IT is nearly Christmas again and the tills are ringing but it seems that many people are holding back because of the recession.

SO it is almost Christmas again, an increasingly commercial occasion I regret to say. It has become one of the biggest spending periods of the year, perhaps the biggest by far and as such it has a big effect on our high streets and wider economy.

AT this time of year, it is encouraging that more people are willing to report drink drivers and less people are willing to take the risk of losing their licence by driving whilst under the influence of alcohol.

THE last time I wrote in these pages, I made a prediction: the return of Peter Mandelson to the Cabinet will not work.

THE HBOS takeover by Lloyds TSB has to be seriously questioned. I spoke in the Scottish Parliament debate on Thursday, October 30 of the need to learn from past mistakes and for a European-wide agreement for smart regulation.

TODAY, Friday, is "Wear it Pink" day when the Breast Cancer Campaign asks people to donate £2 and wear an item of pink for the day. I will be doing just that and ask all of you to consider doing the same whether you are young or old, at work, at school or just at home.

AT the time of writing this article we are still in the midst of the most astonishing events in the world's financial markets. By the time you are reading this who knows what will have happened, such is the pace at which events are occurring and the unpredictable nature of all of those events.

CONSERVATIVES met recently for our national conference in Birmingham and the entire programme was dominated, and rightly so, by economic circumstances.

WESTMINSTER has reconvened this week, amidst deepening financial clouds right across the horizon. In some ways such gloom and sense of even greater foreboding to come makes the reappearance of Peter Mandelson, the Prince of Darkness himself, seem one of ironic appropriateness.

THE huge fall-out from the credit crunch has dominated First Minister's Questions for three weeks on the proposed merger of HBOS with Lloyds TSB. Obviously the two banks have branches here in Dingwall, for how long?

LET me set the scene — a "threatening to rain" watery day in Stavanger (Norway) at the end of last month, and six MPs and MSPs are ushered through the smoked glass doors of oil giant ConocoPhillips.

THE new parliamentary session is now well under way. It's good to be back, even though during a busy summer in the Highlands, I never did manage to quite finish the list of things needing done around the house!

I DROVE past the new Dingwall Academy the other day — it was looking splendid, shining, new and with a high maintenance future guaranteed for years and years to come. Sadly we are not going to see many other new schools coming on stream. The Scottish Government have got themselves into a total fankle over their so-called Scottish Futures Trust.

IT IS back to Edinburgh this week for the start of the 10th year of the Scottish Parliament. There are always changes happening in the Parliament and this year is no different.

EARLIER this week, my good friend and colleague Tavish Scott was elected as the new leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

SUMMER sun, turquoise skies, black clouds and incredible downpours featured strongly in the past couple of weeks in Ross-shire.

I WONDER how old I was when I first went to the Black Isle Show?

I DECIDED TO go to the West coast for a bit of the recess, this time the Canadian West coast, a first for me. Some years ago when a councillor I spent a very enjoyable trip visiting Nova Scotia and Cape Breton and have also visited Toronto.

CONGRATULATIONS to Ross County for getting the new football season off to a winning start last Saturday.

THE ambulance service in the Highlands has been in the local news for many years, particularly relating to single-crewing.

LAST time I had the chance to write something in these pages, I dwelt upon the economic difficulties which have engulfed Gordon Brown's premiership.

A MOMENTOUS parliamentary year came to an end two weeks ago. It has been a year of achievement and one which is gradually changing the country for the better. Also two weeks ago the SNP/Independents administration formally ended. I hope that the new administration will carry on the progressive and radical policies which the SNP group brought to Highland Council.

"FORTY years on, when afar and asunder, parted are those who are singing today, When you look back, and forgetfully wonder, what you were like in your work and your play..."

SCOTTISH parents and children have recently been enduring the annual ritual of reading school report cards. From my own schooldays and as a dad I well remember the anxious business of that envelope being opened.

