Opinion Archives - Page 37 of 136

Aberdeen 2 Dundee 0 – Pittodrie Stadium 22.08.15

Aug 242015

Aberdeen took some time to breakdown an in form Dundee side, says Voice’s Andrew Watson.

There were grey skies and slightly overcast conditions, though the weather remained settled enough to make ideal conditions for football, in Scottish terms anyway.

Generally speaking the home side had more possession in the final third of pitch, but what little of the ball the Dark Blues had they were a bit more productive within the host’s box. This wasn’t necessarily reflected in the score.

On top of that a very so slightly pedantic referee in Bobby Madden ensured the heated moments in the game sometimes boiled over, with four bookings and a dismissal.

The Dons finally got going in the second half, 66 minutes into the game, with Jonny Hayes crossing the ball to find Adam Rooney. He headed coolly into the net.

1-0 Aberdeen!

Goodwillie was then substituted eleven minutes later. He was replaced by Josh Parker, who’s currently on loan from Red Star Belgrade and has also spent time at Queens Park Rangers.

There was a moment Parker got onto the ball well within the box. Expected to shoot, he elected to pass the ball further into the penalty area. A measured move, but still it was hoped he’d go for glory himself.

Aberdeen then made their second and final change after 87 minutes. This was to take off Hayes and bring on Paul Quinn.

A few minutes into injury time and Rooney was chopped down for a penalty. Dundee’s Gary Harkins was duly sent off for the challenge.

Taken from the feet of the Dublin man himself, Aberdeen went a second goal up with the last kick of the game.

2-0 Aberdeen in the final minute of the three minutes of injury time!

The only main point of criticism is that Shaleum Logan of late hasn’t been bombing down the wings and hitting into the box, like his usual self. Instead, he chooses, yes to come forward, but to pass sideways and even behind himself.

Anyway, let’s hope Aberdeen can keep up their winning streak, this the fourth of four, and again push for that second place spot. This will probably to be hotly contested with the likes of the returning Hearts side especially.

Final score: 2-0.

Steve Harris At The Lemon Tree – Reviewed

Aberdeen City, Featured, Opinion No Responses »

Aug 132015

Steve Harris spent some downtime from Iron Maiden at Lemon Tree with his new band, British Lion. Andrew Watson was in attendance. Pictures by Dod Morrison.

The album was released about three years ago, so it was refreshing that some newer material was thrown into the mix.

Upon the band name itself, Harris has reasoned it wasn’t necessarily harking back to the days of imperialist might on these shores; but more like supporting your local football team.

He certainly knows how to do that, with West Ham’s crest emblazoned across the body of his bass; his guitar strap a thick, woolly claret and baby blue.

Soft on the shoulders the key to his longevity perhaps. The Hammers, also known as the Irons because they were founded on Thames Ironworks – ‘Up the Irons!’ – provides a possible link to the origin in the name of his most famous musical endeavour.

One can’t help but draw at least some initial comparison to this setup and the formative spell of Ozzy Osbourne’s solo career. They were originally meant to be called Blizzard of Ozz, yet in the end that was only the name of the debut album and not the band itself. Yes, again as in Iron Maiden, Harris is the primary songwriter, unlike Ozzy.

However, why say onstage the band is called British Lion, when the CD says it’s Steve Harris and that’s merely the album title. It makes sense in both instances from a marketing perspective, one would suppose. Band rebelling against record label? Never!

Before all that, though, were support act The Raven Age, of London. These guys featured none other than George Harris, Steve’s son, on guitar. They were really interesting, actually. The brutality of more modern heavy metal, combined with a more classic rock sensibility of desire for melody and completely refraining from screaming and growls.

What’s more, they actually looked like they were enjoying themselves and, shock horror, you could even catch them smiling from time to time. The only drawback was the singer appearing to thank, come the end, Edinburgh for a good show. Whoops. Which was kind of strange because Aberdeen was mentioned mid set prior to that, so let’s put it down to a mere lapse of thought; engaging tongue before brain.

