MEA CULPA

          When I did last week's Flag, I had the strange feeling that something was not quite right, and on looking back, I worked it out!  I said that the Flag would be 5 years old this week, as I was sure that it had started on 9th May 2000;  on checking the Archives, it did not start until 9th June 2000.  Probably I had been working on it from about 9th May, but we had not gone live until 9th June;  the niggle was because last week was 257, and 5 times 52 is 260, not 258.

              No wonder I  failed as a politician;  I admit I make mistakes  -  sorry!

OCHIL & SOUTH PERTHSHIRE III

        Well, we didn't win in this seat, although we came tantalisingly close, 688 votes behind Labour;   I spent the day knocking up in Auchterarder, getting my head sunburnt yet again, but did not feel the buzz, so was not terribly optimistic.  We saw no sign of the other parties knocking up, but subsequently I heard that Labour had done a telephone canvass of about 70% of the constituency;  most of this would have been done from their call centre in Gateshead.  Look for a repeat performance in 2007.

          In some of the other seats we won, our candidates were helped by the SNP Members of the Scottish Parliament, who were in place;  in Ochil, a seat we won at the Scottish Parliament Elections, the sitting MSP was not available, as he is the Presiding Officer in the Scottish Parliament, the Right Honourable George Reid, PC, MSP.  Yes, George is a Privy Counsellor, the only one in the Scottish Parliament, but felt that as Presiding Officer he had to be totally impartial, so took no part in the campaign at all.  This was a bit of an anomaly, as he was elected to the seat with SNP money and SNP workers, and while he is doing a first class job as the Presiding Officer, the SNP has lost his talents.

                  Annabelle Ewing fought a great campaign, and we will sadly miss her drive and commitment in the Westminster Parliament.

THE HALF TIME SCORE

        Alex Salmond, the SNP Leader, was correct to point out that this election was only the first half of the match, and the second one will be in two years time in the elections for the Scottish Parliament.   Certainly, we did find many people not voting for us in this Westminster Election, but very definitely intending to vote for us at the Scottish Election, and there was very much of a fear factor concerning the Tories,  which Labour talked up, although it was never even a remote possibility.

           When driving around Scotland in the spring, the bright colour of the fields of oilseed rape  give me the impression that the sun is shining, when it is not;  now why does that always remind me of the Liberals?   They had a good election, capitalising on their opposition to the Iraq war, and are cock a hoop, but I am reminded of the Scottish Parliament Election in 2001;  after that the media was full of reports on the Greens and the SSP.  Where were they in this election?  Off the radar, as the electorate found a new diversion, Charles Kennedy, ambling good naturedly round the country, and smiling and being pragmatic to the point of puking.  And , I almost forgot, down in England at the last European Elections, there was Robert Kilroy Silk smirking all over the TV screens, and this time around, he skulks off, not wanting to talk to the cameras, as he was in turn rejected;  "It's a funny old world"  as some former politician once said.

           Whichever way we like to look at it, the Labour vote fell by 79,000, our vote fell by 52,000, the SSP fell by 29,000 (from a much lower base) and the Liberal vote went up by 150,000;  these are the hard facts, and we in the SNP now have to redress that balance before 2007.  The Tory vote only went up by 8730 despite all their claim that they would take seats from the SNP;  the Tories always claim to do better than their showing in the opinion polls, but this is because they actually vote, rather than stay at home through apathy. 

          However, as my good friend, Andrew Kerr, he of letters fame (not the New Labour apparatchik), has pointed out,  in 1992 the SNP had 22% of the votes in Scotland, and had 3  MPs elected, whereas in 2005 we had 18% of the votes and 6 MPs elected;  he also noted that in February 1974 the SNP took 7 seats out of 71, whereas in 2005 we took 6 seats from 59, or 58 if we do not count the Glasgow seat of the Speaker of the House of Commons.  To put it in percentage terms, in February 1974 we obtained 9.86% of the seats, and in 2005 , 10.17%  - or 10.34% excluding the Speaker.     See statistics - see fun!

        I was struck by one phrase used by Alex Salmond after the results were announced;  he said "We have now put some chalk on the blackboard";  percentage vote are all very well, but the actual winning of seats is what counts.  We increased our seats by 50% from 4 to 6.   In this context, it is interesting to note that the two seats which the SNP won were the ones we held during the wilderness years, Dundee East by Gordon Wilson, and the Western Isles by the late Right Honourable Donald Stewart, PC, who was also a Privy Counsellor.

