Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Through a glass darkly

Hi again, Indypal One here.  Still waiting for Indypals Two, Three and Four to show themselves.  Where are you?  I feel like I am hogging the limelight here, which is not in my nature.

I have been pondering how unpredictable politics can be.  Sometimes issues you think are going to take off don’t - and  issues that haven’t really registered with you do.  Who would have thought that planning would be the new political hot potato? I have never taken any interest in planning and it has always appeared to be a rather complex subject that very few people understand.  But it’s become the talk of the steamie, what with the Trump and Aviemore application controversies.

Clearly the Labour/Lib Dem alliance think that the SNP is vulnerable on this front.  I heard Duncan McNeil, Labour’s Witchfinder General, on the radio this morning gleefully listing all the SNP ministers he claimed were having problems with live planning applications.  There must be a reason why they think this is a good line of attack.  My theory is that they reckon  no-one outside the planning community has the faintest idea what the rules are and therefore most of us are not in a position to judge whether they have been broken.   There are signs of a backlash against this tactic, however something tells me it ain’t over yet.

Locally, here in Glasgow, Labour have been gunning for Nicola Sturgeon over her involvement in a planning application in her constituency.  This is quite an interesting tale, so bear with me while I tell it.  The proposal is for a treetop adventure course in an area of woodland in Pollok Park which is in Govan constituency. A public meeting organised by a group of community councils opposed to the planning application attracted a very big turnout and some local publicity to the effect that many people feel the consultation run by the council was  rubbish.  The Executive member responsible wrote a letter to the Herald saying that she thought the consultation process was fine.  Nicola Sturgeon responded with a letter setting out why she disagreed which indicated her own opposition to the application. So far so good.  But then it all went haywire and the next thing we knew Nicola Sturgeon was being accused of breaking the ministerial code of conduct!

That’s a pretty major allegation to throw at a government minister and I was shocked at it.  Surely Nicola could not have made a mistake like that?  Well, no she hadn’t.  Ministers are debarred from taking any part in the decision making process about a planning application in their constituency so there is no conflict of interest and no reason for her not to express her view  - and more importantly to express the views of her constituents.

t took me all of ten minutes to track down and read through the ministerial code of conduct to establish this fact.  It is hard to believe that the Labour councillor who made the accusation couldn’t have managed to do the same thing.  Even if he couldn’t, the Labour Council Group has a policy adviser who could surely have provided that information if he was asked for it.  I am forced to the conclusion that this is more about party politicking than about the integrity of the planning process. That’s a bit worrying because the integrity of the planning process is important for all sorts of reasons.  It would be nice if we could all remember that….

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 17:54:41 | Permalink | No Comments »

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Santa Sturgeon

I was impressed with the Cabinet Secretary for Health’s dedication to her job on Sunday when, along with 2000 other runners she took part in the Santa Dash in Glasgow. The 5k run was to raise funds for Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy and the Marina Dalglish Appeal. Still, could be worse - she could be minister for culture and be invited to take part in karaokes all the time - it wouldn’t be her first such appearance but I’ll say no more! Here is Nicola pictured with the SNP Westminster candidate for Glasgow North, Patrick Grady
Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 23:57:15 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Disgraceful Council House Sales Policy to end at last

Nicola Sturgeon will today announce that the Scottish Government is to ban the sale of new build council houses. That, to me, is the single most important decision this government has taken since its election in May. When I heard it was coming I almost cried with relief. Relief that finally we have a government that is able to see the root of a problem and just get on and deal with it.

Thatcher did much to damage not just our country but our society. It is all well documented. One of the worst of those damaging acts was the bill to allow council house tenants to buy OUR housing stock. Since doing that 400,000 council houses have been sold off in Scotland alone.

I don’t buy all the arguments at the time about folk having paid rent for years and getting nothing for it - they got a roof over their head for goodness’ sake. They didn’t need to make a whacking great profit on top of that. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t dream of criticising anyone who did buy their council house. Who could resist the temptation? But that doesn’t make it right.

Thatcher wanted to create a revolution in housing, she wanted the UK to be “a nation” (her term not mine seeing as we’re not ONE nation) of homeowners. But why? In countries like Canada, for example, renting is the norm. In Germany something like 80% rent rather than buy property.

I seem to remember Thatcher also tried to claim some “working class solidarity” because this enabled us working classes to do that middle class thing and becoming king or queen of our own castles (or cooncil hooses at least). But the result was that it also contributed to the creation of an underclass who, in addition, to having no or few real job opportunities, also had no home because we, as a country, had sold thousands of them off!

