The 'Our Scotland' Blog

History In The Making

2011-05-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

Another election is consigned to the history books. And it will be referenced as one of the most remarkable elections of all time.

When the campaign started six long weeks ago, it looked as if Labour were heading towards having the largest number of seats in Holyrood. Fast forward to 16.00 this afternoon and the SNP have an unprecedented majority.

Anyone with a passing interest in Scottish politics will have witnessed how things in the campaign (Subway-gate) started to go against Iain Gray. So a Labour defeat would have come as no surprise.

What definitely came as a surprise was the sheer scale of the defeat and the SNP victory.

From the initial victories in Labour heartlands in South Lanarkshire, to the last gains in Labour heartlands in Fife the results were one way traffic. Or a tsunami, which became the favourite phrase of the night. Perhaps ironically, the seat that gave the SNP overall majority was Kirkcaldy, right in Gordon Brown’s backyard.

The Labour vote actually held up quite well despite the lacklustre and negative campaign they conducted. It was just that the SNP vote sky rocketed.

The reason for this was probably three-fold. Firstly the Lib Dem voters brought retribution to the party for their part in the coalition and walked en bloc to the SNP. Secondly the SNP fought, for the most part, a positive campaign. And finally there is the S factor. Salmond. He was head and shoulders above the other party leaders throughout this election campaign and looked the only one suitable of holding the keys to Bute House.

Firmly on Salmond’s radar now, is a referendum on Scottish independence.

Now that is a referendum worth having!

Election Week

2011-04-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

As we enter election week, I don’t think I can take much more excitement! Some people are claiming this has been a boring campaign. Indeed there have been long periods where not very much has happened. But there is nothing like refreshing your Twitter page every two or three minutes, searching blogs and checking out our website to get the latest information from the campaign trail!

Or is it that I am just sad?!

Well, whatever, the latest news from the election is that the Scotland on Sunday and the News Of The World have both come out in favour of Alex Salmond.

And the latest polls show the SNP maintaining their lead in the polls. The latest Mail on Sunday poll has the SNP leading by 10 points on the constituency vote and 5 points on the regional vote.

The Scotland on Sunday poll shows SNP ahead by 8 points on the regional and 2 points ahead on the constituency votes.

Given that at the 2007 election, the SNP shaded the constituency vote by 1 point and the regional vote by 2 points, they seem to have an unassailable lead!

But the polls are contracting a little bit in favour of Labour. And as the most famous saying in politics goes:

A week is a long time in politics.

Final Week

2011-04-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

As election day draws ever closer, the excitement continues to build. In stark contrast to the 2010 Westminster election, I think there will be a lot of seats changing hands.

Indeed the Lib Dems are facing electoral annihilation. Their plight isn’t likely to be helped by the fact that Nick Clegg hit the campaign trail with them today!

If the polls are to be believed, the Labour Party are facing a struggle. Iain Gray, our potential next First Minister, may be under pressure in his own constituency of East Lothian.

The SNP are flying high in the polls and on some predictions may even return an unimaginable majority.

The Tories will do as they always do in Scotland – not very well!

The Greens, again according to the polls, are in line for a good result. This could see them potentially in a position to form a coalition with the SNP. I think this would be the most appealing outcome of the election.

Firstly it will start to move legislation forward. For example, instead of the alcohol bill being opposed for oppositions sake, a formal coalition would be able to make progress which would bring about benefits for the whole of Scotland.

Secondly, having a Green partner as part of the Government might bring a new dimension to decision taking, putting more emphasis on protecting the environment. This can only be for the benefit of a future Scotland and our children.

Finally, an SNP/Green coalition would bring about an independence referendum. Salmond and co would have no excuse for delaying it any longer. Let’s have it. Let’s decide Scotland’s future.

So how does one vote for an SNP/Green coalition? SNP constituency vote / Green regional vote? I’ve still to decide on that one!

Crest Of A Wave

2011-04-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

With just under two weeks until polling day, the SNP have surged into the lead in the opinion polls, being double digits ahead of Labour on both the constituency and the regional vote. The interesting thing about that is the poll was taken before the Scottish Sun came out and backed the SNP.

If the support was to hold, then the SNP would be close to having a majority in the Scottish Parliament. If the Greens do as well as predicted, then an alliance/coalition/agreement (whatever you want to call it), could be on the cards and an independence referendum just around the corner.

But as anybody in politics knows, two weeks is an eternity. Salmond must ride this wave crest all the way onto the beach and back into Bute House.

The alternative is altogether too grim to contemplate!

Now make the choice

2011-04-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

The SNP are the last major party to launch their manifesto, which is due tomorrow. Then we will know where everyone stands. But are they standing in relatively the same place?

Anyway, I will be waiting with interest to see how much weight is given to independence in the SNP manifesto. If it is a token gesture, then I and many others, will be deeply disappointed.

Short Of Ideas?

2011-04-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

What is the point? Just what is the point?

The BBC commissioned a poll to look at which “policies” hold the biggest sway with the Scottish electorate.

Coming out on top was the reduction of cancer waiting times, which is fair enough. But the majority of the list just fills me with despair.

The second and third top choices were to do nothing at all, because the policies have already been achieved! In fact that is the case for 4 of the top 10.

Is that all we expect of our politicians? Do we not want policies that will improve our country? Just policies that will keep it the same, or change it around the edges?

The Cosla president, Pat Watters, was spot on when he said we are being fed rubbish from the party manifestos.

Where is the vision?

Hope or Fear?

2011-04-08T14:51:00.001-07:00

Are we really going to trust Labour to run the country after the election? Surely if this week’s manifesto launch was anything to go by, then it just demonstrates what a bad decision that would be.

You could tell it was going to be a bad day before Iain Gray could even take to the stage at the manifesto launch at Clydebank College, as the fire alarm went off forcing everyone out in the rain.

When he did eventually take to the stage, he starts saying how the Tories are destroying the NHS. Did I miss something? Have we entered a time machine and been transported back to 1979?

Newsflash - The Tories don’t look after the NHS in Scotland!

And to bleat on about how awful Maggie Thatcher was, is insulting to the Scottish electorate. Every man and his dog hates the way Scotland was treated by Maggie Thatcher, but that was nearly a quarter of a century ago. Most of us have moved on from that and are facing forward!

I was going to write further about the monumental Labour manifesto gaffe and the totally uninspiring Labour PPB, but I think I might have stumbled on the reason the SNP is more likely to get my vote.

Labour is all about fear. Be afraid of the past, the dirty Tories. Be afraid of change, stick to what you have got and be grateful for it.

SNP is about looking forward. Let’s take hold of our own destiny. Let’s look forward to new challenges. How can we shape a future Scotland that will benefit its people?

I know which Scotland I want to be a part of.

Lib Dems Launch Manifesto

2011-04-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

The Liberal Democrats are the latest party to launch their election manifesto. There is no mention of a student pledge in this manifesto though! Although, there is a committment to, "Keep university education free."

Yeah, so they say!

In fact the detail is struggling to get through the frenzy of questions about John Farquhar Munro. If the retiring MSP's intention was self promotion or derailing the already faltering Lib Dem election push, then his timing couldn't have been better.

Indeed, Alex Salmond the master of opportunity himself, couldn't have played it any better. As Jeff at Better Nation eloquently put it - Salmond bags a Munro.

Salmond Best For First Minister

2011-04-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

You know it is going to be a long hard campaign when firstly you are consistently polling in single percentage points. Secondly, you lose two candidates before the race has even begun. And finally, one of your most experienced MSPs comes out with his personal endorsement of a leader for an opposition party for First Minister.

Yeah, the Lib Dems retiring MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, John Farquhar Munro, has come out and said that he reckons the Alex Salmond would make the best First Minister.

A number of people must be raging at this move by Munro.

Firstly Tavish Scott, who apparently looks like Steve Davis, would expect the backing of everybody in the Liberal Democrats before an election. Even though he has next to no chance of being First Minister, I think he would reasonably be expecting his MSPs to say that he is the best candidate.

Secondly, Alan MacCrae, the new Lib Dem candidate for the new seat of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch must be thinking, “Gee, thanks mate!” With this endorsement of Salmond the electorate will be left to interpret whether a vote for the SNP is in order.

Finally, Annabel Goldie must be spitting silver spoons out of her mouth. The Tories launched their manifesto today, but this has been relegated in the news because of Munro. So we don’t get to hear about reinstatement of prescription charges or the introduction of student fees.

It will be interesting to see whether this intervention will have any effect on the outcome of the seats in the Highlands and Islands.

The Excitemtent Builds

2011-04-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

Ever since the polling card with my name on it came crashing through the door yesterday, it has been restlessly demanding to be taken to the nearest polling booth so it can voice its political opinion!

Calm down, I say.

But the polling card is having none of it. There is political literature trickling through the door every day with parties vying for its vote. There is placards on the lamp posts. There is countless TV interviews. There is leadership debates. It is all coming to a head and will culminate in a crescendo of silence as the ink dries on the X against the voting slip.

What? There is more than one than one voting slip? Surely the Gould Report should have been listened to, with different votes taking place on different days? The slips have different colours? Ah, I am sure that will prevent the chaos of last time!

All that is required now is to sit back and watch the results flood in. What? Some votes will not happen overnight? What a disaster! Surely the sheer drama, excitement, highs, lows, memorable moments etc etc will be dampened down if we don't have an overnight count?

One thing is for sure, they could have the count for Coatbridge and Chryston, the constituency I live in, next December, but you would still know the outcome on Thursday 5th May. As Jeff at Better Nation put it in his excellent analysis of the Central Scotland - Easy Labour Hold.

Will the SNP hold onto power though?

The excitement is building!!

Lib Dem Phenomenon

2011-03-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

Cast your mind back 11 months to the general election of 2010. At that point everyone “agreed with Nick” and the Lib Dems were flying high in the polls. Indeed some commentators were forecasting a major breakthrough for them which was going to smash the duopoly of the Tories and Labour.

When the results came in, the reality was significantly different. The Lib Dems actually lost seats, even though they did eventually hold the balance of power.

Fast forward to 2011 and the forthcoming Holyrood elections and I am wondering if we are seeing the same thing happen again, this time in reverse? In poll after poll, the Lib Dems are getting a beating, polling in the mid single figures repeatedly. The Green Party has actually been polling better than them recently!

So come election day, can they turn it around and at least avoid the current electoral apocalypse that is currently being predicted?

I think it will depend on a large part on what extent the public can detach what is happening at Westminster to what is going on at Holyrood. For example will the electorate punish the Lib Dems for their part in the decisions such as spending cuts, or will they save that for the Westminster election?

A further complication will be whether the electorate hold the Lib Dems accountable for matters that don’t directly concern the people of Scotland? For example tuition fees outwith Scotland. The Lib Dems had campaigned vigorously against tuition fees in the run up to the election, yet when they got a sniff of power, they not only abandoned their principles, they actually introduced the bill to increase the charges.

So how is this likely to play out in Scotland?

The Highlands and Islands are probably the safest bet for the Lib Dems and they should retain their 4 seats there. The other seats could go either way. But it is in the North East where the Lib Dems face possibly the biggest threat. Being associated with a tax on oil companies that puts thousands of jobs at risk is not a clever election strategy.

I wonder if the Lib Dems are regretting which coalition they did and didn’t enter into over the last few years?!

Polls Getting Closer

2011-03-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

The latest poll on voting intentions for the imminent Holyrood elections makes for very interesting reading. The SNP, who were previously trailing in the polls, have now closed the gap considerably. Indeed, there is practically nothing to choose between Labour and the SNP in the TNS-BMRB poll.

Perhaps the more interesting thing over the last few months though, has been the collapse of the Lib Dem vote. Their lost vote and who benefits from it may prove to be one of the things that decide this election. Logic indicates that their vote would transfer to the Labour Party.

Running the poll through the Scotland Votes model, shows that the Lib Dems would be on course to lose 8 seats (50% of their 2007 achievement). Looking at their eleven constituency seats, the SNP came second in seven. Labour came second in three and the Tories one. However, if these seats were to exchange hands in that proportion, what would that do to the SNP regional allocation of seats? This would undoubtedly reduce the 26 regional seats the SNP managed to achieve last time.

One thing is for sure, it is shaping up to be a really interesting election with the result completely unpredictable.

Only 37 days to go!

Over and Out!

2011-01-14T13:34:00.000-08:00

Well the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election has come and gone and it was Labour that limped over the line. Is this an endorsement for Ed Milliband? I hardly think so!! The Lib Dems are failing to get into double figures in the national polls, yet the pushed Labour all the way in this one.

The Tories trailed a distant third, giving weight to the idea that they had an agreement with the Lib Dems not to push all that hard.

So what does this mean for the Scottish elections in May? Absolutely nothing I think!

What may be more significant was the announcement today that Amazon is going to generate nearly a thousand jobs for Scotland. Ian Gray and his Labour buddies were due to campaign on the basis of getting jobs for Scotland. But with today’s announcement, it looks as if Alex Salmond already has that covered.

First Electoral Test

2011-01-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

The first electoral test of 2011 is just a week away, when the constituents of Oldham East and Saddleworth will choose a new MP.

This was a three way marginal back at election time with the Labour Party emerging victorious by just 103 votes.

Of course those 103 votes may have been unfairly gained and Phil Woolas has been subsequently stripped of his seat. How is this likely to affect the Labour vote?

If it has a big effect, then the Lib Dems, who came second last time, are hoping they will be the beneficiaries. However, their votes were gained last time while they were riding the crest of the election wave. Both the Lib Dems and Nick Clegg’s poll ratings were continually high. Fast forward eight months and things are oh so different. The Lib Dems are barely making double figures in polling these days and Nick Clegg wouldn’t have been on many people’s Christmas card list!

So all the votes will go to the Tories, right? Well I severely doubt it. The Tories are doing their best to get all the unpleasant measures out of the way early in this term of office, such as the recent rise in VAT to 20% (which is a permanent rise by the way). Plus, the rumours going around are that they have an unofficial agreement with their coalition partners, the Lib Dems, not to campaign too hard.

So it may not be a case of who is going to win this by-election, but more a case of who is not going to lose it.

Happy New Year!!

2010-12-31T13:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

Well, it is another election year and the build up to the Holyrood elections in May is well and truly on.

Both Alex Salmond and Iain Gray gave an indication of what the election will be fought in their recent addresses.

Salmond is suggesting a vote for the SNP will be a vote towards economic independence for Scotland.

Gray is suggesting a vote for Labour will be a vote towards more jobs for Scotland.

Can I just remind people of previous assertions made by politicians?

Back in 2007, Salmond said an SNP government would bring about a referendum on Scottish independence. Well, where is it?!

Back in 2010, Labour said a vote for them would keep the Tories out of Westminster. Well Scotland voted for Labour in their droves and still ended up with a Tory government in Westminster.

Back in 2010, the Lib Dems said……. Ah, that one would take too long!

So if you want to let off steam about politicians or just to discuss politics in general, join us over at Our Scotland.

