Hello and welcome to this week’s roundup! I hope you are not too sleep deprived from this spring forward nonsense. I am writing this very late on Saturday night, and I’m worried that I won’t get to sleep until around 6am (because I am bad at sleeping in general, not just because I’m writing this)!

It is a bumper week, so I’m afraid a lot of good posts will have to be left out. I will leave a link to the posts that narrowly missed out in the comments.

I suppose I had better start with the National Constitutional Conversational Commission which seems to have ramped up a gear this week. A good take comes from Pat Kane, who steps back to take a look at what these conversations mean for constitutional reform in the long run.

Niall is not to impressed with the pro-union one, whichever one that is. Their refusal to consider independence is undemocratic, he says.

Perhaps surprisingly, Jeff sees “shift of power from the SNP to the unionists”, concluding that their Commission is more confident than the misfiring National Conversation.

Henry McLeish got himself in hot water by suggesting that it might be okay to think about considering possibly becoming independent perhaps one day. Julie Hepburn was amused to see Labour’s reaction to his comments. Malc in the Burgh pointed out that McLeish didn’t even express a view on the National Conversation and that it was merely a statement of truth!

Speaking of controversial comments in favour of independence, Atlantic Exposure thinks Jeremy Paxman’s approach is healthy.

Iain Rubie Dale thinks the Lib Dems’ policy on an independence referendum is wrong. He’d rather see his party emphasises the ‘Democrats’ bit of the name.

There is also a conference going on at the moment. But, asks Julie Hepburn, is it a Labour conference or an anti-SNP conference?

Richard Thomson thinks Labour are failing to face up to the fact that the SNP won last year’s election.

Calum Cashley reckons Wendy Alexander’s speech fell flat. But Gordon Brown’s speech must have been pretty rousing because it has brought Scottish Politics out of hibernation — albeit to complain about Labour’s “pathological hatred” of the SNP.

You can’t have failed to have noticed the fuss caused by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Caron thought Gordon Brown was taking control freakery to a new level by refusing to allow a free vote on the issue.

Meanwhile, Lesley Hinds wonders if those who oppose the proposals would refuse their loved ones any treatment which may come about as a result of this research.

Quote of the week comes from — who else? — Mr Eugenides, who notes Jacques Rogge’s stance towards Beijing: “silent diplomacy”.

Brilliant. Next time you have a fight with your girlfriend, remember, she’s not refusing to talk to you; she’s “engaging in silent diplomacy”.

Stewart McDonald is calling for a boycott of the Games.

Clairwil has a good old rant about the media’s coyness in tackling the behaviour of Shannon Matthews’s parents.

Craig was impressed by The Daily Express’s front page apology to Madeleine McCann’s parents.

Elsewhere on the poor, poor children front, David Farrer is concerned about children being put into care for the crime of being overweight. It seems as though the government has been hit by the “obesity epidemic™” then. Alex Massie expands further, although cutting back a bit might be a bit more sensible in the circumstances.

Continuing on the nanny state theme, Bernard Salmon is not too happy about government proposals to hide cigarettes away from view in shops.

Bellgrove Belle goes off message to point out that raising the legal drinking age to 21 won’t solve the problem of under-age drinking. Meanwhile, Angry Steve has his own unique take on the proposals.

Meanwhile, Bill Cameron has noticed that the government’s attempts to neuter Parliament have made a comeback.

It never ends — here’s another authoritarian state story, with Alistair reporting on the curtailment of celebrations at Firs Park when East Fife won the third division.

Gordon Brown has called on Scots to “reject narrow nationalism”. But as Kevin Williamson points out, if anyone is a narrow nationalist it’s Gordon Brown.

Michael Greenwell is another sceptic of Gordon Brown’s arguments against independence.

News has reached the mainland of a man’s attempts to prove that Scots law does not apply to Shetland. It begs the question — if Shetland became independent, what would become of “Scotland’s” oil?

In the wake of the chaos in Heathrow’s new Terminal 5, Richard Havers is not too impressed with Alex Salmond’s take on events.

Talking of Alex Salmond, Kezia Dugdale notes that the First Minister was booed at Hampden during the Scotland–Croatia match. He probably has that in common with most politicians, mind you.

And are there any politicians out there who are more unpopular than Hillary Clinton? It seems as though every week there is a new story about how someone dislikes her. Alex Massie notes the sour relationship between Clinton and the press.

From time to time we have featured the campaign led by residents of Pollok Park against the proposal to build an adventure park. Richard Leyton was dismayed to see the plan get the go-ahead.

David Meikle was upset at the result and names and shames those who voted in favour of the Go Ape proposal. But Ideas of Civilisation was impressed by the fact that voting wasn’t along party lines.

