I don’t know if any readers have had similarly embarrassing moments but on several occasions a friend from abroad has asked for ‘something Scottish’ to go with their dinner in a restaurant when visiting. The startled response of ‘we don’t have any Scottish beers’ is always met with surprised dismay.

There is light at the end of the tunnel of course thanks to a surge in popularity for Scots products, with even my local pub/restaurant down here in London stocking the glorious Innes & Gun.

The reason Scottish drinks have been held back for too long may be glimpsed by reading this compelling story of Diageo threatening to pull sponsorship of a drinks award if the independent awards for Bar of the Year wasn’t changed:

Diageo screws Brewdog:
However we (Brewdog) were not announced as winners of the award. This disappointment was further compounded when one of the judges (seated at our table) told us in disbelief ‘this simply cannot be, the independent judging panel voted for BrewDog as clear winners of the award’. Events took a further twist when the people who got given the award refused to accept it as it clearly had ‘BrewDog’ engraved on the trophy as winners.

It’s not the first time Diageo has screwed over Scotland of course, ruthlessly pulling Johnnie Walker out of Kilmarnock leaving hundreds unemployed and reorganising the group to not only avoid tax but receive a £76m credit.

Boycott is a strong word, but consumer power is important. So, maybe next time it’s worth switching that Diageo Guinness for a Trashy Blonde, if where you are stocks it, of course.

After all the excitement of local elections, it’s pleasant to see our esteemed MSPs at Holyrood returning from campaigning on their local doorsteps to raise local issues in the corridors of power.

We here at Better Nation do appreciate the importance of keeping it local, but we do so tire of our elected members in Scotland remaining parochial, nowhere more so than in the motions placed at Holyrood. Motions should be a little flag, hoisted by the MSP, to wave attention to something worthy to the rest of Scotland that’s happening in their local patch.

Motions should be more than sticking one’s political tongue out, which is why we accord WMOTW One (for there are two WMOTW this week) to Jackie Baillie, for this unnecessary crowing:

Motion S4M-02783: Jackie Baillie, Dumbarton, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 08/05/2012

Victory in West Dunbartonshire 

That the Parliament congratulates all of the candidates who stood for election in West Dunbartonshire on 3 May 2012; commends everyone who voted, and recognises what it considers to be the stunning victory for Labour in gaining control of West Dunbartonshire Council.

Supported by: James Kelly, Neil Findlay, Neil Bibby, Anne McTaggart, Margaret McCulloch, Drew Smith, Richard Simpson, Hanzala Malik, Patricia Ferguson, Mary Fee, Margaret McDougall

There’s no mitigation for trying to be nice by saying “all of the candidates” either.

Nor should motions welcome something which we already have 147 other editions of, according to Amazon.co.uk. Thus, the second WMOTW is awarded to *gasp* Jackie Baillie again.

Motion S4M-02841: Jackie Baillie, Dumbarton, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 10/05/2012

Loch Lomond Tourist Guide Launched 

That the Parliament welcomes the launch of a new mini guide and map of Loch Lomond attractions to the world’s travel trade at the VisitScotland Expo by Love Loch Lomond; notes that the new information leaflet features the top 50 things to see and do in the Loch Lomond and Clyde Sea lochs area; further notes that the map was specially commissioned to help visitors get the most out of their visit to one of Scotland’s most popular destinations in Scotland’s first National Park, and encourages everyone to come and visit Loch Lomond and the surrounding area.

Tsk tsk.

So it’s a poor showing for West Dumbartonshire in this week’s WMOTW. But fear not, for its geographical rival East Dunbartonshire is here to show how it’s done.

BMOTW celebrates vision. Ambition. Keeping it local, but making it innovative. And this week the award goes to Gil Paterson, for celebrating Scotland’s newest venture to the final frontiers:

Motion S4M-02809: Gil Paterson, Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 08/05/2012

To Europe and Beyond 

That the Parliament congratulates Bearsden Academy on winning the European Cansat Competition in Norway against teams from 13 other European nations; notes that the competition was promoted by the European Space Agency with the aim of building a satellite within the confines of a soft drink can, conducting a launch of a rocket up to an altitude of 1km, conducting their missions and landing safely; understands that the pupils were chosen as winners based on their performance throughout the project as well as the final flight operations and results, and considers that this is not only a fantastic achievement for the pupils but also brings great recognition for their school and, indeed, Scotland.

