Local News. For Local People.

I’m getting ready to head off to London tomorrow – an old uni pal’s birthday, a couple of days work, then a couple of days holiday to see other friends. I’ve remarked before about how it feels to be itinerant in a place where you were once before fixed. Since this will be my first visit south since moving to Aberdeenshire, I expect that a week of dodging between hotels and people’s spare rooms will prove to be very strange indeed.

Of course, the idea that you’re going to be living a permanently cosmopolitan and vibrant lifestyle in London soon runs into exactly the same constraints as it would anywhere else. The whirlwind impression of the place you would get from a weekend city-break packed with museums, Ferris wheels, musicals and nightclubs, must be set aside the need to manage your finances, do your shopping, clean the house and endure the drudge of the daily commute. Just like Edinburghers tend not to visit the Castle, Londoners aren’t living it up every night in the West End.

So, life in London can be every bit as mundane as it is everywhere else. And boy, is this mundanity reflected in the local TV news. Tedious Mayoral intrigue, murders in Peckham, tube delays, vapid Oxford Street vox pops, lost budgies in Brockley, the latest transfer news from Leyton Orient… all important to someone, no doubt, but still hardly at the cutting edge of anything much.

Frankly, any faux sophisticate who wants to criticise Reporting Scotland for being parochial should be made to watch a week of the London news - on loop. You’ll soon develop an appreciation for the job which BBC Scotland manages on fairly limited resources. Which brings me onto one of my favourite topics.

One of the rationales given by BBC Scotland Controller Ken McQuarrie for sidelining a ‘’Scottish 6’ was that the BBC was going to pursue more local news in Scotland, using the internet as a delivery vehicle. While BBC Scotland now has regional news pages within the Scottish news section of the BBC website, the intention was always to do more, in terms of providing professionally produced video content.

A worthy enough idea in itself, but hardly an answer to the shortcomings of the overall news coverage offered to Scottish viewers. After all, it’s not as if anyone sits at home saying ‘You know, all this duplication of Scottish stories and coverage about the English education minister getting slow hand clapped by the NUT is fine, but what would really make news relevant to me is being able to get vox pops from the folk in my local shopping centre’.

So, it was with great interest that I stumbled over this item, which seems to sound the death-knell for micro-local (if I can call it that) news coverage from the BBC. While the state of most local ITV newsrooms might be deplorable, I’m not convinced it’s the job of an already far superior BBC to further undermine their business model.

Of course, the Scottish Broadcasting Commission, in calling for a digital Scottish channel, has in many ways moved this whole debate on. There’s a strong argument that a distinct, Scottish-based public service broadcaster could provide at least some incentive for the best artistic talent to spend more time pursuing their craft in Scotland, instead of being always drawn to the bright lights of London. To me, that’s far more important from a creative, cultural and economic standpoint than any news bulletin, however it is packaged.

I’ve been quite impressed with BBC Alba since it began, despite not having a word of the language myself. Of course, some folks will never be able to get past the fact that it’s in a ‘foreign’ language, and will bump their gums about their hard earned tax dollars being squandered on such a frivolity. However, my tax dollars are spent on aspects of BBC output which have zero interest for me – Radio 1, for instance. Eastenders. Formula 1 racing. But I’m still glad these things are there for others.

Clearly, given current viewing figures, BBC Alba’s content has an appeal which transcends the language barrier. If that’s what can be done on what is, let’s face it, a shoestring budget, then an English language Scottish channel could be just the thing to dip in and dip out of.

I was sceptical about a Scottish Channel when the Commission first produced its report, since maybe unusually for a supporter of independence, I was quite happy for the BBC to continue as was, but with a fairer distribution of resources and a Scottish ‘6’. Nonetheless, a new channel would give us the option of doing so much more than simply giving a better integrated roundup of world events as they relate to Scotland.

I can hear the squeals of anguish already. However, thanks to the wonders of digital TV, it’s possible for me to watch the BBC News for Oxfordshire or the Channel Islands if I so desire, just as it’s possible for me to skip Newsnight Scotland and carry on watching the Brit version post-11pm (as I sometimes do). If there were a ‘Scottish 6’ on BBC Scotland, you could still, if delicate sensibilities were offended, watch the UK-wide version. No-one need ever know your sordid little secret :-)

However, this is a matter on which most unionist minds in Westminster and Holyrood are closed. Given Labour’s shameful bullying of the BBC both pre- and post-Hutton, short of an SNP landslide at the next election to provoke a wholesale buying-off of Scottish public opinion, I just don’t see it happening.

Still, with this report from the BBC Trust, yet another of the arguments mustered previously against a Scottish-produced evening bulletin has fallen. If it’s not going to happen on BBC 1, let’s see what a new Scottish channel, with all the other attendant benefits for cultural life, is able to do instead.

With 9% of licence fees coming from Scotland which has just 8.5% of the UK population, you’re already paying for it but not getting it. And if you want to stick with the conventional UK-wide content, then with digital switchover you’ll be able to do exactly that. It’s not as if anyone’s going to be jamming the signal at Berwick, after all.