A rare piece of good news for Nicol Stephen. Holyrood Watcher is impressed by his performances in FMQs.

Some good old bread and butter politics here. Ewan Aitken reports on a good meeting to deal with complaints about anti-social behaviour.

Political Dissuasion wants to know what Michael Martin is hiding.

Bishop Hill notes that now that students have to pay their tuition fees in England, ‘Mickey Mouse’ subjects are being rooted out naturally.

Statue news now, and the statue of Adam Smith is nearing completion. He looks rather cross about it though, doesn’t he?

Paul Hutcheon is a quality political reporter, but is he really this good?

With the news that George Foulkes fell ill with high blood pressure, Will P hopes he takes it easy for the good of his health.

Finally Woken takes a look at two of Scotland’s favourite sweets. The Tunnock’s Tea Cake is a classic — one of my favourites. But tablet is far too rich for me.

How many of this week’s posts resembled this from Flying Rodent?

Phew! That’s it for this week. Don’t forget, all nominations are very much appreciated. I’ve not spotted much in the way of new blogs for a while, so if you see something new then do drop us a line. The contact form is to the right. Failing that, you can email us at scottishroundup@gmail.com. Will P is back in the hot seat next week. And don’t forget to check out the comments for those posts that narrowly missed the cut this week.

A slow news week had me sifting through the tumbleweed and potentially grasping at straws. What with Tartan Hero taking a well-earned break and Kezia Dugdale with too much on her plate to blog properly for now, there was a chance it would be slim pickings in the run up to Easter.

Thankfully, Iain Dale helped us Scots out by pontificating about a potential Nats - Tory coalition. This caught the attention of news-starved bloggers with Scottish Tory Boy taking up the story initially and seemingly being in favour of steps in that direction though he disputes the 27 seats that the SNP’s Angus Robertson optimistically predicts his party will take. J Arthur McNumpty is less sympathetic to the suggestion and is unequivocal as to why. Malc in the Burgh sees the opportunity as a potential route to a coveted independence referendum. Kerron Cross thinks it’s a joke and the Conservatives and Unionists would be selling out on their name. My own take at SNP Tactical Voting is that subtle collusion is all the SNP can afford when dealing with the supposed ‘nasty party’, notwithstanding the clause in the nationalist constitution preventing working with the Tories. Richard at Scots and Independent provides a thorough rundown of how this unholy union could be formed. He then goes on to debate “redolent confusion” and “weird flukes” in an interesting comments section. 

Even if a formal coalition fell through, the SNP working with the UK Tories on a ‘case by case’ basis would have a delicious perversity given the reverse relationship that currently exists north of the border.

This week saw the recovery of Shannon Matthews. There was a curious mix of relief and suspicion after this event. Still Not Grown Up questions the role of the “self-indulgent neighbours” and wonders how close to the Matthews they were before this incident. Meanwhile, Craigblog believes the police deserve more credit for their efforts, and more time to work out what exactly went on during those 3 weeks.

In the last 7 days, the credit crunch bit further. David Farrer is horrified by some plans to avert it. Holyrood Chronicles discusses some of the dubious trading/gambling practices that go on. SNP Tactical Voting gives a brief update on how we got into this mess in the first place. Two Doctors believes a moral hazard has been reached if investors are being bailed out with public money.

So our finances are going to hell in a handbasket but on a cheerier note, Happy Birthday to the Iraq War, 5 years old this week. At Anything Caron Can Do, celebration was reserved for the number of votes in favour of a public inquiry into said War. Consideration was also given that these good vibes could lead to better relations between the Lib Dems and, em, the ‘Gnats’. For Flying Rodent, a ridiculously good post celebrates the anniversary with a commemorative Monopoly board game, albeit with some eyebrow-raising new rules:

At the start of the game, The Banker (aka The US Government) immediately awards all Properties, control of the Iraqi Army and complete independence to The Iraqi Government, while still retaining ownership of all Properties, the Iraqi Army and The Iraqi Government.

An  anonymous comment was raised during the week regarding Jo Swinson’s suggestion that You Tube could be used to reconnect Westminster with the public. Obviously the mere mention of Ms Swinson made me think there was a massive clanger coming but, for once, no. A valid suggestion from the youngest MP there.

The Local Income Tax debate continued to rumble on. Julie Hepburn accused the opponents of scaremongering and wonders if rich Scots may be more civic-minded and happy to pay more tax than others give them credit for. Stephen of the Linlithgow Lib Dems believes the Labour attacks are all over the place.

I couldn’t let this post finish without mentioning the MRUK poll which puts clear daylight between the SNP and their nearest rivals. Calum Cashley happily fills his lungs with the good news regarding ”the SNP’s excellent start to government”. Malc in the Burgh is equally delighted but for his noticing, and worrying, that despite all of Labour’s woes, they have held their share of the vote since May. Scottish Tory Boy is concerned that the Conservatives still lose a seat despite their good showing in the past year. Separate to (or perhaps because of) this disappointment, STB suggests the poll should be discredited given MRUK’s poor polling before the 2007 election.

