http://www.highlandscp.org/ en donald.boyd@scottishchristianparty.org.uk Copyright 2012 2012-02-03T21:06:54+00:00 http://www.highlandscp.org/news/free-speech-upheld-in-inverness/ http://www.highlandscp.org/news/free-speech-upheld-in-inverness/ An attempt to convict a street evangelist of behaving in an abusive manner in spreading the gospel in Inverness city centre has failed. Sheriff Ian Abercrombie said that Kenneth Macdonald had no case to answer and acquitted Macdonald of all charges. He was accused of causing alarm to a woman and her children by saying that they are going to hell.  Kenneth Macdonald says that he would never say that to anyone; rather, he tells them: “Don’t go to hell!” It was not clear during court proceedings who was the original complainant.  It is a feature of the persecution of Christians that complainers go to the police and leave the Procurator Fiscal to promote their accusation on their behalf.  In this case, the Fiscal was hung out to dry by lack of corroborating evidence. Hopefully the police will begin to realise that they are being used as pawns in the humanist campaign against Christianity.  The humanists cannot win the argument with words, so they use the force of law. The public gallery in the court room was well filled with supportive Christians. Related Stories 4 Feb 2012 Details of the case. 27 Mar 2010 American evangelist jailed in Glasgow. How is freedom of speech under threat? 2012-02-03T20:06:54+00:00 http://www.highlandscp.org/news/danny-in-the-thick-of-it-again/ http://www.highlandscp.org/news/danny-in-the-thick-of-it-again/ Danny Alexander finds himself at the centre of another fiasco, involving tax avoidance by a senior civil servant. Ed Lester, the head of the Student Loans Company, had been allowed to be paid through a private firm instead of being added to the Student Loans Company payroll, on which he would have had tax and National Insurance payments deducted at source from his £182,000 pay. Mr Alexander was forced to the House of Commons to make a statement, where he gave an assurance that Ed Lester’s salary would in future be taxed at source.  The chief secretary, who signs off civil service salaries above £142,500, said he was “not aware… of any tax benefit to the individual concerned” when approving the salary level.  He said official guidance says public sector organisations should “avoid using tax advisers and avoidance schemes”. The media is still investigating who approved the tax deal, while government departments have been put on alert to ensure that they do not support tax avoidance schemes. 2012-02-02T17:15:12+00:00 http://www.highlandscp.org/news/road-development-between-nairn-and-inverness/ http://www.highlandscp.org/news/road-development-between-nairn-and-inverness/ Transport Scotland has begun a public consultation on a number of options for improving the A96 between the A9 at Inshes and Auldearn including a bypass of Nairn.  A96 Improvements and the Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan is available for consultation in Nairn on 6th February and Balloch on 7th February.  The details are here. Transport Scotland Local response from Action for Planning Transparency 2012-01-25T17:02:43+00:00 http://www.highlandscp.org/news/surcharges-for-the-highlands/ http://www.highlandscp.org/news/surcharges-for-the-highlands/ The Highland Council Trading Standards department has taken up the battle against internet surcharges for the Scottish Highlands. The SCP Manifesto for the Scottish election in 2011 drew attention to these unjust surcharges.  “We highlight that some companies discriminate against certain postcodes by adding unfair surcharges.” The Highland Council’s “Internet Delivery Charges Survey” is still open for submissions until 31st January.  It has received over 300 submissions to date. Inverness, the capital city of the Highlands, one of six nominated Millennium cities in the UK in 2000, with an international airport, is treated as if it is an offshore island by some mailing companies.  National conferences are held in Inverness by such as the British Medical Association, and the Scottish National Party. The Scottish Golf Open was held nearby in August 2011. We have good road, rail and air connections.  There is no excuse for such shoddy treatment. The Highland Council has a duty to enforce consumer protection laws surrounding internet sales and the Trading Standards Service has embarked on a project to trace and tackle those businesses that fall foul of internet trading law. 2012-01-21T17:51:24+00:00 http://www.highlandscp.org/news/the-night-life-in-inverness/ http://www.highlandscp.org/news/the-night-life-in-inverness/ Tennent’s Lager has high-lighted the midnight curfew in Inverness, which prevents people entering larger pubs and clubs after midnight. In a promotional campaign to celebrate the culture of Scotland’s six cities, Tennent’s has used the phrase “Cinderella city” in reference to the fact that Cinderella had to flee the ball at midnight.  The Scottish Christian Party thinks that this devalues the city and is an unwelcome criticism of a sensible policy. Those who favour social drinking in clubs after midnight may find the midnight curfew inconvenient, but both the police and Street Pastors are familiar with the last minute rush of clubbers from pubs into clubs just before midnight.  They are also familiar with the scene at 3 a.m. when the clubs close and young people in various states of sobriety emerge to find their way home.  