It looks like the herons are back. Twice now I’ve seen them checking out their nests in the willow trees at Duddingston Loch in the lee of Arthur’s Seat. There are around 30 tightly woven balls of twigs high in the branches awaiting the return of their graceful owners. Other less silent birds – robins, chaffinches, great tits, warblers, tree creepers, coots, golden eye, mallards, swans – are beginning to patrol their territory in preparation for the breeding season. I hope they are not relying too much on global warming. There are still some weary cold winter months to come.
The dead sperm whale washed up in Joppa Bay
(Picture: Talk Porty)
The salmon too are making their way up-river. The fishing season on the Tay was officially opened on Wednesday by the First Minister, dressed for the part in tweed jacket and cap. He poured the traditional dram of whisky into the river for the benefit of the fishes and then surprised us all by announcing a review into wild fisheries management in Scotland. It follows an outbreak of a long-running dispute between anglers and netsmen on the river Tay over how many salmon each should be allowed to take. As it is, the fisheries boards have appealed to anglers to release all salmon they catch until after 15th May.
One big fish which didn’t survive was a sperm whale, washed into the Firth of Forth after what looks like a dispute with a ship’s bow out at sea. The poor creature, 13 metres long and 26 tonnes in weight, was last seen being loaded onto a lorry to be taken away for burial.
By Thursday lunchtime, the First Minister was back in parliament, once again being dragged through the figures in his white paper on independence. Labour’s Johann Lamont seemed to think that they proved that Scotland benefits more from the London treasury than we pay in taxes. Alex Salmond, strangely enough, though they illustrated the exact opposite.
Danny Alexander
Needed to reassure the markets
The treasury itself intervened earlier in the week to reassure the money markets that it would assume responsibility for all government debt until Scotland goes independent – if it ever does. The SNP saw this as a welcome recognition that independence might well happen. The treasury minister Danny Alexander said it was necessary to calm the markets which were beginning to panic over the prospect of Scottish independence.
Meanwhile the Scottish economy has continued on its slightly inclined growth path. Official figures show that GDP grew by 0.7 per cent between July and September, the sixth successive quarter to show some growth. Again this was largely due to the services sector, which now comprises 75 per cent of the economy.
The justice secretary Kenny MacAskill was not looking happy this week. More judges have been throwing rotten tomatoes at him over his plan to scrap corroboration, the requirement that at least two pieces of evidence are needed before a case is taken to court. This week it was Lord McCluskey, earlier it was Lords Hamilton, Cullen and Gill. Mr MacAskill argues that Scotland is one of the few countries in the world to insist on corroboration before a case is brought to court and it means many cases of domestic and sexual abuse go un-prosecuted.
Kenny MacAskill
Wants a Dutch system
This week he offered a concession to MSPs to persuade them to vote for his bill – he would delay the introduction of the change till 2015 to allow his various safeguards to be tested in the courts. The Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said that was “crackers” – asking MSPs to vote for something that will have to be corrected later. It appears the government wants to move to a Dutch system in which more abuse cases are taken to court but a conviction cannot depend on the word of one witness alone. I’m not sure how that differs from corroboration – except for a lot of court time and much anguish for both the accuser and accused.
Finally, a Polish friend of mine, who’s in Scotland for just a few years, told me he’s had a lifelong ambition to see the Northern Lights. So, over Hogmanay he travelled all the way up to Durness, hoping to see them flash over the Pentland Firth. He stayed for days but was disappointed. Meanwhile he missed the Edinburgh fireworks – which might have done instead. I suggested he should go to see the northern highlights at Celtic Connections. Glasgow will be floodlit with the stars of traditional music for the next two weeks – Capercaillie, Hue and Cry, Julie Fowlis, Eddie Reader, Phil Cunningham, Imelda May, Barbara Dickson, Dick Gaughan. It’s the festival’s 21st year and the foot-stomping will be heard in outer space.