The point of George Foulkes

I asked a while back what the point of George Foulkes is and mercifully The Times have found the answer. Lord George is a middle-man.

For the princely sum of 3k a month (36k a year), introductions are facilitated by George between Eversheds LLP's clients and select committee chairpersons in the Lords and Commons. George works 36 days a year for Eversheds which works out at 1,000 pounds for every day on the job. Nice work if you can get it.

So we can rest easy now. The thousands of questions that George poses at Holyrood are irrelevant and the huge expenses he claims are justified, Lord George is serving us nobly by cosying private clients up to key contacts in the Goverment.

Makes you feel red and rosy deep inside doesn't it...?

Budget Crisis - Not so tricky after all

I'm going to stick by my initital assertion that the budget will receive unanimous backing when it is put to the Chamber on Feb 4th for the initial vote and for the second vote on Feb 11th.

I am genuinely lost as to why something that proved so difficult to pass the first time around now looks like a veritable walk in the park.

Labour have compromised on their deal on apprenticeships, reducing their 7,800/year placements for three years down to only two years. Consequently, Iain Gray et al seem to be on board.

The Lib Dems have dropped their stance on the tax cut and appear to be in favour of the budget if the SNP strengthens its voice in calling for further borrowing power for the Scottish Parliament. Personally I believe many SNP members are hoarse from calling for this very thing but it seems a couple of second class stamps is all the extra consideration that is required.

The Greens look likely to be finally brought on board with more clarity being given as to where the 33m/year will come from to fund the home insulation package they are strongly in favour of.

And that's it, 129 votes to zero. Everybody's happy, no crossed words and we can all hit the pub.

I'm (no longer) assigning blame over this fiasco but overall this will probably be a great experience for the parliament with much cross-party back slapping once it slides on through before the next financial year.

But seriously, after months of negotiating, truculence and posturing, what exactly was the problem? We're going to end up with a great budget by the looks of things. Maybe next year our politicians will get it right first time.

Is Tom Harris trying to start a coup?

I'm serious, I think the Labour MP might be trying to aggravate those old grievances against Gordon Brown, getting the momentum going again to oust the PM. Is Tom Harris a Milliband-ite? Or just in a huff that he is no longer a Minister?

My curiosity was originally piqued when Tom wrote this rather defeatist blog piece in reaction to some admittedly grisly poll news. Tom even went as far as squarely laying the blame on Gordon Brown rather than taking the more reasonable approach of saying politics is a team sport. But now today the Labour blogger has done it again with another resigned response to the latest poll.

Where's the fight Tom? Where's the "this is what we're doing and why you should love us for it"? We wouldn't believe you but at least we'd respect the effort.

No, when the politically unbiased Political Betting marks a poll as good news for Gordon Brown and an ex Labour minister says he'll drink himself into a stupor as a result of it, you have to think something suspicious is going on...?

Woolworths - What's the big deal?

I've read with interest the thoughts on Woolworths and what it means for that great institution to fail. I was never a regular at Woolies so I have to confess, the store's troubles never really affected me that much but I could understand the concerns that people had.

I was surprised however when I heard today that Woolworths is not only alive and well but it's share price is up and it is making bigger profits during the economic downturn. It turns out that in Australia, the Woolies brand is alive and well.

On the day that the UK was stated as the worst-positioned leading country for the current economic crisis, I guess we only have to look to Woolworths for an example of where the UK Government has failed where others have succeeded.

Oh yeah, and Australia is in surplus too. Imagine that.

Budget Crisis - Greens famous for 5 seconds

The Green party have been somewhat villified for rejecting the 33million home insulation plan offer they wanted, being unable to take yes for an answer (if I can steal another's handy phrase), Patrick Harvie is all over UK Politics section of BBC News and The Scotsman and the party could perhaps be seen as being solely responsible for a nerve-jangling second round of budget negotiations and planning problems for Scottish councils.

All in all though, it could prove to be a brilliant piece of work for the party. They may be hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons but a party that polls 1% in recent surveys arguably needs to do something drastic. And scuppering a 33billion budget at the verey last minute is pretty drastic in anyone's book.

Could the real reason for the Greens voting down the budget be that they wanted some headlines to boost future electoral hopes?

After all, according to some, the next Holyrood election could be a heck of a lot sooner than we all had previously expected!

Sloppy Seconds from the Lib Dems

Why does it take to the second round of negotiations before Tavish Scott and the Lib Dems realise they are being damagingly truculent in holding out for their 2p tax cut in the budget at all costs? Tavish's "I recognise the situation we are now in" soundbite sounds like an admission that one has screwed up first time around to me.

It seems the Lib Dems are trying to grasp the opportunity of being seen as the saviours by dramatically changing tack, adopting a more compliant position they should have taken first time around.

I daresay a budget will be cobbled together and I actually suspect it will attract unanimous support, 129 votes to zero because now that Labour and the Lib Dems have realised how unattractive they may appear to the electorate, they're going to dramatically change their approach to Budget 2009/10.

Budget Crisis - The SNP Incentive

I've still not had a chance to fully read nor even digest the news that the Scottish Government's budget for the coming year has been voted down, I guess 44 degree heat can make things go slowly (yes, that's 44 degree celsius. Drizzle sounds fab right now.)

One of my first thoughts was, how does this affect the SNP's plans for the independence referendum in 2010? Furthermore, is it possible that a carve-up has already begun to bring the SNP down before then?

If the second attempt is stil voted down by Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens then there are two options. Either a new administration is formed or we have a fresh set of elections.

A Labour/Lib Dem/Other coalition would certainly not bring forward an independence referendum before 2011 and a fresh set of elections would not guarantee an SNP Government being reformed.

Alex Salmond had the perfect storm on his hands for a late 2010 referendum. A popular devolved Government, a Tory Government with a weak mandate north of the border and opposition leaders with a relatively low profile across the country.

It's not worth blowing that once-in-a-generation opportunity over two votes which can be bought pretty cheaply, even at 100million a year.

Scottish Budget - Fail to plan, plan to fail

So the budget bill has been defeated at Stage 2, by 64 votes to, well, 64.

I'll be honest, I had assumed that a deal was in the bag long ago between SNP, Tories and Green, that the political posturing in the media of late was just that, posturing.

Negotiations have been going on for months and if it comes down to last minute arm-twisting and frantic text messaging (which it did yesterday) then you're not going to get the ideal deal, whether it passes or not.

My honest impression is that the Greens have been treated rather shabbily but I must also say that Patrick and Robin may merely have won the propagnda war, given some comments from Richard Thomson suggesting that the Greens have been a tad dysfunctional over the past few months.

That said, the SNP form the Government, they should have had this locked down way, way in advance of yesterday. After all, it's a rather basic philosophy that you should have something organised and concluded long before any deadline arrives. Fail to plan then plan to fail.

Sadly it seems Parkinson's Law has been applied - work expands to fill the time available.

Labour have to take some of the blame for this, the Lib Dems are out of the picture and merit little further comment, Margo's done what Margo needed to do and the Tories come out smelling like roses.

I fear though that the Greens and the SNP will share most of the blame if this bill can't be passed and we are left in parliamentary limbo, even having an election forced upon us. All for something entirely avoidable. 100m is not a lot in a 33bn budget.

And as a last point, if the Greens home insulation bill costs 100m a year, and the SNP are broadly in favour of it, what shoddy version were they trying to squeeze in for 22m or 33m a year in the dying days, hours and minutes of the negotations?

