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Content of the Flag in the Wind Web Site is the copyright of the Scots Independent Newspaper.

[ Issue 509 - 5th March 2010 ]

Compiled by Jim Lynch

Puzzling Opinion Polls

In the YouGov Opinion Poll recently commissioned by the Scotsman there are rather strange questions. They ask which Party would handle the problems best; the list of Parties includes Tory, Labour, Liberal, SNP, Other, Don’t know and None.

Nicola Sturgeon The problems listed are (a) National Health Service (b) Asylum and Immigration (c) Law and Order (d) Education and Schools (e) Taxation and (f) Unemployment.

So far, so what, you might say; well the little matter of two different governments for a start. The NHS figure shows a much bigger vote for Labour than it does for the Tories with the SNP getting even less than the Tories! The NHS in Scotland is faring much better under the SNP than the NHS in England and Wales, and people are generally happy with it. Can you imagine the public preferring Jackie Baillie to Nicola Sturgeon, for instance? I could not even tell you who the Tory Health person is.

We have similar pictures with Law and Order and Education and Schools; they are also the responsibility of the Scottish Government, and have been for eleven years, so there is a great deal of confusion being created as to just what people were asked.

With the best will in the world, it takes some stretch of the imagination to see Bill Aitken of the Tories (I even had to go and look up his name) doing a better job than Kenny MacAskill, or even, Heaven forfend, Richard Baker, Labour, on the Law and Order scene.

So, the YouGov poll, commissioned by the Scotsman is very much concentrated on the Westminster election, completely ignoring the Scottish dimension, and reflects English values. The above examples indicate that the published results are nonsense. The voting intentions according to this are Labour 38%, SNP 21%, Tory 20% Liberal 15%.

In complete contrast, an Ipsos/Mori poll of 1006 adults, taken between 18^th and 21^st February, showed :

SNP: 32% (+14)
Lab: 34% (-6)
Con: 17% (+1)
Lib Dem: 12% (-11)
Other: 5%

Remember that in June 2009, the last actual vote, European Elections, the SNP got 29%, Labour 21%, Tory 17% and Liberal 11%; the SNP polled more votes than the Tory and Liberal put together.

Aye , there is an election in the offing.

Lies, damned lies and a subsidised Scotland

I have a wee trick that everyone should play on their Unionist friends; ask them if Scotland is subsidised, and that we could not stand on our own two feet and pay our way. Now the answer would always be to agree with presumption – good heavens, of course we could not pay our way – sometimes vehemently!

Then pursue the matter a wee bit further, by asking them if they themselves got a subsidy! They bridle! Of course not, they have earned their money, nobody gave them anything, they paid their way, don’t talk rubbish!

abacus If Scotland is subsidised then every citizen of Scotland is subsidised, and we then accept that each and every one of us owes our standard of living to a benevolent Englishman who likes to give money to the poor – that’s us. Except that it is not; I have never accepted that I owed my standard of living to a kind and benevolent Englishman. This is not a new argument; my first letter to the Scotsman more than 40 years ago was on that very same subject. It started “Dear Mr English taxpayer,……” and went on to thank him for his munificence, in as sarcastic a tone as one can get in the Scotsman. The Letters Editor liked it; he put it in a box, in the middle of the page. And this was before a drop of oil was discovered!

Nothing has changed – but the English are getting vociferous about the perceived subsidy – so why can’t they just let us go? If Scotland was a burden they would have dumped us long ago.

For accurate fiscal information look at www.cuthbert1.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

Other items of note

Alex shouting

From time to time, I see comments made about Alex Salmond shouting, with a general criticism “He doesn’t need to shout!” These remarks are made by people who have never attended First Minister’s Questions; they may have seen it on television, or watched it on the web, but they have not been in the Parliament. I know this, because I go to First Minister’s Questions, and my wife tapes it, so that when I get home I can check the answers; the noise in the Parliament can be deafening, as the motley crew who style themselves the opposition try to shout Alex down. This background cacophony is not picked up by the broadcasting microphones.

OBE - what E?