To Ring Fence Or Not To Ring Fence

2010-08-07T15:39:00.000-07:00

Watched John Swinney on Newsnight the other night. Talk about making a pigs ear of it!

Firstly the stance he first took a few weeks ago saying that the NHS funding would be ring-fenced was completely untenable. The NHS accounts for about 30% of the public sector spending, so to protect that would inflict unattainable cuts elsewhere.

So Swinney was doing his best to pull the wool over our eyes by saying, no fewer than seven times, that the NHS would get the benefit of the Barnett consequentials of the increased spending of the NHS in England.

Now, I don't pretend to know the ins and outs, but this doesn't sound like ring fenced spending to me, so why not just come out and say, "Our position has changed?"

The big problem of course is the looming election. No-one is wanting to make any decisions, because no matter which ones they make, it can only have a detrimental effect on their election chances.

That is why I was pleased that Swinney was seeking cross party agreement on this issue. However, I feel that his reasons for doing this is simply to spread the blame rather than agree consensus on a way forward.

But is that not what Scotland needs right now? Everybody working together for the good of Scotland, helping us get through the cuts and hauling us out of recession? That is what politicians are elected for. To take decisions on behalf of their constituents. Not to take decisions that will benefit their own self interest or that of their party.

Some people may see this as a naive viewpoint, but I am getting sick to death of petty party politics and I think the public are as well.

The best way to tackle this is to have cross party agreement on how to deal with any cuts and leave the economy or the aspect covered by cross party agreement out of any election bickering.

But I am willing to bet that it'll never happen.

Lib Dems Slip Further Into Oblivion

2010-08-01T01:33:00.000-07:00

The latest poll by YouGov for the Sunday Times has the Liberal Democrats at 12%, which is marginally better than their all time low rating of 11%. Mike over at Political Betting suggests this may have something to do with the BBC programme Five Days That Changed Britain.

I watched most of that programme and I definitely thought Clegg at least came out of it really bad. In fact I was screaming, "absolute s%$!*" at the TV on a number of occasions!

But with the Lib Dems continually sliding down the polls, it will be interesting to see how their vote goes in the Holyrood elections which are only 9 months away. If it keeps going the way it is, it will keep the Lib Dems out of single coalition partner territory.

It will also be interesting to see what effect it has on the result of the AV referendum which might be seen as a Lib Dem referendum. Is this at serious risk of being defeated and what impact will that have on the LibCon coalition?

Laws Unto Themselves

2010-05-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

Right, it is only two weeks into this new government and I am sick of it already!

David Laws has had to resign because he was fleecing £40,000 off the taxpayer, claiming for rent on an apartment that was owned by the person he was having a relationship with.

The sex of the person he was having a relationship with is totally immaterial. The thing that is important is the £40k he was claiming.

However, this totally seems to have bypassed Cameron, Clegg and co who are lining up to portray Laws as the victim.

Victim? Give us a break and please stop insulting our intelligence.

“..this has come about because of David's intense desire to keep his own private life private.”

That is a quote from our deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Again I say, don’t insult our intelligence. It has not come about because of that. If Laws wanted that, he would not have claimed the rent. It has come about because of MPs intense greed.

For the new government, in particular the Lib Dems, to be vociferously defending Laws’ position, is simply sickening. The Lib Dems prided themselves on standing on the ticket of cleaning up politics so for them now to be defending Laws is unacceptable.

It is hardly surprising that the public is turning their back on politics in droves when they are promised one thing, then barely three weeks later, they get another.

One Down, Two To Go

2010-04-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

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!!)

2010-04-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

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.

Lib Dems Dreaming

2010-03-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

I think Tavish Scott, leader of the Scottish Democrats, is going to be a wee bit disappointed come election night. Despite opinion polls saying that the Lib Dems might be onto a bit of a hiding, Scott is claiming that they will win a quarter of the Scottish seats at Westminster.
He must be drinking the same tonic as Alex Salmond, who recently set the SNP an unlikely target of 20 MPs.

But looking closer at Tavish’s claim, he says they will retain all of their current seats whilst gaining Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh South, South Aberdeen and North Glasgow.

There are some seats they currently hold that are dead certs. In that category you would include Charles Kennedy in Ross, Skye and Lochaber, Alistair Carmichael in Orkney and Shetland, Menzies Campbell in Fife North East, Malcolm Bruce in Gordon and John Thurso in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.

Then there are others that they will probably hold like Michael Moore in Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Alan Reid in Argyll and Bute and Robert Smith in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine.

But then we come onto some interesting seats. In Edinburgh West, John Barrett holds a massive lead over the Tories of 30%. However, Barrett is stepping down at the election, being replaced by Michael Crockart. I would still expect the Lib Dems to easily hold this.

Then it is on to Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey. I think the name of the constituency may have been shorter if they had simply named everyone living in the constituency! Danny Alexander wrestled this seat from Labour in 2005 with a quite sizeable majority. But will he be able to hold onto it?

Similarly, Jo Swinson came from nowhere to take East Dunbartonshire from the Labour Party in 2005. Will she be able to convince people to give her another term in Westmnister?

Finally we have Dunfermline and West Fife. The Lib Dems were trounced by Labour here in the previous elections. However following the death of Rachael Squire, the Lib Dems overturned a 27% deficit to take the seat with a slender majority in the by-election. This seat will therefore be under severe pressure come election time.

Onto the seats he thinks he might win:

Edinburgh North and Leith – Labour currently hold a small 5% lead over the Lib Dems. However in the previous elections, Labour had a majority of 25%. The question therefore is, did the Lib Dems vote peak in this seat in 2005?

Edinburgh South – There is less than a 1% difference between Labour and the Lib Dems in this one, so this is probably their best chance in Scotland of gaining a seat.

Aberdeen South – Given the Lib Dems are involved in running the council and all the associated aggro that goes with this, do they really expect to trump Labour? The lead may only be 3%, but it might as well be 100%.

Finally in North Glasgow – Labour won 60% of the vote here in 2001. Need I say anymore?

The reality is, people in Scotland are going to look at the situation and see the prospect of a Tory government at Westminster. Poll tax and other horrific memories of the previous Tory administration come flooding back and therefore the Scottish people will vote tactically to ensure as few Tory MPs get elected in Scotland as possible. This may mean some people voting for a Labour candidate to ensure they give the Tories a good run for their money (or Lord Ashcroft’s money!). As a consequence, other parties share of the vote is going to be squeezed and talk of Lib Dems winning 16 seats or the SNP winning 20 is talk that should be reserved for fantasy land.

Hot Air

2010-02-12T16:07:00.000-08:00

I was seeking opinion in the office this week about what people thought of the Nicola Sturgeon debacle. The overwhelming majority of people, regardless of political opinion, thought that she was a competent politician who could be trusted and in no way should she resign

This reinforced my thought that this whole thing has been blown out of all proportion. Of course opposition parties are going to try to gain political capital wherever they can, but come on.

This country is barely limping out of the worst economic crisis it has encountered in the last eighty years and there may be another crisis just around the corner. We face a tough choice between two different approaches to get the economy back on track. We have a government who seems to be delaying taking forward an independence referendum until they have 129 SNP MSPs.

In short, we have serious issues that are worthy of time and debate.

However, we find ourselves again embroiled in an utterly futile spat. Yet again, I find all this cross party fighting just to score cheap points off one another thoroughly demoralising. It is why people turn off from politics.

How is this going to benefit me? How is this going to get me back in work? If I am in work, how is this going to reduce the amount of tax I have to pay? How is this going to cut my energy bills? How is this going to put food on the table, so I can feed my kids?

Nicola Sturgeon may not have showed the greatest judgement when it came to defending a convicted criminal, but when it really mattered to most of us, she showed impeccable judgement. Her handling of the Swine Flu outbreak helped to keep a calm lid on things, when the media and others were doing their best to whip up a frenzy.

So how about this for an idea? Why don’t MSPs concentrate on making Scotland a better place? And here is the big idea! Why don’t they work together to make this happen? After all, that is what we elect them for.

Why don’t they look at introducing measures to increase the life expectancy of Scottish people, which is currently the lowest in Europe? Why don’t they collectively look at reducing Scottish dependency on alcohol? Why don’t they try and deal with the 600,000 people currently on disability benefits? Why don’t they discuss ways to boost the Scottish economy? Why…….?

That would be a much better way to spend their collective time, rather than discussing whether an MSP should write a letter in support of one of their constituents.

Edging Closer

2010-02-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

The closer we get to the election, the more exciting things are getting!

The situation is changing on a daily basis. One day, the Labour Party come away from the Chilcot enquiry feeling like victors, then the next, three Labour MPs are being prosecuted for alleged dodgy expenses.

Meanwhile the Tories are riding a crest of a wave. Yes, they are the saviours of the economy. They have the tough measures necessary to sort everything out. Wait a minute, the polls don’t like that you say? Retreat!

Over at Lib Dem HQ, they have issued everyone in their party with Vince Cable masks. His is the only Lib Dem face to be seen on TV, which is good news for them as he is the about the only one that is listened to.

The SNP are too busy lunching to have any time for TV.

A couple of developments in Scottish seats, could provide a little added interest. Nigel Griffiths has had enough of the House of Commons and all it has to offer, in favour of a “once in a lifetime job offer.” The wafer thin majority he enjoyed over the Lib Dems in Edinburgh South could well be put to the test.

Of course, Jim Devine had already shelved any ideas he had of defending his Livingston seat. Now the Crown Prosecution Service has put the final nail in by charging Devine and three others with falsely claiming parliamentary expense. However, Labour had a 30% lead in Livingston, so it would be a huge ask for anyone to pull that back.

Finally Cathy Jamieson has secured the Labour nomination for Kilmarnock and Louden. Margaret Curran is fighting Glasgow East again and there is talk of Wendy Alexander possibly standing in West Dunbartonshire. A mass exodus of high profile figures from the Scottish Parliament.

Is that a reflection of Iain Gray’s leadership of the Labour Party in Scotland?

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

As we say goodbye to one decade and enter into another one, we immediately encounter a problem. What will we call it? Because everything these days has to have a name. Suggestions have included “2010s”, “teens” and even “ten-sions”. No doubt someone, somewhere will get paid millions to think of something suitable.

Political tensions will certainly be evident in 2010 though as the election campaign gathers pace. Gordon Brown is promising a decade of “shared prosperity” if you vote Labour. I seem to recall the same person claiming to have ended the boom and bust cycle, so forgive my scepticism!

Meanwhile, David Cameron is claiming that a hung parliament would be a bad thing, yet is advocating consensus politics. Now I would have thought that the best way to ensure consensus politics is to have a hung parliament.

Alex Salmond is talking hot air. More specifically, about Scotland becoming the energy powerhouse of Europe.

The Lib Dems are saying that Leaders should show their convictions. Whatever that means!

Anyway, these are the opening salvos in the run up to the General Election, the date of which will no doubt still be giving Labour a problem. With the sad unexpected death of North West Leicestershire MP David Taylor, Labour will be under pressure to call a by-election. However, they will not want to potentially hand any momentum to the Tory party, who could easily take this seat. So does this make an early election more likely? Or will they want to hold off until their budget changes (bribes!) begin to kick-in in April?

We should begin to get answers to these questions in February.

Final Countdown

2009-12-21T06:14:00.000-08:00

As a well-known Europe song goes, it’s “The Final Countdown.”

The government is rapidly running out of time to call an election. If ever there was an argument for moving towards fixed term elections, then this and Gordon Brown’s earlier indecision about calling a snap election, surely makes it.

There are two favoured dates at the moment, March 25th and May 6th. The final date will depend on the one Labour thinks will give them the greatest advantage.

Judging by the polls, it looks like Labour is going to need all the help they can get. The Tories are constantly polling double digit leads. However, due to the First Past the Post voting system, this may not automatically convert into a huge majority in the House of Commons.

So it promises to be one of the more interesting General Elections of the last twenty years. But the election would just be the beginning of the of the interesting times. For imagine the Tories win. What will the interaction between Holyrood and Westminster be like then? How will the public in Scotland react to the inevitable massive public spending cuts? What will be the effect on support for Scottish independence, given the Tories will barely have a handful of MPs in Scotland? Will the Tories introduce a two tier Westminster, whereby MPs of devolved nations aren’t allowed to vote on certain issues?

If that were to be the case, it would leave you wondering why any serious Scottish politician would want to leave Holyrood and become a second class MP. But that is exactly what Cathy Jamieson hopes to do as she is fighting for selection in Kilmarnock & Louden, the seat being vacated by Scottish Secretary Des Browne.

The big question is, will her face fit? With the idiosyncrasies of the Labour selection process, where loyalty counts for more than talent, then you never know.

That is one of the main reasons why I think people are becoming so disenchanted with politicians and politics. There are very few politicians left who are likely to vote on their principles if this means voting against their party. And the ones that do have the guts, will face de-selection by their party at the earliest opportunity.

This and the apparent filling your boots expenses scandal may just have snapped the patience of the electorate. Indeed just yesterday, the public (although not all of voting age) showed just how much they disliked being told what to do by spurning the red hot favourite for Christmas Number One, for a 16 year old classic by Rage Against The Machine.

A few Scottish constituencies that may be worth keeping an eye on are:

Banff & Buchan – Alex Salmond is standing down and although it is an ultra safe SNP seat, how much of it is to do with Salmond and how much the SNP?

Dumfries and Galloway – Could be one of the few Tory gains in Scotland with a swing of just 3% needed from Labour.

Dumfrieshire, Clydesdale and Tweedale – The Tories have a 4% lead over Labour here and need to hold on if they have any aspirations of power.

Dundee East – It is a toss up between SNP and Labour.

Edinburgh South – Can the Lib Dems overturn Labour’s wafer thin majority?

Glasgow East – Can John Mason hold onto his seat won in the recent by-election?

Livingston – What effect will Devine-Gate ( or should that be shelf! ) have?

Ochil & South Perthshire – See Dundee East.

Perth & North Perthshire – The Tories only need a 2% swing from the SNP to take it.

So with a fascinating General Election imminent, the immortal words of a former Scottish Labour Leader spring to mind.

Bring it on!

We Are All In This Together

2009-10-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

“We are all in this together.”

No, it is not the words to the High School Musical, although they were delivered with the elegance of a high school teacher.

George Osborne, Chancellor in waiting, took time out from counting his millions, to deliver a gloomy financial outlook for the next few years. The Tory audience looked visibly shocked when he announced that he would be unable to reduce the top rate of income tax for the foreseeable future.

They soon cheered up though when Osborne announced that the Public Sector was effectively getting a pay cut.

Now I see what he means when he says we are all in this together.

Our Scotland

The World We Live In

2009-06-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

Last night I heard the news as did everyone of the sad passing of Michael Jackson. To be honest it didn't affect me nearly as much as the death of Kurt Cobain did back in 1994, but no-one wants to see someone go well before they reach old age.

Anyway, I had to go to Glasgow Fort today for a few things, so thought I would pop into HMV just to see if there was anything worth buying.

On the way up to the door, I heard they were playing Jackson's music. I thought that was nice. A kind of tribute.