Even at 3 a.m. some are still looking for more entertainment, saying “Inverness is a boring city” because “there is nothing to do” after the clubs close. This is ‘the night time economy’ and the Scottish Christian Party says much of it can be ‘false economy’.  The case in favour of such late night carousing is not clear.  Scotland is trying to find answers to its drink-related problems, yet in the night time economy we perpetuate the social circumstances which contribute to it.  Some young people work only to have the money to go out drinking at weekends.  If businesses did not profit financially from this, it is unlikely that they would have the Christian charity to provide this service to satisfy the desire of such people for this type of lifestyle.  If they made a financial loss, it is even less likely.  So why does society permit it when the only people who make a financial gain from the night time economy are the businesses involved?  Society has to pick up the cost in terms of policing, street lighting, noise pollution, accident and emergency services, days off work, depression (alcohol is a depressant), immorality and its consequences. Dr Donald M. Boyd, the leader of the Scottish Christian Party, said: “Too much of the night time economy is false economy.  When we are trying to find solutions to Scotland’s drink-related problems, we should call Time! on the night time economy.” Many young girls go drinking for friendship and to find the confidence to socialise.  It is a reflection on our educational system if young people have not been taught the confidence and skills to socialise without alcohol. There are initiatives for businesses to contribute to the cost of policing our streets at such times.  This is fire-fighting.  The true cost could not be met by them.  There has been a conspiracy of silence which the Scottish Christian Party will not join.  Too much of the night time economy is false economy.  The nation’s work force is over-stretched and needs its rest - from work at weekends and from stress which promotes alcohol-fuelled escapism. Related Stories Scottish Christian Party Holyrood manifesto Cinderella city 2011-12-20T11:49:42+00:00 http://www.highlandscp.org/news/danny-alexander-getting-more-flack/ http://www.highlandscp.org/news/danny-alexander-getting-more-flack/ The Daily Record has attacked Danny Alexander for his disappearing act in the run-up to the strike over public sector pensions. Comparing him to an ostrich burying its head in the sand, it accuses him of “dithering”, as “the Con-Dems’ chief negotiator, as more than two million public servants prepared to strike to defend their pensions.”  “He was nowhere to be seen as union leaders warned that all hope of a last-ditch peace deal had gone.  It was Alexander’s job to find a solution to the row. But he spent the day in the Treasury, helping his boss George Osborne prepare to try to sell his savage spending cuts to the voters in his Autumn Statement today.” 2011-11-29T16:05:18+00:00 http://www.highlandscp.org/news/lib-dems-win-by-seven-votes/ http://www.highlandscp.org/news/lib-dems-win-by-seven-votes/ The Lib Dems beat the SNP in the Inverness South Ward 20 by-election for the Highland Council by seven votes. The quota for an outright win was1304 votes, and neither party reached this figure.  At stage six of the count 1091 votes had been cast for Carolyn Caddick of the Lib Dems, and 1084 for Ken Gowans of the SNP.  The Lib Dems were declared the winner with the larger vote, although the SNP were the leaders through the previous five stages. After the first stage, the SNP had 885 votes; the Lib Dems 747 votes; Labour (although they had no campaign and no posters) 308 votes; the Conservatives 290 votes (mainly postal votes); the Greens 157 votes; the Scottish Christian Party 126 votes; and the Independent 94 votes (the biggest group on the Highland Council). This shows that every vote counts.  This was an STV election allowing voters to number their preferences.  In spite of this, many people voted for only one or two candidates and therefore at the critical stage of deciding whether the Lib Dems or the SNP would win, there were 454 voters who lost out the opportunity to decide the election because they did not carry on giving their preferences on their ballot paper.  Eight of them could have swung the result the other way.  The same thing is true at other stages in the count, so that if the SCP had 43 more votes, we could have reached the next stage, and so forth. It is evident that the main parties are making good use of postal votes and we will need to promote this side of our campaign.  Apart from postal votes, our vote was close to the Tories. The turnout was low at 26.8%.  The total electorate was 9760; total votes were 2620 with 13 rejected or void votes.  The Lib Dem winner got just 7.7% of the vote as first preference votes, so there is a huge number of non-voters to boost the SCP 1.3%. Related Stories Inverness South Ward by-election Campaign Inverness South Ward by-election Results Inverness South Ward by-election detailed results at each stage Inverness South Ward by-election Analysis the Lib Dem winner Highland Councillors 2011-11-04T12:27:27+00:00 http://www.highlandscp.org/news/where-were-the-big-four/ http://www.highlandscp.org/news/where-were-the-big-four/ The main political party candidates in the Inverness South Ward 20 by-election failed to attend a significant meeting in Inverness. On Friday 28/10/2011 there was a public meeting in The Royal Highland Hotel beside the station in Inverness on Renewable Energy.  