CEUD MILE FAILTE

Or to translate the Gaelic into English "A hundred thousand welcomes." A few weeks ago, Issue 140, to be precise, I speculated on two scenarios for Iraq; the first was that stiff resistance by the Iraqi forces would drag the war out, with the body count rising. The second was that resistance would collapse and our troops would be met with bouquets rather than bullets, at the downfall of a brutal, vicious and repressive regime.

PUZZLING POLLS

This month we have decided to ignore the Westminster voting intentions, as they are reasonably meaningless in the current context, and concentrate on what may well be the last System Three of this campaign; decision day is less than three weeks away, when opinion polls are replaced by reality.

The sun-tanned socialists have dropped slightly, as the war in Iraq moves to a conclusion, or it could just be that his published "manifesto" has been greeted with derison; nothing was costed, as they will never hold power, so they just promise a socialist heaven, and rake in the votes. The Others percentage looks a bit curious; the constituency vote has gone up by 1%, they will claim "doubled", correctly, but that could be as a result of a lady standing in Strathkelvin & Bearsden against what New Labour are doing to the National Health Service in Glasgow. Strange that the second vote is down, as we now have declared candidates for fishing, pensioners, supported by two former footballers from the Old Firm, a new tory party (small t), other generally disaffected MSPs, and would you believe, Pat Lally, former Lord Provost of Glasgow, who has left the Labour Party after 50 years, and is standing as an independent, also against NHS changes in Glasgow (Mr Lally is known as Lazarus, as he has come back from political death so often); with this heady brew one would have expected this percentage to increase.

At the end of the day, if all of these votes translate into seats, New Labour would have 46, the SNP 38, the Liberals 23; it is possible that the SSP, Greens and Others would have more seats than the Conservatives.

20 DAYS - AND ELAPSING

This week New Labour launched its version which seemed to concentrate on health and reducing waiting lists, ignoring that this was a reprise of the last time; still a promise undelivered is always there waiting to be recycled. They will reduce class sizes for English and Maths, free fruit for primary one and two, let head teachers control their own budgets ( a Tory idea which has upset Scottish councils who were not consulted about this), jailing the parents (should normally read "parent") of unruly under 16s, making kerb-crawling a criminal offence (don’t look for a parking place) community wardens and increasing apprenticeships by 30,000. Again a lot of worthy ideas but no big idea, apart from a belated thought that people who live in big hooses should pay more in Council Tax, a throwaway concession to squeezing them until the pips squeak, which would make more sense if they put in local income tax; a lot of people in big hooses are older people who like their homes but are now pensioners. Oh and tolls on the Skye Bridge will now be "reviewed"; my comment last week that the Barra air service had been "saved" is not completely accurate, as it has only been deferred until 2006. What happens then? Well, there is another election in 2007..........They may also do something about George Galloway, Labour MP for Glasgow Central, who was urging Arab countries to attack our troops in Iraq.

I am sure the Tories also launched a manifesto as I saw their leader, David McLetchie, skipping across the turf at Murrayfield, but I can only vaguely remember what they said; something about reducing the number of MSPs, which may be a self-fulfilling prophesy, for them, anyway, a bit about the Liberals not having abolished student tuition fees (imagine- a Tory telling the truth!), and simulated indifference to defectors; they have also trotted out Ian Duncan Smith but he didn’t make much impact either.

The Liberals have also been on public view; their leader Jim Wallace is tootling about Scotland in a helicopter ( big benefactors giving him one?) and on take-off they released hundreds of yellow balloons; what this was supposed to symbolise one can only guess, but I was glad it was the Liberals doing this.

The Scotsman in its pull-out Election Special showed that they still crave for the old days; every seat is listed, together with the votes for each party, and the order shown is Labour, Conservative,SNP, Liberals and whoever comes next, in true Westminster pecking fashion. Maybe the Scotsman has not yet come to terms with the fact that the Tories are rapidly becoming a fringe party in Scotland. However, they also managed to mis-spell, Scanlon, Robison and Dunfermline, not exactly unfamiliar names in Scotland today.

