Have your say Jims Blog

Scotland – Building our Navy

At the end of last week I visited Diamond, the Royal Navy’s brand new Type 45 Destoyer which is undergoing sea trials. I was amazed at the technology on board and it is a testament to the men and women of the Clyde who have built this ship.

Glasgow and the Clyde has a phenomanal history in ship building and a future thanks to the Royal Navy who have opted to build their ships in Scotland, but we should remember that if the United kingdom was broken up these ships, would be built in what remains of the UK (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and not Scotland as we would be a foreign country and the UK would not place it’s orders in a foreign country.

The skills, expertise and world renowned capabilities of the yard would vanish and the area would be decimated economically as a result.

From the deck I could see Largs, Millport and the Isles of Bute and Rothesay – I have fond memories of coming here as a kid on holiday and have wonderful memories of travelling to the Isles on the Saturn ferries which is quite different from how I’m travelling today on this new Type 45 Destroyer and having navigated the ship briefly I am amazed at the technology that our men and women have to hand. It’s been a great day and shows that Glasgow is still shaping the navy of the future and we should rightly celebrate that heritage and be pround of our achievements.

The biggest difference I found on this ship is the quality of life for the crew – on the older ships there would be dozens of men and women to a bunk, now that has been reduced to six or even two in some cases, the ratings have their own mess area where they can watch TV or DVDs and even play video games to relax, something that is new and as I found out – very much welcomed by the crew.

I think it’s also right that the crews of the future navy have the best quality of life possible, we are asking them to risk their lives around the world and the least we should expect is to allow them a good quality of life when they are away from home for so long.

The video blog below will give you a feel of the day and an idea of just how blustery the weather conditions are on the deck of these great ships.

An audience with the Pope

I was fortunate to spend yesterday evening talking to the students and Rector of the Pontifical Scots College with Cardinal O’Brien. As well as plenty of talk about Scotland and the traffic in Rome, we had interesting and thought provoking discussions about both the global challenge and local consequences of tackling climate change.

Today I met the Pope in a packed St Peter’s square. Amongst the thousands of visitors were tourists from all over the world, newly married couples in their bridal outfits and all of the Scots seminarians studying for the priesthood at the Scots College here in Rome. It was a fantastic celebration in the late October sunshine. Celebration is the right word because each of the groups of Pilgrims was welcomed by the Holy Father and cheered with the noisiest groups being from Brazil, the Netherlands and Poland.



After the service I met the Pope. It was a special and emotional moment and a really moving experience. It was also lovely because Scotland’s Cardinal Keith O’Brien introduced me to the Pope. We talked about international development, climate change and the proposed Papal visit to Britain including Scotland.

Afterwards I met the Vatican’s depute Prime Minister Archbishop Filoni. Cardinal O’Brien and I then joined senior officials from the Vatican for a working lunch to discuss the Papal visit.

It is of course for the Vatican to confirm, but after today’s discussions the prospects of the Pope visiting Scotland next year have gone from possible to probable. It is something I know that people throughout Britain including Scots of all faiths will welcome.

I am typing this on my phone on the way back to Rome airport so that I can get to Edinburgh tonight. What a wonderful day.

Tough action on credit card companies

During this difficult economic time I want to do what I can to help local people manage their finances and cope with repaying their debts. What I hear about time and time again are complaints from people about unfair practices and rip offs.

Whether its over the top charges in credit card bills, credit repayments or the high cost of credit on things like store cards, it's clear that something needs to be done to help consumers.

So I was pleased to be briefed by Ministers that credit and store cards are going to be forced to end rip off charges.

Labour's plans will mean that companies have to raise the minimum monthly repayments levels to encourage people to pay off their debt faster – minimum payments now too often leave people with debts for a lifetime.

We will ban unasked for credit card cheques and the practice of increasing credit limits without prior consent. There will be restrictions on increasing the interest rate on existing debt. And we will change the rules so that the most expensive debt on your credit card is paid off first - at the moment most credit card companies make you pay off the cheapest debt first.

I will support these moves as they will force credit and store card companies to give people a fairer deal and prevent spiralling debts.

