Aberdeen Disability Action Group (ALDAG). On Thursday I had surgeries with constituents and Ann McKechin MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Scotland Office, came up to take part in a Women's Listening Panel with some of my female constituents and also came along to see the work of the credit union NESCU in Torry. It was then back down to London on Friday to speak at a Conference of the World Federation of Guild Guides.

A busy week in Westminster this week. Not as packed as a student's week, but still busy nonetheless. :P

On a side note is it just me or has the tiresome media habit of adding "gate" to the end of every situation in which something bad happens way past its sell by date. It's a cheap and simplistic way of artificially compressing complex issues into soundbites, and it serves no purpose except taking the strain of original thought and honest reliable reporting from the media.

The heir to BJ

2009-04-25T00:33:00.005+01:00

Perhaps inspired by having misundersood the effect of prospective PM BJ's attempted use of the show as a staging platform for a leap to credibility, Alan Duncan MP returned to Have I Got News For You only to implode within seconds of opening his mouth. After turning red and trying to laugh off questions regarding his expenses claims, he seemingly attempted to recover by joking that he'd add so many zeroes to his parliamentary salary that "it'd be like Zimbabwe. Nevermind that Zimbabwe is set to figure prominently in world affairs for years to come. Perhaps realising he'd blown his shot at Foreign Secretary, the shadow Leader of the House of Commons went on to say that he would like to be Home Secretary, only to shoot himself in the foot once again by joking that if the newly announced opponent of gay marriage Miss Carolina ever turns up dead, we can all look to him. Oh Alan, you card.

The trouble with Alan Duncan is, like the London Mayor, he seems like a nice and likeable guy, the kind of person you would invite to a dinner party. I am sure that there are opposition front benchers who around the dinner table would be perfectly likeable, however around the cabinet table they would be a disaster. Somebody needs to point out to them that difference between what you say to your friends and what you say to the country on national television is... Big. Collosal. Olympian. Titanic.

It's really not a big deal other than being a reminder of why the Conservative party continues to fail abysmally to muster any semblance of seriousness or credibility.

It is not over till "The Fat Lady Sings The Red Flag!"

2009-04-24T19:16:00.005+01:00

Give up now. There is no point. Tories have won, Labour are heading for an other 18 years of oblivion. Darling and his economic advisor's did the budget on the back of a fag packet and we are heading for Third World status.

The media want us to believe this, the Tories are RELYING on us believing this and some of our own are starting to think it is true.

Comrades nothing could be further from the truth. The budget on Wednesday was a bitter pill to swallow in terms of debt but it was also the most heartening moment of the year. A Fabian headline of this year has been "Fairness now more than ever in Recession". This is essentially what the budget will deliver. Not cutting with a Cameron chain saw but offering help and support for those who need it most at an acutely difficult time. The fact that we are asking the wealthy to prop up these policies with a new top rate is a bonus.

Normally in times of economic strife the rich and wealthy while losing a % of their income can afford to carry on as normal without much effect on their lifestyle. Those with middle and modest income on the other hand get hit with the same economic punch but have not got the means to recover. This is why asking the rich to help out more than normal is entirely justified and "Fair". Exactly what a Labour Chancellor should be.

I am not an economist so I will leave the number crunching to others (something tells me Nick Robinson's number crunching is rather biased though) . Instead I want to concentrate on the political fall out.

One impact of all the negative media coverage of the budget is that people are automatically thinking the Tories will win the next election, it will be 1997 all over again and we are heading for disaster. People like Ian Dale getting a hard on and asking his disciples to hand in petitions to get rid of Brown and predicting that we are in our last days forget the oxygen we are getting from the Tories reverting to type and having no solutions of their own. You cannot win an election solely on mumping and moaning about how bad the "other lot are".

Our policy of action (as opposed to Tory inaction) has protected people's savings, protected people's mortgages and offered them protection from the worst excesses of free market capitalism. Can we imagine the position the country would be in if as the Tories wanted "we let the recession run it's course"? I shudder to think. This election in 2010 has all the hallmarks of a close run thing with distinctive battle lines drawn for the first time since 1997.

Our position is not favourable but it is far from desperate. Darling's projection of growth by the end of the year coupled with people our policy of help for families has a potential to unite us around a solid message of hope. This will be entirely in contrast to our Eton chums who will demand a return to an economic model which has been found severely wanting. John Prescott today also highlighted the sham of the "caring conservatives"

Locally this budget has taught us one thing, the SNP are a nigh on irrelevance. If letting "the recession run it's course" makes you shudder , being independent and trying to bail out RBS, HBOS etc would make a the most patriotic Scot seek asylum on the moon. Salmond yesterday said "IF we were in Government.." either that means he has forgotten he runs the Scottish executive or he is more of a lunatic than we thought. I wont grudge him this free tip - use the powers you have before demanding more. This is not to say we should ignore them as an election threat but merely highlighting how in a time of Global economic crisis their calls for independence are borderline insane.

An exciting year lies a head. There will be peaks and troughs more bad news and renewed hope. I am confident Mr Darling will steer us through with as little pain as possible , receiving the kudos for it and bolstering our poll percentages. We must build on the message Wednesday's budget sent out , one of fairness and hope while understanding that difficult decision must be made and ensuring that the voters realise they will be made with compassion and consideration. The Tories will promise ravaging cuts " to stabilise the economy" forgetting that its hard to stabilise an economy if your cuts lead to mass unemployment.

So there we have it, come away from the cliff edges, bridges and roofs, go back to your constituencies and prepare for the battle of a lifetime. I will meet you in the early hours of Friday June 4Th 2010 , a whisky in hand joining the "fat lady" as she belts out the Red Flag celebrating a Labour victory.

Prescott's going to be angry when he finds out about this...

2009-04-22T17:31:00.001+01:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

"Student Unions - the co-operative hubs of tomorrow"

2009-04-20T18:07:00.000+01:00

An article about the co-operations and students dropped into my reader from Politics for People. It's quite a brief article but I found it interesting it raises a few points relevant students, specifically how co-operation could be introduced into universities.

The current economic downturn is going to make it harder for students to support themselves throughout their education. It is more important than ever that students are at the heart of the services that their unions offer. It has been widely acknowledged that, working with the co-operative movement, student unions could be developing a co-operative model of student housing, where students could have democratic control in the way that their student residence is run. Apathy is a huge challenge when it comes to getting the vast majority of students to use their vote in student union elections and the indicators show that this is because they don’t see how elections directly affect them. By giving students a real say in their living arrangements, we can show how being involved in the wider politics of the student union can also affect their student experience.

I am still very proud of my union and the opportunities and services that it offered me whilst I was a student. However I share a progressive dream with others in the co-operative movement that in the future student unions can go even further down the path of becoming co-operative hubs for the needs of their students. Why couldn’t the union act as a credit union for the use its students to help them through the hard times? Why shouldn’t students be given a dividend if they are regular customers of student union shops and other services?

AGM - Your chance to seize power!!!!

2009-04-17T23:32:00.000+01:00

The CLub Secretary had this announcement to make:

Come and join us for a May Day celebration and The Annual General Meeting

The AGM of the club will take place on Friday 1st May at 12.30PM-2PM, In either room 2 or 3 in the hub (room venue to be confirmed).

The agm itself shall take place in the first half hour of the meeting and the second part of the meeting shall be addressed by Lewis McDonald MSP for Aberdeen Central.

Agenda

1. Chair's Remarks
2. Apologies
3. Reports
4. Motions
5. Elections

At the AGM the following offices shall be open to election for members

Executive Members

Chair
Vice-Chair
Secretary
Treasurer
Women's Office
Campaigns Officer
First Year Officer
Press Officer.

The following offices are open to any member who self defines as one of the following

Disability Officer
BME Officer
LGBT Officer.

If any member has a motion wish they wish to be discussed at the agm can they please send them to me no later that Friday 24th April at 5pm to allow them to be forwarded to Members.

I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you all on the 1st of May.

Yours in comradeship

The Secretary

Wouldn't it be nice if pledges actually meant something...

2009-04-15T16:12:00.001+01:00

Ripped straight from Scottish Unionist comes news of another abandoned pledge made in the SNP's 2007 manifesto.

In that manifesto they set out the very laudable goal of providing free access to council swimming pools for all children in Scotland. Swimming pools provide a fun and safe environment for anyone and especially children to take part in a healthy past time. Providing free swimming is especially beneficial to low income families who perhaps cannot afford other activities. If the SNP live up to this promise I will certainly applaud them for it.

Unfortunately...

...as reported by the Press Association, Herald and Scotsman, only Glasgow and Inverclyde councils offer free swimming pool access for children, as was the case before the Scottish election.

This not the first time we have covered broken promises from the SNP, and I doubt it will be the last.

The stench of hypocrisy

2009-04-14T22:33:00.000+01:00

Does Cameron's sleaziness know no bounds? Judging by this BBC article apparently not. His response to an employee of the Prime Minister independently acting to suggest smearing Tories is to smear Gordon Brown and Labour. Well Mr Cameron your party is not as nice and squeaky clean as you would like to pretend so you can keep your faux outrage.

If you don't know what I mean perhaps I can jog your memory:

Of course that was when you had been in power for 18 years which as you say is far too long:

Mr Cameron said Labour had "been in power too long" and Gordon Brown had to end "this sort of nonsense".

I'm guessing then that you didn't campaign for the Tories in '92 or '97 since you had obviously been in power too long at both those elections. Strangely enough I don't think that that was the case since it was around that time you were trying to get selected by your party.

As for change (BTW plagiarising Obama won't make you be like him):

Mr Cameron said: "What this whole episode demonstrates is the need for change - not change in the special advisers code but change in the culture at Number 10 Downing Street.

"I do not think we will get a change in culture until we get a change in leadership and we won't get a change in leadership until we get a change of government.

Let's imagine for a second that you aren't a shallow Thatcher worshipping, old boy networking, elitist. Let's imagine that David Cameron would have a spin and smear free reign as PM. (Tip to readers: Hallucinogenics may be required in order to stretch imaginations that far)

Would that be good for Britain?

No.

Because as you much as you might try to stir it up this latest "scandal" ("Smeargate" if you will.) is nothing. The recession is a problem, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a problem, terrorism is a problem, widespread poverty and high infant mortality are problems, gender inequality is a problem, homophobia and transphobia are problems. A couple of people discussing spreading rumours about MPs. That's insignificant.

So why not tell us what you would do about the economy, or what you would do in Iraq and Afghanistan? Why don't you actually suggest something that will help ordinary people? (And despite what you think that "ordinary people" doesn't mean the 6% of people who would benefit from raising the threshold on inheritance tax, despite the fact all of your friends probably easily fall in that category.)

Maybe because you have nothing to say?

Michael White vs Guido Fawkes

2009-04-13T00:02:00.002+01:00

This is a pretty dated but still interesting interview by Paxman which looks at the rise of political blogging and the convergence of fact and comment. It also makes Paul Staines look like a tool.

Does the Structuration theory help explain the Credit Crunch?

2009-04-09T20:18:00.004+01:00

Giddens has often been considered the philosophical mentor of New Labour. And since 1997 has provided an ideological basis for the 'Third Way', a new approach that has ushered in so many successes. So can Giddens' 'Structuration theory' help explain the Global Credit Crunch.
First, the Giddens' structuration can be best explained as a 'Third Way' between the strucuture - agency debate, that is whether action can be best described as coming from the overarching structures or institutions of society or through individual action. According to Giddens, 'Structuration' connects agency and structure by placing them as mutually dependent entities - structure informs agency but agency creates the structure. If this was a an International Relations debate, you could call this constructionist-realism.
So how does this help explain the Credit Crunch? Well, the credit crunch occured due to a lack of regulatory frameworks in a globalised world and an individual emphasis on fatalistic wealth or 'carpe diem' economics.
In the structure aspect, a lack of a strong regulatory framework allowed for dubious economic policies to be pursued. Capital securitisation meant that banks could place projects on the mortgages of individual houses. These mortgages were similarly given to individuals who should not have been given these mortgages but they were because the weak regulatory framework gave easy credit an easy option for those seeking a quick profit. When these asset backed securities did not return the cash that they required due to the increasing interest rates, banks had to default. This created the credit crunch.
The agency aspect of the structuration theory can also add to the explanation of the credit crunch. The individual ethos or culture surrounding banks was to make as much individual wealth as quickly as possible without care or recourse for what might happen in the future. People were more concerned with making money now rather than securing the long term future. It is what i have come to describe carpe diem economics because the purpose of the jobs is to make money now and care little for the future. Individuals were also to blame for the credit crunch because some individuals set in place the ethos for the banking industry.
So, therefore, Giddens structuation theory can help to explain the credit crunch. The credit crunch therefore has sociological and economic reasons.
So, how does this provide a framework for the future. Our banking regulatory framework needs to be both a functioning credit provider to ensure that entrepeneurs, risk takers and businesses get the credit they need to continue creating jobs but they also needs to be an understanding that regulation also means that entrepeneurs and risk takers understand risks, their limitations and the problems that too much loose credit can create.
Individuals need to understand that creating individual wealth pales in comparison to creating wealth of a nation. That is why an agency restructuring needs to take place. Progress can only come about when we lift everybody up, not just a small minority. Hopefully, once the credit crunch takes the place in BBC correspondents history books, economics will take on a more rational approach with an understanding of creating riches now and wealth tomorrow.