That underclass still exists, and what we really need is a comprehensive strategy to deal with the multiple problems that feed into the definition of the term “underclass”. A strategy that looks at all of the factors that have contributed to what has become an endemic problem in many communities across Scotland.

For the moment though, this is a good start and will make a real long term difference to the scourge of homelessness.

Remember, Article 25 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that:

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including … housing …”.

Ending sales of new build council houses under the Labour Lib Dem Executive would have made no difference seeing as they only built 6 (yes, SIX) houses last year, but with Nicola’s announcement expected to include plans that would see 35,000 new houses being built every year by 2015, we can and will make a difference.

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 12:26:48 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday, September 21, 2007

The Time, Sponsored by the SNP

I can only applaud the SNP Government on their new and fair approach to patients requiring hospital treatment. For those of you who don’t watch Holyrood TV or pay attention to the news, Nicola Sturgeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, delivered a ministerial statement to the Scottish Parliament yesterday.

The statement was laying out how this new government will deal with the problem of hidden waiting lists.
Basically, over the years lots of people have been taken off of the waiting lists where they are guaranteed treatment within a certain time period. They have been taken off and put onto a “hidden waiting list” where they’ve NO waiting guarantee and often, they have not even been informed of this.
People are put on the hidden lists for a variety of reasons but wait till you hear what they are:
·       The patient is sent an appointment but informs the hospital that they are unable to make that appointment so they are bumped off the list – regardless of the reason!
·       The patient is unfit for the particular treatment they are being offered eg they have a temporary chest infection and so they are bumped off the list!!
·       The hospital has decided that this particular treatment is a of low
clinical priority (like what happened to me – see yesterday’s blog) and therefore THEY are bumped from the list!!!
Some of these people are currently put onto a hidden waiting list with no guarantees of when they will be seen and it can be years!
So here’s how it will work now. Guaranteed waiting times will apply to ALL patients. There will be no hidden lists, and every patient will know where they are on that list. The statement yesterday likened it to every patient having a personal waiting time clock. The clock starts ticking when the GP referral is received and the person must be seen or treated by the time the clock reaches its maximum waiting time.
The clock can stop temporarily if, for example, the person is unavailable for a period of time. So, say you are on an 18 week maximum waiting time list for an op but you’re going to be away for 6 weeks. Your clock stops ticking for the 6 weeks you’re away and starts again when you’re available. Therefore your waiting time maximum will, in effect, be 24 weeks.
So what Nicola’s done is simply abolish hidden waiting lists – soon everyone will get a guarantee. Everyone will be told their status or a change to it. Every patient has a responsibility in all of this too. For example, someone just doesn’t show up and doesn’t inform the hospital - they’ll be referred back to their GP. They won’t be on the waiting list anymore.
There won’t, however, be any need for people not to show up because everyone will be given 21 days notice and 2 appointments to choose from. They can change their appointment up to 2 times. Now I think that’s important because the way things stand right now, we don’t take account of anyone’s work or social commitments. Patients have to choose between the promotion interview at work and the appointment at the hospital.
And social commitments? What would you do if you had to choose between your child’s sports day or even their wedding, and your hospital appointment? Of course most people will choose their child but right now, if you do that you risk being put on a hidden waiting list with no guarantee of when you’ll be seen.
So this system is much more flexible and demonstrates a recognition that we’ve all got busy lives.
Given that by March 2006 there were some 35,000 patients on hidden lists, it is an incredibly bold move by this young SNP government. They are tackling massive Labour induced problems head on.
Some are wondering can they really pull it off. I was wondering that myself! But there are 2 things that give me confidence. The first is this - how difficult can it be in all honesty, to run such a straightforward sensible system?
And the second is knowing Nicola Sturgeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Health as well as I do. Nicola is a cautious individual. She is not going to announce something like this if she is not certain it will work. She likes to have all bases covered, leaves nothing to chance. If she wants something to work, she makes damn sure it works.
So I feel confident that this bold but simple change to the health service will be one that will successfully transform the lives of patients across the country.
As Margaret Watt of the Scottish Patients’ Association said: “Scottish patients have been waiting for this”. Wait no more - the new rules come into force on 1st January. Incidentally, going back to my posting about me being bumped from a waiting list. I came across the letter today. It was July 2001. The treatment was specialised and I was being referred back to my GP to discuss a range of other treatments they could give me. Still waiting to hear from the GP. Tick tock tick tock …
Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 00:02:07 | Permalink | No Comments »

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Put in my place

I was watching The Politics Show on Sunday with Christie (my 15 year old niece). She was on Cartoon Network but I wrestled the remote from her. “Don’t you ever get bored with politics?” was all she could say. Anyway she soon got interested when she heard Nicola Sturgeon being introduced as “the Deputy First Minister of Scotland”.