The Scottish Government should have went for this policy 100% and reaped the praise that would surely have been theirs with a budget sailing through the chamber. They missed a golden opportunity to really seize the political momentum.

They will get a second chance, as will the Greens, but they have to set a better plan for thee negotiations or it is us the public who are going to be the real losers.

Fred Goodwin - No time for a pit stop

Simple conclusion for me on the Fred Goodwin/F1 story.

The man is free to join any company or organisation that wants him. He may have made some unfortunate decisions when head of RBS, but that doesn't mean he should be placed under an unofficial house arrest.

There's no doubting Goodwin's talent and anyway, he'd mark a step up from Max Mosley. Max screwed a few Nazis, Fred screwed an entire country.

No Kofi for Alex

Interesting article in The Times about Alex Salmond trying to link a 2009 Kofi Annan speech to the beloved 2009 Homecoming.

It seems the SNP Government wrote to Kofi Annan asking him to speak as part of the celebrations and Kofi wrote back saying he was already due to give a lecture in Scotland this year.

It's pretty clear that the former UN Secretary General has been taken advantage of a little bit for SNP ends, linking a non-Homecoming speech where no link should exist.

I disagree with Subrosa on this one, the SNP have been a little bit naughty, no worse than that, and they should write a letter of apology to Kofi Annan to end the man's "irritation" on the matter. 

After all, if it's important to have friends in high places when you're aiming for independence, then it's certainly not a good idea to have enemies. 

Lib Dems skewered by Nobel-winning Economist

Paul Krugman, 2008 winner of the Nobel Prize for Economic Science, has an excellent article in The Age. One particular excerpt absolutely decimates the Lib Dem arguments for a tax cut at this time:

Next, write off anyone who asserts that it's always better to cut taxes than to increase government spending, because taxpayers, not bureaucrats, are the best judges of how to spend their money. 

Here's how to think about this argument: It implies that we should shut down the air traffic control system. After all, that system is paid for with fees on air tickets — and surely it would be better to let the flying public keep its money rather than hand it over to government bureaucrats. If that would mean lots of mid-air collisions, hey, stuff happens.

The point is that nobody really believes that a dollar of tax cuts is always better than a dollar of public spending. When it comes to economic stimulus, public spending provides much more bang for the buck than tax cuts — and therefore costs less per job created — because a large fraction of any tax cut will simply be saved. This suggests that public spending rather than tax cuts should be the core of any stimulus plan.

So there we have it, the Lib Dem tax cut is not a sensible plan. I'll take my economic lessons from Paul Krugman over Jeremy Purvis or Tavish Scott any day of the week.

Daytime TV

Today marked the last day where I could sit and watch daytime TV like a total waster. I have to admit, it was an emotional morning (and a bit of afternoon too) but tomorrow will see us back on the road travelling here, there and everywhere.

But I have to salute the ladies that have helped us through so many 10am starts, with top award going to Ellen DeGeneres who is a veritable superstar in my eyes. Not only is she a nonsensical 51 years old (it was the birthday show today) but she has the perfect sense of humour and the stuff she comes up with is always fresh, funny and seemingly genuine.

The View takes the silver medal but they went out with a bang today as they had soon-to-be-disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on the show, giving him a chance to get his side of the politics scandal across. Although he had a greasy touch of the John Hoynes about him, Rod made a very convincing point over and over again that he is not getting a chance to clear his name, not getting a chance to bring witnesses to give his side of the story.

Maybe I'm weak, maybe all this daytime TV is turning me liberal but I hope Rod Blagojevich gets a second chance to prove his worth in Illinois.

And I hope Ellen gets a run on BBC Scotland before too long too.

Lothian Buses

I have just found out that bus fares in Edinburgh are going up to a whopping 1.50 per journey and 3.00 for a day ticket. Increases of 25% and 20% respectively, if memory serves correctly.

And yet, the buses that I travel on are always more than 3/4s full, whether they are running day or night, weekday or weekend. I struggle to believe that fuel costs are increasing so exponentially that we need an inflation busting increase in bus travel as we go into a recession, a recession that is keeping the price of fuel particularly low.

Furthermore, Lothian Buses are owned by Scottish councils (91% Edinburgh council and 9% other Lothian councils) thus removing the need for a profit element, other than to better serve the needs of the travelling public.

Local transport needs to stay dirt cheap if we're serious about a joined-up approach to climate change and getting cars off streets, not to mention social inclusion. I fear the exorbitant cost of train and bus travel in Scotland is holding us back from getting where we need to be on this matter. Paying the head of Lothian Buses an eye-watering 250k a year isn't a good move either.

I suspect, given that Lothian Buses pays dividends to Edinburgh Council and makes multi-million pound profits, that it is increasingly being seen as a cash cow rather than a public service.

One can only hope it's a case of 'all change' soon.

Time to kick out the foreigners?

No, don't worry, this isn't a guest post by Jim Davidson and nor is it an attempt to get my blog into the Daily Mail. It is, I believe, a floating of a difficult decision given these particularly difficult times.

The idea began to emerge in my mind when I heard of some protectionist rules here in Australia (not the least racist country in the world I grant thee). Indeed, the line 'why don't you kick yourself out you're an immigrant too' sprang to mind, given today is Australia Day after all.

It seems there are rather stringent rules in place down here in Oz whereby visa-holders from foreign lands must buy new-build properties if they wish to be homeowners, in order to support the housebuilding sector. Furthermore, generous grants of up to 35k are strictly for Australian nationals only.

I have heard tales in other lands where Canadian and American officials have drastically pulled back on visa entries in order to ensure precious jobs are safeguarded for those who vote in elections. I am sure they are not alone.

My instincts are telling me that it's not the way to go but is that not just the old British spirit of fair play holding us back from a competitive advantage? It was fine when such self-detriment inducing politeness was confined to football World Cups but now that our livelihoods are at stake maybe we need to wise up and get street smart here.

The BNP are finding 2nd place finishes relatively easy to come by and maybe we need to start asking ourselves why. Yes, the party are full of rotten ideas but even Nazis can strike it lucky once in a generation when the stars align and the time is just right.

Britain has found it's economy is sitting on the shoogliest of nails and unemployment is already rising at an alarming rate. Up to now, we have had a generous open doors policy for those wishing to sample a British life but if times are too tough for us to be so hospitable to others, then maybe it's time we closed the borders for a while. And made life a little less comfortable for the recently arrived into the bargain. 

Gordon Brown promised British jobs for British workers. Perhaps, just perhaps, he needs to aggressively follow through on that pledge.

Scottish Polls - Seat Projection

As suggested by Advanced Media Watch, I've worked out a projection of seats for the next Westminster election based on the Super Poll of Mini-Polls as shown below:

SNP - 28.5%

Labour - 27.7%

Tory - 22.1%

Lib Dem - 11.9%

I reckon that is a very good shout for what the overall split will prove to be. Local factors however are a tricky beast so at this stage I'm just going on uniform swing from the 2005 election.

The depressing result, given the SNP's slender poll lead, is as follows:

Labour - 27

SNP - 15

Tory - 11

Lib Dem - 5

The most marginal seat would be in North East Fife with the Lib Dems' Menzies Campbell clinging on by 64 votes from the Tories. Inverness would see the SNP win by only 80 votes over Labour.

It's just a shame that it takes such a large lead in nationwide support for the SNP before that can be translated into a majority of seats.

Latest Scottish Mini Poll

The latest slice of Scottish information from a UK Poll (conducted by ComRes) is available. Once again it is happy reading for the SNP.