I saw a person being arrested for stealing books today

2009-04-07T21:41:00.003+01:00

When I was walking through Edinburgh today I saw a woman being led away from a second hand book shop to a waiting police van. There was something about the fact that someone was stealing something with no monetary value potential for resale but rather something which we are forever placing on a moral pedastal and lecturing on the academic value of that saddened me. She wasn't stealing them in order to sell them for crack; she was taking them because she wanted to read them.

At the time I was thinking about justice policies (because I'm cool like that) and it reminded me that crime is as much a symptom as it is a problem in its own right, something I constantly have to remind myself. As long as there are prison spaces to fill we can send people to prison and create a deterrent that will lower crime rates and protect people and communities from real damage, however there will still be people in desparate situations that are driven to commit crimes in an effort to help themselves when there is no other help fourthcoming.

“the PES is the party of gender equality”

2009-04-06T18:14:00.000+01:00

The Part of European Socialists (PES) of which the Labour Party is a member has put out a press release trumpeting it's record as a party concerned with gender equality. This comes with the news that another member of the PES (the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP)) has chosen a woman to be its new leader.

From the F-Word blog:

Zita Gurmai, President of PES Women and fellow Hungarian Socialist, said “This is absolutely fantastic news. Ildikó Lendvai has an exceptional record: having founded the Women’s Section of the Women’s Section of the MSZP and fought tirelessly for women’s political representation and participation, a gender-equal labour market and more rights for mothers…

…Gurmai, who is one of three women to lead the MSZP list for the upcoming European elections, added “This just goes to show that Europe’s socialists and social democrats are streets ahead of the liberals and conservatives in the fight for gender equality.

Superficiality

2009-04-06T17:25:00.000+01:00

I was reading this article by Johann Hari about the superficiality of Dubai. In recent years it has been the fastest developing city in the world and the planners have worked hard to create an engineered image of modernism and industriousness. As you can tell from the article there is a lot more to the city than that.

I mention this because it reminds me a lot of the Tory party. As much as they like to pretend that they're caring and compassionate and that they want to help people, in the the end they're still the party that says: “Yes, we will be a do nothing party, if the only alternative is to make things worse”, and that a recession if good for the nation's health

As much as they try to hide it deep down the Tory party is the party for people who are out for themselves.

Good news for Co-operators

2009-03-27T22:14:00.003Z

Via Politics for people comes an article indicating that the Chancellor is in favour of encouraging mutualisation:

Alistair Darling will next month signal strong support for mutual savings banks and building societies when he sets out a white paper on strengthening Britain’s financial system.

The chancellor has spoken warmly about the mutual model, embodied in institutions such as Nationwide, which tend to run a less risky business model, based on savings and lending. The Treasury is assessing potential legal or regulatory changes to help mutuals ahead of the white paper.

...

Although Mr Darling accepts that some mutuals can be run just as badly as banks such as Northern Rock, he believes they are less likely to use “extreme” funding models or to depend so heavily on wholesale money markets. Building societies have only 20 per cent of the mortgage market, down from 59 per cent before the wave of demutualisations sparked by the Building Societies Act of 1986.

...

a spokeswoman for the Building Societies Association said that the time was ripe for an expansion of the sector, given that its model tended to lead to cheaper borrowing rates. “Customers are fed up with the plc banking model, this is a good time for alternative models.”

This is excellent news, mutual lending groups are more ethical and more democratic than businesses working on other lending models. They are also less reckless when it comes to borrowing and lending. A characteristic that leaves them less vulnerable to the kind of market down turn that pushed the Northern Rock to the wall.

As anyone who has spent five minutes talking to the Club Secretary this year will know out of the few banks not to make a loss in the previous year only one high street bank increased its profit. The Co-operative Bank.

Nice one Alistair!

Use your vote

2009-03-25T22:14:00.003Z

In light of the European Election on the 4th of June tomorrow there will be a "Use your vote" day tomorrow between 10am and half past five. There will be volunteers from the various political groups at Aberdeen at Hillhead and on campus between those times trying to persuade people to vote in the forthcoming election.

If anyone is interested they just need to keep an eye out tomorrow.

Not all of the EU votes on the same day; if you are reading this in another EU country there is a list of election dates here.

Tories confused on tax

2009-03-23T01:20:00.002Z

From the BBC is an article about Lord Mandelson commenting on some of Ken Clarke's recent statements on taxation in light of the Tories' stated aims:

Lord Mandelson has said Tory tax plans have been "thrown into confusion" by shadow business secretary Ken Clarke.

Mr Clarke told the BBC the Tories' main economic goals would be to cut public debt and restore growth rather than cut inheritance tax on homes under £1m.

Later, a Conservative spokesman said the party was still committed to its manifesto pledge to cut the tax.

The Tories' pledge in 2007 to cut inheritance tax was seen as a key point in reviving party fortunes.

It amuse me to see Mandelson making points at the expense of the man who was widely viewed as Cameron's response to the PM giving Lord Mandelson a cabinet position. It amuses me more that it undermines Cameron and Osbourne than because it attacks Clarke. I say that because in my opinion Clarke is one of the few decent Tories, he actually has a realistic view of the world and opposes idiotic ideas like raising the cap on inheritance tax. A move that would be very costly but mostly benfit the super rich; it is after all a tax only paid by 6% of people.

In hard financial times like this the government should be looking after the most vulnerable people in society and stiumlating economic growth in order to reduce unemployment, not give tax breaks to people with £1,000,000 houses.

Anne Begg's Week

2009-03-20T23:28:00.002Z

PCC to investigate Dunblane article

2009-03-19T18:57:00.007Z

I imagine the prospect of a Press Complaints Commission inquiry looming over you must be somewhat like watching a penguin stamping its foot and preparing to charge you. I can't help but be reminded of the exchange between Hans Blix and Kim Jung Il in Team America: World Police when the scientist threatens to write the leader "a very angry letter" telling him how angry everyone is.

We live in a culture founded on the free exchange of ideas. The freedom of expression is more important than many other human rights, in that it is about not only the protecting of individuals from coercion by higher powers, but also the safeguarding of societies ability to progress and evolve. The writer J.S. Mills described a free market of ideas. Nobody has any idea what kind of society people will ultimately be happy in, and therefore no reliable way of predicting what new proposals, ideas or forms of expression may help us to progress. In his free market place, natural selection would provide that the right ideas surface and the bad ideas will be drowned out. Any restrictions, even partial ones such as film certification and bans on public displays, would have the effect of inhibiting the natural flow of the market.

You don't have to be an arch Socialist to see the problems with the free market principle.

Perhaps nowhere but in the realm of expression are these criticisms better illustrated. as the Williams Committee on Obscenity and Film Censorship pointed out in their 1979 report, "Truth" will not always triumph if left to fend for itself. Demand for the contrary may well drown it out. A lifeline, in the form of interventions such as state subsidising of reliable and impartial news sources, or the encouragement of media designed for purposes other than to attract viewers or boost circulation.

Likewise, in an unregulated market there is nothing to stop particularly strong forces from gaining an unduly strong grip by monopolising and dominating the distribution of information of all forms, such as by large media corporations which are sources of huge power for their owners or majority share holders.

The system we have for regulating the press in the United Kingdom has been widely acclaimed by members of the press, who also constitute the members of the PCC.

The British media can never be allowed to face censorship. The free market model may be unworkable, but the free exchange of ideas is integral to the development of any democratic society. What cannot be allowed, however, is for individuals to face exploitation at the hands of an industry geared towards profit, as we saw in the Murray article in the Express on Dunblane, without any recourse to anything other than a code built entirely on honour. We would not defend so rigorously the right of any other industry to trump the rights of individuals, and the press can be no exception. It is not viable to rely on honour when the circulation figures accorded a higher status. The blame cannot however be placed solely on the editors. In an economic climate where many newspapers are facing collapse, the editors will of course be under intense pressure to deliver the circulation required to keep the business model ticking over.

It is clear that the area of media regulation needs to be revisited, whether in the form of tighter controls of the ability of newspapers simply to intrude on the lives of individuals, particularly subsidising of substance.

The Daily Express finds a new low for tabloid journalism

2009-03-15T23:31:00.003Z

The Daily Express took the decision today to pull from its web edition an article accusing survivors of the 1996 Dunblane massacre of disrespecting the dead by publishing on social networking sites depicting them drinking. The news story, which can still be viewed by looking at the Google cache, is a prime example of all that is morally repugnant in some elements of British journalism. Unless we are to believe that these profiles were stumbled upon by chance or else were reported by some outraged member of the public, then it seems pretty clear that, in an attempt to bring sensationalism to the anniversary of one of the most tragic chapters in modern Scottish history by actively seeking out the survivors of the massacre and making nasty and malicious inferrals about them.

There are a number of elements to the story that make it nothing short of morally repugnant. It is implicit in the article that the children should have been grateful for the fact that they were protected from the press in the aftermath of the school shooting. From this, given that the article itself concedes that the individuals concerned are all over 18, there is the ridiculous inferral that they should somehow be held to higher standards of public life. The paper has taken victims of the Dunblane shooting, and used them as examples of the youth culture that has long provided a source for sensationalist journalists in the UK.

The article appears to taunt one teenager who is single despite having a list of good chat-up lines featured on his profile. "Among the blogs on his site is a list of the 23 best chat-up lines – but he is still single."

The article names those injured in the shooting and attempts to vilify them by listing all of what to the Daily Express constitutes social faux pas such as using profanities on their profiles, using colloquial language ("canny stop drivin in the silver hing", making "lewd" gestures in photographs and writing of drinking.

The Express goes further by complaining that they boast of discovering sex, despite the fact that these victims are now 18.

This article alledges that the behaviour of these survivors is abhorrent, and attempts to use it as a picture of a degraded culture, but instead it has accomplished something different. This article exposes the ugliest side of tabloid reporting, an amoral and sensationalist element devoid of the values of truth and integrity which it once stood for. If there is any traces of those values left in the media, then the editor (because it was most likely an editorial decision to ask a journalist to seek out the survivors) and any other editor involved in the process will, along with the journalist who penned the article, resign, or else be fired for conduct unbecoming of members of the fourth estate.

Eat a poppadom - help a women’s cooperative

2009-03-14T23:32:00.004Z

There's a story on the BBC about a co-operative in India that empowers women, who received very little education, to use their skills to create a source of income. The ability to generate income and the associated financial independence is an effective way to tackle problems such as domestic violence and gender inequality. So I think that it's great that schemes like this exist.

From the article:

Mumbai-based businessman and entrepreneur Sushil Jwarijka explains: "Lijjat papads are a perfect example of how a sustainable business can be built, providing large-scale employment to rural women, who are illiterate but skilled.

"And when such skills are given an organisational structure on a co-operative basis a long term sustainable model assures success."

Related to this story is Kiva, which is a website that allows people to make micro loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. It's very interesting so i reccomend that you check it out.

[This story came via the F-Word Blog.]

Anne Begg's Week

2009-03-13T21:02:00.004Z

[Disclaimer]: Aberdeen University and its blog are not connected to Anne Begg MP in an official capacity. The writers of this blog are solely responsible for its contents, and therefore this blog may not reflect the views or positions of Anne Begg MP. For Anne Begg MP's official website please go to www.annebegg.com.

Week beginning 9th March – Engaging Women and Young People.

As I had spent a large part of the weekend in Dundee at the Scottish Labour Party Conference, I hadn't managed to write my article for the House magazine nor had I held my usual Friday surgery. Therefore, I was up at 6.30am on Monday morning to write my article and was in the Aberdeen office that morning for surgeries. I, therefore, didn't fly down to London until 3pm. The journey usually takes around 5 hours door to door, sometimes 4 and a half if everything goes smoothly. On Monday it took only 4 hours! Wish it was always so quick.

I arrived in the House in good time to attend a reception in the Speaker's house in memory of Lord Norman Hogg who died at the end of last year. This was followed by a dinner attended by his friends and colleagues from both the Commons and the Lords. Although Norman had been the MP for Cumbernauld, it was to his roots in Aberdeen he returned to when he entered the Lords. There was lots of laughter as everyone told their favourite story about him. I think he would have enjoyed it.

Tuesday was dominated by the Speaker's Conference. We took evidence in the morning from young people and those who aim to educate them about the workings of Parliament. The message came across that we needed to 'get out there' and engage with young people who are interested in issues, if not the formal aspects of political life. We did just that in the afternoon when we met up with some of the participants of a young leadership scheme in Bethnal Green called Uprising. It was great fun and really interesting from our point of view. There were more young women than men and almost all of them were from an ethnic minority. All were interested and engaged. Just the group of people we need to persuade that politics matters.

I was also on a charm offensive on Wednesday to persuade a group of women that they, too, should consider politics at an event in the House of Lords to mark International Women's Day. My speech seemed to go down well. Either that or they were just being nice.