A selection of ‘others’….

Reactionary Snob and J Arthur MacNumpty to name but two are trying to get Alastair Darling barred from all UK pubs in retaliation for the jacking up of booze duty.

Surreptitious Evil stands up for seals by choosing to club “moron” MEPs.

Andrew Burns believes the Scottish Government has lost direction with regard Scottish school infrastructure. 

Bernard Salmon believes the loyal and brave Ghurkas deserve justice with equal rights to the rest of the nation’s armed forces.

Jim Millar is frustrated that a silly councillor spat has been allowed to take up so much time and expense. But then, Jim doesn’t seem too concerned about the return of those rapists and pillagers The Vikings!

The unwelcome Devine intervention was considered further with some more heated comments (18 at last count) on Kezia Dugdale’s blog. A typically intelligent post from QC Ian Hamilton notes that the good Bishop is being selective in his deliverance of the Bible’s Word. 

Cameron Rose notes that Edinburgh University presidential election ended in chaos. The phrase involving ’students’, ‘organise’, ‘piss-up’ and ‘brewery’ springs to mind but Cameron is too classy for that type of language.

Comment on Tibetan riots was made by….  noone that I could find. It seems China suppression of free speech is far-reaching!

And Post of the Week? For me, well, the eagle-eyed This is Alba spotted this gem on CNN.

So that is all for this week. A bit of a quiet one all in all really. For all those Christians out there, enjoy your Easter period. For everyone else, don’t eat too much chocolate.

The Round Up will rise again in 7 days but I for one don’t know who will be rolling back the stone.

Cheers!

Hi folks! It’s amazing what gets people wound up these days. Lord Goldsmith suggests that there should be an Oath of Allegiance to the Queen in Schools, and foom! The whole blogosphere goes up. Michael Greenwell, BellgroveBelle, Malc, Louise, This is Alba, Ewan Watt, Ewan Aitken and Bill Cameron all line up to attack Lord Goldsmith’s plans. Flying Rodent reckons that SNP Ministers had a party when they saw the proposals.

Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell is also wound up about homosexuality. This in turn has wound bloggers up as well. Clairwil isn’t impressed, and then suggests that the best way to take revenge on the Bishop would be to make him a gay icon. Elsewhere, Shuggy compares Devine to Enoch Powell – hopefully this will wind up Devine if he reads it, as Powell ended his political career on the Ulster Unionist benches. Bookdrunk looks at just how ridiculous Devine’s rant was. Kezia joins in the attack and then looks at the reaction of the differing political parties. Unfortunately this response didn’t go down too well in certain quarters, as I attack both sides in what can only be described as a dark day for anger management – though things (by which I mean, I) have calmed down now. Andy makes largely the same points as I do, only he is slightly more concise and far less sweary, so he’s the best person to read for the sanitised version.

But Devine’s rant might just have proven the Iranian Ambassador right when he started waxing lyrical about similarities between his nation and Scotland. Alex Massie reflects on the Ambassador’s comments, but Holyrood Watcher knows the truth: they’re kissing up to Scotland so our football team will visit them! Not sure what they’d make of the Tartan Army though…

Staying with football, Alastair is exasperated by the different levels of coverage the Champions’ League draw – featuring four English teams but none from the other nations of the British Isles – and the UEFA Cup draw – featuring Rangers but no teams from England – received. This, in turn, gives me an excuse to explain the ins and outs of the UEFA Access List and why the outcome of the Champions’ League still matters to Scottish football.

There’s not really all that great a semantic leap from the Champions’ League to money, so this seems a good time to mention Chancellor Alistair Darling’s first Budget. Mr. Eugenides attempts to liveblog the thing, and regrets it. Iain Rubie Dale notes how the Scotch Whisky industry has been hit by the 55p increase in duty. Julie Hepburn compares Darling’s budget to Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney’s Budget, and reckons that Swinney comes out on top. RfS isn’t overly enamoured with either of them, but Edinburgh Labour Leader Ewan Aitken welcomes the Budget, and attacks both the Tories and the SNP.

But SNP finance policy, particularly the Local Income Tax, comes under the microscope. Angus Nicolson disagrees with the policy. And in the topsy-turvy world that is the Scottish Blogosphere, Holyrood Watcher believes that he would pay far less under the LIT, and therefore opposes it, while Richard Thomson reckons that he would pay quite a bit more than he currently does, and therefore supports it. It’s nice to know we’re all so right-minded!

