Tonight is a night for a wee bit solidarity

I am looking forward a great deal to tonight's event on Nicaragua, 7.30pm at St George's west Church with my old friend Paul Baker Hernandaz. You can get the full details here and here, but suffice to say Paul, an ex-monk, now works with some of the poorest people in the world on the "Zero hunger programme". He is an amazingly powerful man in a very gentle way and I would really recommend that if you have not got plans for tonight, to come along and hear his music and his words. You won’t be disappointed.

Once again it's our way they are following

The announcement of a plan for the Council owned museums because it comes from a review we started, uses buildings we ensured were bought and will deliver one of our manifesto pledges. Be interesting to see if any of that comes out in the comments when this is delivered for the city. But I am not holding my breath...

A small victory to savour

I won a vote today at a council committee! Such a rare event that I ought to celebrate.

I was speaking on behalf of the residents of Craigentinny Grove at Development Management sub committee, objecting to a development that was clearly too big for the site yet in itself was too small to be the house it purported to be. In fact the proposal was described as a “Studio bungalow” by the officers!

They and the convener of planning Jim Lowrie proposed granting the application but I managed to persuade most of the committee to throw it out on grounds of lack of parking, overcrowding and overshadowing using the huge amounts of helpful and detailed information the neighbours had given me. Of course its not over now as there may be appeals and because of previous mistakes, the house is already nearly built, so though this is a battle won, the war is not over.

The boy done good!

John Loughton's victory in Big Brother offered me an interesting dilemma. I am very pleased for John and offer him my congratulations. I have known John for several years now, every since he became involved in the youngedinburgh strategy that I set in motion to make our Capital city the most youth friendly city in Europe. He’s a great guy and some-one who will make an excellent politician, which is his ambition.

But I am not a fan of the show. I am not a fan because it demeans the idea of reality and what we now mean by real life. I am not a fan because it takes voyeurism to new lows by exposing the frailties of the human condition for the pleasure of others. I am not a fan because it perpetuates the false idea that fame in itself will bring happiness, But I guess I am in a minority on this one, but that's not a new experience for me....!

A democratic process were politicans are not in charge

Spent the best part of this rain sodden day in a coach with a group of local activists going round projects in the area that were funded by what is called Housing Area Board money. That’s cash devolved to local areas for local environmental improvements that local people want to see. Its real devolution of power and is a great example of how small changes can make a big difference. Things like security lighting, new paths and fencing, improved garden areas, play areas and the like. The idea of the trip was to remind us what we had done and ask what we would like to see done next. It was dangerously like local democracy in action. I will let you know what we decide in due course.

Jaikets and shoogly nails spring to mind...

My mole in the SNP group (it says something about the state of that group that I even have a mole!) tells me that discontent with the present leadership grows. No names have yet reached my ears but I understand the prevailing view is that it would be better to have someone lead their group who has been in the SNP “for longer than 20 minutes”, which apparently is how the present leadership is seen, and not just in the SNP group but further afield in the local party. So says my mole anyway...

Who will listen to you anyway

The Libdem/SNP administration have offered the opportunity for you to try to set you own council budget and have your views heard on the priorities the Political parties should have.

Sound great.. except that it only went up 4 weeks before we set are due to set the Budget. So my question is; just how much influence will you have? If the administration don't know what their priorities are by now then they really don't have a clue.. or.. they do and this consultation process is a farce, in the manner of a TV phone in competition perhaps.

Do this kind of consultation is fine but for it to be effective or realistic, (or honest) it needs to be done 6 months in advance but that would take a level of organisation way beyond the capacity of the present administration.

There's nothing like live sport

I went with my son to the John Lewis Youth Rugby Cup Final at Murrayfield tonight. Stirling County sadly hammered Musselburgh 30-0 to win the trophy for the 7th time in the 26 years it has been running. I say sadly because Musselburgh didn't deserve to be quite so crushed nor did they deserve to have nil against their name. But that's the way it is with competitive sport. Sometime you just don’t get the rub of the green. However, it was great to see high quality rugby being played by two youth teams. Some stars of the future were before us.

What matters most in politics.