Prime Minister's Questions was very subdued this week, partly because it was the first time David Cameron had been in the Chamber since the death of his son, but mostly due to the murders of 2 soldiers and a policeman in Northern Ireland over the weekend. PMQs is usually a bear pit, but the Chamber also seems to instinctively know when this would be inappropriate.

As a result it was agreement all round when the only Scottish Tory MP, David Mundell, and I appeared on the Holyrood Live programme on BBC2 that afternoon. It is quite hard doing a down the line interview from College Green across the road from Parliament with all the traffic rumbling past.

I had a meeting with a DWP Minister on Thursday about an amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill for grandparents when it returns to the Commons next week and Friday is shaping up to be a particularly busy day for constituent surgeries.

It was also great to have some constituents visiting me in Parliament this week. Not that I ever forget the great privilege it is to work in such a magnificent building. However, it is wonderful to experience it afresh through new eyes again every once in a while.

From Monday's entry it seems that it's not just students that have to get up early sometimes to catch up on late work.:P

Another good week when it comes to equal opportunities, encoraging women to stand for election is one very useful way to iron out the gender gap (more like chasm) in British politics. (A gap, I would add, that is not so evident at Co-op party meetings.)

Anne Begg's Week

2009-03-10T22:33:00.004Z

[Disclaimer]: Aberdeen University and its blog are not connected to Anne Begg MP in an official capacity. The writers of this blog are solely responsible for its contents, and therefore this blog may not reflect the views or positions of Anne Begg MP. For Anne Begg MP's official website please go to www.annebegg.com.

Week beginning 2nd March – Conference Week

Monday was dominated by media interest in the story of the Council's desperation for money that they are now sending in the debt collectors to an 80 year old partially sighted woman. Mrs. Still had come to me complaining she had been charged for a community alarm she didn't want and I was still in correspondence with the Council about her bill for £17.50 when the debt collectors called.

However, the big event of this week was the second public evidence session of the Speaker's Conference about political participation on Tuesday. While I enjoy being in the Chair it does curtail my opportunity to ask questions. We were taking evidence from Unlock Democracy, the TUC and EHRC. Things got lively when Unlock Democracy suggested candidates who didn't have the money to fight for selection to a seat should receive taxpayers’ money. While there is an issue about the cost involved in standing for selection and then election, the suggested solution didn't go down too well.

It was the Chair of the EHRC, Trevor Philips, who inevitably attracted media attention. That is probably why the sketch writer for the Daily Mail, Quentin Letts, turned up. As is his want, he wasn't very flattering in his column on Wednesday. The EHRC has come up with some controversial suggestions of its own such all ethnic minority shortlists and term limits for MPs. The thinking is that if MPs are only allowed to stand for 4 elections there will be a faster turn over which opens the doors for new candidates. However, this won't change anything if the political parties continue to choose white men as candidates.

Wednesday saw Harriet Harman stand in for the Prime Minster again at Question Time where she was quizzed by William Hague. I personally thought that she did quite well.

As Secretary of the All Party BBC group, I also hosted a breakfast on behalf of BBC Scotland for all Scottish MPs on Thursday. To my relief it was very well attended. Responsibility for broadcasting remains at Westminster, but there is definitely a Scottish dimension. That's why I also attended a meeting of the new Scottish Broadcasting All Party Group about the digital switchover.

After breakfast it was straight to the airport to get back to Aberdeen to meet some constituents and to attend a CBI dinner addressed by Jim Murphy, the Secretary of State for Scotland. It did mean that I missed the debate on International Women's Day, but unfortunately I can't do everything.

For a change, this Friday I traveled down to Dundee for Scottish Labour Party Conference. Always a good time to meet up with old friends.

Once again the council stoops to a new low in their desperate attempts to dig themselves out of the massive debt hole they are in.

Also again this week Anne has spent time on issues related to equality which is an area that I think Labour should spend more time. I have mentioned here before the shocking lack of representation in parliament of any group that is not white men. As Anne said the situation will not change until the political parties do select people other than white men.

The problem of the lack of diversity is also more than just an under representation of political groups. People derive impressions of individuals and groups when they see or interact with them. Having such a skewed legislature creates the impression that politics is for white men only. This has the potential to discourage people (especially children) who aren't in this group from becoming involved in politics which exacerbates and continues the problem, and fosters feelings of marginilisation which should be tackled.

The Peace Process is still strong in Northern Ireland

2009-03-09T11:19:00.003Z

Alistair Campbell has a blog post (if it has slipped down the front page by the time you read this it is the post on the 9th of March that I'm referring to.) concerning the current situation in Northern Ireland.

Despite the sad deaths of two servicemen recently, murdered by the extremist Real IRA terrorist organisation, his post is optimistic. He highlights the reactions of the main players, who universally condemned the killings, and argues that despite the tragic loss of two young lives the peace process will not be derailed.

Progress in Northern Ireland was the result of bold leadership, commitment from a lot of different people for often very different reasons, hard work and an attitude that says whatever is thrown at you, you just keep going. These latest murders go down as 'obstacles along the way' but what is clear from the way people have reacted is that the forces of good are continuing to prevail.

One point that I especially appreciated about the article which I have perhaps not thought about recently is the role that this Labour government had in getting us to this point. By continued and determined support of a fair and equitable peace process we have arrived at a situation which is more stable than in 1997 when Tony Blair first took office.

This peace is not just a result of British and Irish efforts, so I think we should also remember the great deal of input and help provided by the USA, especially during the Clinton administration.

Yet more good news for Fairtrade

2009-03-04T22:11:00.003Z

By way of Politics for People comes news that Cadbury is to switch its entire line of chocolate to Fairtrade. This is obviously not just good news to those of us who believe in co-operative values but also especially to the cocoa farmers of Ghana.

This is excellent news and goes to show the strength of fair trade. The extra income should be a boost for development in Ghana, and fair trade is the best way to ensure that money goes to the people that have worked for it, and who deserve their fair share.

The Fairtrade mark is aimed at securing a better deal for developing market commodity producers, and is used on a range of products such as coffee and bananas. UK Fairtrade sales reached an estimated retail value of 700 million pounds in 2008.

...

Ghana, the world's second-biggest producer of cocoa after the Ivory Coast, produces around 5,000 tonnes of Fairtrade cocoa, but the Cadbury deal should triple that to 15,000 tonnes annually. There are an estimated 700,000 cocoa farmers producing Ghana's second most valuable commodity after gold.

I see Ghana also produces gold, which makes it a doubly good week for them.

Anne Begg's Week

2009-03-02T18:45:00.003Z

Week beginning 23rd February – A Sad Week.

Before I left Aberdeen on Monday I had to do a lot of interviews about my claim that the Council were intending to force adults with a learning disability from their supported accommodation and into an Old Folks Home once they reach 65 in order to save money. I was finding it difficult to believe they were really planning to do this even although it is the clear interpretation of the documents I had seen. It was certainly what the relatives thought too. I genuinely believed that by the end of the day the Council would have rebutted my claim saying it wasn't true. No such luck. All we got was Liberal Democrat Councillor, Gordon Leslie, the social care spokesperson for the Council, admitting that they were going to do what I had alleged. And to make matters worse, he didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with it.

It is now the end of the week and the Council still haven't issued a formal statement, except for one about day care when I what I had raised was residential care. Surely they know the difference, don't they?

Anyway, I arrived in Westminster on Monday just in time to attend the weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party addressed by Gordon Brown. He was incredibly passionate and got a very warm reception.

On Tuesday, my Select Committee finalised our latest Report into Contract Commissioning and the Flexible New

Deal. It will be published next week but I can't say what its conclusions are otherwise I would be breaking Parliamentary rules and could be disciplined and thrown off the Committee.

Wednesday saw me and the other members of the Speaker’s Conference begin the task of interviewing people who might act as Advisers. Final interviews will be held next week and then we have to make a decision.

Later on that day, and for the first time in my life, I was interviewed for Pink Times on the work of the Speaker's Conference. Being Vice-chair of the Conference seems to be getting me into some unusual places.

At lunch I shared a table with Joan Bakewell, at an event held by the Employers Forum on Age. Joan is one of my icons and is looking remarkable for her age. Now she is in her mid 70's she has been appointed by government to speak for older people.

It may be well past 'Burns season', but Mr Speaker hosted his annual Burns Supper on Wednesday evening. And, yes, he does play the bagpipes!

Thursday afternoon was spent in Westminster Hall participating in a debate on the Work and Pensions Select Committee report on carers. Carers need respite, but that is being taken away from many in Aberdeen because the council is cutting the services that disabled people get. This will have a huge impact on carers who don't get a rest or a break to do the normal things in life.

Nevertheless, this week was clearly dominated by the tragic death of David Cameron's 6 year old son, Ivan. So instead of Prime Minister's questions we had very emotional statements from both the Prime Minister and William Hague. There were a lot of tears in people's eyes, including mine. Some things transcend Party politics.

I'm sure that I'm not the only person disturbed by the notion of the council taking vulnerable people away from specialist care in order to save money. It seems that no matter how low the council stoops, it can always get just a little bit worse.

Credit Crisis

2009-03-01T22:02:00.003Z

I found a very good video that attempts to explain the Credit Crisis.

Good News

2009-03-01T20:50:00.003Z

I'm sure I'm not the only person who has encountered ethical issues when purchasing ingots of gold. How do you know that your gold is ethically sourced? Well now you can know. There is now Fairtrade Gold [From Politics for People].

On a serious note it does seem like a good thing:

..."Gold miners have jobs that are among the most arduous in the world. They spend long hours underground with little or no safety equipment, working with poisons such as cyanide and hewing the precious metal out of the ground for wealthy Westerners."

The international Fairtrade movement is working with 1,000 small artisanal miners in South America, with the intention of having it available for sale later this year. Supporting the miners won't just improve their income, health and conditions. The partners also intend to reduce the polluting impact of mining.

Curfew in Aberdeen?

2009-02-27T17:57:00.003Z

I received an email today regarding an issue previously covered by the Gaudie that may interest some of our readers.

It is the prospect of a "curfew" on pubs and clubs in Aberdeen. It would entail a mandatory 12:30 a.m. cut-off for entry into any drinking establishment.

Personally I don't see what the fuss is about, having to be in a club by half twelve is hardly that much of a burden. Where I live in the North East of England a lot of pubs are shut by 11 pm, and usually at the latest 1 am; so if you wanted to go to a night club you'd probably be in one by that time anyway.

But there are those who disagree and think that it will discourage young people from coming to Aberdeen, and staying in the city.

Don't let Aberdeen City Council Licensing Board hit the final nail in Aberdeen's coffin by creating a 12.30am curfew!

This will not only affect businesses like mine, but the city and general public as a whole. A thriving late night economy creates a healthy daytime economy. It's true, young people like to shop...and go out.

If we don't try and prevent this 12.30am curfew from going ahead, in September this year, we WILL be told what time we can and cannot go out. This also means, if you finish work late then you won't be allowed to meet friends in a bar or club. So all you restaurant staff and bar staff - it'll be home to bed at the back of midnight as the queues to get in anywhere will be massive by the time you get out of work.

Not exactly an attractive prospect for anyone under the age of 30. Students (we love to hate em, but with 35,000 of them, they do make up a huge % of our economy) will choose other more exciting cities to study, where they are able to go out to meet friends after their bar shift.

So, far less young people moving to the city, more young people leaving the city = less young people contributing to the economy. Which in a nutshell means the more interesting shops closing, independent bars and music venues closing, which in turn results in a downward spiral of gloominess.

Aberdeen is already a vunerable city, with little appeal for younger people. We need to be moving forward, not backwards!

There are other ways to tackle late night crime and drunkenness (read more on the facebook page)...in the meantime, unless we all want to like in a city that's populated by only narrow minded people who're happy with a just after midnight curfew, less choice in the type of shops or restaurants we like and only a small selection of multi national pub and club chains, and zero chance of the café culture the council so loves to hark on about, then sign the online petition here!

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-1230am-curfew-in-aberdeen.html

Thanks folks!

Amanda

Thoughts?

A better way...?

2009-02-27T17:48:00.003Z

This is pretty much just a cross post from Politics for People, they have posted an excerpt from an interview that Sophi Tranchell, the boss of Divine Chocolate had with Real Business. In which she discussed the future of business and the advantages of a co-operative system.

On Politics for People they highlighted on quote regarding the construction of Heathrow's Terminal 5 as compared to a major renovation of a John Lewis store:

"I remember when John Lewis completed a £100m refurbishment of its landmark Sloane Square store, which involved dropping in a new escalator system into the building through the roof. Not only did the retailer keep the store open during trading hours, but it made more money that year than the previous year. Why did that work while projects such as Terminal Five were such utter disasters? It was because every employee in that store wanted it to work; they’d all been consulted and informed. And they knew that if the company performed well, they’d do well."

It is quite a striking contrast, and the difference in the two models is perhaps better summed up by another comment she made about the Co-operative business model as a whole:

"The dominant model of business over the past ten years clearly hasn’t worked,"

...

