First Minister Alex Salmond has told
US businessman Donald Trump he is determined to ensure Scotland reaps the
benefits of offshore wind.
His comments came in the wake of a series of attacks by the entrepreneur on
the SNP's green energy drive.
From the BBC News website
Entrepreneur is a word oft-used to describe Donald Trump. There are other words used, particularly by some in the north-east of Scotland, to describe him but I can't repeat them here as I may fall foul of obscenity laws..
Mr Trump said recently Scotland was committing
"financial suicide" by wanting to create a "wind farm landscape" which would
kill off tourism. What's behind this rather far-fetched view is his vehement opposition to a wind farm being built off the coast of Aberdeenshire - and clearly visible from his all new, all dancing luxury golf course which he is just about to complete on the Menie Estate, just north of Aberdeen. His view that a wind farm will kill off tourism i.e. a possible threat to the numbers of big businessmen who will play at his golf course is yet another insult to those who opposed Trump's building of the course in the first place. Trump's plans to build a luxury hotel to accompany the course meant bulldozing the homes of some local residents. His view appears to be 'to hell with them, pay them big bucks, just do whatever it takes to get them out of there so I can have my own way.
One local man - Michael Forbes - has stood up to Trump from day one and refuses to budge from what has been his family home for decades. Trump's plans for his hotel have been thwarted thus far and his on-going and very public battle with Mr Forbes has seen Trump describe him as 'the village idiot'. Whatever your view on Mr Forbes, one can't but help admire him for standing up to Trump and just not letting him get his own way.
Now Trump has taken on Scotland's First Minister. Last month, he said that Alex Salmond would become known as 'Mad Alex' over his plans for the wind farms. Dignified as always, Big Eck has responded to Trump's diatribe thus:
"
It is my
belief that Scotland's great cities and ports are ideally placed to become a key
hub for the rapidly growing multi-billion pound offshore renewables
industry.
"Our waters are estimated to have as much as a quarter of Europe's potential
offshore wind energy, and we are perfectly positioned to develop the technology
that will power this renewables revolution.
I am determined that communities across Scotland will
benefit directly from offshore wind, which is forecast to generate about £30bn
of investment and lead to the creation of up to 28,000 Scottish jobs."
If Trump and his many hangers-on have difficulty understanding this, let me spell it out in direct Scots terms. The message from Alex Salmond and Michael Forbes, a hero of his time, is:
'Dinnae think ye can come here and dictate to our nation. Margaret Thatcher tried it 30 years ago - and her legacy is that Scotland is heading towards independence. So - get it right up ye, son.'
