Alec Salmond said when Jack McConnell stood down as Labour Leader in Scotland:
‘He (Jack McConnell) once said that the job of each First Minister was to leave Scotland better than they found it. With the smoking ban and his work in Malawi he has certainly done that’
Now, we can all quibble about the liberality of banning smoking in pubs, but few would argue that Scotland’s link with Malawi was a bad thing. Indeed, most of us would say that this is one of the things that the Scottish Parliament can be justifiably proud. More can be found here at the Scotland Malawi Partnership and the Malawi Development Programme.
This news from Malawi then is troubling. Now, Malawi is an independent country and, therefore, can make decisions people in Scotland disagree with – of course, this sentence barely needs writing. However, I’d be interested to know what the Scottish Government (and, indeed, Scottish Parliament) thought of this. Western governments have given money to far more despicable regimes than the multi-party democracy in Malawi but that doesn’t mean that as a friend of Malawi, Scotland shouldn’t make a public stand when they disagree with policies or actions undertaken by the Malawian government.
Indeed, The Scotsman makes a similar point. So far, Alex Salmond hasn’t made a statement. This really isn’t supposed to be a party political point (I’m not in a party for starters!). Rather as the First Minister of Scotland, he is the right and proper person to make such a statement – even if it means saying some tough things to a country with which we have strong ties.
RCM