One of these days the public is going to catch on to things like an OBE – Order of the British Empire, and realise that there is nae Empire; a new version of the Emperor’s new clothes, the Empire’s nae Empire. Most of the problem arises because our masters still behave as if the Empire is on a wee holiday, so carry on with the rotten meringue wedding cake that is the House of Lords, with all its falderals and strange clothes. There are no colonies in existence to fund their extravagances, apart from Scotland, with its vast reserves of oil being casually plundered away.

Wakey Wakey Wendy

an Edinburgh tram Two Written Questions from Wendy Alexander, Labour’s “brightest”; first what was the annual financial subsidy for the Renfrew Ferry? Answer, the Renfrew Ferry was funded by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport( Run by Labour Glasgow Council, presently attracting some adverse publicity - this was not part of the answer!)

Secondly; Why was the EdinburghTram project not in the written evidence provided to the Public Audit Committee regarding progress on major capital projects? Answer: the information provided did not include projects which are the responsibility of local authorities. The tram project is being delivered by the City of Edinburgh Council.

Now if an old age pensioner in Edinburgh knew both of these things, how come a Labour MSP had to spend public money to ask?

Murdo the Mystifed

Murdo Fraser, the Tory Transport spokesman has been fulminating in the Courier about the SNP’s failure to dual the A9; he suffers from Selective Memory Syndrome. The money in the SNP Manifesto for dualling the A9 was dependant on the scrapping of the Edinburgh Trams Project, which Mr Fraser and his Labour and Liberal colleagues voted for – so now one day we may get trams in Edinburgh – I have yet to meet anyone who wants them, but then I only live there. Dualling the A9 was a much more necessary aim.

Changing Newspaper

Some years ago, maybe 7, I stopped buying the Scotsman, after 40 years, due to its consistently negative approach to all things Scottish. Two weeks ago, I stopped the Herald after 30 years readership, due to its hysterical coverage of what they termed “lunchgate” and a mistake by Nicola Sturgeon.

After a brief flirtation with the Courier, I am now trying the Scotsman again; disappointed to see that the cyber idiots have transferred from the web to the paper.

If newspapers do not change, then we should change the newspaper.

The Gordon Brown predictions

When someone sent me extracts from this I thought that it was a spoof; I then went to the Treasury website and discovered it was true!

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown addressing Mansion House 20 Jun 2007

“My Lord Mayor, Mr Governor, my Lords, Aldermen, Mr Recorder, Sheriffs, ladies and gentlemen.

Over the ten years that I have had the privilege of addressing you as Chancellor, I have been able year by year to record how the City of London has risen by your efforts, ingenuity and creativity to become a new world leader.

Now today over 40 per cent of the world's foreign equities are traded here, more than New York:

· over 30 per cent of the world's currencies exchanges take place here, more than New York and Tokyo combined,

· while New York and Tokyo are reliant mainly on their large American and Asian domestic markets, 80 per cent of our business is international, and

· in a study last week of the top 50 financial cities, the City of London came first.

So I congratulate you Lord Mayor and the City of London on these remarkable achievements, an era that history will record as the beginning of a new golden age for the City of London.

And I believe the lesson we learn from the success of the City has ramifications far beyond the City itself - that we are leading because we are first in putting to work exactly that set of qualities that is needed for global success:

· openness to the world and global reach,

· pioneers of free trade and its leading defenders,

· with a deep and abiding belief in open markets,

· champions of diversity in ownership and talent, and of flexibility and adaptability to change, and

· a basic faith that from wherever it comes and from whatever background, what matters is that the talent, ingenuity and potential of people is harnessed to drive performance.

And I believe it will be said of this age, the first decades of the 21st century, that out of the greatest restructuring of the global economy, perhaps even greater than the industrial revolution, a new world order was created.”

Comment thereon

Just to remind everyone that we are now in the biggest economic mess that we have ever been in, created during the reign of the above individual, still posturing as an economic expert; what he does not say in his speech (I only printed his opening remarks) is that his beloved United Kingdom, England writ large, only survived the previous ten years with billions of oil revenue from Scottish waters.

