Norway will emerge from this dark time
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THERE’S only one place to start this week and that is with the despicable senseless massacre in Norway. It goes without saying our thoughts and sympathies are with those who have been affected by this quite horrible episode, which already ranks as one of the worst in recent western European history.
The news unfolded in a nightmarish fashion, the thought of it is quite unimaginable. Dunblane, Hungerford and now this, another massacre of young innocence.
In Caithness, as in the Northern Isles, this revulsion is felt all the more keenly given the links between the areas.
The tragedy raises all sorts of questions, which in time will have to be addressed. One of which is the extent of fanaticism. How did this person get to a stage where his hatred overrode his sanity and humanity?
If anything good comes out of this then it might be for society as a whole to question its values, beliefs and prejudices.
I have no doubt Norway will emerge from this dark time, the torches its people carry on marches bear testimony to this.
ON holiday in Brittany last week I read about the French Government proposal to offer development rights for offshore wind farms along the Normandy and Breton coasts.
I had heard about these first from Scottish developers who wondered if the sites on offer were a good bet. Concerns were raised by industry insiders the conditions for the acceptance of the bid were to create jobs in France, use French technology and labour.
Quite right of course from a French point of view as the country’s minister for the environment, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, said, there are great possibilities from offshore. She said 10,000 jobs were possible, with the first tender to achieve 3000 megawatts to be followed by a further 3000 megawatts to be approved next year.
The French are beginning to see the chances renewables hold, you can already see ports such as Brest and Saint Lazare gearing up to construct and launch offshore wind turbines and the regional Government in Brittany pushing hard for a slice of the action.
It is important to bear in mind, at the moment, France as a whole is not in the same league as the UK, Denmark and Netherlands when it comes to offshore and tidal power.
Before the summer recess, Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing spelled out more details of the Scottish energy route map which already engages many international firms. That is why the Scottish Government needs to control the development process as a whole; it is why Alex Salmond is so keen to have energy policy in Scottish hands, so areas such as the Pentland Firth and Moray Firth get the investment they deserve so work and community benefits flow for us.
Make no mistake, the competition in Europe is hotting up. Scotland needs the power to deliver our fair share.
THE signs of this power coming back to Scotland, however, have not been good in the last week.
The Lib Dems in London and in Caithness have got themselves in a bit of a muddle over the Crown Estate Commission. Danny Alexander has proposed a scheme whereby coastal communities will receive a small proportion of CEC revenue after years of business people and communities in the North calling for all the revenues. This is evidently a disappointing compromise.
Be aware, despite the hundreds of millions potentially on offer from the Crown Estate, the amount on offer from the Lib Dems barely causes a ripple. The money is to be distributed by the Big Lottery Fund – I cannot help thinking costal communities are competing for a Thunderball jackpot while the Euro millions jackpot (that should be on offer) is not.
The scheme will see costal communities around the whole of Scotland bid against each other for the scraps. It is a long way away from what the Lib Dems were campaigning for not that long ago.
I welcome any further investment in our coastal communities, but Danny Alexander’s “begging bowl” compromise doesn’t even begin to solve the very serious problems caused every day by a distant CEC controlled by London. It doesn’t solve the huge problems caused by sky-high seabed rates, and doesn’t even begin to deliver real community benefit.
So what comfort should a veteran of the CEC reform movement, like me, take from Danny’s proposal? Although the proposal itself is totally insufficient, it is at least a sign the UK Government is feeling the pressure to reform the CEC.
I, for one, will not accept this compromise, because I know it does nothing to solve the chronic problems many of my constituents in Caithness are having to deal with.
I would expect colleagues in the campaign for CEC reform to join me in condemning the Con-Dem proposal, including Michael Foxley. I’m sure many in Caithness will join in my bafflement as I read in the Herald Dr Foxley is “extremely pleased” with the CEC compromise.
It now occurs to me if we are to keep the pressure on for further CEC reform, we cannot have Con-Dem government “yes men” in the Highland Council, and I am afraid, while I respect Dr Foxley, he is now simply another yes man for Danny Alexander.
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