It turned out they were actually a man down, with their current guitarist away getting married. The fill-in did a tremendous job. Oh, and Harris Jnr was every bit as flashy, dextrous and brilliant as his father; albeit just on a different instrument. As is done a lot, both guitarists took dual responsibility for leads and solos, but you could tell he was their driving force; and that’s no disrespect to the aforementioned.

Overall, very good.

Main act British Lion opened with the thundering ‘This Is My God’. This was quite a grungy number and a fair old rocker to get the crowd going. Think Alice In Chains or Stone Temple Pilots. Yet another comparison would be that the singer sounds like Brandon Boyd of Incubus, and that’s only part of his range.

His opening salvo to the audience was something along the lines of ‘the harder you work for us, the harder we work for you’.

The Aberdeen audience, perhaps conscious of perceived reticence in comparison to more vocal places like Glasgow, and of course, Edinburgh, duly accepted the challenge and went on to do this with much aplomb. Later he said the latter were good but Aberdeen was better. Very diplomatic.

He went on, perhaps as a titbit in reward for the crowd’s raucous behaviour, to explain that ‘These Are The Hands’ was about his hometown, it’s history and it’s struggle and perseverance to this day. It’s driving, epic and links well to the tribal pride in your area or nationality.

There were chances aplenty to wave your arms in the air and clap to the beat of the drums, call and response football-esque chants and get shot by Harris Snr and his machine gun bass.

The song selection was generally good and featured, as said, a lot of new material. The likes of ‘Karma Killer’ was omitted, which was a shame because it’s punchy, groovy and little like anything Iron Maiden has ever done.

Speaking of the Irons there were at least a few numbers that sounded like that kind of material, but never explicitly so. Just like Bill Wyman warned his Rhythm Kings wouldn’t play Rolling Stones songs at the Music Hall a few years back, so British Lion are within right to demand the same.

However the influences do creep into some. Who is the audience to claim they don’t like the sound of dual guitars, or the performer to claim they don’t like pretending they’re Thin Lizzy when they’re doing them?

A pretty lively night, considering it was a Monday.

Aberdeen 2 Kilmarnock 0 – Pittodrie Stadium 09.08.15

Opinion, Sport No Responses »

Aug 092015

Aberdeen shrugged off their Euro blues with a comfortable victory over a struggling Kilmarnock side, recounts Voice’s Andrew Watson.

The weather was fine and conducive to a good game, though the Dons were maybe lackadaisical at first.

They snapped out of it and began to create chances, really trying to get forward and try to inflict some damage.

Eventually, after 37 minutes, Jonny Hayes was in the box and the ball fell to Graeme Shinnie.

Instead of placing it he perhaps caused some initial alarm amongst the Red Army by smashing it with the outside of his foot, rocketing it into the roof off the net.

It was from close range, though from maybe a bit of a tricky angle for mere placement. What a finish.

1-0 Aberdeen!

There was instance or two for the Rugby Park men to draw the game level again after the interval, but that came and went.

Willo Flood was taken down and a penalty resulted, booted by the foot of Adam Rooney.

2-0 Aberdeen eleven minutes into the second half!

Ex-Don Josh Magennis was brought on to beef up Killie’s attacking options, and not merely to elect to avoid any further drubbing.

Cammy Smith and Andrew Considine came on after 66 minutes, replacing by Kenny McLean and Hayes.

Aberdeen then made their third and final change after 83 minutes. This was to take off Niall McGinn and bring on David Goodwillie.

The only other point of note was a ball boy been carted off in a wheelbarrow. Perhaps this was the same lad who was lambasted by Ayrshire men for assuming an Aberdeen goal kick, and not a corner.

It was a solid performance, with some minor flaws, yes, but something to build on for the ensuing league and cup campaigns.

Final score: 2-0.

Aberdeen 1 Kairat Almaty 1 – Pittodrie Stadium 06.08.15

Opinion, Sport No Responses »

Aug 082015

Aberdeen are out of the Europa League after a tie that demanded maximum concentration from its players, remarks Voice reporter Andrew Watson.

