Axis of Evil

Alex Neil thinks the UK is going broke. The Arc of Insolvency is bust too. Perhaps he thinks someone from the Axis of Evil could save us all.

S3M-02953 Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): That the Parliament notes that, as a result of the pre-Budget report announced on 24 November 2008 by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the estimated budget deficit for the UK Government will rise to over 8% of GDP in 2010 and the national debt will rise to nearly 60% of GDP, with both these figures excluding the billions required to pay off the debts arising from PPP/PFI commitments and the bail out of the banks; notes that the United Kindgom’s credit rating has now been downgraded to being, apart from Italy, the lowest in the developed world; deduces that, based on previous statements made by the unionist Labour, Liberal and Tory parties about the economic viability of an independent Scotland, the United Kingdon can no longer survive as a politically independent state, and therefore invites those parties to advise which other nation should now assume responsibility for running Britain.

No, wait, it's just the usual plucky fightback against the Unionisht Conshpirashy!



Also, it appears he loathes the United Kingdom so much he can't even spell it.

And the point is?

Date of Lodging: 27 November 2008
Short Title: A St Andrew’s Day Belter for Kinross
S3M-02983 Keith Brown (Ochil) (SNP): That the Parliament congratulates the residents of Kinross postcode KY13 8?? on winning the biggest ever prize of £1 million in the People’s Postcode Lottery draw and wishes them a very happy St Andrew’s Day.

What????

The short arm of the Law (centre)

Interesting motion.


Short Title: Govanhill Law Centre
S3M-02941 Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): That the Parliament
welcomes the opening of the Govanhill Law Centre, a new law centre offering free legal advice to residents of Govanhill, which will work with the local community to root out slum landlords, gangmasters and organised criminals; congratulates principal solicitor Mike Dailly for his commitment to the centre; thanks Glasgow City Council leader Steven Purcell and Govanhill Housing Association chairperson Janice McEwan for their work on behalf of the centre; further thanks Louise Carlin of Oxfam Scotland’s Poverty Programme for the charity organisation’s ongoing support, and hopes that the Govanhill Law Centre will help empower the community to solve the problems that it faces and provide further confidence to residents in their campaign for a better Govanhill.


Mike Dailly.
Hmm. Is this the same guy who was quite close to backing a legal challenge against the election of Kenny Gibson (what a tragedy, we would have no business!) and then said the whole Holyrood Election should be re-run?
The guy who has regularly slagged off the SNP and is a Labour party member as far as I am aware, if not a former Candidate in some way.
Old Frank should be careful, this backinf of Housing Associations can backfire...

George Foulkes - Buffoon

Since entering Holyrood last May, Labour buffoon George Foulkes has asked a startling 850 questions and in the process, barring a few exceptions, unearthed nothing of any use. He discovered once that police numbers had gone up and another time that the new SNP Government spent less on special advisers than his lot did in the previous Government. Trawling through his parliamentary questions on the Parliament website is a soul destroying waste of time, however, I would like to point the following two questions out to everyone. Bear in mind these cost £100 each to answer.

Ministerial Costs

S3W-17900 - George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab) (Date Lodged Friday, November 14, 2008): To ask the Scottish Executive in what circumstances it meets dry cleaning costs incurred by Cabinet ministers and whether it will detail any such costs met since May 2007, broken down by Cabinet minister.
Answered by John Swinney (Friday, November 21, 2008): There have been no dry cleaning costs incurred by Cabinet ministers since May 2007.

Scottish Government

S3W-17899 - George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab) (Date Lodged Friday, November 14, 2008): To ask the Scottish Executive which members of the Scottish Government have received the services of a stylist since May 2007.
Answered by John Swinney (Thursday, November 20, 2008): None.

Well, there's two hundred quid the taxpayer won't see again

A Bit Late.......

This press release was issued Labour MEP David Martin, and featured contributions from MSP's Richard Baker and Marlyn Glen:

Local politicians welcome new European status of Arbroath smokie

Local Labour politicians Marlyn Glen MSP and Richard Baker MSP met with Scotland's senior member of the European Parliament David Martin MEP (who was on a tour of the North East of Scotland) in Arbroath to celebrate the new European Union (EU) status for the Arbroath smokie.


