MP To Switch On Cruden Bay Christmas Lights

Banff & Buchan MP Eilidh Whiteford switched on the Cruden Bay Christmas Lights on Sunday 27 November.

The Band of the Salvation Army commenced proceedings at 3.00pm at the village Christmas Tree on Main Street, Cruden Bay with the lights switched on thereafter.

Read more...

Whiteford Speaks Out In Fisheries Debate

Speaking during a fisheries debate in the House of Commons today (Tuesday) SNP Westminster Fisheries spokesperson Eilidh Whiteford urged the UK Government to learn from the abject failure of the CFP and prioritise an approach that puts regional management at its heart.

Dr Whiteford also highlighted the success of the Scottish Government’s catch quote scheme which could help deliver a discard-free fishery.

Dr Whiteford, the MP for Banff and Buchan, said:

“This is a crucial time for Scottish fishing and the UK Government must learn from the abject failure of the CFP in its current form. It has failed the fishing industry, it has failed as a conservation strategy, and it’s failed our coastal communities.

“The real challenges we face now have to be seen in the context of a Common Fisheries Policy that for over 30 years has been systematically damaging our marine ecosystems, eroding the livelihoods of fishermen, and is inconsistently applied across the European Union.

“The CFP must be replaced with a workable model of fisheries management, and there is a growing consensus in the industry, among fishing leaders, scientists, and environmental NGOs that a Regionalised approach offers a better way forward than the one-size-fits-nobody approach we have at the moment.

“We need to get clarity from the European Commission on how they intend to deliver a regionalised approach. Until we get effective involvement in fisheries management from key stakeholders, the people on whom the decisions impact, we will not be able to move forward in any way. At this stage w e are still some distance from a policy that is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable for our communities.

“Scotland has been at the forefront of pushing alternatives to the culture of discards imposed by Europe's flawed fisheries policy that forces fishermen to dump good quality fish back overboard, dead into the sea. This is a waste of a valuable food and economic resource. Nobody gains from discards.

“The Scottish Government has set a priority for the upcoming EU negotiations to extend the successful catch quota scheme. I urge the UK Government to work with Scottish Ministers as well as international partners, including the Norwegians and the Commission, to drive that measure forward so that we can actually expand the catch quota system and make its success something that we can build on right across the European Union.”

Read more...

Labour 'Brass Neck' Over Peterhead CCS Project

Banff and Buchan MP Eilidh Whiteford has hit out at the hypocrisy of calls by the Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary for the UK Government to "crack on" with a carbon capture and storage project at Peterhead - the SNP MP pointed out that the last Labour Government, in which Caroline Flint was a Minister, had sabotaged the original project in 2007 by refusing to provide certainty over the policy framework required or financial support.

Commenting, Dr Whiteford said:

"Caroline Flint has a lot of brass neck and not much irony given that it was the last Labour Government who sabotaged the original project in 2007 by refusing to provide certainty over the policy framework required or financial support.

"That project would have been the world's first pre-combustion carbon capture plant, but because of Labour's Downing Street dithering the project went to Abu Dhabi instead.

"We now need to ensure that the last government's mistakes are not repeated and the project goes ahead on track.

"Scottish and Southern Energy are to be commended for their continuing commitment to carbon capture and this project has huge environmental potential, and must be embraced by the government.

"This project will put Peterhead at the cutting-edge of carbon capture technology. The UK Government must now recognise the very strong case which exists for this project going ahead and the investment it will bring to Peterhead.

"The Scottish Government is doing everything it can to make Scotland the clean, green powerhouse of Europe - but the UK government has a record of holding Scotland back from achieving our full green energy potential in all areas.

"Instead of Westminster's bungling, the Scottish Parliament needs to gain responsibility for all energy issues in Scotland."

Read more...

Pensions & Welfare More Affordable In Independent Scotland

Figures from GERS (Government Expenditure & Revenue in Scotland) show how an independent Scotland is better placed to fund pensions and welfare compared to the UK.

The analysis of the figures from GERS show that the size of Scotland’s social/welfare protection expenditure and state pension bill as a share of government revenue (with revenue being the money Scotland raises in tax for the very purpose of paying for public services) shows that in Scotland between 2005 and 2010 Scotland’s pension expenditure was 15.1% of Scottish revenues, less than the 15.7% for the UK.

And in terms of social/welfare protection expenditure it was 41.9% of Scottish revenues, less than the 43.2% for the UK.

These figures contrast with attempts by Michael Moore this week to compare Scottish welfare and pension spending solely with oil revenues – an exercise that if it applied to the UK as whole would result in a trillion pound deficit for the Whitehall Treasury.

Commenting SNP Work and Pensions spokesperson Dr Eilidh Whiteford MP said:

“This week’s trillion pound blunder by Michael Moore to try and scaremonger pensioners only looks all the more ridiculous when compared to the whole picture.

“On the basis of taxes raised in Scotland, and once our welfare protection expenditure and state pensions are paid, Scotland actually has a relative surplus compared to the UK.

“In short Scotland is more able to afford our pension and welfare bill than the UK.

“Taking all spending in Scotland into account and all of our revenues, Scotland has run a current budget surplus in four of the five years to 2009/10 – while the UK was in current budget deficit in each of these years, and hasn’t run a current budget surplus since 2001/02.

“Michael Moore’s parroting of Tory arguments to talk Scotland down and use spurious comparisons to scaremonger pensioners shows how little confidence they have in their case.”

Calculation:

SOCIAL/WELFARE PROTECTION
UK social/welfare protection expenditure as % of total UK government revenues			Scottish social/welfare protection expenditure as % of total Scottish revenues
2005-10			2005-10
Social Spend	£961,195		Social Spend	£88,124
UK Govt. Revenue	£2,601,007		Scottish Revenue	£252,781
Social Spend as Revenue %	36.95%		Social Spend as Revenue %	34.90%
Scotland’s Social/welfare protection advantage in revenues
Revenue Advantage	2.09%
PENSIONS
UK Pensions as % of total government revenues			Pensions in Scotland as % of total Scottish revenues
2005-10			2005-10
Pensions Spend	£353,472		Pensions Spend	£31,459
UK Govt. Revenue	£2,601,007		Scottish Revenue	£252,781
Pensions as % of Revenue	13.59%		Pensions as % of Revenue	12.45%
Scotland’s state pension advantage in revenues
Revenue Advantage	1.14%
Source: Figures for social spend and pensions from the official Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) report for 2009/10 [figures are millions]

Read more...