It was almost a perfect summer’s day, come kick off. Come the final whistle, however, rain was falling and somewhat appropriate to the inner tears of the Dons and the Red Army faithful.

Generally speaking, the initial stages of the game were spent somewhat sizing each other up, despite the previous leg in Kazakhstan.
Sides tend to play a different game at home, it’s often said.

Having said that, amidst this Aberdeen survived a very early scare within the first minute but keeper Danny Ward saved their blushes.

This and another fine stop arguably woke up and composed the Reds.

A mixture of Kenny McLean and Peter Pawlett in the centre of midfield; Jonny Hayes and Niall McGinn on the wings; and Shaleum Logan coming forward from the back, bombarded Kairat’s defence.

Bar two chances from the feet of Hayes in the first half, any real incision was somewhat muted by an aggressive defensive display by Kairat. They accrued five yellow cards throughout the match.

Despite this, Aberdeen more or less continued in the same attacking vein in the second half; whilst defending with discipline; mopping up, shutting down and out any pressure.

This didn’t last too long, though. Ward had to react to a close range effort and Kairat’s Gerard Gohou responded, netting the rebound.

0-1 Kairat (Gerard Gohou) after 59 minutes.

Aberdeen made their first substitution nine minutes from that goal, with Adam Rooney replacing Pawlett.

Hayes came off for Willo Flood come the 81 minute mark. Paul Quinn then came on for David Goodwillie.

Three minutes after these two changes, twenty five after going a goal down, Aberdeen hit back. McLean dived well within the box to head past the keeper, via a McGinn free kick.

1-1!

Quinn, Ashton Taylor and even Ward piled forward for a corner in the dying moments of the game. The former had a fine header denied by the opposing keeper.

If they’d snatched that second goal, a further half an hour of extra time would’ve been secured. It didn’t turn out that way, though, and it’s hard to measure progress when they’ve dropped out of the competition at the same stage as they did last season.

Final score: 1-1.

(2-3 aggregate. Aberdeen are knocked out).

Southpaw – Andrew Watson Reviews

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Aug 072015

Sports drama Southpaw has had some rave reviews, particularly for Jake Gyllenhaal’s depiction of a down on his luck boxer. Aberdeen Voice’s Andrew Watson cast his eye over this recent offering.

There were maybe a dozen people at Vue on Shiprow for the Thursday night showing, which you could suppose is okay for the night time viewing of a film having already been out almost for a week.
The basics of the story are that Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) is top of the pile as light heavyweight champion of the world.

He’s come a long way from the kid brought up in an orphanage, like his wife, Maureen (Rachel McAdams), in the notorious neighbourhood of Hell’s Kitchen.

They both attend a charity event particular to their upbringing, and he makes a candid if not particularly confident speech regarding his childhood and the good work the system did in its bid to make a positive impact upon his life.

After this a contender for Billy’s belt harasses him, goading with explicit remarks about Maureen. This descends into a scrap. The two are pulled off eachother, but not before his wife is accidentally shot during the skirmish by one of the challenger’s entourage.

This was a little bit evocative of Rocky III, to be honest. The mouthy challenger, the champion losing a loved one after a fracas; though in this case a wife, instead of trainer.

The comparisons to that series don’t end there, neither.

Billy’s subsequent fall from grace following Maureen’s death is akin to the money problems Rocky Balboa encounters at the beginning of Rocky V. Both end up moving from spacious mansions back to their old unpretentious stomping grounds, the places where they made it and made it from.

Even generally speaking Hope’s fighting style is one of sheer determination, persevering through punch after punch with minimal blocking and an inhuman granite chin. Sound like anyone?

During this time Billy loses the championship to an unremarkable fighter, who is then beaten by the said Colombian Clubber Lang.

Not only that, Hope lashes out at the referee and finds himself suspended from boxing. This is where the aforementioned money problems kick in, his income drying up.

His descent into drink and drugs mean the social services take away all that’s left for him to care about, his daughter. This begins a long process to get sober, resume boxing and regain eventual custody.