The figures are:

SNP 28%

Labour 24%

Tory 17%

Lib Dem 14%

Green 1%

Other 1%

Don'Know/Refused 14%

Although there were only 80 Scottish participants, a trend is definitely forming given how many of these UK polls there have been.

Indeed, we can group all of the individual polls from YouGov, ComRes and Ipsos and we get the following overall picture, with a more significant sample size of 335. 

SNP - 28.5%

Labour - 27.7%

Tory - 22.1%

Lib Dem - 11.9%

Green - 2.2%

Keeping in mind that the Euro YouGov poll had a very similar breakdown to the above with a sample size of 194 then we can be sure that we have sufficient data to prove that it's a 2 horse race between the SNP and Labour, the Tories are firmly in 3rd place and the Lib Dems have a lot of ground to make up to get back in the game. Of course, given the first past the post nature of Westminster Voting, the Greens are out of the picture though will feature more heavily in the Euro and Holyrood elections.

SNP (80*28% + 69*33% + 186*27) / 335 = 9,539/335 = 28.5%

Labour (80*24% + 69*31% + 186*28) / 335 = 27.7%

Tory (80*17% + 69*12% + 186*28) / 335 = 22.1%

LD (80*14% + 69*4% + 186*14) / 335 = 11.9%

Green 80*1% + 69*4% + 186*2 = 2.2%

Andy Crashes Out of Aussie Open!

I can't blame him really, I can't walk down a Melbourne street without stopping for either a beer or some banana bread. Pasty-skinned Dunblaner Murray was expected to play a 3 hour 5 setter in this heat!

Mind you, I do think it might have been some American revenge for the remark he made at the US Open where his prize money amounted to "about a tenner".

But good luck to Verdasco, we saw him in the opening round and he looked awesome. As we said back then, a dark horse for the entire competition?

Keeping it in the family

Do The Broons have something against Alex Salmond?

Take a look at the First Minister's height relative to Martin McGuinness.

Now look at Gordon Brown's height relative to Martin McGuinness.

Not much in it really is there? One would reasonably assume that all three men are of similar height?

Well, look at this remarkable bit of artistic license from one of Scotland's leading (and only) cartoon strips:

I guess the 'Broon' bias should have been expected given the shared surname.

A favour, if you don't mind...

For the help of a close, personal friend, I am hoping to generate ideas of what the best British TV series' were during the last 10 years. As a frankly awful Gogglebox connoisseur who hasn't seen a bit of 24, Sopranos or Heroes, I'm not proving much help (especially as they're not even British!)

So, if you can take 20 seconds to leave a comment giving an opinion or two that would be ace.

Tack så mycket y muchos gracias

Parris Je T'aime

Matthew Parris on excellent form as usual:

Behind the curve, and banging the table as ever, Gordon Brown has not yet latched on to the rhetoric of the “new economic model”. He's still trying to kick life back into the old one. Like those pensioners one witnesses taking an unfortunate tumble while boarding a bus, his instincts, and those of much of the political class, have been to stand up again as fast as possible and carry on.

Is there any space in Cameron's Future Cabinet for this man or has Kenneth Clarke taken it all?

A Very Sensitive King

It always makes me think I'm rather lousy when the story of an Australian writer being jailed for 3 years for insulting the Thai Royal Family provokes as much sympathy as does the fate of the 1,000+ Palestinians (and 13 Israelis) who died over the past month.

That said, this story is certainly very tragic.

The Australian Government is putting some pressure on the Thai authorities to release Harry Nicolaides, an author who vaguely criticised a fictional Thai Crown Prince in a book that sold 10 copies. He is facing a lengthy jail sentence as a result.

I can understand why Harry may have overlooked such an arcane law. When in Thailand you have to be very careful what you say and even sneezing or stepping on money can get you into trouble as the King's face is on the coins and notes. Even still, it seems bizarre that someone can lose so much of their life for so little.

Authority must be a very lamentable thing to have when you have to lock up foreigners just to kid yourself on that you actually have any. Hopefully the Royal Family can massage their egos further by showing great mercy in their infinite generosity by releasing Harry Nicolaides some time very soon.

There's no place like home

From The Age, an Australian newspaper:

In the scale of embarrassing place names, Crapstone ranks pretty high. But Britain is full of them. Some are mostly amusing, like Ugley, Essex; East Breast, in western Scotland; North Piddle, in Worcestershire; and Spanker Lane, in Derbyshire.

So I'd like to give a big shout out to all those back in East Breast. I've heard it is bigger than West Breast, but sits a little more to the south.

Recession - It's Official!

It's odd hearing that word official. We're more used to hearing it in conjunction with the biggest box office movie or someone breaking a world record. It tends to be associated with good news and now we see it linked to the starkest situation since the 1920s. Heck, we might be in for a rougher ride than those experienced back then in the Great Depression.

The worst part is the delusion that might set in, how bad it's going to be and I must admit I've been guilty already. Merrily waltzing into Australia expecting a job to fall on my lap, my casual approach has now changed to a speeding up of travel plans. Homecoming 2009 has naff all to do with Burns, I need back to Scotland just to get a job!

The most remarkable incidents occur here when I send an application in, the rejection letter comes through and I find I haven't been knocked back due to a more qualified applicant, it's merely that the job vacancy has been pulled as the company has been sucked deeper into the recessionary mire.

But the good news is this: For all that we talk about the worst recession since the 1920s, our lives have improved remarkably since then. We have an NHS, we have excellent living standards, we have social security, we have the European Union, we have the IMF. Basically we have a more compassionate political structure and no matter how bad this gets, there's no reason why any man, woman or child needs to get left behind.

It might be slowly slipping through our fingers but we still have a lot of wealth at our disposal and if we look out for each other, this recession could be an unofficial get together of truly historic proportions.

To Google Ad or not to Google Ad

I see Tom Harris has a very funky new blog layout, well worth a look. I also noticed however that the Labour MP has some rather garish adverts on his website, succumbed as he has to making money from blogging via advertising. I also noted recently that another Labour blogger, Yousuf Hamid, has done the same.

What do we think, selling out or a shrewd move?

MPs' Expenses - Confusion reigns

For once, I don't blame The Scotsman for my being confused after reading one of their articles.

The opening line sets the scene and it gets worse from there:

MPs will still not volunteer full details of their expenses despite shelving efforts to sidestep the Freedom of Information Act, under reforms being voted on by the Commons today.

Didn't Gordon Brown just do a big U-Turn on this? Didn't he grudgingly agree that there was majority support for access to what MPs are spending?

Further to this the breakdowns of spending will come in 26 broad categories that can cunningly cover any number of sins with vague headings.

It seems finding out what our politicians are spending our money on will still be like getting blood from a stone.

I can understand MPs not wanting their expenses to become a circus but surely the answer to that is for them to stop spending 20k on plant pots rather than them just not telling us about it?


In other expenses-related news, good to see the Lib Dems have filled 6 of the top ten big spenders at Parliament, rather churlish of them to be asking for a tax cut in light of this news.

And I take it all those people calling "crony" over SNP appointments of late will be discounting anything Arthur Midwinter says from now on given he was under the employ of Labour during the year. Or does it not work that way...?

Faltar Boys

I believe I have a good reason to sympathise with Chief Justice John Roberts, the man who tripped up on his tongue when administering the oath to President Obama during the inauguration. It's not easy to trip up in front of a large audience.

Mind you, my mishap merely occurred in a crowded church, not in front of a watching world.