"So what model does work? While banks such as Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds have been crippled in this climate, ethical banks like The Co-operative or Triodos are doing just fine. While retails such as Zavi and Whittard of Chelsea were hurled into administration, employee-owned companies such as John Lewis, Tullis Russell and Loch Fyne are going great guns.

If you judge success as being based simply on profit, as has been the prevailing practice of most businesses, the last couple of years has shown the strength and resilience of the Co-operative business model. When you put on top of that the ethical practices and fair profit distribution of co-operatives their superiority as a business model becomes clear.

"The Co-op a brief history"

2009-02-26T17:39:00.000Z

Over at A Comrade in Ellon our Club Secretary has posted the first (of possibly many) of a series of posts concerning the Co-operative Party. So if you want to learn more about the history of the Co-operative movement you should go and check it out.

A note from the Labour Club

2009-02-25T14:52:00.002Z

As you will have seen in the post directly under this one that the Cameron family has today suffered a loss that no family should, that of a child and much loved brother.

May I on behalf of the Aberdeen University Labour Club send our condolences to the Cameron family and say that today they are in our thoughts.

Peter Smyth
Secretary

Some sad news

2009-02-25T11:22:00.002Z

From the BBC:

Conservative leader David Cameron's eldest son Ivan has died in hospital.

The six-year-old, who had cerebral palsy and epilepsy, became ill overnight and was taken to St Mary's hospital where he died early Wednesday.

Mr Cameron, who described Ivan as "wonderful", and wife Samantha have two younger children, Nancy and Arthur.

...

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he and his wife Sarah were "very saddened" about Ivan's death.

In a statement, Mr Brown said: "We have sent our condolences to David and Samantha. The death of a child is a loss no parent should have to bear.

"I know Ivan was a child who brought joy to all those who knew him and his was a life surrounded by love.

"The thoughts and prayers of the whole country are with David, Samantha and their family."

Fairtrade and pickets on campus

2009-02-23T13:08:00.002Z

Today is the first day of Fairtrade Fortnight, the yearly celebration and campaign to highlight fairtrade in the UK.

The campaign is supported by Oxfam, Save the Children Fund and a wide range of British NGO's as well as Sainsbury, Waitrose and the Co-op to name 3 supermarkets out of many.

For more info about fairtrade then please go to the fairtrade foundation and learn more about what the campaign is about.

So why am i posting a blog here about fairtrade, the answer to that is simple Last week on the University Campus the Co-operative held an event about bees, yes i did say bees, it was linked to the launch of the new Co-operative advert. So it was not the most controversial of events you would think.

Then it came as a bit of a surprise to be told by a good source that their was a small peaceful demonstration against the co-op selling Israeli goods.

Now im posting this here because I want to say to those who protested, their are many of us who share your views and there are many who don't but if you are going to protest outside an event then please get your facts right and don't just think because they are a large retailer that they are the same as a tesco or a walmart.

The Co-operative is different, its member owned and it is member led. i myself have been an active member of an area committee part of the democratic structure of the Co-op for a number of years and have just been a candidate in one of the largest participatory election outside of national elections for the Government.

It is an organisation wish was at the vanguard of the campaign for workers rights, women's rights, environmental protection and indeed was the only UK supermarket to actively boycott South African goods during Apartheid, so its record is a proud one.

indeed this week it has just announced the launch of the first fairtrade olive oil from Palestine, something they can quite rightly be proud off.

So friends yes campaign, yes picket and yes work to achieve the boycott you want but please do some research first and choose your targets a hell of a lot better than you did on this one.

A message to Go4th with...

2009-02-21T19:58:00.000Z

Here via facebook is a message from Alistair Campbell:

Dear Go Fourth

I’m in Norwich to see Burnley play Norwich City at Carrow Road.

We’re unbeaten in our last five matches – won three, drawn two – so I’m optimistic of a good result for the Clarets against the Canaries. After all, we’re in a good position for the play-offs and we’ve also had good cup runs this season, beating Chelsea, Fulham and Arsenal in the Carling Cup, before being (unjustly) knocked out by Spurs after playing our hearts out. Next month we play Arsenal again at the Emirates, having got to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

You may be wondering why I’m telling you how Burnley are doing right now.

I want to draw a comparison between football and politics. If the odds are steeply against you, if everybody seems to think the team opposing you are more likely to win, if their supporters in the away end are taunting your team and talking your manager, your players and you and your fellow supporters down, just look around you and reflect on a few things:

Teams can win against the odds. Burnley proves odds are wrong, time and again.

Likelihoods are not certainties. Things can change in 90 minutes, just as things can change from one game to another, or one season to the next.

Taunts are noise. Ignore them.

If people want only to talk down your team, or the town or city it’s at the heart of, that’s because they have nothing else to offer. As the old saying goes, the empty vessel makes the most noise. The Tories are an empty vessel.

In politics, as in football, confidence is key. Optimism is also key, and so is focus. You won’t enthuse a voter, or win over a new supporter for your team, unless you are confident, optimistic and focused, even when the polls - or the goals – are not in your favour.

In politics, as in football, unexpected things happen. Things can turn round in your team’s favour in moments. But the single biggest factor in keeping players’ spirits up during a tough match is the supporters.

Without vocal support, the players wouldn’t be able to raise their game and pull off those sudden, brilliant things they sometimes do to retrieve a situation and win by the final whistle.

Anyway, talking of whistles, it’s time to blow mine and kick off your to-do list this week.

1. I’m guest editing the New Statesman in March. I want your ideas for a piece on what should be in the next manifesto – see my blog and leave your comments:

http://www.alastaircampbell.org/blog.php?id=18

2. Set aside an hour this week to do some phoning on Labour’s fantastic new system:

http://www.gofourth.co.uk/hello_love

3. First talking point: ask people you meet what they think of the Tories being substantially funded by bankers.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/02/16/probe-shows-tories-in-the-pocket-of-bankers-exclusive-115875-21127412/

4. Second talking point: Ask them what they think of JP’s campaign to stop bankers getting huge bonuses.

http://www.gofourth.co.uk/its_a_93_victory_for_people_power

5. Catch up with what’s happening in local politics via your local paper. Many of them now have websites.[Edit: e.g. Anne Begg] If your local Labour politicians are being attacked, write a letter to the paper to support them.

I said I’d report back on the five tasks you all suggested for me, and which I’ll be getting stuck into in the week ahead.

So far, the ones I’ve chosen are:

1. Get a souvenir programme signed by Alex Ferguson for a Labour fundraiser.

2. Write a handy guide about David Cameron, for use on the doorstep.

3. Write a handy guide about the Lib Dems, for use on the doorstep.

4. Start planning a Go Fourth rally and events for Labour Party conference.

5. Do two hours of telephone canvassing for marginal constituencies.

There’s one more.

6. Convince Mark Bennett, who is a Labour councillor in Lambeth as well as a Go Fourth organiser, to shave his beard off. This is an ongoing campaign and has even inspired a Facebook group here:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=78353060960&ref=ts

That’s all for now. We’ve all got our to-do lists for the week ahead. Remember – confidence, optimism and focus.

Yours Going Fourth

Alastair

www.alastaircampbell.org
www.gofourth.co.uk

I like the football analogy he cooked up. A lot of the criticism we've received lately as a party has nothing to do with our policies, but is caused by the desire of people to have someone to blame for the current problems. Since we're in power a lot of people have targeted Labour for criticism, this despite the fact that a Tory government would be facing the same problems (and probably doing nothing to alleviate the unemployment and financial insecurity caused by them), and that every the government of every other large economy followed in Gordon Brown's footsteps to a large degree. Gordon Brown did a great job as Chancellor, and he's taken firm and decisive action throughout this period of financial instability. We must not let people forget that.

Labour have been taking a lot of flak which I think is important to counter. A large deal of criticism is coming directly or indirectly from the tabloids, who are ardently anti-Labour. What the tabloids do best is repeating a meme or story, recently a lot of anti-Brown tripe, until it becomes so prolific that it seems true (A tactic much admired by one Joseph Goebbels). By repeating anti-Brown stories they create an impression of popularity which feeds into the opinion of the readers of the tabloids. Unfortunately a large number of people are informed about politics by reading tabloids, so this effect can be very damaging to our election chances. For this reason I think we should do as much as we can to campaign for a fourth term and to follow Alistair's five suggestions:

1. I’m guest editing the New Statesman in March. I want your ideas for a piece on what should be in the next manifesto – see my blog and leave your comments:

http://www.alastaircampbell.org/blog.php?id=18

2. Set aside an hour this week to do some phoning on Labour’s fantastic new system:

http://www.gofourth.co.uk/hello_love

3. First talking point: ask people you meet what they think of the Tories being substantially funded by bankers.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/02/16/probe-shows-tories-in-the-pocket-of-bankers-exclusive-115875-21127412/

4. Second talking point: Ask them what they think of JP’s campaign to stop bankers getting huge bonuses.

http://www.gofourth.co.uk/its_a_93_victory_for_people_power

5. Catch up with what’s happening in local politics via your local paper. Many of them now have websites.[Edit: e.g. Anne Begg] If your local Labour politicians are being attacked, write a letter to the paper to support them.

I think skewered is the right word...

2009-02-20T19:44:00.004Z

I think skewered is the right word for what Scottish Unionist has done to the SNP in two blog posts today.

The first, "Pan-unionist alliance", lines up quotes from Iain Gray (Leader, Scottish Labour), Murdo Fraser (Deputy Leader, Scottish Conservatives) and Tavish Scott (Leader, Scottish Liberal Democrats) laying bare Alex Salmond and his party for what they are, posturing blow hards.

The second has the pretty self-explanatory title "Hypocrisy, thy name is Salmond". It includes this perceptive quote from George Orwell.

“All nationalists have the power of not seeing resemblances between similar sets of facts ... Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits but according to who does them.”

Since I'm a shameless promoter of Labour bloggers I'll round off this post by encouraging anyone interested in astute and intelligent political analysis* to head over and check out Scottish Unionist.

*[If you don't like astute and intelligent analysis try an SNP blog.]

Some American racism this time...

2009-02-18T22:25:00.006Z

Courtesy of many blogs [Feministing, The Questionable Authority, Feministe, Enemy Combatant Trailmix Appreciation Club, Shakesville] comes this delightful cartoon from the New York Post:

Really, New York Post? You really want to suggest that a chimp wrote the stimulus bill? The stimulus bill that is widely viewed as President Obama's. Is there really no-one working for you that saw a problem with this cartoon?

Really?

It seems the Beeb prefers pictures of white people...

2009-02-18T15:31:00.005Z

Whilst browsing the football news on the BBC's website I noticed a story on the main football page. The headline is (or was depending on when you're reading this) "From turnstile to touchline - club gets female manager". Next to it was a picture of a woman:

However, anyone clicking the link will be presented with an altogether different image:

That is an actual picture of the woman featured in the article, the white woman that the BBC decided to use to lead the article is, as the caption reads "Cherie Lunghi played a female manager in TV drama The Manageress".

I find it troubling that the BBC has decided that the image that they will use to promote an article about a woman of colour taking charge of a football team on the football homepage is that of a white person only tenuously linked to the story. What message does this send to people reading it, a white person is a better hook for an article?

Really BBC, a white actor is more relevant than the person the story is about? Shame on you.

Now there may be those saying that I'm reading too much into this, but before you say it answer one question for me. Why did they use the picture of a white person when a picture of a person of colour would have been so much more relevant?

Addendum:[On a tangential note it was just last week that the live coverage of the second test between England and the West Indies included this line:

Sounds like a right shambles out in Antigua - fans still queuing down the street, sand all over the shop, scoreboards rubbered, people strolling in front of the sight-screens. These boys couldn't run a bath.

{To put it into context for those who don't understand what the problem is here are a couple of articles about it. (Well sort of about it.)}

I used the BBC's complaints service to voice my opinion to them. After which I received an apology and the assurance that my complaint was noted and the author had been reminded to be careful about what they say. It might not actually achieve anything but I think it's important to at least say something.]

Anne Begg's Week

2009-02-17T17:26:00.002Z

Week beginning 9th February – Snow gone: London working again!

(Apologies for the delay in posting this week’s instalment but my computer decided to switch itself off just as I was typing it up!)

It has been one of those weeks where I seem to have either been in meetings or attending events all week and have spent little time in the Chamber or in the office clearing the mountain of paperwork and e-mails that seem to accumulate. I've had two meetings of my Select Committee; one meeting of the Speaker's Conference; chaired a European Standing Committee on Asylum this week; had a meeting with Swedish MPs to discuss Welfare Reform; and attended a summit of elected Labour women.

On Monday I also hosted the annual reception of the All Party Offshore Oil and Gas group which was attended by many of the big names from the industry. Perhaps unsurprisingly quite a few were from Aberdeen. It was the first outing of the new Secretary of State at the Department for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband MP, who addressed the gathering. I was just introducing him when the division bells began to ring and all the MPs had to troop off to vote. However, 15 minutes later we were back and the introduction could continue.

