The mass murder of 270 people when the PanAm flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb on Wednesday, 21 December 1988, was the worst atrocity of its kind on British soil. On 31 January 2001, after a trial which lasted over nine months, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet Al-Megrahi, a Libyan national was convicted of the bombing. The Libyan Government effectively admitted their involvement through Al-Megrahi when they offered in May 2002 up to 2.7 billion dollars to settle claims by families of the 270 killed in the tragedy.
Al-Megrahi was serving his sentence in jail in Scotland when, to the dismay of the relatives of those he killed and to the astonishment of the Scottish public, he was released by Scottish Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill, on 12 August 2009. At the time, Al-Megrahi had an appeal against his conviction pending which was automatically overtaken by his release. The circumstances of his release are remarkable. Whatever the London-based media may claim, it was not as part of the Prisoner Release Scheme negotiated with Libya by the UK Government. This was rejected and repudiated by MacAskill and the Scottish Executive. And the astonishing conspiracy theory prevalent in the US that it was part of some BP oil deal arises from their fury at the BP oil leak disaster.
At every opportunity, MacAskill has said, again and again, that the decision was his and his alone and made on compassionate grounds. He claims that the medical report he received predicted he had less than three months to live. Yet, he will not publish that report, Al-Megrahi's lawyer refuses to release it and now, almost a year after his release, he is alive and out of hospital.
The whole scenario of the release was also a series of spectacular misjudgements and a fiasco. Notwithstanding all his other responsibilities, MacAskill dealt with the release request in less than three weeks. Uniquely for such a request, he visited the prisoner in his prison cell. That alone, was an extraordinary act of bad judgement and sent a shudder down the spine of the victims families and friends.
Instead of releasing him to the house which was available in the West of Scotland, he was sent back the very same day to Tripoli where he was received by cheering crowds waving the Scottish Saltire. Understandably, this resulted in deep upset and fury among the relatives of those killed at Lockerbie.
As I found in an answer to a recent Parliamentary Question, Al-Megrahi is the only prisoner released on compassionate grounds to have survived so long. The Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament held an inquiry into this whole affair and its report severely criticised Mr MacAskill for the release and the circumstances surrounding it. They were unhappy about the visit to the prison and, like so many others, were concerned that the medical evidence, on which the decision to release was made, was from only one source and not an expert in the field. Other doctors have queried the veracity of the medical evidence on which he was released and the continued refusal to publish it fuels suspicions.
I now believe that there are so many questions which remain unanswered that this inquiry could legitimately be re opened and I have written to Bill Aitken, the Convener of the Justice Committee, this week calling on him to do exactly that.
People argue that those people who oppose his release are acting like the grim reaper, desperately awaiting Mr Al-Megrahi's death as a date worth celebrating. That is an immature and irrational stand point and does our parliament and our democratic process a great disservice.
Some theorists who believe Al-Megrahi was wrongly convicted supported the release but this flies in the face of all aspects of Scottish justice. It is completely illogical to support the compassionate release of a convicted terrorist because you believe he did not commit the crime. It ignores the simple reality that Al-Megrahi remains a man convicted of gross acts of terrorism.
If Al-Megrahi was eligible for release on compassionate grounds, and this is a serious doubt, he could have been asked to stay in his family home in Bearsden to die in peace. Kenny MacAskill could have released him from prison but insisted that he remain in Scotland. It was Mr MacAskill's decision to allow Mr Al-Mehgrahi to return to Libya and I fear that Scotland will suffer the consequences of that bad judgement for many years to come.
But the fact he returned to Libya to a hero's welcome and is still alive and apparently well is proof that the claim by MacAskill was both wrong and foolish and has made the Scottish justice system seem suspect.
The week focuses on campaigning for greater recognition and support for carers, and informs those who are unaware, of the services and benefits they are entitled to.
Sarah Boyack MSP and I last week met with a group of carers in the Scottish Parliament organised by VOCAL, an organisation that gives carers a voice, all of whom had their own story to tell.
Being a carer is already a struggle but is made harder by a lack of support and respite services in Edinburgh and across the Lothians. Budget cuts are causing a great deal of concern and uncertainty for carers and their families as if funding and support is reduced, they feel they will not be able to cope.
More than three-quarters (76%) of people looking after an ill, frail or disabled loved one do not have a life outside of their caring role, according to new research issued to launch Carers Week last week.
The results show that huge numbers of carers are left isolated and lonely, missing out on opportunities that the rest of the population takes for granted. 80% have been forced to give up leisure activities or from going out socially since becoming a carer.