What concerns me most is interest rates being increased without proper explanation. Consumers using their cards responsibly and making payments on time should not pay the price for excessive risk-taking by financial institutions. So I will push for the Government to ban or at least restrict the re-pricing of existing debt.

People have a responsibility to manage their finances properly, but they also have a right to clear information to enable them to do that. Consumers should not feel each month as if they’ve been exploited or disadvantaged.

It is not right that some card companies have complex and confusing terms and conditions. Too often they leave people confused. Or they increase interest rates without a proper explanation, which is unfair. Labour's tough action on this issue is good news for consumers in East Renfrewshire.

Let me know what you think.

The BNP are Scotland's problem too

I didn't ever think I would have to debate a fascist party. I thought that type of politics was a thing of the past but that poison is back in the form of the BNP. They are now on Question Time and its time for them to give some answers about their denial of the Holocaust and their hatred of immigrants. Their politics are alien to our British way of life where we try to see people for who they are rather than their skin colour, nationality or religion.

Nick Griffin will try to appear human and will hide his fascist views. Gone will be the BNP Nazi salutes and Holocaust denials. It turns my stomach that these people are on our televisions. It is sickening but it became unavoidable once they won elections. The big question is how did they win elections?? I think that complacency is the answer and I worry that Scotland is still too complacent. We look at parts of England where the BNP have won and I fear that people think it could never happen here.?

Ten years ago the number of people voting BNP in Scotland numbered just over 3000. In June of this year that increased ten fold to 29,000 people in Scotland who decided to put their cross in the BNP box. Their support is now sufficiently large that only the largest stadiums in the country could now accommodate all Scottish BNP voters at once. If this thought doesn’t concern people then the problem is only going to get worse.?

Politicians must take the threat more seriously. They must not convince themselves that because the BNP are not a danger in Scotland. The threat is there and we need to act.? ?All parties need to persuade good people that doing nothing helps those with extremist views. In my time in politics I can honestly say that the overwhelming majority of politicians from all the main political parties are decent folk who, regardless of what I may think of their politics, have good intentions. The challenge for all these decent people is to prevent any anger with mainstream parties being exploited by people with evil intentions. We need to rise to this challenge sooner rather than later and we must succeed not for the sake of politicians but for the sake of our country.

Should Bankers get Bonusses?

I took part in the BBC’s “Big Debate” programme on the economy earlier in the week with John Swinney, David Mundell and Alistair Carmichael. One of the issues raised was bankers bonuses. My view on this is clear – it is irresponsibly immoral for bankers to return to their old ways. Bonuses have to be based on long-term success, not the old ways of perceiving them as a right. The point I made in the debate was we need an international solution on this for a new system to work. The British government is going to keep trying get such an agreement. One of my worries in all this is the way that all bank workers are considered the same. There are very many good and modestly paid bank workers and I think it’s important to distinguish between them and the top execs. I’m fine with bank clerks getting a few hundred pound bonuses if they deliver but I’m furious with the idea that those at the top take tens of thousands of pounds for themselves.

Watch the full “BIg Debate” on BBC iPlayer

Tory's "Extreme" Friends -- Your views

Below is my recent response to an article by the Foreign Secertary David Milliband on the Tory's "Extreme" Friends, let me know what you think.

Jim has joined the Foreign Secretary David Miliband in criticising the Tory party for their choice of the new European political grouping they have joined. New revelations have shown just how hardline the Group is.

Jim said

"The Tories have turned their back on the other mainstream Conservative parties of Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy to join a group with a strange mix of unhealthy politics. The Tories have aligned themselves with a group of hardliners who flirt with anti-Semitism. It is a very unhealthy mix of strange politicians some of whom do not want to apologise for their countries part in the mass murder of Jews. The Tories want to be the next government but this whole thing isn't just a terrible policy for them as a Party but it is an embarrassment for the UK as a country internationally. It’s not enough for them to say that they don't agree with their new friends they have to completely disown these terrible people."

Additional Information

Click here for the Observer report.

