Dave Coull
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The Calman CommissionI don't know if anybody else here is old enough to remember that fine Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong duet, "Gone Fishin", where one of them is singing and the other one interjecting comments. But anyway somebody came up with a new version to the same tune:
You gone commissin' (Well, how you know?)
Well, there's a sign upon your door (Uh-huh)
Gone commissin' (I'm real gone, man)
You ain't workin' anymore (Could be)
There's your hoe out in the sun
Where you left a row half-done
You claim hoe-in' ain't no fun (I can prove it)
You ain't got no ambition ...
You jist gone commissin'!
In one way this is appropriate, since the members of the Calman Commission have clearly landed themselves a really cushy number, where they have no real work to do. But in another way it isn't, because I wouldn't bet against some of them having it in their minds to use this cushy number as a stepping stone to greater things.
The "National Conversation" inaugurated by Alex Salmond's government may be dominated by supporters of independence, but at least it is OPEN to people of opposing views to take part in that "conversation" and argue for their points of view. Which is more than can be said for the Calman Commission, which has quite specifically stated that it does not want to hear the views of members of that very large percentage of the population of Scotland who consider that the possibility of independence should not be entirely ruled out.
It is a total disgrace that the members of the Calman Commission were prepared to join a body which does not intend to listen to the views of such a large section of the population of Scotland. By joining this commission, they have all pre-judged the outcome, no matter what evidence may be presented.
The names of the people whose shameful deliberate deafness will be remembered in history are :
Sir Kenneth Calman, Chancellor of the University of Glasgow (Chair)
Colin Boyd, former Lord Advocate, member of the House of Lords (Labour)
Rani Dhir, Director Drumchapel Housing Co-operative
James Douglas Hamilton, former Scottish Office Minister, member of the House of Lords (Conservative)
Professor Sir David Edward, retired Judge of the European Court
Lord Elder, member of the House of Lords (Labour)
Audrey Findlay, former Leader of Aberdeenshire Council, (now Convener of the Scottish Liberal Democrats)
Jamie Lindsay, former Scottish Office Minister, member of the House of Lords (Conservative), Chairman SAC (Scottish Agricultural College)
John Loughton, President of the Scottish Youth Parliament (serving in a personal capacity)
Murdoch MacLennan, Chief Executive, Telegraph Media Group
Shonaig Macpherson, Chair of the National Trust for Scotland and of the SCDI (Scottish Council Development and Industry)
Iain McMillan, Director, CBI Scotland
Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic Studies, University of Glasgow
Matt Smith, Scottish Secretary , UNISON
Jim Wallace, former Deputy First Minister and former leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
These people are to be paid out of public funds for their "labours", but, as Brian Taylor, BBC Scotland political editor, has pointed out, it will be surprising if they come up with anything different from the "more powers" options which have already been thoroughly researched by civil servants and set out in the Scottish Government document "Choosing Scotland's Future".
They won't listen to contrary opinion, and their conclusions have already been written and published by the SNP government. So, what exactly is it that these people are being paid from public funds to DO ?
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