The majority of those surveyed can no longer rely on relatives for support either, as these relationships have suffered as a result of caring - 75% say they have lost touch with family and friends.
One of the carers who took part in the survey was Theresa from Glasgow. She cares for 3 people - her 2 sons, one of whom has Down's Syndrome, and her registered blind mother. She balances full-time work with caring, Theresa says:
"A life of my own is a daydream. Caring demands are relentless, and costs you your health, relationships and happiness. To have a life of my own, for just one day would be marvellous."
Carers say they simply exist, are marginalised and invisible. Unable to socialise, to have romantic relationships, or even to consider having children, the impact on carers is emotional, mental, physical, and fiscal. 4 out of every 5 carers say they are worse off financially, while more than half (54%) say they have had to give up work.
Despite saving the UK economy £87 billion annually by relieving pressure on health and social services, carers are not being supported in the vital role they play for both their communities and society. Almost all carers questioned agreed a life of their own would be achievable if they received breaks, a decent income and were given support in times of crisis.
Carers need and deserve change. Better access to advice and information, improved funding for breaks, and support and flexibility for carers at the workplace are all needed urgently. Only then will carers get a real chance at a life of their own, and the opportunity to do some of the things that the rest of us take for granted.
In the responses to the survey, carers have consistently highlighted what they need to have a life of their own, especially:
- Access to relevant and practical information, to help them with their caring role
- The opportunity to take a break when they need it
- Support at times of crisis
- Financial support
- 3,282 carers took part in the survey, both online and by post, which was carried out by Carers Week between 18 February - 7 April 2010. 65% of those surveyed were heavy-end carers, responsible for 50+ hours of care each week.
I will be raising budget concerns with the Chief Executive of NHS Lothian at its next board meeting and making representations on behalf of carers across the region.
Sarah Boyack MSP is working closely with carer's organisations and others to support their campaign and make sure that carers get a better deal despite funding pressures.
I will be lodging a motion in the Scottish Parliament next week to raise awareness of the issue and gather support in Parliament.
I attended one of the regular meetings with NHS Lothian last week where I raised concerns regarding the future funding of the service.
The Scottish Health Minister had promised to protect frontline services in the face of budget cuts but at the meeting, the Vice Chairman of the Health Board highlighted the reality of these cuts to his staff and the overall efficiency of the service.
NHS Lothian has already announced that nearly 2,000 jobs will go this year with at least 333 of these being nurses.
My colleagues, Sarah Boyack, Mary Mulligan and I raised a number of questions regarding future staffing and service levels across NHS Lothian Board areas. I informed the Board Members that I have received a number of representations from constituents who are understandably concerned about possible job losses and diminution of services as a consequence of redundancies.
Board members emphasised to me that the role of nurses has become more skilled and specialised to the extent that they are more actively supporting junior and qualified doctors in their role. For the Scottish Government to claim it is protecting frontline services yet cut nursing posts is contradictory and unacceptable.
Jackie Baillie MSP has been working hard in her role as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well-being to hold the Scottish Government to account on this issue and to ensure that services nationally are protected. My labour colleagues and I will continue to work with her and urge Lothian Health Board to protect local staff and services.
A controversial planning bid to convert the derelict Odeon Cinema in Clerk Street into a hotel, bar-restaurant and art gallery has been put on hold by Scottish Government independent reporter, Mr J Culshaw.
I, along with my colleague Sarah Boyack MSP, have been heavily involved in the campaign to save this building and have it restored to its former glory. I recently visited Elim Pentecostal Church in Notting hill, which was restored, and functions as a cinema, very successfully. The building is also used for community facilities as well. This could be mirrored here in Edinburgh.
Odeon campaigners expressed their delight at the granting of a reprieve from partial demolition, declaring that all viable alternatives to its destruction had not yet been "fully explored".
Scottish Government policy dictates that no listed building should be demolished unless it can be clearly demonstrated that every effort had been made to retain it.
Supported by city councillors, the Duddingston House Properties bid intended to retain the outer facade of the 1930's Art Deco building but gut the interior - including its unique cinema auditorium - to fit out the hotel infrastructure.
Save the Odeon Campaign spokesman, Tom Pate, of the Theatres Trust, said he was "confident" the iconic auditorium could now be preserved for future generations and that Historic Scotland would upgrade its listed building status.
"It's very good news indeed and hopefully the next stage will be an upgrade from B to A listing which will give it extra protection," he said.
"I am hopeful there will upgrade it to A, which means the building is of national and international significance.