Below is the full article by Foreign Secretary David Miliband

'There will be incredulity that the party of Churchill chooses allies like this'

guardian.co.uk , Sunday 11 October 2009 00.08 BST

David Cameron 's judgment is now in question regarding some of the biggest issues facing the country: Europe, the economy and the role of the state.

Europe is a vital test of credibility for the Conservative party because the issue wrecked the last Tory government and influence in Europe is going to be critical.

The Observer has been dogged in exposing the Tories' new and fringe bedfellows in the European parliament. Remember, they have rejected the conservatism of Angela Merkel for that of people who commemorate the Latvian Unit of the Waffen SS. Rejected Nicolas Sarkozy's Conservatives for a party of climate change deniers from the Czech Republic. Rejected Fredrik Reinfeldt's Swedish Moderate Party for the Polish far-right party of Michal Kaminski.

The latest revelations – the Hague letter about his party's "good friend" Kaminski, the latter's disgraceful calls for apologies "by the Jewish nation" to balance Polish ones and his hair-splitting about how bad it is to burn 300 Jews in cold blood – are devastating.

There isn't room for hair-splitting when it comes to the Jedwabne massacre. Nor when it comes to understanding what is at stake in framing our international alliances. There will be incredulity in Washington, Beijing and Delhi, never mind Berlin and Paris, that a party aspiring to government in Britain – the party of Winston Churchill no less – chooses allies like this.

Cameron and William Hague should announce today that they are suspending their membership of the ECR group. They should condemn Kaminski's havering about the Jedwabne massacre, and the marches commemorating the Latvian Waffen SS. They should apologise for this whole episode. The longer their silence, the greater the indictment of their judgment.

Shamefully, the Conservatives have refused to disown people they would not be seen dead with in Britain. And their Europhobia means they cannot answer the simple question: will you live with the Lisbon treaty or fight it?

Grown-up leadership would have meant Cameron confronting his party last week with a simple truth: the modern world is defined by international challenges that require more, not less, European co-operation, from energy to foreign policy. Instead he did the opposite, posing as the defender of the national interest against a phantom superstate. For all the rhetorical window dressing, the Tories have used the economic crisis to shift to the right and return to the tired old tunes of the past

The idea that we need to reduce the deficit now to curb inflation is dangerous nonsense. It would turn nascent recovery into depression. On social policy, the attack on the evils of government action to tackle poverty, in favour of a spirit of self reliance, is the mantra of Keith Joseph, which really did create a broken society in the 1980s. Unable to define a modern Conservatism, Cameron plumped for reheated Thatcherism.

He completely ignored the challenges and complexities of a modern globalised world. There was nothing about global interdependence in his speech at all. No analysis of the global nature of the financial crisis, or of global terrorism, or global competition. Yet shared responsibility for global challenges is precisely what is needed – from government as well as businesses, community organisations and individuals.

The Tories do not offer positive change or radical reform. That is Labour's opportunity. Labour's task between now and the election is threefold. First, we need to defend our record with passion as well as humility. This is not a broken society or a bankrupt country. It's actually not just richer and fairer but clearer about its role in the world than at any time since the Second World War.

Second, we need to continue to fill out our vision of the future. This is important not just to be a credible new government – Gordon Brown's line that if re-elected we would be the first Labour government of the global age, not the fourth government since 1997, is bang on.

It is also that by filling out our agenda we will make it possible to take on our third task with gusto. That is exposing the vapidity, contradictions and plain distortions of the Tory offer.

They are not just wrong in themselves. They are tokens of an unreformed party, out of touch with the modern world and dangerous for Britain.

Maintaining Labour radicalism- Your opinion

Below is a recent article I wrote for the Scotsman. Let me know what you think.

Scottish politics is often about a debate about the constitution - a politics about place. As a social democrat I want the election campaign to be about equality and oportunity - a politics about people. The laziest and most baseless accusation in Scottish politics is that New Labour has abandoned its social democratic traditions. (George Kerevan, 1 October 2009). In fact, judged by our record in many areas of social policy– and our ideas for the future, this is by some distance the most socially radical Labour government in history.