Speaking from Arbroath Mr Martin said: "The Arbroath smokie, one of Scotland's best loved foods, has now joined the ranks of some of the biggest names in food and drink throughout the EU. Arbroath smokies are now on a par with: Champagne, Roquefort cheese and Parma ham in being granted special status and protection by the EU."


Mr Martin who has been working behind the scenes to support this decision by the European Commission said: "The people of Arbroath have reason to be proud of their smokies they are considered to be one of the special delicacies of the EU".


Following the meeting Marlyn Glen said: "It was great that David could find time in his busy schedule to visit Arbroath and brief Richard and I on this significant development. Although the European Union often seems very distant to some people victories such as this really brings home to local Arbroath people the importance of the EU."


Richard Baker MSP added: "The significance of the victory for this campaign, which was supported by David Martin and many of his colleagues in the European Parliament, is that the smoked haddock will now carry the EU's distinctive 'protected-product' symbol to prevent smokies being produced anywhere else in Europe - this is a great day for Arbroath".

All well and good you might think, and many would welcome Mr Martin's "behind the scenes" support.

Given his involvement however, I would have thought he may have known that the protection for Arbroath Smokies was secured by local producers, and was achieved five years ago.

It certainly was a great day for Arbroath, at the time.

Cash for Motions

S3M-02891 Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Scottish Labour): Congratulations to JK Rowling and Children's High Level Group— That the Parliament welcomes the publication of The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling on 4 December 2008; notes that the net proceeds from the sale of the book will be used to support the work of the Children's High Level Group (CHLG); congratulates CHLG on its work so far in helping around 250,000 children in eastern Europe who are growing up in unacceptable conditions, and hopes that fans around the world will enjoy The Tales of Beedle the Bard while helping to benefit institutionalised children in desperate need of a voice.


Interesting. Nothing to do with that Million quid hitting the coffers of the financially beleaguered Labour Party then. Enjoy further free advertising space Ms Rowling.


PS: Obviously Net Proceeds means proceeds after expenses, publication costs etc. Could this include an advance for the author?

Jamie Hepburn - You Spin me right round baby

Nae bad MSP
Nae bad Motion.

The fact remains that to be strictly non biased for a second, I don't think Cumbernauld is the nicest of places (too many roundabouts). Also, I have checked out the song on YouTube, and its woeful, with only 812 views. Rock on!



Short Title: Cumbernauld: A Love Song
S3M-02895 Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): That the Parliament
congratulates singer-songwriter Carolyn McGoldrick on the release of her single, Cumbernauld: A Love Song; notes that money raised from sales of the song will be donated to young persons’ cancer charity CLICSargent; believes that the song reflects the positive outlook that residents of Cumbernauld have for the future of their town, and encourages people across Scotland to buy a copy of the single in support of both Cumbernauld and CLICSargent.

Bill Wilson - Ilumination

Crap Holyrood Chat quite likes Bill Wilson, and what we think the principle behind this motion is. There seems to be a desire to cram a lot of angst into quite a short space, and the result is a motion which I cant work out is about



S3M-02855 Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): That the Parliament
notes that children born before 1983 outwith the United Kingdom to British mothers, unlike those born outwith the United Kingdom to British fathers, cannot automatically obtain British citizenship through their parents’ nationality and believes that such discrimination by the UK Government is not only unwarranted but unjust.

Wendy Alexander - A History Lesson

Shes back! With a rather severe haircut and some Crap Chat. If you are going to slag off some parties publicly, get their name right. Lets hope the whigs and the tories back this!



S3M-02844 Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Scottish Labour): Renfrewshire Nursery School Cuts— That the Parliament notes with grave concern the plans by Renfrewshire Council to downgrade six nursery schools, four to nursery classes and two to pre-5 centres; considers the removal of all dedicated nursery head teachers to be wrong; deplores the forced redeployment of nursery teachers in these establishments; condemns the fact that, at the end of this exercise, there will be a maximum of 20 instead of 39 teachers dedicated to teaching pre-5s in Renfrewshire; congratulates Renfrewshire parents for their efforts to resist these changes, and, with this in mind, calls on the SNP/Liberal-controlled council to use the formal consultation period now underway to retract these unpopular proposals and retain teacher-led nursery schools in Renfrewshire.