THE golf season is well under way. Golf disproves the maxim that practice makes perfect, certainly in my case! It is a deeply frustrating game, but its allure is legendary — my father has started playing again at the age of 91 after a bad back last year. It shows you are only as old as you feel.

THE new minority SNP government in Scotland provides challenges for both local and national government. Nationally, it is leading to a more mature politics as the government seeks support for its policies before bringing them to the Parliament.

WE are often told that a week is a long time in politics. Accordingly, a year is an eternity. The current Prime Minister must know that all too well by now. His anniversary later this month seems unlikely to be a happy one.

THE Crewe and Nantwich by-election delivered a timely blow to New Labour south of the border. One paper put it down to the three Fs finance, fuel and food.

IT WAS strange peering through the window, and into the room where I used to work — let's see, over 25 years ago.

MORE great news. The additional £40 million per year identified by Lord Sutherland in his report as vital for the delivery of Free Personal and Nursing Care (FPNC) across Scotland will be met by the Scottish Government.

SUMMER is almost upon us and the beauty of Ross-shire will once again open itself to a (hopefully) large number of tourists.

MY LAST notebook concentrated on health issues and for this edition I'd like to discuss the younger generation.

I WAS much saddened to learn the recent news of the passing, aged 77, of Duncan J MacPherson — long-standing stalwart and former local councillor for his home area of Fortrose.

I HAVE often stated that every community needs to feel included for the nation to flourish.

THIS is a historic week for Scotland and the SNP. On Tuesday of this week, April 1, a raft of new policies have come into effect which include:

THE political world can be brutal and uncompromising, it is often noted for its caustic personal remarks and the constant argument between the political parties. It is said that politicians only attend each other's funerals to make sure the other is definitely dead!

IN the Scottish Parliament I represent constituents in the Highlands and Islands and am also the Scottish Conservatives spokesman for health. Since my last notebook much of my work has been on health issues but I am sure that readers will agree that health always matters.

SO — after literally hundreds of responses from across the Highlands — the consultation exercise over 28 proposed post office closures has now reached its end.

THE political carve-up of Ross-shire continued last week when the boundary commission redrew constituencies of the Highlands for the Scottish elections in 2011.

I SPENT a very enjoyable afternoon with the Easter Ross Community Wardens in Alness the other day.

THE festive period is now behind us, although you might not think so given that adverts are already in the papers and on the TV suggesting next year's presents.

JANUARY was nothing if not eventful in politics. It is difficult to know where to begin.

EVERY week a new campaign seems to be launched to protect our way of life such as countering the threat to local post offices and the shortage of affordable housing across the land.

HER Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) has reported this week that they are pleased with improvements to school food provided by the Hungry for Success scheme.

THE SNP reached the end of 2007 having had the most successful year ever for the party, myself included, and for the future of Scotland.

MY Christmas break involved a special family re-union to celebrate my parents 60th wedding anniversary.

WHAT a year it has been. For some full of woes, for our small nation Scotland, a leap forward in May that mirrors the growing confidence of our people ready to face the challenges of a modern and dangerous world, but on our own two feet!

IT IS a tough time to be a Highland Councillor. The Highland Council has emerged, along with several other Scottish councils, at the very bottom of the league table of annual increases in funding just announced by the Scottish Government.

IT IS great fun being an SNP MSP in Edinburgh where our new minority Government is tackling many longstanding issues in a positive and ambitious way.

ROSS-SHIRE was the host to a truly remarkable musical performance last month. Strathpeffer Pavilion – a simply superb venue and worth every penny of its restoration cost – hosted the third annual showcase of the Scottish Schools Centres of Excellence in Music.

"I DON'T believe it!" was my response when a friend of mine said that the Highland Council debt was over £500 million.

AT their best, elections bring with them competing ideas for the future. Governments inherit the task of turning ideas into action — and the real challenge is very often doing that while making the books balance.

FOR Scots of a sporting frame of mind and who value a positive gain from the taxes we pay, this is a key week.

IT IS not every day that you get to fulfil a lifetime ambition but that was what I was able to do last weekend.