Meanwhile, Duncan takes a wider look at the whole principle of Income Tax, in light of the Libertarian Party’s proposal to abolish it.

Speaking of wasted money, MPs’ expenses are still under scrutiny. Garry wonders why MPs find it so much more difficult than the rest of us to get receipts for things. Mr. Eugenides points out that the expense claims are funded by the taxpayers, who therefore have a right to know what their money is being spent on, he then goes on to quote from the John Lewis List which details how much MPs can claim for various pieces of furniture for the second home they have to establish in London. Clairwil, meanwhile, notes that benefit claimants have to rely on the Argos List instead, and wonders why MPs get a posher version.

Staying with the theme, Bishop Hill has discovered that MPs with lower staffing costs are actually more likely to reply to letters on time. Calum Carr, on the other hand, notes that his MSP is quite good at responding to correspondence from him, but that NHS Lothian are not so good at dealing with correspondence from his MSP.

Elsewhere in the world of dodgy politicians, The Hard Sell notes that former UK Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has now joined BT, who have worked with her before.

On a similar note, Trumpton bounced back, with Holyrood’s Local Government Committee publishing its report on the affair, which accuses Alex Salmond of being ‘cavalier’ about procedures, though doesn’t suggest that rules were actually broken. Angus Nicolson welcomes the report and attacks the SNP members of the Committee – including his own local MSP – for dissenting from the parts that criticise the First Minister, accusing them of partisanship. On the other hand, Calum Cashley notes that the Government has been cleared of any wrongdoing, and attacks the opposition members of the Committee for spending so long on the matter, accusing them of a vendetta against the Government. Ian Hamilton QC, meanwhile, gives out gold stars all round: he praises Alex Salmond for trying so hard to get the Trump development to come to his constituency, and praises Committee Convener and Labour MSP Duncan McNeil for pursuing the issue with such vigour the way Hamilton believes an Opposition is supposed to.

Speaking of long-running sagas, Scott has the latest chapter of the Sheridan soap opera. Maybe we should give them their own reality TV show, in the style of “The Osbournes”?

Channel 4 would certainly bid for it. But Robert Sharp is wondering what the station is actually for these days.

Back to the notion of stories that just seem to keep going and going and going, Alastair thinks we might be seeing the Shirley McKie saga head slowly towards a conclusion, nine years after she was acquitted of perjury.

Staying with crime, Reactionary Snob looks at the difference between how the media have handled the disappearances of Shannon Matthews (who was found on Friday) and Madeleine McCann (who is still missing), and wonders if the respective social class of the two children’s families is at the heart of it.

Over at A Scandal and A Disgrace, we learn immigrants are instructed to make their own way to detention centres, while Mike Power reflects on the apparent suicide of Greater Manchester Police chief Michael Todd.

Cassilis takes a look at how Scotland views Adam Smith, and suggests that there’s a rational, even-handed quality to Scottish nationalism. Kezia Dugdale takes a look at some of the contributions to the National Conversation website and suggests that there isn’t.

Meanwhile, Clairwil is exasperated at the primary education curriculum, Alex Massie pokes fun at Hillary Clinton’s claim that she brought peace to Northern Ireland, Jeff explains what has to happen for him to start voting Labour, and David Farrer has shredded Annabel Goldie.

We end on some navel-gazing – we are bloggers, after all. Finally Woken looks at the rights and wrongs of blogging anonymously. John notes that a couple of bloggers - Grant Thoms & Mark McDonald - have suspended activities for a little while, while Neil Craig is still blogging but his site is apparently banned in South Lanarkshire.

We have a blogging birthday to celebrate as well: Cllr Fraser Macpherson started putting his exploits as a LibDem Councillor in Dundee online two years ago. Councillor’s blogs usually follow one of two paths: the first is not to focus primarily on general issues, sometimes inspired by their work on the Council, sometimes not, and while we might not get a feel for how the blogging Councillor spends his or her day, we do understand a little better what makes them tick. The second path is to focus on what they’re up to as a Councillor: where they’re going, what they’re doing, who they’re talking to. We might not find out much about the Councillor’s view on, say, the Lisbon Treaty, but it gives residents a chance to keep tabs on what their representative is doing in their name. Fraser Macpherson’s blog is a great example of the second way of doing things, and any Councillor looking to take to their keyboard could do far worse than read his site to see how he goes about it.

Finally, Matt Wardman has started a weekly roundup of what’s going on in the various parliaments that affect life in the UK. This week, the Holyrood Herald was inaugurated and is under the care of a smart, funny, dashing and drop-dead-sexy (not to mention modest) chap by the name of Will Patterson.

And on that note, that’s your lot for this week: next week Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting takes the helm. You can, as always, send in your nominations to scottishroundup@gmail.com or by using the dooferytwiddlywidget on the right. Bye-de-bye!