Beware Eck, bearing gifts

The Times, 6 Jaunary, 2009

After years of uncritical support for the Scottish Nationalist Party, Sir Sean Connery is reaping unexpected rewards, receiving a succession of unsolicited gifts, courtesy of Alex Salmond, according to documents obtained under Freedom of Information regulations.

The First Minister, a long-time admirer of the veteran actor, has kept up a steady stream of offerings, including an early copy of the latest Sandi Thom CD, The Pink and the Lily, complete with a glowing appreciation of the singer from Mr Salmond himself.

That light, musical gift was followed a much heavier item, the White Paper on a “national conversation” over the country's future, signed by the First Minister.

To the untrained eye, Mr Salmond's behaviour might appear to be fawning, but psychologists say that in a celebrity-obsessed age, it is not unusual for politicians to forge links with famous people, in the hope that some stardust might rub off on them. In these circumstances, Sir Sean, often described as “the most famous Scot in world” is a natural target.

Cary Cooper, Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University, said the relationship between leading politicians and celebrities could be traced back at least to 1960s America and the symbiosis between President John F. Kennedy and entertainers such as Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe.

“It is a two-way relationship. Part of it stems from the celebrity's desire to be doing something serious, other than just singing songs or acting - he or she wants to show they have more substance.

“But in the multimedia age we live, and with issues such as the funding of parties, getting the support of celebrities becomes even more important to the politicians.

“They want to be linked to celebrities. It's good exposure in the public eye - because normally celebrities are far more significant than most politicians,” he said.

The correspondence shows that Mr Salmond wrote four official letters to Sir Sean's home in Bermuda in 2008. The first reads: “Dear Sir Sean, Sandi Thom has very kindly sent me an advance copy of her new album which will be released in the spring.

“I have greatly enjoyed listening to Sandi's album, so I am forwarding it to you in the hope that you will too.”

The letter is signed: “Best wishes for 2008 to Micheline and yourself. Yours for Scotland, Alex.”

The letters drew derision from opposition politicians and were described as “deeply embarrassing”.

“The way Mr Salmond comes across in awe of the rich and famous will make most Scots look askance at his spin-doctors' desperate claim that he is a man of the people,” a Scottish Labour Party spokesman said.

Mr Salmond has an enduring regard for Sir Sean, which he is unashamed to flaunt in public. Last August, he took a front-row seat at the actor's sell-out event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and in November spoke in glowing terms of Sir Sean's physique, at the unveiling of the Homecoming Scotland television advertisement, in which the actor makes a contribution.

“As for Sean, 78 years old and not wobbling at the knees. it's just not fair. What's he got that we've not got?” Mr Salmond asked.

On receipt of the answer - “a warm climate” - the First Minister refrained from further comment.

Salmond maddened by the end of the party

The Times, June 20, 2008

It is 4.30pm and time for a little something, yet, as he gazes at a pile of cakes, Alex Salmond looks vaguely mournful. Perhaps it is because Sophie Elm, a graduate art student, has told just him that the food isn't real, but made from cotton wool, glue and acrylic paint. She has created a Mad Hatter's Tea Party. The First Minister laughs - had he known he would have worn a boater and a big pair of white trousers.

Mr Salmond has come to Edinburgh College of Art to open a £20.6million new wing. Usually occasions like this are a cakewalk, but it's less than 24 hours since his government suffered its first defeat in Holyrood, the loss of the Creative Scotland Bill, and all around there are arty people who now have absolutely no idea where the Scottish government's cultural policy is heading.

At the grand plaque-unveiling ceremony, Mr Salmond offers a brief disquisition on the Edwardian architect James Pittendrigh MacGillivray before he is moved to address matters of policy and Wednesday's events in parliament.

“Running a minority government is like levitation. You have to keep the opposition parties in a state of suspended animation,” he explains to an audience of shaggy-haired professors, who look somewhat askance at the imagery. The balance, he complains, has been disturbed by the “dancing up and down” of the opposition parties. “The impertinence of it, the audacity of it,” he fumes.

Mr Salmond says that he understands the importance of the creative industries. They produce £4billion for the nation's wealth and sustain 60,000 jobs. But what he can't accept - despite growing evidence to the contrary - is that anyone other than his Holyrood opponents are against his Bill. Indeed - turning logic on its head in a Mad Hatter-ish way - his opponents are in favour of it, too! They just couldn't agree to support him. Curiouser and curiouser.

On Wednesday, Mr Salmond says, his culture minister had announced £5million of new money for the arts. “Are we actually saying that we are going to have a six-month delay in setting up an organisation that everyone supports, which will have more money in real terms, because they are worried about which pot of money it is coming from?”

