Lesley Riddoch

Clocks trending Simon says

More of a crossword clue than the title of a podcast episode; but it has been that sort of week. Daylight Savings gets 'talked out', social media is discussed by youngsters. And Simon Hughes mumbles about devolution. And Lesley is going to be a token Tory...now if that doesn't pique your interest into listening to this week's 'Lesley Riddoch Podcast' - I don't know what will. 

Simon says he wants a devolution

Is Simon Hughes right to (almost) call for an English Parliament? Speaking in Derby on Saturday, the senior Lib Dem said “it could be time for English devolution.” Within 24 hours he was slapped down by Nick Clegg on the Andrew Marr programme and Twitter debate was dominated by the other subjects discussed by the Lib Dem leader – a proposed “mansion tax,” benefit rebellion and demands for clarity about independence from Alex Salmond. The English Parliament idea had disappeared. This tells advocates of radical constitutional change in Britain all we need to know. The English simply aren’t up for it. Yet.

'Any Questions' Uncovered - the podcast

It was a week where fiesty women were much in evidence. Joan McAlpine had a tweet flare up, Margaret Curran and Nicola Sturgeon faced off on Question Time and Lesley joined the panel at 'Any Questions'. So, lots to talk about this week in the Lesley Riddoch Podcast. And some revelations about 'Any Questions'.

 

The question of max importance

Do Scots want to raise all our own taxes? Are we ready to stop taking a share of the tax collected across the UK and rely instead on what we raise solely from our own economic activity? Do we want to reverse the flow of power and pay the UK for “shared services” from our own cash instead of waiting for the annual Westminster handout? Are we ready to assert all rights over North Sea oil and gas in the Scottish sector and pay London for use of the National Grid and an agreed sum for its initial investment? Is the Scottish tail sufficiently active, willing and well-developed to wag the Westminster dog?

Clegg and Referenda

Ok – here’s a special treat for political anoraks – and given the size and longevity of the current stooshie over Scotland’s independence referendum, that could be more than the usual 5 blokes.

On the BBC programme I used to do for the BBC Riddoch Questions I interviewed Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg in Feb 2008. He had just chosen to walk out of a parliamentary debate over not getting a referendum on staying in Europe. Yip – seems obscure. But stay with me. I used the opportunity to gently (ok fairly robustly) suggest that Scots might prefer to have a referendum on independence or more powers for Scotland....and to see some UK leadership from the Lib Dems on a federal Britain. Boy was I nippy back then! Anyway its particularly interesting given the current debate where Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband are lined up full square behind David Cameron opposing independence even though they DO want “substantial devolution of powers.” Here's the audio.

Nick Clegg from 29 Feb 2008

 

Meanwhile over at the Huffington Post

If you want to read this - then head over to the Huff Post.

A podcast about a referendum...surely not

This week, it has been a steady stream of pronouncements about the referendum to be held about Scottish independence. As you will have gathered from this blog; a lot of the verbiage is 'old news'; however it seem fitting to have a bash at it in this week's Lesley Riddoch Podcast. Enjoy.

Picking a date could cause a fight

Memo to Alex Salmond. No matter what you do with the independence referendum – no matter which questions are asked, who is deemed eligible and where they currently live – please don’t hold it on the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn.

Of course, it’s tempting to pile on the symbolic pressure as David Cameron threatens, Baroness Taylor blunders (does Labour really think the accident of birth should trump residency in voting entitlement?) and Michael Forysth mocks: “The idea we should decide the fate of the UK on … the date of a medieval battle … would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.”

Elitists note: a problem shared is a problem halved

WILL 2012 be the year Scotland’s management class transforms services by embracing social media? I can feel curiosity levels and hackles rising instantly – in equal measure. Yes, tweeting about the truly banal has become a new social norm. Yes, Rory Bremner might have won Strictly Come Dancing if lovers of satire were better at organising The Social Vote. And yes, there are far more pressing problems facing public service managers in 2012 like cuts, unemployment, climate change and matching welfare budgets with the way we live today – not the way our parents lived yesterday. Yet not a single “top priority” problem can be solved without a radically new approach to the potential for mass collaboration and personalisation of service offered by the internet and social media.

No delays, we must meet MS head on

It’s Scotland’s multiple sclerosis.

Not a catchy slogan. Yet with 10,500 sufferers north of the Border, MS is as peculiarly common to Scotland as those valuable oil and gas deposits. It has received far less attention even though higher rates of smoking, lower rates of oily fish consumption, lack of sunshine and consequent vitamin D deficiency mean Scotland has the highest mainland MS rates in the world.