May Column

Written by Malcolm Bruce MP on Mon 5th May 2008

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Sea change in Labour's fortunes

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The local election results in England and Wales clearly marked a sea change in the fortunes of Labour. It appears that the New Labour project has come off the rails and exposed the fundamental divisions within the Labour Party.

That happened in Scotland a year ago and has now happened in Wales and the North of England. Labour has lost the coalition of Conservative and Social Democrat forces that put it and retained it in power. In the process the party fell into third place behind the Liberal Democrats who also gained seats and councils from both Labour and the Tories.

The issue now is whether voters will spend the time from now through the next election voting for whatever instrument can beat Labour or whether voters will evaluate the merits of alternative parties.

Although voters did turn out for the Conservatives it is not clear either what the Conservatives could do differently in office or what people want them to do. Worryingly the British National Party gained votes and seats and I have certainly met voters in Scotland who are totally opposed to separatism but nevertheless voted SNP to "give Labour a kicking".

Naturally, I hope that people will recognise that the Liberal Democrats are trying to offer a constructive approach to politics through fairer taxes, more local decision making, co-operation internationally and commitment to a balanced environment.

It makes for real debate but if people take part we might have more chance of getting a government people want rather than just throwing out those they have tired of.

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'Listening' Gordon should abandon post office closures

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Nick Clegg was right to address another Labour policy that is generating anger and resentment across Britain - the systematic closure of thousands of our local post offices with the North East in the firing line this month.

The Conservative Government started the process of diverting business away from post offices then stating they were not viable and closing thousands. Labour has accelerated the plan.

What is so infuriating is that successive Governments have failed to provide a business plan or investment that would have helped sustain the network or accept that millions of people use post offices even if the value of transactions is small.

The Government is saying fewer people are using post offices so they need to close them. This ignores the fact that reducing the network and the range of services drives people away.

Nick Clegg called on Labour to halt post office closures now. He is right and if Gordon Brown is listening as he claims he is he will react accordingly.

I am really concerned that communities will be left not only without access to the post office but in some case without a local shop as the loss of the post office will be the last straw.

Once we know our local 'hit list' I will be working with the community to try and limit the damage but without a change of policy it will be very difficult.

I helped develop a policy now adopted by the Liberal Democrats which would help secure investment and a viable future for local post offices. The Government would do well to adopt it.

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North East 'swicked' on business rates

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Aberdeen City Council is currently mired in controversy as a result of a £27 million annual shortfall in its budget. Of course, councillors and directors must be held accountable for the decisions they take but it is clear that the origins of the problems go back many years and the council has been reorganising itself to address them.

So without disagreeing with the need for the council to put its house on order I was shocked to learn by how much the City is being short-changed by the Scottish Executive.

Answers received by my colleague, Alison McInnes MSP, show that businesses in the city paid out a massive £378,178,069 in rates over the last three years and received back only £226,834,000 - a shortfall of £151,344,069.

Allowing for the fact that Aberdeenshire which I also represent is a net beneficiary from the redistribution it is nevertheless the case that North East businesses from the city and shire have over the last three years contributed £51.136million more than the councils have got back.

Population pressures in Aberdeenshire mean we need more school and community facilities but find it hard to meet expectations with a tight funding settlement and a moratorium on new capital projects imposed by the Scottish Executive.

Through business rates and personal taxation the North East makes a substantial positive contribution to the Exchequer and the Scottish Executive. It is high time this was recognised in the funding settlements to our councils and health authorities. On the basis of these figures I would not blame North East businesses and taxpayers for believing we are being swicked.

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Progress on sign language

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There is one area of particular interest to me in which the Prime Minister is playing a helpful role and that is support for sign language.

As a result of a meeting I, sign language users and their representatives had the Government is planning an initiative in England (following on from Wales's example) to set up a model to encourage the wider use of sign language by providing course to the parents of deaf children and training more interpreters.

Ministers are also considering encouraging hearing pupils to learn sign language as a foreign language. This happens in Scandinavia and creates greater awareness of issues facing deaf people within the hearing community as well as providing the base for a pool of possible interpreters.

Eventually I want British (and Irish) Sign Languages to be given legal recognition in the same way as Gaelic and Welsh as this would drive forward the rights of sign language users.

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University must retain global reach

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I had an enjoyable visit to Aberdeen University's Culterty Field Station in Newburgh marking its 50th anniversary and the turf cutting ceremony for an extension to the facilities and the replacement of wooden huts.

I have, of course, visited the centre before during my 25 years as the local MP and indeed enlisted its support to analyse the cause of pollution and eutrophication in the Ythan Estuary. The main problem turned out to be the backwash of sewage from the Aberdeen City outfall rather than the local plant or run-off from the fields.

The centre now has a global reach specialising in deep water observation and the development of vehicles and instruments for carrying this out. Much of the funding for this research comes from the National Environmental Research Council. There is also useful commercial partnership with the offshore oil industry.

It may well be that the Department can provide useful research and information to the Scottish Executive to support the Marine Bill but it is vital that it is not restricted in its ambitions by any outbreak of parochialism.

This, in my opinion, has weakened the Rowett and Craibstone facilities, which once provided UK input but once restricted predominantly to Scotland found it hard to maintain the same pre-eminence.

Universities must always be able to advance on merit and without boundaries if they are to live up to the name. There must be no restriction on their access to UK or international funds.