More of that kind of thinking please...

Yesterday, Labour had an away day to plan tactics for the next 6 months ... everyone is in good heart...(Dunkirk spirit and all that)... and enough intelligence to know it isn't easy. I'm keeping silent on the outcomes but it will be interesting to look back at Christmas and judge whether we've had any success.

One thing is becoming very clear though: Dave Anderson was a good appointment for the city. He's even managing to make this lot look creative...the city room enacted at the Quadrangle was effective...and let's have more of that kind of thinking please.

Big fat zero

The day started with a 9am Labour Group meeting where quip of the morning went to Ricky Henderson. Learning that the Lib/SNP Coalition plans a new lighting system (temporarily scrapped because of the negative blogger reaction to the Evening News story), Ricky says, 'So the Council Chamber is going to be a red light zone.'

Throughout the day the SNP corner periodically flagged up a red flag...they wish...

Andrew Burns scored palpable hits twice... catching Marilyne out in yet another big lie, this time about school catering, and knocking the Administration onto the ropes over a school building programme that's just not going to happen in the next 3 years - Labour has initiated or built 34 major school refurbishment or rebuilding in the last 8 years - for the Lib Dem/SNP it looks like a big fat zero during its lifetime. 34-0: a rugby score!

An 8.30pm finish is a joke - an hour and half given over to a presentation from Terry Farrell was an hour too long...and if we hadn't had that then we wouldn't have had an hour long evening adjournment either. But I bet you, Labour gets the blame.

hundreds of years of political independence neutered

At Monday's Group meeting we had a laugh about the proposed new 'traffic light' system designed to keep politicians' speeches to time. One wag was heard to quip, 'Does it do bells too?' Our new Lord Provost has a habit of nodding off if speeches go on too long and an alarm bell as well as a red light would help keep him on his toes.
Mind you, I can't blame him - some speeches are murder and if I could switch off enough I'd fall asleep too.

Seriously, though...the Lib Dem/SNP Coalition has brought Edinburgh Council to a sorry pass: we don't set our own tax levels any more, we let national government dictate our strategy and let officers write our single outcome agreement i.e. local political priorities for the next 4 years and now we are letting officers time-keep our speeches...they have neutered hundreds of years of local political independence within 12 months...not bad going eh?

Edinburgh has little clout at COSLA

Busy morning at the Council where the new Economic Development team are strutting their stuff - both Dave Anderson and Greg Ward are now in place and I hope this is the start of some good things to come.
We start with a discussion on a vision for Edinburgh - it's all very well being at the heart of a city/region plan but we need to know where we want Edinburgh to be in 5 years time. I am pleased the committee accepted my request to hold an away-day where, in a more informal setting, we might be able to lay 'party' considerations aside to debate the next step change for our great capital.
Then on to a discussion about the divi-up of Scottish Enterprise's national community regeneration budget following its restructuring ordered by the Scottish Government. I am frankly horrified to discover Edinburgh has so little clout at COSLA that we have let a £25 million budget be grabbed almost lock, stock and barrel for 4 regeneration companies and streetscape work in Glasgow, leaving a miniscule £2 m to be spilt between the rest of Scotland.

Tom Buchanan tried hard to rescue the Administration from the reality of this incredible failure by asking for a strategic report on streetscape work for Edinburgh and how we can persuade the Scottish Government to fund it...but if it's anything like schools we've a dog's chance and none.

Tea at the palace

More on Eric at the Palace...in conversation, a Palace official jokes with him on being snapped drinking tea at the Garden Party said,'But they'll never know what we put in your tea, Eric.'

Drinking a cup of tea - an ex Lord Provost twice removed

My invitation to the Queen's Royal Garden Party at Holyrood House fell through the door at the weekend.
On opening I find a colourful insert promoting a new service - you can buy your very own video of your day at the Palace.

Inside very fetching photographs of the Queen and Prince William - both very famous faces...imagine my surprise on discovering the only other person featured with a photograph to himself is my mate Mr Milligan...drinking a cup of tea. Now it is a very long time since Eric ever drank a cup of tea in my presence...usually a pint of extra cold Guiness or a slug of buckfast! Just goes to show the latter did him no harm with the folk at the Palace either.