Supported by: David Torrance, Richard Lyle, Margaret Burgess, Mike MacKenzie, Colin Beattie, Angus MacDonald, Humza Yousaf, Bob Doris, Joan McAlpine, Fiona McLeod, Annabelle Ewing, Rob Gibson, Dennis Robertson, Mary Fee, Kenneth Gibson, Jamie Hepburn, Neil Bibby, Adam Ingram

Live long and prosper, gentle readers.

Photo credit – Nel C

A guest post from Mary Fee MSP who is Convenor of the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on M.E. and will be chairing the ‘It’s All About Me’ event which aims to bring MSPs together with health professionals, M.E. charities and sufferers of M.E. to share knowledge and information. Mary Fee is a list MSP for the West of Scotland and was elected in the 2011 Scottish Elections.

It was with great sadness that I read about the passing of M.E. activist Emily Collingridge in March of this year. That someone so young was taken by an illness that many today still refuse to acknowledge should have sent shockwaves around the country. Yet there was almost no coverage of her death, I only became aware of it through reading an article on Comment is Free.

Whilst Ms Collingridge may be gone her work does not have to pass with her, her death and her suffering must not be in vain, not just for the sake of Emily but also for the sake of those suffering from M.E. across the country. Sufferers and their carers are being deafened each and every day from their own silent screams, ignored by the government, ignored by the welfare system and ignored by the very doctors and health service that should be helping them.

Those who suffer from M.E. are tragically not getting the support and care they need and are under constant threat of losing their benefits due to ignorance surrounding the illness. Action for M.E. believes that more than half of those who suffer from M.E. will end up losing their jobs due to the illness. Whilst scientific research has advanced in leaps and bounds in other areas, due in part to large funding from Governments, M.E. is being ignored. We still don’t know what causes Myalgic Encephalomyelitis nor how to cure it.

The World Health Organisation recognise M.E. as a neurological condition that results in muscle pain with intense physical or mental exhaustion, relapses and specific cognitive disabilities. Taking this definition of the condition one cannot help but come to the conclusion that to simply classify the condition as ‘fatigue,’ whether chronic precedes it and syndrome follows or not, is to trivialise the pain and suffering felt. Mental health campaigners, for example, whilst still facing a battle against stigma have thankfully passed the stage where sufferers are told to ‘pull themselves together,’ yet for campaigners for M.E. awareness a feeling of isolation still persists, stuck at a crossing waiting for the rest of the country to catch up.

Estimates put the total number of people in the United Kingdom suffering from M.E. at over 250,000. It is more common in women than in men and although it is more common with those aged between 25 and 45 it can affect people of any age, when she was first diagnosed Emily was six.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is a subject close to me personally and I am convenor of the Cross Party Group on M.E. at the Scottish Parliament. The CPG helps bring both sufferers and those with an interest in Myalgic Encephalopathy together to provide MSPs from all parties with information and expertise on issues affecting M.E. sufferers, their families and carers. At the last count the Cross Party Group on M.E. had 9 MSPs, over 50 individuals including sufferers, carers, professors and doctors, and a handful of organisations including Action for M.E., M.E. Research UK and M.E. Association.

M.E. Awareness Week will take place at the start of May and the Cross Party Group is hosting a M.E Awareness Event. There is still a lot of misconception surrounding the illness in Britain today making it imperative that supporters stand up and help counter this. I hope that the event will help raise awareness in Scotland and lead to serious questions being asked by politicians and health organisations. I ask Scottish readers to get in touch with their local MSPs to ask them to support the awareness week.

Unfortunately there is still a lot of misconception surrounding M.E. in Britain today and we are hopeful that this event, and the awareness week in general, will help to counter these. Misconceptions can be changed, not overnight and not without effort. M.E. Awareness Week is a great opportunity to begin these changes

Today, for the first time this session, Patrick Harvie had a scheduled question at First Minister’s Questions. That’s almost a year without having a question taken in advance even once, zero out of more than thirty sessions, and it’s pretty inexplicable.