"In practice the building is now safe because there are people interested in saving the building. The planning application was to demolish the auditorium. Our objection was always to make sure the auditorium was safe."
More than 5,500 people signed a petition calling on Historic Scotland to recommend a public inquiry into the hotel planning bid.
A spokesman for Duddingston House Properties said:
"Clearly we are disappointed but we have not had any offers for the building.
"We will sit down with Historic Scotland and the council to see where we can go from here."
I am disappointed that the Scottish Government stalled on this issue taking at least 3 months longer than it should to intervene and secure a decision on the handling of this project.
I asked why:
S3W-32445 - George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab) (Date Lodged Tuesday, March 16, 2010): To ask the Scottish Executive what the reason is for the time it has taken to consider the reporter's report on the listed building status of the Odeon Cinema in Clerk Street in Edinburgh and when it will announce its decision.
Answered by Stewart Stevenson (Wednesday, March 24, 2010): Due to the complex nature of the issues involved which require very careful consideration it has not been possible to reach a decision within the three month target period. Whilst any delay in dealing with this cases is regretted it is not possible to say, at this stage, when a final decision will be made.
Now that demolition has been haulted, I am sure constructive engagement will take place between all parties concerned and the best future use of the Odeon will be agreed. I am attending a meeting along with my colleague Sarah Boyack MSP next week and will keep you updated on any developments.
Bill Butler MSP has launched a campaign to have Robert Owen of New Lanark commemorated on Scottish bank notes to mark the International Year of the Cooperatives in 2012.
His motion states: S3M-06086 Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Scottish Labour): Bank on Owen— That the Parliament welcomes the launch of the Bank on Owen campaign, which aims to have Robert Owen of New Lanark commemorated on Scottish bank notes to mark the International Year of Cooperatives in 2012; recognises the contribution that Robert Owen made to Scottish society through his pioneering work at New Lanark where he championed co-operative principles and values; notes that the co-operative sector in Scotland is worth over £3 billion to the economy and that the co-operative business model has proven extremely resilient and reliable during the recent global economic upheaval, and would welcome widespread support for this proposal.
Robert Owen was a social reformer and the founder of the Co-operative movement. The ideals he explored at the cotton mills of New Lanark were public-spirited and ahead of their time.Owen set up ‘New Harmony’, a model cooperative community in the U.S. After the collapse of New Harmony in 1828, Owen returned home to see his ideas of social reform practised in New Lanark spreading through the trade union movement and in 1834 the Grand National Consolidated Trade Union was formed.
Under Owen’s management the cotton mills and village of New Lanark became a model community, in which the drive towards progress and prosperity through new technology of the Industrial Revolution was tempered by a caring and humane regime. New Lanark had the first Infant School, a crèche for working mothers, free medical care, and comprehensive education, including evening classes. Leisure and recreation were not forgotten; there were concerts, dancing, music making and pleasant landscaped areas for the benefit of the community. The village attracted international attention. While at New Lanark, Robert Owen demonstrated management policies that are now widely recognised as precursors of modern theories relating to human resource management, as well as skilful and ethical business practice. His work inspired infant education, humane working practices, Co-operation, trade unionism, and garden cities. It inspires New Lanark Conservation Trust, the independent Scottish charity which is dedicated to restoring and caring for the historic village of New Lanark in Southern Scotland.
In 1841 he wrote the following words: "It is therefore, the interest of all, that every one, from birth, should be well educated, physically and mentally, that society may be improved in its character, - that everyone should be beneficially employed, physically and mentally, that the greatest amount of wealth may be created, and knowledge attained, - that everyone should be placed in the midst of those external circumstances that will produce the greatest number of pleasurable sensations, through the longest life, that man may be made truly intelligent, moral and happy, and be thus prepared to enter upon the coming Millennium".
In 1844 the Rochdale Pioneers started a co-operative enterprise in Lancashire which developed into the modern Co-operative Movement.
I think there would be few that would not welcome Robert Owen receiving wider recognition for his contribution to ensuring a fairer and equal society in which our financial sector was ethical and accessible to all. To have him on our bank notes would be a constant reminder to us all that communitarian and humanitarian ideals are what makes us united and prosperous and that individualism, short termism and greed are what destroys and divides us.
If you wish to find out more about Bill’s campaign please visit the following website:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=ss&gid=372167091433
George Foulkes MSP
After over 35 years in elected politics, George has seen it all. He’s been a councillor, an MP, is a member of the House of Lords and since May this year an MSP. He remembers both David Miliband and Gordon Brown as teenagers. His “For Foulkes Sake” blog is a step back in time
…with a modern twist.
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