As an altar boy during a Catholic mass for children embarking on their First Communion, I was asked by the priest (probably out of sheer desperation) to do one of the readings. I was told The Bible would be open at the correct page on the pulpit and I was to just read to the bit where it says "praise be to God", everyone will say "Amen" and that will be it over.

I was ready to step up to the plate, to deliver this reading with the panache that most readers couldn't deliver. This wouldn't be a monologue, it would be sheer theatre. If I really cut loose I'd maybe even get a few people fainting and dancing in the front rows,  a bit like in those black churches in Harlem.

So I get up after a silent nod from the priest, swagger over to the pulpit and start reading. The only problem is, the reading was on the left page and I started reading the right page.

After several chapters of religious gubbins, goodness knows how many minutes and a sweaty panic replacing my plans for panache, the priest came over and (while I was in mid-sentence) ushered me back to my seat. I remained there unblinking for quite some time.

So chin up Chief Justice John Roberts, it could have been a lot worse!

Angela Blacklock for Edinburgh East?

It seems Portobello is where it's at in terms of political intrigue and jostling for PPC positions.

The Scotsman are reporting that Angela Blacklock, councillor for Leith Walk, is expressing interest in being the Labour candidate for Edinburgh East in the 2010 election.

The stepping aside of Gavin Strang has certainly kicked off a lot of speculation and even the regrettably sexist implementation of an all-female shortlist can't dampen down the gossip.

So far we have:

Lesley Hinds - strongly rumoured to contest the seat (though I still maintain she has her eyes set on Malcolm Chisholm's North & Leith seat)

Angela Blacklock - confirmed as interested

Kezia Dugdale - not contesting the seat as she is focussed on the Lothians list for Holyrood (despite putting herself forward for the Glenrothes Westminster seat)

Norma Hart (Edinburgh councillor) - yet to declare interest

Maureen Child (Edinburgh councillor) - yet to declare interest

Carol Fox (2nd behind George Foulkes in 2007 Labour list) - yet to declare

We also have Ian Murray, Mike Robb ad Rami Okasha in the Labour man camp who must be very peeved at missing out on putting their names forward for the seat.

It remains to be seen how hotly contested the process will be. I, of course, hope it will be a smooth process with no public falling outs...

Labour and the Budget

So if Labour voted in favour of the SNP's budget at stage 1 and haven't attached any meaningful amendments, that means they'll surely vote in favour of stages 2 and 3, no?

Or are we going to see another amusing, contradictory budget debacle from the red corner in the coming weeks?

Either way, good to see Swinney's 33bn package is going to sail through Holyrood.

Latest Scottish Poll Numbers

Just in case anyone missed the Scottish breakdown of the latest UK Poll (as I did) here it is. Thanks go to an anonymous poster in my last article.

Scottish sub-sample from the latest ComRes (Independent on Sunday poll) (change from UK GE 2005):

SNP 36% (+18%)
Lab 35% (-4%)
Con 13% (-3%)
LD 7% (-16%)
Grn 4% (+3%)
oth 4%

There are only 91 people in the poll but it still manages to convincingly back up the suggestion that the Lib Dems are way out in 4th place and the Tories are not challenging the SNP and Labour as they seemed to be in one recent poll, probably rogue.

I still think that Labour would creep ahead of the SNP in the run up to an actual election given the PM's Scottishness but if Gordon Brown was to be politically finished (and we saw glimpses of his old dithering self with the Freedom of Information vote today) then the SNP would still have a great chance of winning a truly significant raft of seats across the country.

Granted, it's a small sample size, but this is a very heartening poll result for the SNP.

Delusions of Grandeur

Is it just me or on a thoroughly memorable and monumental day like Barack Obama's inauguration does it not hammer home how misplaced the adjective is in the phrase "historic concordat"?

Try a Little Tenderness

Way back in 2007 I had a shocking encounter with American Express that had me straight onto my blog in outrage. I had been offered a woeful exchange rate for my Scottish banknotes, way worse than the rate for English notes.

Granted, given the current inexorable decline of the British currency, I would bite the hand off anyone offering the 1.87 rate that was offered then but I was offended by the injustice and stormed out as best as a mild-mannered chap such as myself could.

It is therefore not before time that a politician has taken action. David Mundell is putting forward a Private Member's Bill to ensure that Scottish banknotes are legal tender south of the border and, consequently, will attract the same exchange rate as English banknotes abroad.

It's an easy win for the Tories and David personally in his Borders constituency. 

Although it is understandable that SNP politicians have not brought forward legislation due to the political nature of the issue, one has to wonder what has prevented other Scottish politicians from doing so for all these years. The imbalance has been in place since 1954.

It really is time that Scotland matched England, pound for pound.

FOI Fallout. Who wins?

There's no denying that Gordon Brown and Labour in general will be damaged by trying to force through legislation to exempt MPs from providing full information on their expenses but could the PM's U-Turn spell trouble for the Tories?

The exemption proposals were originally the Tories' idea via the 1922 committee, the front bench had been in favour until Alan Duncan changed David Cameron's mind and Theresa May amongst other senior MPs were known to be strongly in favour.

It wasn't so long ago that the Conservatives were being held together by duct tape with cracks appearing on almost every issue. Has Gordon Brown just drummed up a double win in not having to go ahead with unpopular legislation while  delivering a dirt ball into Tory HQ?

Furthermore, who's to say the next pig caught with his/her nose in the public trough isn't going to be a Tory?

EDIT; Iain Dale is suggesting that Brown's U-Turn signals the first real victory for online political campaigning. Not sure about the first but I wouldn't be surprised if They Work For You and Facebook (and my blog post, of course) had a hand in it.

MPs' Expenses - Victory!!

Update - According to The Guardian, Gordon Brown has unexpectedly retreated from his plans to exempt politicians from the Freedom of Information rules.

A great result but Brown has shown his true colours. How can the Prime Minister be in favour of Harriet Harman's one day and then against them the next? Enforcing a 3-line whip and then pulling out cos he doesn't have the numbers?

The Ditherer is back....

Original article:

For all that I have a deep-seated interest in Politics, there are few topics that get me really hot under the collar and moved to find out more about it beyond blog stories and newspaper headlines. The free school meals campaign and the Scottish Futures Trust are two such subjects. The Campaign for a Leith Museum gets my juices flowing too. But added to the list is the question of financial transparency, particularly when it comes to the thorny issue of public servants' expenses.

I know how easy expense claims can be to fiddle and for that very reason I want to be able to view right down to the last penny what my MP or MSP has spent of my tax receipts. 

That's not to say I mistrust my political representatives. Mark Lazarowicz and Malcolm Chisholm don't seem the type to be milking the system (even if the latter worryingly tried to get a 3 poound Pay As You Go top-up reimbursed by the Scottish Parliament) but if our politicians have nothing to hide then everything should be out in the public domain.

We have surely had enough recent expenses scandals to ensure that the question of publicly available information on MPs finances is a no-brainer. To do otherwise is to protect the Michael Martins, the David Marshalls, the Eric Joyces, the Nigel Griffiths' and the politicians who have suspiciously hired family members in full time roles.

I therefore find it astonishing that not only are the Government in favour of keeping expenses secret but they are implementing a 3-line whip to win the vote.

So I wish to add my voice to the They Work For You campaign found here.

And I also urge people to join the 'I object to MPs concealing expenses' Facebook campaign here.

