Alex 'Thatcher' Salmond

On Yer Bike

On Margaret Thatcher and her policies Alex Salmond apparently thinks that Scotland and I quote "didn't mind the economic side so much. But we didn't like the social side at all." Of Course the problem we had with the Poll Tax wasn't the economics it had nothing to do with the fact that we were down and beaten by years of recession and unemployment with the decimation of our national industries, it was because well it just wasn't very nice!!

Does anyone else see the problem here? The fact that the First Minister of Scotland decided that in order to clarify his position had to call a radio call in show shows a level of desperation that no other leader of our country has ever even considered displaying, the scary thing is that the SNP will try and spin this as being in touch with 'the people'.

While talking to a few friends -a few of whom are SNP members- even they agreed that this made them look stupid, although on the back of the SNP locally awarding the directors of service a 16.7% pay rise and then having the bear faced cheek to write to the strikers that 2.5% was not enough, it kind of pales in comparison. I believe (and this is from sources actually present) the question put was if all of the workers and the directors are all in the same team will they be suggesting 16.7% for the ordinary worker?

I loved the fact that the SNP think that laughing in the face of Unison members when they ask the above is the done thing, it shows an incredible level of political naiveté from Cllr's Lawson, Mitchell and Adam who apparently think that the Unison members are beneath contempt.

Unlike the self proclaimed 'Tartan Tory' Salmond, I understand why Mrs Thatchers economics were bad for Scotland and I did mind them, as did the Coal miners, the small businesses and those of us affected by the Poll Tax. I wonder if Mr Salmond would consider this as a social or economic policy?

Watch his space for the next 'Salmondism' you know something like a 'Bushism' only not quite as politically articulate.

My Name

Raelene Boyle

Lots of people are named after their mother or father, or a loved one or friend I was lucky enough to be named after this woman (Photo above) an Olympic champion, so just in case you were interested here is a wee bit about Raelene Boyle

The woman above (Raelene Boyle) is an ex Australian sprinting champion and an Olympic silver medalist three times, she took part in a number of Olympics and is where my parents got my name, as they were watching when she was competing in the 1976 Montreal games. The number of people I have met that have said 'Rayleen that is an unusual name' is massive, even in University where I was surrounded by students from across the globe I always got the same thing.



My understanding is that the name Rayleen is not as unusual as you might think, well at least not in Australia and there is even a facebook group for the Rayleen's of the world to share stories of how we got our names etc and the spellings!


Raelene Boyle was the first woman to carry their Countries flag in the Olympic opening ceremony in 1976 and although she did not win any medals that year - from what I can tell this was mainly down to being disqualified for two false starts, which were later shown not to be false starts - she was widely recognised as one of the outstanding talents of her generation. Raelene Boyle has suffered from breast cancer and help set up a charity called 'Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation' which raises money for cancer awareness, you can donate to the charity or learn more about it by clicking on the name above.



I like that I am named after someone different, I suppose it is a little like being named after the Jamaican athlete Usian Bolt who yesterday smashed the Olympic record for the mens 100 meter, those children would have their own story to tell. Having an unusual name is great, people rarely forget your name and in itself it is a bit of an icebreaker which is great with me being the shy retiring type!

So if you are pregnant and sitting in front of the TV forget about calling your child Leona after the singer think about calling them after someone more unusual and interesting give them a story behind the name.

Social Work

What Went Wrong?

Sitting in work on one of my breaks during the week I noticed one of these trashy women's magazines that I almost never read (unless I am in the doctors surgery waiting room) in it I noticed an interesting article on the Social Worker involved in the Victoria Climbie case. She was cleared of being at fault in the case by a tribunal and I thought that it was interesting they showed her side of the story and her grief and anger over the whole tragedy. But at the time, the tragedy reminded me of something that struck me from a fairly early stage in my professional life, there are some sections of public sector workers who only ever get into the press if something goes wrong.


I don't think I have ever seen an article in the main stream press congratulating a social worker for helping a child with behavioural difficulties stick in at school and get their Higher results, or the teacher who gives up their spare time to take kids to the theatre because it will help explain what Romeo and Juliet or A Midsummer Nights Dream is actually all about, and most of us know one or both of those I have just described. Think about the relatively low paid social care worker in a children's unit helping give young people a sense of home and security as well as the emotional and intellectual support to continue in school and achieve academically.


I don't think enough emphasis is placed on public sector workers as a whole but, Social Workers definitely seem to get the rough end of the stick, it is their fault when a child like Victoria Climbie gets killed, it is their fault when a parole violator breaks the conditions of their parole and commits a crime and it is their fault when the unruly teenager decides to break the windows on their next door neighbours car because he wouldn't give them their ball back!


Society fails to acknowledge and accept that we can never fully mitigate such risks, and I know that is not a popular view I wish we could stop every tragedy like this happening but the simple truth is we can't. We could have the most robust system EVER in place and tragedies like this would still take place.


Social workers will never be able to stop every tragedy like Victoria Climbie but they can minimize them when the system works, that is why we have child protection committees in every council with all appropriate agencies represented. I have been to a few of these meetings as a Councillor and it is never easy but everyone present has one thing in mind what is best for the child. I loved the title of one of the reports to come out of the Scottish Executive when I was a Councillor .... 'It's Everyone's Job to Make sure I'm Alright' because it is.


For my part I wanted to say thank you to all of the Social workers who have helped shape my life. From my Aunts, one a retired social worker and one still serving, to the people I worked with while a sessional worker with Social Work and all of those I worked with while the Deputy Convenor on the Council. All of you made a profound impact on my view of what Social Work can do when it works, and the difference it can make not just to a child's life but, to the thousands of vulnerable clients throughout Scotland who rely on you for help.