Importing changes from London would be a mistake

A seminar in Dundee yesterday (30/05/12) heard that it might not be such a good idea to import freedom of information (FOI) developments direct from London.

While this included the Scottish Government’s proposed ‘forelock-tugging’ adoption of the UK’s exemption of communications with a ‘quasi-feudal, privileged class, it wasn’t the only threat identified in the contributions to the Centre for Freedom of Information’s seminar. Two speakers from London warned of dangers to FOI being discussed as part of the (Westminster) Justice Committee’s review of the UK FOI Act.

Dr Ben Worthy, of the University College, London said that the review had allowed senior politicians to start speculation that FOI was leading to a ‘chilling effect’ on government decision-making, restricting free discussion of ideas in policy making, and that they were also peddling the idea that the ‘wrong’ people were using the Act. A wholly wrong concept, but one that was now gaining ground.

Ibrahim Hasan, of ‘Act Now Training’ and ‘Save FOI’ campaign agreed, and also warned that the review was being used to lobby for changes to restrict FOI access - he predicted increased fees and more exemptions.

Rosemary Agnew
- New Scottish Information
Commissioner

The seminar was also important as the first public outing for the new Scottish Information Commissioner, Rosemary Agnew. In what must have been a nerve-wracking presentation in front of a roomful of FOI practitioners and campaigners - not to mention her predecessor! - she delivered a creditable performance. In particular she warned government and others that her office was not going to stop pushing the boundaries of legislation, and in particular the need to address the democratic deficit caused by the failure to extend the coverage of the Act to follow both the public pound, and as importantly, public services.

It will be important for supporters of extending the Act’s coverage to continue to point to the ‘elephant in the room’ (As Brodie LLP’s Christine O’Neill put it) of the Scottish Government’s Freedom of Information (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. A missed opportunity to address the real problem in the legislation, and ensure that all public service deliverers need be transparent in their work for us - whatever sector they come from.

And that absolute exemption for communications with the monarch or their heir? And indeed communications about those communications? Was that lifted from the UK Act to create a glaring anomaly in the transparency agenda just to shield the Scottish Government from embarrassing requests about Brian Souter’s knighthood? The seminar remained silent.

Festival brings screen joy to benighted masses

From today film lovers of Glasgow's South Side have an all-too-infrequent opportunity to indulge their cinematic hankerings without having to venture up to and across the River Clyde.

This evening starts a weekend-long silver-screen treat – the South Side Film Festival – set up, at least in part, to compensate for the fact that Glasgow's once legendary passion for the cinema has long-since died in the far South of the Clyde, and there are no longer any operating cinemas in that part of the city – South-siders having to rely on Pacific Quay and the I-Max on the very banks of the river itself.

The Festival, although it is largely run by volunteers and housed in all sorts of buildings from scout huts to Govan's august Pearce Institute, shows a remarkable breadth and variety, with feature films rubbing shoulders with animation workshops, cinema talks and exhibitions and, of course the obligatory pub quiz (tonight in the Bungo from 8.00pm), where self-styled 'experts' will no doubt indulge in some verbal debate over obscure details!

To single out highlights would be invidious, so I will. You have an opportunity to see again the unique film Class Struggle – film from the Clyde shot by Cinema Action – the only film crew allowed into the Clyde shipbuilding yards during the UCS Work-In forty years ago. Fittingly enough, this is being shown on Saturday at 3.00pm in the Pearce Institute in Govan. There will be a Q&A after the film with veterans from the work-in.

Elsewhere in the political scene, two films about the Northern Irish troubles look to be worth seeing. Leila Doolan's biographical documentary of fiery republican, Bernadette Devlin McAliskey is on in the Shed (Langside Ave) on Saturday and will be followed by A Million Bricks on the building of Belfast's biggest 'peace line'.

Buster Keaton features in the closing film, The General is in Pollockshaws Burgh Hall on Sunday with live Wurlitzer Organ accompaniment, and the launch film at 8.00pm Friday in The Shed is a much more up-to-date item – South-side resident, Peter Mullan's NEDS.

If you want to your way round the sites of all the long-lost cinemas on Glasgow's South Side, I suggest an afternoon visit to Tusk on Sunday (2,00pm) where Gary Painter of the website scottishcinemas.org will give an illustrated talk on their sites or if they still exist in another guise (as does the Waverley cinema in which you will be sitting!

The programme for the weekend is here and tickets available from tickets scotland, on the door or at Youngs Interesting Books.

Working in unison needs a broad base

Coalition formed in UNISON?

Amongst all the surprise and astonishment that has greeted the 'historic' Labour/SNP coalition in Edinburgh (although constituents in East Renfrewshire might be forgiven for questioning the novelty of this situation) it is interesting to consider a factor that might well have been a catalyst,

A factor that has not been publicly mentioned (as far as I know) is what happened in the huge furore around the LibDems' Alternative Business Model (ABM) proposals in the last administration. The proposals, which primarily involved privatising both support and front-line services in the city, caused a huge backlash, with a very successful campaign, led by the council trade unions but incorporating a much wider community base, ultimately leading to its defeat.