My surgery this morning wasn’t as busy as it usually is. My Saturday surgery (I do three Wednesday's and one Saturday a month) usually has 8 to 10 people but only three today but as is always the case, their issues are complex and unique to them.

Its is one of the privilege of election insight you are given into the lives of others and the chance to walk with folk awhile as they face challenges in their lives that often are not of their own making. In that respect it has many similarities to parish ministry but it is also a salutary reminder of whats really important in politics and it has little to do with power, parties or even policies and everything to do with peoples lives.

Words that trancend time and our own timidity

As another Burns night slips away, I can't resist repeating these famous words of his that demand that we all remember that whatever our own agenda, passion or beliefs, our common humanity should matter most when thinking of the needs of others

"then let us pray that come it may
As come it will for a' that
That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,
May bear the gree, and a' that.
For a' that, and a' that,
That man t man, the warld o'er
shall brothers be for a' that

"

Waste not, want not....

Without warning or consultation the SNP government has dumped the Lothian Waste Plan,. It was so secret an announcement that despite Edinburgh Council successfully fighting to get into a private presentation earlier this week by the Government no hint of the scrapping of the plans was given.

These projects have been worked on for 3 plus years. Their demise has raised several questions. Firstly, as Edinburgh will now not meet our targets for waste reduction by 2013 will the Government pay our fines (which will be in the order of hundreds of thousands of pounds) as it was they who removed the plan and have nothing to replace it with? Secondly, and not unconnected, what is plan B, which, whatever it is, will take a minimum of a year to develop before any procurement can even begin? Thirdly, who will pay for the cost of the project so far which will run to tens of thousands of pounds for nothing?

The claim that they want to remove as much incineration is one I would support. I certainly was no fan of the Virador plan (which was a speculative private sector offering, not the work of the Councils involved), and which included a waste transfer depot in my ward, but the questions remain how will they achieve this, what technology will they offer in its place, how much thought has been given to alternatives and how will it be funded?

The SNP claim that they are being aspirational for high targets, but there is no substance to their words and unheralded announcements is no way o take folk with you. Its seems ironic that in announcing their plans they are not giving the Councils affected the chance to re-use or recycle the plans they already had. Once again this is populism without forethought.

A victory but the journey has only just begun and we are still without a map

Margo Macdonald is to be congratulated for using her influence in the budget vote to force a further commitment for funding for the capital City. I hear the sum being talked of is £12m and whilst there are already whispers going around that she has sold herself cheaply, there is no doubt in my mind that she has set an important precedent of getting a Capital city Budget line in the national accounts.

The trouble is, there is no plan to take that huge opportunity forward. this is not just a debate about cash for the City Council, infact that is peripheral to the whole idea of the role of the Capital City; important in practical terms., but peripheral in real terms.

All over the world cities develop as Capitals through a co-ordinated effort of all the people whose lives make their particular city the Capital City. Everybody from the government who are guests of the capital, to diplomatic services to seats of learning, to those who manage the welcome to the nation, to those who nurture the story and the creativity of the nation and much more.

If that line Margo has prised into the national accounts is to mean anything then the cheque is only the start and the Council has to facilitate something much more significant than managing that money to react to the demands the nation places on its Capital city

We should never has lost this one

I switched on the radio to find us one nil up against the Jags yesterday with about 30 minute sto go. Ah, joy I thought, my wee prediction of a close win was coming to pass...but no...we reverted to old times and let the enemy in at the last minute. Even a replay would have been acceptable but not a defeat with a goal in the last 3 minutes. Not good news. Just need to concentrated on promotion after all!!!

Lets stop talking and get on and do something

I spent the early part of the morning performing the oddly titled"sod cutting" for a new development of 48 houses, 12 of which are social homes for rent in the ward. In addition the developers (Places for People and Mansell homes) will build a brand new "Postie Club", a local institution and one time Post Office Trade Union gathering place that provides cheap community facilities for events and social activities. It's their site that's being developed but the present building is no longer fit for purpose so everyone wins. I have been involved with this project for around 3 years helping the club committee get to this point as change is never easy when it comes to community facilities.