From the socialism of Keir Hardie to the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Labour has always held that work is the best form of welfare for people of working age. Alone in Europe from 1997 onwards we grew employment every year while expanding workers rights – the right to join a union, the right for unions to organise, increased maternity leave and maternity pay, new rights to paternity leave and adoption leave, flexible working for parents and carers. Modernising the work place – and in stark opposition to the heartless Tory falsehood that decent employment and jobs growth were incompatible. And this week we see the new face of Conservatism. In the eighties they forced people onto Incapacity Benefit to fiddle the unemployment figures. Now they want the sick and disbled onto Jobseekers allowance because they want the cash.

Labour has been the author of all significant equalities legislation in Britain. In the last decade we have introduced the Disability Discrimination Act (which had been bitterly opposed by John Major’s administration), civil partnerships for gay men and lesbians, and now the creation of a powerful unified equalities body. All this on top of the most radical constitutional change for over a century – Lords reform, devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Freedom of information and the Human Rights Act.

The second laziest accusation in Scottish politics is that Labour has run of steam and the SNP have become the radical party. Last week’s conference showed that nothing is further from the truth. This is the only government since the war to have reduced crime from the level it inherited when it came into office. Despite that record we know that we must go further. That is why Gordon Brown set out plans to tackle the anti-social behaviour and family breakdown that can be the precursors of later crime. This agenda of tough intervention is echoed in Scotland by Iain Gray who has called for action to rescue children from failing families, and mandatory sentences for knife crime. The SNP response? To reject these proposals and to plan the release of 4000 convicted criminals. Crime impacts most heavily on working class communities – there’s nothing social democratic about allowing decent people to be terrorised in their own communities.

On public services, the Prime Minister set out a vision for the integration of health and social care into a new National Care Service. He also promised cancer patients in England a one-week target between diagnosis and test results. This is in addition to existing patients rights to a maximum wait of 18 weeks between seeing a GP and being treated, with free choice of any hospital – public, private or voluntary. Extending to all the choice and quality of health care previously only available to the rich is social democracy in action. The SNP health agenda? Limited to free prescription charges, an end to some car parking charges and a hike in the price of a glass of wine for the decent majority. Not exactly socialism in one country.

The truth is that in every major area of public policy Labour still lead and set a progressive agenda. Peter Mandelson’s industrial activism driving a resurgence of manufacturing. Ed Miliband’s leadership on climate change setting the agenda in Copenhagen and providing 250,000 jobs in Britain. Alistair Darling protecting jobs and savings in Scotland – and investing £5bn in getting people back to work (every penny opposed by the Tories). Labour has transformed Scotland and Britain since 1997 – we have the energy and ideas to continue the reforms that are needed to maintain progress.

Happy birthday St. Ninians.

25 years ago St. Ninians opened to the world and what a quarter a century it has been.

It would have been the school that I would have gone to if the planning process hadn't taken 8 years - instead I went to Bellarmine(now the site of the Silverburn shopping centre).

But it was great to be at the celebration mass on Wednesday night. Pupils past and present were there as was Archbishop Conti who led the celebrations.

One of the guests was Jim Mcvitie the former head teacher who was there for the first 21 years of the school and helped to make it the brilliant school that it is now. It is a reminder again that all of the success in our local schools doesn't happen by chance. It comes about because of the money invested by the Labour government which we give to the Scottish govt and the dedication of some brilliant staff.

I look forward to celebrating the opening of a new Eastwood high and a new Barrhead high school. The only thing that is holding that up is the continued refusal of the SNP govt to agree to the funding plans. It is a shame that amidst all the bright new local schools that pupils in Eastwood high and Barrhead high are losing out because of the SNP failure to act. Surely this can't continue. If you want to back the campaign for these 2 new schools sign our online petition.

Why we must work together to help get Scotland working

 Scotland is to get a new team to combat unemployment and prepare Scots for the end of the recession.

Yesterday I met the STUC, CBI and Scottish Government and suggested that we need to do things differently. This is no time for politics as normal.