Carole Smiley MSP

I am well aware of the benefits of lottery funding but as far as I'm concerned this is an advert for a daft show on ITV, hosted by Carole Smiley:



S3M-02857 Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): A Right Belter
That the Parliament congratulates the People’s Postcode Lottery, a lottery for charities in Scotland that was launched in November 2007 and has since raised over £1 million for Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres, Children 1st and the Scottish Wildlife Trust; further notes that on St Andrew’s day the Postcode Belter will see the biggest prize pot so far with a cool £1 million going to the lucky winners, and wishes all Scots the best of luck on the day.

Boyackasha

A rare motion from our old pal Sarah Boyack. Just thought I would give it the old CHC once-over, to check everything is kosher.

Congratulations to a Scottish Uni - Fairdoos

Positive Contribution - Fair Enough

Importance of Renewables - Full Marks So far

Council Tax - Pardon? Council Tax just ambushes you in this motion, and its a needless swipe at the Government. And thus, unless I'm very much mistaken, the MSP for the East Staines Massiv has her first entry in the Crap Holyrood Chat records:

S3M-02839 Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): That the Parliament
congratulates the University of Edinburgh on becoming the first Scottish educational institution to be awarded the Carbon Trust Standard; believes that the awards are a positive contribution to encourage reduction in carbon emissions; notes the current and future importance of technology such as energy efficiency measures, micro-renewables and combined heat and power systems in helping not only businesses, public authorities and educational institutions but households reduce their carbon emissions, and calls on the Scottish Government to look at all options, including local fiscal levers such as council tax, to develop better financial incentives encouraging the use of small scale and householder renewables across Scotland.

Kenny G(romit)

I love motions like this. Due to the mandatory decorum and language necessary, we can now be officialy excited by a place with over 7 Employees!! Anyway, this is a very cheesy, and pointless motion, and you are about to find out why.



S3M-02818 Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (Scottish National Party): Congratulations to Torrylinn Creamery— That the Parliament congratulates Torrylinn Creamery on the island of Arran for winning a silver award for its Isle of Arran Dunlop cheese at the World Cheese Awards in Dublin on 29 September 2008; notes that this international recognition follows a gold award at the Royal Welsh Show in July 2008 and is its 11th award won this year; recognises the particular contribution of cheese maker Paul Murray, who has been with the company for eight years; acknowledges that the Isle of Arran Dunlop is made entirely from milk supplied by three island farms; is aware that Torrylinn Creamery is run by First Milk, which is the largest dairy farmer co-operative in the United Kingdom and employs seven people; recognises that winning awards is important to both existing and potential customers and the continued prosperity of the company, and wishes Torrylinn Creamery even further success in the years to come.

Yes We Can - But must we??

I think these should have been posted beforehand, or at 4am, to avoid such blatant, if unintentional crap chat.



Short Title: Scotland’s Congratulations to Barack Obama
S3M-02829 Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): That the Parliament welcomes the historic election of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America; applauds his accomplishment in breaking down lingering racial barriers and becoming the first African American to be elected to the office; congratulates the American public for turning out in record numbers to vote in the 2008 elections, breaking voting turnout records for young people as well as new voters that had never before cast a ballot; welcomes the revitalised partnership that America can offer to Scotland and the rest of the world through this unprecedented and uplifting election, and further offers congratulations from the whole of Scotland to the incoming leader of America.


Patrick Harvie(Scottish Green Party)

S3M-02826 - Sharing the Audacity of Hope
That the Parliament offers sincere congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama and to all those who helped make his historic election possible; expresses the hope that President Obama will find an opportunity to visit Scotland during his term in office, and dares to share in the audacity of hope that a genuinely new direction in American politics at this important time in world affairs could offer the possibility for the spread of progressive values not at the point of a gun but through peace, co-operation and global justice.


Short Title: Congratulations to President-elect Obama
S3M-02827 Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): That the Parliament
congratulates President-elect Barack Obama on his historic success in the US elections; notes the record-breaking turnout across the United States of America and the massive number of first-time voters inspired by Obama's candidacy; believes that the result represents positive change for the USA and the world, especially in light of the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the difficulties facing the global economy, and encourages governments around the world to work with the incoming US administration to find solutions to these challenges