I will be writing right now to my MP Mark Lazarowicz to ensure he knows that one of his constituents wants him to vote against this proposal. I urge anyone reading this to do the same with regard to their own MP.

Barack Obama - The Green President?

Many countries' leaders may be jealously looking at the USA's celebration of President Barack Obama, coveting the enormous goodwill and political capital that he has at his disposal. But it is green eyes of a different kind that may provide the first creeping strains on his presidency.

I noted with interest that President Obama made barely a passing reference to the threat of climate change in his 20 minute inauguration speech. It is clear that our actions over the next decade will decide whether we save the planet from certain irreparable damage. 

America bears a lion's share of the responsibility to find a solution but perhaps a sliding set of priorities may see combatting climate change hit rock bottom on Obama's onerous to-do list.

Today is a truly historic day and Obama deserves a rain-free parade (and then some). The new President should not be judged on a 20 minute speech but I aim to watch whether Brack gives in to temptation of allowing environmental policies to drift while governing a car-loving country. I am sure all those green eyes out there will be doing likewise.

Australian Open

An uncharacteristically non-political post here but I spent yesterday dodging the 33degree heat at the Australian Open yesterday. An excellent day out if ever there was one.

We missed Andy Murray's game sadly. At first I thought Andy had demolished Andrei Pavel in 45 minutes but of course that would be physically impossible, even if the other player is 1,147th in the world.

We had more luck with Elena Baltacha who beat her German opposition easy enough. We happened to be sitting next to her trainer and friends so it was welcomingly natural to get swept up into the artmosphere. Elena looks like she could go far (though for all I know she's up against Serena next).

Elena Baltacha also had the charming habit of saying sorry every time her toss for serve was misplaced. I'm pretty sure noone else does that.

Fernando Verdasco played some beautiful stuff, a dark horse for the men's title perhaps? 

Leyton Hewitt provided some excellent atmosphere in front of the big screens against Chile's Fernando Gonzalez. The Chileans were out in force and even outsung the Aussies which of course is no mean feat. Even if 'Aussie, aussie, aussie. Oi, oi, oi' must be the most boring chant in the world.

And the tennis complex is a short walk from Melbourne's city centre, so with the 33degrees I can safely say this is a step up from Wimbledon.

Oh yeah, in a game with Richard Gasquet and some Argentinian, we had to laugh when the whole row in front of us was filled by a bunch of beer-swilling, good-natured Scots. There's no escape!

So all in all, Murray was in a hurry, Verdasco was as hot as Tabasco, Baltacha was comin' atcha and Hewitt blew it.

"Sell Sterling"

It's an alarming suggestion usually reserved for the Zimbabwe dollar or the Argentinian peso so I could scarcely believe my eyes when a top US businessman was quoted as urging investors to get rid of their British pounds.

Let's be clear now, the Germans have had a pop at us, the banks are flatlining, the currency is in a freefall and now even the US are washing their hands of us. Any suggestion that Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling have fixed this credit crunch, that they are on the frontline winning the recessionary war, can no longer be taken seriously.

Personally, I wonder if they are to blame. Alastair Darling was a solicitor, a counicllor, a politician and then a minister in various departments. He does not have any real financial pedigree and he has been given the toughest ask as Chancellor. Once again I am left wondering why people who are so under-qualified with a career based almost solely in Politics are running our country.

As I watch Barack Obama step into the breach in the US, I can't help but wonder if we are facing 2 years of drift in the UK. Even David Cameron could bring a fresh optimism that something might turn around, a wiping of the slate, a starting from scratch. A change of Government could give us an optimistic mindset that, however baseless, might just be the tonic needed to give us those first few faltering steps to get us up their with the USAs, the Germanys, the Frances that have been better prepared and have coped with this economic disaster better.

Two years may be too long to wait for change. If the economy is finished as Jim Rogers says, maybe we do need change what is broken.

Election tactics start early

Per a recent SNP press release:

'SNP Business Convener and Westminster Leader, Angus Robertson MP, has welcomed the combined Scottish sample polling figures from the first big weekend polls of 2009 which show the SNP and Labour neck and neck on 30% each.

Commenting Mr Robertson said:

"These figures may be small but they are significant. They show that only the SNP can beat Labour across Scotland at the next elections for Westminster. That elections in Scotland are a two horse race between the SNP and Labour.'

Interesting that Angus Robertson uses the "two horse race" phrase to describe the SNP/Labour struggle in Scotland. It is the Tory/Labour "two horse race" that may well squeeze out the SNP in Scotland.

The Westminster election is for a UK Government rather than a Scottish one after all, voters shouldn't really concern themselves with who gets the most seats in Scotland as it's techincally a meaningless contest.

But I am impressed with the SNP's chosen tactic of combatting this threat of being squeezed out, even if they'll have to do better than their own press releases to get their message across.

The sorry state of RBS

I read with near-heartbreak the state of RBS this evening.

I've worked in a few places in my short career but I can safely say that RBS has been the most enjoyable and most positive atmosphere where I have plied my trade. Unfortunately it's creative and ambitous nature has been more swashbuckling of late which has brought the bank to its current position, an astonishing 20p share price and having to go cap in hand for a second time to the Government, switching preference shares to ordinary shares. The Government now owns 70% of the bank.

It is telling that the expected record loss of 15bn is coming to mind only as an afterthought in the face of its more pressing concerns.

I maintain that for a Scottish Prime Minister to lose one Scottish bank is unfortunate but to lose two is careless so I expect that Gordon Brown will do whatever it takes to get RBS back on its feet.

After all, RBS have been a shade unlucky in their dealings from the large share of credit crunch write offs to the ABN Amro purchase happening at the worst possible moment to the rotten luck in the Bernard Madoff fraud scandal.

Before I left the bank to waltz around the world I was told in group-wide presentations that the ABN Amro purchase would be a sound decision in the long term, regardless of the short term cash implications. The access to hugely profitable Asian markets would see to it that the return on the cost price would be handsome. I still believe that that is the case and I still believe that a share price of 20p will bring lucrative rewards to anyone with enough cash left lying around to make an investment.

I join in Robert Peston's analysis, RBS is not a bust bank and they will soldier through these troubled times and provide jobs for Edinburgh long into the future.

Now I must leave you, I seem to have something stuck in my eye (and throat)...

Proposed Westminster Election Results

Well, based on some so-so assumptions and a recent YouGov poll that only had a couple of hundred Scots involved.

Anyway, the poll gives us a very interesting three-way split:

Labour 28%

Tory 28%

SNP 27%

Lib Dems 15%

Not bad for the SNP considering they were relegated to the "Other" category.

Clearly it is also excellent for the Tories, though they'll need a proper 1,000+ population poll to be conducted before anyone can be sure that they've made a breakthrough.

Translating the above into Westminster seats and we have the following:

Labour - 24

Tories - 18

SNP - 11

Lib Dems - 6

There is, of course, plenty of scope for some SNP tactical voting, be it Tories voting to keep Labour out or Labour voting to keep the Tories out but we can wait for a more telling poll before we get into any of that.

For now, I only hope that this is a rogue poll based on the low population.

(Incidentally, there is a lot of information in that poll so it's well worth a read)

A Feast in Edinburgh North and Leith

Melbourne is supposedly famous for its food yet I often find myself yearning for the culinary delights of home. And when I say home, I don't just mean Scotland, nor even Edinburgh but Leith, fast becoming one of the UK's centres of excellence for fine dining.