It was organised by Jim Crawford, one of the councillors in the Ward, who invited the main parties and candidates fighting the by-election. It was a well-attended meeting and the room was packed full - but it was not well attended by candidates of the main parties.  Neither the SNP, Lib Dems, Conservative nor Labour candidates turned up. However Donald Boyd, the Scottish Christian Party candidate, outlined the party’s position on renewable energy. He also pointed out that the Leader in The Inverness Courier the same day, headed “Relevance of community councils”, highlighted the very issues which appeared in his own by-election leaflet.  In addition, it stated “[Highland Council] Planners now admit that last August councillors were wrongly told that access details had already been agreed and there was no requirement for a new debate.”  Dr Boyd has been closely involved in this debate about local democracy. If this had been a televised or radio hustings, the four biggest parties would be invited and the smaller ones would be ignored. So why did none of the main party candidates appear?  Could it be that party managers did not think it useful or helpful for their candidates?  However, these new candidates for the major parties did not demonstrate their abilities, or lack of abilities, in front of the you, the public.  Rather their campaigns are led and managed by their respective Party machines, which rolled into action on their behalf. Where does this leave you, the public?  How can you assess the candidates if you cannot hear them speak and debate?  This is the state of local democracy.  No wonder the public gets more of the same. Related Stories lack of local democracy 2011-10-29T17:29:52+00:00 http://www.highlandscp.org/news/brian-taylors-big-debate/ http://www.highlandscp.org/news/brian-taylors-big-debate/ Brian Taylor’s weekly Big Debate programme took place in Inverness today. Questions covered the capture and death of Colonel Gaddafi, renewable energy schemes, the proposed single Scottish police force and homosexual marriage.  One contributor from the audience pointed out that the SNP consultation document on the re-definition of marriage does not even mention children in it. Straw poll Brian Taylor took a straw poll of the audience.  Only three people supported it and the overwhelming majority were against homosexual marriage.  Brian put his own spin on it.  His exact words were: “Pretty clearly against, by about two to one.”  Later in the day, in his news report from the conference, he said that he did not think that this issue would have the same political impact as Clause 28 did.  This is the impartial reporting we have come to expect in our society.  People are so afraid of the truth that they must spin against it. The arguments advanced for a single police force were mainly economic, but there was scepticism that centralisation would deliver savings, and at what cost to local policing? As the SNP Conference is in Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, the Big Debate was held in the Chapel Room of the Bishop’s Palace, at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness on 21/10/2011 at 12:15 p.m. Related Stories Why we need separate police forces 2011-10-21T10:53:36+00:00 http://www.highlandscp.org/news/scp-leader-fights-inverness-south-ward-by-election/ http://www.highlandscp.org/news/scp-leader-fights-inverness-south-ward-by-election/ Dr Donald Boyd, the Leader of the SCP, will fight a by-election announced for 3rd November 2011 in Inverness. Dr Boyd has been at the centre of the fight to have the voices of the local Community Councils heard in the debate about traffic management at the access to the new Campus for the new University of the Highlands and Islands. The development of the UHI Campus, which expects the first stage to be operational by 2015, is one of the largest developments in Inverness and will shape the city for many decades into the future.  It is a land-locked site with the A9, the A96 and the main railway line to the south directly impinging on its development, making access a thorny issue.  Discussion is hampered by the unpublished plans being developed by Transport Scotland in pursuance of the A96-A9 link as part of the Strategic Transport Projects Review published in October 2009. Seven Inverness Community Councils felt that they were being ignored in the interim planning solution and Westhill Community Council, within whose area this development is, spearheaded and co-ordinated the community action.  Dr Boyd, who is a Westhill Community Councillor, drew up the discussion document on behalf of the Councils, and this was considered by a plenary meeting of the seven Community Councils with Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Transport Scotland on 10/10/2011. The outcome is still in balance, and Dr Boyd has put himself forward as a voice to represent the communities of Inverness South Ward, within which most of the Community Councils are located. The by-election is caused by the resignation of a Labour councillor in the ward. This is the second by-election fought by the SCP in Inverness.  The previous one in 2009 was the Inverness West Ward where we were cutting our teeth in local politics.  Our recent annual conference addressed the issue of fighting in more local council elections in May 2012. Dr Boyd’s election leaflet is available here. Related Stories Report on first SCP annual conference. Campus access confusion. Announcement about first SCP annual conference. 2011-10-15T18:35:51+00:00