Everyone knows that the Labour Party believes Scotland is stronger because we are a big part of one of the largest and most influential economies in the world. Equally its clear that the SNP believe Scotland would be better to leave the UK.

For the moment we should leave those arguments to one side whenever possible. Instead we need to work together as never before. That is why I suggested that we should organise a winter jobs summit to make sure that both the British and Scottish governments have the right support in place to make sure that Scottish workers are ready for the upturn.

Of course there is a lot already going on such as the recent launch of the Future Jobs Fund which has provided a job for up to 3,000 long-term unemployed young Scots and the launch of ‘Backing Young Britain’ which has attracted the support of 150 of the UK’s largest companies.

But it would be wrong if we didn’t look again at the support available to those who most need it. The legacy of previous domestic recessions was generational. Too many people got stuck on benefit and some gave up on themselves, some on incapacity benefit.

The summit is more than the novelty of two opposing governments sitting down together – it will involve all political parties, business leaders, trade unions, local government leaders and universities and colleges. We need to come up with new ideas, new ways of working and new policies which allow us to do things differently.

I do not want a generation of Scots lost to unemployment because we chose not to work together. I do not want to see a repeat of people abandoned to a lifetime of unemployment as happened under previous governments.

Much is already underway but today’s agreement shows the willingness and need to go the extra mile: the UK Government has recently invested £6.9 billion into the ‘Backing Young Britain’ programme that will deliver 1.5 million learning opportunities through initiatives such as Future Jobs Fund (FJF), Local Employment Partnerships and Worktrials.

The FJF will create 100,000 new jobs for young people by the time it ends, and as of July we have created 47,000 new jobs.

So far, Local Employment Partnerships have helped over 230,000 unemployed people into jobs and more than 25,000 employers signed up to work with Jobcentre Plus to help unemployed people back to work. I am optimistic about our future.

As a country Scotland is well placed to move out of the recession: it has a fantastic base to start from in industry and new technologies and its businesses are always looking at new ways of improving their products and seeking new markets.

There is a route to the other side of the recession and it involves all of us working together, not just now but in the future – this a new way of working, a new way of doing things and a new way of building a stronger Scotland.

We do need to do more and it would be a foolish politician who failed to admit that fact. We must ensure that industry and the economy are on a firm footing for the future, set aside differences and work together for the good of our country.

Why so few Asian players?

On Sunday I was invited to speak at a dinner to celebrate 62 years of Indian independence which was at Celtic Park.

It made me think of the role of Scottish Asians in football here in Scotland today.

Unknown to the organisers or to me until I was preparing my speech is that Celtic has its own special link with India – via the remarkable Mohammed Salim. Salim, born in Calcutta in 1904 was the first Indian footballer to play in Europe. He played for Celtic in 1936. He was a winger, described by an admiring press as the ‘Indian juggler’ with ‘ten twinkling toes’.

Salim became homesick and returned to India. Celtic had tried to persuade him to stay by honouring him with a charity match. But Salim insisted that his share of the proceedings was given to Glasgow’s orphans.

The story of Mohammed Salim is an inspiration. But while Scottish football is attracting more supporters from the wider Asian community through the turnstiles the lack of Asian players remains a concern.

In my years of watching the SPL I can think of no Scottish-born Asian players. I was disappointed to find out that only three Asian players are on the books of Scotland’s 42 clubs – two at Celtic and one at Hibernian. All are youngsters.

At the same time, some 1.1% of the Scottish population, 55,000 people, described themselves as Asian in the last census. It is clear that the community is under-represented in the Scottish professional game.

There has been much speculation about this lack of Asian representation at the highest levels of professional football. Perhaps football is not seen as a professional career. It is true too that many aspiring footballers do not make the grade so the competition is daunting.

There is also the lack of Asian role models and the attractions of other sports. I am thinking about cricket, which can point to Mark Ramprakash and Monte Panesar, and boxing which showcases Amir Khan.

I would hope that more young Scottish Asians will be encouraged to have a tilt at professional football. Scotland has endured recent disappointments on the international and European club scenes. What a boost it would be to see the 21st century successors to Mohammed Salim gracing the SPL sooner rather than later.