"I spent three months in a tent in the late 1970s on an occupation of
the Torness nuclear power station site. "Developing" Scotland into
Britain's nuclear dustbin was to a large extent Dewar's idea, and he
railroaded this one through.
The resulting nuclear garbage will still be lethal for tens of thousands
of years after the Scottish Parliament building has been flattened by the
next Ice Age. That's Dewar's major gift to future generations."
More than Dewar's gift I think. The political establishment generally has
presented the nuclear with such a mixture of gullibility and self-interest
that doors have been opened whererever and whenever they've been asked for.
The same political establishment were pushing the military nuclear option
for all it was worth in the same period. All sorts of unpleasant
arrangements were made across the globe with all sorts of unpleasant people.
Donald Dewar and his like undoubtedly have all sorts of gruesome acts lying
in their accounts.........etc etc etc
And yet ... diatribe like this fails to capture the genuine sense of loss
that exists right across Scotland at the moment. Dewar belonged to the
"establishment" wing of a party I can no longer support. I deeply disagree
with much of what he stood for in his life - not least the circumscription
of powers of the wee beast of a parliament he fashioned. But it strikes me
that he was a decent man who was more than capable of defending his actions
and who fought his position well at key moments. The parliament is there
and will hopefully grow into something better.
I for one mourn his death.
Eric
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