Kenneth Roy Eck’s literary luvvies Jim Swire An…

29.02.12
No. 520

David Hill

With the headline in yesterday’s Herald went the last vestige of respect I had for a once great newspaper.
     With John Ashton’s book blowing to smithereens any shred of credibilty left clinging to the guilty verdict on Al Megrahi (despite the BBC’s selective and timid account of it) that newspaper led today with a minor distraction about how or why the appeal was abandoned.
     I know no sensible or well-informed person who believes the ‘evidence’ presented at the travesty at Camp Zeist would have got through a sheriff court.
     I know no sensible or well-informed person who is now confident that Al Megrahi was guilty. And I recognise a growing conviction on the part of most of these preople that the sentence passed on Al Megrahi was the result of a pre-ordained and absolutely disgusting stitch between the US and the UK governments and the government of Libya to send, for whatever reasons, an innocent man to jail.
     As the revelations have trickled out over the years it has become more and more probable that some in authority in Scotland were involved and I remain puzzled as to why the present Scottish Government, not in power at the the time of the trial, is dragging its feet.
     I have assumed for some time that the UK, the US and particularly the Libyans have had every reason to fear an inquiry, whether a public inquiry or an Al Megrahi appeal, but once our newspapers see it as their obligation to cover up for those in power these newspapers are beyond any respect.

In tomorrow’s SR:

An appeal to all Scots
by the architect of
Scottish devolution, Kenyon Wright

Tod
ay’s banner

Grey grey Grangemouth in a week of grey grey facts
Photograph by
Islay McLeod

Point of order, Mr Chair.

Why are you allowed to

go on – and on?

Familiar Faces: Part 1

Kenneth Roy

The last time I wrote about the chairman of NHS Highland, he struck back, describing me as bilious, mean, narrow and petulant – that was about it. Unusual language for a public servant (you may think), but to be insulted by the powerful is usually the nearest we get in this trade to a result, so I didn’t mind at all. Quite the opposite.

      Last week, something I wrote was called ‘charitable’. Now, that I do mind. The word ‘charitable’ is death to any columnist; more or less a sackable offence. In an attempt to shake off my new reputation for niceness, I have decided to swallow a bitter draught and write once more about the chairman of NHS Highland. An extreme remedy, but it has been known to work wonders.
     His name is Gary Coutts, and I should be writing to congratulate him. In fact I do write to congratulate him, up to a point. Last week he was reappointed to a major public office for a third consecutive term of four years. Not many are so honoured.
     Let’s work this out. When Gary Coutts got the job as chairman of NHS Highland way back in 2004, Tony Blair was prime minister, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale (as he then wasn’t) headed a coalition government at Holyrood with Baron Wallace of Tankerness (as he then wasn’t), a grateful nation rewarded Fred Goodwin with a knighthood, and a litre of petrol cost 78p. By the time Mr Coutts finishes his third term of office at NHS Highland, it will be the spring of 2016. The referendum will be a fact of history, Scotland may or may not be an independent country, the national team will have narrowly failed to qualify for the finals of the European football championships, and a litre of petrol will set you back three quid.
     Twelve years: even presidents of the United States aren’t allowed to serve that long. Barack Obama, who entered the White House in 2008, the year Gary Coutts was reappointed for the first time, will only be allowed one more term, always supposing that he isn’t kicked out this November by someone called Mitt or Newt or, God help us, Rick. But it seems there is nothing to stop Gary Coutts going on – and on – and, well, on.
     There is, however, an essential difference between being chairman of NHS Highland and merely being president of the United States. The president must submit to the irritating distraction of public election, while the chairman emerges papal-like from a mysterious process of appointment, though without the white smoke, and is then simply signed-in by the appropriate minister (Nicola in this case). A rather bland press release is prepared, the local papers dutifully inform their readers of the good news, and before we know where we are we have Gary Coutts as chairman of NHS Highland for another four years at £29,640 a year.

It would be lovely if someone would claim occasionally to being bored stiff
by an unexciting challenge, even if it was just for the hell of it, but the chances of that happening aren’t great.

      Many would call that cheap at the price. If Mr Coutts lacks anything, it certainly isn’t on-the-job experience. He is a familiar figure in dental surgeries and out-patient departments from Rothesay to Scrabster. All the same – and at the risk of being branded bilious, mean, narrow and petulant – I do wonder if anyone – anyone – should be chairman of an important public body for as long as 12 years.
     Would it not be healthier for whatever passes for democracy in public appointments if someone else got a shot at being chairman of NHS Highland – I mean, just for a change? There is always the possibility that he or she would bring a fresh eye, a different angle, to the business of administering the NHS in the widely scattered communities of the Highlands. It might be worth a try.
     Not that I’m suggesting that Gary Coutts is other than completely on the ball as he surveys the exciting challenges ahead. We can assume they’re exciting, these challenges, because in Scottish public life challenges ahead are always exciting and people like Mr Coutts are always looking forward to them, year in, year out. It would be lovely if someone would claim occasionally to being bored stiff by an unexciting challenge, even if just for the hell of it, but the chances of that happening aren’t great. Public life in these parts is conducted in a constant whirl of anticipatory excitement.
     Listen to me. Gary Coutts is as brand-new as the daffodil at the foot of my garden, the only one brave enough to have shown its face in bleak February. I’m giving him this. But I still don’t think he should be facing another four-year stretch without parole. It doesn’t look too good. It suggests that there is no-one else in that vast land mass we call the Highlands – 41% of Scotland – who is able enough to take over. I know I’m forever banging on about Scotland’s small talent pool – but, really, this is ridiculous.
     It’s not that Mr Coutts is short of public work. In addition to his £29,640 a year as part-time chairman of NHS Highland, he picks up £24,648 a year as part-time chairman of the Scottish Social Services Council, a grand total of £54,288 a year. He objected very strongly when I suggested last time that even people as experienced as himself should be limited to one publicly-funded chairmanship at a time; my theory being that there is something to be said for spreading it around. I have to repeat this heretical notion, and risk another torrent of personal insults from the chairman. Since my own contribution to his fees is so tiny as to be scarcely measurable, I guess I’ll just have to learn to take it.

Tomorrow: Part II of Familiar Faces

Kenneth Roy is editor of the Scottish Review