Trainer Titus Wills (Forest Whitaker) moulds Billy into a more defensive fighter, like when Apollo Creed takes Balboa back to the drawing room, fighting wise, again as said, in Rocky III.

Ultimately, come fight night, Hope learns not to be goaded, like was at the charity event; winning with a cool head, instead of losing all with a hot one.

As an aside, Rachel McAdams was slightly perplexing. Upon first inspection she looks like Laura Vandervoort of V remake fame. However, when she starred in About Time two years ago, onscreen she was more akin to a younger, fresh faced Hilary Swank.

You would be forgiven for thinking she was some sort of reptilian shape shifter, akin to her character in that very sci-fi series from 2009. Strange stuff.

Moving on, in all honesty the film was a bit sickly at first. The happy clappy family life came to a welcome end and the real hardship and heartbreak made for better dramatic viewing.

It did seem a bit ‘boxing movie cliché aplenty’ at times, but there was enough grit in it to not glorify the sport as some sort of cakewalk that some similar films unintentionally make it.

The Legend Of Barney Thomson: Andrew Watson Reviews

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Jul 302015

Robert Carlyle makes his directorial debut with comedy thriller The Legend of Barney Thomson, an adaption of a book by Scots author Douglas Lindsay. Aberdeen Voice’s Andrew Watson reviews.

There weren’t many people at Vue on Shiprow for the Wednesday night showing, though this was no indicator as to the quality of the film.

For a start Ray Winstone was brilliant as the ever so slightly jingoistic copper, Holdall. There’s a funny scene on the phone to someone reporting a crime to whom he replies he can’t understand what they’re saying, adding he knows damn well fine the caller’s Scottish.

He’s always simmering, even coming to boiling point walking past some ne’er do wells on the streets of Glasgow.

To be honest, when news of the film came to light it was half expected Holdall would be a fluent Glaswegian police officer and that perhaps he’d don at least a reasonably respectful Scottish brogue.

Turns out he’s does what he best, authentic Cockney.

Having said that, English actress Emma Thompson is to be commended for her performance as Carlyle’s onscreen mother, the fierce yet happy go lucky matriarch Cemolina, with a very convincing Scottish salt of the earth portrayal.

Anyway, Barney Thomson (Robert Carlyle) leads an uninspired life as a barber pushed further and further away from the shop window as his colleagues bemoan his lack of ‘chat’ to customers.

He’s awkward and antisocial to the point he’s deemed almost the perfect discontented serial killer.

Only this is by accident, though. This is comedy of silly slapstick combined with some grisly gore, both elements offsetting one other.

It also turns out there is another serial killer on the loose, and that Barney’s two accidental murders, his boss and colleague, are suspected by the ever bungling police to be all at the hands of the same person.

There’s a few nice twists throughout the film, and if you haven’t read the books, like many, the ending may come as somewhat of a surprise.

Overall, it’s something different from the typical Hollywood fare. It’s got that certain British grit and humour about it.

Big Country Live In Huntly: Suzanne Kelly Reviews

Aberdeenshire, Featured, Opinion No Responses »

Jul 302015

When Big Country played The Lemon Tree last year as part of their 30th Anniversary ‘Steeltown’ Tour, fans had come from all parts of Aberdeenshire and further afield. The atmosphere was intense as well as friendly and warm, the band seemed to enjoy themselves as much as the large crowd. It was a great night – but when Big Country came to Huntly last week, there were a few new and special things going on. Suzanne Kelly reports. Photos by Rob Scott.

Big Country have seen many many changes during their long, hit-filled career. Huntly was the scene for a further lineup change with Simon Hough on vocals.
There was something about the intimate old venue with its high ceilings having a definite acoustic edge over venues such as Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree.

There was something about the crowd; all who spoke to Aberdeen Voice on the night having encyclopaedic knowledge of the act. There was something about the Aberdeenshire setting and the summer evening that made it the perfect time and place for Big Country’s decidedly Scottish unique sound.

As the photos show, they also looked great. Things look very positive for the rest of this year’s demanding tour schedule.

The opening act, actor and singer Tom Urie entertained with covers and good humour.