Sure, Patrick and Alison aren’t a massive Parliamentary group, but then neither are Willie Rennie and his four associates.

In May last year, the Presiding Officer wrote to all party leaders explaining how regular access to FMQs would be divided. The letter is at the end of this post. Two weeks out of three, Willie Rennie gets a question.

That’s maybe 20 scheduled questions for him over the first year of this arrangement, given recess. And yet Tricia Marwick also promised we would see “the Green Party being selected from time to time on a roughly proportional basis“.

The maths aren’t terribly hard. Willie Rennie is leader of a group of five, Patrick Harvie is co-convenor of a group of two. If Willie gets 20 shots, the equivalent for Patrick would be to be heard 8 times. Not a mere 1. That, Presiding Officer, is nowhere near “roughly proportional“. This isn’t about more chances for point-scoring or partisanship – the public who voted Green have the same right to have their concerns heard as those who voted Lib Dem, and “on a roughly proportional basis“. Holyrood was established to reflect the diversity of views in Scotland, as partially reflected in our electoral system, and that principle needs to apply to MSPs’ only opportunity to hold the First Minister to account.

While the Green Party is substantially under-represented, it turns out the Christine Grahame party is substantially over-represented. I like Christine – she’s probably the best SNP committee convenor we have right now, for one thing, and she asks pertinent questions too, both with her constituency hat and her convenorship hat on, but the Presiding Officer has essentially turned FMQs into the Christine and Alex show. Here’s her showing since the last election:

1. March 2012: Lockerbie
2. February 2012: Business in Tweedbank (constituency)
3. January 2012: Benefits and child poverty
4. December 2011: Access to courts (supplementary)
5. December 2011: Double jeopardy
6. November 2011: Carloway report (supplementary)
7. September 2011: Waverley line (constituency)
8. September 2011: STV access (supplementary)
9. September 2011: Lockerbie
   (Parliament is in recess for July and August)
10. June 2011: Cadder ruling
11. June 2011: Waverley line (constituency)

Since the last election there has been only one month when Tricia Marwick hasn’t called Christine Grahame, not counting the summer recess: October last year (and there were two weeks of recess in October, so only two rounds of FMQs). Seven of those have been scheduled questions. Patrick Harvie has had supplementary questions taken over that period, like this, but the dire new Parliament website has a broken search function and is returning precisely zero results for Patrick at FMQs.

I like the Presiding Officer, even if she’ll probably never speak to me again, and the explanation for this gross disproportionality isn’t clear.  But it’s hard not to conclude it’s personal.

Presiding Officer’s letter of 25 May 2011

I am writing to advise you of the decisions I have taken in relation to the future management of First Minister’s Question Time.

There are two important principles that have underpinned my deliberations. Firstly, the prime purpose of First Minister’s Question Time is to hold the Scottish Government to account and I therefore intend to ensure that all of the parties represented on the Parliamentary Bureau are given the opportunity to do so. Secondly, I intend to ensure that backbench Members have a greater opportunity to ask questions of the First Minister, and more prominence when doing so during the half-hour weekly slot.

On that basis, the approach I will adopt is as follows:

* Questions 1 and 2 will follow the same format as in Session 3 (ie, allocated to the Labour Party and to the Conservative Party with four and two supplementary questions respectively).

* Question 3 will be allocated to the Liberal Democrat Party for two weeks out of three. For one week in three, I will select what I consider to be the best quality question from a backbench Member submitted that week, regardless of party.

* Question 4 will be allocated to the SNP and question 5 will be allocated to the Labour Party.

* Question 6 will be allocated equally between the Conservative Party and the SNP with the Green Party being selected from time to time on a roughly proportional basis.

Following the principle of giving backbenchers more scope and prominence, it is also my intention to take questions of a local nature after Question 2 rather than after Question 3 as has previously been the case.

I will, of course, reserve the right to alter the above on any week, depending on the topicality and suitability of the questions submitted.

First Minister’s Questions is, for many, the high point of the parliamentary week and I intend to do all I can to ensure that this session plays its part in holding the Government to account on the issues of the day.

Yours sincerely,
TRICIA MARWICK MSP
Presiding Officer

pic credit