Of course, given the knife-edge balance of the previous party make up (29 each with the Tories always likely to back selling off services), this defeat had to involve detaching SNP support from their LibDem coalition partners and a joint vote with Labour (and the Greens) to defeat the plans.

UNISON (the largest council union) activists in the city have admitted privately that their greatest concern was the the notorious resentment between Labour and the Nationalists might scupper the final votes. In the midst of a very vocal and highly-charged campaign, the difficulty in gaining the joint support of the two key parties without pushing either into a political corner was a manoeuvre worthy of Balkan dexterity!

Working together

As is now known, it was ultimately successful and scuppered the LibDem privatisation plans in all areas. Ultimately two ABMs were defeated by joint Labour/SNP amendments and the LibDems threw the other one out themselves. The two parties also – it now appears – reaped the benefits in the elections. Jenny Dawe and her LD colleagues were left to face the full wrath of the electorate on their own.

Was this experience a straw in the wind of this week's shock coalition? A positive experience in working together can only have assisted the move towards it. Too much cannot be ascribed to this working together, or indeed should it be predicted for this coalition. The economic future for all local government in Scotland is bleak, and difficult times lie ahead. Not only will these strain the alliance, they will almost certainly mean issues with their own workforce and with the communities they serve.

Lessons that both Councillor Burns and Councillor Cardownie need to heed are that power does not simply involve the division of positions on the council, but must ensure that services are defended for their communities. And just as the workforce was instrumental in piloting joint activity over the ABM crisis, they need to continue to be part of the working together package to steer Edinburgh through the crises to come.

Faint scratching noises as the bottom of the barrel is scraped

As the sons set on Rupert Murdoch’s empire (ⓒGeorge Galloway), perhaps the most unedifying sight in a thoroughly unedifying political arena is the view of Alex Salmond’s apologists attempting to shift blame by pointing at Blair, Thatcher, Brown, Cameron and their past courting of the media godfather. 

On blogs and on networking sites, aides and supporters of the isolated Salmond have been using the ‘they all did it’ argument in frantic attempts to distract attention away from the fact that they didn’t all do it, and in fact no one did it at the same time and in such a way as the dear leader.

Of course it is true that party leaders at Westminster and Holyrood have much to answer for in the shameless cultivating of support from Murdoch’s tabloids. And some people have been warning for some time - back at least to Thatcher in the UK - that this is a subversion of democracy. Often this has been at much risk to their own careers and private life. Indeed, Tom Watson MP has been one of those politicians who has ploughed a lonely and risky furrow in opposing the power of the Murdochs, often in opposition to his own whips office and party hierarchy. The least he deserves is a serious hearing when he suggests methods of lancing the boil, rather than Salmond’s curt dismissal that he ‘does not need any lectures from Tom Watson’. Recent experience - not least the revelations of phone hacking of Scottish politicians and media figures - suggests otherwise.

Of course, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s report was prepared by politicians, and will be subject to partisan views. But Alex is a politician and his supporters are no strangers to partisan views. Mind you, I’m not sure how many of them will be too keen on his refusal even to back the majority view of that report and to throw in his lot with the Tory minority in failing to condemn Mr Murdoch’s ‘fitness to run a media empire’, In the absence of a BSB takeover to lobby for, maybe defending Murdoch on this will be a sufficient ‘quid pro quo’?

'Is anyone watching?

For despite SNP activists attempts to fling mud  (apparently being photographed reading the Sun equates to writing messages of support for it and leaking the date of the referendum to it), there is a huge difference between the actions of Thatcher, Blair, Cameron et al and that of Alex Salmond. It is this. Salmond’s activities are taking place now. After the revelations of the Millie Dowler and other phone hackings, after the exposure of editorial complicity in police bribery, and after every leader in the rest of UK politics has realised the damage their associations with NI were doing (even Jeremy Hunt had the grace to hide behind a tree!), Mr Salmond scheduled new meetings with the tycoon, and made it clear he was open for a closer relationship. 

And the lack of understanding, attempts to excuse the inexcusable, to brazen it out, and to fall into the age-old nationalist rant of ‘blame Labour’, is what will cause the damage. Oh, this might be seen as still significantly a debate amongst the chattering classes, but (in particular) the hacking of a dead schoolgirl’s phone will always make sure that the distaste for Mr Murdoch and his editorial placepersons spreads wider than that.

It is a shame that the many good people in the SNP remain so quiet on this one. Party discipline is normally something to be recognised and even applauded, but not when something as wrong as this is going on (as Alan Cochrane said the other day in the Telegraph). The normally sure-footed SNP machine has mishandled this one, and mishandled it badly. The problem with elevating leaders to semi-divine status, is that their feet of clay all too often melt!