The band played their classic hits and live favourites including Harvest Home – Fields of Fire – In A Big Country – Chance – Wonderland – Look Away – The Teacher.

This line-up was a new one for us all; and it worked. The band line up – BRUCE WATSON (guitars/vocals); MARK BRZEZICKI (drums, vocals); JAMIE WATSON (guitars/vocals) and former SIMPLE MINDS’ bassist/vocalist, DEREK FORBES – was augmented on stage by SIMON HOUGH, ex-front man for Denny Laine (Wings), Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy) etc.

Event organisers Huntly Live said:

“after a shaky sound start, we did really good. The band are getting tighter and the sound of Simon’s voice won’t be Stuart’s – but it ain’t far away.”

Any sound issues were minor if not unnoticeable to those front of house on the floor or in the balcony, where the sound was perfect. Perhaps a few larger / city centre venues could learn a thing or two from Huntly.

The organisers have a mission to bring acts out of the big cities to the lovely Huntly area. As they told Aberdeen Voice:

“The idea behind the company is a simple one. To provide good quality entertainment on our doorstep… we have some great venues around the region and it’s our plan to use as many as we can.”

They’d succeeded on the night.

On a personal note – I was taken ill (very ill), or I’d have had a few words from the band to share. This will definitely be redressed when they play Aberdeen later this year. And even though I could barely stand, when they played, my focus was on them and I forgot how badly I was doing.

For further information on the rest of the band’s 2015 tour dates, news and more, visit www.bigcountry.co.uk including their future Lemon Tree date.

Visit Huntly Live Entertainment for information about further shows.

Aberdeen 2 Rijeka 2 – Pittodrie Stadium 23.07.15

Opinion, Sport No Responses »

Jul 252015

Aberdeen go through to the third qualifying round of the Europa League in what was at times an edgy affair at Pittodrie, recounts Voice’s Andrew Watson.

It was a bright, fairly warm summer evening, but not the kind of heat the Reds contended with in the first leg of the draw in Croatia. No water breaks this time round, but again, plenty seagulls swooping.
The first half had went by in such a fashion that people would be forgiven for thinking it would end in the same stalemate as that Pittodrie showdown against Shkendija a couple of weeks back.

Rijeka after the interval, however, set about a shock bid to try and make amends that three goal deficit accumulated last Thursday.

Some fine dribbling beat the Dons defence, and a well-placed shot beat keeper Danny Ward 58 minutes into the game.

0-1 (Marin Tomasov).

It was only 63 minutes in when Rijeka found themselves only one goal away from potential success via the away goal rule.

A cruel deflection put the ball in the net once again, and the scorer had not long come on the pitch as a substitute.

Pittodrie was stunned.

0-2 (Zoran Kvrzic).

Only seconds later Niall McGinn rushed up the field, receiving a David Goodwillie pass and shooting at goal. He clawed one back.

Potential crisis everted 64 minutes into the game.

1-2 Aberdeen, and three goals in the space of about five minutes!

Goodwillie again turned provider eight minutes later, with Jonny Hayes picked out in the box to score from close range.

2-2 Aberdeen!

Two substitutions followed that goal.

Peter Pawlett came on the pitch at the 73 minute mark, with McLean coming off. Goodwillie came off two minutes later, with Adam Rooney coming on.

A final change took place after 83 minutes with McGinn coming off for Willo Flood.

The former, prior to this, was also involved in a humorous tussle as he slid for the ball in the Main and Merkland Stand corner. There was absolutely bare minimum contact but the Rijeka man went down as if dealt with by a supreme marksman.

This incurred fierce boos from the crowd, to which he responded with a rude, cupped and shaking hand gesture of self-love to the fans. This resulted in derisive cheers from the Pittodrie faithful.

However, this wasn’t the first time it appeared that someone had whipped out the sniper rifle, and to be honest McGinn’s fellow man coming off the park, Goodwillie, was seemingly another culprit in that.

Most importantly though, McGinn saved the Dandies’ with that earlier goal which killed the game for the Croatians. Hayes goal also made sure of that, making victory that bit more comfortable they go through to face Kazakhstan’s Kairat in the next round.