         From now on the Liberals free run is ended;  they campaigned against Labour in this election, despite the dichotomy of being their buddies in the Scottish Executive, but now the SNP campaign will be against the Scottish Executive, which includes the Liberals.  They claim credit for any good achieved by the Parliament, but eschew any blame for the faults and failings.  That will now be exposed. 

ALL CHANGE

           The Election is over, and already we are seeing changes in the party leaders;  Michael Howard, the Tory leader, is going back into his coffin, and this time they will probably put a stake through his heart.    In Scotland, Jim Wallace, the Liberal leader and the Deputy First Minister, is also stepping down;  this could be seen as a prelude to the Liberals attempting to distance themselves from Labour in the Scottish Executive, but who knows?  They seem to have a successor all lined up, so probably no vote there either.
 
            Over the water, David Trimble of the Ulster Unionists has gone;  he lost his Westminster seat to Ian Paisley's lot, as moderation gave way yet again to intransigence, a notable feature in Northern Irish politics.  

                Down at the Big House, though, there is as yet no sign of the Prime Minister stepping down, despite all the wishes and the assurances, not given by the aforesaid Prime Minister.  About half of his Scottish team want him to go, mainly anonymously, as they all like their jobs, or the money that goes with the jobs, so they're not about to do any boat burning.   The Labour campaign was in trouble until a rapprochement was achieved and Gordon Brown brought back in to its election programme, but he is a downy enough bird to know that the Prime Minister cannot be trusted;  he lied to Parliament on Iraq, and he lied to Gordon Brown.  Tony likes being Prime Minister, and when the time comes for him to vacate Downing Street, the mark of his nails will score the parquet flooring as he is dragged out.

                The Tory change is intriguing, and the return of Sir Malcolm Rifkind to Westminster is worth watching; he has been out of politics for eight years, but the Tories now have a politician with some gravitas, former Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and Scottish Secretary.  He could ruffle a few feathers, and brings the exciting prospect of the three London parties being led by Scots, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Leader of the Opposition, Sir Malcolm Rifkind and generally nice chap with the ineffective party, Charles Kennedy.  A lot of Scots in the Labour Party do not want to see this, as this could lead to an anti Scottish backlash.  Labour now has a majority of 67;  there are 40 Scottish Labour MPs.

                 And what of the SNP?   The media kept harping on at the fall in SNP votes, down election after election, which cost John Swinney the leadership of the Party, although he had done nothing wrong,  but not a whisper among the dissidents this time.   However, the Party fared, there is no doubt that in previous elections John Swinney did not disgrace himself in any TV show, but very few people could have put on the sort of bravura performances that Alex Salmond did in this election.   It is my view  that Alex won every TV debate that I saw;  the pity is that in this convoluted world of TV productions, most of these programmes were on late in the evening, and were not given the exposure they deserved.    Anyway, whatever the result, the SNP ran one of its best campaigns for a long time, and we deserved better from the electorate;  sometimes I think that the Scots are determined to be irresponsible, and will protest at the government in power, but are afraid to take responsibility for running their own affairs.  Considering how the Scots run Britain, this is a remarkable exercise in brainwashing by the Unionists.

Westminster Election, 5th May 2005
After the Illegal War, the Illegal Election?

The writs which were sent to returning officers in Scotland were invalid.

        Doubts were cast on the legality of the election when it was revealed that the Queen used the title "Elizabeth the Second by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" on election writs sent to returning officers in Scotland. There has never been a Queen Elizabeth the first of the United Kingdom, only of England, and the use of a non-existent title by the monarch means the election writs are invalid and the election has no legal basis.

        Alas and alack, no one picked this one up, and brandished it;  I claim immunity, as I only read about it after the General Election.  Oh Robbie the Pict - where were you when we needed you!.
             

FOOT IN THE MOUTH NOTES

         The SNP has received some snide comments about our new recruit, Jimmy Reid, being a former Communist.

               Just waiting to see the comments on another Reid,  also a former Communist, Dr John of that ilk, who has just been appointed Minister of Defence.

            American President George Bush, speaking in Riga, Latvia, about the 1945 Yalta Agreement between Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt, said "We will not repeat the mistakes of other generations - appeasing or excusing tyranny, and sacrificing freedom in the vain pursuit of stability." 

              Well, he definitely is not on course for any kind of stability in Iraq.

 
         In the American diplomatic world, London is a plum posting for an Ambassador;  why then has there not been one based there since February 2004?

          Is it possible that Tony Blair is doing a little moonlighting?

         Bottled water from Pannanich Wells in Deeside, Aberdeenshire, is selling at 99p for 2 litres;  the same water, called Duchy Originals Royal Deeside Spring Water, sells at 99p for 500 ml - four times the price.

        You must agree that the Royal Family know how to turn a dishonest copper.