Tom Shields examines the environmental issues before meeting a Christian convert and a man who plays the percentages in the latest leg of his trip round the election fringes
With independence at stake in the Holyrood elections, it is unsurprising that there has been lessinterestinthe municipal polls which also take place on May 3. It's a shame because the new system of the single transferable vote in multimember wards will bring a sea change to local government.
Never mind the end to decades of Labour hegemony in council chambers across the land. For me, the most interesting prospect is Alasdair Duke-Wardrop getting elected as a Scottish Green Party member in the Calton area of Glasgow.
The city chambers have been a bit boring of late, so the arrival of a Duke-Wardrop as the Green councillor for Glasgow Green would be a welcome addition. I resisted the temptation to do some research on the Calton Duke-Wardrop in case the reality does not match the hyphenated illusions. Maybe they lived in a wardrobe in Duke Street andarenostrangerstothemean cobbles of the Calton.
The only Alasdair Duke-Wardrop on the electronic radar came third in the cello solo competition at the Glasgow schools music festival in 1994 and 1995. But this may be a different Alasdair Duke-Wardrop.
Patrick Harvie of the Greens tells me his party considers municipal politics more important than Holyrood because decisionstakenatgrassrootslevel impinge more on issues which really matter. Feel free to discuss this among yourselves while I move on.
The Borders Party have mobilised to preserve the quality of life in their patch. The BP is contesting seven of the 11 wards in the Scottish Borders Council.
The party's policies are simple: No morebuildingofexecutive-style housing to accommodate economic migrantsfromEdinburgh;noreopening of the Borders railway lines to let these Edinburgh immigrants get to and from work.
More provision of affordable housing for the Borders servant classes. Tax relief on labradors and Barbour jackets. A total ban on using street numbers - all houses must be called The Doocot, The OldSchoolhouse,TheLodge,or something from a Walter Scott novel.
And definitely no wind farms. They might scare the horses.
The new voting system could well see a Christian elected to represent the Cranhill area on Glasgow City Council. John Kerr, pictured below, stood as an independent last time around and failed to defeat the Labour incumbent by only 12 votes.
This time Kerr is standing in the East Centre ward, under the banner of the Christian People's Alliance (CPA). He is better known locally for his years of service to the community - he helped found and run the local credit union, the Cranhill Arts Project, and a food co-operative.
For many years, Kerr toiled for the Labour cause. But he parted ways, citing asreasonsforhisdisaffectionthe "shamelesscareerism" of some party membersandtheuseofmunicipal patronage"torewardthenodding donkeys".
Although running on a Christian ticket, Kerr says: "I'm no Holy Willie. I read about the CPA and decided they represented many of my own values, such as trustworthiness,honestyandawishto improve the lot of the disadvantaged."
Or, as he also out it, in slightly blunter language: "I look around these streets and I see people oot o' their heids on drink and drugs and I wonder what we can do to end this cultural suicide and breakdown of the family."
Should he nab a seat in the new democratised city chambers, Kerr wants to target "the deplorable waste of millions of pounds by so-called experts in strategic planning groups, task forces, and quangos". He quotes Eliot Spitzer, governor of New York state and nemesis of capitalistgreed,ashis inspiration in politics.
back in the hurly-burly of theparliamentary elections, let us now considerthe9% Growth Party.
I met the 9% Growth Party - Mr Neil Craig as he is also known- whenI went to The Doublet bar in Glasgow to have a pint and avoid elections for a wee while. Craig, whose science fiction book and comic shop Futureshock is nearby, was handing out leaflets.
"No blackouts. No vindictive bans", the leaflet said. I assumed he was talking about the pub: Don't drink so much you have a blackout, but even if you do, you should not necessarily be barred.
But no, it transpired the "blackouts" is a reference to nuclear power, of which the Glasgow regional list candidate is in favour.The"vindictivebans"isa reference to the Scottish Executive's unilateral prohibition on smoking, to which he is opposed.
The leaflet also promised "Double your income in eight years", which sounds a decent enough electoral bribe. In Craig's brave new world, all business taxes and fiscal controls will disappear. Andwith9%compoundgrowth, income apparently doubles in eight years.(Well,itdoesifyouarean entrepreneur. If you're on a pension, it might be a little more difficult.) I suggested to Craig that he might have given his movement the snappier title of the Double Your Money Party, buthethoughtpeoplemightget confused with Hughie Green.
Our Mr Craig is not very green. He thinks climate change is a myth; he tilts firmly against windmills; he thinks the Greenmovementhaskilledmore people than Hitler. (Check it yourself: Google "9% growth party + Hitler".) Mr 9% does have some sensible policies, too. He wants to automate the Glasgow subway with driverless trains running 24/7 and do the same with the Glasgow-Edinburgh rail link. Less convincing is his proposal to build a tunnel from Oban to Mull to make the island more accessible to fans of Balamory.
It says on Craig's CV that he was chuckedoutoftheLibDemsfor illiberality which, in itself, is quite an achievement.