Final score: 2-2.

(5-2 aggregate. Aberdeen through to next round).

Old Susannah No. 179: All Apologies

Opinion, Satire and Humour 2 Responses »

Jul 242015

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

Tally ho! Or not as the case may be. The SNP decided not to vote with the Conservatives on the proposed fox hunting amendment. This would have allowed people to resume the sporting life of chasing foxes to exhaustion to be ripped apart live by dogs. Some say this was set up as a test to see who would align with who on votes, and the Conservatives were outfoxed. Either way, it’s a sad day for good old-fashioned healthy tradition.

Elsewhere Denmark fights to uphold the Faroe Islands tradition of butchering far more whales and dolphins than can possibly be safely eaten (by those who’d want to eat them in the first place; I prefer puffin and swan).

Some find Denmark’s position a bit at odds with their EU obligation to protect marine mammals. But first things first, how’s a Faroese boy to become a man without a good hearty bloodbath on the shores?

Sadly, a collection of protestors showed up in London the other week to protest against Denmark, which seems to think arresting Sea Shepherd personnel and impounding their vessels indefinitely also fits in well with EU law. I joined them as I was there; it’s almost as if they all believed that culture was less important than animal welfare and EU laws. Funny lot.

I also visited one or two London BrewDog spots to try the local beer cocktails which vary from bar to bar. The finest cocktail remains the Aberdeen flagship bar’s Jackhammer Margarita. Perfect for these nearly warm Scottish summer nights.

Old Susannah escaped from the vibrancy and dynamism of Aberdeen for a bit and went to London and the south. At times I needed to use this cream called sunblock; apparently there are parts of the world where you might get too much sun on you. Who’d have guessed. I dropped in on Rock n Roll Rescue in Camden; the proprietor is my old friend Knox from The Vibrators.

If you have any old clothes, music or memorabilia, Knox would be delighted to hear from you. Contact him here: (The original Vibrators line up plays in London on the 31st July; am hoping for a tour).

Alas! Another culture/heritage icon is in a spot of bother. After postponement upon postponement, it looks as if the Pullar clan are in hot water over their convenient failure to remove leader nets from our waters, thus catching more wild salmon than they should have. They claimed that supposed bad weather made them break the laws 9 times in their favour, for health and safety reasons.

Oddly, there don’t seem to have been any days when it was too rough to go to sea to put the leader nets out; it’s only been too rough to take the nets back in.

While they claim the heritable, traditional right to net wild salmon, it’s funny though- they don’t use traditional nets. Where a small scale traditional operation once caught small numbers of salmon, the modern, non-traditional system of catching the poor creatures uses vast complicated systems the Pullar ancestors never dreamed of. Innovation is good, as long as it doesn’t make you give up your traditions.

what’s wrong with a little good-natured racist banter Trump might wonder?

“It’s our right/tradition/culture/heritage” seems to be the cry of the fox-hunters, Pullars and butchering Faroese.

When I was travelling, Donald Trump’s presidential nomination got off to a bang-up start.

He’s going to keep all those drug-dealing, raping Mexicans out of the US. He’ll even build a wall between the two countries. Some cynics think he wants to keep them in Mexico where they work making his luxurious clothing line. Businesses are dropping links with the hirsuit typhoon with alacrity. But not Aberdeen Sports Village.

Trump Golf International Links Scotland’s logo is proudly displayed on their page. I’d love to know how much money Trump gives them, and I’d love to know how much money we taxpayers give the Sports Village as well. Doubtless my request to them to end their sponsorship will be dealt with swiftly. In other words, a petition might be launched shortly. Watch this space.

So, what’s wrong with a little good-natured racist banter Trump might wonder? Unfortunately, the trouble with a little racist teasing is that people here are doing it to families travelling on trains. Men beat up women who speak with English accents and visiting sports stars get beaten up by yobs. So if Aberdeen Sports Village don’t see the problem with aligning with racists, they would seem to be in good company with some of our fine citizens.