THIS week Ross-shire marks the anniversary of last year's flooding of Dingwall, Strathpeffer and many other parts of Ross-shire.

IT IS the essence of politics to continually seek to find the Holy Grail, the magic policy that makes voters want to vote for your party.

FOR Gordon Brown and his closest advisors, it is all over bar the recriminations.

THE extreme worry of farmers and crofters about the future of their stock and whether it would begin to starve due to foot and mouth disease FMD restrictions has been relaxed this week under strict biosecurity rules.

SINCE I last wrote the Parliament's summer recess has come and gone and much work lies ahead including, possibly, a snap UK Election in the next month or so. Indeed, you may already know by the time you read this article.

ONE of the joys of not being in government (there aren't many) is more time.

IT IS back to Edinburgh, to the Nationalists, with their new found charm, the grumpy Labour Party and the Lib Dems.

WE are emerging from what politicians and journalists traditionally refer to as the 'silly season'.

THIS week I took part in the first away day of the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee in this new parliamentary session.

I KNEW what you put on your boiled egg, and I knew about the salt mines in Siberia, but I had never quite connected that during the 17th and 18th centuries there had been a successful salt production industry based in Brora.

IT'S August again and the schools are set to go back, so the weather is bound to improve and we can hope for less rain!

IT’S now three months since the third Scottish Parliament was elected, and a very different Parliament to the one I left in April 2006.

AFTER a gap, it's a great pleasure to write for the Ross-shire again. I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts on what's going on with Ross-shire readers from time to time over the coming months.

IT’S raining — mid July, still raining. I haven’t seen anything like it, rain without remission it seems. Funnily enough, its arrival coincides with Alex Salmond becoming First Minister — perhaps the gods are angry!

TO BE the new boy in any establishment is a daunting experience but to be the last MSP to be elected to the Scottish Parliament, and the majority of one for the SNP, was a totally overwhelming experience.

It’s been a very busy two months or so for me since I was privileged enough to be re-elected as one of the Highlands and Islands Regional MSPs at the election.

SEVERAL weeks ago, when my party leader Nicol Stephen walked into my (beautiful; more of that anon) Holyrood office one evening and offered me the convenership of the Scottish Parliament's Subordinate Legislation Committee, I was surprised. Nay, I was astonished.

ONE photograph in a recent edition of the Ross-shire has caught my eye. It was the photo of Tain Royal Academy taken 33 years ago on a school trip which showed pupils clearly enjoying themselves. It took me back to my own school days and a recent re-acquaintance with school pals.

IT'S good to be back to serve you as Regional MSP. I received nearly double the votes of 2003 which helped the SNP to pull ahead as the biggest single party in Holyrood and now form a minority government.

IT is great to be back in Parliament, and to follow Maureen Macmillan in penning some thoughts for the Ross-shire Journal.

IT has been a busy time where fish are concerned, with two days spent at a discussion on rebuilding cod stocks, my report on funding for Regional Advisory Councils going through committee, an interview with someone doing research on them, the Commission announcing its plans to stop fish being discarded and a meeting about maritime policy more generally.

THERE is growing public concern across the Highlands and Islands over the centralisation of health services.

LAST March Scottish Water lost its way and its chairman. In a debate initiated by the SNP I argued that the Government’s stewardship of the public water utility needed a shake-up.

CLIMATE change has been in the news again recently, with the publication of the latest report from the Inter- governmental Panel on climate change.

THERE is a lot to write about this month — lots of good news, I think, and much of it depends on women power.

I TABLED a motion on Monday of this week: and, believe you me, there was no pun intended.

WE’RE getting closer and closer to May’s elections —elections which are an opportunity for real change locally — and there is little doubt that the public across Scotland is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the failing Liberal Democrat and Labour Scottish Executive.

TODAY we live in one of the officially designated Crofting Counties with even fewer crofters than 30 years ago when Willie McRae came close to winning the Ross and Cromarty seat for the SNP.