Author Archive

India beckons once again

HEADING off to India for a few weeks of heat and sunshine and watch from afar as the world moves closer to oblivion.
Our completely useless government, caught up in similar scandals to their Tory predecessors, are the least of our worries.
What I find more concerning is the way Israel is targeting civilians and children in their relentless daily bombardment of Gaza and Lebanon – with the support of the Biden and Starmer, who are continuing to allow weapons to be sold to Netanyahu and his death squads.
It is one thing taking defensive action to protect your population, but to mount onslaughts like we’re seeing daily – hospitals being targeted legitimised by the excuse that Hamas are using human shields – is beyond the pale.
Israel is putting the whole world at risk while we watch and wait.

Alex Salmond: ‘the most talented, formidable … politician of his generation’

A WEEK is a long time in politics, and while Keir Starmer and his once-proud Labour party continue their unremarkable tenure, thousands of us have been mourning the loss of Alex Salmond.
His sudden death at a conference in North Macedonia shocked everyone and brought tributes from across the political spectrum.
Alex elevated the SNP from the political fringe to the party of government in Scotland and the way he was subsequently treated by those whose careers he had cultivated is nothing short of a disgrace.
I sincerely hope that those in the secretive, authoritarian dictatorship that runs the party get their comeuppance sooner rather than later.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, spoke eloquently as he led tributes to Alex, Flynn spoke of his own ‘great, personal sorrow’, that Alex would not live to see an independent Scotland.
He described him as “the most talented, formidable and consequential politician of his generation”, and went on: “The challenge for all of us now in the nationalist movement is to make sure we put good his legacy and deliver the future that he so badly fought for throughout his distinguished parliamentary career.”
Hear, hear.
As I write this, Chris McEleny, general secretary of the ALBA party which Alex led, is still in North Macedonia, helping with the process of repatriating Alex’s body.
Discussions are continuing but politicians in London are trying to balance the political significance of flying Alex back to Scotland with the potential public dismay of bringing him into an English airport.
I hope it’s resolved sooner rather than later, for the sake of Alex’s family.

‘This behaviour with the Home Office needs to stop’

THE National published this story at the beginning of this week but I didn’t post the link because it was behind a paywall. It’s yet another tragic and disturbing example of how people are suffering because of the UK Home Office and their hostile environment, which is worse than it has ever been.

A LEADING immigration lawyer has pilloried the UK Home Office over their delay processing a visa for the terminally ill mother of a Syrian student in Scotland.
Usman Aslam was speaking after Hoda Eid died in Syria two months after her son Obada won an appeal for the family to be reunited here.
“The court initially expedited this tragic case, but the Home Office failed to review it urgently as they were ordered to,” said Aslam.
“We won our appeal nearly two months ago, and since then they have been sitting on their hands.
“It’s as if they are immune to the heartbreak they cause people. They are not fit for purpose.
“All Obada wanted was to see his mother one last time after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in December and he has been denied that through the Home Office’s inaction.
“He is, understandably, completely distraught, especially since he can’t get to his mother’s funeral, given that burials in Syria are usually arranged as soon as possible after a person’s death.”
Aslam, a senior associate at Mukhtar & Co in Glasgow, added: “This is yet another case of ours that should reiterate to the public that safe routes to come to the UK are being made increasingly difficult.
“As soon as the Home Office appeal period allowance finished, our office made contact with [Glasgow East MP] John Grady’s office who helpfully made contact with the Home Office through parliamentary channels to expedite the issuing of the visa.
“This behaviour with the Home Office needs to stop. At a high price they find the staff to issue visas within a few days on other visa routes yet no explanation as to the delay here.”
It was nearly five years ago when Obada, who lives in Glasgow’s Saltmarket, came here to study at a time when more than half of Syria’s population of 24 million were displaced by the decade-long civil war that has ravaged the country.
His mother wanted to see him one last time and for him to be reunited with his brother and sister. She struggled to the Lebanese capital Beirut to deliver paperwork to the nearest UK consular office which would enable her to come to Scotland. However, the documents became caught up in a Home Office logjam before they eventually rejected the application.
Two months ago the family won their case on appeal, but news was of the decision was withheld in case the Home Office contested it.
At the time, Obada told this newspaper: “I do feel excited and happy but unfortunately, my mum’s situation is getting worse. I am not sure yet when they’ll arrive as we are waiting for the Home Office to expedite the visa process.”
Now he is too distraught to speak.
His MP Grady told me: “It is devastatingly sad that the family’s visas were not issued in time before they could spend time together as a family before Hoda, their mum died – and say their last goodbyes together.
“I asked the Home Office to speed up consideration of the application because Hoda had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and it was clear that she had little time to live. I am very disappointed that the visas were not granted in time.
“There are terrible delays in the UK immigration system – and each delay has a human cost.
“These delays are because the Tories focussed on expensive gimmicks rather than making the system work fairly and efficiently. The new Labour government is working incredibly hard to get the system back on its feet.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with Hoda’s family and friends during this difficult time. We work hard to ensure families are reunited as soon as possible, in accordance with our immigration rules.”

