THE First Minister's much heralded summit on challenging the rise of the far-right was held in Glasgow yesterday.
Although it's to the credit of all those who participated, no great new ideas came out of the proceedings. Rather, it was a diagnosis of the problems that we can already see exist.
People are angry and disenchanted with politicians. Politics has become polarised and ill tempered – there is little tolerance for opposing views, and a widespread feeling that politicians are all the same and only in it for themselves. Too many people have become detached from the political process as they feel it doesn't make much of a meaningful difference to their lives.
Those who participated included Anas Sarwar for Scottish Labour, Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie from the Scottish Greens, Alex Cole-Hamilton for the Scottish LibDems and Alba's Ash Regan. It was to the credit of all of them that they were prepared to put their political differences to one side, at least for a day, in order to focus on a much bigger problem.
The Scottish Tories did not participate as they are far too busy chasing far-right votes and thus are part of the problem. The problem itself, in the shape of Reform UK, held a press conference outside the meeting during which they predictably complained that they're the real victims here and that their billionaire funded party with its millionaire private school educated leadership is challenging the “elites”.
Unfortunately there were few concrete proposals on offer from the attendees, but it's probably unfair to have expected much.
The rise of the far-right is a global phenomenon, driven by tech media algorithms, the yawning and ever-widening chasm between rich and poor, the capture of political parties by corporate interests, a media which is itself ultimately owned by those same corporate interests and which is all too willing to act as a mouthpiece for far right figures and their talking points – and in the case of some social media platforms, actively promoting far-right propaganda and misinformation. Facebook and Twitter in particular are toxic stews of malice and ignorance.
All of these issues are bigger than the powers that the Scottish Parliament possesses and as such Holyrood has only a very limited ability to tackle them.
A case in point was the press questioning put to the summit's participants, questioning which was more focused on which toilet a trans person should use than on the inability of young people to find stable and rewarding jobs, secure housing, and their radicalisation by social media. You might think that our media would have more pressing concerns than how to check the genitals of people who just want to pee in peace.
Still, the summit was a start.
Actual fascists demonstrated outside the meeting, that perennial staple of far right Anglo-British nationalist extremism. Manky Shirt Man himself, the Holocaust denying Alistair McConnachie and a small gaggle of his racist pals – including former BNP organisers John Robertson and Max Dunbar – were there holding banners demanding mass deportations now.
Zonal energy pricing?
Talk of a zonal energy market has become popular recently. A zonal energy market would mean different areas of the UK would pay different rates for their electricity, based on local supply and demand.
The idea is especially popular in energy-rich Scotland, where it's claimed that a zonal UK energy market could result in Scots having some of the cheapest electricity bills in Europe, something which would encourage many to change their gas boilers for electric powered heat pumps and go a long way to reducing carbon emissions as well as promoting energy security.
Octopus Energy has claimed that with its massive wind powered electricity generating capacity Scotland could have the “cheapest electricity in Europe” and could even have free power at times if zonal pricing was introduced in the UK energy market.
Unlike electricity generated by fossil fuels, renewable generated electricity – like that produced by the wind farms dotted all over the Scottish landscape and around our coasts – incurs no ongoing fuel costs, and no need to import fossil fuels whose price is subject to the vagaries of the international markets.
Once the capital costs of installing the necessary infrastructure have been covered, the sole cost is the relatively minimal price of maintenance and upkeep. Wind farms harvest free and infinite energy.
However, due to the current structure of the UK energy market Scots are paying higher energy bills in order to keep electricity prices lower in other parts of the UK. Energy policy is reserved to Westminster.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is reported to be considering the introduction of a zonal energy market but the plan is likely to meet stiff opposition as it would probably result in consumers in south east England paying more for their electricity as it would no longer be subsidised by consumers in the rest of the UK.
However, Miliband appeared to rule out the idea if it resulted in higher electricity prices in some parts of the UK, telling LBC Radio: “I'm not going to take a decision that is going to raise prices in some parts of the country. That is not what I’m going to do.
“Honestly, this is about reforms to cut prices for people, that is my absolute bottom line here.”
Sorry Scots, it doesn't matter if your country is literally the powerhouse of the UK, pumping out vast quantities of cheap electricity, you're going to continue to pay some of the highest electricity bills in Europe in order to keep bills lower in London. It's one of those Union benefits they keep telling us about.
Speaking on BBC Scotland Debate Night, pro-independence activist and broadcaster Lesley Riddoch urged people to get angry about the energy crisis saying: “What the Highlands have got is energy.
“Massive, massive amounts of renewable energy – the profits of which are going everywhere else but the Highlands.
“The Highlands should have no energy bills, they've got so much potential.
“There's so much potential here, but because of the pricing of energy in the United Kingdom, which is a Westminster responsibility, we end up having renewables priced at the expensive rate of gas.”