And while we are quoting from the past, an excerpt from Donald Bain’s article in the Autumn 2007 Special Scots Independent (just months after Brown’s Bombast at the Mansion) which was a critique of Gordon Brown’s non existent economic credentials:

“At the time of writing it looks as though the panic created by the bungled rescue operation for Northern Rock has been halted, but at the price of destroying the credibility of the Governor of the Bank of England and effectively offering the UK’s commercial banks the guarantee that, no matter how wildly they miscalculate borrowing risks, Westminster will always guarantee savers’ deposits. As Robert Peston (BBC Business Editor) has observed, the Brown Government’s action guaranteeing all deposits in the UK banking system incurs “ a potential liability to the public purse on a mind-boggling scale.””

And so it came to pass.

Can you circulate as widely as possible (and sign it of course) - lets get a massive number of signatures and protect the
Scottish Football Team

Comment by Craig Brown - Last year FIFA President Mr Blatter made clear that the consequence of Scots, Welsh and Irish participation would be an end to those respective national sides, and crucially the independent league set up in Scotland. So clearly that will have a potentially huge impact economically as well as seriously undermining football in Scotland as we know it.

http://epetitions.scottish.parliament.uk/view_petition.asp?PetitionID=297

Great Britain Football team Raised by: Craig Brown on 17 December 2008
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to consider what impact the creation of a Great Britain football team at the Olympics or other sporting event would have on the promotion and support it and other public bodies such as sportscotland provide for football as a means of encouraging healthy lifestyle as well as generating economic and social benefits.

Read Christina McKelvie MSP's Weekly Diary

SYNOPSIS

Tuesday 2nd March 2010

SCOTLAND, WALES AND N IRELAND COMPLETELY IGNORED

Commenting on the statement from Sky, ITV, the BBC and the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour regarding televised election debates, SNP Westminster Leader and Moray MP Angus Robertson said the current proposals announced today exclude three of the four nations comprising the UK.

Angus Roberston MP All three debates are planned to take place in England, and it would be outrageous if the people of Scotland were misled and not properly represented.

Questioning the attitude of the broadcasters - the BBC in particular - and UK parties towards the people of Scotland, Mr Robertson said:

"It is unacceptable for the people of Scotland to be short-changed in this way. The broadcasters - in cahoots with the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour - are attempting to exclude entire countries from these leaders' debates.

"All three debates are proposed to take place in England, completely ignoring Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland despite being broadcast in these nations.

"By definition these debates as currently proposed are incapable of reflecting what's happening in Scotland - this is exemplified by the planned domestic issues programme, which will almost entirely be based on what's happening in England.

"Along with the broadcasters, the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour are trying to mislead the people of Scotland, shackle the governing party at Holyrood and ignore the reality of devolution.

"The SNP does not want to prevent these debates from happening, we want to participate in them, but if these debates go ahead as currently proposed, the views of Scotland's voters and the interests of the people of Scotland will be ignored and excluded.

"The behaviour of the BBC, in particular, is shameful. They have abandoned any pretence of being the UK's broadcaster and breached their own Code of Conduct by agreeing the principles of the proposed debates with the London-based parties before even contacting the SNP.

"The proposed format of the debates borders on the ridiculous, with the audience gagged and prevented from having any meaningful participation.

"With the latest poll from MORI putting the SNP neck and neck with Labour in the polls for the Westminster election, and polling nearly double the Tory support and three times the Lib Dem support, it would be outrageous if these debates are broadcast in Scotland without involving Scotland's party of government, the SNP.

"In Scotland 60% of voters are opposed to the exclusion of the SNP from these election debates, yet the other parties have simply ignored their opinion."

Notes - A YouGov poll conducted on the 12th-13th January of 1013 Scottish adults asked voters if they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: "The televised leaders' debates due to take place in advance of the election should NOT include the leader of the Scottish National Party."

* 59% of respondents disagreed with excluding the leader of the SNP, endorsing the argument that excluding the SNP from debates that are broadcast in Scotland is unfair to Scottish voters. Only 31% agreed - a majority of some two-to-one.

