Salmond to Face the Music Before Full Parliament

Trumpgate is going to face a full Parliamentary debate at Holyrood, after the local government committee made the decision for its report to be before all MSPs.

The report looked into the SNPs actions over calling in Donald Trump's golf course resort plans for Aberdeenshire. After the local planning committee and Aberdeenshire council rejected them on environmental grounds the finance Minster John Swinney called the application in to Holyrood for review, alledgedly with Trumps team pulling strings behind the scenes. Also part of this particular report was a similarly called in application tyhis one for expansion of the Highland Aviemore Resort. The owner Donald MacDonald is a major SNP donor.

The SNP MSP Bob Doris tried to say that there was pressure on Parliamentary time. However, without a second chamber to hold to account the government this role has got to be filled by the Parliament itself. With this being the biggest possible abuse of power in the opening months of the SNP adminsitration it is quite right that this should be a full and frank debate not confined to some committee room.

Oh Dear What Can the NATter be

Just so that my fellow Scottish Lib Dems don't think I'm in bed with the Scottish Nats in more than the literal sense. I'd like to give a hat tip to Bernie Salmon for this story.

This time after the council have approved a local planning application for an ASDA supermarket in Inverness, this has been called in by the Scottish Parliament so that is can go to a public enquiry. After Trumpgate and the stance of the Nats not to allow local authorities the autonomy to set their own rates for the proposed local income tax, just what are the Nats trusting our local councils, including many of their own councillors to do?

The Nats seem to want to centralise their little independent Scottish Fifedom squarely at Holyrood. Yet they were always attacking Labour for wanting to do just the same thing. So just what is going on? How much control do they want to have? Is this a sign of just what way they are going to have to run things if they ever get their wish of independence?

Worrying indeed as they always said that once they had power the people would be in a far better position to realise what they could do if given independence. Well I do see that now, and I'm not liking what I'm seeing.

A Probe of Their Own

Well they like lauching probes look at their one into cash for Honours and now it looks like the SNP are about to be probed themselves. The Lib Dems in Scotland are to call for a Parliamentary enquiry into the SNP's governments handling of the Donald Trump golfing resort planning application over recent weeks.

We need transparancy and confidence in our planning procedures and just how the Government at Holyrood can get involved. There is a tangled web of subdefuge and different stories from different sides to allow this to exist at present.

Obviously the SNP are up in arms about all this. But just what were Swinney who called in the application and the First Minister Alex Salmond doing and talking about at luxury locations with Trump represnetatives and the man himself on 3rd and 4th December.

However, the man whose planning application caused all this political fallout has shown a far greater sense of honour and responsibilty than the Government. Donald Trump has apologised to Martin Ford the former chair of Aberdeenshire Council's infrastructure services committee for the way things worked out. Mr Ford was the man whose casting vote vetoed Trumps plans the other week.

The latest twist in the Trumpgate saga now is that the pressure group Sustainable Aberdeenshire are looking at mounting a legal challenge against the Scottish Goverment's decision to call in this planning applicaation a mere 5 days after it was rejected by the council committee.

People in Glass Houses Shouldn't Push so Hard for Golf Courses

Before I post the rest of this I'd like to point out two things.

1. In most committees should a vote be tied the Chairman's casting vote is normally cast to maintain the status quo and not to effect change.

2. Also local representatives on planning committess have always been left free to vote as they see fit on each local decision, and any hint of bullying or bribing a decision is usually investigated fully.

So now we get to the crux of the matter. The SNP are accusing someone else of sleaze over a issue they are far from clean on. The Scottish press seem to be letting them get away with their own misdemeanors The Herald is quiet and the Scotsman after initially pointed it out ran a balance piece today which is laughable, Trump as the new Carnegie don't make me laugh.

Somehow on Monday Alex Salmond met with a certain American Billionaire, who starred in the US version of a show fronted here by Alan Sugar, before 24 hours later one of his cabinet, alledgedly without his knowledge, called in said billionaires planning application for review at Holyrood. Now either Alex Salmond has far more developed Alzheimers than Terry Pratchett or he really does believe he has inherited the moniker of Teflon off the early Tony Blair years.

Apparently the accusation is that Nicol Stephen has accussed a senior civil servant of lacking integrity because he called the chief executive of Council where the planning issue was overturned while representatives of the Billioniare's where in the room with the civil servant. The minister who made the decision to call in the plan for review had been at a similar development by the Billionarie in America 48 hours before the announcement on Tuesday, and only the day before his boss met with the Billionaire himself.

There are two many links between the largest party in Holyrood and this organisation to make me content to expect the environmental concerns to be looked at with the same serious as the local council planning copmmittee. A committee which told the Billionaire this area needed to be addressed and if done so his application could be re-issued for thier approval.

Sadly one side is trying to prove they can bring investment to this country early in their administration, as they look to push for independence. Sadly they seem to be wanting to do so against the concerns of the nation they have been given custody of to look after.

Fore! Big Eck Tries to Trump Council

I wanted to digest this news before passing comment on it and now I have reflected here is my take.

Now I'm sorry dispite all the protestations that come out of Linlithgow's most powerful son, he is anything but a mere constituency MSP, in the same way that the MP for Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath is anything but merely and MP.

Imagine the uproar there would have been if say a certain billionaire with dubious taste in hairpieces had been turned down by Fife council for a £1bn pound proposal in an environmentally sensitive area, say near Burntisland. If the local MP had taken a key interest in trying to overturn such a decision I would gaurantee that the Scottish Nationalists would be up in arms about abuse of power.

Alex Salmond can rant on about cash for honours, but he must realise that what he appears to be doing is not as a mere mortal of an MSP looking after his constituents. He is using his standing as far more than just that to attempt to steamroller one level of democratically elected government to appease a very wealthy man.

Now I'm not saying that I either agree with the council or Alex over the issue. I have not studied all the papers. I know there were environmental concerns, which even some of the objectors have said if these were redressed in an appropriatee manner and resubmitted may lead to a new golf complex being established. The local planners have seen the full proposal, they have come to a close judgement which was only decided by the casting vote of the chairperson. So there obviously are benefits and costs that are finely balanced.

If the SNP are truely looking out for the best interests of Scotland and its people they'd better start acting like it. Let the people decide what is best for them, they are started to appear as control-freakish as Labour, if they call this in. They are prepared, it would appear to steamroller, over environmental concerns. This hardly surprises me as they intend to fund an independent Scotland largely on oil money, harder a greener Scottish pound if they get their way.

So take heed, watchout for golf balls flying from Bute House, as Alex practices in his official residence to be ready for his new 'friends' golf venture, but also watch out for just how an independent Scotland will affect Climate Change. Either one could hit you and leave a lasting effect.