Sunshine on Glasgow!

Well, delighted to report that the weather in Glasgow on Saturday was absolutely tropical ... seriously - and the theatre show was pretty entertaining. Nothing too challenging, it has to be said, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Managed to spend a bit of time at the recently refurbished Kelvingrove Museum - very impressive indeed. And despite being a devout atheist (pun intended!) I'm always really struck by Salvidor Dali's Christ on the Cross painting ... last time I saw it was several years ago at St. Mungos Museum of Religion, also in Glasgow.

Other highlight of the weekend had to be rediscovering just how good Byers Road is for local shops and great atmosphere, both night and day. Very enjoyable weekend all-round.

Glasgow weekend

Now for those that don't know me personally, I've a terrible admission to make - I'm not from Edinburgh!

Actually originate from Airdrie (someone has to come from there if you think about it hard enough) and I did spend my whole childhood over on the West coast ... only ever came to Edinburgh to visit the zoo or the castle - Edinburgh was like that before 1984 of course, and may be going back that way I fear :-((

Anyhow, always gravitated to Glasgow during that time and still love visiting. So; very much looking forward to spending a whole weekend over there from this evening ... but just to keep a slight 'Edinburgh-theme' to the weekend, we're going to see "Sunshine on Leith" at the Kings Theatre on Bath street tomorrow night ;-)

And who knows what might follow on a Saturday night in Glasgow ... so, roll-on 5pm, and the end of the 'Away Day', and we'll be off as quick as possible to the sunshine capital of Scotland ;-))

Opposition Away Day!

Now before any wags out there comment - we're only going to Pollock Halls in Edinburgh ... a sign of the times maybe ;-(

Looking forward to it actually ... been pretty flat-out since May 3rd, despite thinking it may be a bit quieter given circumstances, so an afternoon away from the 'phones can only be welcomed ;-)

Booze Culture

Now it won't come as a huge shock to my regular readers that I think, on balance, the current UK Government registers in the positive ... but I did think the announcement a couple of days ago about tackling "middle-aged, middle-class drinkers" was pushing it a bit ;-((

I know the story relates to England, but same debate applies right across the UK ... more so here in Scotland possibly?

The actual, full report - "Safe.Sensible.Social. Government alcohol strategy" (there's a PDF link within the BBC News story above) - is extremely laudable ... so it may just have been the way it was reported? I really struggle to see how home-drinking is the major problem here; I thought it was part of the solution in tackling the 'booze-culture' ... which I agree is pretty appalling in the UK.

As usual, The Daily Mash, had a side-splittingly funny take on the whole issue - here. A very astute assessment of the whole situation I thought, that I couldn't possibly comment any further on ...

New office!

Finally; just about into the new office.

As if the (frequent!) moving hasn't been bad enough ... I'm now sharing with Ewan and Ian

;-((

"Face what?" amendment

That "Face what?" post has caused some annoyance!

Apparently, you have to search through pages of 'Andrew Burns' to find me - and there was I thinking I was completely unique ;-)

Anyhow, you just have to go straight to here:

http://www.facebook.com/p/Andrew_Burns/873305371

... and you can Poke me ;-))

... it's a different world in there.

Musical offices ...

Another office-move for me tomorrow ... a complete pain in the derriere.

Packed; unpacked; now packing again; ... only to have to unpack once more.

If I never see another one of these plastic packing crates, it won't be too soon.

... ever so slightly fed up and definitely not moving again before 2011 ;-(

... oh, unless the "coalition of the unwilling" collapses of course ;-))

New, local Ward surgeries

Local Ward surgeries now all set up and will start this week (tomorrow!) ... all the details are here and I've put a prominent link on the side-bar also.

Just for the avoidance of doubt:

Andrew holds regular surgeries, right across his Ward - no appointment necessary, simply turn up:

• Every Wednesday, 6pm @ Fountainbridge Library, Dundee Street
• 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month, 6pm @ St.Cuthbert's Primary School, Hutchison Crossway
• 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month, 6pm @ Craiglockhart Primary School, Ashley Terrace

Outrage as ER over an hour late ...

Think I should be a headline writer for the Evening News ;-)




... seriously though, just what is Channel 4 playing at? ER delayed by over an hour because of bloody Big Brother??

If ever proof were needed that the world's 'going-to-hell-in-a-handcart' this is surely it!

National political debate ...

Main Welsh politics story on BBC Wales today makes a glaring contrast to a slightly earlier one on the BBC Scotland site a few days ago ... I'll leave you to decide which Church Leader makes the most considered and thoughtful contribution to their national political debate?

Face what?