Of course, this kind of light-hearted racism is no obstacle to keeping an honorary degree from Robert Gordon University, especially as it was handed over in person to the Donald by Sir Ian Wood.

It would be nice to think the Village will re-think its position. A sincere apology from Trump would also be nice, but there is as much chance of that as Sarah Malone inviting me for a round of golf .

Apologies, as long as carefully worded and checked with legal departments are wonderful things. They can help you keep your job. They can make for good press releases. The only thing they can’t do is undo what is done. And with that, herewith some definitions.

Apology: (English Noun) An expression of sorry or regret

Pity Sir Stephen House, head of our ever-changing Police Scotland force. He had the sad job of issuing an apology on the force’s failure to investigate a reported car crash. This had fatal consequences for a woman who lay injured for three days next to her dead partner. But Sir is sorry:

“Firstly I want to apologise to the families of John Yuill and Lamara Bell and to the people of Scotland for this individual failure in our service. Everyone in Police Scotland feels this most profoundly.

“Our duty is to keep people safe and we’ve not done that effectively on this occasion, with tragic consequences, and I want to apologise to everyone for that.

I completely understand the level of concern being raised about the circumstances surrounding the handling of the incident of the crash near the M9 slip road at Bannockburn and, in particular, Police Scotland’s response to information received. That we failed both families involved is without doubt.”

So, it’s an individual failure, but everyone in PS feels badly about it. That’s nice to know. Just for the record though, the duty of PS is to uphold the law, do so equally and fairly. Not everyone is happy with Sir’s fanatical devotion to stop and search targets, his unilateral arming of police on patrols, or how data protection is getting just a bit lost in the sauce as spying on people routinely is on the up.

Must be hard to have to read out a statement. If only there were something Police Scotland and its head could have done to make sure its resources were robust and officers were employed where needed. If there had only been some warning signs that the new all-encompassing force and its local call centre closures were problematic, I’m sure the kindly, understanding man who issued that statement would have done something with his powers.

I’m sure the apology that Sir Stephen issued to the press is good enough

Of course it slightly weakens his apology that he says the new system and his leadership are not at fault; enjoy a lovely video clip of Sir Stephen here. He’s got a job to do, he provides leadership.

Just because the call centre system is failing, centralisation’s value is questionable or the leadership has failed it’s no cause for his resignation. He’s sorry – but not that sorry.

Denial: (Eng Noun) Negation of any culpability, responsibility or involvement.

Two young people are dead; one could have been saved. Two children are orphaned who didn’t have to be. Things happen.

It’s not the fault of Police Scotland, or its head Sir Stephen. They were told that a car had come off the motorway which they didn’t bother to follow it up –or even record. Three days later, a second call came in, and when they did bother themselves to stop spying on people and searching juveniles long enough to investigate, they found a dead man next to his dehydrated, dying partner.

I’m sure the apology that Sir Stephen issued to the press is good enough for all the people concerned and that should be the end of the matter. As he also explained, while they’re all very, very sorry, it wasn’t really his fault:

He said:

“We’re in the middle of massive change in our call-handling. It’s been going on virtually since day one of Police Scotland and it’s still going on and it has some way to go.

“I remain confident and convinced the reform we’re pushing through is the right way to go and provides a more efficient and more professional service. The tragedy is that I’m saying this against the background of two people who have died and that’s been our error which we’ve acknowledged.

“We do work within a budget. Our budget has reduced for the past two years and we’re working to an ambitious savings target for this year.”

Ah, if not for the changes in the call handling and for the need to work within a budget. He’d love to help; but it was outwith his abilities to make the force he’s in charge of do its job.

I digress, but I wonder what the Tayside branch of Police Scotland were doing over those three days. It would be wrong to wonder how many children were stopped and searched as easy targets while that car spent three days off the road. An experienced police officer who will soon resign puts the huge increase in stop and search at Sir Stephen’s doorstep. This officer said:

“This guy [Sir Stephen] is a complete control freak. In the 20 years I have been doing the job I have never wanted to do another job until Police Scotland came into force… I am being honest, in all my time on the force I had never heard the words ‘stop and search’ in Scotland before Mr House arrived.