I can't believe how naive I was!

On entering the store, immediately as you went in, there was a stand with loads of Jackson merchandise on it for sale.

The guy had barely been dead 12 hours, yet they were ready to capitalise on it. I know I shouldn't really be surprised, after all we live in a capitalist society, but it just seemed wrong, wrong, wrong.

Bleating Blears

2009-06-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

How gullible do politicians think we are? I mean come on!

Firstly they try to pull the wool over our eyes with their dodgy expenses. Then after they are found out, they try to weasel their way out of it saying it was a “mistake” and they then patronise us by paying the money back.

Now Perma-Grin, aka Hazel Blears, is at it.

She did something even the shadiest of underhand politician wouldn’t even contemplate. She resigned on the eve of a nation-wide election. Not only that, she made a great song and dance about it. As people were actually going to the polls she was swanning about trying to cause maximum damage for her party.

Fast forward a week. With her desired outcome, the downfall of Gordon Brown, unfulfilled, she is coming to us cap in hand saying she is “sorry” and regrets what she did. Yeah, right!

The only thing these politicians are sorry about is not getting their own way.

I hope her constituency party passes the vote of no confidence in her and she gets what she deserves. That may be enough to wipe that smile off her face.

SNP and Plaid Cymru to Seek Dissolution of Parliament

2009-06-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

It looks like Westminster will have a chance to vote next week on whether there should be an election or not. The Scottish and Welsh nationalists are to table a motion calling for the dissolution of Parliament.

With the Tories and Lib Dems saying that they will back the motion, it may just have half a chance of getting through. However, it will need a number of Labour MPs to support it also. With over 50 of them saying that they will step down at the next election, then it is unlikely they will vote for their own unemployment. Unless that is, they need the severance money in order to pay back the thousands of pounds of expenses they cheated the taxpayer out of!

I don’t know about anyone else, but I find the actions of MPs lining up to pay back expenses and mumbling, “sorry, it was a genuine mistake,” equally as insulting as them thieving the money in the first place.

If that wasn’t bad enough, if they survive until the next election, they will receive a pay of in the tens of thousands, of which the first £30,000 is tax free.

We should sack them now.

It would happen in any other walk of life. If you were found with your fingers in the till, you would be out the door quicker than you could say “duck house”. Then it wouldn’t be long until the coppers were hunting you down. MPs should be no different.

So, let’s hope next week MPs make at least one good decision in this term and vote for the dissolution of parliament.

European Elections

2009-06-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

There is nothing quite like an election to get the pulses raising, even if it is “only” the European one. However, depending on the outcome of this election, there may be a lot more at stake electing MEPs.

All the polls in the lead up to the Thursday’s vote are showing that the Labour Party is in for a right kicking (pardon the pun!). One poll even suggests their support is as low as 18%. If this follows through to the results on Sunday, then Gordon Brown could find himself in a very precarious position.

Senior members within the Labour Party will no doubt be telling him to call it a day, but auld Broon won’t be displaced that easily. He hasn’t waited ten years for the top job to hand it over that easily.

What will Labour do then? Will they sleep walk into a general election massacre, or will one of them have the bottle to challenge Brown? With the inevitable post Euro election re-shuffle, there is certain to be a few disgruntled senior figures without a portfolio to keep them occupied. Blears, Darling? Personally, I can’t imagine anyone calling Hazel Blears darling, but that is a different story.

With other Labour backbenchers fearing for their job security and more importantly their expenses security, then Brown is going to be getting it from all angles.

But what if he does fall on his sword? Surely the electorate will not stomach another change of Prime Minister without a General Election?

So Brown could do us all a favour and call an election as soon as possible.

Keep up to date with all the discussions at Our Scotland.

Inclement Times

2009-02-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

So does the “One Eyed Scottish Idiot” have any idea of how to drag the UK out of this economic mess? Clearly Jeremy Clarkson does not seem to think so. The day I look towards Clarkson for political inspiration though will be the day I am led away by the men in white coats. However having said that, there is an element of truth in what Clarkson says.

Brown keeps claiming that he is the man to get not just us, but the whole world onto a safe footing, yet let us not forget, he also claimed to have ended boom and bust! At the moment it looks like both he and the Bank of England are intent on storing up problems for the future for very little gain just now.

Brown also has very little to gain from telling wildcat strikers that their actions were, “not the right thing to do.” I am pretty sure they are not going to take too kindly to being lectured like that. If something is blatantly unfair, then standing up for yourself and your fellow workers is definitely the right thing to do.

He should be saving his lectures for all those greedy bankers who despite having to be bailed out by the public to the tune of billions of pounds, still think it is okay to award themselves massive bonuses. Some people really need to get a grip on reality.

Grip is something people have been really struggling with lately as uncharacteristic weather sweeps across the country. I think some people down south have blown it out of all proportion though. Firstly the amount of coverage it has received in the media is just astounding. How many ways can you find to say, “It’s snowing!”?

Secondly some people are wondering why certain areas came to a standstill with inadequate levels of salt etc. Well here is a clue. You haven’t seen snow like it for 18 years, so it would have been unrealistic for you to be equipped for it.

Coming from the Highlands, I can appreciate sometimes the elements just beat you and there is nothing you can do. When I have been travelling north you know there is always a possibility in the winter that you can get stuck on the Slochd or Drumochter summits. You just accept that is the case. I think a lot of people down south would do well to just chill out a bit. (Pardon the pun!)

Taxing Question!

2009-01-30T14:49:00.000-08:00

In September 1998, we voted Yes, Yes.

Yes to a Scottish Parliament and Yes to it having tax raising (or lowering) powers.

To date, no-one had ever seriously considered tampering with the taxation. This would be understandable in the infancy of a newly established parliament.

However, it has now been about for approaching 10 years and if ever there is a time when the electorate needed tax cuts, during a recession would be one of them.

That is presumably why the Lib Dems are arguing for a 2p income tax reduction as part of their budget negotiations. Now we all know how that went.

But what about this “tax raising powers”?

The SNP know all full well that it would be practically impossible for them to reduce income tax in Scotland.

Firstly, imagine the outcry from the rest of the UK. It is almost worth doing it for that!!

Secondly, it would just mean that the amount of money they would have for the following year’s budget would be reduced by about 10%. With no means of raising our own income we would be totally stuffed

Now, from what I heard on Newsnight Scotland, the Lib Dems have restricted their bargaining over the budget to the SNP making a strong submission to the Calman Commission for the Scottish Parliament to have greater tax raising powers.

Will the SNP even entertain the Calman Commission? Will the Lib Dems consider voting down the Scottish budget a second time?

Either way, until the issue of greater financial independence is addressed, no responsible Scottish Government can entertain reducing the income tax in Scotland.

Recession, Recession, Recession

2009-01-16T13:50:00.000-08:00

Well my friends, it has been a little while!

But I am back, refreshed and slightly more impoverished, thanks to the credit crisis.

And didn’t that sneak up and bite everyone on the ar$e? PM Brown and his Labour colleagues claimed that they had re-written the laws of economics and ended boom and bust cycles.

“Great,” everyone rejoiced and went out and celebrated, stopping by to get a massive loan from the bank and 10 credit cards, to help keep the party going. After all, these are leaders of great importance not just in the UK, but on the world-wide stage. So, who are we to question their proclamations?

OK, OK, so I’ve learnt I can’t trust politicians, but surely I can trust banks? Some of them have been going since 1695. They will know what they are talking about. If they say I can afford a £200,000 mortgage on a £15,000 salary, who am I to argue? Just show me that mansion!

What?

It’s a bedsit? For £200k?

You better make it £200,010 so I can furnish it as well! I’ll get my stuff from Woolies.

Woolies is bust? And you want your £200k back? Wait a minute. Does the taxpayer not own you now anyway? So we have just ploughed £500bn pounds into you for you to pull the carpet out from under my feet?

Looks like I can’t trust banks now either!

Where on earth is it all heading? At this point in time, contrary to what some Labour Business Minister’s think, this recession is just starting and will have a long way to go.

Hold on folks. We are in for a rough ride.

Oooohhhh The Irony!

2008-10-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

Now, I am an accountant. Yeah, yeah, not a boring one! The first rule of accountancy is prudence.

Now auditors are even more boring than accountants if that is believable. And they are even more prudent, checking to see that every last penny is accounted for.

So it is incredibly ironic to see how the Audit (yeah, that's right AUDIT) Commission has just lost £10,000,000 because it was invested in an Icelandic Bank.

Oh, how I laughed.

Glenrothes By-Election

2008-10-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

It was once famously said that a week is a long time in politics. Well if a week is a long time, then a couple of months must be a lifetime.

Just think back to the height of summer, or as we call it in Scotland – the mild part of winter. Back then in July, just after John Mason won Glasgow East, Gordon Brown was teetering on the brink. Nobody knew if he would make it through one week to the next as PM. Some were questioning if Glasgow East was the final straw.

Fast forward to the Glenrothes by-election. Where are all the Labour MPs who were calling for the PM’s head? If Labour lose this seat, will there be the same clamour for GB to resign.

NO.

Why? Because people see GB as the best person to get us out of this economic mess that HE precipitated over. Oooohhh the irony.

He may yet be saved because of his own incompetence.

But that probably won’t save them from the wrath of the Glenrothes electorate.

The Three Muskateers

2008-08-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

The nominations have closed on the Scottish Labour Leadership with three names being thrown into the ring.

Andy Kerr
Cathy Jamieson
Iain Gray

Nominations have also closed for the deputy leader as well with Bill Butler and Johann Lamont being put forward.

Something just isn't adding up for me though with Cathy Jamieson.

Elaine Smith, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston (also my MSP), is a prominent member of the Campaign for Socialism organisation within the Scottish Labour Party.

Now she gives her nomination to Bill Butler for the deputy leadership which would make sense as he is seen to be on the left of the party.

However, Smith does not give her nomination to any of the candidates standing for leader. Why is that? Does she not believe all the hype there has been recently about Jamieson returning to left wing policies?

There's been a murder!!

2008-07-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!

That was all I could say last night as the unbelievable news came through that the SNP had taken Glasgow East.

Personally, I thought that they would have got within a couple of thousand of Labour, but ultimately come up short.

How wrong was I ?!!

Granted, Labour's campaign didn't get off to the best of starts, but even so, it has been an awesome effort by the SNP to take this seat.

If the SNP continue on the form they are on, who would bet against them achieving a "YES" outcome in an independence referendum? First Salmond takes the Gordon seat with a swing of 21%. Then he turns the political landscape upside down by his party becoming the biggest party in Scotland by gaining an incredible 20 seats at Holyrood. Now his party have taken a Westminster seat that has been Labour for generations.

Next stop independence?

What next for poor Frances Curran, oops, I mean Margaret Curran. She must have thought she was a certainty for the job as she was the MSP for part of the constituency and the fact that the area had traditionally voted Labour.

WRONG!!!!

She must have also considered herself to be one of the favourites to become Scottish Labour Leader, but surely she cannot stand for it now. She will struggle to be selected for the Bailieston seat at the next election in 2011, so I think she is heading the same way as New Labour - Out the door!

Glasgow East Countdown

2008-07-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

It is just as well for Labour that they have a million percent majority in Glasgow East, because they are trying their best to lose this by-election.

First there was the fiasco over selecting a candidate. Then when one was picked, she couldn’t remember which part of Glasgow she lived in. Now, even at 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning, when I am staggering from one side of Sauchiehall Street to the other, I still know where I live!

If that wasn’t enough, she tried to pull the wool over our eyes, by getting the endorsement of a “93 year old war hero”. The war hero turned out to be 67 and only 4 at the time of the said war.

Tony Blair ripped up by-election protocol when he used to visit by-election constituencies to lend “support” to the Labour candidate, but where is Gordon Brown on this occasion? Either he is extremely complacent, expecting a Labour landslide, or he is running scared.

Or maybe there is a third option. Maybe he is sitting in Drowning Street, sorry Downing Street, concocting bribes to ensure that the electorate vote in his favour and effectively keep him in a job. Like the freeze on the fuel tax announced this week.

The latest opinion poll showed that Labour had a 47 – 33 percent lead over the SNP. However both Political Betting and ASWAS seriously question the detail behind this poll. Maybe that is why Labour is canvassing the SNP candidate for his support for next Thursday!

I seriously doubt that the SNP will be able to pull off the 20 odd % swing needed to take this seat. But then again it wasn’t that long ago that the SNP came from nowhere to wrestle the reigns of power away from Labour at Holyrood.

So anything is possible!

Dummies Guide Of How Not To Run A By-election

2008-07-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

By the time Thursday the 24th of July comes along, Labour will be thinking they have fought an election campaign already. And that is just to get a candidate in place to fight the Glasgow East by-election!

Firstly, Councillor George Ryan pulled out of the selection meeting at the last minute, citing the catch all "family reasons" for his decision. The other two candidates were then told the meeting would be cancelled, effectively saying to them that they will not be chosen to be the Labour candidate.

How Labour can afford to turn away two people who are actually WILLING to stand for the party is beyond me, but that is another story.

So, after the dead cert for the candidate withdrew, Labour apparently were scurrying about looking for someone to stand. The leader of Glasgow City Council, councillor Steven Purcell was apparently asked but he ran a mile.

According to the Sunday Herald, eventually Margaret Curran MSP is going to be asked. And she was fourth choice.

But this is just incredible short-sightedness in my opinion. It is just solving one problem by creating several more.

For one, it would probably mean a further by-election in this area if Curran was to resign her Baillieston MSP seat. How would the electorate take to that?

Secondly, she is one of the likely contenders to replace Wendy Alexander as leader in Scotland. They haven't got many to choose from as it is, so if another one were to go, you'd be scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Of course, Labour may have a masterplan up their sleave just waiting to be delivered in the shape of John Reid.

M.P.s Expenses

2008-07-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

After the debacle yesterday in the commons when M.P.s showed just how greedy they were by voting to retain their generous expenses, I thought what a life! The amount they are allowed to claim for their second homes, £24,006, is more than a lot of the people in Scotland get paid each year, particularly in Glasgow East. And that is just for their second homes.

If Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting had been about politics, I guess Renton's opening mantra would have been:

Choose a M.P.s life.

Choose a cushy job.

Choose a lucrative career.

Choose not to see your family.

Choose a f______g big John Lewis television.

Choose John Lewis washing machines, ministerial cars, John Lewis compact disc players, and John Lewis electrical tin openers.

Choose crappy health, high cholesterol and life insurance.

Choose the public to pay your fixed-interest mortgage repayments.

Choose a second home.

Choose to back-stab your friends.

Choose a John Lewis three piece suite on taxpayers money in a range of f_____g fabrics.

Choose for the taxpayer to pay for your DIY and wonder which home to read the papers in on a Sunday morning.

Choose sitting on that John Lewis couch watching mind-numbing sprit-crushing reality TV shows, stuffing f_______g junk food into your mouth at the tax payers expense.

Choose rotting away at the end of it all, when the electorate find you out and crawl back into the undergrowth with a seat in the Lords or some other unearned reward.

