Live webchat with Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond, Tues 15 Feb, 1-2pm

[GeraldineMumsnet]

Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond is our guest for a live webchat on Tues 15 Feb.

Mr Salmond, who is MSP for Gordon, was first elected as MP for Banff and Buchan in 1987, and went on to become leader of the SNP in 2004 and an MSP in May 2007. He stood down as a Westminster MP in the last General Election to concentrate on his role as first minister.

His minority government has just got its final budget before the Scottish elections through the Scottish parliament, after striking a deal with the Lib Dems to boost student funding.

When he's not working, Mr Salmond enjoys horse racing, football, golf and reading.

We're very pleased to welcome him to Mumsnet. Please come and put your questions or, if you can't join him on Tues lunchtime at 1pm, post your question on this thread, as per usual.

Thanks
MNHQ

I think we should have you back for another webchat - definitely one of the best I've seen

Thank you - that's encouraging..

@Aitch

so basically, mr s, what we are looking for is the whizz-bang answer to 'you wouldn't last five minutes without us'.

hi-concept it for us, please. gies sumhing tae blaw thaim oot the watter. (and by thaim i mean much-loved English sisters and brothers of MN ). a verbal bazooka, if you please.

I think England is a great nation, with a fantastic literary heritage and is well capable of self government, and don't let anybody tell English people otherwise. I also think the same about Scotland.
When I was a boy, my next door neighbour, Mrs Nan Borthwick, used to say that when Scotland becomes independent, then England would lose a surly lodger and gain a good neighbour. They were wise words then, and I still believe them now.

I agree with Saltire, well done Mr Salmond :)

Why do the SNP continue to accept high profile donations from a known homophobe? Should the electorate take this as a signal that the SNP are supportive of his stance?

May I come to the Parliament and ask my question to you, personally, Mr Salmond?

(keeps quiet about the 'farmer' who could not find his dairy )

Agree totally about the stupid tram programme - a multi-million pound project to replace the excellent 22 bus!

And the train to the north goes right past the end of the runway - it must have been a cheaper option to create a stop there and run a little shuttle to the terminal.

habs i missed your HE question, what's HE standing for here? not home edu, i take it?

Higher Ed, Aitch - ages ago, one of the early questions.

@KeepCalmAndCarryOnMNing

Thanks for the response MR Salmond. I agree that it's appalling that the referendum is being proposed for the same day as the Scottish elections.

From your answer then I presume you yourself will be voting no? Will the SNP actively campaign against AV?

No we won't campaign against. I don't think much of first past the post as an electoral system. However, we, and by that I mean most of the Scottish parties, are really annoyed at this referendum being piggybacked on our own general election. It would never have even been considered for a Westminster election. Why should it be foisted on Scotland?

@PeggyGuggenheim

Hello Mr Salmond
I live in Falkirk. We are incredibly fortunate in that none of our libraries, community centres, schools or leisure centres are going to have to close. There was a proposal in the budget to shut all libraries on Saturday afternoons, but an emailing / Facebook campaign secured something of a reprieve. It was explained to us that a Council Tax freeze (imposed by the Scottish Government) has left the local authorities in a fix. I for one have always been delighted to get the letter telling me the Council Tax is frozen, but I would happily pay a few quid more if it was going to protect services! And don't the poorest get help with Council Tax? So who would lose out, really, if you allowed local authorities to raise Council Tax? Thank you for reading this.

Peggy, Thanks very much for your question. As you know, Council tax has been frozen since 2007 providing much need financial relief to families vulnerable groups, including pensioners, at a challenging financial time for households, while council tax has kept on rising in other parts of the UK.
Since 2007, the SNP's council tax freeze has been worth more than £300 per household across Scotland - and I believe that is a really important boost to people at a time when they are being squeezed by rising bills, fuel costs and Westminster's VAT hike. As I said earlier, despite the Westminster cuts to Scotland's budget, we have maintained local councils' share of the cash, allowing them to protect key services.
And it?s also worth pointing out that the English average band D council tax is £1,439. Band D households in Scotland therefore pay £290 less on average than in England. Sorry, English mumsnetters!