I understand 5000 invitations go out across Scotland for the Garden Party. Not bad for an ex- Lord Provost twice removed

Lost the plot

Time for Marilyne Maclaren to go, I think. I watched her on TV last night...lying through her teeth, I thought. As my very assiduous colleague Andrew Burns has outlined - cuts in kitchens have never been before a committee then last night I listened to drivel about how 'I urged my officers to go out there and promote school meals to keep the kitchens open and so they did and now I am delighted to be able to save the kitchens'...this is all fantasy...she should go for her own well-being. She has lost the plot.

Routine problems

Muirhouse/Salveson Community Council and rakes of local issues to follow up today ranging from the continuing difficulties with the Redrow entrance path (council have put a path in big enough for a motorway and caused all sorts of problems): vandal proof street bins - yes you guessed it - vandalised: bolisha beacons and lamp-posts not working: 5 tenements without replacement front doors when everyone else has: at least a dozen letters to do and the problem is this is all day to day maintenance which should be picked up routinely.

An interesting email too from National Grid which highlights the effect of Saturday's fire on their land on Saturday - mostly affordable housing gone up in smoke. Not good news for local priorities.

Political raison d'etre

Yesterday's report of Ron Gould's comments on the veracity of the Scottish parliamentary elections should give pause for thought to anyone interested in democratic politics.

The media has been full of stories of rigged ballots in Zimbabwe and, though our poll certainly can't be compared to the violent process there, if people can't have confidence that their vote is counted and properly influences the result then we're in trouble.

Put together the terrible scenes in Manchester where some Scots went completely feral (drunk or otherwise) allegedly over losing a football match, a dodgy election result where thousands and thousands of votes were discounted and you get the sense of a third world country teetering on the brink ...add that to recent horror stories of a nation whose children are sodden in alcohol and our largest city officially recognised as the murder capital of the world...I don't see how that sits with media acclamation for a minority government relaxed and comfortable with itself...maybe it's time for the Scottish media to wake up and smell the coffee and for the Labour Party to start behaving like the real political opposition it should be.

Then I read that the First Minister is about to give way on Muslim demands for separate schools ...I won't pretend that I can't see the initial allure and facile logic of such a proposal...after all we have perpetuated faith schools through legislation and public finance and we've promoted Gaelic schools too. However, there is a significant difference which requires to be fully debated.

The truth is, like it or not, that the Muslim faith is seen to belong to other nations...and it's also clear that the majority of Sots struggle to understand the role of the Muslim faith in Scotland and see it as very different to Scotland's quasi secular ecumenicalism...

My view is we don't need any more 'built in' faith divisions...events referred to earlier make it clear we're a small nation already struggling with our differences...we should be trying to build on what binds us, not what divides...

If I were a Nationalist I'd say the point of unification was being Scottish...as I'm a Socialist I say it's common humanity. It's too damned easy to interpret a separate schooling system for Muslims as giving way to another kind of nationalism...but why should I be surprised?

Salmond is a nationalist who understands intuitively the need for people to divide themselves on the basis of that greatest accident of birth, cultural identity. It's his political raison d'etre.

it is good not to be at the centre of a storm

I sit helplessly watching the horror which is China' s earthquake unfold on the TV screen. A donation to the Red Cross appeal doesn't seem enough but it is all I can do...

...then I watch the brutality of some Rangers' fans humiliating us all and and am shocked...

...I am saddened by the news of Tommy Burns' death. I met him only once and it is true he was a gentleman...

then I read the Council Leader's interview in today's evening paper which makes me smile...

today is a day for reacting to other people's stories...sometimes it is good not to be at the centre of a storm of activity but, instead, to have peace and time to reflect

Job done

Another busy day ...two hours of my life lost in a planning committee waiting for item 13 to be taken. Worth the wait, though.

Under discussion was the planning brief for City Park.