What neat about this development is that the team of Places for People and Mansell homes developed the sit next door and designed it so this new development could fit well. The first development had 35 homes for rent or part ownership and so that's 47 new and much needed "affordable homes" in the area.

After my wee rant yesterday its good top be involved in something that actually delivering the homes we need rather than talking (or fighting) about it.

Do they know the meaning of the word consensus

I have just come out of Policy and Strategy committee with word that the truth about the LibDems is out. They do not tell the truth and their understanding of consensus politics is “do as we say or you don’t count”.

They claimed that their return to the old committee system would mean more transparent decision-making after more cross party debates but today’s farce was the antitheses of that..
We proposed a series of amendments for the Councils submission to the Governments Firm foundations. They were meant as a contribution to the debate and to help shape a paper that was good but we felt could be improved on. We thought that was what the committees were for. That’s what they had told us. But no.

First they said our amendment was too long(!) yet we were offering comment on 9 paragraphs of a 25 page submission. I hadn’t realised that there was word limit on contributions to consensus politics.

Then they said we should have discussed it with them before hand. How is that transparent for the public? Is the return to committees also the return to backroom deals and closed door carve-ups?

Instead they just took the officer line and offered no political leadership. Meanwhile the SNP said nothing, not a dicky bird, about the most important issue our Capital City faces and the Tories said we should build more houses in Dalgety Bay. Welcome to a new political era…aye right!

Is this the start of something big?

Its a big cup tie for the Pars tomorrow night against a team that's become in some ways arch rivals, the dreaded Jags. It may be that our league form sees the two clubs level on points but I think its more than that. Perhaps its because in some ways they are quite similar, clubs with big ambitions and great histories but unable to really ever break through to the heights they both once knew. Whatever the case games between the two are always tough and tight affairs. I predict a win for the Pars but it will be close.

Saying thankyou doesn't cost much

I am facing Policy and Strategy committee tomorrow (a committee that certainly does not do what it says on the tin) with some trepidation as up to now they have been mind-numbing experiences,. However I hope to liven things up with a couple of amendments. One I will let you know about tomorrow as I want to keep my powder dry but the other is a simple one, a matter of courtesy in-fact.

The Annual Performance report tells the story of our last year in office; a good council getting better is the story, (see here for more detail) but apparently no-one from present administration has thanked the staff which is quite sad really. Politicians may be the public face but its officers that do the work and it’s only fair that when their work is praised, as in this case, they get some acknowledgement. So tomorrow, I will giving them the credit they deserve.

Variety is the spice of life

A day of extremes and huge variety.

I began with a funeral. its been around 4 years since I conducted a whole funeral myself and this one, (for a lovely man called John Wood, who above all else, focused on his family and faced the adversity life brought with a smile, courage and determination) came to em through a set of circumstances that i doubt will arise again. i have no intention f doing funerals on a regular basis but it was interesting to see myself slipping into that old role so easily. It was standing room only and the pressure I feel to cradle the huge range of emotions is immense. On the other hand to be able to offer the ability to walk with folk through that experience and hopefully help them a little is a huge privilege and one I value a great deal

Then it was up to Princes street to help gather signatures in support of the campaign against the downgrading of the Sick Kids hospital. I have never before known so many folk wanting to sign a petition. There is a madness about this proposal and I hope the SNP Government will listen and listen well.

Back home and off to swim with my son up at the Commonwealth Pool. What is it about water and small boys. he just loves messing about being picked up and thrown, chasing, racing and so much ore. we are in for 90 minutes and it flys by.

A quick change back at the house and out to the Burns supper at Portobello Old Parish Church for Christian Aid where I am doing the immortal memory. There’s 150 people there and some real talent performing and then there's me. I am very nervous but the folk are so friendly and so i calm down and it goes well. This annual event has raised over £17,000 for Christan Aid over the years. A superb achievement.

Sadly the Pars unbeaten run is over and Edinburgh got gubbed by Toulouse so its not such a happy day for my teams

Immortal memory or senior moment?