Choose a future on the Board of a FTSE 100 company.

Choose a M.P.s life.

But why would I want to do a thing like that? Because I have f______g morals!

Who's Next?

2008-07-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

Wendy Alexander last week!

Nicol Stephen this week!

Annabel Goldie next week?

Charlie Gordon - aka Cathcart Comedian

2008-07-01T04:10:00.000-07:00

Newsnight was quality last night.

Charlie Gordon, less than 7 months after playing the fall guy role, said that he was considering standing for Scottish Labour leadership.

But that wasn't the most funny part. At the start of the interview asked if Labour were going to win the Glasgow East by-election, he stated that we shouldn't take the electorate for granted. However, asked later about the independence referendum, he said that Salmond would lose the referendum!

Make up your mind. You either take us for granted or you don't!!

Glasgow East By-election

2008-06-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like the prospect of a by-election to get the pulses racing in anyone interested in politics.

The Glasgow East by-election likely to be held on the 24th July, has potentially more riding on it than simply returning an MP to Westminster.

Firstly could this be an oportunity for the Solidarity Party to get a foothold at Westminster? The Herald today hinted that Tommy Sheridan may be about to stand.

A more likely, but equally challenging result, is an SNP victory. The SNP have apparently been trying to get people like Elaine C Smith to stand in a bid to secure the 22% swing needed to win the seat.

If the unthinkable does happen, what will happen to Gordon Brown. There are already reports that he will be advised to leave if results don't go Labour's way.

But aren't Labour missing the point (again!).

Sometimes there is just a mood for change. Labour should know it better than anyone after their 1997 result. They are going to lose the next election no matter who is in charge.

Why don't they just see the current term out with Brown in charge and then make the change after the election?

Oh yeah!! Because that would be like common sense!!

Bye Bye Wendy!

2008-06-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

Well, Wendy has come to her senses…..at last!

She has finally accepted what most of us have known for some time, that her position was untenable.

However, instead of doing the honourable thing, way back in November, she limped on and allowed the drama to be conducted in the media for a further 7 months, doing the Labour Party irreparable damage.

Salmond and co probably couldn’t believe their luck as each new revelation came along about the expenses for a contest that never was.

Now that she has gone, will the SNP be trembling in their shoes about her successor?

I hardly think so!!

Let’s see who the contenders are likely to be. Andy Kerr? Cathy Jamieson? Margaret Curran? Hardly in the same league as Alex Salmond.

One thing the Labour Party does want this time around though, is an actual contest. This way, at least any dodgy donations will actually be going towards something.

But what will an actual contest do to a Party that already seems to be in decline? Will it launch a civil war that will end in its demise?

As Labour are so out of touch with the voters, perhaps they should be reminded that kind of back-stabbing does not go down too well and with several by-elections coming up, they better watch they don’t suffer a similar kicking to the one they got in Henley.

Get Up, Stand Up

2008-06-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

I work in the NHS. I am also a member of Unison.

Now it is the time of year when the annual pay award is being negotiated. The offer we got this year was 2.75%. Unison balloted us to see if we wanted to accept it.

I duly looked to see what the inflation rate was. 3% the Bank of England told me. (oh dear they are way off their 2% target!!). 3% may be the official rate but when you consider the increase in mortgage payments, the 10% increase in petrol prices, food prices have gone up 15% and gas and electricity prices have gone up about 20%, you have to think their 3% is a little light.

Therefore, I had no hesitation in putting my cross in the DO NOT ACCEPT box of the ballot. Who in their right mind would vote for effectively a pay decrease? It would be like turkey’s voting for Christmas.

Other Unions had already voted on the NHS pay proposal. The GMB Union rejected the pay award by a massive 96%.

So I was extremely optimistic that my colleagues in Unison would vote against this ludicrous offer.

However, unbelievably 65% of them voted in favour of the offer!! WTF?

Karen Jennings, Unison head of health, said they would not hesitate to renegotiate if inflation continues to rise. How far does it have to rise? Forgive me for being naive, but I would have thought if inflation rose above the amount of the pay award, it is time to renegotiate?

Forgive me, if anyone actually reads this, but I am getting extremely pissed off at people in government making a mockery of hard working people. I am also getting pissed off at people allowing it to happen.

When are we going to wake up and realise what is happening?

What Goes Around Comes Around

2008-06-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

You know when you are on your way down and out when the stuff that used to work in your favour is now working against you. Take Jim Sheridan MP. On Radio Scotland this morning he was bleating about the press’ treatment of Gordon Brown, whilst grossly insulting the intelligence of the electorate at the same time.

He said that because voters vote for whoever the press tell them to, it is extremely unfair how Gordon Brown and his Labour government is being treated.

Oh, my heart bleeds for them!!

Firstly, I can recall, barely a year ago, how one newspaper had Scotland’s head in a noose, indicating if you voted SNP, then you were effectively killing Scotland.

I can’t recall Jim Sheridan or any of his colleagues north or south of the border complaining about that.

Secondly, virtually every single major press outlet was still telling us to vote Labour at the last election, or at the very least not to vote SNP and look how that worked out.

So, Jim Sheridan and your Labour colleagues, unless stop patronising the voting public you will find yourself out of power for a long, long time.

Tories Torment

2008-05-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

What are the Tories all about? A couple of decent results and they think they are destined for Downing Street! Nothing like counting your chickens!

At the Tory get together this week in Ayr, Annabel Goldie claimed that the Scottish Tories were on the up. That may be stretching it a bit. But here is a question I want to ask Goldie and Cameron. How many MPs do you expect to return at the next Westminster election?

Let’s assume they hold on to all the seats they have. Wait until I get my calculator. Yep, I’ve got the answer ~ 1. Now let’s look at the seats they could win. Perth? Doubt it. Angus? You joking?! Dumfries and Galloway is a possibility. Stirling is another, but then you are getting into the realms of massive swings needed.

But I can see an answer to the problem that is so bloody obvious. There are two words that would bring about a Tory government in Westminster for at least the next 30 years and a substantial increase in the number of Tory MSPs.

Being the nice guy I am, I will tell the Tories how to achieve this.

Scottish Independence.

It goes without saying that not having to worry about Scotland, the Tories down south would be in a lot stronger position. Up here, disassociating themselves with the bad people that brought about the poll tax, the Tory Party might once again reach levels akin to the 50% they reached back in 1955.

Who knows, after independence, the SNP might disband and lots of them might join a revamped Tory Party. Some of the policies the SNP are pursuing at the moment are not a million miles away from the ones the Tories would be proud of. More police on the streets, cut in business rates etc.

But today in an interview with Brian Taylor, Annabel Goldie admitted that she would vote against a referendum on Scottish independence. She would not give the electorate the chance to have their say.

It may have been 11 years since the Tories have been in power, but it looks as if they are still hanging on to their old habits.

They love keeping Scotland down.

Be Prudent!!

2008-05-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

One of accountant’s favourite words is prudence. I should know, because I am an accountant.

Prudence means estimating on the side of caution although Wikepedia’s, equally appropriate definition is, “Conventionally, prudence is the exercise of sound judgement in practical affairs.”

Now, Grant Thornton is an international accounting firm and one of the biggest in the UK.

So when Grant Thornton claims that Scotland would be a rich nation if it were to become independent, then people should sit up and listen.

Based on a prudent estimate of 82.5% of North Sea revenues, Grant Thornton say that we could afford to cut corporation tax from 28% to 12.5% and cut income tax by 5p in the pound and still have £2bn of a surplus.

I say prudent estimates of North Sea revenues because the SNP are demanding a 95% share of the revenues, compared to the 85% estimated in the study. If 95% was taken, the surplus would rise to £6.2bn.

Now, Labour has repeated stated in the past that businesses would leave in their droves if Scotland were to become independent. Is it just me, or would the opposite happen with businesses flocking INTO Scotland when tax rates are so low?

Independence?

BRING IT ON!!

Going Round In Circles?

2008-05-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Labour are doing that many U-turns at the moment, they are at risk of going round in circles.

Can you believe anything they say anymore?

Remember at election time they were saying that if we voted SNP then extremely bad things would happen to Scotland! Well we are still waiting.

Remember barley a couple of months ago, Wendy Alexander claimed that a referendum was a distraction and would only feed the SNP's obsession.

Remember Alexander then got her Unionist mates together and set up a commission to look at the role of the devolved Scottish Parliament, EXCLUDING independence.

Now, she has completely bypassed her own commission and is saying what is Salmond waiting for. She wants a referendum on independence right now with a simple yes or no to the question.

Labour are an absolute joke and I sincerely hope that this political gamble comes back to bite Alexander on the arse when Scotland votes yes to the independence question.

Black Day For Brown

2008-05-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

Two years is an astonomical amount of time in politics. There are governments that have not even lasted two years. However that may be that amount of time that Gordon Brown has left before he is ousted.

This week saw Labour get an absolute kicking in the local elections in England and Wales. If this trend continues through to the election, expected in 2010, then Brown will be out the door faster than you can say, "Ten years of economic stability."

If the local elections results weren't bad enough, Labour then went and lost the London Mayor elections to a Tory candidate that may have been more at home in the Monster Raving Loony Party.

So where can we look to in history to see when the last time such a local election whitewash happened. Well not too far. John Major suffered a similar fate in 1995, before being punted out of office in 1997.

The Labour Party are scheming behind the scenes to try and replace Brown. But at the end of the day, sometimes you just have to accept that you can't influence anything. People want change. They are sick and tired of Labour spin and they want an alternative. For the majority of people in the UK, that alternative is seen to be the Tory Party.

So fast forward to 2010. I would imagine the Tory Party would be the last party most Scots would vote for in order to give Labour a kicking. This leaves the Lib Dems and the SNP. Maybe this will give Salmond the votes he needs to achieve his ambitious target of 20 MPs.

If the Tories are elected in 2010, what will this mean for Scotland?

One thing that is pretty certain to happen is the introduction of English votes for English laws in Westminster. Is this just another step to the separation of the Union?

Let's hope so!!

Fuel Shortage

2008-04-21T03:15:00.000-07:00

What is the last thing you should say if you want people to avoid panic buying? “Don’t Panic Buy.”

As soon as those words are uttered, people are racing off to the nearest petrol forecourt faster than you can say “Oil Refinery.”

Remember those big long queues back in 2000, the year of the fuel protests, well expect to see similar queues in the coming days as the prospect of a strike at Grangemouth looms ever closer.

The proposed strike is about the changing of the company pension. And it seems that both sides have really dug their heels in and are playing out a war of words in the media. 97% of the Union members voted for strike action, which gives an indication of the feeling. Therefore I wouldn’t expect either side to back down any time soon.

But the people who shout, “Don’t panic buy,” really p!ss me off. We have got enough fuel until Friday they claim. Aye, very good. What happens when Friday comes though? It is perfectly understandable why people go and fill their cars up.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few days and if Scotland does run out of fuel, what the political fall out of this will be.

Anyway, better go. I’ve got a car that needs filling up!!

More Labour Party Conference

2008-03-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I asked how long Wendy Alexander had left as Scottish Labour Leader. Judging by Gordon Brown’s address at the Labour Party Conference in Aviemore earlier in the week, perhaps my question was a bit premature.

For Brown said

"And I believe that Wendy Alexander is not only the leader of our party here in Scotland but she will be the next first minister of Scotland whenever an election is declared."

As stated in my last post, I think I have about as much chance of getting elected First Minister as Alexander has. Although I can tell Brown exactly when the next election will be declared. It’ll be four years after the previous one!

Will it be four long years of learning for Labour? Perhaps a time to reflect on what went wrong in the previous election and learn the lessons? Maybe a time to stop being obsessed by the SNP and offer their own vision of how they see Scotland’s future?

I say we should stand up for the people of Scotland and for the young children of Scotland and we will be the front line of defence for them against those SNP cuts.

– Gordon Brown

I will lead by exposing the dishonesty of the SNP.

- Wendy Alexander

SNP is taking Scotland back to the days of Margaret Thatcher through local government cuts

– Andy Kerr

Yeah. Right!!

Who is advising the Labour Party? Have they learned anything from their fall from grace last May?

Alexander claimed:

"Here at Aviemore, the fightback has begun. It's time to go to work."

What the hell have they being doing for the last ten and a bit months?

Oh that is right! Firstly they were denying that they lost the election. Then they were saying a long protracted goodbye to their UK leader. Then their Scottish leader decided to give someone else a chance. Step forward Wendy Alexander! Elected unopposed. A fresh start for the Labour Party. But wait a minute, what is this? A dodgy donation?

No wonder they haven’t had time to consider the rest of us!

So how do you think Alexander rates her performance in the months since she took over? This was the very question she was asked during a webcast at the Labour Conference.

We all know most politicians love themselves, so given the donation debacle, you might think she would give herself a 7 or 8 out of 10. But, oh no!! Alexander thinks her performance has been a top notch, can’t be faulted, aspirational 10 out of 10.

The long and short of it is that Labour has learnt nothing from the last election and if they continue in the same vein, they will be a lot longer than four years on the opposition benches.

Labour Party Conference

2008-03-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

Gordon Brown PM today addressed the party conference in Aviemore and claimed that Wendy Alexander would be the next First Minister of Scotland.

Personally, I think I have more chance of becoming the next first minister, than she does. However, if the unthinkable were to happen, then I would seriously consider leaving the country.

The thought is that unbearable!

Iraq - 5 Years On

2008-03-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

According to Pressy Bush, the world is a safer place because the US went to "war" in Iraq.

According to me, that is complete crap.

In the 5 years since the invasion, there have been 82,249 civilian deaths from violence in Iraq alone.

Not to mention, armed forces deaths, terrorist attacks in Australasia, Spain and London, restrictions on air travel etc etc etc.

The Lib Dems, today called for an enquiry into the fiasco. One day they may get one.

And one day, Bush and Blair may get tried for war crimes.

Can’t Take It Anymore?

2008-02-29T13:12:00.000-08:00

Just like everyone, I was shocked by recent events in the Welsh County of Bridgend. 17 young people seeing no other option, than to take their own life.

The police and some of the affected parents are trying to pin some of the blame on the media and internet chat rooms. As much as I despise the red-tops and the way 24 hour news is going generally, trying to push the blame onto them is utter bollocks.

Some of the areas they really should be looking at, particularly in young people are schooling, peer pressure, relationships and puberty. All these often come to the fore all at the same time and it is simply sometimes too much for young people to deal with.

The Samaritans were on the streets of Bridgend last Saturday night reminding people of the service they provide. Schools have also been urged to train teachers in suicide awareness. All this is very commendable, but would money not be better spent on tackling the biggest causes of suicide?

But Wales has only a fraction of the problem Scotland has. Suicide rates in Wales, England and Northern Ireland are 8 per 100,000 population. In Scotland it is 14.7. It is particularly a problem for males, aged 15-44 from lower socio-economic groups.

In 2002, the Scottish Executive launched a ten year strategy to try to tackle the issue called Choose Life. A pretty patronising and ill-thought out title, if you ask me, but nevermind. One of its aims was to cut suicide rates by 20% in Scotland by 2013.

