Busy time this year as the summer recess approaches
With parliament heading for the summer recess, politics usually winds down a bit – but that certainly isn’t the case this year.
We are still seeing fallout from the European Referendum, both the Tories and Labour have been embroiled in leadership battles that have polarised their parties and – despite the constant refrain from Brexiteers about unelected leadership – we now find ourselves with a Prime Minister elected only by Conservative MPs.
After a European referendum campaign that was besmirched by dog whistle racism, we now have as Prime Minister the woman who launched the AdVans telling immigrants to ‘go home’.
And, on top of all that, after years of waiting, we have finally had the publication of the report on the Iraq Inquiry by Sir John Chilcot, which is welcome but long overdue.
The report’s examination of the evidence and its firm conclusions are damning of Tony Blair who, contrary to his denials, gave a pre-determined commitment to President Bush to join US military action in Iraq.
We now know that long before parliament formally voted on whether or not to go to war in Iraq, Tony Blair had told George Bush: “I will be with you whatever”.
Whatever. Whether or not the claims on weapons of mass destruction were proven or not; whether or not our troops were properly equipped for the conditions they would face; whether or not the House of Commons was told the truth.
I remember all too well the night the House of Commons voted in favour of war in Iraq. Along with all of my SNP colleagues, I voted against it as we believed the case for military action had not been proven.
The Chilcot report has shown us to have been right but I feel no sense of victory in that. My thoughts are with the families of those soldiers who lost their lives and with those servicemen and women who came home forever affected by their experiences.
Meanwhile, I continued my determination to bring the Scottish Affairs Select Committee closer to the people by holding our meetings outside the Westminster bubble.
This should be seen as an opportunity by those Labour and Tory MPs from English constituencies who have been dumped onto the committee by their whips to get a better understanding of the issues being discussed.
We were looking into the population challenges facing the Highlands and Islands of Scotland which, similarly to other parts of Scotland, are very different to those in other parts of the UK.
And yet, only the SNP MPs were there. The others didn’t even bother to turn up. It really does show how little interest they have in the actual circumstances in Scotland and why, for example, we voted so differently on Brexit.
Another reason why Scots may have voted differently on Brexit is perhaps a better appreciation of the fact that the financial arrangements with the EU are far from being a one way street as the Leave campaigners liked to pretend.
This is highlighted by the long list of EU-backed projects benefiting our area, which was published by Perth and Kinross Council recently.
Dear Editor –
Many of the readers of the Blairie will have seen the bronze sculpture of Hamish Henderson displayed in Blairgowrie public library and will have read the leaflet produced by the Blairgowrie, Rattray and District Local History Trust.
Those who have done so will know that Hamish was born in Blairgowrie and that he was probably most famous as a collector of songs.
In that capacity, he collected songs from the many people who came to pick berries in the fields around Blairgowrie and Rattray, most notably from the travelling people.
He is regarded as one of the main driving forces behind the Scottish Folksong Revival in the 1950s and the ‘National Ceilidh’ that many people consider the forerunner of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
He is credited with launching the professional singing careers of ‘The Stewarts of Blair’ who provided him with several of the songs he collected.
It will be the centenary of Hamish’s birth in 2019 and it is likely that several events will be organised in Blairgowrie and Rattray to commemorate his life and work.
In preparation for the celebrations, I am preparing a song book that will feature songs collected by Hamish and others that have a connection to either of our two towns.
I plan to have a section - ‘New Songs from the Berry Fields of Blair’ - that will focus on the folksong traditions of today’s berry pickers, many of whom come from overseas.
Although the publication of this work (I plan to post it on the internet) is more than two years away, I thought it would be timely to launch an appeal for material now in an effort to counter the negative impact of the Brexit campaign and help promote community cohesion.
I require the sheet music, or the music in some form that I can translate into musical manuscript notation.
I will also need the lyrics, with clear indication of how they match the tune.
This is a particularly big ask for folk songs that are not in the English language, as I will require the traditional lyrics with an English translation that can be sung to the traditional tune.
I would be happy to work with the supplier of the song to help to develop singable lyrics from a straightforward translation.
I need to be careful with regard to copyright issues, so all the songs must be genuine folk songs and not covered by copyright.
Some of the songs to which I currently have access appear in books written by Sheila Stewart and, consequently, I would like to make contact with the executors of her estate to discuss any matters relating to copyright.
Anyone able and willing to provide me with suitable material can email me at : christinemyrachandler@gmail.com