SNP CAMPAIGN

One niggling thing seems to be the low recognition factor accorded to our leader, John Swinney; it is almost as if people are so used to politicians being devious and dishonest that they do not know how to handle an honest man. There is no doubt that Alex Salmond was a hard act to follow, and many have forgotten that Alex was thrown out of the House of Commons during a Budget Day debate early in his parliamentary career, and this helps the recognition factor no end. Alex was and is a brilliant individual performer, but the SNP is better prepared, better funded and better organised than it has ever been in its existence, and this is due to John Swinney’s planning

It is also worth noting that John Swinney is doing what no other leader of the SNP has had to do; he is the leader of the official Opposition in the Scottish Parliament fighting for re-election and for control of a Parliament which has been down-valued by the jobsworths of its current controllers, who continue to deceive, and who have managed to give politics an even worse name than it had- no mean achievement.

We are also very near the successful end of a war, which John Swinney and the SNP opposed, as did most Labour MSPs, but public criticism ceased when the guns were fired, as is only right; what effect this war will have is unknown, but this will be felt across all parties.

Andrew & Jim have now produced a computer game, titled as above, which is available as below. I have had a look at it and I think it’s brilliant. In one of the bits, a press conference, I only scored 8 out of 10, but I’m not saying which ones I got wrong!

The site includes multimedia packages, videos, and, in what is believed to be a party political first, a web-based game putting the voter in the role of First Minister. Commenting Mr Wilson said:

"The debate on the future of the economy is central to this election campaign and this website is designed to engage as many voters as possible in this crucial debate.

"It takes our boardroom campaign to the Internet generation using the very latest multimedia approach. This allows people to explore the issues, opening up dimensions of interactivity that more traditional techniques, such as posters, leaflets and manifestos, can’t do."

Commenting, Mr Mather said:

"At a time when there is great concern that voters are being turned off the political process and that apathy is rife, we are finding new ways to engage people on their own terms.

"The site takes people through the key economic issues of growth, employment, Scotland’s status as a branch economy and our belief that we can only deliver improvements in our public services by ending the years of underperformance and economic decline.

"These are not dry, academic arguments, but crucial issues that effect every single person in our country. Each and every voter is faced with a straight choice at this election – whether to stand still with Labour or move on with the SNP. I think this site will bring people to the conclusion that we can’t wait any longer for Labour."

You can visit the site at: www.soyouthinkyoucanrunscotland.com

CROWNING CONFUSION

I found it most interesting this week to find on the back page of the Herald a quotation from James Halliday’s Scotland - A Concise History; it was the one which I used in the Scots Independent Screen Saver, and I think it must now be the historical quote I know best.

It was "There was no such thing as a "Union of the Crowns". The king of Scots merely, and personally, inherited an additional office that paid much better than his old one. The two kingdoms were in no sense united, and Scotland was left in the hands of managers while her king went off to better himself." Mr Vitaliev in the Herald missed out the "and personally" but in the Flag we are sticklers for accuracy.

At this stage I feel an attack in Gilbertian terms

"For he might have been a Roosian,
A French or Turk or Proosian,
Or perhaps Italian.
But in spite of all temptations,
To belong to other nations,
He remains an Englishman."

Now read on; first an email from Brian Fleming in darkest Finland. He tells me that Henry VIII, whom I called the last English king was in fact Welsh; I consulted our Historian in Residence (his) James Halliday. He told me that Henry VIII’s grandmother was Margaret Beaufort of the House of Lancaster, and this was the basis of his claim; this actually made Henry VIII one eighth Welsh, but they all claimed Welshness for propaganda purposes, and Henry VII found military backing in Wales and they cherished red dragons and green and white flags as family symbols. Brian thought that Harold might have been the last English king, although he was a Dane; James Halliday said Harold’s father was Earl Godwin of Essex, a retired pirate, who colloborated with the Danish King Canute, so he could be construed as English, as at least he did lose!

Next an email to Peter Wright from Dr James Wilkie in Vienna, taking me to task as I had said that Mary was the last Queen of Scots, but in fact the last Queen of Scots was Anne, (1702-07) who later became Queen of Great Britain and was the last of the Stewart rulers. He also said that William II (1689-02) was the last King of Scots, and he was also William III of England: this was King Billy, who also authorised the Massacre of Glencoe. What a mixed up carry-on; no wonder we get confused. My contention is that once the monarchs became joint kings/queens of England they should no longer have been entitled to be "of Scots", but I realise this may be an emotional rather than a historical response. On looking at the succession line, James VI had two sons and a daughter, Prince Henry, Charles I and Elizabeth, who married Frederick of Bohemia, and whose daughter became the Elector of Hanover. On second thoughts, I recommend Scotland. A Concise History, by James Halliday, Pages 96 and 98, says he, escaping via a side door!