894 people claimed their lives in Scotland in 2002, making us third in the European suicide rates per 100,000 people, just behind Finland and Poland. However, there is some reason for optimism. The latest figures reported today in the Herald show in 2006 the number of suicides had dropped to 755. Perhaps vindication of the “Choose Life” strategy.

Nevertheless, there is no room for complacency. Indeed researchers have warned that the drop in figures may be due to different, less successful suicide methods are being used. The actual suicidal behaviour may not have altered.

The key for me in tackling Scotland’s problem with suicide is suicide survivors. And I am not talking about cry-for-help suicide attempts because the person had too much to drink last night, but feels alright now attempts. I am talking about people who have deep rooted feelings, but have somehow managed to pull through. These are the people we need to listen to. What are their issues? What made them “Choose Life”?

This may help drive down suicide numbers, but tackling the underlying mental health issues, is a whole different ball game.

If you are feeling suicidal, please phone one of these numbers before you do anything else.

Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87 (6pm to 2am)
Childline 0800 11 11
Samaritans 08457 90 90 90 or email jo@samartians.org

More Power

2008-02-28T13:22:00.000-08:00

Nicol Stephen has appeared on the radar for the first time since……, well the elections come to think of it. Ahead of the Lib Dems conference in Aivemore this week he has been talking about more powers for the Scottish Parliament. Apparently, the world is moving his way!!

I just couldn’t believe it when I read that. What have the Lib Dems done in the last 9 months to shape thinking around more powers for the Scottish Parliament? Aye, exactly – NOTHING!

The debate has been around the SNP wanting independence and Wendy Alexander’s Commission being hijacked by Gordon Brown.

The fact is that the Lib Dems were offered the opportunity on a plate to shape the landscape of Scotland when the SNP asked them to enter into coalition talks, but they flatly refused even to enter into negotiations.

So how they can credibly claim that the debate is moving their way when they have all but been forgotten in Scottish politics is beyond me!

And another thing that pisses me off is this quote from Stephen:

"We must take this chance, we must seize this opportunity. We want powers for a purpose. We still have single ministers in Whitehall who expect to control the lives of tens of millions of people from their desks."

So why does he not support independence? If he is that concerned about having more powers, then why not have the ultimate power of how Scotland is governed – INDEPENDENCE

Another By-election

2008-02-22T13:56:00.000-08:00

Another election, another SNP victory. This time in the in the Highland ward of the Perth and Kinross Council. Is this the way it is going to be from now until independence? SNP victories?

The sister of the previous councillor won an emphatic victory. Kate Howie gained more than double the votes of her nearest rival. Is this a sign of how well the SNP are running the country, or is it just a decision based on local politics?

Result
Kate Howie, SNP, 1,891
Graham Rees, Tory, 940
Andrew Kenton, Lib Dem, 229
Anne Chatt, Labour, a paltry 97

Turnout 43.6%

Rock 'n' Bankroll

2008-02-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

Share prices can go up or down. That is the advice that is always given when shares are being sold. So why do shareholders start complaining when the shares they are holding become virtually worthless?

I know, shares influence your pension, your mortgage etc so it is in your best interests for them to complain blah, blah, blah, but why should the taxpayer bail out shareholders who cannot read the warning signs?

The Chancellor became the Darling of all the opposition political parties when he gave them plenty of Rocks for them to throw at him by announcing that Northern Rock would be nationalised.

However, the shareholders were unbelievably not happy with this. What would they rather the bank be sold to another private company where they would have probably received a fraction of the amount the government will offer in compensation. Or would they have preferred the business went down the pan, where they would not receive any money at all?

Roger Lawson, chairman of the Northern Rock Shareholders' Action Group said he thought there were "good grounds" for legal action.

Why?

The same thing happened a few years ago when Railtrack shareholders were up in arms.

An old adage springs to mind – live by the sword – die by the sword.

SNP Win Elgin City South Council By-election

2008-02-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

John Sharp, the SNP candidate, has won the Elgin City South council by-election following the death of the Independent Councillor, Alastair Bisset.

The SNP claimed 32% of the vote with Independent candidate Mr Simpson 25%, Labour 17% and the Tories 10%. Swing from Labour to the SNP was 6%.

Is this a trend that is set to continue, wiping Labour off the Scottish political map, or is this a result that is unique to the North-East where the SNP tend to do well?

Only time will tell.

Report

Discussion

Can Wendy Survive?

2008-02-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

I am going to see the Smashing Pumpkins at the SECC on Tuesday night. Although it is the fourth time that I have seen them, I have been counting down the days ever since I got my ticket.

It looks like we are also counting down the days to the end of the tenure of the fourth Scottish Labour leader since devolution. Wendy may have won a moral “victory” this week, but it is a bit like your team winning the final game of the season when you are already relegated and are facing the prospect of administration.

No sooner had the verdict from the Electoral Commission come out, than the Sunday Herald are reporting that Gordon Brown is about to hi-jack Wendy’s Constitutional Commission. Now Labour made a big thing about this at the time, but now Papa Broon wants to downgrade it to a review or a working party. And he wants it to be led by Westminster.

If that wasn’t enough, Wendy has had to do a bit of moonlighting as a plumber. For the amount of leaks that are coming from Labour at the moment are enough to keep anyone busy. The latest shows that a Shadow Cabinet minute shows that the tactic of reading a pre-prepared loyalty script to selected journalists has been a successful one.

Yeah, right!

Then there was her well documented performance at the vote on the Scottish Budget. Having put forward an amendment to the budget, which was accepted by the SNP, she and her colleagues then failed to vote for it. All, that is, except for Cathie Craigie, who voted against it. By mistake, allegedly. Must be hard, all those options to choose from!

All this must be enough to make her wonder why she even wanted the post in the first place. Then along comes the revelation that she may be facing a further Electoral Commission investigation as well as a police one. This time the claim is that she misled businessmen into funding her constituency office to the tune of £12,000.

The Smashing Pumpkins have been a band, on and off for about twenty years, because of the ability of Billy Corgan, their lead singer. The next Labour leader will have to be just as gifted if the Labour ship is going to be turned around. Andy Kerr may be licking his lips at the prospect of a leadership election, but this job may be beyond his capabilities.

Top Trumps

2008-01-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

When I was younger, I used to have a couple of sets of Top Trumps. I can remember having a few sets of the popular cards, but I vividly remember having the set that had sports cars in it. However, at Our Scotland we have seen some Top Trumps played out with football, politics and golf cards.

For a start we had the unveiling of the new Scotland manager who will take us into the World Cup qualifying campaign. George Burley trumped Mark McGhee, Graeme Souness and Tommy Burns to get the job.

Burley said during a press conference, "Now the dream is to qualify for the World Cup in 2010. The country has belief, I'm certainly up for the challenge and we'll go for it."

If he continues the progress that we have made during the last couple of years, then we could just make the World Cup.

Secondly we had the resignation of Peter Hain as Work and Pensions Secretary and Secretary of State for Wales. The Electoral Commission well and truly trumped him by referring the matter of an undisclosed £103,000 to the Metropolitan Police.

After Hain has set a precedent, Wendy Alexander must be sweating on the decision of the Electoral Commission over her suspect dealings. Mind you, she has been waiting that long, that she may have run out of sweat. Will she be the next to be trumped?

We also had the clearance of the first hurdle for the Scottish Budget. The £30bn budget was passed by just 2 votes with the Tories voting with the government. Is this a sign of things to come? The Tories snuggling up with the Scottish Government?

Finally we come to the man himself, Donald Trump and his plans to invest a zillion pounds into Scotland. Well, Scotland has been totally Trumped over this one. Trump is calling all the shots and if his deal doesn’t go ahead, I will be truly and utterly amazed.

Money, Money, Money

2008-01-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

This week, amongst other things, we have been talking about money at Our Scotland.

Firstly there was Labour’s opposition to the Scottish Government’s deal with councils in order for them not to increase council tax. Wendy Alexander agreed in principal that ring-fenced funding should be slashed, yet said the cuts agreed went too far. Can she make up her mind about anything?

Secondly there was the issue of the £30bn budget that is due to be voted on in Parliament this week. The Green’s, who seemed awfully friendly with the SNP at the outset of this parliament, indicated that they are unlikely to vote with the SNP. With Labour definitely voting against it and the Lib Dems likely to abstain, it would be all down to the Tories.

And all I am saying is that it must be a sign of the times, that a Scottish Government does a deal with the Tories and nobody says anything. And let’s look at one of the deals that have been done. More police on the streets. It was one of the more laughable aspects in the lead up to the election.

Party X – We are going to put 1,000 more police officers on the streets
Party Y – Well we are going to put 1,001 more police officers on the streets
Party Z – Is that all? We are going to put 1,002 more police officers on the streets

In all honesty, what difference does 1,000 extra police officers on the street make? Maybe this is radical thinking and nobody has thought of it before, although I very much doubt it, but would the money not be better spent on sorting out why the crime is happening in the first place. Maybe it could go into supporting initiatives to stop people re-offending. Maybe it could go into funding activities to keep some teenagers off the streets and out of trouble.

Instead they might as well put their extra funding in my back pocket, because crime is about as likely to go down by doing that as by putting extra police on the streets.

Talking of back pockets Peter Hain and George Osborne are the latest in a long line of MP’s and MSP’s to be spotted with undeclared money poking out of their denims. Surely there should be a review of political funding, because either people have total disregard for the rules governing funding or they just don't have a clue about their obligations.

Join in the debate at Our Scotland.

OIL

2008-01-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

Oil is what makes the world go round. At least that is what we are told. Virtually everyone in the Western world needs it and for the countries that own it, well they are just can’t get rid of the dollar signs in front of their eyes.

Don’t know much about the technical side of this, but the UN has opened up negotiations for 162,935 square miles of sea bed in the eastern Atlantic, which is thought to be rich in oil. Who are the countries most affected? Ireland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Scotland.

Now 30 years ago, the significance of the oil revenue was greatly underplayed by Westminster governments to help quell the rising Scottish independence movement. This time around we are all a little wiser about the value of oil as well as its finite availability.

However, who is going to be at the negotiating table on Scotland’s behalf? A Westminster government. Will they sell us down the river just like last time? Perhaps they will only get 25% of the area they could have negotiated, just in order to maintain their precious union? Paranoid? Well Westminster has form on this subject.

Another country that has a little interest in oil is the United States of America. This week we saw the year long circus move up a gear as the New Hampshire primaries took place. Hilary Clinton made a mockery of the pundits and pollsters as she took the honours.

What will Bill be called if she does get into the White House? First Lady? First Man? Maybe since he will have done his job for Hilary, it will be First In Line To The Divorce Courts.

I am just glad that George W will be out of office by the time the negotiations for the Atlantic oil is concluded, because the facts weren’t looking good if negotiations went well for us. Can just imagine the US Government portfolio on us:

Scotland
Lots of Oil
Rogue Government (according to Westminster)
Weapons of Mass Destruction

Bush – “Bomb the B******s !!”

Keep up to date with Scotland’s threat to international security at Our Scotland.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

I haven’t been about for a bit, suffering from prolonged election fatigue!

Well last year was simply a sensational year in Scottish politics.

The election itself was sensational. There was voter confusion, helicopters not getting off the ground, mad-man swinging a golf club, counting machines not working and counts postponed. All that before 11 o’clock at night!

When the result was announced , just before tea time the next evening, it couldn’t get more dramatic. It came down to the final declaration. And what a historic declaration. The Labour hegemony on political power in Scotland was finally broken. There was a new dawn. Alex Salmond was First Minister.

Salmond was quickly in action dealing with the first terrorist attack in Scotland of its kind. An apparent suicide bomber drove straight at Glasgow Airport intending to cause death and carnage.

After Jack McConnell vowed to continue as Labour leader, his position soon became untenable and Wendy Alexander got elected unopposed. She had hardly got her feet under the table when she was embroiled in trouble. An allegedly dodgy donation for her leadership election campaign has been acknowledged as illegal by her own party. What makes it even more unbelievable, was that she was elected unopposed. Will she be following Jack McConnell sooner rather than later?

Another thing that bit the dust in 2007 was the Best Small Country in the World slogan that Scotland used. Although papers released in 2008 show that Scotland would have been a whole lot bigger (economical) independent country if it wasn’t deceived by successive Westminster governments about the value of its oil revenues.

So 2008 has kicked off with a real political hot potato. Will the year continue in similar fashion?

Keep up to date with all the political debate at Our Scotland.

No General Election!

2007-10-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well, what would you know! Having let speculation build and build over the last two weeks or so, Gordon Brown turned around today and announced that there would not be an election.

There can be no other explanation than he has totally bottled it. If he was never going to call an election, he would have stopped all the speculation stone dead. Brown had totally backed himself into a corner, where the only option seemed to be to call an election. Yet he has stunned us all.

The leaders of the other political parties must be thinking all their Christmases have come at once, as this gives them unlimited ammunition in which to attack Brown. The SNP have got the ball rolling by calling Brown a "feartie"!

On a personal note, I m quite disappointed. As the prospect of a GE increased I was getting quite excited. There is nothing like the buzz that election day gives you. I was looking forward to a long night in front of the TV and Peter Snow's Swingometer. However it is not to be. Having two elections in one year would have been a bit greedy though.

Wonder if Brown will live to regret this decision though?

General Election?

2007-10-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

Barely have we managed to catch our breath after the last election, than another election is potentially about to be unleashed upon us.

At one stage it seemed as if it was full steam ahead for an election with anyone connected with Labour stoking the fires that pointed to an early poll. With the Comprehensive Spending Review and pre Budget report being brought forward ahead of schedule and Labour bods scurrying about trying to raise money an election seemed inevitable.

However, the last three opinion polls have caused Brown to have second thoughts. Indeed in one of the polls, Labour's lead has been wiped out. Will he still want to go for it or will he revert back to type. Becasue for long enough, he had the chance to make his move on Tony Blair, but decided to remain in the background. Will he do the same in deciding to shy away from an election?

However, there is a shadow chasing Brown. He was the most successful Chancellor in recent history, if not ever. But he is aware, perhaps more than anyone, that an economic boom cannot last for ever. Therefore pretty soon, we are going to be facing some tough economic times. Perhaps we are seeing the start of it with the demise of Northern Rock. So he will want to get an election out of the way before the real effect of that kicks in.

Also with Gordon Brown refusing to quell speculation that an election is imminent, it now seems impossible for him not to call one. David Cameron at the Tory Party conference, added to the voices calling for an early challenge to Brown's leadership. This is surely only false bravadoism by Cameron as he has next to no chance of winning. Then it will be bye-bye for him as party leader (could we see the return of William Hague?)

So if there is going to be one, when will it be? The popular thinking of everyone who is remotely interested in politics is that November the 8th is the most likely date of the poll.

But will Gordon Brown have the guts to call it? After all the hype that has been built up, I am now rather looking forward to the prospect, so he had better bl**dy call it!!