“Up here we had policing by consent, this stop and search was an English phenomenon that he brought up from London. Mr House has brought a few of his cronies from down the road up to Scotland and they are ordering cops that they want ten searches every day. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that all these searches are coming up negative because the officers are just searching anyone they see to get the figures up.”

We continue to allow police to do this to children, despite the psychological expertise advising against it, and despite the presumption of innocence. In fact, the vast majority of people stopped (and a huge percentage are non white you’ll be surprised to hear) have broken no laws at all. Herald Scotland reported:

“Frontline officers have contacted The Herald to complain about new practices within divisions and among officers who feel compelled to “massage the figures”. In some instances, officers have been forced to search innocent people as they leave pharmacies and off-licences to meet targets, according to those who have aired concerns…. In the first six months of Police Scotland, officers conducted a record 310,784 stop-searches and recorded a 20% increase in motoring offences….”

I guess stopping innocent people to get those target figures up to Sir Stephen’s desired levels beats actually following up on calls. (Emergency callers are reporting unacceptable delays as well).

It would be wrong to wonder how many man hours were given over to snooping on our private emails and phonecalls while that woman’s kidneys started to fail. Sir Stephen is going to provide ‘a more efficient and professional service’.

Hard to see how he can improve on his stellar record – but we will be watching him. Am half tempted to write to Sir Stephen to offer commiserations over his budget woes. Must be awful. And he’s got to get by on a salary that’s under £208,000 per year. If only he’d had some previous indication that the new call centre wasn’t working out.

I’m sure that the imposed searches, the routine arming of police, the target setting is all greatly enjoyed by the whole force, despite the fact they’ve taken 53,000 days off with stress.

By the way, Aberdeen will lose its regional call centre in September. Old Susannah had to call emergency services for an ambulance some months ago; even with regional knowledge and detailed instructions of where the injured person was, the ambulance nearly drove right past. I’m sure someone sitting in a call centre in Glasgow will know all about Aberdeen’s back streets, pathways and parks.

So – we can expect more of the same then. Get ready to accept more armed cops, more unnecessary stop and searches, more red tape, increased centralisation – and less legal and human rights. At least we’re all going to be safe. Result!

We’ve had the apology over this latest fatality, which wasn’t really anyone’s fault anyway, because they have to work within a budget. What more do we want? Let’s see what they need to apologise for next, as they continue to eradicate ‘policing by consent’ from our vocabulary. Tally ho!

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Eilidh Whiteford Slams MP Pay Rise

Aberdeenshire, Featured, Opinion No Responses »

Jul 242015

Banff & Buchan MP Eilidh Whiteford outside Parliament.

With thanks to Paul Robertson.

Banff & Buchan MP Eilidh Whiteford has slammed plans to give Members of the UK Parliament a 10% pay increase, saying the plans are “wholly inappropriate.”

The proposed increase comes following the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority’s review of members’ salaries. The consultation closed on June 30, and SNP members have highlighted the unfairness of the raise at a time when most public sector workers are only receiving a 1% increase.

The matter is complicated by the fact that IPSA is independent of parliamentary control, and that MPs cannot refuse the proposed increase.

IPSA has a legal duty to pay the increase into the bank accounts of MPs, but Eilidh Whiteford, who is also the SNP’s Westminster Spokesperson on Social Justice, has today said she has alternative plans for the extra money.

Eilidh said:

“After a budget that will cut the incomes of those in low paid work, and in light of the ongoing public sector pay freeze, an increase in MP’s pay is wholly inappropriate. If it goes ahead, I will be increasing my donations to good causes.”

“Members receive a generous wage already, and how IPSA can justify a 10% increase at this point in time is beyond comprehension.”

Westminster SNP Leader Angus Robertson MP added:

“Now is a time of austerity and huge financial difficulties for far too many people. It is not right for MPs to have a pay-rise in these circumstances.

“As IPSA has gone ahead with these changes, I think it would be right to use the funds to support good causes.”

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