FOOT IN THE MOUTH NOTES

It could just be that more Scots playing for Celtic and Rangers, to name but two, would improve the standard of Scottish football.

When Elaine C Smith was asked by the Herald what would be the first thing she would do if she became First Minister she replied "Have a cup of tea and review the mistakes of my predecessor."

She never said what she would do in the second year.

First Group, which currently runs the Greater Anglia rail franchise much more successfully than other franchisees do their networks, and which in addition pays money into the exchequer, rather than living on subsidy, has been barred from bidding to renew its franchise; apparently the Strategic Rail Authority asked them for a 3000 word essay on "How I’d run a railway" and they did not submit one.

Two thoughts on this; obviously the Strategic Rail Authority does not know how to run a railroad, so are looking for ideas, and perhaps the fact that First Group has its headquarters in Aberdeen might have a bearing?

The Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt has brought in James Dyson, the vacuum cleaner tycoon, to advise her department on shaping innovation and manufacturing policy.

Last year Mr Dyson moved his manufacturing production from Wiltshire to Malaysia.

What selective amnesia the Tories have; they privatised all ancillary services in the hospital and put in contract cleaners and porters leaving us with filthy hospitals, and we are now accused of ignoring them!

SYNOPSIS

SNP Campaign Co-ordinator, Nicola Sturgeon, today welcomed the result of the mock election held by St. Mungo's Academy in Glasgow which showed the SNP winning by a margin of 304 votes to Labour's 155. The news comes only a few days after Labour leader Jack McConnell, claimed his party were most in touch with Scotland's young people. Commenting, Ms Sturgeon said, "The pupils of St. Mungo's Academy have realised we can't wait any longer for Labour. Jack McConnell and the Labour-LibDem coalition have been consistently out of touch with young people in Scotland. This mock election has led the way in terms of involving young Scots in the electoral process. Pupils have demonstrated their ability to understand the issues of debate in Scottish politics and come to an reasoned opinion on many of them". Ms Sturgeon said Scotland's youth were the "Independence generation" and knew that the choice at this election wass between standing still with Labour or moving on with the SNP. "We will go forward in this election campaign safe in the knowledge that we enjoy the support of the majority of young people and that we offer them, as we offer everyone in the country, the chance to release Scotland's potential." The results of the vote were: SNP - 304, Labour - 155, SSP - 97, Greens – 85, Conservatives - 70, LibDems – 22.

The SNP will reverse Labour's policy of cutting acute NHS beds, Shadow Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on the election trail today. Ms Sturgeon pointed out that in the last four years, Labour has cut almost 1000 acute beds from the Health Service at a time when waiting lists and waiting times are rising. "It is little surprise that the number of patients being treated has gone down and the time it takes to get treatment has gone up, when the health service has been getting smaller. Despite this, Labour has insisted that we can do without acute beds in hospitals across Scotland. I would say to them, tell that to the thousands of patient languishing on lists waiting for a bed to open up." Ms Sturgeon also announced that leading independent health academic, Dr Andrew Walker, Scotland's leading health economist based at Glasgow University's Robertson Centre for Biostatistics, had agreed to chair an SNP government's Scotland wide Review of Acute Capacity, designed to assess the true capacity required to meet Scotland health needs. Commenting she said, "It is time for us to take a hard look at exactly what we want our health service to deliver and I am very grateful to Dr Walker for agreeing to chair the review. He will head up a team of experts who will examine exactly how many fully staffed NHS beds we need. I will not prejudge Dr Walker's review and have asked him to go into this process with an entirely open mind, but I am very conscious that when this exercise was conducted in England, Labour were forced to reverse their bed cuts. I believe it's time to do the same in Scotland." Dr Walker who pledged not to pre-judge the outcome of the review, added, "I think the people of Scotland will welcome the idea that an expert group is checking that we have enough acute hospital capacity to meet health care needs now and in the future. The Scottish National Party are to be commended for bringing the idea forward and placing this at the top of the health agenda - I think that is where most Scots would expect it to be. However, I would expect politicians of every party to want to know the answer to these important questions, with the aim of providing the best acute care possible for Scotland."

Shadow Economy Minister, Andrew Wilson, today said that Scotland couldn't wait any longer for a competitive edge, as he commented on "disastrous" manufacturing figures which show that manufacturing exports have dropped almost a quarter in a single year. "These figures reveal the disastrous impact of Labour's 'do nothing' economic policy," said Mr Wilson. "Scotland's lack of competitive tools has left manufacturing wide open to the buffeting turbulence of international economic conditions. The result is that almost one quarter of our manufacturing exports have disappeared in a single year and, since 1999, thirty-three thousand jobs have been lost in this sector. We can't wait any longer for the competitive tools Scotland needs. It is time to move on from the failed economic policies of Labour and Conservative governments and release our nation's potential."