Don't believe me? Well, a third Leith restaurant has just been awarded a Michelin star. That's three eateries within belching distance across the Water of Leith with one of the finest dining awards in the world apiece. That's Martin Wishart, The Kitchin and now The Plumed Horse. 75% of the Edinburgh Michelin star restaurants are in Leith's Shore area, a remarkable 23% of all of Scotland's.

Keeping in mind that The Shore also houses such delicious secrets as Diner 7, Britannia Spice, King's Wark, Rocksalt, Vintner's Rooms and Shore Restaurant, we are absolutely spoiled for choice down in our wee neck of the Capital.

So with a hat-trick of world class restaurants sitting like jewels along the beautiful waterfront, I can only hope that the Campaign for a Leith Museum is taken even more seriously in 2009 as the finishing touches to the wonders of The Shore are completed.

This is getting ridiculous

The Scotsman seems to think they have a fresh exclusive in claiming that Crawford Beveridge, soon to be heading up Scottish Enterprise, will be sparking a crony controversy.

I think crony is a negative word that should be used a little more carefully though:

crony (noun)

a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities

Let's look at some of Sir Crawford's experience shall we:

Vice President of Sun Microsystems

Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, 1991 to 2000

Stints/board presence at Hewlett Packard, Autodesk and Scottish Equity Partners

Some of Scotland's leading businessmen donate money to the SNP and some of them donate money to other parties, so let's not let any of this get in the way of our brightest and best getting some things done for the good of Scotland, regardless of which way they lean politically.

We should be grateful that such an effective and able individual wants to put something into the public sector, not driving him away with this pap.

The problem of a late rally

I thought this might happen.

For two weeks now there has been some heavy advertising of a pro-Palestinian rally that is due to be held here in Melbourne today at 2pm. I sensed there was little urgency behind this proposal and wondered if there would even be a War to protest against by the time today came around.

So I see this morning that Israel has agreed a ceasefire and today people here will be protesting to stop a War that doesn't exist.

Makes me feel a bit easier about heading to the beach though...

Alex Salmond and the Escapable Truth

So far I have barely read a word on whatever the issue is surrounding Alex Salmond and whether he has or has not been telling the truth in Parliament about certain schools. So I see this as the perfect opportunity to have a 100% objective look into why the First Minister is innocent. I mean, whether the First Minister is innocent or guilty, of course.

Per the Scottish Parliament's Official Report:

Tavish Scott: I have a letter that was sent to all eligible staff at the Scottish Inter Faith Council on 11 December. It is their redundancy notice, which was sent by the convener of the executive committee, Major Alan Dixon. He writes:

"despite every reasonable attempt made by the SIFC Executive Committee on your behalf, core grant funding from Scottish Government beyond 16 January 2009 has not yet managed to be secured ... we are hereby giving you notice that your employment with SIFC will terminate on 16 January 2009."

Can the First Minister explain why it is the right time to risk closure of the Inter Faith Council through Government dithering and delay?

The First Minister: I am glad to inform Tavish Scott that the Inter Faith Council will not be closed, because the matter has been resolved. I hope that he believes that that is an example of effective action by the SNP Government.

Now, it is difficult of course to get exact quotes on the next bit but it seems John Swinney hammered out a resolution with the Inter Faith Council the following Tuesday. However, the SNP claim that a deal in principle had been agreed with the SIFC way back in December and Tuesday's meeting was to finalise the details.

Who is to say which is the case? And who really cares now that a deal has been arranged and everyone (except Tavish Scott) is happy?

So, to be honest, I was going to go into a lot more detail on this but really there's bigger fish to fry as I think the Lib Dems should remember. Yes, Salmond is a bit too lax with tackling questions head on in the parliament but voters know this already and the SNP will pay some sort of price while many other voters will no doubt look past the claims against Salmond as insignificant and focus on other criteria to decide which way their vote goes.

So all in all I think 'Truthgate' is getting a little bit silly already.

I thought the quote below from this Official Report sums the whole situation up rather well:

Nicol Stephen (Aberdeen South) (LD): On a point of order, Presiding Officer.

The Presiding Officer: Is this essential, Mr Stephen? If so, I will take your point of order, but we are eating seriously into the time for the budget debate.

The Lib Dems choosing to make a petty party political point at the expense of a crucial budget debate? Sounds like the Socialists to me right enough...

So yes, Salmond may be guilty but in effect I suspect it is the Lib Dems who are the bad guys.

Interview by Email - Ian McKee

With thanks to Dr McKee of the SNP, I have another 'interview by email' that I can post up.

I suspected Ian is a man of few words given the brevity of his answers but it was pointed out to me (by someone in the know) that the Lothian list MSP is not the quickest typer which increases my gratitude that he could be bothered replying. 

As ever, there's nothing earth-shattering due to my lukewarm interviewing skills but still an  interesting read nonetheless I hope. (Nice line about George Foulkes who is ever-present on this blog of late. Also interesting to see another list MSP would like the d'Hondt formula scrapped.)

Anyway, here goes:

Why did you get involved in Politics? As a doctor I saw that many problems presented to me had political not medical solutions. And I want independence for Scotland.

What are you currently working on? Health topics

What are the most significant challenges facing Scotland at the current time? Economy

What has been the high point during your time as an MSP? Changing a clause in the Public Health Bill. Helping to save two Post Offices from closure.

What has been the low point? When I cannot help someone in trouble

Do you think blogs have a place amidst the political debate now and/or in the future? Yes, but difficult to get time for them

Should political parties be funded by the state? Partially

You were voted in on the d'Hondt system. Do you think this is an appropriate voting model for the Scottish Parliament? No

Would Scotland be better served as an independent nation? Yes

Who would make for a better Prime Minister, Gordon Brown or David Cameron? Neither

How did you spend the night of May 3rd 2007? Do you have any stand out memories? Waiting for my result which came the next day. Seeing George Foulkes elected against his wishes.

Given the need for minority Government and a move closer to consensual politics in this term, who is your favourite MSP from amongst the other parties' ranks? Ross Finnie

United Nuclear Nations

I see George Foulkes has passed comment on the situation in Gaza and, in the absence of any other knowledge on the Lord's Middle East views, I have to say I largely agree with what he says.

Although there is a mention of the United Nations and Ban Ki Moon I fear there is a missed opportunity to focus on the wider problems that have been magnified by the recent (and continuing) Israeli bombings. 

In short, the UN is not working as it should. There should have been swift action to assist Palestine and Israel's actions should have been strongly condemned. No, infact they should have been stopped. Although the concept of international law is nothing more than a global etiquette dictated by the West, it is clear that Israel have fallen foul of what is considered reasonable behaviour.

And yet what has the UN done to prevent the killings that are now rising beyond the thousand mark? The only moral test that members should have applied to decide on an action is the question of whether these current deaths will mean there are less deaths overall. Patently, that is not going to be the case as a bolstered Hamas will rise from the ashes and the Middle East peace process will be no further forward, indeed it shall be many steps back.

The UN needs to change, and change drastically. The permanent council seats are held by countries with the most weapons, including nuclear. If we're serious about democracy in our own nation states then we need to apply the same model to the United Nations. Voting rights should be strictly based on population size rather than how big your nuclear arsenal is.

The main reason George Foulkes presses the need for the UK to stick together is because of the enormous clout we wield around the world, we are stronger together but with distressing outcomes. That same clout that George celebrates so passionately contributes to many of the world's continuing injustices. Were we right to almost unilaterally steam into Iraq? Are we right to build another generation of nuclear weapons? Have we really done all we can to ensure Palestine is protected from this barrage of killing? I seriously doubt it.