I have received scores of objections to the plans and was happy to lead the charge on density, walk/cycleway and traffic...swiftly followed by two of my ward colleagues...the committee agreed to go for a lower density, scrap the walkway through the estate and carry out a full traffic imapct study...job done.

An unexpected blow

It gets worse...tonight I toddle off to Trinity Academy for the Parents' Council only to be told by the jannie 'that was on Monday'. I ask the Chair of the Council (he is a neighbour) and he tells me kindly (in that way people talk to the confused elderly), 'No. It's the primary school council tonight.' Oh man! I will have to manage my diary a whole lot better.

This afternoon (at a meeting I did get to) we are advised that it is unlikely the NEN will be eligible for Fairer Scotland funding against the new criteria. This is an unexpected blow and will not be popular locally. In response to community demand, the community newspapers were undoubtedly a Labour creation, though at least in the case of NEN, no mouthpiece [my disagreements with the paper are the stuff of legend]. It is no accident, now that Labour is no longer in power, they are under seige. This will test the mettle of both community and Coalition councillors.

early onset dementia

A really pleasant afternoon: met up late with a group of friends to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Frank Sinatra's death: Nolan, Fallon, Milligan and Maginnis - the gang of 4, they used to call us... it was great to catch up with long standing pals who have stood together through thick and thin, who can talk in shorthand, know all the references and can all spin a good yarn...

Eric is besotted with Sinatra and can make a pretty irresistible dialectical case for his contribution to 20th century left wing politics. And there's not much Paul and Brian don't know about 20th century international politics of the left either, so between us, we had a barnstorming tour of European and American politics since the first world war...magic.

I left to go to my surgery...on the way there were traffic jams and two calls on the mobbie which I stopped to take. Somehow - God help me- I forgot to go to Royston/Wardieburn Community centre and went home instead. At 5.45pm only 45 minutes late I remembered where I was supposed to be...too late...everybody gone away...this is the second time this week I have missed an appointment...is this early onset dementia, stress or what?

when it's really broke don't waste time trying to fix it

7.30 am start this morning and some concentrated work on a funding application I am currently putting together. There are many hoops to go through and the process certainly forces you to focus clearly on your outcomes...I know it is sad but I really enjoy writing reports, filling in applications...I like the act of thinking, analysing, reviewing, researching ...it's a good job I do, since too much of being a manager in the voluntary sector is about form filling and trying to pull money in...

This afternoon I attended the Corporate Parenting Member Officer Working Group which was interesting...it has a long way to go but I think it is an honest attempt to try to improve things for our most vulnerable children.

Apparently the number of 'looked after' children has risen in one year by over 100 to 1300+ and the number keeps going north.

So too, babies being put up for adoption have soared - 40, this year and for the first time that I can remember the numbers of looked after kids on supervision orders at home almost equals the numbers being adopted or fostered.

Throw into the equation the numbers on 'kinship orders' i.e. being looked after by friends or family plus those in residential care and there is a clear trend emerging to remove children from their families - despite the stated preference to keep them at home.

No bad thing, I say.

I think it's correct children do best in a family setting. Families take many forms but the basic construct is a caring adult able to look out for, and preferably love, the child. When the basics aren't there, there's nothing else to do but try to recreate those constructs elsewhere. When it's really broke, don't waste time trying to fix it...instead, find an alternative.

Then tonight, the West Pilton Community Council, which was fun...yes...I said FUN...people who know each other well in a good humour though lots of important issues raised: problems with private landlords, problems of parking on West Granton Road and concerns about youth provision in the area...important matters indeed.

too bad for you

Blimey...a 7.45am start and it's been busy yet this afternoon, in order to create some space, I skip going to a Labour Group meeting and the Children & Families Sub on Quality Standards. Pressure of work and I hate not being able to meet all commitments...

PEP was hectic...no more, no less than hectic. Maybe as many as 40 + people passing through the doors of our open office- all wanting help or answers...and the first day too of a new homecare service which seems to have gone well...

Surgery was full, surprisingly since Monday's are usually slow...usual stuff, nothing out of the ordinary but all important to the individuals involved.