“I know the Deputy First Minister of our country?” she gasped. Actually, she didn’t gasp. She never gasps. She’s way too cool for that. But she did sit up and take notice. “The Deputy First Minister of Scotland’s been in my house?”. (I really do hope Nicola’s not reading this.)

Anyway you know how you forget sometimes that you’re not alone and you get talking to yourself? Or to the TV? Or, as on this occasion, to your mate who’s on that TV? And I noticed Nicola was using a teeny bit of slang and heard myself saying out loud:

“FUR Nicola? FUR??? It’s FOR!!”

(You know how I’m so terribly well spoken all of the time myself.)

Anyway the point is that Christie turned to me and said “she’s Scottish *Nantie, you can understand what she’s saying so let her speak the language of the Scots”!!

Talk about being put in your place! Talk about ‘out of the mouths of babes’! And she was right - we are Scottish and why on earth would we want to lose the dialects and the accents of Scotland? Am suitably shamefaced.

Talking of being shamefaced, I haven’t quite got round to buying the card yet so this is the next best thing - it’s Nicola’s birthday today so Happy Birthday Nic! We’ll not mention figures, let’s just say she’s gone from ‘mid’ something to ‘late’ something :-)

*Nantie - it’s an old Scots name for Auntie.

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 08:51:42 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Proud of my mate Nicola

In March I had a party to formally adopt me as the Springburn candidate. Nicola Sturgeon was one of my speakers. In my own speech I announced that I was resigning … resigning myself to the fact that I would be seeing very little of one of my best and oldest (she’ll hate me for saying that) friends in the future. I knew that she would win Govan first past the post and she did. But little did I know just how much her life would change.

How could I have known then that we would win the election, Alex Salmond would become First Minister (yep, still teary over that one) and Nicola would become a government minister charged with the onerous task of transforming the health of one of Europe’s sickest nations?

In covering the appointments Alex Salmond has made to his cabinet, some journalists referred to Nicola’s role as a “backward step”. How mealy mouthed? And how far off the mark? I guess they had to find something to have a dig about. Nicola did a brilliant job of leading the opposition in the Scottish Parliament over the last four years - on that I agree with those journalists. But she made it clear from the start, that Alex Salmond would be First Minister should we win the election.

And now, at the age of 36, she is the Deputy First Minister of her nation. And she’s in charge of health for the whole of Scotland. How can that be seen as anything other than a stunning success? She has a huge task ahead of her. Scotland has some of the worst health records in the developed world. She must make a big difference in a very short period of time.

At the same time, the hopes of the Scottish Independence movement rest largely on the shoulders of Nicola and her colleagues. We have said we’re out to prove ourselves so that people support Independence. That’s a lot of pressure and a tremendous challenge but one that she will rise to as always. I think it would be a little churlish of me to make too big a fuss if I don’t see that much of her over the next few years. A backward step? No. Nicola, both in terms of her personal success and in terms of her ability to change things for the better in Scotland, has taken a huge leap forward and I, for one, am extremely proud of her.

 

 

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 21:40:49 | Permalink | No Comments »

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Spontanaeity in Shawlands

Another example of the genuine enthusiasm for the history we’ve just made in Scotland. Nicola Sturgeon was out in Govan yesterday thanking people for their support. She walked into a bar in Shawlands with some colleagues and the entire pub burst into spontaneous applause. She claims it was purely party political but that’s because she’s too modest. I think it was a mixture of both. Nicola will be the best MSP they ever had - she’s extremely hard working, doesn’t take no for an answer when sticking up for her constituents and is absolutely committed to the area. Why else would she have taken the tough option instead of an easily winnable seat. She deserves to have won and the people of Govan deserve her.

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 18:09:49 | Permalink | No Comments »

Feeling rough after the buff

Oh dear, sore head! Was in the Buff Club last night and didn’t get home till 3.30ish. Had a few little drinks and thought if I just drank a lot of water before going to sleep, I’d be fine. Hmmm. Anyway it was a great night. Glasgow SNP was having a party to celebrate - well, everything really. I was supposed to organise something ages ago but hadn’t. So I called a very very helpful guy I know and he was in France. But he phoned his mate who was in Australia and who owns the Buff Club amongst other places. And hey presto! We had a venue. And we had food. And music. And people - loads of them from far beyond Glasgow. And Nicola Sturgeon made a great speech. Once I have the photos I’ll put some up and tell you more about it but it was a fantastic party. And myself and friends Fraser and David were the last to leave along with www.tartanhero.blogspot.com - I notice he’s not updated today. No stamina that guy!
Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 10:20:12 | Permalink | No Comments »