Tuesday seemed to be taken up entirely by meetings, and on Wednesday, while my colleagues all trouped off to the Channel 4 headquarters for their Parliamentary Awards; I attended a working dinner on rare diseases. While health may generally be a devolved issue, there are certain things that would be much better delivered as part of a UK-wide strategy and rare diseases policy is one of them. It looks like there is a lot of campaigning ahead to get a UK framework agreed.

Thursday in Westminster was relatively quiet apart from the meeting with the Swedish delegation but Friday in the constituency was even busier than normal as I gave a talk to politics students at RGU about the role of an MP, had a meeting with the new Chief Executive of Aberdeen City Council, and spent the afternoon having constituent surgeries.

My next Week in Westminster will be coming to you from Aberdeen as the week beginning 16th February is a constituency recess week.

A Little Bit of History

2009-02-16T22:06:00.002Z

A few months ago the decision was taken to set up a blog for the Labour Club, to allow us to talk about events of the day and to highlight things that we thought were important.

The decision to do it took place while returning from a days campaigning in the Glenrothes by-election (for the record we won that one with an increased majority, and a plan was put in place and today we have just celebrated our 4000th visitor, maybe not the biggest blog in the country but we have a growing number of fans and people who like to comment.

So to everyone who has contributed a big massive thanks and to the members of the club who have written entries well done folks.

Keep up the good job.

Action Aid campaign on HIV and violence against women

2009-02-16T20:49:00.003Z

Courtesy of the F Word is news of a campaign by the charity ActionAid to highlight the link between sexual violence against women and the spread of HIV/AIDS, and to move on from acknowledging this link to doing something about it. I've highlighted the most shocking statistics:

A girl born in South Africa has a 50% chance of being raped* . Combine this with the number of South Africans living with HIV - currently more than 5 million - and the risk of HIV infection is extremely high.
Across the world, the threat of violence prevents women from refusing sex or insisting on the use of condoms, even when they suspect their partners are HIV-positive. Many women also face violence and abandonment on disclosure of a HIV positive diagnosis.

The UK government has just launched a seven year strategy for tackling AIDS in developing countries. In that strategy, they acknowledged that widespread violence against women increases their risk of HIV infection, but they haven’t said what they’re going to do about it. Now it’s time to move them from acknowledgement to action, and you can help.

ActionAid wants to collect 2,876 shoes, one for every woman who contracts HIV around the world each day. These will be developed into a sculpture which we will present to the government on International Women’s Day in March, to highlight both the scale of the problem and the numbers of people who are concerned.

We urgently need your help to reach our target by International Women’s Day. Take part online and send it to all your friends and family.

Put your foot down on violence against women and help to end HIV and AIDS.

*[From ActionAid's website: A girl born in South Africa has a higher chance of being raped than of learning to read. With 5 million South Africans living with HIV the risk of HIV infection for women is extremely high.]

To put that infection rate in perspective the female population of Aberdeen is approximately 100,000, that's approximately how many women are infected with HIV every 35 days worldwide. A large proportion of the rate to female dis-empowerment. Whether it be through the prevalence of sexual violence or a lack of control over prophylactic measures, especially in particularly patriarchal societies in which men refuse to wear condoms and women feel unable to insist.

ActionAid's self-described purpose is an extremely positive one; long term development is just as important (if not more so) as short term alleviation of suffering when it comes to tackling the effects of poverty.

ActionAid doesn't just tackle the effects of poverty.We also change what keeps people poor.

ActionAid improves people’s lives every day. But we know that’s not enough. So we work relentlessly to change whatever is keeping them trapped in poverty.This means we have a better chance of ending poverty for good.

You can sign their petition and send a virtual shoe here.

The Lloyds bonuses are so wrong that even Cameron realises it

2009-02-15T19:00:00.000Z

From the BBC:

Giving bonuses to executives at Lloyds Bank would be "completely wrong", Tory leader David Cameron has said.

Payments totalling £120m are reportedly to go to workers at Lloyds - which is 43% state-owned - despite record losses at the bank's subsidiary HBOS.

Well done David you've managed to come to the conclusion that John Prescott came to weeks ago, and as can be seen in the BBC article he's hardly the only person to have beaten Cameron to the punch:

Last week Chancellor Alistair Darling told RBS failure should not be rewarded with huge bonuses

[If you go to the article there's an embedded video showing an interview with Cameron. I don't know if you actually want to watch it. Personally I can't stand listening to David Cameron, even when he's pretending to care.]

What we can learn from Wales

2009-02-13T22:19:00.003Z

Representation lies at the heart of democracy. However not all groups are equally represented. This impacts negatively on these groups as one of the best ways to ensure that the rights of all people are protected, and that their concerns and needs are dealt with is to ensure that they are properly represented in the legislative and executive bodies of the country in which they live. Christine Chapman has an article up at LabourList concerning the Welsh Assembly's gender balance.

The Welsh Assembly is a leader amongst legislatures in terms of its gender balance, not just in the UK, or in Europe but across the world. When the first Assembly was elected in 1999, 24 of the 60 members were women. At the 2003 election the record was even better with equal numbers of men and women being elected, and a 2006 by-election led to a simple majority. All Welsh Assembly Government Cabinets have had excellent ratios of women to men. In December 2008, Kirsty Williams was elected as the first female leader of a Welsh political party. As a comparison, women make up just under 20% of MPs at Westminster.

In the article she summarises some of the reasons why an equal gender balance is a positive thing, and why working to achieve is worthwhile:

research showed that the majority of all contributions on equal pay, domestic abuse and the need for better childcare were by women Assembly Members. Of course these are often dismissed as “women’s issues”, but they are problems that affect men and women in every community the length and breadth of Wales.

Equality of representation is vital, not simply for numerical reasons, but because the involvement of women within the political process can lead to better politics and governance even in what is often regarded as traditionally “male” areas such as the economy. Support for this comes from some unlikely quarters. The centre-right Industry Minister of the Norwegian Government introduced a quota to ensure that a minimum of 40% of the membership boards of all private companies were women, arguing that quotas make sound economic sense. The investment company Goldman Sachs published a paper in 2007 arguing that the reduction of gender inequality would increase economic growth. The World Bank suggests that poverty cannot be eradicated unless parity of gender is achieved.

I would add to those the more ideological motivations of fairness and equality demand an equal gender balance. [And not just equality based on gender; only 2 black women and no Asian women at all, have ever been MPs in Britain. I don't think that those statistics are acceptable.]

Labour has done some work towards achieving a fair balance; "Labour’s policy of “twinning” led to the excellent gender parity that followed the 1999 election", but others have not; "Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have yet to adopt a policy of guaranteeing female candidates, and only one of the twelve Conservative AMs is a woman". However the balance in the House of Commons is heavily skewed towards men.

At the General Election of May 2005 128 women were elected as Members of Parliament, the highest number ever with one in five MPs now a woman, since that time due to by-election results that number has reduced to 125. Of these MPs, 95 are Labour, 17 Conservative, 9 Liberal Democrat, 1 Democratic Unionist, 1 Sinn Fein, 1 Ulster Unionist and 1 Independent
Labour.

The first sentence says a lot about the state of equality in modern Britain, and it's not good. That 1/5 of MPs being female represented a record high is quite frankly pitiful. Even Labour's 76% (95 out of 125) share is well short of the approximately 177 (50.5% of Labour's 350 MPs) there would be if there was equal representation.

As a party we still have to do a lot of work to correct this. [Other parties need to do even more. But I care more about Labour, and I think we should hold ourself to a higher standard than the Tory Party does for itself.] By rectifying this inequality in government we can perhaps even achieve a lot in ironing out the inequalities in society as a whole as well.

The Fawcett Society is a wonderful organisation that works to promote gender equality in the UK.

I personally believe that we all have an ethical and moral obligation follow the example of the Welsh Assembly in ensuring equality in government, in order that we can move toward a better and fairer Britain which has a far more representative Parliament. After all representing the public is what MPs are meant to do.

Great Minds Think Alike

2009-02-11T17:50:00.002Z

It seems that I was beaten by one minute on posting about the LIT failure. Great minds think alike and there are no greater minds than that of Aberdeen University Labour Club. :D

Wordle

2009-02-11T17:46:00.004Z

Just for a bit of fun I thought i'd introduce you readers to Wordle. It's an online program that can scan text (such as a blog) and make a tag cloud based on which words are used the most. Here's the tag cloud for this blog:

(Click on it to see a better quality version)

I notice that the largest word is "Public". I think that is a suitable representation of Labour's concerns.

What do people think? (I should point that it seems that the tag cloud is only for the first page of the Blog)

[And if you're reading this Yousuf, I've rumbled your secret; you're secretly a nationalist. :P]

Council Tax to be retained- Broken Promise No 789766

2009-02-11T17:21:00.005Z

" We will scrap the Unfair council tax"

Another SNP election promise was broken today with the news that there will be no bill put forward for a Local Income Tax. In this embarrasing climbdown Cabinet Finance Secretary John Swinney announced to Parliament that due to lack of support the plans would not be brought forward.

Labour finance Spokesman Andy Kerr described it as "the biggest retreat in the history of the parliament".

The SNP once more demonstrate that their election manifesto was nothing short of misguided hot air with no workable policies. The fact that local councils face more cuts due to the "historic concordat" should also be duly noted. In a time of bleak economic uncertainty it is frustrating to realise that those in power in Edinburgh are incredibly out of their depth.

We as a party should make sure that the Scottish people are aware how acute the shambles this administration is causing but also take the initative. We have promised to reform the council tax, now with the Nats policy in tatters, is the time to explain exactly how we are going to do that. Fair, workable policies for everyone, not a string of poorly thought out, headline grabbing promises which were always made to be broken.

SNP Lose again

2009-02-11T17:20:00.002Z

I have just logged on to the computer and went and read the news as i normally do and lo and behold I find a story of another SNP policy dumped, only this time its the cornerstone to their domestic policy.

As you see here they have decided to drop the proposals to introduced a local income tax, the CBI, the FSB, The STUC and not forgetting the Labour Party told them it would be madness to introduce but they said they would do it. The tories joined labour and made it almost impossible to get it through parliament, but still they went on so what changed.

Maybe it was the fact that they lost on the budget recently or maybe the rising legal arguments that it was actually illegal to set a tax at national level as that is not then local and therefore against the Scotland act.

I dont care what changed all I know is that it has and the mad idea of a local income tax set nationally is gone hopefully for good.

A message to Australian Firefighters

2009-02-11T11:22:00.003Z

I saw this today and a big thanks to John for posting it. Its a simple message of thanks to the men and women who at this moment are putting their lifes at risk to save others.

Statement by David Carey State Public service union leader - Australia. Victoria Fire Tragedy

We are humbled by the dedication of our public sector colleagues in the face Victoria's tragedy.Working through extremes, that would be unimaginable in most of our working lives, our friends and colleagues and public workers are working to save, protect and preserve vital public services.

Fighting the terror of the fires.They are working to heal and counsel the injured and bereaved. They are feeding and clothing the people who are displaced. They are housing thousands who have lost homes.

They are being literal hero's - there is no other word- in the face of horror and trauma on a scale never seen in Australia. Our movement , the trade union movement, tens of thousands of other public sector workers and the whole community thank you and praise you.You are emblems of the selflessness and community we aspire to be.

"We are with you, in our prayers for your safety, our hope for your recovery. You are making unbelievable sacrifices and our certain knowledge is by your deeds our faith in human decency is again proved. While many public workers have suffered the worst possible personal loss themselves they work on.

You are our colleagues and friends. We hope our thoughts for you are some comfort.

When i like many this week watched the pictures of events in Australia I thanked god that for the firemen and women as my brother and his family live in australia.

So it is with pleasure that I add this club and blog to the role ofthose who say thank you for doing your job so well.

Do you love campaigning?

2009-02-10T23:12:00.004Z

ICampaigining

If the answer is yes you may be interested in going out leafleting this Saturday on behalf of Anne Begg, the MP for Aberdeen South.

Anne Begg will be organising a leafleting session to deliver the last of her Council Cuts Surveys in the Ferryhill area on Saturday 14th February.

If you can make it along, everyone will be meeting up outside the Ferryhill House Hotel at 10.30am, with the session probably taking no longer than an hour.

Lastly, Anne would just like to thank everyone that has come out and helped deliver these surveys over the previous weeks and months. Anne has had a really strong response from them, which has made all the hard work worthwhile.

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Scottish coastline path

2009-02-10T18:20:00.003Z

There is a BBC story about a plan proposed by an SNP MSP to build a coastal path that goes all the way along Scotland's coast.

Plans for a long-distance path around the nation's entire coastline are to be discussed in the Scottish Parliament.

South of Scotland MSP Alasdair Morgan said many coastal walks already existed and these could be joined together to form one route around the country.

He said the path could start near Gretna and follow the shoreline all the way round to near Berwick.

Mr Morgan said he believed the project would provide a valuable tourism boost for the nation as a whole.

...

He said: "I do not know how long it would take somebody to walk the entire distance.

"I am sure that, if marketed effectively, it would be a valuable way of attracting people who want to try something different and who enjoy seeing Scotland from a different perspective.