PYCP Board, a very busy agenda complicated (as so many voluntary organisation meetings are at the moment) by anxieties about budgets and the resignation of the manager who is moving on to new challenges

Granton School Parent Partnership - a full house and all concerned about the failure to appoint a new headteacher and the Council's decision not to include cash in the capital budget for the school's refurbishment or replacement. Also news that Granton, too, will have a P1/2 composite class plus very high class numbers in the upper years...32 in P5... a return to the bad old days...

I'm afraid at 8.20pm I faltered and decided to finish the day as I started by skipping whatever remained of Trinity Community Council...the lure of a perfectly grilled steak waiting for me at home...we are down to eating red meat only once per fortnight...I savoured every mouthful but I fear steaks, along with too much booze, salt, saturated fats, complex carbohydrates etc. will soon join the 'too bad for you' list ...sometimes we make life very boring

Gloomy poll ratings

PEP later this morning...as a 7 days per week service there is always something to do: today 18 older people who are extremely isolated especially at weekends come in for a day's activities, social interaction and support.

What is always amazing to me is the number of staff who are not supposed to be at work over the weekend who manage to find a reason to drop in...it seems they just can't stay away!

Had a chat with Malcolm Chisholm this morning...a gloomy conversation...looking at Labour's current poll ratings I guess that was inevitable!

7 weeks school holiday instead of the usual 6

Yesterday saw all 4 Forth councillors sit down together with local police officers to discuss the perennial problem of youth disorder. Already, all 4 have received repeated complaints of large numbers of youths gathering and causing nuisance in different parts of the ward, and it is not yet high summer.

The local inspector offered us comfort: the numbers of reported incidents have fallen and the solvent rate is up and he intends to develop and implement a strategy for the long summer months. 7 weeks school holiday this year instead of the usual 6 - it promises to be a rare old time...

A bit of lateral thinking by the cop saves the day

One part of our job at PEP is to divert people who have long term mental health issues away from the criminal justice system. For example one older client who suffers from extreme paranoia, worried about the possibility of being attacked, mentions he might start to carry a knife in self defence. Our task is to dissuade him, point out the possible repercussions so, among other things, we invite the local community safety police officer along to chat to the group.

Yesterday, another older client - who is completely without family - is visited by the police for non-payment of a fine. He doesn't have the £10 needed to clear the debt so the police have no option but to cart him off to the cells. Fortunately, he is recognised by the same police officer who previously visited and he delays lifting the client, comes along to PEP to see if we can help. £10 paid, client free as a bird...thank the Lord for a bit of lateral thinking by the cop...and just how much would it have cost to bang said client up in the cells? Much, much more than a tenner methinks.

composite classes

Emails are beginning to trickle in about a possible composite primary 1/2 class at Trinity PS. In general, I don't share parental worries about composite classes but I do worry about them in the first year of school. That sets the tone for a whole educational experience.

Many, many years ago, my own son - with basic reading and writing before he went to school - was in a p1/p2 composite. His was not a good experience. He struggled with the social aspect of half a class of kids who knew the routines, were confident about being away from mum, about, I suppose, not feeling equal to the older kids...his first year at primary ended up a pretty dismal experience which I would not wish on any child.

I hope there is still time for this proposal, if it is a proposal, to be reconsidered.

Over development and traffic issues

The letters of objection to the City Park development keep rolling in - most concerns centre on over- development and traffic issues.

I share their worries:

Until the Strada, development on the north side of Ferry Road was largely suburban in design: town houses and relatively low rise flats. Strada, on the other hand, is densely urban and, because of the site topography, much higher. Plans to develop City Park ape the Strada and do not take their character from all other surrounding development. Add to this a bottle neck traffic egress and entrance on Pilton Drive and there are all the ingredients of an over -developed site.

I do not support the current proposals.

No sod dug until January

Tonight is the continuing saga of Royston/Wardieburn Community Centre and its replacement. A senior official arrives to inform the committee that the budget means another 400 metres squared are to be knocked off the building so bang goes the community hall...take it or leave it...