I am doing the “immortal memory” for a Christian Aid fundraising Burns supper tomorrow night 6.30 at the Portobello old Parish Church. I have been to many Burns Suppers and done the formal toasts, mc’d, said grace… but never the “immortal memory”. I sat down to write it but despite having seen many done before I have no idea where to start. Help!

Why is it when I most need my mind to remember how things have been done before, it goes blank! How ironic that I can't remember how to do an immortal memory! If any of you lovely readers has any hints on what such a thing should look or sound like I will forever be in your debt if you would share them with me! Quickly!

Yes you can, no you can't maybe, yes..no..er

The new Hotel Du Vin in the Grassmarket has got its liquor licence at last . The comment from the administration is that this shows that “the licensing committee has been tough”. Except that the same licensing committee knocked back the application late last year because they didn’t want more licensed premises only for the leader and deputy leader to have public spat about it and the decision is reversed. What was that I was saying about no sense of direction!

Who's telling the truth here?

When we left office the Council was in good shape and improving significantly. Not my words. Audit Scotland said that earlier this year, (you can read what they said here) and what's called the Annual Performance Report published this week said so to. Despite what the present administration might be saying to hide their won lack of vision and inability to make decisions, the legacy we left was a rich one of high quality. (I hear that they were so desperate to slag us off that the publication of this report was delayed for two months as they tried desperately to get it changed for a worse report but thankfully the officers held firm)

As ever, the reports about how good we were get less attention than those where we are criticised but that's to be expected. The annual performance report that covers our last year in office gives a report card that we knew already. the most improving council bar one (and that was Inverclyde who were, at one time the worst in the country so their starting point was pretty low). You can be sure that I will be keeping a close eye on what is reported next year. I predict many political chickens coming home to roost

who is leading who here?

The announcement that a new head of economic development at the City Council will be appointed is welcome, not just for the City but because its again another Labour Policy being implemented. I recognised publicly during the election that it should have been done and committed to doing so. It wasn’t in any of the other manifestos.

What was in the Libdem manifesto was that economic development would only have a sub committee. It was only when I suggested that if we were to return to the old committee system, economic development should be a full committee given its importance and suddenly the Lib dems claimed it as their own idea. Once again an example of them being led rather than leading

You put your left leg in...

Whilst I am on about new schools I am bemused to see an announcement that there is to be a new Castlebrae High school for Craigmillar. Whilst I am delighted that the administration have seen sense and agreed to deliver yet another Labour promise (no mention of it in their manifesto!) this was the same Castlebrae that in June they were proposing to shut. Did they not know in May that they were planning to announce a new school six months later? Its not like there was no plan handed over to them. Its the politics of the Hokey Cokey but that is par for the Libdem/SNP course these days

There is no more money for new schools-K McAskill

The truth is out. there is no money for new schools in Edinburgh or anywhere else. These are not my words but those of the SNP MSP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Kenny McAskill. At tonight's Portobello High School Parents Council he said, and I quote “the times of Councils bidding for money are over. We’ve given them the money and its up to them to choose now” which would be fine if the settlement include money for schools; but it doesn’t.

When challenged by gobsmacked parents he repeated the claim that “the time for bidding is over”.

The trouble is there is no money in the settlement for new schools, certainly not as there was in support for new schools from the previous Labour Administration. From the previous administration Edinburgh Council received around 80% of the £310m invested into the 20 plus new schools and community centres Edinburgh Labour will have delivered for the City. Had Labour been in administration again in Holyrood, there would have been a 3rd round of that kind of support.

Having seen the figures, I can assure you that there is not anything like that in the money we have received from the SNP Government, nothing like it at all. So the truth is out. The time for bidding is over. There really is no new money for Scotland's schools. You heard it here first!

Who says sport and politics don't mix

Spent yesterday morning at the Edinburgh Association of Community Councils as part of their “meet the political leaders” programme. My first public position outside school committees was as a community councillor in Ruchill in Glasgow and its always been my view that community councils have great potential to be real local voice. In the end as is so often the case it depends on the personalities of those involved but a good community council can really be agents for local change.

