Trams (part 3)

It seems odd to be blogging so frequently on a topic that I am fairly ambivalent about but at least it means I have a fairly clear head when I comment on it.

Hence I can safely say I am disappointed in Alex Salmond's responses at First Minister's Questions today. I thought it would have been a good time to say something along the lines of 'we don't want these trams but we respect the fact that we're outnumbered on this one.'

His hinting that the nationalists will ignore the will of the parliament and push ahead with their own agenda is a worrying sign and could be a pigheaded path to their downfall. Of course, if the SNP vote against the trams, lose the vote and then graciously accept the overall decision then I believe they will still come out of this very well. And more importantly, they will probably earn the respect of the floating voters who turned their way in the recent election, those first-time SNP voters who aren't rampant independents.

But it does seem the SNP are getting a little bit carried away with the power they're enjoying at the moment with this topic. The SNP do have an extra MSP but they have to constantly remind themselves that their majority over Labour is wafer-thin. Infact, after Angela Constance temporarily vacates the chamber for maternity leave they won't have a majority at all so to try to win every single battle with less than half the MSPs is foolish and unsustainable.


I think Alex Salmond had an open goal here and he's fluffed his lines somewhat. Scrap the airport link, keep the city centre tram route and maintain the harmony in Holyrood.


But no, it seems we'll have to strap ourselves in as this tram ride is going to be far bumpier than it should have been.