No sight of a member of the Administration to offer an explanation...I tell you, if this is the Coalition's idea of proper consultation they have a lot to learn.

So, a community centre which should have been opening its doors in September loses its function hall (to be replaced with a space half its size) gets chipped at metre by metre and no chance of a sod being dug until January 09.

Til the nationalists get what they want they will keep on asking the question

I have deliberately let a day go by before reacting to Wendy's latest, fearful that my first reaction might be superficial.

In Quebec the independence referendum never goes away...why would it? Till the nationalists get the answer they want they will keep on asking the question. And so it will be in Scotland.

The question Wendy should be addressing right now is how to renew the appeal of the Labour Party. It certainly won't be achieved by allowing the SNP, new darlings of the media, to play on its own ground, to its own strengths - especially when, lying behind the stratagem is an apparently unspoken acknowledgement, that Labour is weakened and may only do worse in a General Election.

This is very risky territory: I, for one, am totally opposed to the idea of Scotland as a separate State. I am yet to be persuaded this tactic can maintain a United Kingdom.

The Force is strong...

When my daughter married she entered the reception hall to the Emperor's music from Star Wars...'Da da da, da da, da da da...'
Her first son was born on 4th May - May the fourth be with you. Mercifully she did not call him Skywalker or Hans. Had he been a girl she was to be called Leah.

Today he is five.

'What would you like for your birthday?'

'A Darth Vader light sabre, Granny...'

'Right...'

'It's red, Granny...and it zzzzmmmzzz'. He rotates double clenched fists as if wielding the weapon.

'Right...'

Hand raised, palm facing me, he intones, 'The Force is strong in this one.'

I tell you, you could not make this up - he got his red light sabre: one very happy five year old.

A drubbing

Well that was a drubbing that was...and helluva difficult to see anything to cheer about, if you're Labour that is...times they are a' changing...

What follows for Labour will be difficult: how to avoid the internal blame game and to keep pointing forward.

There is no doubt proportional representation meaning Labour has gone into one coalition or another with a hitherto minority party has made it dead easy for those in Wales or Scotland to put their vote somewhere else. In England it is a clear reaction against rising prices and worries about financial instability. After a decade of never having it so good, Middle Englanders aren't enjoying the financial pinch. In truth, neither too, are Middle Scotlanders ...

My brother and sister in law who are both loyal Labour voters and have young children told me last November they were shocked at the cost of the weekly shop...when working people with decent jobs start to worry about affording the cost of feeding their bairns then the government is in trouble. If Labour wants to win the general election the Chancellor has to find a way to bring down fuel costs sharpish - high fuel costs have an insidious but direct impact on the family budget that no amount of worthy statements about the environment or whatever will contradict.

Most importantly, though, our front bench politicans have to be just that: good politicans, not capable administrators - leave the civil service to do that. Brown et al have an election to win and now, more than ever, is the time for them to start thinking like politicians... and to remember that money is tight for the folk whose votes we need...

Labour Day

Despite trying, it was too late for the carnations - but Gilleasbuig MacMillan, minister of the High Kirk, reminded us in opening prayers, today was Labour Day...as ever, his contribution was measured...which was the last measured thing I heard ...the rest was excruciating.

The Liberal front bench spokespeople begin to show the assurance of well briefed politicians but it is clear tensions exist between the Management Team and political executive. Today there are at least 2 small minded... spiteful even... amendments where the Coalition choose to delete positive commentary on officers' performance from the record and then speak disparagingly - knowing their words will not make the official minutes - about the officers.

It seems there is a lingering mistrust about the officers' agenda...a year on, you would imagine this should be resolved already; that it isn't means the Coalition trusts nobody, not even themselves. And if there is an Iago at work, accomplished at playing two ends against the middle with well judged gossip designed to foster suspicion while strengthening his own position, then this mistrust will simply grow.

I knew only one other politican who was so insecure he was suspicious of everybody to the point he saw enemies everywhere. It, along with his willingness to listen and believe malicious gossip, did for him in the end.