David Maddox: Many questions, double standards (2)

Just following up on my colleague Hamish Macdonell's blog earlier on the SNP and their alleged aversion to oppositon MSPs putting down written questions.
The party of Scottish Government appear, according to some in Labour, to have taken up a new tactic to nobble their opponents, particularly their would-be nemisis - Lord George Foulkes (pictured right), Baron of Cumnock, MSP for the Lothians and First Lord of the Twittery.
The SNP cunning plan supposedly is to get one of their backbenchers to put down a near identical question to one tabled say by the noble Lord George after he has submitted his for answer.
They then answer the question from afore mentioned backbencher and send the oppositon MSP an answer referring him to the answer given to the party lackey.
This means that their backbencher gets the answer 24 hours before, but, if the SNP MSP Ian McKee's press release on questions is to be believed, it also costs the tax payer almost £100 for the extra question.
An example of this is below. A question put down by Lord George on February 26 for First Minister Alex Salmond and then a near identical one put down by SNP backbencher Nigel Don (pictured left) on March 4. The answers were given by Michael Russel, the new minister for external affairs, on March 5.

S3W-21418 - George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab) (Date Lodged Thursday, February 26, 2009): To ask the Scottish Executive what engagements the First Minister undertook during his visit to the United States of America; what topics were dealt with in each case, and whether he proposes to make a statement on these matters.
Answered by Michael Russell (Thursday, March 05, 2009): I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21578 on 5 March 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.


S3W-21578 - Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP) (Date Lodged Wednesday, March 04, 2009): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will report on the main outcomes of the First Minister’s recent visit to the United States of America.
Answered by Michael Russell (Thursday, March 05, 2009): The First Minister made a two day visit to Washington DC last week to raise Scotland's profile in the US; to strengthen relationships with key policymakers, particularly in the new administration, and to promote the Year of Homecoming in one of Scotland's biggest tourist markets.

The First Minister met with important figures in the new US administration. The First Minister's meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton marked the deepening friendship between our two nations and provided a good basis for further on-going dialogue in important areas of mutual interest, such as climate change and Scotland's renewable energy potential. The First Minister also met with Dr Christina Romer, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, to discuss efforts to promote economic recovery, the US stimulus package, and possible areas for future policy discussion and cooperation between the US and Scotland.

The First Minister's visit to the United States coincided with the launch of a new Scottish Caucus in the US Senate. The newly announced Caucus is one of very few in the US Senate and reflects the ability and efforts of Senator Jim Webb (D-Virginia) and his colleagues. With 30 US Senators “ a third of the Senate “ now joining the 50 members of the Friends of Scotland Caucus in the House of Representatives, Scotland now has a significant asset to promote our long-term interests in the United States.

In addition, the First Minister hosted a reception to promote scotch whisky, delivered a lecture at Georgetown University, and gave the keynote address at a prestigious symposium on the life and works of Robert Burns, at the Library of Congress. He also undertook various media engagements to publicise the Year of Homecoming and to promote key Scottish industries such as renewable energy, tourism and food and drink, in an effort to spur economic recovery in Scotland.

Kenny Farquharson: Mike Russell's power nap

A few weeks ago when the SNP announced it was moving into a new party HQ, I was reminiscing about the Nationalists' old base in North Charlotte Street.

If those walls could only speak...

A friend who is an SNP activist emailed me over the weekend with this reminiscence:

Here's a tale from the Charlotte Street HQ.

The morning after the 99 elections Mike Russell was catching 40 winks on one of the sofas in the "media suite" (sic).

Someone popped their head round the door. "Sean Connery here to see you Mike"

"Aye, right," said Mike and went back to sleep.

Ten minutes later, the same now anxious head appeared round the door. "Mike, wake up, Sean Connery is here. Downstairs in the hall. And you are keeping him waiting".

One rumpled, half asleep, bemused and shame faced CEO fell down the stairs to find truly that Sean Connery was standing, patiently, waiting to discuss the election results with him.

He hadn't wanted to come up in case people were busy..

Anyone with any other memories? Add to the comments on this post or email me on kenny.farquharson@scotlandonsunday.com

Kenny Farquharson: There goes the neighbourhood

Looks like The Steamie is to get some new neighbours.

The SNP announced tonight that its party headquarters is moving to a swish new office block in Jackson's Close, just around the corner from the Scottish Parliament.

The new premises, in Gordon Lamb House, is directly across the road from the HQ of Scotsman Publications.

No doubt that nice Peter Murrell, the SNP chief executive, will be popping round soon to ask The Steamie for a cup of sugar.

The party is flitting early in the new year from its current base in McDonald Road - an uninspiring industrial unit near Leith Walk that has been its home for the past eight years.

It will not be missed.

Those of us with longer memories (i.e. the elderly hacks from the pre-devolution Scottish political press corps) remember the wonderful old SNP base in North Charlotte Street in a rambling suite of high-ceilinged rooms that was once a secretarial school.

Those offices were sold for a reputed £300,000 to help pay off debts the Nationalists ran up in their failed bid for power in the 1999 Scottish Parliament election.

They were subsequently converted into luxury flats. I bet the new owners can still smell Mike Russell's cigar smoke, so deeply embedded in the walls it must be from his time as the party's chief executive.