HOLYROOD last week wasn't exactly the quietly purring epitome of political consensus and national oneness hoped for and advocated by the good-hearted and lame-brained band of seriously deluded Scots who laid the foundations for the Scottish Parliament's modus operandi. How could such intelligent people could ever have thought that the real division in Scottish politics, the constitutional question, could be nicey-ed out of the business?
One day it will have to be settled, but it's not as simple a matter as either nationalists or unionists would have their fellow Scots believe. There are refinements to be decided in addition to the basic question of whether Holyrood is to exercise
sovereign power over policy-making and international representation that is currently reserved to Westminster.
But despair not, there are policy areas inside which genuine agreement can be reached between the two tribes. Sports policy, for a start, can get MSPs following the same game plan across the party, or constitutional, divide.
As Convenor of the Cross-Party Group on Sport, I spent Monday visiting the Scottish Universities Centre of Sporting Excellence at Stirling University, where I and other members of the Cross-Party Group also had the chance to catch up on the progress of the now merged Institute of Sport/SportScotland.
Edinburgh Lib Dem MSP Mike Pringle, Glasgow Labour MSP Frank McAveetie and I were all in different places during last week's reprise of the dreary devolution debate. This week we are as one in our determination to act on what we learned from our visit to Stirling. Forget the arguments, for the moment, about whether the London Olympics are going to justify their seemingly unstoppable ever-rising cost. Concentrate instead on what we can do, and what else needs to be done to make a success of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.
Let's start with the Scottish Government's idea for a Lottery scratchcard for the Glasgow Games, exclusively. The three of us and the non-MSP members of the Cross-Party Group voted "Yes". We're agreed we should get as much support as possible and make the Scottish Government a request it cannot refuse.
Mike Pringle, Frank McAveetie and I represent quite different electorates. Although parts of his constituency have too many families struggling to keep their heads above water, most of Mike's constituents are comfortable, although some pensioners in particular have had their savings wiped out due to the turmoil in the banking system.
Frank, by contrast, represents people in Glasgow's East End, one of the UK's most deprived areas. I represent the interests of communities in West Lothian, Midlothian, Livingston and Edinburgh itself. Yet we made common purpose on some of the things that must be done if all of our different electorates have to be given the means to produce champions and Commonwealth medallists from within their ranks. It should also be our aim to have as many Scots as possible taking part, having made the qualifying standard.
The main movers in providing facilities and facilitating access to them are local councils, which usually own the pitches, tracks, pools, etc. They're hard-up, therefore expenditure on sport slips down the priority list. While I have every sympathy for the councillors charged with running their council's finances, if they're serious about utilising the social and health benefits of sport, they'll re-direct their focus to resourcing sports facilities, participation and competition in their areas.
One of the present Scottish Government's boasts is that it has given local councils the freedom to order their own priorities, but the downside of that apparently admirable intention is sports expenditure is among the first budgeting cuts.
This was well established under the last Executive when a third of new schools built by PPPs sacrificed playing areas.
After our day discussing how to make good the Government's intentions regarding the nurture of elite athletes and the encouragement of more sport in the community, Mike, Frank and I are persuaded of the need for local councils to meet national minimum standards in sports provision, but can we persuade the Scottish Government to set the standards for local authorities?
Putting a sock in itHow inspired were you by the new Environment Minister's rallying call to would-be saviours of the planet that they should wear their darned socks with pride?
Will you follow Roseanna Cunningham's lead and dispense with the tumble dryer and dishwasher to reduce your carbon footprint?
I'll go along with the general idea, but darned socks are out. Even if the sock-wearer in our house wore pure wool socks, and not impossible to darn mixed fibre garments, he's old enough to remember how uncomfortable darns could be.
To make up for that, I'm on the look-out for a washing board and a mangle.
