Friday, February 29, 2008
LIB DEM CONFERENCE
Previously I had done reviews of the motions at the Scottish Lib Dem Conference. They have actually published them this year & the conference starts today so I will give a quick review.
HIGHER EDUCATION (submitted by Policy Cttee)(p20 of pdf)
More money for Universities, more grants, no tuition fees, reduce student debt.
Everybody in is in favour of spending more but no mention of what they want to cut to pay for it. Typical of politic generally
VICTIM SUPPORT (Policy cttee) p21
Some good ideas here, mainly keeping the victims in the loop & letting them know if & why perpetrators are released.
HUMAN TRAFFICING (Inverness East) p22
They are against it
No mention of how deeply our Albanian KLA friends are involved in it - with the total support of the LibDems
TAKING ACTION TO TACKLE EXCESS PACKAGING (East Dunbartonshire & Clydebank) p23
Insist on supermarkets having bins so people can tear off the packaging which doesn't actually reduce it & more regulations & money for inspectors.
Typical
MEETING SCOTLAND'S HOUSING NEED (Ross Skye & Inverness) p26
Councils should sell some land for housing but it has to be offered first to Housing Association. More regulations to make sure that half of all new houses are "affordable". SNP should be responsible for ensuring 27,000 new houses by 2011.
Housing Associations are inept builders & regulations to make houses "affordable" as opposed to unaffordable houses which therefore never sell. This system might well produce 27,000 houses . We should & could be building more than that every year if builders were allowed to just get on with it.
NORTH SEA OIL (Aberdeen South) p 29
1) Reducing the supplementary Corporation Tax rate paid by the UK oil and gas
industry to ensure that the UK remains a competitive environment within the
global oil and gas sector, especially in the face of falling reserves.
2) Establishing stability within the industry by providing an assurance that there will be no further ad hoc tax increases.
Fairly sensible particularly 2, though I would be happier to see CT cuts on mainland industries. However Holyrood does not have the power to control this so no real idea how it will be done
RIGHT TO BUY (Policy Cttee) p29
Council house right to buy has been a success & therefore should be ended immediately for new tenants & in 5 years for everybody else.
Since right to buy is popular with ordinary people but not with political activists, who enjoy power, this phrased as saying how well it has worked & says "Ensure tenants with an existing right should only lose their right after at least 5 years" rather than phrasing it that they will lose their rights in 5 years.
That's 3 days out of several hundred people's lives
HIGHER EDUCATION (submitted by Policy Cttee)(p20 of pdf)
More money for Universities, more grants, no tuition fees, reduce student debt.
Everybody in is in favour of spending more but no mention of what they want to cut to pay for it. Typical of politic generally
VICTIM SUPPORT (Policy cttee) p21
Some good ideas here, mainly keeping the victims in the loop & letting them know if & why perpetrators are released.
HUMAN TRAFFICING (Inverness East) p22
They are against it
No mention of how deeply our Albanian KLA friends are involved in it - with the total support of the LibDems
TAKING ACTION TO TACKLE EXCESS PACKAGING (East Dunbartonshire & Clydebank) p23
Insist on supermarkets having bins so people can tear off the packaging which doesn't actually reduce it & more regulations & money for inspectors.
Typical
MEETING SCOTLAND'S HOUSING NEED (Ross Skye & Inverness) p26
Councils should sell some land for housing but it has to be offered first to Housing Association. More regulations to make sure that half of all new houses are "affordable". SNP should be responsible for ensuring 27,000 new houses by 2011.
Housing Associations are inept builders & regulations to make houses "affordable" as opposed to unaffordable houses which therefore never sell. This system might well produce 27,000 houses . We should & could be building more than that every year if builders were allowed to just get on with it.
NORTH SEA OIL (Aberdeen South) p 29
1) Reducing the supplementary Corporation Tax rate paid by the UK oil and gas
industry to ensure that the UK remains a competitive environment within the
global oil and gas sector, especially in the face of falling reserves.
2) Establishing stability within the industry by providing an assurance that there will be no further ad hoc tax increases.
Fairly sensible particularly 2, though I would be happier to see CT cuts on mainland industries. However Holyrood does not have the power to control this so no real idea how it will be done
RIGHT TO BUY (Policy Cttee) p29
Council house right to buy has been a success & therefore should be ended immediately for new tenants & in 5 years for everybody else.
Since right to buy is popular with ordinary people but not with political activists, who enjoy power, this phrased as saying how well it has worked & says "Ensure tenants with an existing right should only lose their right after at least 5 years" rather than phrasing it that they will lose their rights in 5 years.
That's 3 days out of several hundred people's lives