The afternoon was a more sporty experience. First the great winter run and international cross country events in the stunning setting of Holyrood park. Superb event and a class field with much praise for the city from commentators. i can’t resist pointing out that it was Labour administration that got the event here and the upcoming world championships in 11 weeks time. Another labour legacy perhaps?

And then off to Murrayfield for a historic win for Edinburgh Rugby over Leicester Tigers. Not only a win but two trues to none. whatever Andy Robertson has done to the team if he could bottle it he would be a rich mean because that's the difference, they are team playing for each other. A joy to watch!

A street unlike any other

Spent much of the day in conversation with heritage groups and planners talking about ideas for Princes Street. This iconic Edinburgh Street, home not just of shopping but the Gardens, Hogmanay and much more needs a radical face lift but that will take vision, leadership and political will. It also needs real and deep consultation with all of Edinburgh. I and my colleagues have begun to formulate some ideas about what we think might be possible which we will expand on soon and you, lovely readers, will be the first to know, I promise!

Tribute to an unsung hero

Some days you experience something that reminds you that there are more important things to worry about than our usual agenda. Today was one such day.

I had the huge honour of being asked to take part in the funeral of a man called Davie Findlayson. Who he? I hear you ask. Well that's really the point. I have known Davie for around 12 years. He was a member of what was my congregation, St Margaret's, in Restalrig.

He was 79 when he died on New Years Day, married for 51 years to Alice whom he adored, and she him. He had problems with his lungs most of his life and in the end was almost permanently on oxygen or a nebuliser.

yet even at his death was looking our for others and making folk laugh with his wry humour

Davie Findlayson died with his family round him and a smile on his face. If ever there was a definition of what it means to die with your boots on, it is how Davie died.

Davie Findlayson was a one off. A man who brought smiles to many faces but did not ignore the reality and at times the struggle of living. He was a deeply spiritual man who would have shrugged his shoulders if you had said that to his face and dismissed the description with a laugh. A man who played up the “grumpy old man image” but only for the laughs. He was a man who loved the church but had little time for the machinations of organised religion.

He was a participator, a doer, rather than a joiner or a leader yet he made a far bigger difference to other peoples lives than many with positions, titles or leadership status.

He was great with kids. If I say he could quickly get to their level that's not an insult but why he was good with kids.

A musician to his fingertips, always up for a session and able to produce the right tune at the right moment and also to create an embarrassing moment. I still remember the day I took my jacket off during a service and immediately heard the sounds of the Stripper being played by a straight-faced and an ever so innocent Davie on the box!

He was never precious or precocious about his musical talent. He just wanted to play so others could have pleasure. In all his years of performing gigs across Edinburgh and beyond, at innumerable nights with the country dancers and in his huge contribution to the music of the church, it was always the pleasure and the participation of others that matter rather than his own performance.

And at the heart of his life was laughter. Ever Sunday he would greet me after the service with
"Good Morning your reverence, thanks for the use of the hall". He always had a joke but often too a question about what had been said in the service, never one that had an easy answer

Davie was one of the reasons why I loved being Minister at St Margaret’s and one of the reasons why after I stopped being the minister I wanted to continue to be part of this congregation. This gentle, generous, God filled man of music and laughter who gave some much and yet dismissed his own significance.

I know that I am the richer for having known him and I will miss him a great deal. I know that though I weep at his death, I smile at his memory and I hope that in heaven they are ready for the ceilidh that his arrival will surely mean.

Why have I told you this story about a man you never met. Well perhaps in the hope that you might get a wee hint of the great gift he was to those who did and because his death has reminded me once again that its not what you say but what you do that matters, that a smile breaks barriers like nothing else and that no matter how significant we might think politics is, life and its living is still much more important.

An unacceptable state of affairs

Spent 6 hours today in a meeting discussing pour budget proposals. Its a weird experience as its unlikely our proposals will be passed, but its crucial that we offer a real alternative to the administration who have already shown with their devastating cuts to the vulnerable and excluded that the few principles they have are of the right wing variety.

What was really frustrating was the fact that it was only today that we got the final figures for the budget settlement from the Scottish Government. The Council Budget is around £1.2b and we have the figures we need with only 8 weeks to go. Give the administration their due, they gave the figures to us only a day or so after they got them, but it is unacceptable that the Scottish Government treats local government with such disrespect that it expects it to produce a coherent budget under such circumstances.