The United Kingdom within the United Nations should have the same voting power as it would do if it were separately represented by England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Otherwise, we have to question what sort of a dangerous democracy we choose to live in, regardless of how much clout we happen to enjoy.

Monopoly Money

I think I have the perfect plan to provide a stimulus to ensure the UK, and indeed the world, spends its way out of the recession. 

Let's all swap currencies.

For as I happily sit here with my ludicrously priced $7 bottle of beer (about £3.50), one can only assume that when foreign currencies are used all common sense of what a fair price is goes out the window.

I say Scotland gets the old Spanish currency, it had funny wee holes in some of the coins...

Destination Scotland

I made a concerted effort to read Destination Scotland this month as I fear it may be the blogging equivalent of a panto. Full of good intentions and hard work but ultimately only ever enjoyed by close family and friends of those involved.

I was delighted to see that a very interesting subject was picked up by Stephen Bowman, the question of whether to implement compulsory voting to redress the democratic deficit. Stephen is in favour while I am against, if people want to bow out of the system and not have a say on who governs them then I'm personally not going to lose any sleep over it.

But it was some of the suggestions that were made in the article that I thought were worthy of floating again:

I support the recommendations outlined by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) that there would first need to be a referendum.

So before one brings in compulsory voting to force non-voters to vote we would first have a vote on the matter. There's a flaw in that logic somewhere, surely.

But there's more:

So, I’d like to propose a system of compulsory turnout whereby voters can miss one election without a reasonable excuse, but a second failure to vote would result in a written warning. The third and fourth election would mean a nominal, but increasing fine followed by disenfranchisement if a fifth election is missed.

It's all getting a bit Lord of the Flies at this stage I fear.

Is the punishment of disenfranchisement really much of a deterrent for someone who clearly doesn't give a stuff about voting? Why should we bother with a referendum, a written warning and two fines before deciding that the right course of action is what the 'criminal' wanted in the first place, just to be left alone.

Despite the above, I think it's a very good article and there won't have to be a referendum on 'compulsory reading' to get me to check out Destination Scotland next month.

Solution to the Forth Road Bridge funding

It's really quite simple and I'm amazed it's not been suggested already but the solution to the problem of how to fund the supposedly vital 3rd bridge over the River Forth is summed up by the following:

The Irn Bru Forth Road Bridge (Made from Girders)

Yes, that's right, advertising!

O2 paid 6million a year to sponsor the Millennium Dome, Celtic got nearly 30million from Nike to sponsor their shirts and even the SFA managed to fleece the Scottish Government for 2million for the Homecoming Cup.

Noone wants to see Lenzie Adidas Academy or Nike Southern General but a bridge? I could handle some garish advertising for 15 seconds of my drive across it if it helped pay for the blasted thing to get built.

Now that's phenomenal.

Jobs for the SNP boys

I see the SNP has been accused of 'cronyism' over the appointment of Graham Mather as head of the SQA. From what I have read, Graham is a very well qualified individual for the role and even those claiming there may be a conflict of interest admit he would do a good job. So what exactly is the problem? Mr Mather will improve exam standards and exam results to make the SNP look good? Sounds ok to me regardless of what colour rosette I'm wearing.

To be fair though, it does seem hypocritical of Alex Salmond to try blocking an ex-Labour MP from heading up MG Alba due to "political neutrality" issues while an SNP councillor is appointed as head of the SQA.

But why not let both appointments go through? Whatever happened to putting faith in people who are qualified for the job? It's my experience that such clear conflicts of interest tend to result in individuals going out of their way to avoid any accusation of wrongdoing so it all seems a bit of a storm in a teacup.

MSPs Rejected Expenses

This must be every politician's nightmare, a journalist going through the rejected expense claims of the previous year.

There's always going to be one star of this show, one MSP who takes the headline for silliest claim and I'm not entirely sure if Bill Butler is it as The Scotsman claim.

Yes, claiming a 1 pound charity donation looks a little mean but if it's already wrapped up in a hotel receipt expense claim you can see why Bill might just take the total and not look into the detail. If 1 pound is too small an amount to suggest ridicule of an MSP then it is surely also too small an amount to start splitting up your receipts.

I reckon Edinburgh North & Leith's Malcolm Chisholm has scooped the prize with a 3 pound claim for a Pay As You Go top up. A cold-blooded, heinous crime of being a cheapskate from a senior Labour MSP who must be worth a few bob by now.

Still, very nice to see there's nothing in there that will bring a David McLetchie or Henry McLeish moment.

Interview with Lord George Foulkes!

Lord George Foulkes, Labour's list MSP for Edinburgh & Lothians and candidate for the Edinburgh University rector position, has been very generous in answering an interview by email that I optimistically sent his way earlier this week. 

Here are the results:

Why did you get involved in Politics?
Because of my concerns at glaring poverty and inequality at home and overseas and the belief that real change can only come through political decisions.

What are you currently working on?
A whole range of things from work on the Public Audit Committee scrutinising the Scotrail Franchise, fighting for student teachers jobs and against local school budget cuts, campaigning for an opt out system for organ transplants, helping the Universities for Allied Essential Medicine campaign group make serious headway within the NHS…
- That’s just off the top of my head.

What are the most significant challenges facing Scotland at the current time?
Apart from the economic downturn obviously -getting devolution to settle in withstanding the current challenges of separation .

What has been the high point during your time as an MSP?
Getting Gordon Brown, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon all to agree on “opt-out” organ donation was a personal highlight!

To say that you enjoy watching the SNP fail to deliver on their vast array of promises would be wrong because of the thousands of people that cast their votes for the SNP to see such a sense of optimism and hope shattered.

What has been the low point?
The overall result in 2007 was certainly a low point. Watching Alex Salmond repeatedly abuse Parliament and undersell devolution’s capacity to really deliver for Scotland always gets me down.

Do you think blogs have a place amidst the political debate now and/or in the future?
Very much so. I have currently 3 websites, a facebook, a youtube channel and a twitter.

I can’t quite believe that in 2009, there are still so many MSPs (from a variety of political parties) who still don’t have something as simple as a website up and running. Blogs are changing the way we make and read news, they’re very firmly here to stay.

Should political parties be funded by the state?
Yes, so we don’t have to rely on major donors – individuals or unions.

You were voted in on the d'Hondt system. Do you think this is an appropriate voting model for the Scottish Parliament?
No – It should be scrapped.

Would Scotland be better served as an independent nation?
Certainly not. We now get the best of both worlds, control over our own domestic affairs and the strength of the UK in the world arena.

Who would make for a better Prime Minister, Gordon Brown or David Cameron?
Absolutely no doubt whatsoever – Gordon Brown by a mile.


How did you spend the night of May 3rd 2007? Do you have any stand out memories?
Sleepless!

Naturally, the stand out memory was the astonishment of my own election.

However, I was also absolutely thrilled for my colleague and good friend Sarah Boyack who was re-elected despite the national swing. She works so hard for her constituents in Edinburgh Central.

Given the need for minority Government and a move closer to consensual politics in this term, who is your favourite MSP from amongst the other parties' ranks?
Margo MacDonald. I’ve known her for 40 years and although I don’t agree with everything she does, I have a great deal of respect for her.

Lots of talking points there! Thanks to George for taking part. His reputation as the most web-savvy MSP continues apace. And good luck to the Lord for the Edinburgh University Rector vote on February 11th and 12th.

What are the Lib Dems playing at?

