BBC Parliament Live

Scottish Chamber

of Commerce

In this continuing inquiry, the Finance committee discuss Scotlands Government Budget Strategy:

Garry Clark (Scottish Chamber of Commerce Head of Policy) says that a fundamental re-assessment of public services would be required to address the “unprecedented” financial crisis.

“Garry Clark on BBC Parliament Live – 51 minutes into video” .

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(Press Play to hear the Parliament discussion with Garry Clark)

Scotland at Ten

Scottish Chamber of Commerce

Hear this interview by Sarah Paterson with Ron Hewitt - Chief Executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce:

“Discussing the Labour Manifesto“.

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(Press Play to hear Ron Hewitt Sound-bite 1 of the Radio interview)

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(Press Play to hear Ron Hewitt Sound-bite 2 of the Radio interview)

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(Press Play to hear all  of the Radio interview)

In this interview Sarah Paterson speaks to Ron Hewitt (Chief Executive – Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce) John Dickie (Head of Children Poverty Action Group Scotland) and Stephen Boyd (Assistant Secretary of the STUC) about their views on the Labour Manifesto.

Hear this interview by Andrew Black with Garry Clark - Head of Policy for Scottish Chamber of Commerce:

“Discussing the Conservative Manifesto“.

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(Press Play to hear all  of the Radio interview)

In this interview Andrew Black speaks to Garry Clark (Head of Policy - Scottish Chamber of Commerce) Dave Watson (UNISON Policy Spokesman) and Martin Symes (Chief Executive of Scotland Voluntary Organisation) about their views on the Conservative Manifesto.

High Speed Rail Line
Putting forward his proposal for high speed rail, Graham Bell of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce said that the time had come to turn the ‘aspiration’ of high speed rail into ‘inspiration’. Focusing on commuting patterns between central Scotland and central London, Bell highlighted that today up to 1 million people commute by either rail or road, while a further 6 million people commute by air.

Not only would high speed rail take 3.5 million people out of airports and save up to £1 billion in time, it would also dramatically reduce carbon emissions. With the costs of building a high speed rail line in Britain expected to be up to £30 billion, Bell suggested that the cost of incorporating Scotland into the wider UK proposal could realistically see costs rise by a further £8 billion over 20 years.
He believed that the onus is on Scotland to ensure that it is included in the construction and development of a high speed rail. Bell also advocated the proposal that the line would split at the border ensuring that that both Edinburgh and Glasgow would be similarly served.

The Dragons were equally enthusiastic, but with some caveats. Minister Stevenson though persuaded was particularly concerned about the costs involved. Scott McIntosh, on the other hand highlighted the fact that a number of studies had been done on the issue of high speed rail in the UK and the question now needed to be asked as to how this would be delivered. High speed rail for McIntosh had to be part of an integrated transport system and while it has the support of both the public and the private sectors he argued that without the involvement of the private sector such a project could not be delivered.

Scott McIntosh	Mike Connelly	Stewart Stevenson	Grant Thomas

Morning Extra

Graham Bell

Hear the interview with Graham Bell and Patrick Harvie discussing:

“Should there be a new Fourth Road Bridge“.

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(Press Play to hear the Radio interview)

]]> http://grahambell.org/wordpress/archives/489/feed 3 http://grahambell.org/wordpress/archives/443 http://grahambell.org/wordpress/archives/443#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:05:11 +0000 admin http://grahambell.org/wordpress/?p=443 A fantastic Scottish song improved by Robert Burns.
Learn the words today and their meaning.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I’ll be mine,
And we’ll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o thine,
And we’ll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne

Meanings

auld lang syne – times gone by
be – pay for
braes – hills
braid – broad
burn – stream
dine – dinner time
fiere – friend
fit – foot
gowans – daisies
guid-willie waught – goodwill drink
monie – many
morning sun – noon
paidl’t – paddled
pint-stowp – pint tankard
pou’d – pulled
twa – two

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne

This is the song we sing in Scotland when we say goodbye to people.

]]> http://grahambell.org/wordpress/archives/443/feed 1 http://grahambell.org/wordpress/archives/261 http://grahambell.org/wordpress/archives/261#comments Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:57:53 +0000 admin http://grahambell.org/wordpress/?p=261 Business Mentoring is a partnership between Scottish Enterprise (the national body charged with aiding business development) and Scottish Chambers of Commerce (the private sector’s leading business representative body).

Anyone in business can apply for a mentor.  They can be a business owner, a Director or an upwardly mobile manager (or one who wants to be!).  Two and a half thousand people have participated since the start of the project.  There are special programmes for growing businesses, for women entrepreneurs and for social enterprises.  Mentors are drawn from the full range of experienced business people across all sectors, and there are seven hundred of them currently.  There is no charge for the service and mentors are unpaid.  The idea is that a given business community (in this case Scotland) recognises the value of ‘giving something back’ and embraces its up and coming entrepeneurs (not always young! But always receptive to life-long learning) by sharing experience.

What Business Mentors don’t do:

- Give advice
- Tell people what to do
- Do it for them
- Prattle on about ‘in my day…’ and what are their magnificent achievements

What Business Mentors  do do:

- Listen really well
- Identify priority issues to which the business person may be too close to see
- Encourage them to think them through
- Offer suggestions for new approaches
- Recommend new contacts

I am a Business Mentor and I also work to promote the programme.

The happy clients and mentors talk about ‘perfect sounding board’, ‘more like a friend than an advisor’ (which they never claim to be), and ‘I know I did it myself, but I’d didn’t have time or experience to think of these changes myself’.

The programme is now being franchised to other countries around the world.

Want to have a Mentor? click here

Want to be a Mentor? click here

Want to replicate the scheme click here

…or ring 0845 609 6622

]]> http://grahambell.org/wordpress/archives/261/feed 0 http://grahambell.org/wordpress/archives/275 http://grahambell.org/wordpress/archives/275#comments Tue, 26 Dec 2006 16:14:34 +0000 admin http://grahambell.org/wordpress/?p=275 Agroforestry is what you get when you think about forest gardens farming scale.  By combining trees, pasture, arable crops and any other elements of the landscape appropriate to need and conservation we can disgn and build environments where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  In recent times in Britain we have tended to see ‘forestry’ and ‘agriculture’ as compartmentalised activities.  In reality they have always been inter-mixed.  Agroforestry proposes this is the natural way to do things, which offers real benefits.

There have been many different approaches to agroforestry influenced by environment, resources climate, timescale and levels of technology.  There are also many claims that ‘only method X is truly agroforestry’.  Personally I would say all approaches are welcome and can be studied for benefit.

We planted a small scale experimental plot at Tweed Horizons at Newtown St Boswells in the Scottish Borders in the 1990’s.  This is a steep hillside site where the intention is for the strips of woodland to provide shelter for livestock from summer heat and winter chill.  The woodland is rich in wild fruiting plants which were originally used as poultry habitats with an increasing element of self-feed.  As the trees mature they are also available for browsing as a top up feed to livestock when grass production falls in mid-summer and in winter.

Forestry Comissioner Sir Michael Strang-Steel opened the plot for us, and remarked that the original Ettrick Forest (the Wardenship of Sir Walter Scott) was itself agroforestry and that we were seeking to relearn ancient wisdom.  I’m inclined to agree.

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