Fantasy Football League Table - Week 5

2007-09-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest Our Scotland Fantasy Football league table. Why not come over and check it out?

Name
DanaBC
SLG
Reluctant Hero
azzuri
macnumpty
Rinty
Scott2006

Played
5
5
5
5
5
4
1

Average
6.6
6.2
4.8
4.6
4.2
4.5
2

Position
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

High
1
1
3
2
3
1
3

3pts
6
6
4
2
2
2
0

1pt
15
13
12
17
15
12
2

Score
33
31
24
23
21
18
2

Week Sc.
7
3
5
4
6
6
0

Fantasy Football League Table Week 4

2007-08-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

Here is the table for the fantasy football league at Our Scotland after week 4. Why not come over and try it out?

Name

SLG
DanaBC
azzuri
Reluctant Hero
macnumpty
Rinty
Scott2006

Pld
4
4
4
4
4
3
1

Avg
7.00
6.50
4.75
4.75
3.75
4.00
2.00

Pos
1
2
3
3
5
6
7

High
1
1
2
3
3
1
3

3pts
6
5
2
3
1
1
0

1pts
10
11
13
10
12
9
2

Score
28
26
19
19
15
12
2

Week_Score
7
9
4
6
4
6
0

100 Not Out

2007-08-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

Doesn’t 100 days just pass as quick as a flash?

Barely have we recovered from the excitement/trauma (delete as appropriate) of the election, than Alex Salmond is celebrating his 100th day in office.

Of course the SNP had set out what they were going to achieve in their first 100 days a way back in March. This amounted to 49 pledges ranging from scrapping tuition fees to a white paper on independence.

Not to be outdone, Labour also counted the number of pledges in the SNP document released at their spring conference and confounding critics who say arithmetic is getting better, they came up with over 60 pledges. Of these 60 plus pledges, Labour claim only 20 have been delivered and 10 partly delivered.

Two things struck me about this.

Firstly, has Labour not learned anything from the election? Negative politics doesn’t work anymore. They should concentrate on what they would do, how they would do things different and not take cheap shots at their opposition parties. That is how the SNP won the election.
The second thing is that no-one expects a party to implement the majority of policies they laid out before the election, within the first 100 days, no matter what the party says. The important thing is to see if the party is committed to delivering the majority of their policies within the four years period or if they were just electioneering.

From where I am sitting, it would appear that the SNP are committed to delivering the majority of the election promises. Throw in the way Salmond handled the recent foot and mouth crisis and the first suicide attack on Scotland, then I have been satisfied that the Scottish electorate indirectly chose the best candidate to be First Minister.

The Labour party did actually comment on the SNP’s plans for their first 100 days in office back in March. Then First Minister, Jack McConnell, said the SNP were planning chaos and turmoil. Well they can’t have it both ways. They complain that the SNP’s plans would be disastrous, then they complain that they haven’t delivered them!

Labour should concentrate less on the SNP and more on themselves. They need to change. Is Wendy Alexander the person to deliver this change? Or is the Labour Party destined to become the Tory Party Mk II. A party that thinks it has a divine right to be in power but faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Time will tell !

Our Scotland Fantasy Football League Table - Week 3

2007-08-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

Here is the table for the fantasy football league at Our Scotland after week 3. Why not come over and try it out?

Name
SLG
DanaBC
azzuri
Reluctant Hero
macnumpty
Rinty
Scott2006

Pld
3
3
3
3
3
2
1

Avg
7.00
5.67
5.00
4.33
3.67
3.00
2.00

Pos
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

High
1
1
2
3
3
1
3

3pts
5
3
2
2
1
0
0

1pts
6
8
9
7
8
6
2

Score
21
17
15
13
11
6
2

Week_Score
8
7
3
4
2
3
0

Poll Axed

2007-08-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

Poll Axed

The latest opinion poll for the Daily Mail was published today and it could not have been better news for the SNP. Support for the party has reached an unprecedented 48% with Labour lagging way behind on 32%. The Lib Dems and Tories are not even in the picture with 8% each.

Labour is still in limbo until they get rid of McConnell and elect a new leader. Who is that leader going to be? Well, the hot favourite in the press is Wendy Alexander. Would this be a step forward for Labour or a step back? Well only time will tell, but what I am interested in at this stage is whether there is going to be an actual leadership contest or will it be yet another coronation?

The Lib Dems must be severely regretting the fact that they did not enter the coalition discussions. For if they had, they may have benefited from this upsurge in support for the SNP and who knows, may even be challenging Labour for second place.

Those are the decisions you live and die by. I just wonder how long Nicol Stephen will remain in his post?

Alex Salmond seems to be making all the right decisions at the moment. Demanding a Scottish Six, visiting flooded areas of Scotland, hosting a function for people responding to the attempted suicide attack on Glasgow Airport, overturning A&E closure decisions and much more.

Even when the SNP were defeated over its transport policy and were forced to support the Edinburgh tram plans, they managed to turn this into a victory of sorts, capping the expenditure budget at £600m.

There are no doubt going to be numerous other challenging moments over the next 3.75 years the SNP have left in government, not least the potential impending recession. However, if Salmond continues in the same manner as he has over the last three months or so, then he will have nothing to fear from Alexander or whoever Labour elect as their next leader.

Over at Our Scotland, there are numerous political and other topics up for debate. Not only that there is a chance to play Fantasy Football, predicting the scores of the SPL every week. We have teamed up with two other messageboards to have an inter-forum league. Why not check it out?

You've Got Mail

2007-07-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

I got a letter from Nicola Sturgeon yesterday. Now of course, it wasn’t a personal letter. It wasn’t addressed just to me. It was addressed to every single staff member of the NHS in Scotland. From cleaner to consultant, the letter thanked us for efforts, particularly over the last week or so.

Now this is hardly anything worthy of the BBC running a special news bulletin on, but I think it is extremely significant. It shows, in my opinion, the massive difference between the SNP in government and the Labour Party in government.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The whole way the SNP has conducted itself in government has been a revelation. Scotland now has a government that is looking out for the interests of Scotland and not just some two bit organisation that answers cap in hand to their masters in London.

Many political commentators who were opposed to the SNP have been taken aback by how well the SNP have adapted to government. Even Iain McWhirter the Sunday Herald political columnist, who spent the run up to the election hoping for a Labour victory wrote, "Perhaps if Donald Dewar had entered government with the same imagination and panache as Salmond, the story of devolution might have been very different."

And Alex Salmond has the perception of how to address issues that Jack McConnell could only dream of. The way he handled the terrorist attack on Glasgow Airport was first class.

Now, of course, it is only early days in a new administration. The honeymoon period some might say. The SNP have announced a raft of initiatives which they are looking to pursue. And the public seem to like it. The SNP have pushed ahead in the latest opinion poll ratings.

However, they shouldn’t get too complacent. Announcing initiatives is the easy bit. It is the subsequent pursuit and delivery of these objectives which will prove a rocky road. How the SNP negotiate this road will hold the key to the next election and very possibly Scottish independence

Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen, Arrivederci

2007-06-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

This week Tony Blair left the office of Prime Minister for the last time and also resigned as an MP. He is now classified as one of the most "successful" Prime Minister’s in history. But what does successful mean? Is simply being able to win 3 elections enough to be classified as successful? What has he actually done for the country?

Probably one of the biggest changes in Scotland has been devolution. This has hopefully sent Scotland on the rocky path to independence. Ironically, Labour MPs thought devolution would kill independence stone dead.

However, that is about as good as it gets for the Blair administration. Embroiled in controversy after controversy, culminating in a disastrous war in Iraq. This week in Prime Minister’s Questions, Blair was in ebullient mood. Getting the serious bit out of the way first, acknowledging British forces fighting in wars, he then concentrated on treating the Commons as a stage for his act.

But the effect of the Iraq War, which Blair and his chum Bush instigated, cannot be that easily forgotten for some people. For instance, it is estimated that in the region of 70,000 civilians have been killed, as a result of military intervention in Iraq.

Regarding the military, Tony Blair had barely left number 10 Downing Street, when it was announced that another 3 British soldiers had been killed in Iraq. This brings the total to 156.

And what has it all been for? So Blair can look big in front of his old friend George? So George can secure oil supplies and multi-million re-generation contracts for American companies?

If the death of Scottish soldiers isn’t bad enough, today saw the potentially more serious way things are progressing with an attempted suicide attack on Glasgow airport.

So, good riddance Mr Blair. Good luck in your new job as Middle East envoy. With your history, you have about as much chance as bringing about Middle East peace as a scud missile.

I'm back!!

2007-06-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

I am back after my brief blog hiatus.

Don’t know about the rest of you, but the lead up to the election and the election itself just zapped all my energy and it has taken until now to recover.

The SNP has wasted no time in setting about government and have announced a series of voter pleasing policies. Re-instatement of A&Es, scrapping of graduate endowments and cutting of class sizes have all been announced in the last month. Who said government was hard?

A hard choice that will no doubt be coming down the track faster than another reality TV show is who is going to be the next Labour leader. Jack McConnell is making all the right noises, “I like opposition,” etc etc, but the writing is surely on the wall for him. Who will be voted in to try to halt the SNP juggernaut? Wendy Alexander? Andy Kerr? John Reid?

One position that has definitely been filled is that of Prime Minister. As Teflon Bliar prepares to hand the baton over to Gordon Brown, will anything actually change? Will Brown continue to bribe Scots as Bliar admitted to only last week? He said that giving Scots a higher percentage of funding via the Barnett Formula is a small price to pay to keep us in the Union.

But is the Union not in terminal decline anyway? Now that we have different parties controlling Holyrood and Westminster, we are now seeing the different directions the two parliaments are taking. Scrapping endowment fees for Scottish students, reducing class sizes, rolling out cervical cancer immunisations. It is all taking its toll and the English BBC are doing their best to draw it to the attention of people down south.

One thing they would be better focussing their attention on is the shocking statistic that 10% of Scottish kids live in “severe poverty”. Now, while severe poverty doesn’t mean the same as it did a couple of generations ago, it is all relative. I’ll be interested in seeing what the SNP’s plans are for this after they have got all the easy decisions out of the way.

One man with big plans is Gordon Smith, the newly appointed SFA Chief Executive. In recent interviews he has, amongst other things, talked about tackling cheating and potentially lifting the alcohol ban on Scottish football grounds. Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill, announced that the alcohol ban would be lifted at Murrayfield for rugby internationals and Smith hinted at the same for Scottish domestic football games. Sounds good to me. I could have down with at least 10 pints down me watching Ross County last season.

Join in the debate on Scottish life and politics at Our Scotland.

Rollercoaster

2007-05-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

Phew!!

What a last couple of weeks it has been in Scottish Politics.

Firstly we probably had the biggest rollercoaster ride in the world. i.e. The Scottish Elections. Lack of postal ballots, breaking down machines, suspended counts, sellotape and a man swinging a golf club. It was certainly memorable.

Not to mention a pretty pathetic turnout, two elections, using three different ways to allocate seats and of the ones that did turn up to vote, a significant number couldn't make head nor tail of what they were expected to do.

Once some results did finally start to come in, there was no way to predict a winner until the very last seat was read out. Just as a result came in that you thought, "right that's it, it is bound to go their way now," along would come another result which would fly in the face of the previous one.

At the end of it all, we had a change of government, which I think the majority of Scotland wanted to see. Although, was it going to be a coalition or minority government? The Lib Dems intransigence made sure that there was going to be no coalition despite the Greens appealing to their better nature.

Salmond has already got down to business and has elected his front bench, slashing the number of departments that the previous administration had left. This is supposed to be a slicker government to work towards making Scotland "Healthier, Wealthier, Safer and Better Educated." Certainly Salmond is going about his business with the confidence expected of a national leader, which I think was slightly lacking form the previous incumbent.

At the UEFA Cup Final which was held in Glasgow on Wednesday, Salmond was rubbing shoulders with UEFA president Michael Platini. Barely 24 hours later, Salmond was staking Scotland's bid to host the European Championships in 2016.

He has also highlighted the fact that Scottish companies have to pay substantially more money to get their electricity onto the national grid than their London counterparts.

Although these two things don't amount to very much in themselves, I think it points to the direction Salmond is taking Scotland. Standing up for its interests and not just lying down and accepting normal practice.

More of the same Alex.

What's the price?

2007-05-17T04:04:00.000-07:00

Cost of Scottish parliament fit for the 21st century - £414,000,000

Cost of Trident nuclear system capable of human annihilation - £26,000,000,000

Getting rid of Jack McConnell and Tony Blair - Priceless

Election 2007 – SNP Victorious

2007-05-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

As a famous song once went, "Oh, what a night!"

We had it all. Excitement, drama, controversy, heated exchanges. And that was just in the BBC studio!

There are two big stories emerging from Election Night.

Firstly there is the disaster relating to the issue of votes and how these votes have been counted ( or not counted ).

Secondly, we had an historic result as the SNP emerged as the biggest single party in Holyrood.

First things first though. Let’s look at the issue of the actual vote and all the issues emerging from it.

Postal Votes
It is simply unforgivable that people who have registered to get a postal vote are left wondering where it is when election day arrives. Everyone who is entitled to vote, should have the opportunity to vote and this opportunity has simply been taken away by incompetence somewhere along the line.

Counting System
Last month, I raised concerns about the electronic voting system. At that point I was more concerned about the integrity of the vote and could never imagine the total fiasco that was played out last night in regard to the counting system. Count after count was suspended as the computer software involved failed to function properly. Apparently it was due to the volume of votes!! Well heaven help us if the turnout had been around 80%.

STV/Council Elections and all that
People have got to decide what they want. Do they want council elections turnout to be 20 odd percent? If so let’s have it on a separate day. Do they want proportional representation where every vote counts, or do they want first past the post?

Somewhere along the line people have got to take responsibility for themselves. Despite numerous advertisements in the press and media, despite clear instructions on the ballot paper, despite Labour guys handing out "sample" voting papers, there was still something like 10% of the ballot papers not counted because they were filled in wrong.

What happened to the sophisticated Scottish electorate? Did it let its brother or sister, who are 99 pence short of a pound, vote for them by proxy?

Result
But onto the result and what a result!

For the first time in over 50 years, the Labour Party are no longer the largest party in Scotland. Given the negative campaign the media have bombarded the SNP with and considering how many seats they were behind after the last election, this result is nothing short of sensational.

Alex Salmond should be smiling like the proverbial Cheshire cat, given this result and in his own constituency of Gordon where he came from third place in the previous election to take it. But Salmond is too shrewd for that. He knows there are still a lot of politics to go under the bridge before he is rightly installed as First Minister of Scotland.

The result also saw the bigger parties re-establish themselves and saw the virtual disappearance of the smaller parties. Both the SSP and Solidarity paid the price for their bitter fall out and didn’t gain a seat. The parliament has possibly lost its greatest speaker in Tommy Sheridan. Global warming has taken its toll on the Green vote as this has been cut back to 2 MSPs.

But this election has belonged to one party and one party only. They have constantly been one step ahead of the rest throughout the campaign.

Step forward the SNP.