A promise I'm glad they have broken

The SNP have kept their consistent record of broken promises with their announcement on sportscotland. Having pledged in their manifesto to abolish it, today they have given it more work and a higher profile. They've even kept its name! This time however, its a promise I am glad they have broken.

But its once again an example of the perils of populism. In trying to keep everyone happy, they have pleased no-one. And the move to Glasgow is an astonishing U-turn on their commitment to stop jobs leaving the Scotland's Capital City. But at least its consistent!

Democracy at stake

You have to hand it to the SNP for their consistency in being populist in all things.

The announcements today about direct elections to health boards will be dressed up as democratic and accountability, yet then truth is they will be neither. The experience in England where the “electorate” for their NHS Foundation trusts are people who have chosen to be involved is turnouts less than 30% Imagine the turnout for a full electorate? It would be minuscule.

Who will stand for the elections? There’s talk in the consultation of no political party members being allowed to stand or those with a “special interest group agenda”. Who is left and how is discriminating against some-one because of their political or special interest more democratic? The search seems to be for folk so independent that they have not in touch with the rest of humanity or have no views or beliefs. How will they represent anyone?

This is a consumerist approach to health care which utterly devalues the views of health professionals and treats the delivery of health services as being the same as providing choice of soap powders. It’s a false use of the word democracy and should be reject for that reason

A event not to be missed

I was going to tell you about my exciting (not!) day working on our budget proposals...

But instead I will invite you again to what will be the most moving event you could go to this month at St Georges West Church, Shandwick Place on January 31st at 7.30pm. Its an evening of Music and comment about life in Nicaragua from activist, musician and author Paul Baker Hernandez.

I posted about this last month but just to remind you in Nicaragua Zero Hunger is the flagship programme of the new Sandinista government, dedicated to the vision that, 'For the first time ever, every child in Nicaragua will have food to eat, every day',

Scots born activist, author and musician Paul Baker Hernández works closely with Zero Hunger, promoting it both within and outwith Nicaragua. He specializes in the beautifully passionate songs of Chile's murdered singer/songwriter Víctor Jara.

Paul has worked in Chile with Inti Illimani and Joan Jara, Víctor's widow and lived with Salvadorans under death squad attack in Los Angeles, where he joined Susan Sarandon, Martin Sheen and countless 'ordinary' people in protesting unjust US wars.

He lives now in Nicaragua where he often sings with Carlos Mejia Godoy, Salvador Cardenal and others who carry on the passionate tradition of Joan, Victor and their friends.

Paul is International Coordinator for Echoes of Silence, a network of 'artists with dirt under their fingernails'. Based in Managua, with his ex-guerrilla wife, Fátima Hernández, and their family, he is also co-founder of the fair trade cooperative Café Sandino and the Victor Jara Workers' Movement.

Paul will be performing at St Georges West Church, Shandwick Place on January 31st at 7.30pm as part of a national tour. Entry by Donation. Paul works gratis full-time in Nicaragua, relying on tours to stay alive.

I will be introducing the event and will be honoured to do so. If you can come, please do, if you can't please tell others about it. It will save and change lives

Why Kenny may have got this one right

This is not a sentence I expected to write but- I agree with Kenny MacAskill. Not on much, it has to be said, but certainly on his comment that we have a "a huge national problem" with binge-drinking. He also said that it was "impossible" to walk down a street at night without seeing people who had drunk too much".

Now that may be a slight exaggeration for effect but it has a truth in it. the “go on, have a drink” mentality is still dominant in Scotland and infects both genders and across the classes.

That's why I think the research announced recently on booze and blades is vital and why I will be supporting the use of the hotline to report drink and drug abuse when children are seen to be at risk. I do so both because it will save children's lives but also because it beings to put the responsibility for challenging irresponsible drinking in our own hands.

We have managed to make drink driving less socially acceptable, though admittedly not completely, yet). Have we the nerve as a nation to make irresponsible drinking similarly so. I believe we do but it will take nerve