Can Mr Salmond see that some people in the arts are confused? They can't work out who is driving the creative industries, the behemoth that is Creative Scotland, or Scottish Enterprise, the business development agency, which seems reluctant to release its grip on all those digital and TV industry fiefdoms that generate so much work for its bureaucrats.

“Responsibility has never been in doubt,” he snaps. “To regard these excuses for issues as the pretext for the sort of shambolic obstructing we saw is beyond belief.” If the Mad Hatter's tea cups hadn't been glued down, Mr Salmond would have started throwing them about.

“Furthermore,” he says - always a sign of impatience - “we had an agreement with the business managers which was respected by the Tories and the Liberals that if we withdrew the financial provision of the Bill, they wouldn't object to it being debated next week. All these things tell you that the behaviour of the Labour Party was the most abject piece of irresponsibility that we have witnessed in recent times in parliament. I put it down to end-of-term madness and the fact that the labour leader is no longer in control of her backbenchers.”

He sounds bitter. “I don't feel bitter. I feel concerned for the creative communities of Scotland.” And with that concern ringing in creative ears, the First Minister has sidestepped into a lift and gone.

Column inches

Is sport something you enjoy on telly, in the comfort of your local boozer? Or perhaps you are wearing that armchair a bit tighter round your hips these days, because you spend all your free time in front of the goggle box at home? If you answer 'yes' to either of these propositions, your might appreciate my column on broadcast sport, which is appearing these days in Scotland on Sunday. You can read the most recent here: Green and unpleasant land

Check out the Times interview with Liz Lochhead, which you can read in the entry below. In the weird format of the Scottish edition of the paper, a piece like this has to be punchier than your average feature. Luckily, Liz gives great quote, and so the article just about works.

You can hear Liz reading four of her poems on line. 1953 is particularly beautiful. Go here for the poems, and a photo of a younger Liz: Liz Lochhead reads her poems

The photographs on this site and which accompanied the Times piece brilliantly capture Liz's personality. They were taken by Ashley Coombes of Epic Scotland. Go here for Epic's archive of work. Epic Scotland

PS Scroll down the page for some interesting images. Anyone notice the resemblence between the young Lord Snooty and the older Alex Salmond. I wonder if, by any chance, they are releted?

Salmond backs 'Project Edinburgh'

The Times, April 12, 2008

The First Minister, Alex Salmond, has given his backing to ambitious plans, designed to promote Edinburgh as a capital city “fit for the 21st century.” He believes that the city’s status was not properly recognised by the previous Labour administration, with its West of Scotland bias, and is anxious to promote its role as the capital of the whole nation.

His endorsement comes as a new manifesto for 'Project Edinburgh' is launched by Sir Terry Farrell, the leading architect who is the city’s design champion, and who has in the past charged local councillors and officials with being in the grip of “the forces of lethargy.”

Mr Salmond has had two meetings recently with Sir Terry and is said to be keenly interested in his ideas - though he has not yet seen the detail of his 12-point “action plan for change.” He is, however, known to be enthusiastic about the new mood within the city, following the recent change in its leadership, and is determined to promote its image as a great European city.

Last night Sir Terry said: “As the capital city in a Scotland which is increasingly self confident, Edinburgh has a crucial role to play and I told Mr Salmond that he had a role to play too. He understood and I think accepted that, and I was impressed by how much he had accelerated his knowledge of the issues involved in just a few weeks.”

Sir Terry, who was appointed to his council-sponsored position in 2004, revealed late last year that he had felt a sense of failure in the post, after working under the former Labour administration in the city, and its “atrophied” planning procedures.

But he said the new SNP/Lib-Dem coalition, which was formed after last May’s elections, and the appointment of Dave Anderson as a new director of city development had transformed official attitudes to Edinburgh. Mr Salmond’s support, he added, was a turning point for the city.

However Sir Terry warned that Edinburgh still faced the challenge of overcoming complacency and a lack of vision.

A spokesman for the Scottish government said that Sir Terry was to be congratulated for “raising awareness of the importance of good quality development and urban design in delivering a successful future for the city of Edinburgh.”

The Odd Couple: Trump and Salmond

One has big hair, a $2.9bn fortune and an ego the size of the moon. The other is a former racing tipster whose own prodigious vanity is swollen by the knowledge that he is his nation's most impressive politician.

They are an unlikely pair, Donald Trump, US tycoon, and Alex Salmond, First Minister. But they have conspired to plunge Scotland into something approaching a political crisis.

Two years ago, Trump, who proudly proclaims Scottish heritage, announced plans for a luxury golf resort on a windswept, lonely stretch of the Aberdeenshire coast. He expected the move to divide environmentalists from the business community, and it did. Now, though, it has turned uglier, with bitter claims of American bullying and Scottish toadying.