The Time Has Come

2007-04-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

This is it! This is it!

After what seems like weeks of campaigning, we have entered the final phase of the election campaign and at this stage no one is quite sure which way it is going to go. The latest opinion poll shows the SNP 9% ahead. Can they follow through and make this lead count when it comes to polling day? Will we see Alex Salmond unveiled as the new First Minister?

You can be sure on one thing, the unionist press will be pulling all kind of tricks in the last week in order to swing the vote back to the Unionist parties. But is the public sick of hearing of Labour’s prophecies of doom? That is all we have heard throughout the election from Tony and his cronies.

While the other parties, like the SNP, have outlined their vision for the future of Scotland, all Labour has done is wheel out Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and then constantly berate the SNP policies. Why are they not talking about their own policies?

Labour has been constantly one step behind in this campaign. Releasing their list of supporters of the Union a couple of days after the SNP released their list of businessmen and women who support independence. Also making swift changes to their plans (or lack of plans) on the council tax after the SNP amongst others said that they would scrap it.

Could this be the start of the end of Labour’s stranglehold on Scotland? Are we seeing the entrance of a new political order?

One thing is for sure, this week is going to be the busiest week ever at Our Scotland. Have your say on what you think the outcome is going to be in our predictions thread and join us on Thursday night as we discuss the events as they unfold and what implications it has for the election result and indeed Scotland’s short term future.

Can you count on it?

2007-04-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

With this year’s election looking like it is going to go down to the wire, every vote will be absolutely crucial in determining not just which MSPs get elected, but also who will be installed as First Minister and depending on how many seats his/her party win, the bargaining power it would hold over potential coalition partners.

With this in mind it would be reasonable to expect that the system for counting these votes would be thoroughly tested and a certain amount of confidence could be placed in it.

In the past, manual hand counting was the tried and tested way of counting votes. Whilst in no way was this 100% accurate, there was a sufficient level of accuracy to provide a fair result. Very close results were automatically recounted in any case.

In June 2006, the Secretary for State and the Scottish Secretary announced that the 2007 Scottish Parliament and council elections would be counted electronically. This is to be the UK’s biggest test yet of the electronic vote counting system. The change was mainly to do with the fact that the council elections will be decided by STV proportional representation and this electronic counting system would be easier to use.

Fair enough. But safeguards have to be in place to ensure the integrity of the vote. For instance, in California, 1% of the vote has to be hand counted as well as machine counted to ensure that the machines are counting properly.

Does the Scottish elections have a similar check in place? No.

Two US experts on the accuracy of electronic counting systems have said that the Scottish system lacks enough independent safeguards.

However, deputy Scottish Secretary, David Cairns said, "People should have the confidence to know that if things do go catastrophically wrong, we will still have the bits of paper and could do a manual recount if needed."

I think Mr Cairns is spectacularly missing the point. In this election things don’t need to go "catastrophically" wrong to change the outcome. It is too close for that.

If that wasn’t enough to test the confidence of the most optimistic person, then along comes more bad news in the form of postal votes.

With the police being alerted to election fraud, the Scotsman reported that, "The Holyrood election has been left wide open to fraud on a potentially massive scale after ministers scrapped checks designed to prevent abuse of postal votes."

And why did ministers scrap checks designed to prevent abuse of postal votes? You guessed it! Because of the new electronic counting system. It was feared that too many innovations might overwhelm the system!

It’ll be interesting to see what happens….

Uncharted Territory

2007-04-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

If election time wasn’t exciting enough, this election has the potential to be the most hotly contested election in recent memory. For the first time ever, the SNP are leading the opinion polls with less than two weeks until the election.

The Sunday Times published a poll today, 22nd April, showing the SNP a commanding 7% clear of Labour in both the constituency vote and the regional vote. The paper claims that Labour need, "a seismic turnaround in its fortunes to avoid defeat."

Campaigning on the basis of no extra powers for Holyrood, whilst 83% of Scottish people are opposed to the status quo, seems like a spectacular own goal on the part of the Labour Party. This is compounded by parading Gordon Brown and Tony Blair around promoting Labour’s agenda. Who still thinks those two are electoral assets?

Tony Blair said recently that this election shouldn’t be about giving him a good kicking. That he would be gone soon. Well sorry to shatter your over inflated ego Mr Blair, but this election is not about you. It is more important than just being about you. The short term and possibly long term future direction of Scotland will be decided on May the third.

Will the decision be legitimate though, or is there a risk of the result being manufactured? Questions continue to remain unanswered about both the electronic counting system that is to be used on the night and the authenticity of postal votes. With the Herald reporting today that 20,000 voters in the Helensburgh area were issued with polling cards for West Dunbartonshire instead of Argyll and Bute, it hardly inspires confidence.

Some people that usually have their finger on the pulse are the bookies and they have installed the SNP as favourites to come out of the election with the most seats. If that were to happen, what would happen next? Would the Lib Dems drop their resistance to an independence referendum? Would the SNP drop their commitment to a referendum? Or would the SNP go it alone with a minority government?

So many questions that everyone has an opinion on. State yours at Our Scotland.

Shifting Gear

2007-04-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

With the election now less than three weeks away, there has been no shortage of talking points at Our Scotland.

This week the election battle moved up a gear as all of the big parties have now released their manifestos and the campaign has begun in earnest. At the forefront of the SNP manifesto is Scottish independence, closely followed by a proposal to abolish the inherently unfair council tax and replace it with a local income tax.

The Lib-Dems are proposing a similar tax scheme to replace the council tax, however they vehemently oppose being coalition partners with anyone who is proposing Scottish independence.

The Labour Party meanwhile have focussed their attention, after 8 years in power, onto education and because the other parties are shouting so loudly about it, they felt it necessary to tweak the Council Tax system adding a few extra bands in.

The Tories, well let’s face it, are the Tories still relevant in Scotland? Not according to think-tanks at Tory HQ, who have floated the idea of a divorce of the Scottish and UK Tory Party. Would this give the Scottish Tories a new lease of life, no longer associated with the events in the 80’s and 90’s?

Another divorce that has been hotly discussed at Our Scotland this week is the potential break-up of the BBC if Scotland were to be granted independence. How would it work and is it really the best broadcaster in the world?

At least Scottish Labour is the best in the world at something. They are the best in the world at clutching fictitious figures from the air and using them to berate their opposition policies. Is the Scottish public listening anymore and if they are do they believe them?

Belief – That is what this election is coming down to. Who do you believe the most? Do you believe that Scotland can smash the chains that have been holding us back for the last 300 years? Do you believe that Scotland can be a confident, healthy and prosperous country? Do you believe that Scotland can once again rise and be at the forefront of the developing world?

Or do you want another 4 years of Lib-Lab coalition?

One thing is for sure, you can have your say on all this and much more both before and after the election at Our Scotland.

Kick-off

2007-04-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

If the first week of the election campaign is anything to go by, then the next three and a half weeks will be an absolute rollercoaster.

The week started with the leaders of the main political parties participating in a live televised debate. Annabel Goldie gave a confident performance and even joked about the unmentionable poll tax.

Jack McConnell struggled with the occasion whilst Nicol Stephen looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming artic lorry.

It was left to Alex Salmond to rise to the occasion and articulately command the stage.

It has emerged during the week that one command that might come from Tory HQ is that the Scottish Tory Party may be hived off and called something different. However nothing will be decided prior to the election.

One thing definitely decided according to Annabel Goldie is that the Scottish Tories will not form any part of any coalition that may be proposed after May 3rd. Maybe she is fearing a 1997 style wipeout!

Perpetual coalition partners, the Lib Dems, have also been in the news this week. Despite the planet collapsing around us, the Lib Dems have abandoned their green credentials in a dramatic U-turn on their road pricing policy.

Changing policies willy-nilly sniffs a bit of New Labour to me and the most senior members of New Labour were in Scotland this week. Dumb and Dumber were here to support Jack McConnell kick start his election campaign. With friends like these..........?!

A friend of independence is businessman Tom Farmer and he re-iterated Scotland's ability to go it alone in a Newsnight Scotland interview.

With virtually every media outlet supporting the bland, inertia of the current set-up, it is refreshing to see Newsnight Scotland at least trying to keep neutral. Unlike the Herald, who published a poll despite it being a week and a half late and the polling organisation not even being a member of the British Polling Council. The poll showed Labour in the lead despite ten polls already conducted this year showing the SNP leading. However in a bizarre anomaly, the same poll showed that the majority wanted Alex Salmond as First Minister!

Hold on folks, the ride has just begun!!

Discuss this and much more at Our Scotland

Labour's Campaign

2007-04-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

What do you do if your election campaign is stalling before it has barely begun? That is the question that Jack McConnell must be asking himself as he continues to trail the SNP in poll after poll.

The last thing I would do would be to be associated with two of the most untrustworthy men in Britain.. Yet that has been Jack McConnell’s campaign strategy as he let Tony Blair and Gordon Brown do his talking today.

Voting for the SNP would , "inject uncertainty and instability," claimed Mr Blair. But Mr Blair has a history of making false statements to the world. Do you remember Iraq having weapons of mass destruction?

Gordon Brown claimed that independence would be a, "dangerous risk." Yes we all trust your judgement Mr Brown. Your decision to change pension tax rules 10 years ago has contributed £75 billion to the black hole in pension funds.

If this is the best Mr McConnell can come up with, Alex Salmond will be laughing all the way into Bute House.

Here’s hoping!

Poles Apart

2007-03-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

POLES APART

There is one thing that the SNP and Labour are poles (or should that be polls!) apart on and that is Independence. Labour, despite all the evidence to the contrary, continue to berate Scotland’s chances of becoming an independent prosperous nation, whilst the SNP would openly embrace it.

So much so, that they have indicated precisely when they would go to the Scottish people to ask them if they share the same vision. That referendum is pencilled in for 2010 and even the exact wording of it has been agreed.

Just the small matter of gaining a sufficient number of seats in the elections in a little over a month’s time to overtake Labour and become the largest party. However, the way every opinion poll is looking, this may be the easy bit. The hard bit might be to persuade a coalition partner to come on board.

What will happen to Jack McConnell if Alex Salmond does become First Minister? If last week was anything to go by, I wouldn’t look to any of my colleagues for help if I were him. Ironically, in an event to show how well Westminster and Holyrood was working together, Patricia Hewitt, a senior Labour figure, continued to get his name wrong. McDonald? McConnell? Scotland?

Never mind Jack! We still trust you. Well that is according to Margaret Curran MSP who told the Newsnight Scotland presenter last night that of course the Scottish electorate still trusted Jack. Well I trust that you will show up to a debate being hosted by STV for party leaders on Sunday, Jack. No excuses now.

However, I probably won’t be seeing Jack at the Independence First march tomorrow, given his antiquated views on independence. However, I will be there at 12.30 to lend my voice for the campaign to have a say on our future. Another person due to be there and perform his song "Caledonia" is Dougie MacLean.

Hopefully it will be a good day and you can discuss this and a lot more at Our Scotland.

The Choice Is Yours

2007-03-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

What do the following events have in common?

Event 1 – Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, questions people’s intelligence when he says, "It is not as straight forward as people suggest. They sleep soundly in their beds at night because we have nuclear weapons."

Event 2 – Margaret Becket, Foreign Secretary, saying that it is a, "complete nonsense," in response to the internationally respected Hans Blix’s comments that other than the removal of Saddam, everything else in Iraq has been a disaster.

Event 3 – Tony Blair’s comments after Sir George Mathewson, former chairman of RBS, came out in support of independence. Blair said that Mathewson’s comments were, "self indulgent and absurd."

Event 4 – Gordon Brown trying to fool everyone with his 2p cut in the basic rate of income tax, yet because he scrapped the 10p lowest rate, there is effectively no difference.

What have all these events got in common? Yes that is right it is Labour’s latest attempt at pulling the wool over our eyes and completely losing its grip on reality.

For a start, the RBS is the fifth largest bank in the world. I think that a former chairman of such a bank would be pretty well qualified to talk on the financial merits of independence, yet Blair disregarded them out of hand.

Similarly, Hans Blix, the former Chief Weapons Inspector, has more than enough experience to know what he is talking about when it comes to international affairs, especially Iraq. Yet Margaret Beckett seems to think that hundreds of people getting killed each week is not a disaster.

Then we have Des Browne and Gordon Brown who have both in their own inimitable way tried to show that they are a cut above us mere mortals. Browne trying to suggest that Joe Public does not understand the intricacies of nuclear weapons whilst Brown tries to pass off a tax rise as a tax cut.

So what has this got to do with Scotland? Well for a start, the above mentioned Labour politicians are amongst the most powerful people in British politics, controlling the items that are not devolved to Scotland.

They are also the people pulling the strings of that political puppet, Jack McConnell, our very own First Minister.

Why do we still want to be represented by these political megalomaniacs?
Scotland has a choice in six weeks.

Make it count.

Who is bankrupting who?

2007-03-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

With less than seven weeks to go until polling day, the independence movement is riding on the crest of a wave.

But what is this?

Surfing up alongside is none other than Sir George Mathewson, the former Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland. He has added his credence to the independence debate by declaring that he sees, "no circumstance where independence would be a serious disadvantage." Now this guy knows what he is talking about having guided the Royal Bank of Scotland to become the fifth biggest bank in the world.

There are other prominent businessmen surfing alongside Independence, but a glance over the shoulder sees Tony Blair, dangerously close to a Trident submarine, surfing a board that is shaped like the United Kingdom with Scotland cut off the top. He is not doing very well as he and his UK surf board appear to be sinking.

"Help, help," splutters Tony, "we can’t manage without Scotland. We would end up broke without them," he says as he did in his speech in Edinburgh today.

How can that be possible though Independence asks? Your recent argument for Scotland not going alone was that Scotland was bankrolled by London. Was this just a myth all along? Now Scotland could bankrupt Britain if it went alone? How do you answer that Tony?

But it’s too late, because Trident, which the UK parliament voted to keep this week, despite the majority of Scottish MPs voting against it, has destroyed Tony.

Those pesky rogue states with nuclear weapons Independence utters as he surfs towards a safe and exciting independent future.

Discuss all this and much more at Our Scotland

History In The Making

2007-03-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

It has been an historic week. The House of Commons voted in favour of electing members to the House of Lords, bringing about potentially a huge constitutional change.

However it may not be the constitutional change in the air as the SNP are still riding high in the polls. Is this partly due to our very own First Minister instructing everyone to vote for them. He is quoted as saying, "There isn't a safe vote for Nationalism. If you believe it, vote for it."

With such a glowing endorsement, Alex Salmond has been busy deciding how he is going to spend his time when he takes over as First Minister. As well as marching Scotland towards independence, he will retain his seat at Westminster, according to the Herald. Is this to ensure Scotland gets a good deal in both parliaments?

One party not getting a good deal at the moment is the Tories. In a memo published by a daily paper, despite it being eight months old, Shadow Scottish Secretary, David Mundell has criticised the lack of talent amongst Tory MSPs.