(and given that I'm almost hyperventilating about the impending 3 days holiday, most definitely not home ed!)

oh right, sorry, yes OF COURSE. huge worries there, our universities should be a huge source of pride.

btw, i am beginning to worry that there is no zinger to them 'you wouldn't last 5 mins without us' line.

@DragonsCould

Why do the SNP continue to accept high profile donations from a known homophobe? Should the electorate take this as a signal that the SNP are supportive of his stance?

I don't accept the premise of your question. The SNP's position on equality before the law on sexual preference, gender, race, religion is well known, and has been demonstrated over many many years.

Perhaps, "well, let's find out, then", Aitch? If we (and I say this in true white settler fashion) are such a burden, we'll be no great loss, surely?

having to take brian souter's shilling must be v depressing, then...

i just assumed that mr s would have one ready to fire off, though.

@Euphemia

Can you explain to me how reducing my daughter's contact with a teacher by 10% per week is going to "enhance" her education? (I am referring to the current proposal by Renfrewshire Council.)

Euphemia, Renfrewshire Council's proposed pilot would see an enhanced range of experiences for the non-teaching element of the day through a range of sporting, cultural and citizenship activities, which the council proposes would be through the community services division utilising culture, leisure and sports development active school staff. I expect Renfrewshire council to provide the full range of experiences which are set out in Curriculum for Excellence, and the independent evaluation will tell us whether the Council has succeeded. I also welcome the Council's commitment to involve parents at every stage of the pilot. HMIE will be actively involved in ensuring the pilot scheme is evaluated against Curriculum for Excellence principles. If HMIE's report is not satisfactory, then it will not go ahead. I would also like to reassure parents that the curriculum will continue to be delivered by fully qualified teachers.

Thank you. To be fair, it was such an enormous golf umbrella, yoiu could have taken out half the show field and not noticed!

Right. Easy one done. About al-megrahi......

In the sunday times it was reported that the UK government supplied advise to the Lybian government on how to get megrahi released and that there was a 50% chjance of him surviving for another 2 years.

Was the Scottish Government involved in rhese discussions? Are we really to believe that you all thought you were sending a dying man home for no more than a couple of months?

@boofle

Mr Salmond,
I am delighted that you are taking the time from what must be an extremely busy schedule to join this forum. What a wonderful endorsement for Mumsnet!
I live in Renfrewshire and much has been made of the recent decision to replace 2.5hrs of the school week with people who are professionals in the field of drama, art, sport etc. Many people are blaming the council tax freeze for the council having to make this decision and say they would be willing to pay more. I happen to think this idea could be good for my children - just take a look at other European countries or Australia, where the curriculum does not only centre around academia, but takes a more rounded and vocational approach. I am also happy with he council tax freeze, although I know it will go up again at some point. However, there are many parents who ARE worried about this and my question is: how much would our council tax go up to cover cuts that are being made and how much has the freeze contributed to the current financial position of councils?
I look forward to your answer and thank you in anticipation.

Boofle, my days may be pretty busy but I can assure you that it?s a pleasure to hear what the issues are that are getting Mumsnetters talking. I think the answer I gave to peggyGuggenheim just a couple of moments ago should give you our position on council tax and on the matter of Renfrewshire schools, as I explained earlier to euphemia, we will be monitoring the pilot.

...and equality before the law still doesn't allow civil partnerships to take place outwith a register office?

@poppyknot

There was a programme yesterday about the targets for alternative energy. 80% by 2020(?)

Are these feasible?

Yes they are. Indeed, I think within the next couple of generations Scotland will be able to produce up to ten times our own electricity requirements largely from marine renewable sources. Incidentally, we've already surpassed this year's target of 31 percent of our electricity demand coming from renewables.
Interestingly, when recently the vice-premier of China visited the UK he decided to visit Scotland first to learn more about our renewable industry. A recognition that in many technologies, wave, tidal, offshore wind, carbon capture, hydrogen fuel cell, Scotland is a world leader.
I believe that our country can engineer the marine developments of the future in the same way as in the 19th century, Scotland engineered marine transportation. It is a big vision for Scotland and will be hugely helpful to the planetary imperative of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Majorpettigrew - i was going to ask that but decided against it