Allan Massie | Gillian Bowditch.
The Sunday Times. March 18 2001.
MSPs have been keen to play up their Cuban links following the mayor of
Havana's visit to Glasgow last week.
At first glance Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish socialist leader, appeared to
have the best claim. He regularly tops up his tan in the land of cigars and
socialism. However, he cannot compete with Michael Matheson, the SNP MSP for
Central Scotland. Matheson attended the funeral of Ernesto "Che"
Guevara, the icon of the Cuban revolution, not to mention a T-shirt or two.
In 1997, the nationalist heard of the discovery of Guevara's body in the
Bolivian jungle and Fidel Castro's plans to bury him amid much utilitarian pomp
in Cuba.
He caught the next plane and introduced himself as a member of the SNP and
was subsequently invited to view the body as it lay in state in the Jose Marti
National Library. He also attended the ceremony at which Guevara was laid to
rest in a mausoleum in the central Cuban city of Santa Clara, site of Batista's
final defeat.
He was even interviewed by a Cuban radio station.
"I felt as if I've actually achieved something - it must be one of the
few radio stations that Mike Russell hasn't been on," he said.
Laidlaw's future as a lord laid out at auction
Irvine Laidlaw, the multi-millionaire backer of the Scottish Tory party, is
certainly appreciated by the beleaguered Conservative ranks north of the border.
The son of a Scottish mill-owner missed the party's recent annual Focus in
Scotland dinner, even though his own private jet ferried William Hague up to the
event. Apparently he was stuck in traffic.
However, he might have felt slightly uncomfortable if he had attended.
During a fundraising auction Laidlaw, who donated a week's cruising in his
yacht, was repeatedly referred to by the auctioneer as "Lord" Laidlaw.
Despite giving over a million to the party for the last few years, the
international businessman, who has homes in the south of , London and
Florida, has not yet been given a seat in the Lords. Obviously, it is only a
matter of time.
Green bash reminds MSPs who's at the top of the tree
The "hug a tree" brigade will be out in force tomorrow for the
burial of a Trees of Time and Place time capsule on the banks of Loch Lomond.
The event has been organised to encourage everyone to plant at least one tree
from seed in their lifetime and will be graced by the "deputy leader of the
Scottish parliament".
Invites for the 3pm ceremony feature the name of Cathy Jamieson, the deputy
leader of the Scottish Labour party and not Jim Wallace, who is, of course,
still deputy first minister. Just a mistake?
Or could it be one of Tom McCabe's more subtle threats to the Lib Dem
leadership over the need to keep their party in line?
Hooray. Good news for Tony Blair. Julien Macdonald, appointed chief sequin
at Givenchy last week, tells me he would "simply love" to help Labour
in the election.
Whether voters are ready for Mo Mowlam in a backless, sideless, frontless
number à la Kelly Brook, I am not sure. Still, I wish the old boyo well
at Givenchy. He told me recently his great ambition was to work for Versace.
Faced with the prospect of mass culls, a growing foot and mouth outbreak and
an uncertain future, Scotland's beleaguered farmers were able to smile at one of
the missives issued by the Ministry of Agriculture recently. A letter went out
from Maff to "owners or persons in charge of animals exposed to infection".
It cited with great formality the 1981 Animal Health Act and the 1983 Foot And
Mouth Disease Order before stating: "For the purposes of this notice
'animals' mean cattle, sheep, goats and all other ruminating animals, swine and
elephants." All those elephant farmers in Dumfriesshire must be terribly
reassured that the men from the ministry have their finger on the pulse.
St Paul's Cathedral has abandoned plans to install a "modern" font
by the Turner prize-winning sculptor Anish Kapoor after a tart response from
traditional sorts, including, it is believed, the Prince of Wales.
Kapoor, who was chosen from a shortlist of five, has spent ages making
models. He has written in fury to St Paul's. "It's been a total waste of
time," he tells me. "They lacked the courage of their convictions."
But Major-General John Milne, the cathedral registrar, says: "There
were a wide range of factors, including cost, practicality, spiritual
significance, artistic interpretation and architectural relevance."
Otherwise, I am sure, he thought the plan absolutely spiffing.
Kapoor's proposed font was far larger than those in most churches and he
wanted to cover the ceiling of the dome with a gold leaf mirror effect -
frankly, more Calcutta than the City.
Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. | 