* The poll also found that 62% of Scots believe that the SNP should get the same level of TV coverage as the London-based parties (another 9% think the SNP should get more coverage).

Ipsos/Mori Poll published Monday, 1 March surveyed 1,006 respondents between 18-21 February 2010.

* Westminster voting intentions (change since 2005 General Election in brackets):

SNP: 32% (+14)
Lab: 34% (-6)
Con: 17% (+1)
Lib Dem: 12% (-11)
Other: 5%

Tuesday 2nd March 2010

Christine Grahame MSP The Convenor of the Cross-Party Group on Animal welfare at the Scottish Parliament SNP MSP Christine Grahame has backed a new petition lodged today (Tuesday) calling on Scottish Ministers to increase the amount of resources for police and Procurator Fiscals to help them combat wildlife crime more effectively. Ms Grahame joined up with 70 RSPB supporters as the 22,000 signature petition was handed over at Holyrood. Ms Grahame said:

“The RSPB has organised the petition to highlight the need for greater resources to assist police combat the illegal killing of birds of prey which is a particular problem in the Scottish Borders.

“Over 70 supporters today unveiled a 40ft wide peregrine mosaic to mark the hand over of the 22,000 signatures which the RSPB have collected.

“I know that Scottish Ministers take the issue of wildlife crime extremely seriously and I think that the Public Petitions Committee will give the petitioners a sympathetic ear.

“Wildlife tourism, particularly that related to observing birds of prey, benefits the Scottish economy and I am optimistic that this petition will receive a sympathetic hearing.”

Tuesday 2^nd March 2010

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has criticised the lack of UK participation in the key European Darfur support mission.

Following genocidal attacks on the people of Darfur the European Union authorised a mission in neighbouring Chad in 2007 to protect displaced civilians, facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid and ensure safety for UN personnel.

helicopter 4,300 troops make up the EUFOR Chad mission under the command of Irish Lieutenant General Pat Nash. According to international sources the UK provides only 4 (four) service personnel.

Westminster SNP Leader and Defence Spokesman Angus Robertson MP raised the issue today (Tuesday) at Foreign Office Questions in the House of Commons:

“The situation in Darfur is one of the worst genocidal campaigns since the Second World War and the EU is right to be involved.

“Given the tendency of some Westminster politicians to criticise the contributions of other countries to international operations, people will be shocked to learn the appalling level of UK engagement in the European mission.

“Out of over 4,300 European troops the UK has committed only 4 service personnel. This is a shocking record and exposes claims of an ethical foreign policy as totally hollow.”

Background:

Current EUFOR Chad confirmed contributors include (with number of troops committed

France 2000 troops, 8 helicopters, 500 persons logistical support
Ireland 500 troops, including 50 Irish Rangers, 2 helicopters
Poland 400 troops 3 helicopters
Sweden 202 troops
Austria 160 troops, 50 special forces#
Romania 120 troops
Italy 100 troops
Belgium 100 troops 22 special forces
Spain 100 troops 2 aircraft
Albania 60 troops
Portugal 30 Air Force personnel plus 1 C-130H
Slovenia 15 special forces
Netherland 60 Marines
Croatia 15 special forces.
Germany 4
Greece 4
UK 4

Wonder what the Unionists have to say about poor wee Ireland now.

Tuesday 2nd March 2010

Labour, Tory and Lib Dem politicians descended into confusion last night as they were questioned over plans to cut Sotland's budget after the General Election, emphasising the SNP's position as the only party committed to protecting Scotland's budget for the coming year.

Joe FitzPatrick MSP Labour has already cut £800 million from this year's budget and all three parties have so far refused to rule out further cuts following the General Election despite the economy's fragile position.

On Newsnight Scotland last night the Labour, Tory and Lib Dem spokespeople each managed to contradict other senior members in their party and all failed to rule out cuts in the coming year.

While Margaret Curran contradicted earlier comments from Treasury Minister Lian Byrne and claims from Gordon Brown, David Mundell directly contradicted a claim from David McLetchie that there would be no cuts in devolved areas saying "if the budget for the UK is going to change, the budget in Scotland is going to change."