Where others see windswept dunes and hear only the relentless squawking of oystercatchers, Trump harbours a dream for a 2,000-acre seaside estate with two championship links golf courses, a new clubhouse, a modern gothic hotel, 500 private homes nearby and 950 timeshare flats. All accompanied by the joyous tinkle of cash registers.

Until two weeks ago, Trump had every reason to believe this huge venture would become a reality. His promise to deliver more than 1,000 permanent jobs and inject £47m into the local economy had wowed businessmen and journalists. He claimed 91 per cent support in the community. And he seemed to have convinced the local Member of the Scottish Parliament; the fact that this was Salmond, the SNP leader, appeared to seal the deal.

More at the Independent on Sunday:The Odd Couple

Waving the flag for St Andrew

The Times, Scotland, 4 November, 2007

According to legend, the appearance of a saltire in the skies over Athelstaneford in East Lothian once inspired a ragged band of Scots to defeat a mighty English army. Gripping the same emblem in his fist Alex Salmond yesterday pledged to lead his country to an equally unlikely victory, by establishing St Andrews Day as a bank holiday, despite the forces of bureaucracy ranged against him.

Surrounded by flag-waving school children, the first minister launched a St Andrews Day and Winter Festival, saying he would “lead by example” and establish 30 November as an official day off for everyone who works for the Scottish government. Other employers would quickly follow suit, he added.

However Mr Salmond’s desire to create a holiday to rival the exuberant and lucrative celebrations associated with Ireland’s St Patrick’s Day remains thwarted by legislation passed last year by the Scottish parliament.

A private member’s bill introduced by Dennis Canavan, the former independent MP for Falkirk, ended in a compromise under which banks and other organisations were permitted, but not compelled, to close on November 30. Business leaders argued successfully that the cost of a lost day’s production was too great for the country to bear.

This year, by using flexitime and by swapping holidays, government staff have been encouraged to take the day off. But Mr Salmond wanted something more formal, and said the existing “enabling” legislation would eventually achieve his goal.

“We will be looking to establish ... St Andrews day as a full holiday. We are talking to our staff about that, and then will spread it from there. We know it has to be voluntary because of the legislation, but I think it will gather pace and become a national holiday over time. We will be leading by example,” he said.

This year’s St Andrews day is seen as a prelude to a winter spectacular of events, scattered over Hogmanay and Burns Night, once a simple night of poetry and haggis eating which has been magically extended into something the government calls “the Burns season”.

The first minister predicted that business would soon see the benefits of these celebrations. “As the marketing aspect of the Winter Festival kicks in many businesses will see the commerical as well as the social advantages of celebrating St Andrew’s Day and promoting Scotland over the winter months,” he said.

Taking his cue from Edinburgh’s Hogmanay – which has twice been rained off in the last four years – Mr Salmond said these events would combine to project “Scotland the place to be over the winter months”.

Cynics will suggest that Barbados has a strong claim in that respect, particularly since questions remain over the quality of the fare on offer which is intended to kick start Scotland’s winter tourism initiative.

Travellers who favour beach bars, palm trees and water skiing may not be tempted by St Andrew’s day celebrations which include a Doric cabaret night in Aberdeen, a ceilidh in Stirling and a living history display at Culloden, as well as a “shindig” in Glasgow, and a “jig” in Edinburgh.

A flavour of the joys to come was provided by the pupils of St Margaret’s primary school in Loanhead, Midlothian, where the first minister appeared with secretary for Education, Fiona Hyslop, and the London-based Scottish singer, Sandi Thom.

Adorned in tartan ribbons, the children performed Westering Home, Mairi’s Wedding and Scotland the Brave, favourites chosen from their repertoire of Scottish songs which includes Johnny Cope, a victory celebration of the rout of the English at the battle of Prestonpans in 1745.

Mr Salmond has faced criticism from some quarters this week for using children to promote nationalist propaganda, but he dismissed these attacks.

“This is not Scottish propaganda, this is Scottish promotion. This is Scotland. The saltire doesn’t belong to the SNP it belongs to the country. As you can see the children here don’t need any encouragement to celebrate their Scottishness,” he said.

“Schools are an essential part in celebrating the national day. You would have to have the most enormously developed Scottish cringe to believe [otherwise]. It is the normal thing for people in Scotland and across the world to celebrate their nationality and to understand and respect other people’s nationality. That’s what being a young self confident Scot is all about.” he said.

The first minister also dismissed the remarks of Jeremy Paxman, the presenter of the BBC Newsnight programme, who spoke this week of his pleasure in baiting “chippy” Scottish politicians.

“You have to take these things in good part. A gentle, patronising of Jeremy is the correct way to treat him. I enjoy his humour and I hope he enjoys mine. You’ve got to be grown up and adult and not too worried about banter, that’s the way it is,” he said.

“Jeremy believes that every Scot will rise to his bait. Here’s one Salmond that won’t rise to his bait.”