an adventure

Oh dear me. I read last night's blog and I sounded just miserable. Which I was. Fatigue on top of distress ... never a good recipe. I woke up this morning feeling much stronger. The recuperative powers of sleep should never be underestimated.

Today I shall plan an adventure...don't know what...yet...but an adventure I will have...more later

Food, drink and trying to be merry

It has been a difficult day.

A funeral this morning which I found upsetting; then the final police board meeting with an end of term levity that was silly; followed by a meeting about the swans at Inverleith Park, two hours of heavy duty correspondence, then a party thrown by Labour Group staff to say goodbye to their 'cooncillors' and finally the Oyster Club.

My spirits never recovered from the morning and the day has been more duty than pleasure which is a pity. The staff put in a tremendous effort: red & silver balloons, red streamers, plenty food and drink and twinking lights and entertainment but my mood could not be lifted. I left to join fellow members of the Oyster Club: the membership reads like a who's who of the great and good of Edinburgh and indeed Scotland. Normally I enjoy the occasion. This evening, as is the norm, there was an informative speech from a specially invited guest (tonight, David Strang new Chief Constable of L&B) but I felt flat and dull. David spoke of his previous experience which is varied: Princess Diana's funeral, Edinburgh's Millennium Street Party;CHOGM - he looks too young to have held such responsibility. I really know I'm getting old when even the Chief Constable looks young!

Good conversation with John Mclennan, Fred Goodwin, Gilleasbuig MacMillan and many more but I am glad to be home. It is time to re-charge my batteries. I intend to do nothing this weekend.

Community, canvassing and the future

Tonight I attended the monthly meeting of the Community Council. It had all the ingredients of borderline hilarity I have come to expect. The chairperson calls women members 'darling' and thinks this passes as witticism; the planning officer who is obssessed with detail spends too long confusing other members with only half understood observations on planning applications. The committee members quickly become bored and restive and begin murmured conversations around the table. Yet they are a committed bunch and are trying hard. Much of tonight's conversation centred on the no.32 bus - unless they learn to compromise I fear this will be a lost cause. I am not confident that the two men leading this particular campaign have sufficient flexibility for the task.

I met Stephen Izatt today for lunch to say farewell. It was a pleasant occasion and he is plainly relishing his new challenge. He has encouraged Mike and I to visit Jersey. It is a part of the world I have never travelled to and with its proximity to France could be a pleasant starting point for a holiday. Apparently there are direct flights from Edinburgh so there is no bar except time to making this happen.

Tomorrow I go canvassing with Malcolm. I am looking forward to it. Unusually, I enjoy it. Many of my colleagues tell me they hate it and I wonder what kind of person who hates talking to the public goes into public life. Most people, even if they are unsupportive, are responsive and enjoy a chat. It is always useful to learn what others are thinking. I am extremely superstitious and never anticipate victory at elections. I always clear my office of its bits and pieces in case I am defeated. This year is no different and tomorrow I go to collect books and other memorabilia of the last four years. This is always a sad moment. If I do not succeed on 3 May there will undoubtedly be disappointment but also the opportunity for reflection of 21 years I have thoroughly enjoyed. Of course, if I win I just have to cart all the stuff back and the opportunity to enjoy my enormous good fortune. Serving the public - especially your own community - is an enormous privilege.

It's all Greek to me

Yesterday was a first. I went to Hampden and Hibs were playing. Dragged along by my family in return for the picnic I prepared I was then forced to endure the unendurable. Hibs were awful: Dunfermline were awful and the fans were exactly the same as those from the west of the city - colour blind and just a bit one-sided in their account of what was going on the pitch. It made me smile. Thankfully, neither husband, son, brother in law or grandaughter are prepared to make the journey a second time. They will settle for Tuesday evening in front of Setanta. Thank the Lord. I am spared and can go leafletting with a light heart.

