David Maddox: Why does Labour appear to revel in the economic ruin of other countries?

The answer to the above question is simple- it always applies to countries in the SNP's famous Arc of Prosperity.
Of course, the downfall of Iceland, Ireland et al (with possible exception of Norway) allows them to say that all the models the SNP have for an independent Scotland have proven to be hopelessly flawed and simply underlines the point that Scotland is better off in the Union.
Admittedly, the SNP has been made to look silly for playing up these countries as models of economic paradise for small nations. The success stories are still on the SNP website.
But, there does seem to be a gloating note in Labour press releases, which if I were Icelandic or Irish I might feel a bit miffed about. One always gets the feeling that they are itching for Norway to go under too. There was the incident involving the anti-terror laws and Icelandic assets too.


The latest press release came today undeer the name of Labour Dumfries and Galloway MP Russell Brown (pictured right) entitled: Arc of insolvency continues to embarrass Salmond.
In it he notes that interest rates in Iceland have today been cut to 17%.
“The fact that interest rates in Iceland are 34 times higher than in Scotland shows that we benefit from being part of the UK," he said.
“It’s not that big countries are immune from the world financial crisis – look at America – but big countries have the strength to weather the storm better.
“Today’s news is another embarrassment for Alex Salmond and his arc of insolvency. His belief that Scotland should be more like Iceland is utter nonsense.”

Given the appalling mess we find ourselves across the world, a little more solidarity with smaller countries might not go amiss.

Tom Peterkin on the price of peace

It is almost a year since I left Northern Ireland where I worked for three years. I missed the worst excesses of the sectarian conflict that blighted that fantastic part of the world. By the time I arrived there were more tourists than soldiers on the Falls Road and the Shankill. Nevertheless, I discovered that the place had not lost its ability to surprise.
The brutal murder of the Sinn Fein official Denis Donaldson after he was outed as a British spy, the decommissioning of IRA arms and the extraordinary deal that saw Ian Paisley go into government with Martin McGuinness were just some of the events that I covered.
Ulster is back in the news today (Wed). There were angry scenes in Belfast with the launch of a report dealing with the legacy of the Troubles by Lord Eames, the former head of the Church of Ireland, and Dennis Bradley, the vice-chairman of the policing board.
The fury was caused by the recommendation that all victims' families - including relatives of republican and loyalist paramilitaries - should receive a £12,000 payment.
Paying the families of gunmen and bombers is a perverse way to come to terms with Northern Ireland's troubled past.
One contributor to the Belfast Telegraph's letters' page told readers that his young police officer brother was shot dead in 1977. Two of the people that killed him are now dead - one on hunger strike and the other killed by his former colleagues.
"How can it be right that the family of the two murderers who shot my brother receive the same as my mother who was left bereaved by their murderous sons' actions?" the letter writer said.
"Have Lord Eames and Mr Bradley no concept of how insensitive and contemptible it is?
"If everyone would just forget who did what to whom, forget Bloody Sunday, forget Bloody Friday, forget Omagh, forget every every damned thing we ever did to each other and live their lives in peace, then maybe we could move on."
The contributor acknowledged that "the families of these terrorists feel their loss just as grievously as the families of the innocent victims".
But he added: "The fact is, there is a hierarchy of victims and no matter what anyone says or does, a dead terrorist will never be seen as a victim by decent people from either community who can tell right from wrong."
Perhaps it would be better for everyone to forget in order to escape from the horrors of the past. But that is far from easy. The monstrous acts of violence that characterised Northern Ireland's recent past mean that far too many courageous and decent people are still seeking answers about the atrocities that have ruined their lives.
This unpalatable £12,000 so-called "gesture of goodwill" will not provide any answers to those seeking justice for their dead loved-ones. Sadly, one suspects that the scars caused by 35-years of senseless violence will remain for some time.