Quizzical Recompense

You know it is nice to know that Drumlanrig peruses this blog on a regular basis to fill his diary column in the Scotland on Sunday. I see that he took the "and finally" piece from my blog post after Nick Clegg's speech to get a few laughs this weekend. The question was asked very much tongue in cheek and taken in that way. I did in fact have a different tongue in cheek question if I had have had the opportunity to interview Nick as originally planned. I'm so glad our leaders are able to laugh at themselves and show their human side.

Tavish Scott had in fact seemed genuinely shocked that he hadn't paid a donation to LYS's quiz last year. It is a fundraiser for the youth wing but being a party leader he was merely doing the rounds of events, but he has supported the organisation at other times through the year.

This year I'm pleased to report that Tavish not only turned up again and paid, but got involved in reading out the questions and scores for one of the rounds. Even better although Nick Clegg was unable to attend he did sign the prizes pictured (acquired at no great expense from a pound shop) that were given out on the night.

Student Loan Directors Quit

The heads of customer services (Martin Herbert) and information & communication technology (Wallace Gray) at the Student Loans Company (SLC) have resigned.

In a report published at the start of this month it was revealed that only 5% of calls to the company were answered at the peak of the delays in payments earlier this term. Some of the board members of the SLC were apparently only finding out the extent of the issues that students were facing due to the SLC's failures through news reports or the Facebook Groups set up by students facing financial difficulties when their loan payments were not forthcoming.

Earlier this month, before the report was published, Liberal Youth Scotland (LYS) staged a protest outside the offices of the SLC in Glasgow. They called on Ralph Seymour-Jackson, Chief Executive of the SLC and Michael Hipkins, Director of Student Finance strategy for the government. It appears that the two people whose departments are at the heart of the fiasco of student finances these past three months have fallen on their swords, whereas the overseers who should have taken action sooner to step in to correct these issues are to escape scot-free and to oversee the next appointees in these positions.

It is small matter as many students have had to drop out of University. Either because of a direct effect of not getting their student loan in time at the start of term, or later on when having still failed to recieve it, thier University hardship fund was already used up in paying for others before them to cover the absence.

The apology from the deputy chief executive doesn't even go far enough. He promises:

"We are determined to do whatever it takes to ensure processing and payments are faster next year, so that we can deliver the service that students and their parents have every right to expect."

Going faster is not much of a promise considering the effects of this year. Students deserve a promise for next year that the SLC will ensure that processing and payments are made ON TIME next year, not merely faster. They have 9 months to be able to ensure that, six of which will be checking the errors in the current system and three of which will then be the processing of the actual requests and claims that are required. Anything less after this year will not be acceptable to anyone

A Week is a Long Time in Political Blogging

It was about this time last week that I was sat with the three (that I know of) LYS bloggers* and decided to encourage them all, now that their exams are out of the way to take up their keyboards once more.



Well the results have been good. First out of the blocks was Callum Leslie, who managed to post about a non-political subject close to my heart, football, on the same that that Lionel posted about my feelings on the same subject, though from opposite ends of the financial spectrum. Then last night he posted about the Tories' strange reaction to John Bercow being elected speaker.



Next up was LYS President Ruaraidh Dobson who first accused me of badgering him, then finally got around to writing up his take on the demo outside the General Assembly in support of Scott Rennie. Then got into a debate about youth and that while there are good eggs (present company included) there are times when they do need to be shown up for their actions not defended for the sake of it.



Next we had Kieran Leach who used the words 'getting on hs case' and 'forcing' to describe me to encourage him to blog again, before also giving his side of the Scott Rennie demo. Although he did mention a favourite pastime of ours talking about policy over a pint. He then took up the secondary part of Callum's Tory post to look at the BNP from a Josh Lyman angle. I was actually quite chuffed that Wordpress chose me with a possibly related Josh Lyman post. Then a little geeky post about travels done entirely from his laptop.

I'm glad that all three have returned to blogging after a little friendly encouragement, despite what they wrote. The three of them all have found their voice online in their blogs, yet each are inherently liberal. It shows how diverse the blogosphere is as well as you only need to write when you can.

People often ask me when do I find the time to blog. The answer is it there, often redundant time doing nothing else. Now that I have the laptop I often blog on the way to work having geared up my brain by watching the morning news, or failing that a glance in the morning paper. But there is so much out there that can spark you off. Once it does it may need writing up.

Being seen as the premier Scottish Lib Dem blogger some people think they could never do what I do. You know what I wouldn't want them to, I'd want them to do what they do. Just like these three and many others there are different ways to tell the same story to express the same thoughts even. As for the time commitment as Ruaraidh and Callum would both acknowledge I didn't ask them about their blogs in earnest until after exams and the Euro campaign were out of the way, heck even my blogging took a slight dip during the campaign, there is no easy way to type while climbing tenements.

