Scottish Esperanto Congress 2004

I have just returned from the 99th Scottish Esperanto Congress. There is much to be said about it; but here are my initial thoughts.

Peebles is a marvellous town, and its having 150 Listed Buildings is no surprise. The surrounding countryside is enchanting: a symphony in green!

The Congress programme was rich and varied with some outstanding lectures.

The Congress venue, St. Joseph's Neighbourhood Centre, was first class; it is an excellent community resource, and was perfect for our Congress.

The visit to Abbotsford, the house of Sir Walter Scott, was a revelation. Scott was one of the Congress themes, and his house reveals so much of the literary genius who loved Scotland.

The Congress Banquet at the Park Hotel was a most enjoyable occasion: good food and wine, animated conversation, a most thoughtful welcome from Tricia Purvis of Borders Council, and an apposite speech from Hugh Reid, the President of the Scottish Esperanto Association.

More comments will follow here and on the Scottish site; but one decision must be mentioned: the 100th Scottish Congress will take place next June in the Priory House Hotel in Largs; Jean Bisset will preside.

Mallonga raporto pri la Skota Kongreso de Esperanto, Peebles, 2004.

European Elections in Scotland 2004

The European Elections take place on 10 June 2004. This communication is for members of the Esperanto community who live in Scotland, as the whole of Scotland is an electoral area.However, it can also hopefully provide some help for those who live in other parts of the United Kingdom.

Hopefully, you will be able to contact at least some candidates by email. Please indicate that you live in Scotland. A full list of candidates is provided here.

If you follow the links there to parties you will in some cases be given email addresses. If no email address is given (and creative searching is necessary on the Party sites), contact the candidate(s) c/o the Party HQ. But make certain that you email their Scottish HQ; if they are also a UK Party, emailing an English address will result in delay and perhaps no action. I have confirmed this with the Parties in Scotland.

Some small Parties are not really appropriate because of their ideologies; I am certain you know who I mean.

The candidates for each Party are ranked: those in the lower part of the list have no real chance of election by a PR system; but you may wish to make your point to all Party candidates for broader reasons, and that is, of course, legitimate.

What do you say? You are intelligent people who do not need a model; but you may wish to ask them, for example, if they really desire an EU which only uses English; if they agree with the recent proposal that everyone should learn 3/4 languages (including MEPs?); if they would agree that a neutral bridge language deserves consideration.

Concerning the last point there was a vote in the European Parliament a few weeks ago where the proposal re research concerning a bridge or pivot language (which would have looked at Esperanto in that role) was only lost by 20 votes. This was encouraging. The language problem in the EU is no joke, and our proposals are deadly serious.

You can find some more info from the BBC.

and:

Esperanto Britain


You are entitled to ask the Parties if they have any EU language policies: the accession of new EU members has considerable language implications; and this has been widely mentioned.

Time is short; so be realistic in choosing your targets, and please use moderate language; on the other hand, the Election is so low-key that I believe terse emails will be read. You may also know some friends of Esperanto who would join this campaign: European elections are infrequent; so this request is not unreasonable.

Please note any positive response, and keep in-touch with any MEP who has been positive. Remember that all the MEPs whp are elected for Scotland are your MEPs. Communications from their constituents appear to be rare: encourage them to earn that large salary!

Ĉi tiu blogo rilatas al la 2004a kampanjo por la Eŭropa Parlamento en Skotlando.

British Esperanto Congress 2004

This Congress took place in Felixstowe, England. Felixstowe is across the harbour from Harwich, which is a well known ferry port.

About 85 persons participated from various countries, including 5 from Scotland. The Congress venue was the Marlborough Hotel: comfortable and well situated beside the promenade.

The lecture programme was rich and varied; and in addition there were sessions for beginners and many discussion sessions.

The AGM of the Esperanto Association of Britain was well attended. There was vigorous debate, but a real sense of common purpose; and constitutional changes were solidly ratified.

The 6 Association Trustees were elected almost unanimously: John Wells, David Bisset, Joyce Bunting, Edmund Grimley Evans, Helen Fantom and Geoffrey Sutton.

The new President is Professor John Wells, who (in an important procedural change) was directly elected by the membership. John is Professor of Phonetics at London University, a former President of the World Esperanto Association (UEA) and President of the London Esperanto Club.

The Local Committee did well; and Felixstowe with its Edwardian streetscape, Martello towers and Landguard Fort certainly merits a visit.

Here is a link to some Congress photographs.