There's Nothing Like Being Organised...

Another day, another change in plan. The selection meeting for the next seat I'm in for has been postponed for a week, which means that I'm reverting to plan 'A' and am now on the train back to London using the ticket I'd bought earlier. It means returning again next week, of course, but frankly, the thought of living out of a suitcase as a 'guest' in Edinburgh for another week and a half when there's work to be done elsewhere didn't really appeal.

I have to admit, that thought came as a bit of a jolt to someone who considers himself to be an unreconstructed Edinburgher. London doesn't feel like home yet, and if I'm being honest it probably never really will. That said, while staying with my folks' and at friends' houses is all well and good, if you're like me, you still need to get back to somewhere that's 'yours' eventually. It's not so much that you no longer belong, but the feeling of being itinerant in a place where only a short while before you'd been fixed, is a strange one.

All this introspection is fine, but I'm going to try and balance it now with some blatant self-promotion. Iain Dale is in the process of publishing the GUIDE TO POLITICAL BLOGGING 2007, and as a trailer, is announcing various lists of what he and others consider to be the top blogs in their respective categories. In so doing, your gast will no doubt be flabbered to learn that the efforts of yours truly have made it to spot number 5 in the list of the top 20 Scottish Blogs.

All right, there wasn't a popular vote or anything, and the fact that they were chosen by Grant Thoms (who modestly left his own efforts out) means that they should more accurately be termed the 'Top 20 Scottish Blogs which didn't fall into any other category and aren't written by Grant Thoms'. Still, it appeals to my rampant sense of egomania in spite of that, and thanks go to Grant for inclusion. Just so long as he doesn't expect me to return the favour by attending any fringe meetings in Aviemore about windmills ;-)

"And Tonight, Matthew, I'm Going To Be Badly Overdrawn Boy"

In Edinburgh this week as the hunt for a seat continues, which means that my train ticket to travel back south on Wednesday is now surplus to requirements. I estimate that with cancelled flights and unused train tickets etc, I've spent the best part of £500 this month on journeys which I haven't been able to take.

Then there's the postage for writing to SNP members, the phone calls, the hotel rooms and the travelling I have actually undertaken. Oh, and I've also got a big upcoming repair to pay for on my flat in Portobello, and the car needs its first service. My credit card bills are going to be horrific this month - not so much a credit crunch as a payment crunch for me when the bills come in.

Anyway, I've got a meeting tonight with some SNP folk in Edinburgh, then having spent last night on a friend's couch, it'll be back to my folks' place for a couple of nights. It was always my intention to be a Westminster candidate for the SNP this time round, but with the accelerated selection process now underway, it's beginning to look as if my move to London has been very badly timed indeed - I think I've spent more time out in Edinburgh these last 3 months than I did when I lived here!

Back Home

I was back in Edinburgh this weekend to be vetted as a potential parliamentary candidate. It's been a while since I last stood as an SNP candidate, so this time I got the full treatment of an assessment session and interview alongside other hopefuls.

It was all good fun, though I will admit to a certain sense of relief at being excluded from the 'here's a random subject - go and talk on it for one minute, starting now', section of the day. I've done it many times before, but for me, it still falls into the category of a cruel and unusual punishment.

Anyway, it was good to get home for a bit, and to spend a bit more time with my friends than I managed when last up a fortnight ago, when I spent most of the weekend in a lecture theatre. I also managed to get a decent Sunday breakfast with the papers down at the Iso-Bar in Leith (a favourite haunt during the day, never been so keen at night). It defies all probability, but I still haven't found anywhere in London where its worth doing the same. Obviously I've been looking in completely the wrong places so far.

Family and friends have been saving the Evening News cheap GNER fares promo vouchers from the Evening News for me. I'm sure they'll come in very useful, as I've a feeling I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time in Scotland over the next few weeks as the SNP candidate selection process begins to get underway. Time to start hitting the phones and seeing into which rings it might be worthwhile throwing a hat...


Oh, yes. Almost forgot. I know I'm just adding in my own small way to the man's publicity machine, but any pangs about missing out on the Festival were dulled quickly when I saw Ricky Gervais' billboard above the Rutland, informing us all that he'd sold out his show at the Castle. I used to think his acting in 'The Office' was pretty good, but now I realise he was just being himself all along. What a pointless, obnoxious, irksome, seemingly unflushable excrescence the man truly is.

(Pic filched shamelessly from Bruce Dessau's blog on the Evening Standard site)

UPDATE: Since I posted the above, Ricky Gervais has apparently announced that any profits from the gig in question will go to MacMillan Cancer Relief, which makes me feel a bit bad for unloading on him like that. I'm sure he has quite a few reasons for so doing, none of which should detain us here, but credit where credit's due.

Valuable Lessons

That's me back flathunting again, having learned 2 extremely valuable lessons:

1. Never move in without meeting your flatmates first, and:
2. Never move in with someone whose parents are also the landlords.

