Labour's literacy drive

Frank McAveety MSP - he's cool, he's hip, he's laid back, so laid back he's almost horizontal, he's a man who likes potatoes with his pie, just not much bothers him, he's the Top Cat of Scottish politics - which might be why Labour got his constituency wrong on its website - in spite of having the correct spelling just below it in his office address.....

He's the boss, he's a pip, he's the championship.
He's the most tip top,
Top Cat.

Mind how you meow!

The return of the Blair...

The Sequel to the Return of the Son of the Headless Horseman Rides Again Revisited, Part II - here's Tony! With the comeback kid, Lord Mandelson, announcing the resurrection of Blair for Labour's campaigning purposes, I'd be willing to bet a poke of salt that Cameron will mention it at PMQs today. It is, surely, a humiliation for Gordon Brown that he appears so unable to even run a credible campaign that, not only is his predecessor taking to the stump to help (ahem), but it gets announced as if he is the messiah returning.

Poor Broon, all he ever wanted was to be important and now it looks as if Banquo will be the guest of honour and the main speaker at the dinner. Oh woe is he!

Mind how you go!

Minimum Pricing

Now that a major brewer has joined the campaign to bring Scottish alcohol consumption under control, let's dispose of the 'illegal under EU law' argument. The argument goes like this -

1. The European Court has ruled that minimum pricing for tobacco contravenes Article 9(1) of Council Directive 95/59/EC of 27 November 1995 on taxes other than turnover taxes which affect the consumption of manufactured tobacco so minimum pricing on alcohol is illegal.

2. Er, that's it.

Here's the problem with that argument - the case to which they refer (it's actually three cases but the Advocate General issued one Opinion to cover them all, delivered on the 22nd of October 2009) rests on the fact that tobacco producers and importers are permitted to set maximum prices for their products (it's about payable duty, they fix a maximum price and pay the duty on the maximum price in order to make sure they can't pay duty on a price lower than they sell it for - then there's another duty added on 'per unit' - the second one is the one you hear about in the budget) and that case law has indicated that this means that minimum prices for tobacco are illegal.

It's a wee bit tortuous but not too bad - minimum pricing on tobacco is not expressly forbidden but the opinion of the Court has been that imposing a minimum price limits inhibits the rights of the manufacturers to decide their own maximum prices (they couldn't decide on a maximum price lower than the minimum price), so the imposition of minimum pricing was illegal. The legal argument upon which the member states were contesting the action was contained in the reservation that the right to set maximum prices "may not, however, hinder implementation of national systems of legislation regarding the control of price levels or the observance of imposed prices, provided that they are compatible with Community legislation" and you should expect that to come back to the Court in due course.

What's important, however, is that the Opinion is based solely on the right of the tobacco companies to set a maximum price and that right being infringed by the imposition of a minimum price - alcohol producers do not have the right to impose maximum prices.

Tobacco taxation (including the right of manufacturers to set maximum prices) is governed by Council Directive 95/59/EC while the alcohol taxation regulations are contained in Council Directive 92/84/EEC.

Meanwhile, the EU's strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm includes using taxation as a means of introducing minimum pricing (an option not open to the Scottish Government because of the restrictions of the current devolution settlement; but indicates that the EU is in favour of using pricing policy as a means to manage alcohol consumption); altering the ages at which alcohol can be sold (remember that one?); and lowering the allowable blood alcohol limit for drivers, including a zero rate for young drivers, public transport drivers and freight drivers.

There's lots and lots of information available through the European Alcohol and Health Forum for anyone who wants some light reading with their sherry.

Mind how you drink!

Mercury rising

A new newspaper has been launched - except for the paper bit. The Caledonian Mercury is born. Don't confuse it with the Caledonian Mercury, though.

East Lothian Labour

This just in - more shenanigans about East Lothian Labour expected in tomorrow's papers.

I feel like ticker-tape!

A Sunday Posting

Scotland's finest newspaper, the Sunday Post, has a new editor. Donald Martin, formerly of the Herald, is now high heid bummer of Scotland's paper of record.

Well done that chap!

Labour - slow on the uptake

No, not Iain Gray's abysmal performance at FMQs today, but the news that Labour might have an iPhone app ready for launch in February - if they can work it out, and the Conservatives will launch theirs sometime, while the Lib Dems are just, well, the Lib Dems.

The SNP, being way ahead, of course, launched ours last year.

Mind how you phone!

Scottish internet domain again

Is the internet Gaia, I hear you ask, I've been emailed the means to register support for a Scottish internet domain if you don't do facebook:

supporters can email support@dot-scot.org
Or they can follow the newly established Twitter account @dot_scot

Mind how you net!

Scottish internet domain

I see the campaign for a .scot internet domain has reached 1,500 supporters on facebook. Well done those chaps, keep it up, and more power to your elbow (or perhaps fingers, given the purpose of the campaign). You can add your support if you're a facebooker, I've no idea how you show your support if you're not.

The trials and tribulations of a rising Labour star

In the Scottish Parliament's allowances scheme it is forbidden to use the Parliament's money for party political campaigning - and quite rightly so. This means that you can't, for example, send out a mailshot at Parliament expense in the hope of gaining a party political advantage, but some unscrupulous MSPs do exactly that in the hope of gaining that political advantage without getting caught. You would think they'd be careful about it, wouldn't you? Seek to avoid getting caught.

Step forward Claire Baker MSP, rising star of the Labour party, a woman whose light eschews the comfort of the bushel and seeks its freedom to soar across the land. Mrs Baker's busy fingers typed a mailshot, printed thousands of them and placed them neatly into thousands of envelopes, addressed them to thousands of residents of Central Fife - including the constituency MSP, Tricia Marwick of the SNP who sits on the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body - the body that runs Parliament and adjudicates on such matters....

You would have thought that a little bit of forward thinking would be called for, wouldn't you?