I'll be honest, I thought my predilection for predicting elections was nerdy but my new found love of watching ensuing budget negotiations is taking things to a whole new level. I'm hooked.

By and large, Ive been rather impressed with the state of affairs.

The Tories, the Greens, Margo and the SNP are largely expected to pass the Stage 3 of the Bill in a few weeks and, if so, Labour and the Lib Dems can do what they like. Labour, to their credit, have said today that they will let Stage 1 of the bill pass through but give it further scrutiny with regard to the economic situation over the next fortnight.

It's the Lib Dems that have me scratching my  head and keeping me entertained, only mildly of course.

For a start, they send in Mike Rumbles to do the delicate negotiationg. A bit like picking a bull to go and source some charming china for the kitchen collection.

From there, they quickly storm out of negotiations because Swinney won't implement their 2p income tax cut which would cost 800million pounds. The Lib Dems are not clear on what would be dropped from the budget to pay for the tax cut.

But despite this the Lib Dems also want Swinney to add to his budget, a shopping list running into the billions including a near-doubling of the cost of the new Forth Road Bridge.

It is truly, truly bizarre and I can only sympathise with the Lib Dem activists who have to sell this odd behaviour to the public and fight their corner on the blogs.

The only theory with what the Liberal Democrats are trying to do here is this.... Copy Barack Obama. 

This grand scheme may have started early when a number of Lib Dem activists tried to paint Tavish Scott as Obama's man in Scotland. And we all know that the President-Elect is about to bring in a whole raft of tax cuts for 95% of Americans.

Perhaps the Lib Dems are banking on Scotland, and indeed the world, being so taken with Mr Obama that we'll seek to implement American domestic policies in our own country soon after the inauguration on January 20th and, of course, Tavish Scott wants to be one step ahead.

It's certainly an all-in strategy, a risky move, the chickens are huddled into the basket like sardines. But when you're so stuck on the political sidelines and down in the polling doldrums, what other choice do you have I suppose?

So good on them I say. The Erratic Liberal Democrats, entertaining us mildly since records began.

The SNP's Biggest Catch

Forget the banishing of the bridge tolls, forget the scrapping of the prescription charges, forget even the shooing away of tuition fees. Could this (and this) be the SNP's greatest achievement to date?

The fishing industry is vital to Scotland. All around the world you can be served scallops and salmon and trout that were caught on our share of the shore of the North Sea.

So it is very welcome news that the SNP Government has completed an impressive bout of diplomacy resulting in the reopening of Russian trade links for Scotland to start selling herring and mackerel east again, trade links that had closed after the UK and Russia had something of a falling out over the Litvinenko spygate affair.

The rest of the UK remains frozen out of selling these fish to the Russians but given it was Scotland who had primarily lost out initially, parity has almost been resumed with this latest news.

For me, this is what devolution is all about, focussing Government efforts on areas that can make a difference in one part of the UK whereas the rest of the UK remains relatively unaffected. Consequently, and quite rightly, the SNP have gained high praise for their actions from those who have been keeping tabs on this story:

"We greatly apprecoate the efforts of the First Minister in achieving this breakthrough" Managing Director, Denholm Seafoods

"Russia is by far the biggest market for mackerel and, if this issue wasn't sorted out, it would have a huge impact for fishermen" President of Scottish Fishermen's Association

The Tories may have shrewdly selected Jimmy Buchan to contest the Banff and Buchan seat but if Richard Lochhead and the SNP keep playing their cards right with regards the fishing industry (as they unquestionably have up to now), then it and many more North East constituencies will stay in the Nationalist net. 

And devolution will look like a success into the bargain.

Kezia Dugdale for Edinburgh East?

(Will Kezia Dugdale (far left) and Lesley Hinds (middle left) be scrapping it out for Labour's PPC in Edinburgh East?)

I saw from my links at the side bar that there is an interesting start to a Steamie blog article by David Maddox that starts with the following text:

"A dark horse in the Edinburgh East contest. Whilst there are few people who have a better insight into Edinburgh politics and the ins and outs...."

The link has now been replaced with a more recent one but the text can still be found with a well chosen Google search.

However, I can't find the rest of Maddox's article on The Steamie and it sounds like the start of yet more gossip. Given my post on Ed East earlier and the comments therein, I'm keen to know more.

Anyone have any ideas how to get the rest of the article?

UPDATE

No worries, I found it, and it makes interesting reading indeed:

Kez for Edinburgh East? That's been my suspicions all along...

After all, I always thought she stood for Labour's seat in the Glenrothes by-election as a trial run for something bigger just around the corner. Edinburgh East, her home constituency, fits the bill perfectly. Not to mention the fact that current boss Lord Foulkes is stepping down from Holyrood in 2011.

But, we shall see....

UPDATE 2

Well, I've 'seen' earlier than I expected. Kez is NOT going forward for Edinburgh East. Aswell as the lack of inclination there's some technical position she holds (which I don't understand) which prevents her from doing so, so that's that then...

Probably the best job in the world

Contending with temperatures of 37 degrees today and trawling around looking for jobs in a city that seemingly has none on offer, I have to confess I am seriously interested in applying for this:

70 grand to look after an Aussie deserted island. No formal qualifications are required but the candidates must be willing to swim, snorkel, dive and sail.

Forget the 70 grand, where do I sign....?!

Dead Heat for SNP and Labour in Euro Poll

There's an interesting breakdown of the results of the recent YouGov poll, as found at UK Polling Report. Naturally, I've focussed on the Scottish strip of figures and the main two results are as follows:

Voting intention for the 4th of June Euro poll:

SNP 35%

Labour 35%

Lib Dem 12%

Tories 11%

Greens 5%

Bit of a surprise that the Greens aren't higher up, maybe increased news coverage in the next few months over the budget period will help their figures in advance of June. 

Good showing for the SNP in my view. For a party that is apparently falling apart at the seams according to the opposition, the media and even some bloggers, a 35% approval rating in the Euro elections where they polled less than 20% last time around is nothing to sneeze at.

On whether Britain should join the Euro:

Yes - 31%

No - 50%

I'm honestly surprised this isn't a higher yes vote given the rate of exchange at the moment but it's still a relatively positive result for the pro-Euro camp north of the border.

And, given a recent post where Bill Cameron challenged me (multiple times) for evidence that Scotland is more open to the Euro than the rest of the UK, this is it. The UK average for 'Yes' in this poll on this question was 24%.

So all in all this poll doesn't say too much, I mean it's only the Euro elections after all. The top line is that Labour were behind by 6%, which is now down to 10% after a more recent Populous poll. But for complete information on the political race in Scotland, we must continue to wait...

All Woman Shortlist for Edinburgh East

I see Lesley Hinds, former Lord Provost for the Capital, has thrown her hat in the ring to be Labour candidate for Edinburgh East. Well, knowing what I do of Lesley Hinds I suspect she has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at getting her name beside the red rose for the constituency. "Frustrated on the backbenches" is a good way of putting it.

I don't know what Labour's nationwide approach is to female only shortlists but I have found it surprising that I only hear the phrase mentioned in relation to Edinburgh East. The constituency is expected to be bestowed the status of "female only candidate" by the ominous sounding party leaders next week.

I'm afraid I can't shake off the suspicion that inner party manoeuvring is going into overdrive as aspiring Labour MPs try to take their seats.

I do disagree with The Scotsman's headline though, in the light of Kenny MacAskill's excellent win in 2007 I believe it is George Kerevan who is in poll position to replace Gavin Strang MP.