Now I've had loads of regular readers of the blog comment with some incredulity that they can't find me on Facebook ... exactly, "so what" is just what I originally thought ;-)

But it seems that if you really want to be 'anybody' in the new cyber-world, you just 'have to have' one of these networking pages?? As you can tell from my tone - I remain to be convinced ... bit like the Aldi proposal really ;-))

Anyhow, this "Facebook" thing is all the rage apparently ... I had a quick look some time ago, and everyone on it appears to be under 19-years of age (not that that's a bad thing in itself I hasten to add!) ... but nevertheless, always one to try anything once, I thought why not. So, having 'logged' a page ages ago, I've now actually had some time to update it and fill in some details.

Get to http://www.facebook.com/, search for my page, and you can Poke me if so inclined ;-))

It's Harriet Harman for me ...

Finally decided ... after a little bit of prevarication (not like me I know!), I'll be casting my personal vote for Harriet Harman to become Labour Deputy Leader.

Don't agree with 'everything' that any one of the six candidates believes in (would be pretty strange if I did) but after much deliberation, and debate with friends and colleagues, I simply think she presents the best array of talents and beliefs to ensure Labour remains in as strong a position as possible ... thus enabling it to positively influence people's life chances.

Birthday Party and Pirates

Family Birthday Party yesterday (Saturday) ... good that the weather held, as it centred around a bit of a barbecue!

Today, off to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 with junior ... great special effects, but a pretty convoluted plot-line. Enjoyable film none-the-less.

Another local development ...

Another potential Ward development that's at the 'submission-stage' at the moment is a proposal to site an Aldi store right in the field which is at the front of the Corn Exchange on Chesser Avenue ... drawings here.

Not been a huge reaction to this application locally yet ... unlike the Harrison Gardens one! ... but I still remain to be entirely convinced that 'yet another' supermarket is needed in the local area.

And how long the adjoining field in front of the next-door ASDA will remain just that, a field, if this gets the go ahead I think is debate-able?

Any other local views out there??

Roy's last day ...

"Director of Children and Families" last day today!

Spent an 'all-too-brief' 9-months working directly with Roy, which I thoroughly enjoyed ... hope he has a long and happy retirement.

Shockingly, the Senior Management team at the Council now has a female Director (Roy's replacement) ... surely some mistake ;-)

Another depressing contrast with Glasgow comes to mind ...

Well done Sarah

Bit of a thank-you event for Sarah later this evening - after all the hard work of the last year, looking forward to it.

The more I reflect on Sarah's result, the better I think it was ... just contrast that "swing-from-Labour" to almost any other seat in Scotland ;-))

Trams - to be or not to be?

Trams - should they go ahead or shouldn't they?

I do think they should ... "well, you would say that wouldn't you" I hear you scream!

Well, as dispassionately as possible, I'll try and explain (as briefly as I can) why I think they should:

• both tram bills spent 2-years (yes, 2- years!) before the Scottish Parliament and relevant Committees in the last Parliamentary term (see here and here).


• I do really think it's thus facile to argue that the "case for trams" hasn't been properly explained or scrutinised.


• I fully accept that a new National Government will want to be sure of costs before pressing ahead and don't disagree with a quick re-appraisal of the proposals.


• but is there really a need to 'completely re-open' the whole detailed debate, unless you simply want to change the decisions already taken?

And with less than one-third of the popular vote, I just don't think there is a mandate for anyone to - in effect - completely repeal previous legislation without any resort to the legislative process.

Old politics in a new setting?

Several regular readers have e-mailed to say there is surely a contradiction in my slight annoyance at the Liberals style of governance since the election ... isn't it the same style that Labour operated before the election?

So, ever-willing to try and respond (I'll probably regret this!) I'll try and outline why I think it's quite simple really ...

• before May 3rd we all (at Local Government level anyway) operated within a "winner-takes-all" electoral system. That means that the winner, if they had an overall majority, took all.
• I've never liked that system, I think my long-term support for Fairshare and the ERS surely makes that abundantly clear?
• we don't now operate within a "winner-takes-all" system, we're operating within a 'proportional' system where power has to be shared.
• to be fair, power has been shared to some extent "within" the Liberal/Nationalist/Tory coalition now running Edinburgh.
• but the Liberals haven't truly adapted to the new politics - they simply have not given any real role to the main opposition Groups ... in essence, taking a majoritarian stance within a proportional system.
• PLEASE, do contrast this with Glasgow where their Council Executive could legitimately have been dominated by one Party (as even under STV they got an overall majority) but recognising the new politics, there is a 13/7 Administration/Opposition split within their Executive.

Now, all is fair in love, war and politics ... and the Liberals have done nothing 'illegal' but the spirit of their first few weeks of tenure in Edinburgh has fallen way, way short of their rhetoric.

That may change (I hope it does) ... but it's not - as far as I'm concerned - a good start.

"Old politics in a new setting" ... deeply disappointing.