However, some people with plenty of talent are those at Independent First who are busy organising their second march, which is taking place on 31st March. If you believe in Scottish Independence make sure you are there. Will there be any media coverage? Let’s hope so.

But one thing is for sure, all this and much more will be covered at Our Scotland.

Posted Missing

2007-03-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

In the last month, lots of things have gone missing and at Our Scotland we have done our best to try and locate them.

For a start, in the recent BBC Question Time programme from Edinburgh, every major Scottish political party had their leader present on the forum except the Labour Party. Where was Jack McConnell? In the run up to the election, you would have thought that politicians would be only too glad of the air-time to express their views. Is this a shrewd political move by Mr McConnell, or is he scared of sharing the same platform as Alex Salmond?

Also gone missing was some common sense. With Jack McConnell unwilling to accept the Question Time invitation, Lord Foulkes took his place and used the platform to announce that the SNP were xenophobic. This was barely a few days after the Lib Dem MSP Jamie Stone had to make a public apology for a similar remark.

The Scottish Lib Dems also seems to be missing an internet link to their very own website. For in that website they claim to “champion freedom”, they believe in “fundamental values of liberty” and they want individuals to “take part in decisions which affect their lives”. Yet Nicol Stephen, their Scottish leader has said that they would block a referendum unless pro-independence parties gained a majority at Holyrood.

If it wasn’t lost already, Tony Blair’s credibility was also shot to pieces this month when he pleaded with Alex Salmond to stop calling him names and stop mentioning the Iraq war.

Finally the last thing to be posted missing is subtlety. With an election just two months away councils have announced an average council tax rise of just 1.9% which is below the rate of inflation. Are councils efficiently using our money, or is this just an enticement to give them our vote?

However, it is not all bad news as a few things have been found during the month. We found out that the final bill for the Scottish Parliament was $414 million. Was this money well spent? We also found out that MSP expenses have risen by twice the rate of inflation to £9.8 million. Are they value for money?

The next two months could potentially be the most important in recent history for Scotland. There is a strong wind getting behind the independence movement and this could potentially deliver significant gains come election time.

Discuss this and much more at Our Scotland.

9.2 Billion Reasons For Change

2007-03-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

Water. It is plain. It is simple. Yet it keeps life on this planet alive.

You would imagine that such a vital item to the very survival of human life would be free and readily available. However, just like every other basic human need such as shelter and clothing, water is just another commodity in this capitalist world in which we live.

This is the same capitalist world that openly embraces The Royal Bank of Scotland’s (oh sorry that should be RBS) announcement that they have made profits of £9.2 billion in one year.

Out of this £9.2 billion, £2.29 billion has been screwed out of the average man on the street.
How on earth can this be justified when Scotland as a nation has a third of children living under the poverty line?

How many hospitals would £9.2 billion be able to build? How many people would it take of Scotland’s streets? How many new schools or affordable housing would it build? It would even build 22.2 new Scottish Parliament buildings.

Not to be outdone, the Bank of Scotland (oops sorry I mentioned Scotland again, business types don’t like that word, HBOS) announced profits of £5.7 billion. However business analysts were "disappointed" with those figures. They expected HBOS to fleece more money out of us.

These two companies alone made £15 billion PROFIT this year alone. Now think of how many companies you deal with in the year. Now that is a lot of companies charging us a lot more for products than it actually costs. Where is all this profit going to? Whilst a very small amount may go to good causes, the vast majority goes to shareholders and big bosses, who will have more than enough money than they know what to do with already.

So why do we allow this to continue happening? Why do we blindly hand over our hard earned money and get very little in return?

Fairer wealth redistribution may not happen over night, but incremental steps can be taken to step towards this goal. For instance, changes to the council tax system, could bring about significant change for a lot of people.

With the Scottish elections now only 9 weeks away, perhaps it is time to vote for parties that are looking to change Scotland for the better, instead of voting for parties that will keep it as one of the most unhealthy, impoverished nations in Europe.

Stand Up And Be Counted

2007-02-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

I was doing the crossword today when I came across this clue.

Ten-letter word used by the Unionists to try to discredit the Nationalist cause but is likely to backfire spectacularly. First letter X.

Two vivid images came to me.

Firstly, the Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Stone. The Lib Dem leader, Nicol Stephen had barely finished delivering his party conference address saying that this should be a clean campaign free of name calling, when Mr Stone called the SNP xenophobic.

Incidentally, this is the same leader that in the Scot Lib Dems raison d’être states that he wants citizens to "contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions which affect their lives," yet is dead set against letting the Scottish public have their say in a referendum on Scottish independence.

The second image that comes to me is that of former Scottish Office minister Lord George Foulkes. Barely had the dust settled after the first xenophobic comment when Lord Foulkes made a similar remark on the BBC’s Question Time programme.

Accusing the SNP of being xenophobic is taking the Unionist argument to the lowest level and Alex Salmond rose above it with this apt retort, "To argue for and seek independence for your country is something that people have done the world over. It is entirely legitimate and it is honourable. Some of the greatest figures in history have done it and we should not belittle that debate by throwing about names like xenophobic."

Coming so close to the election, the Question Time programme must have been an excellent opportunity to promote your party to the electorate. Alex Salmond leader of the SNP thought so as he was there. Also there was Annabel Goldie leader of the Scottish Conservative Party and Nicol Stephen leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrat Party. Where was the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Jack McConnell though? After all, he was invited. Is he not interested in debating things that matter to Scotland ahead of the election?

Asked on BBC News what he made of Lord Foulkes remarks, Mr McConnell stated that he had, "not seen the programme." Come on Jack, do you really expect us to believe that? And if it is true, then how out of touch are you? Perhaps as much as your colleague currently residing in Number 10 Downing Street?

Well perhaps Jack McConnell might be suffering the same fate as Tony Blair this year.

Vacating office.

Jostling for Position

2007-02-16T13:57:00.000-08:00

The election is approaching with the relentlessness of a long distance runner. And it looks like the Party which has the most stamina will come out on top in May. Have some parties gone for too much too soon?

For instance, the Labour Party have wheeled out their "Big Gun" this week, or should that be smoking gun? As Tony Blair made his annual visit to Scotland. He ignores Scotland for 95% of the year, only turning to them for their votes in parliament or when there is an election approaching, yet expects them to listen when he talks.

One person that is listening is Alex Salmond. Tony pleads to Alex, "Stop attacking me over the Iraq War. Let’s debate Scotland’s future."

"OK," says Alex and challenges Tony to a debate on Scotland’s future, like he has to Tony’s friend Jack on numerous occasions.

"Um, arrgh, well……," Tony says as he has no vision for Scotland, just like his friend Jack.

One man that does have a vision for Scotland is Scottish Lib Dem leader Nicol Stephen. But this vision does not include independence. Despite phrases like, "we champion freedom," "we aim to disperse power," and "we want to enable citizens to take part in the decisions that affect their lives," contained in their raison d’etre on their website, Mr Stephen has said that the issue of a referendum on independence is non-negotiable. He does not want one. The question that needs asked is he speaking for himself or his party?

The same question could be levelled at the SSP. Is their manifesto a serious attempt at getting MSPs elected or is it simply cheap shots at Tommy Sheridan?

Cheap shots are exactly what Noel Gallgher is now having at Tony Blair. Has all that alcohol during the nineties given him a case of amnesia for I recall back in 1997, during the "Cool Britania" era, he was sipping champagne, laughing and joking with Mr Blair. Who needs enemies when you have friends like that, I am sure Mr Blair is thinking.

Some people who are definitely our friends at the moment are those nice councillors. The average council tax bill has risen less than the rate of inflation. Have they been taking generosity pills? O h, no, wait a minute. That is right there is an election around the corner and this is their pathetic attempt to win our vote.

For a nation with amongst the worst child poverty and worst male survival rates in Europe, surely it is time for change. Have your say.

Let someone else have a go.

Missing The Point

2007-02-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

It is symbolic of the times that every few weeks we hear that the police have been given increased powers.

According to a BBC report, Scottish Police have been given extra powers to impose on-the-spot fines to "tackle anti-social behaviour."

The Scottish Executive think that these fines would tackle crimes such as drunkenness and vandalism! What planet are they on? Issuing a £40 fine is as likely to have as much an effect on social issues as me trying to become First Minister. And since when did drunkenness become an offence?

These increased powers simply serve 2 purposes:

1. Further eroding our civil liberties
2. Revenue generation

The Scottish Executive should be diverting funds into looking at the underlying problems causing people to turn to "crime". One of the major problems is poverty. The fact that a developed country has a third of its children living below the poverty line is shameful.

The Deputy Justice Minister has even said that crime is falling and this is despite of the policies employed by the Executive. So forgot your, "We want to see more police on the streets." Use that money to tackle poverty and guess what? You’ll be tackling crime at the same time.

The Choice Is Yours

2007-02-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

Eleven billion. Four Billion. One Billion. Pick a figure. That is what the Labour Party is doing in its latest attempt to discredit the SNP campaign. What will the figure be next week? Labour are currently running scared and have reverted to the age old tradition of scare tactics as their primary weapon to fight the elections. However, I think that the public are getting pretty sick of it. The public want to see a party that has a vision for Scotland. They want to see a party that are positively campaigning to bring about progressive change to Scotland. Not a party that revert to negative statements and downplaying Scotland’s capabilities in a vain attempt to cling onto power.

What do you want to hear from politicians? Do you want to hear, "The so and so Party are rubbish and should never be given the chance to govern Scotland"? Or do you want to hear, " Scotland should have a thriving, prosperous population with the best housing, healthcare and working conditions in the world. We should have a transport infrastructure that supports such fundamental needs whilst exceeding environmental responsibilities. A sense of community will permeate through Scotland…….etc etc."

I know which one I want to hear. So if you are sick to death of hearing negative rubbish being spouted by the current politicians, there is only one thing to do. VOTE. On May the third, go to the polling station and get rid of this plague that is prohibiting Scotland from moving forward.

So close - I can almost touch it!

2007-02-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

The latest opinion poll was published this week and it is good news for the SNP. They still lead Labour in the Constituency and the Regional vote with less than 100 days to go until the election. Should Jack McConnell be preparing his final speech as First Minister?

Alex Salmond is so close, he can almost feel the comfy leather of the First Minister’s chair. Yet he is going to have to rely on some friends if he wants the keys to power. Yes, that’s right, due to proportional representation, it is highly unlikely a party will gain an overall majority so a coalition will have to be formed. Will Alex be able to persuade the Lib Dems to side with him?

One person not likely side with Mr Salmond, is Tony Blair. Phew, I can hear Alex saying! Then I can hear Alex popping open the champagne bottles when Tony Blair announces that he will be fronting the Labour campaign. Has no-one told him that he has no credibility left?

With all the odds stacking up against Labour, will voter apathy hand them a potential lifeline? What will the likely outcome of the election be?

The choice is literally yours!!

Join the debate on all these topics and more at Our Scotland.

The Countdown Has Started

2007-01-26T13:17:00.000-08:00

With less than 100 days to go until the election, one of the big questions that needs answered is – Will the election take place at all? With EU rulings stating that criminals must get a vote and with no mechanisms in place to make this happen, is the election in jeopardy?

If the election does go ahead, then what is the most likely outcome going to be? Will we have another Lib-Lab coalition? Another 4 years of dreary government taking its orders from Westminster. Or will we have something new and exciting, such as an SNP led administration. Would they really impose a £1,000,000 tariff on every nuclear warhead transported to Scotland?

Perhaps we should ask the EU what they think of the implications of such a tariff. But then again, in a leaked report meant for Jack McConnell, Scotland is being routinely ignored, forgotten and dismissed by Whitehall officials.

Oooohhh, I feel a constitutional row brewing! Oh, I forgot! It has already erupted with the news after Ruth Kelly, the Communities and Local Government Minister at Westminster is trying to force Scotland to abandon its law of allowing gay couples to adopt children.

Money just can’t buy a good constitutional argument. Something else money can’t buy is a nomination for a peerage to the House of Lords. This was no doubt what Mr McConnell was telling the police when he got questioned about his nomination recently.

There is only one nomination Scotland will be focussing on in the next 100 days or so though and that is the First Minister. With the Lib Dems stating that they will not go into coalition with the SNP, it seems that the SNP quest has suffered a blow. But will the electorate really stomach another Lib/Lab coalition? Who is going to win the race Alex or Jack?

Discuss this and much more at Our Scotland, we look forward to seeing you.

A Long Time In Politics

2007-01-19T15:38:00.000-08:00

Harold Wilson once said a week was a long time in politics and at Our Scotland it is unbelievable the amount of topics that have been debated within the last week.

For a start, the last week has seen the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union and this has thrown up some actions and posts which some people find quite controversial.

The anniversary has ensured that the independence argument has continued to be at the forefront of any debate leading up to the election in May. Even Tom Devine perhaps our most well known historian has got in on the act. Is he edging towards independence?

Probably the most unlikely person you would find supporting Scottish independence would be Margaret Thatcher. Hanging onto her coat-tails would be David Cameron, yet the current leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party has perhaps offered an olive branch to the Scottish electorate. Is this the most unexpected U-turn since the "Iron Lady’s" demise or is it just blatant electioneering?

One person that looks like he needs to do no electioneering is Alex McLeish. Is he a stick on for the Scotland job? Has he got the right qualities to take Scotland to Euro 2008 ahead of the two World Cup finalists?

Talking of World Cup Finalists, the many times finalists Argentina beat the one time finalists England back in 1986 in the quarter finals. Who could forget it? Maradona scoring that brilliant goal, then five minutes later he scored again skipping past five England defenders and rounding Shilton in the process. However the legality of the first goal has been yet again called into question this week.

Finally, it is the goal of one of our board members to move to Scotland. Help her decide which Highland location is the best to live in.

There are little more than three months to go until the elections. The excitement is building. The outcome of the election is truly on a knife edge. Who’ll form the next government? Will it be a coalition or minority government? There will be so many points of view debated over the next three months, make sure you have your say at Our Scotland.

2007-01-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

Our Scotland 2007

2007 is potentially going to be a very important year in Scottish Politics.

In the year of the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union, Scotland has the opportunity to vote for a party, which on getting into government, is committed to holding a referendum on independence.

At Our Scotland, Scottish Independence is a frequently debated subject and with the countdown to the elections in May, the debate is certain to get more intense. Is independence the best thing for Scotland? Will a referendum be legitimate? Will the English vote for independence first? Just one of the many threads on this issue is this one.

Read our featured blog section where macnumpty amongst others provides excellent analysis on the most recent Scottish political stories.

Also up for discussion are other aspects of Scottish news and Scottish life. For example, should the Stone of Destiny be returned to Scone Palace. Which bar is the best one in Glasgow?

And just as Scotland have become a force to be reckoned with on the football field again, the manager goes and jumps ship. Who is going to be the next manager?

But it is not just about serious debate. Our General Banter section is for anything you feel like talking about. From hangover cures to Limericks, it is all discussed.

So why not visit us to see what we are like and contribute to the debate. Everybody is welcome. Stay tuned for periodic updates on what is happening at Our Scotland.

All the Best.