Commenting on the cuts confusion SNP MSP Joe FitzPatrick who this week lodged a parliamentary motion supporting Cosla President Pat Watters call for all parties to keep Scotland's budget intact for the next year said:

"The logic of Labour's position is that Tory plans to cut this year would be bad, but Labour cuts are ok.

"Labour has already jeopardised Scottish recovery with £800 million of cuts this coming year, any further changes to that budget would be disastrous for our economy and our public services.

"This is cuts chaos and confusion amongst the London parties. All three are committed to cutting Scotland's budget and not one of them could rule out cuts this coming year, despite the lines their party colleagues may spin.

"The only thing that is clear is that neither Cameron, Clegg nor Gordon Brown is ruling out cuts to Scotland's budget - despite that budget already being set and public services setting out spending plans for the year ahead.

"There is a real danger if these parties are able to go ahead with their plans that Scotland's recovery will be put at risk. Labour must answer this question clearly - when Alistair Darling delivers his budget how much will be slash Scottish spending by?

"While opposition politicians play fast and loose with our economy SNP MPs are committed to protecting our recovery and it is by electing more SNP MPs that Scotland's voice and the needs of Scotland's public services will be heard loudly in London."

Tuesday 2nd March 2010

An analysis of the latest Mori poll on Scottish Parliament voting intentions - which extrapolates the regional vote on the basis of the swings achieved in the constituency vote - would result in the SNP
increasing its seats in the Scottish Parliament and its majority over Labour.

The poll results would see the SNP win 55 seats in Holyrood compared to 47 now whilst Labour would lose 7 seats and fall to 39 seats. This would increase the SNP's majority over Labour from 1 seat to 16.

SNP Business Convener Bruce Crawford today welcomed the findings, saying it showed the underlying strength of the SNP vote as we approached a Westminster election - where the SNP is neck and neck with Labour in the Mori poll at 34% for Labour to 32% for the SNP.

Bruce Crawford MSP Commenting Mr Crawford said:

"With Westminster election speculation growing this is a breakthrough poll for the SNP. Not only is it far and away our strongest ever position as we approach a UK General Election - neck and neck with Labour - but it shows us increasing our support in the Scottish Parliament.

"Voters are showing their confidence in the SNP Government and responding accordingly.

"We have not only increased support from 2007 but are recording poll ratings for Westminster which exceed our best ever performance for that Parliament's elections. Conversely Labour is recording ratings below their post-war election performances.

"This poll and its analysis shows that there is all to play for in this election.

"The election in Scotland is a two-horse race between the SNP and Labour. The SNP putting forward a positive agenda for Scotland and delivering in government, or Labour politicians with their constant carping negativity, phoney arguments and failure in office.

"With these record pre-election poll ratings the SNP can take its message to the people that we will be the local and national champions who can win for Scotland and not the tired old typical London politicians from Labour."

Notes:

1) Details of the Mori poll and the extrapolation are as follows:

Published figures for Scottish Parliament constituency vote (with changes from 2007 in brackets):

SNP: 36% (+3%)
Lab: 29% (-3%)
Tory: 14% (-3%)
LibDem: 15% (-1%)
Green: 3%
SSP: 1%
Other: 2%

Using the swings from those figures for the four main parties the extrapolated regional vote would be (with changes from 2007 in brackets):

SNP: 34% (+3%)
Lab: 26% (-3%)
Tory: 12% -2%)
LibDem: 10% (-1%)
Green: 3%
SSP: 1%
Other: 14%

Results are based on an Ipsos MORI survey of 1,006 respondents between 18-21 February.

2) A Scotland Votes Analysis of the latest Mori opinion poll shows the following breakdown of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament (with changes from 2007 in brackets):

All:

SNP: 55 (+8)
Lab: 39 (-7)
Tory: 16 (-1)
LibDem: 14 (-2)
Green: 1 (-1)
Other: 4 (+3)

Constituency:

SNP: 31 (+10)
Lab: 26 (-11)
Tory: 4 (-)
LibDem: 10 (-1)
Green: 0
Other: 2 (+2)

Regional:

SNP: 24
Lab: 13
Tory: 12
LibDem: 4
Green: 1
Other: 2

On these figures, the SNP would gain 10 more constituency seats.