"That is not to say that people would attempt the entire distance, although I suspect it could be done in stages, in the same way as people climb the Munros."

I can certainly see the merits of the idea; Scotland certainly has some beautiful coastlines, publicising and making them more accessible is certainly something I can embrace. Added to that the idea of being able to walk to whole length of the coast appeals to me.

However there seem to be a lot of details that need to be ironed out. To pick obvious examples there's the cost, especially the cost of building and maintaining paths in the most inaccessible parts of the coast. There may also be environmental impacts on delicate ecosystems, the building of the path and foot traffic may be damaging to local wildlife.

If those problems can be overcome I will certainly welcome this new and easy way to explore the beautiful country in which I live.

200 year old scientist turns down Rectorship

2009-02-09T18:04:00.004Z

As you may or may not know this year is the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. The University of Aberdeen is holding a series of events to celebrate the work of Charles Darwin and science in general.

[You can see a flyer for the events here.]

Related to this is a story I found on the BBC's website. Apparently Charles Darwin was offered the position of rector at the University:

Scientist Charles Darwin could have been a rector at the University of Aberdeen, it has been revealed.

Darwin, who introduced the theory of natural selection to explain evolution, was offered the position in 1872.

However he declined the post in a letter, citing the "status of my health" as the reason.

Scientist and philosopher Thomas Huxley, who was a friend of Darwin and a strong supporter of his theory of evolution, accepted the position.

Darwin circumnavigated the globe in the 1830s.

His book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life was published in 1859.

The Aberdeen connection has been revealed as the university launches a series of events to commemorate Darwin's life and work, beginning with celebrations to mark what would have been his 200th birthday on Thursday.

Dr Stuart Piertney, senior lecturer in evolutionary biology at the University of Aberdeen, said: "Darwin was invited to take on the post of rector by John Smith Craig, an undergraduate student studying medicine in 1872 - the same year the sixth edition of his most significant work The Origin of Species was published."

"Darwin replied by letter to say that whilst he was very honoured to be asked, his ill health would make it impossible for him to accept.

I think it's a shame that we missed out on having such a prestigious scientist as rector.

It's important that occasions such as this anniversary are used to celebrate and highlight the work done by scientists around the world to progress human understanding and to improve the human condition. Especially in the face of religious ideologues who wish to disrupt and overturn science because it clashes with what they want to be true.

No Ifs, No Buts, Give up the Bonus

2009-02-08T14:30:00.001Z

The Go4th campaign to win Labour a fourth term has a new press release from John Prescott on the huge bonuses that certain banks want to pay out to their executives despite having to be bailed out at the taxpayer's expense:

Prescott launches online grassroots campaign to stop bank bonuses

John Prescott today (Sunday Feb 8th) called on people to join him in an online grassroots campaign to stop RBS and other banks that have been bailed out by the Government giving out bonuses.

Speaking to supporters at a rally in Manchester this morning he warned RBS, which is 68% owned by the Government: "We are all shareholders now and the shareholders demand you give up the bonus."

Mr Prescott is using Facebook to mobilise people into showing their anger against the bailed out banks. He already has more than 2,000 people signed up to his on going campaign called 'No Ifs No Buts, Pass On The Cut."

The campaign's aims were to get banks to pass on the interest rate cuts to customers and to turn the Post Office into a People's Bank.

Now the campaign is focusing on stopping the bonuses.

Mr Prescott is calling on people to send in their case studies and campaign ideas to his Facebook group No Ifs No Buts, to stop the bonuses.

Today in a speech to campaign supporters in Manchester Town Hall he called on those angry with proposed bonuses to join him in the fight.

He said: "This week President Obama made it clear to the US banks that it was the taxpayer that saved them. Some of you may have read my recent blog where I showed great admiration in him standing up to the bankers and proposing the executive pay cap.

"He has also been very successful in creating an online army to support his fiscal stimulus package through Congress - and we should use that people power here.

"We must utilise these same online grassroots tactics to force these greedy and indifferent banks that the taxpayer bailled out to give up their bonuses.

"We know that RBS, in which we own 68% of the shares after giving them £20billion of our money , is considering handing out £1b of it in bonuses to their bankers and traders. This is morally and economically outrageous.

"This is raw capitalism and this country rejects it. We don't want to hear that RBS has to pay out the bonuses because of 'contractual obligations.' If we hadn't bailed them out to save homeowners and businesses, their contracts would be worth nothing as they'd be out of work.

"So I'm calling on everyone who feels outraged by this to join me in the battle. It doesn't matter about what party you support, let's join together and stop this payout.

" We are all shareholders now and we the shareholders demand RBS give up the bonus. No Ifs, No Buts."

People are being encoraged to leave their support on the campaign Facebook page - No Ifs No Buts at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=41481071905 or leave comments at www.gofourth.co.uk

I'm going to higlight one particular excerpt of that (emphasis mine):

"We know that RBS, in which we own 68% of the shares after giving them £20billion of our money , is considering handing out £1b of it in bonuses to their bankers and traders. This is morally and economically outrageous.

That's right, RBS wants to give £1,000,000,000 of our money to the very same people whose reckless trading to led to us having to bail them out in the first place.

Scottish Labour Students' Campaign

2009-02-07T22:00:00.001Z

This is just a short post to note that at today's Scottish Labour Students' Council Meeting it was resolved that the priority campaign for 2009 will be entitled:

"The Campaign to End Student Poverty - A Response to the Scottish Government's [Higher Education] Support Review"

Which, briefly, is a campaign based on the belief that it is possible to secure a minimum income of £7,000 a year for students in Scotland. And that students should not have to live on the cusp of poverty, but should, through governmental support, be able to maintain a standard of "socially acceptable living" in line with research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

More details will be published as they arise. Also I would like to note that the Scottish Labour Students website is expected to be online in the not too distant future.

Anne Begg's Week

2009-02-06T15:14:00.002Z

[Disclaimer]: Aberdeen University and its blog are not connected to Anne Begg MP in an official capacity. The writers of this blog are solely responsible for its contents, and therefore this blog may not reflect the views or positions of Anne Begg MP. For Anne Begg MP's offical website please go to www.annebegg.com.

Bad weather was the theme of Anne's Week in Westminster this week. Hopefully the snow that has been causing chaos elsewhere will not show up in Aberdeen now. I'm certainly not loooking forward to the walk to the station to get a train through the snow that's falling and it's not even that bad yet. Plus as attractive as the idea of cancelled lectures is the reality of having to catch up with missed material is not so appealing. So here's hoping for a bit of warm weather.

Week beginning 2nd Feb - Snow, snow and more snow.

They say it was the worst snow in London for 16 years and I would not surprise me if this was the case. It took me the whole of Monday to get down to London. Heathrow was effectively closed so I had to fly into Gatwick and pray that the Gatwick Express was running. Luckily by 9pm there was a skeleton service but it hadn't been running at all earlier in the day.

As a result of the snow, I missed a meeting of my Select Committee which took place on Monday afternoon, and the 2nd evidence session of the Speaker's Conference on Tuesday was cancelled as some of the witnesses couldn't get in.

The only advantage to all this was I reached the bottom of my reading pile. I don't think I have ever managed that before!

The Speaker didn’t reach my question during Scottish Questions on Wednesday, but at Business Questions on Thursday I did get the chance to raise the difficulties being faced by businesses in my constituency due to the reluctance of banks to lend them money.

The icing on the top of a frustrating week was when I arrived home at 11 pm on Thursday night to discover the wheelchair carrier on my car didn’t work, leaving me stranded. My grateful thanks go to the neighbour who got out of bed to get my spare wheelchair out of the house (you know who you are).

This Friday, I will have a Civil Servant from the UK Identity and Passport Service work-shadowing me all day to see how an MP’s constituency office functions. He will hopefully be allowed to sit in on some of my surgery appointments and I will be taking him along to a presentation by a new offshore oil operator in the afternoon.

The question asked by Anne during Thursday's Business Questions:
In his reply to my hon. Friend David Taylor, the Minister said that the scheme came on top of the finance already available—but does the Minister think that the banks are playing ball? A small business—well, it is not actually that small—contacted me: RBS has found any excuse to restructure its loan, and has charged it 1 per cent. for doing so. It is a profitable business that is looking to expand, but it finds it very difficult to get what would, in normal circumstances, be classed as normal finance. It feels that it is being taken for a ride by the bank.

It seems more and more that the more I hear about the activities of the banking sector the less I like it. The banks have dug themselves into a nice hole and then not only expect the tax payer to bail them out but also think that they can continue to treat their customers however they like. I'd like to point out that the members of a customer driven co-operative would not allow it to act in such a manner.

Politics and a Pint

2009-02-06T12:25:00.006Z

Just quick post here to announce our next event:

Politics and a Pint
The Bobbin
Tuesday, 10th February
19:30

So if you want to have a drink (alcoholic or not depending on your preference) whilst discussing a topical (and controversial) subject with the erudite and knowledgable members of the Labour Club come along and join us. We'll be on the top floor of the Bobbin from half seven on Tuesday evening.

Possible subjects include Gaza and the current striking and whether and to what degree it is motivated by nationalism.

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The Royal and Ancient refuses membership to the Principal of the Univeristy of St. Andrew's

2009-02-05T20:39:00.005Z

Why?

Because she's a woman.

Apparently not only was the R&A founded in 1754, it's still there. I can't think of any reason how else they could possibly continue to justify such an exclusionary policy.

I got this story from Yapping Yousuf, he included these quotes from politicians:

Labour MSP Claire Baker first flagged this and was clearly angry when she called the managers of the club 'fuddy duddies' and said that;

"It's more than 500 years since Mary Queen of Scots become the first woman to tee off at the home of golf, but it seems that the Royal and Ancient is still stuck in the middle ages.

It is high time the fuddy-duddies who run the Club put their chauvinist attitudes to one side and joined the twenty-first century."

Our First Minister, a golfing enthusiast and rather good player as yesterdays news showed!, has also been critical and said

"The Royal and Ancient Golf Club should follow their long-standing practice of offering membership to the Principal of St Andrews University, and I am sure that after due consideration they will continue with that honourable tradition."

As I commented on his site (as well as a bit of rant against his criticism of golf) I like to see such blatant discrimination as this being targeted by more than just one party. I think it shows to a degree that misogyny and chauvinism like this are becoming less acceptable than they once were.

I personally think that the R&A should be forced to change it's policies in the same, as Yousuf points out, that working men's clubs were. I also don't want to see any institute using prestige or historicity to try and weasel out of equality legislation.

I, like many others in Scotland and around the world, enjoy playing golf. As such I greatly dislike the fact that this kind of anachronistic* behaviour is still associated with the game.

*(Unfortunately while I say this kind of discrimination is anachronistic misogyny less obvious but still as toxic is widespread and deeply embedded in society and our culture.)

Blogorama V: Politics for People

2009-02-04T22:00:00.003Z

[To find out more about the Co-operative Party visit their website. Membership is only £15, with a reduced rate of £5 for young members (under 26), you can join here.]

As you may or may not know several of us here at the Labour Club are not just members of labour, we are also members of the Co-operative Party. And since the Scottish Co-operative Party Council is this Saturday in Glasgow I thought it would be appropriate to have a Co-operative blog as the subject of Blogorama V.

Politics for People in their own words:

Unofficially blogging for the Co-operative Party, part of the global co-operative movement. We work with the Labour Party to influence its policies towards more co-operative solutions.

We believe in individual empowerment and self-help. We believe that a better share of this planet's wealth between Northern and Southern hemispheres and a greater respect for our environment will help us build a sustainable, safer and progressive society.

I hope that you'll agree that those are extremely laudable goals to pursue and values to promote.

As has been said here before, the current economic situation, caused in large part by the recklessness of profit seeking corporations, is a clear demonstration of the benefits of mutuality. Of companies that are held responsible for their actions by the people whose money allows them to operate in the first place. Politics for People recently reported on the Co-operative Party in Wales launching a document concerning the recent credit crunch (emphasis mine):

Yesterday the Co-operative Party and Wales 20:20 launched a new document, "Co-operative Values in a Credit Crunch Wales". "Difficult times call for new ways of thinking" is the key message from the authors, Karen Wilkie and Robbie Erbmann of the Co-operative Party. With co-ops and building societies, not least Principality Building Society, thriving and attracting new customers, they put forward a vision of a Welsh economy remade with co-operative values.

Huw Lewis AM, a Labour Co-operative Assembly Member, wrote the foreword for the pamphlet, saying, "I’ve been a proud member of the Co-operative Party for over 20 years, and the proposals in this pamphlet explain why. The movement has never stopped bringing forward radical, yet workable ideas. With the onset of the recession policy makers have a duty to look closely at these excellent proposals which underline co-operative values, matching innovation with pragmatism."

One point I think cannot be emphasised enough is the success of Co-operatives in the current economic climate. Their responsible and ethical business practices have kept them away from the massive losses (and subsequent bailouts) of the banks.