The campaign rolls on - smoothly...the money is beginning to come in to pay for it and the leaflets, posters and flyers are all now at the printers. I was canvassed tonight - for myself - which was a surreal experience...

My grandaughter who is 13 stayed with us over the weekend. She is a young woman completely obsessed with her image (and the Hibs). With her, it is the real thing. Skin, hair, make-up are scrutinised on an almost minute by minute basis but beneath all that precocity is the funny, endearing wee girl I have loved since she was born. This weekend I was 'conned' into buying her a bikini for the holiday we are to take 'en famille' later in May in the south of Spain. In return she has promised to deliver some leaflets. This is the currency of elections.

On Saturday we went to see 'The Curse of the Golden Flower' - visually it was simply stunning and the storyline could have been lifted from a Greek Tragedy: incest, oedipal relations, treachery and slaughter - if there was a modern Chinese metaphor I expect it was to decry the old, pre-revolutionary way but I am insufficently knowledgeable about Chinese literature and culture to really comment. I would be interested, though, to learn more about its cultural message.

Divisions and solidarity

Elections now dominate. I am told there are 9 candidates in the field for Forth. All the usuals plus an independent. He is well known to me. There was a time he aspired to be a Labour Party candidate but was refused a place on the list of approved candidates - and so predictably he left Labour. And has been a constant critic ever since. It will be interesting to see how he does.

This week has been a constant round of delivering pamphlets, creating text for new ones and canvassing. No-one in the labour camp is pretending this is an easy campaign. National unpopularity always makes itself felt locally but so far things go well: we are keeping to timetable and the spirit is good. I have had much amusement reading the rival candidates literature - in particular my erstwhile labour colleague, now running for the SNP. I never remember him being particularly nationalistic in outlook - maybe there has been a Damascan conversion and he has found new convictions. ..maybe not. However, he is an able speaker though, in my opinion, tends towards demagoguery the more uncertain he is of his ground. He cannot be dismissed as a fool. So that's two ex-Labourites in the Forth race - that I know of - and perhaps more if the Solidarity and SSP candidates began their political life with us too. The splintering of the left - Marx and other erudite philosophers had much to say about such things. Labour and the ordinary working person cannot benefit from such division.

Two unexpected, lovely bonuses this week - a phone call from an elderly constituent who received a letter from me. Eighty years old and determined to come out to vote for me and an email from a constituent I did not consider a particular friend full of personal, positive encouragement. Small things to the individuals concerned but enormous to a candidate suffering dropping energy levels and all the usual uncertainty of an election.

Pamphlets, polls and politicians

Canvassing and leafletting have occupied my time this week. This morning, in order to take advantage of the 'service' button I was out by 7.15am to deliver pamphlets in Wardieburn. 35 tenements - my calves ached at the thought and are aching now. Many of the stairs are immaculate; some less so. I took note of those most noticeably unpleasant and will contact the authorities on Tuesday to see what can be done. However, the reception on the doorstep is generally warm and pleasant and I am encouraged. It remains to be seen whether the Herald's poll yesterday is a blip or part of a sustained pattern recovery for Labour. Years of experience tell me that things are not as bad as they might be. I will never forget the election during the Falklands War. Life long Labour supporters turned against us as a result of our opposition to the war. That was grim.

Today we had an unexpected visit from the new baby and his siblings. Charlie is contented and wakes only to have a sly peek at the world around him or to feed. I have yet to hear him cry. His brother and sister are less sanguine. Santino has asked if he can come to stay with us 'Forever, Granny' and Hollie has reverted to her own baby behaviour which involves much whining and girning. Each finds their perch just a little less secure than it was 3 weeks ago.

And good news for me too. My regular hospital check-up has yielded the information that if I maintain current progress I will be declared 'cured' from cancer in 6 months. I am walking on air. Cancer is such a vile disease which culls our civilisation. I support only 2 charities and give as much as I can. Cancer charities and SightSavers: I cannot imagine the horror of losing my sight due almost entirely to dirty water and I know the horror of cancer intimately. Too many of those I have loved have been taken by it.