From Labour (sitting MSP in brackets):

Aberdeen Central (Lewis MacDonald - Shadow Deputy Spokesperson on Enterprise, Energy and Tourism)
Falkirk East (Cathy Peattie - Deputy Labour Whip)
Cumbernauld & Kilsyth (Cathie Craigie)
Dumbarton (Jackie Baillie - Shadow Health Spokesperson)
Airdrie & Shotts (Karen Whitefield - Convener of the Convener of the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee)
Linlithgow (Mary Mulligan - Shadow Deputy Spokesperson on Communities and Housing)
East Kilbride (Andy Kerr - Shadow Spokesperson on Finance and the Economy)
Midlothian (Rhona Brankin)
Glasgow Kelvin (Pauline McNeill - Shadow Spokesperson on Culture and Constitutional Affairs)

From the LibDems (sitting MSP in brackets):

Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Jeremy Purvis - Shadow Spokesperson on Finance and the Economy)

3) The Westminster ratings from the Mori poll were as follows (change since 2005 General Election in brackets):

SNP: 32% (+14)
Lab: 34% (-6)
Con: 17% (+1)
Lib Dem: 12% (-11)
Other: 5%

Sunday 28^th February 2010

Following on from reports in the Sunday Times newspaper that the Police have been called in to investigate claims of false accounting at SPT, SNP MSP Sandra White has called on all involved to be open and work with the Police to assure that faith can be restored in the transport body.

The investigation comes just days after Labour's failed to reform the organisation by rejecting opposition offers of help in leading the organisation.

Sandra White MSP Commenting, Ms White said:

"I welcome this investigation.

"With all the accusations and claims currently flying around Strathclyde Partnership for Transport this is a necessary step to clear up Labour's mess.

“We need to route those out who have be caught with their hand in the taxpayers pocket to reinstate public confidence in our elected representatives.

" I hope all those involved with the investigation at SPT are fully open with the Police so that we can get to the bottom of this crisis.

“I fully accept that there will be cases when officials and councillors need to travel, but for representatives of a public transport body to run up thousands in mileage claims and with serious questions hanging over a number of fact finding trips the taxpayer deserves to know if these were genuine or simply Labour representatives charging the taxpayer for their jollies abroad.

“The dodgy dealings that have already been exposed has further damaged the Labour Party in Glasgow and soured relations across Strathclyde.

"Purcell and his labour pals must be clear - if any one is found to have misused public money, to have broken the law or to have condoned it they must be held fully responsible for their actions.”

With the sudden shock resignation of the much respected Stephen Purcell, Labour leader of Glasgow Council, responsible for SPT, one wonders what else might be lurking in there.

Monday 1st March 2010

SNP Constitutional Affairs spokesman Pete Wishart MP has hit out at the admission by Tory party donor and deputy party chairman, Lord Ashcroft, that he is non-domiciled in the UK for tax.

Lord Ashcroft’s revelation flies in the face of Tory leader David Cameron's call for anyone in the Lords to be "resident and domiciled".

Pete Wishart MP Commenting Mr Wishart said:

“It says a great deal that it has taken years to wring this admission out of the Tories. They are obviously, quite rightly, ashamed of this revelation which directly contradicts their public position.

“The Conservatives can pretend to be a progressive party of change but this admission shows they are just the same old Tories: out of touch and out of favour.

“Lord Ashcroft is non-domiciled in the UK for tax purposes but can yield his financial power to plough million of pounds into Tory target seats. This is simply wrong.

“Meanwhile Conservative candidates in Scotland have empty piggy banks at a local level and are failing spectacularly to get support from the public to raise funds.

“The public clearly isn’t convinced by Tory spin and sound bites. It is not the party of real change but rather the party of short change for Scotland.”

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