Politics for People also cover the Co-operative Party's campaigns, including Plan Bee [which we also posted about] the Co-operative Party's brand new campaign to arrest a worrying decline in bee numbers:

The bee is the symbol of the Co-op's membership and, more importantly, a major part of the ecosystem and our food producing system. A third of the food we eat is pollinated by bees. So the news that bees are declining in numbers fast is a major threat to agriculture. It was the subject of a debate at last year's Co-operative Party conference, but hasn't yet hit the headlines. It's time it did.

To address the disturbing issue of bees dying out, The Co-operative - Britain's biggest farmer - has launched Plan Bee. They have launched a ten-point plan to save bees and a campaign where we can all get involved.

I'd like to stress that last sentence, "a campaign where we can all get involved", because I think it illustrates one of the major characteristics of the Co-operative Party and co-operative groups in general, the involvement of members, and in every facet of the organisation and decision making processes of a group. This structure makes co-operative groups more accountable, and thus more prudent in their actions. A characteristic that would benefit a lot of ordinary people if it was spread to more businesses. [If you agree you can join the Co-operative Party and makes this a reality.]

Through its People's Rail campaign the Co-operative Party have worked hard to incorporate a responsible and accountable structure for the governance of Network Rail. As posted here:

This week saw Network Rail's AGM. It was a big milestone in our People's Rail campaign. The Co-operative Party has been calling for a review of the company's governance, and for that review to give the public more power and hold the various levels of governance to account. There was a motion put up by a small number of the members of Network Rail which called for a review: "that members establish a governance 'Review Group' to consider the effectiveness of company's corporate governance practices, with particular reference to the accountability of the Board to its members and of its members to the company’s wider stakeholders."

We knew there would be strong opposition, even though a regular review of governance is difficult to oppose. After all, the UN, the EU and the NHS are among the institutions doing so. But we hoped that the AGM had taken note of the public, politicians and the press who had supported the People's Rail campaign.

And so it turned out, to our great pleasure. Against the odds, members narrowly backed the motion (all other votes were won overwhelmingly). It's good to see that the senior team, who according to reports opposed the motion, have accepted the result graciously and have welcomed the chance to consider the future structure of Network Rail.

The Chair of the Co-operative Party Parliamentary Group, Sarah-McCarthy-Fry MP, made it clear that the campaign will continue until we get the right result for passengers: "This decision represents a vindication of the People's Rail campaign. However, we have to remember this is just the first step of many. Network Rail is still a long way from being accountable to passengers and the public. We will continue this campaign until it is."

If you want a better run rail network in which companies are responsbile for their failings, and the users of the service have a say in what that service should provide then you should learn more about the People's Rail campaign and I would strongly recommend that you consider joining the Co-operative Party.

The best way to progress as people, and as a nation, and as an international community, is through mutual co-operation and making sure that those with large degrees of power are accountable to the majority who don't

Anne Begg's Week

2009-02-02T14:48:00.002Z

[Disclaimer]: Aberdeen University and its blog are not connected to Anne Begg MP in an official capacity. The writers of this blog are solely responsible for its contents, and therefore this blog may not reflect the views or positions of Anne Begg MP. For Anne Begg MP's offical website please go to www.annebegg.com.

Week beginning 26th January – Always be prepared for PMQs.

It is not unusual as an MP to have more than one meeting or event on at the same time and juggling them all can be quite a struggle. The job of managing an MP’s diary is not an easy one. However, Monday this week was quite extreme. I had four meetings on at the same time, all of which I wanted to attend but couldn’t. So at 4 o’clock I popped into my Select Committee meeting for 25 minutes and agreed I would try to get back before the evidence session was over. Then it was on to a planning meeting for the Speaker’s Conference to discuss how we would tackle our outreach programme. I was Chairing this meeting so I had to be there from 4.30 until it finished at 5.30. As I was rushing back to my Select Committee I discovered I was too late, it had already finished, so instead I put my head round the door of meeting number 3, with the Scottish Colleges, only to find out that it was also finished. I didn’t even try to get to my 4th meeting which was the Labour Party’s Prosperity and Work policy commission.

I finished the evening at a meeting of the European Parliamentary Labour Party where we discussed campaigning for the upcoming European elections in June. Not only was the Prime Minister there, but so was Eddie Izzard who is a passionate European.

Spent almost all of Tuesday attending debates and questions. In the morning it was the debate in Westminster Hall on Equitable Life. I have a meeting with constituents who have lost out because of the collapse of Equitable Life on Friday evening so wanted to attend the discussions. I spent the afternoon and evening in the Chamber, taking part in the 2nd Reading Debate on the Welfare Reform Bill. So many people wanted to take part there was a 10 minute time limit on backbench speeches. Although my question for Equalities questions hadn’t made it onto the Order Paper I was called to ask a question about equal pay.

Wednesday began as usual with a meeting of my Select Committee discussing our future programme. The first draft of our Report on Commissioning will be ready on Thursday so I will be reading up on that over the weekend so that I have my amendments ready before we discuss it next week.

I had come out at number 13 at Prime Minister’s Questions, way too far down the list to get called – we only reached question 6 last week. However, by Wednesday morning I was at number 12 as someone must have pulled out, but still didn’t think I would get called. Just in case I thought I better have something ready. Thank goodness I did, as I was the last to be called so asked the PM if he could persuade the SNP administration in Holyrood to provide treatment and rehabilitation for drug addicts if they wish to receive full benefits. This was one of the issues which I had been discussed during the Welfare Reform Bill debate the day before.

Later, I spent a very pleasant evening at a Burns Supper in the House. My Aberdeen colleague, Frank Doran, did the Toast to the Lasses and I did the reply. It was a good laugh and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Back to the Chamber on Thursday morning and a question on student debt. I also had a couple of meetings, attended the launch of a project called “sustainability” by Leonard Cheshire, and attempted to clear some of my e-mails. Before I knew it, it was time to leave for the airport.

It doesn’t look like I will be leaving the office at all on Friday, with surgeries pencilled in all day and then, in the evening, my meeting with constituents about the Equitable Life compensation scheme.

Another very busy week which included this zinger against the SNP on the question of student debt (emphasis mine):

While defaulting on their loan is always difficult for any student, may I advise my right hon. Friend not to go down the same route as in Scotland, where one political party promised that it would write off all student debt? It got elected and discovered that it could not do that, and that there is no such quick fix. [Hon. Members: "Which party?] It was the Scottish National party. Students voted believing it was going to deliver on that promise, but it turned out to be a mirage. Can I get the assurance that this Government will not give such false hope to students?

Anne Begg again showed this week her dedication to equality. Equal pay which she raised a question about in the house has also recently been an issue in the US, with Obama showing his dedication to equality.

Plan Bee

2009-02-01T16:24:00.003Z

The Co-operative is launching a new campaign this year to spotlight a worrying environmental problem. The disappearance of bees worldwide:

We know that bees produce very lovely honey from nectar, but, more importantly, they pollinate fruit and vegetables – a third of the food we eat in fact.

Bees visit flowering plants to collect their nectar. As they move from plant to plant, pollen is picked up on their fur and deposited on other plants in the process, fertilising them.

To address the disturbing issue of bees dying out, The
Co-operative has launched Plan Bee.

To find out more or get involved, click on the links below:

* Bees: What you need to know
* What you can do to help bees
* Plan Bee: what The Co-operative is doing for bees
* Bee involved: sign-up to our campaign group

It's an interesting issues which I think not a lot of people know about, or if they do know something about it they don't realise the significance of the problem. The Co-operative group is having a film screening of the film Plan Bee in Aberdeen:

For non-Aberdonians there is a list of dates here(pdf).

Date: Friday 13 February 7pm-9pm

Location: The Linklater Rooms, Kings College, University of Aberdeen

Event: Plan Bee

Description: We'll be unveiling our brand new campaign, Plan Bee, and screening a stunning new film, never before shown in the UK, on the plight of the bee.

Bees are dying, in worryingly large numbers, and no one knows for certain why. Last year, in the UK alone, one in three hives was lost. It's a global problem that concerns us all; bees pollinate over a third of the food we eat. Our campaign will address the question of why bees are dying in such large numbers and what we can all do about it.

We've secured the rights to a new film about the shocking disappearance of bee colonies around the world and you can be amongst the first in the UK to see it. Come and learn more about the fascinationg life of bees, the crucial role that bees play and what might be causing these sudden losses.

Following the film you'll have the opportunity to find out more about bee-friendly gardening and collect some free wildflower seeds to sow in your garden or window box.

Event Dates Description: We expect these events to be popular so please reserve your free place(s) early to avoid disappointment. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Phone banking made easy

2009-01-30T00:30:00.004Z

Now you can help Labour win a fourth term from the comfort (or discomfort if you're in Hillhead) of your own home. Labour have just launched a virtual phonebank, and from what I've seen of it so far it appears to be fairly easy to use with a simple interface.

Labour have this to say:

Labour today launched an online virtual phone bank - which will allow our members to call voters from their own homes and enter the results of their calling directly into the phone bank online.

The phone bank is a key way of empowering our supporters to campaign for Labour, and listen to the views of the public, without having to leave their own homes.

Douglas Alexander MP, Labour's General Election co-ordinator, said:

"We have taken on board the lessons of the Obama campaign and the key aim of our web strategy is to give our supporters the tools they need to campaign for us both online and offline.

"As one example of this, the online virtual phone bank will allow our members to call voters from their own homes and enter the results of their calling directly into our database.

"In contrast the Tories just don't get online campaigning - despite being well-funded they seem to have wasted a whole lot of money on gimmicks."

Watch John Prescott talk about the new virtual phone bank here >>>>

If you're a member of the Labour party you can access the phone bank and start making calls here >>>>

Voter outreach is quite possibly the most important aspect of electioneering, and one of the main elements in individual electoral success. Especially given the media's obsession with only pumping out stories of woe and doom we Labour supporters have to take the responsibility for making sure our message is heard. If we're serious about a fourth term we've got to show it, and we can do that by exploiting tools like this new phone banking service to their maximum potential. If we do that we can win, if not...

Do you really want that?

Tony Benn kicking ass on BBC news

2009-01-29T01:28:00.000Z

Labour's Budget Proposal

2009-01-28T18:37:00.004Z

The Scottish Parliament has just voted to reject the Budget, the SNP at the moment are posturing and blaming everyone but the people who are to blame and Mr Swinney we mean you when we say that.

They have also said that Labour did not offer anything constructive to the budget negotiations well on that point i am cutting and pasting what Labour suggested the SNP administration could change the budget to help Scottish people and the Scottish economy.

And if anyone wants to know the email was sent to party members long before the vote took place.

So here are Labours constructive suggestions :-

Labour proposals for the budget

1.Apprenticeships – we propose an additional 7,800 apprenticeships over each of the next three years. This would lead to an additional number of apprenticeships over the next three years of 23,400. These apprenticeships would be split amongst adults and those aged 16-19.

2.Apprenticeship Guarantee Scheme – a clear commitment from the Scottish Government to an Apprenticeship Completion Guarantee Scheme, which matches the commitment in Northern Ireland.

3. Partnership Action for Continuing Employment – a clear indication from the Scottish Government for significant new funding to help retrain people who lose their job

4. Town Centre Turnaround Fund – Labour submitted a detailed amendment proposing the establishment of a fund to the value of £50million last year. We are now one year further down the line and in the midst of a global economic crisis. The need for appropriate support is now even greater.

5. NHS Funding – Health money should be invested in front line services. We seek assurances that the total NHS Budget increase of 3.9 per cent will be reflected in full in the award made to the health boards across Scotland on day one of the budget, not held back for pet projects

So constructive suggestions for local communities, Local services and local people shame the SNP couldn't listen.

No Gaza appeal on the BBC

2009-01-27T22:07:00.003Z

Much has been made of the BBC's decision not to air an appeal for humanitarian aid by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). [It was discussed at length by many of the speakers at the recent United for Gaza event at the University, as mentioned by us here.]

The main argument for airing the appeal, as outlined on the TUC's blog, is that providing humanitarian aid is not taking sides. No matter who is responsible, or the justice and legality of either sides actions, the plight of the people of Gaza is deplorable. There is an urgent need for food and medicine, two resources which have been cut off since before this recent military campaign began.

The members of the DEC are:

* ActionAid
* British Red Cross
* CAFOD
* Care International
* Christian Aid
* Concern
* Help the Aged
* Islamic Relief
* Merlin
* Oxfam
* Save the Children
* Tearfund
* World Vision

If these 13 internationally respected charities believe that the cause is worthy of a focused campaign I fail to see how the BBC could possibly justify an argument that airing an appeal would be taking sides. When it comes to humanitarian aid there are no sides, there are only people who need help. The BBC should remember that.

You can donate to the DEC Gaza appeal here.

There is an online petition aimed at the BBC.

The Value of Money - the dangers of empty rhetoric and why the right is wrong on crime

2009-01-25T01:19:00.005Z

While studying for English at standard grade I somehow ended up memorising the final words of the Great Gatsby, in the vague hope that if it was of no use in the exam, it would at least be of service to me at some point in the future. So understand that in the next seven words or so, when I start to quote F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is not only because it fits well with what I want to say, but also because I want to fulfil what has become a lifelong ambition.