That latter point is crucial. I received a letter from my landlord on Thursday night (written Tuesday) to the effect that it had been a mistake to allow me in with a cat; which took exception to my even asking whether it might be possible to allow someone in to feed the cat if we were both away; and which declared that their daughter and I were incompatible as flatmates.

The latter point is probably true - even from the (fewer than) 5 hours we've spent in eachother's company this and last week, I knew I'd be getting out of there at the first opportunity. However, after ploughing through all this verbiage, the nub of the matter quickly became apparent: the desire of their daughter to live closer to her work in Croydon and their need to sell up in order to buy another place for her.

I don't mind admitting to being a bit disconcerted at finding house schedules scattered over the floor on day 2, and having the house valuation explained away early in the week by their daughter on the grounds that 'it hadn't been done for a while', was frankly comical. However, to have this point justified on the grounds of 'your cat smells and our daughter doesn't like you', is more than a little insulting, and not only to the intelligence. To take in a tenant while considering selling up may not be against any code, but it doesn't strike me as straight dealing.

Anyway, on the upside, I'm back in Edinburgh today, having taken 10 1/2 hours to drive up yesterday through the worst rain I've ever experienced in my life. The cat is now staying with my old Stirling Uni mate Richard (of earlier co-driver fame), and no doubt will be spoiled rotten while she's there. I'd like to think it's only till I find somewhere else, but realistically, I think she's going to be there for good now. If the flat had worked out as planned it would have been fine, but it's not fair to risk having to keep shunting her about. It's a shame, but it's also probably for the best.

I'm also having a nice, relaxing day at my parents' house, with plenty of home cooking. My flat in Portobello is ready for my new tenant to move in the week after next (don't worry, Pat - you won't be getting kicked out so I can sell it!). So I'll be back for work on Monday morning, having to worry only about myself and finding a more suitable place to stay. And I also found out today that I passed my Accountancy exam resit. Things are getting better already :-)

Doing A Lambeth Walk

Made it. We set off at half-four this morning and were past Stafford by 9am. Everything was going really well until 2 sets of events conspired to spoil our time:

1. Cat trouble - I let the cat out of her box inside the van whenever we stopped, so she could move about for a bit. However, after getting back in her box good as gold at the first time of asking (Johnstonebridge), on the second occasion (Knutsford), she took it as her cue to disappear off underneath the driver's seat and then not come back out for half an hour...

2. The fact that Wimbledon, Live Earth at Wembley and the opening time trial of the Tour de France were all happening today in London. The latter event meant that Park Lane and lots of other roads in central London were shut, which made navigating the one-way systems of Mayfair, St James and eventually Chelsea, a total nightmare for a tourist like me. Satnav beckons, I fear.

Anyway, since it's such a nice night, I'm about to go out to explore some of Lambeth and hopefully unwind a bit. Maybe I'll even find a pleasant 'local' pub while I'm out. Here's hoping!

UPDATE: It seems that Richard #2 made it back to Edinburgh tonight after all. The mind boggles...

2-4-6-8 Motorway

The van's just about loaded up, the last minute errands have been run - all I need now is my co-driver, also Richard, and we're ready to go.

Plan is to have a couple of beers tonight, get to bed early, then set off about 4am tomorrow, with the aim of getting to London by lunchtime, and allowing Richard #2 to get back to Leith in time for last orders. It's a great idea on paper, but there's a very fine line sometimes between heroism and stupidity - I really can't see this one happening somehow. 'Smokey and The Bandit' or 'Max and Paddy'? You decide... :-)

But returning firmly to the side of heroism, I'll leave you with this question: should we be lobbying to get 'Smeat' added to the dictionary as an alternative spelling for 'smite'? ("And lo! Verily, didst not the Weegies smeat the terrorists?")

Resurfacing

Apologies to any regular readers for the lack of postings this week. I was at a wedding on Saturday, recovering on Sunday, driving to London on Monday, and flathunting both yesterday and today.
Reassuringly, my budget means I won't be in a complete hovel, though I'll admit my heart did sink a bit when the estate agent showed me a bedsit in St John's Wood for which they wanted the best part of a grand a month. That'll be right, as they say...

Luckily, there seems to be better value places around, especially in Ealing, where I am just now. I've one more place to check out tonight, which is apparently less than 10 minutes walk from Westminster, but with any luck, I should be sorted with somewhere to stay by close of play tomorrow. Then the fun can begin getting my place in Edinburgh ready to rent out.

First impressions? Mainly how relaxed everyone seems to be. I've thought for a while that Edinburgh was becoming quite an angry and aggressive little city. Londoners seem to make a better job of taking it all in their stride, probably because if you reacted to every door left to slam in your face or car cutting you up, you'd be dead from a heart attack in short order.

Anyway, time to go. I've got a hotel to find and a security pass to update. Thankfully I won't be negotiating the underground with this amount of luggage every day.