Will the Home Office ever show any compassion?

The depths to which the UK Home Office will stoop never fail to amaze me.
This case, which I wrote about back in March, is a prime example of their disgraceful attitude.
Obada Eid, a Syrian student in Glasgow, beat the Home Office’s hostile environment and succeeded with his appeal to be reunited in Scotland with Hoda, his terminally ill mother.
The Home Office had knocked back his application for his mum and his two siblings under family reunion rules. People granted protection under these regulations cannot usually reunite with parents or siblings, unless they can show exceptional circumstances, for which the courts have set a very high threshold.
Obada came to Scotland to study almost five years ago as more than half of Syria’s population of 24 million were displaced by civil war which has ravaged the country for more than a decade.
His mother, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer late last year, wanted to see her son one last time and for him to be reunited with his brother and sister before it was too late.
She struggled to make her way to the Lebanese capital Beirut in November to deliver paperwork to the nearest UK consular office to enable her to come to Scotland, but the documents became caught up in a Home Office logjam before they rejected the application.
However, the family won their case on appeal.

Obada told me: “I do feel excited and happy but unfortunately, my mum’s situation is getting worse.

“I am not sure yet when they’ll arrive as we are waiting for the Home Office to expedite the visa process.”

Obada had been planning to do a master’s degree followed by a PhD, but he had to delay his studies because of stress.
Usman Aslam, a senior associate with Mukhtar & Co, who has pursued the case for the family, said: “It is regrettable that this kind of case took this long to get through the system.
“I am grateful to the court to having initially expedited the case, however disappointed that the Home Office failed to review it on time despite the court directing them to.
“This is yet another case of ours that should reiterate to the public that safe routes to come to the UK are being made increasingly difficult.
“However, our firm have recently overturned a big previous decision to hopefully make it slightly easier for families to be reunited.
“The next hurdle is to try to get our client’s mother to Scotland before it is too late. We hope that a mother and son can see each other before the end of life.”

In Scotland’s Yes city – and elsewhere – the sun sets on independence

SO, the SNP’s past caught up with them and they suffered the electoral consequences.
That past included mandates from the Scottish electorate and the controversy over allegedly misused funds which is still under investigation, and it was only a matter of time before people signalled that they’d had enough.
Although I did my best to steer clear of the pre-election debates, I was counting the votes at one location and could see the disappointment on the faces of the local SNP candidate, while Labour seemed cock-a-hoop.
There was disappointment too for Kenny MacAskill in the new Alloa and Grangemouth parliamentary seat ¬– again lost to Labour – along with my old pal Martyn Day, whose Linlithgow and East Falkirk perch returned to Labour’s Michael Connarty.
As the party licks its wounds, John Swinney returns to the top job – a thoroughly uninspiring choice given his previous time in the role.
During my time at The National and since then I voiced concerns about the SNP’s lack of progress on indy and how they were taking voters for granted.
Unfortunately, nobody listened.
It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the electorate will eventually abandon you if you continually take them for a ride.
I said the same thing to former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford in many conversations and interviews – it’s a pity he didn’t gee up the party heirarchy and urge them to extract their digits. That’s what they get for becoming too comfortable burrowing their noses in the Westminster trough.
If the SNP will be paying the price of inaction for some years to come (a generation perhaps) what of ALBA?
They were gaining popularity largely because they actually had a plan to gain independence with a campaign fronted by Alex Salmond, under whose tenure as FM and SNP boss David Cameron agreed to the 2014 plebiscite.
That campaign failed to attract the anticipated hordes of disillusioned SNP voters.
Why?
The electorate can be very unforgiving, and despite Alex being cleared by the courts, the old saying that ‘mud sticks’ has more than a ring of truth to it.
It would be too much to hope that there’s much life left in the corpse of what was the independence movement, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Pip pip.

Somehow, managing to not have much to do with the general election

I’VE been doing my best to stay away from the general election apart from watching the odd leaders’ debate and wondering how Fiona Bruce manages to escape any censure from the BBC for her constant and very rude interruptions every time an SNP representative speaks (particularly against Kate Forbes and John Swinney).
Away from politics I’ve been clearing out various boxes and files and came across a few cassettes (remember them) from my time at Radio Scotland.
Problem was I didn’t have anything to listen to them with, but I managed to get them converted into a format from this century.
The one below is a radio documentary about a battle in the 1980s to save Newbattle Abbey College in Dalkeith.
I was alerted to the campaign by an old and very dear friend, the late Ron Curran. He was the Scottish organiser for the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE – now UNISON) and the first person I had heard predicting the emergence of ‘super-unions’ in the UK.
Anyway, have a listen and if you like it, drop me a note.