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgasmic future that year by year recedes us. It eluded us then, but that is no matter, for tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further, and one fine day -

And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. "

For once comfortably setting aside the possibility that once again an English teacher may have read too far into a story centric around champagne and the forerunner of ferrero rocher, it can safely be said that these closing lines seem to neatly sum up the vastly flawed concept of the American Dream. The romantic idea that the land is rich with opportunities waiting to be seized by the resourceful and youthful at heart. Even in situations where their efforts yield few rewards, young entrepreneurs should not give up, for ahead lies a destiny shared with Frank C. Ball, the young upstart come "fruit jar king of America". Even as it becomes apparent that a free market society is no place for an upstart business, maintains the publication Nation's Business, the fruits of labour lie only a few floors above, where the industrious and innovative worker will soon join J. L. Bevan, president of the Illinois Central Rain Board, who rather than starting his own business joined the ranks of a large corporation and used skill and poise to climb to the dizzying heights of the board room. The American right wing knows no end of feel good, anecdotal evidence of the rewards that lie in store for all of the hard hearted and the industrious. Throughout Western culture there is a plentiful supply of the kind of rags to riches stories that the right wing of America thrives on. Television programmes such as the X-Factor churn out a constant supply of young and talented individuals who have used their unique abilities as a spring board to success. The pedestals of American history are adorned with the busts of those who have walked the revered road between the log cabin and the big white house with a lawn and occasionally a situation room. In America, say the rich, it is the destiny of every intelligent and ambitious entrepreneur to join them at their table. Yet perhaps "destiny" is a word any willing proponent of the American Dream would do well to avoid. No higher reverence is accorded to any goal or value as that which is reserved for monetary wealth.

For those situated well on the right side of the tracks, this approach would seem to work perfectly. For the last eight years there has presided a government elected not only by the elite whose interests it serves, but also by millions who have come to share in this belief of a land of equal opportunity, so much so that they are prepared to vote for measures beneficial only to the wealthy in the hope that they will one day join them. In the recent presidential elections, the extent to which people seemed to believe in this ideal was revealed in what I expect will one day in a less than startling display of unoriginality be referred to as Plumbergate. People are led to strive for monetary again above all else, so much so that currency has become something of a measure of character. In a meritocracy a person can expect to be judged by the extent of his or her achievements, and when the enlargement of the bank balance has become the greatest ambition anyone would hope to achieve, it is the bank balance against which they will be judged.

Yet what happens when a culture lampoons fast food workers while canonising pimps and gangsters? When a society reaches a stage where such heavy emphasis as in America is placed on social objectives, at the cost and neglect of respectable means of achieving them, society enters what sociologist Robert Merton, from whom I am borrowing heavily, calls anomie. The institutionally acceptable means of achievement are as important as the goals themselves, and in a healthy society strong emphasis will be placed on adherence to both. More often than not, these acceptable means will be based less on efficiency and more heavily on the values of a particular society. An interesting example may be found in a recent study of events aboard the Titanic as the life boats were loaded. According to eye witness reports, while many of the American passengers scrambled for places, those from Britain were content to help their wives and children into life boats before returning bellow deck to don their dinner jackets and join their friends for a last drink. Putting aside the slightly surreal image of an English gentleman dropping his monocle into the sea as he reaches over to chip off some ice for his gin and tonic, an interesting illustration can be seen of how a person might react when they no longer have an acceptable means of attaining their goal, in this case survival. Rather than drawing the swords from their canes and maiming their way to the front of the queue, they were sufficiently adherent to their values to stay within the limits they had been taught.

Does this render the concept of the American dream nothing more than a harmful fantasy? If the American Dream were at present a reality, the inconvenience of punishment would make the lack of acceptable methods of attainment unproblematic, because on balance, there would be no reason to run the risk of imprisonment when there were other, lawful and so convenient avenues open. But, as a wealth of statistics show, this is simply not the case, and the dangers of empty rhetoric promoting ideas to the contrary are there to be seen. There has developed in much of the Western world a culture in such reverence of financial success that little heed is paid to the steps taken to accumulate that wealth, the result being that there is little incentive to stay within the limits of the law, and in fact some amount of pressure to deviate, in pursuit of material gain. The effects of this can be seen particularly in times of economic hardship when, even when faced with economic turmoil on a global scale, there remains in commerce an expectation on directors to deliver profits. Such is the enormous pressure to do this, combined with what as we have recently seen to be a clear lack of corporate ethics, will take unacceptable and at times deviant steps to secure the figures that investors want to see, often at the cost of those working beneath them. In such a situation, it is of little use to suggest that the situation could be remedied by giving directors the means to attain these figures. These are the people who would benefit from a clear moral code similar at times perhaps to the respectable chivalry witnessed aboard the Titanic, where the needs of those less fortunate or less able were placed above their own survival.

Of course, the effects of social anomie are witnessed much more vividly amongst the deprived sections of society. Among the unemployed and low income families, there can be found a much more realistic sense of exactly how removed from truth the American dream really is. If you call anomie the divergence of aspirations and expectations, it is among these classes that it will be the most prevalent. Such is the pressure to succeed when compared to the relatively meagre attempts to promote a lawful and moralistic lifestyle from those whose voices are largely drowned out by the culture of mass media that there is a huge pressure to live up to what society has come to expected. For people who find themselves in such a position, the levelling of the playing field could not be more vital. Poverty, and particularly social exclusion, have to be tackled if these people are to be given access to the incredible opportunities the righteous on the right never tire of talking about. Criminal policy may in the past have been an area the right wing considered to be home turf, however it is blatant that only through pursuing the policies traditionally associated with the left, such as social justice and the obliteration of social exclusion, can a market society be made to work. Particularly in coming years, education will come to be seen as each nation's greatest benefactor. The advent of mass communications has enabled a global market for jobs which means that more and more those jobs which can be done cheaper elsewhere are moving across borders. As countries realign to find their own niches in the global market, it is critical that education and retraining is made available to those in every sector of society, so that they are equipped to take on those jobs either which will not move abroad, or else those which were previously unavailable but which will come to settle in their own country, in order to ensure a strong and fair labour market with equal opportunities for good jobs.

Combined with this crusade for social justice, which countries such as the United Kingdom already pursue with vigour, there must be a wide scale refocusing of ideals away from the concept of money and material wealth as the holy grail, and towards a more open, diverse value driven society. Emphasis on the importance of family life, currently neglected, particularly in the over-worked and under paid areas of society, must be met with an equal strengthening of the institution in order to lessen the effects of the economy that currently impact on it. The importance of open and equal access to education must be highlighted as critical to the pursuit of social justice and a level playing field, however the value of education not as a means to and end but as an end in itself equally must not be underplayed. A greater respect for public service must be built to match the existing respect held for those who have (or had until recently) found great success in the city. All in all, what is required is a vast restructuring of society so as to lessen the importance assigned to monetary gain and emphasis the importance of other areas of life such as the family.

America is not the sort of country to give up on its dream. But in many ways, that is what those on the right have done, because rather than continuing to push for a levelling of the playing field, they are attempting to dupe themselves, or more likely everyone else, into believing that this has already been done. It is clear, from what has been written about how economic circumstances influence crime by the likes of Robert Merton, Messner and Rosenfeld and Elliot Currie, that there is a real danger to promoting such an image of an equal society of such singular aims as accomplished, when this vision is so far removed from the status quo. These theories were crafted to explain why America, as one of the wealthiest nations in the world, still had one of the highest crime rates. The answer is that when a country is so singular in its visions of success and so unaccommodating to the needs of its citizens in getting there, it creates a culture driven to meet its goals by any means necessary, even those society would consider illegal or immoral. This lesson does not just apply to the United States and can be extended to the likes of Britain where, over the past ten years, enormous steps have been taken to ensure a more level playing field on which every person can achieve their full potential. It remains however the case that Britain is not so different from the United States in the values that have become ingrained in our culture, for example with the glaring spotlight that tabloids focus on certain celebrities, combined with the morbid obsession it seems to have for their inappropriate and deviant behaviour. In this example the problems of social justice can be seen to go travel far beyond the economic realm as, such is the enormity of the coverage received by ill-behaving celebrities, a new instance of anomie can seemingly be created almost entirely by the media as. With such a huge emphasis placed on the status of particular celebrities with little thought given to the cause of their infamy, a new goal, fame, can be set with little regard for the means by which the more pathetic celebrities garner headlines. Likewise, over the last decades both the United Kingdom and the United States have entered into a state where politicians with legitimate policies, aims and objectives are afforded little more credibility than those who have tried to put polish on air.

Whether it is a lack of positive role models for young people in the media or simply the disproportionate respect that people hold for those with vast wealth met with a lack of focus on how it was accumulated, there remains a clear problem in this country and in America, that will take more than just government policy to change.

I have borrowed heavily from the works of Robert Merton, Messner and Rosenfeld, Box, Jock Young and Elliot Currie. For a more in depth explanation of social anomie or economic causes of crime in general look them up.

Gaza Conference

2009-01-23T19:00:00.000Z

Aberdeen University's Muslim Society is holding an event tomorrow in the Arts Lecture Theatre with speakers discussing the current situation in Gaza. Here's the schedule:

Event: Series of talks entitled "United for Gaza"
Date: Saturday 24th January

Venue: Arts Lecture Theatre, Old Aberdeen Campus
Time: 2pm - 5:30pm

Details of speakers:
• Yussuf Abu Shaaban: "Eye witness account – Gaza"
• Imam Ibrahim Alwawi: "Aberdeen Mosque"
• Dr. Sarah Glynn: "Scottish Jews for a just peace in Palestine, Dundee"
• Rev. Easter Smart: "Aberdeen University Chaplain"
• Dr. Azhar Khan: "Aberdeen Palestine Solidarity Campaign"
• Habib Malik: "Islamic Relief"

The Program:
2:00pm - 2:30pm Arrival
2:30pm - 4:00pm Talks
4:00pm - 4:40pm Question and Answer Session
4:40pm - 5:30pm Middle-Eastern Refreshments

Anne Begg's Week

2009-01-23T15:58:00.003Z

10 things you didn't know about MEPs, but didn't care enough to ask

2009-01-22T20:03:00.004Z

Tne BBC has an article up written by journalist Brian Wheeler who spent a week experiencing the life of a Member of the European Parliament(MEP). He wrote about 10 different aspects that he learned from his experience. The headers for what he wrote (for the full thing you'll have to read the article) are:

1. It's life, but not as we know it
2. The terminology can be baffling
3. MEPs have more power than you might think
4. Most MEPs hate coming to Strasbourg
5. Compromise is not a dirty word
6. The debates seem to lack humour
7. British MEPs have less accountability than MPs
8. The UK's Euro MPs often feel like second class citizens
9. Few British people know how it really works
10. It's still too early to tell...

I'd particularly like to highlight 8 and 9. The apathy of the British public to the political process is really quite shocking, that applies to all levels of government but it seems especially acute when it comes to the EU. I think that it's important for Labour to engage with voters and to emphasise what it is that we can do for them in power; how ideas like the minimum wage make their lives better, and that these things are thanks to Labour.

Political literacy is also important to dispel the filth spouted by rags like the Mail; the tabloids feel safe to spew whatever nonsense they like because most people don't have the facts needed to repudiate their disinformation.

As I have said previously, communication is key to the successful propagation of our ideals.

[On a personal note "Their debates can sometimes be as lively as anything you would see on an average day in the Commons, but there is not the same adversarial, yah-boo, quality to them." sounds good to me, the constant jeering in the Commons annoys me; I find it juvenile and not worthy of a modern democracy.]

Bye bye Bushy, Bushy goodbye.

2009-01-22T19:29:00.002Z

Bush leaving the White House after the inauguration. Courtesy of Cosmic Variance.

2 Images from the GeoEye1 Sattelite

2009-01-21T08:15:00.005Z

The first is a picture of the Capitol Building with the crowd in front of it. Pretty impressive I think you'll agree.

If you look at the right hand side of this picture you'll see the Capitol Building again. Now compare the huge crowd in front of it to the crowds all down the Washington Mall all the way up to the Washington Monument.

Tuesday, January the 20th, 2009

2009-01-20T08:42:00.003Z

A tip o' the hat to This Wheel's On Fire for the picture.

This a prayer that I can get behind

2009-01-19T13:57:00.004Z

From the Friendly Atheist is the text of a prayer recited by Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson (Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire).

I want to bring this to attention essentially in reply to certain misgivings that I know people have about Obama. A lot of people don't understand the fuss surrounding him; who don't see the power of his message and question whether his policies can match his rhetoric.

For me this following prayer encapsulates the values and goals that I think Obama will represent as President. It is for this reason that I personally am so excited at his victory.

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…

Bless us with tears — for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger — at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort — at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience — and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility — open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance — replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity — remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

AMEN.

I wonder how different the current political climate would be if Bush had kept some of these things in mind.

I'd like to take this opportunity to remind people about the inauguration ceremony which we will be watching in New King's 11 from half four tomorrow afternoon. I hope to see you there.