The leaders of the SNP and Plaid Cymru in the Westminster Parliament have written jointly to the Prime Minister urging that the United Nations be brought in now to secure the future of post-conflict Iraq. The letter from Alex Salmond MP states, "The UK should draft and propose a Security Council Resolution authorising a UN transitional and peacekeeping mission, which would then secure a multilateral diplomatic handover to democratic Iraqi self-government. That mandate should apply immediately to those areas of Iraq, which are now pacified, and subsequently to any areas which are still in conflict. "The UN mandate would facilitate UN primacy in the administration of 'permissive' areas already controlled by coalition forces, in addition to overseeing humanitarian aid distribution to the civilian population and initial reconstruction of the country". Commenting on the letter Mr Salmond said, "It is essential that the Prime Minister recognise that the peace was always going to be more difficult to win than the conflict itself. This position needs both clarity and legitimacy. Unless decisions are taken now to bring this situation back within the realms of international law then Iraqi civilians and our own armed forces could be in jeopardy for some time to come."

Commenting on the news that Scottish schoolchildren have been placed fourteenth out of 35 countries in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study – below Sweden, the Netherlands and England – SNP Shadow Education Minister, Michael Russell, said reducing class sizes for Primaries 1, 2 and 3, was now vital to improve the literacy skills for children. Commenting Mr Russell said, " This survey tells its own story. The issue of literacy should be at the forefront of this election. If we have slipped to fourteenth in the international literacy league table, then we can't hope to build the smart successful Scotland we all want. To have got to this position is pretty disastrous. It is therefore essential that we get a new emphasis on literacy and that means smaller class sizes in the first years of primary education."

The Scottish National Party has promised to recruit an additional 3,100 extra primary school teachers under a plan to reduce class sizes in Scottish schools. The 145 million pound scheme was unveiled by party leader John Swinney in Aberdeen during campaigning for the Scottish parliamentary elections. Mr Swinney said the aim would be to reduce class sizes for primaries one, two and three to 18 pupils or less. He said: "Reducing class sizes is a vital step in securing our kids' future and to releasing their potential. We know that literacy and numeracy levels are stuck at unacceptably low levels, giving too many kids the worst kind of start to their education. We will put in place 3,100 more primary teachers and will invest 145 million pounds to deliver smaller class sizes and turn our nation's educational record around."

Speaking following Scottish Question Time in the House of Commons today, Westminster Chief Whip Pete Wishart MP slammed the Secretary of State's procrastination of when she will officially announce changes in the number of Scottish MPs, saying, "This is further evidence that Labour will employ any measure to ensure that the laziest MPs in Westminster hang on to power for as long as possible. Not only are Labour behind in the polls for the Scottish election on the 1st of May, the infighting within the party over the constituency boundaries for Westminster elections won't be improving the gloomy outlook for the party." Speaking from Westminster, he added, "The fairest way for Labour to decide on which MPs should be allowed to run for the next election would be to use the official league tables on MP's work rate in the House of Commons, which shows many Labour MPs at the bottom of the pile, and the SNP as the hardest working party in Parliament. With or without these changes, it's clear that Labour's days in Scotland are now numbered."

Angus MP Mike Weir today slammed Labour's record on combating poverty in Scotland saying, "Labour's complacency with regard to poverty knows no bounds. Rather than accepting that there is a problem, and that poverty is increasing in Scotland, the Government and Executive are content merely to fiddle the figures." Speaking this afternoon following his question in Scottish Questions on the issue of poverty, Mr Weir said, "The facts of the matter are clear. Only by improving childcare provision can Scottish families get back to work. Scotland's unemployment rate continues to be the highest of all the countries in the UK, but around 9,000 children are still denied free nursery places, despite previous Labour promises on the issue." Mr Weir said that only the SNP had guaranteed childcare for all children aged two and under, daycare provision for three and four-year-olds and setting up additional after-school and breakfast clubs throughout Scotland and that these policies would be a huge step towards combating the "scourge of poverty" throughout Scotland. "We need to face up the problems affecting Scotland, and implement strategies to effect positive changes for those most in need. Labour have failed to deliver over the last six years, so we simply cannot wait any longer."

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