One Down, Two To Go

Just like a semi decent striker faced with an open goal, Nick Clegg coolly slammed the ball into the back of the net last night. He probably couldn’t believe his luck when talk of the debates was first suggested. He would take centre stage on an equal footing with the two main parties in British politics.

And having been given the chance, he did not pass it up. The Lib Dems no doubt agonised for days over which tactics they should employ, but Clegg pulled them off masterfully. Having said that, Brown and Cameron didn’t do all that badly, it’s just that Clegg did better.

He looked relaxed, down to earth with his hands in his pockets, but probably most importantly – believable. And that seems to be resonating in the latest polls with the Lib Dems gaining significant ground on Labour. In fact, Political Betting is suggesting that they might have overtaken them tonight.

Of course, if someone is winning, then someone inevitably has to be losing out. And the fear for the parties that were not involved in last night’s debate is that it might be them. But after saying that the SNP was irrelevant, Clegg might have actually given the SNP a boost. People, I don’t imagine, will like to hear someone calling their governing party irrelevant.

But does Scotland matter to anybody anymore? Just about half the questions last night started with, “This question is about issues that are devolved in Scotland,” which essentially meant it is irrelevant to Scotland.

If the Tories get into Downing Street which thankfully is looking less and less likely, there will be even less people around who care about Scotland.

So use your vote wisely on May 6th!

Money, Money, Money

After three days of campaigning, there is little doubt what this election is going to be fought on.

How to tackle the deficit.

The Tories will cut services.

Labour will increase taxes.

The Lib Dems will do something in between.

That is the long and short of it, so please do not let the parties bang on about the same thing for the next 27 days. We want the public engaged, not sick of hearing the same things over and over again.

Democracy Day

In a desperate attempt to appeal to the Lib Dems, Gordon Brown has set out plans for a “Democracy Day.”

This will see Britain having a say on which voting system they would want future Westminster elections to use. It would also see the possibility of an elected House of Lords.

But still there is no referendum on Scottish independence.

Why I hear you ask! Because apparently it isn’t the right time, according to Labour, because of the economic downturn.

There are two striking points that come from this.

Firstly, if Labour is to be believed, we are on our way out of the economic downturn.

Secondly, if they are not to be believed and in actual fact we are still in the middle of an economic downturn, how is it possible to hold referenda on a host of other important constitutional things and not Scottish independence?

I would ask Gordon Brown, but judging by today’s performance, he doesn’t take too kindly to members of the public asking him anything!

And they're off! (again!!)

So the election campaign has officially started. Although we all know that it has been unofficially being going on for the best part of three years. Ever since Brown stalled over the decision to go to the polls way back in 2007.

And what three years it has been! Despite announcing over 100 times (according to BBC Radio 5) that he has conquered over boom and bust, Gordon Brown was at the helm when we delved into the worst recession for almost 100 years.

At least we did enjoy a bit of cross party consensus in that three years. Just a shame it was a consensus on how to manipulate the MP expenses system to the detriment of the taxpayer, many of whom were in the process of being made redundant at the time.

So exactly who are we to trust with our vote in the forthcoming election? Well, we will get a glimpse in the upcoming “Leadership Debates”. Although not all the leaders are taking place and many of the issues they will be discussing are devolved in Scotland to the Scottish Parliament.

We could look at the latest ratings, which have Brown on –28, Cameron on +17 and unbelievably Clegg on +31.

Indeed this election could potentially be the beginning of something really big for the Lib Dems, despite my previous blog! Clegg’s popularity seems to keep growing and growing and that is even before he has taken to the stage in equal billing with Brown and Cameron. Vince Cable, their treasury spokesman, was one of the few people who came out of this recession with increased credibility. And they could be on the verge of holding the key to power in this general election should the Tories or Labour fall short of an overall majority. Although I think they will still do well to secure 16 MPs in Scotland.

Similarly, Alex Salmond is hoping his SNP MPs are the ones holding the key to power. However, getting to his target of 20 SNP MPs would be nothing short of a minor miracle.

The next 4 weeks are certainly going to be interesting and you can discuss it all at Our Scotland.