Easter Sunday is tomorrow - as a child, brought up in the rhythms of the Church, Easter was the time of Jesus' resurrection - the miracle of faith: I am not hostile to the notion but faith is now lost to me. I spoke once to the most intelligent man I ever met - so clever he had designed weapons for the US Government as well as run ultra successful businesses - a polymath with an insatiable curiosity, relentless rigour. I always felt sorry for him. How bored he must be to have so few people of his abilities to share conversation with. Our exchange turned to God. 'Do you believe in God?' I asked. 'Not the God of Christian faith, no,' he said. 'But there must be a god, a creator.' 'Why?' I ask. 'Because the chance of the world happening by random is mathematically impossible (he quoted the chances to me then: so huge I could not conceive it) that logic points entirely to a single creator.' We spoke long into the evening. Often I could not follow his argument but I am persuaded. When I have more time I want to research his views.

I am delighted the British personnel are now returned home. From the very partial accounts so far available it is plain they have not been treated well. During the week I travelled across town in a taxi. The cabbie was listening to George Galloway on the radio. He spoke of US and UK treatment of foreign prisoners and implied that some of the obscenities we have seen (prisoners stripped and chained and ordered to act like dogs) were the act of national governments: as if the individuals responsible were not exposed to the law and punished: in so doing he implied vindication for the Iranian authorities. Mr Galloway abuses his position as a British politician. Two wrongs have never made a right and they never will.

local issues dominate

Local issues dominate.

I am pleased that as a result of my intervention Royston Primary School will receive some extra funding next year: the Council has a policy of offering extra support to schools according to the take up of free school meals. For some reason no-one has ever really been able to ascertain the free school meal take-up in Royston primary has always been inconsistent and as a result it often falls below the line. Everyone who knows the area knows Royston primary serves virtually the same demographic community as Granton which always meets the criterion. Last year was one of those when Royston fell short. The new headteacher asked me to help and after a discussion with Andrew B he paid a personal visit to the school. Now I am informed that the school qualifies. I am pleased. It is not a huge sum of money but it all makes a difference.

I received a phone call during the week from a constituent concerned about the installation of benches in Pilton Park. Last summer there were many incidents of drunkenness amongst youngsters and she was concerned that the benches would be an irresistable invitation for the young people to resume their evening antics. I spoke with the officer responsible and he explained it was part of a city wide strategy to make parks an attractive place for all the community to enjoy - a laudable ambition but at odds with local experience. We have agreed a compromise. If the problems start again then the benches will be removed. My constituent seems satisfied with the solution. I have also contacted the local youth action team and the police officers there have agreed to provide extra policing and the use of the mobile CCTV vehicle. Hopefully we will not need to act on the removal of the benches.

Another request from a local woman concerning the noise the lids from recycle bins make, disturbing her peace. I visited and though on paper the problem seems very minor in fact the noise was substantial. I spoke with the officer concerned and he was reluctant to move the bins. However he came up with another solution - to install brush lids instead of flaps which will reduce the noise. Hopefully it will work.

Fencing is another big local issue. Recently, the council undertook a trial introducing new fencing in the estates. Environmentally and visually the trial has been very successful, so much so that lots of people have cottoned on and are now requesting their own areas should be similarly fenced. Managing expectation is a challenge. However, there is a local budget of £50,000 which will be distributed as fairly as possible to make the maximum impact. Inevitably some will be disappointed.

I received an email today from a constituent in Ferryfield. He was responding to a letter I distributed in the area contradicting another party's election material where the Liberal candidate wrongly claimed that the area was next for a controlled parking zone. His email has made it clear I need to do more to explain what actions I am currently taking to answer worries about safe road crossings on Ferry Road ...though I suspect that was not his intention in writing.. ..I do not think I can count on his vote! C'est la vie.