I'm not saying it is necessarily easy to put thoughts down on an empty screen but it is a lot easier than many people expect, I guess those who are good at it make it look easy, when sadly it's not. Sometimes I just fill the page for the sake of doing it, knowing that something will evetually come. There are many unpublished drafts that have never seen the light of day littering my pages.

There are a lot of good young Liberal Democrat bloggers out there, the three I've chosen to highlight here are merely ones that I can actively encourage when we keep meeting up in the Scottish party. I'd encourage other bloggers to keep encouraging each other it can be a lonely old business sat at yor keyboard but every little bit of encouragement sure helps.

I suppose now I really had better get on to writing some of the guest posts I have been promising people after writing all this.


*Yeah I also know James Harrison is a vlogger.

Call to Youth's Keyboards

It's been a while and they have had exams so I've let them off. But the exams are over and later on today I'll be having drinks with two of them and the third will be joining after that most likely (as drinks are pre-LYS meeting). So I'll be giving the LYS bloggers a kick up the mousemat to get blogging again. So Ruaraidh, Kieran and Callum you have been warned.

Ruaraidh's 10 Questions

It's the eve of the Liberal Youth Scotland AGM, so I thought it would be an ideal time to post my own personal answers to Ruaraidh Dobson's 10 questions that he posed to all the candidates of the Federal Liberal Youth Elections.

So without further ado or fanfare here goes.

1. How long have you been a member of - and involved in - the party?

I first joined the party at the Social and Liberal Democrats stall at the freshers fayre at Kingston (then Polytechnic) University. This was the first freshers intake after the merger of the Liberal and Social Democratic Parties and therefore a little shy of 21 years.

2. Why did you join? Was there a specific policy or event?

I grew up with liberal politics in Northern Ireland. When I've voted there it has been first preference for the Alliance Party (except the first Assembly election when that went to the Northern Irish Woman's Coalition followed by Alliance 2,3). When I went to Kingston I was already keenly aware in environmental issues and human rights. I'd a choice of two parties, but being an economics student with my fresh A'level in the subject the Green's economics didn't add up.

3. When did you last go leafleting or canvassing?

That was Saturday last weekend in Edinburgh South. I'm currently working on a little post budget one to put out in my local seat, which I'll run off on my printer.

4. How often do you do so?

As often as I can do and often in by elections until my legs give in (like Livingston and Glenrothes)

5. How involved are you with your local party and local campaigns

I've been local party treasurer, secretary as well as a council and Westminster candidate. For two years I was also vice-chair of the Lothian Region Lib Dems. I've written local focuses, press releases, knocked on 1000s of doors and delivered to many more, taken on the MSP and MP in the local press as well as raising many local concerns in the local press or Scotsman. As well as attending many local meetings about a vast range of issues run by concerned citizens.

6. What do you think your biggest contribution to the Lib Dems has been?

Apart from standing in 2005, I say being a campaigning mountain goat. Feed me and watch me keep moving, whether that is Tenement mountaineering in Edinburgh or Glasgow or taking out a bag full of leaflets in West Lothian, Dunfermline and West Fife or Glenrothes to name but a few.

7. What’s your biggest campaigning weakness?

Not knowing when to stop. 2005 with a GE followed by a by election starting from my front door meant I may have lost the love of a good person to my mistress politics. I've learnt since then to get a little personal down time with a loved one in elections since.

8. Who’s your political hero? (Other than Obama, everyone says him )

Sir Oliver Napier the first leader of the Alliance party in Northern Ireland. Napier was the founding leader in 1972 a position he held for 12 years. He set up the party to offer an alternative to the sectarianism of the Ulster Unionist Party. In 1979 he was the closest any Alliance candidate has thus far come to securing a Westminster seat when he was within 1000 votes in East Belfast of beating the current Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson.

9. …And who’s your political nemesis?

Would currently be the Save St. John's Hospital Group on West Lothian Council. The single issue group arose and possibly denied the people of West Lothian Lib Dem representation in the 2007 elections. Since then they have entered a coalition with the SNP and have overwhelmingly followed where the Nats have led.

(note: the main parties main players had at a public meeting in 2004 decided not to politicise the issue of St John's before one of the big two started to break that agreement)

10. The single transferable vote is introduced. Setting aside any personal relationship with candidates, where does your second vote go? If you say Green, you also have to give a third vote.

So as I'm likely to say Green two it is where will my third vote go. At the last election it would probably have been the SNP because with the exception of independence they wanted a lot of the same things as I do. However, having forsaken the things we have in common at the moment I'm not sure. The Tories haven't told us what they stand for, Labour using keeping Woolies alive with pick and mix (but far to much liquorice or aniseed for Stephen's taste) and as stated the Nats have abandoned my principles. Hand me the manifestos when they come out.