Few people throughout the UK can fail to have been touched by the devastating scenes we saw in Glasgow this week, in the aftermath of the police helicopter crash.
I visited Glasgow on Monday where I met the team of Fire, Police, Ambulance and Council staff in the command room and signed the book of condolence at the City Chambers.
I returned on Tuesday with the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg where we visited the crash site and met several of the emergency service staff who had been on duty on Friday night.
By Tuesday the helicopter was being moved and the end of the search and rescue operation was in sight. Talking to some of the people who had been there however it was clear that many were still coming to terms with what they had witnessed. Their professionalism was, as ever, quite remarkable but this was even more so when you understand that they were also dealing with the loss of their own colleagues.
On Monday after my first visit to Glasgow I made a statement to the House of Commons. The participants in this debate were mostly MPs from the West of Scotland but there were other voices from other parts of the UK offering comfort from their shared experiences.
I concluded that statement by stating that the spirit of the people of Glasgow was highlighted by way they had responded to this tragedy. I said: “Today I wear a badge given to me this morning by Cllr Gordon Matheson. It reads quite simply “people make Glasgow””
Later this week I was back in the Commons for the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. There was good news in this for Scots. As a result of the UK Government’s spending choices, the Scottish Government’s budget will see a net increase of £308million over the next two years.
£10 million will be provided over two years to support infrastructure projects in the Shetland Islands. We are exploring options for UK Government support in reserved areas for a City Deal in Glasgow and £10 million of funding will help create the Higgs Centre for Innovation in Edinburgh.
In addition while most UK departments will have to make savings of 1.1%, the Scottish Government’s budget will be reduced by less than 0.2%.
On Thursday I returned to Scotland to deliver the keynote speech to 1000 people at the Scottish Renewables Awards dinner in Edinburgh. The scale of this event shows that renewables are no longer an cottage industry. It is a dynamic sector contributing to the UK’s renewable energy targets.
2 comments
Comment by William Duguid posted on
Glad to see the blog's going so well, Alistair. Won't leave a comment, as I know you only like positive ones.
Comment by X_Sticks posted on
"A blog for people who want to keep up-to-date with news from Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael in the run up to the Scottish referendum."
Not much news then? It's gone very quiet on here. Guess I'll just heve to go to the BBC for the latest propaganda.