SNP another step closer to referendum

The prospects of the people of Scotland being given the chance to vote on their countries future has moved yet another step closer today after Liberal Democrat MSP John Farquhar Munro broke ranks with his party leader to call for an independence referendum! He must be brave, as it was only a few day's ago that his so called "great leader" denied that his party would support a referendum. It was during a BBC interview that he revealed his thoughts and actually said "the sooner a vote was held the better". He said that the debate on independence had gone on long enough and it was time to settle it in a straight forward Yes or No question. Speaking on the Good morning Scotland programme, he said "I think the sooner it happens, the better, so we establish a position - clear the air as it were - and we find out whether we are going to go ahead with an independent Scotland or whether the status quo will remain." Now that, to me, sounds like a fantastic step forward! How can Tavish now not let the Scottish people decide when even his own backbenchers are calling for the vote to go ahead? I think recently, more and more people have been speaking out in favour of holding the referendum and in favour of independence, so it's been becoming increasingly harder for the opposition to speak out against, especially when even opinion polls begin to show a rise in support for Scotland gaining independence. It's coming, and it could be arriving a lot sooner than many of us think!

New cigarette laws to be welcomed

The new laws for retailers about where cigarettes are placed in the shop and the banning of cigarette vending machines are most certainly to be welcomed. Personally, I think it's about time they were put out of sight from prying eyes. Vulnerable young people who see cigarettes behind counters are much more likely to want to buy them. By placing them under the counter, out of sight, we have a better chance of stopping people from taking up smoking in the first place. And the banning of the vending machines is particularly good, as what's to stop children from buying them from them. Recent years have seen a rise in the number of young people starting smoking so we need to try and do everything we can to put a halt to it. The reply from the Tobacco companies was not at all surprising, saying that the government is "penalising them" and taking "unnecessary action", I mean they would say that, wouldn't they, being the people responsible for the deaths of millions of people around the globe! Why people even start smoking is completely beyond me. It's time that we came up with a new campaign to discourage, not just children, but adults as well, from smoking. They are all sending themselves to a very gradual and painful death, at a much younger age than they would of if they hadn't began smoking! To me, cigarettes are simply death on a stick! A slower version of suicide!

Is Labour finally DEAD?

It's an unusual question, I know. Just a matter of a few years ago, no one would even have thought about asking this question. But a new poll has shown that the Labour party could be suffering a very painful death indeed! The poll, carried out by the Times, gave the SNP a massive 23% lead over Labour!! Unbelievable, but very true!! The poll even put Labour in third place, behind the Tories! What's even more astonishing is that this was a Westminster poll! If this were to be repeated at the next general election, Labour would only have one Scottish MP - Tom Clarke! So, if Labour are dying, somebody better dig their grave quick, after all we don't want the old Labour bogeyman coming back to haunt us, now do we!!

Never trust a UK minister!

So, government papers revealing how UK ministers attempted to stop Scotland getting its oil and Independence have been discovered through a Freedom of Information request! It isn't the first time this has happened, but perhaps this all just goes to show how frightened they were of the prospect of Scotland becoming a successful and Independent nation that they would even go as far as not only changing the north sea territorial lines - determining who the oil belonged to - but to even attempt to try and break up Scotland in the process! The previously secret papers revealed how UK government ministers were asked to back campaigns for Orkney and Shetland to become Independent, not for the good of the people, but for the benefit of the greedy, selfish and manipulative British government! The rise in support for the SNP and for Independence led to strategists in Whitehall secretly devising plans to stop Scotland laying claim to North Sea Oil! The papers, written in 1975 by Sir David Walker, also said that, and I quote, "Progress towards devolution should be delayed for as long as possible"! And this was despite a referendum on devolution being part of the Labour parties manifesto commitments at the time! The government advisers also suggested the boundaries of Scotland's coastal waters should be redrawn and a new sector created to "neutralise" Scotland's claim to the oil! Once it gets to the point where UK ministers were once happy to manipulate the people of Orkney and Shetland just to stop the SNP and Independence for Scotland, you have to wonder, what are they secretly planning right now? There are still between 25 and 30 billion barrels of oil which could still be recovered over the next 40 years, more than enough, as I'm sure UK ministers know, for Scotland to become an extremely successful and wealthy Independent nation. If they were happy to manipulate people back then, clearly, they would still be happy to do the same to us today! After all, "It's still Scotland's Oil", and they know it!

Bashir Ahmad - a rolemodel for many who will be deeply missed

I've just heard the shocking news that Scotland's first Asian MSP, Bashir Ahmad, has died. This news will come as a real shock especially for Scotland's Asian community as he was a role model for many of them and many young Asians were inspired to follow in his footsteps.

I send my deepest sympathy's and condolences to his family & friends. He was a fantastic MSP and great campaigner for Scotland's Independence who will always be remembered and sadly missed.

Budget passed - eventually

Great news to hear that the budget has been passed. I was surprised to hear that even Labour had voted for it as well. No dought this will put the SNP in a strong position, perhaps even at the next election as it will be difficult for Labour to criticise spending plans, as they voted for those spending plans. Once again, I am disappointed with the media for their coverage of the budget being passed. For one thing, it wasn't the main story, and secondly they didn't even mention one thing that is inside the budget! They seemed to be more interested with the budget being voted down than when it is passed, and when it is eventually passed they fail to mention one thing that the budget be doing! So for those of you who were wondering what's in the budget, here is the fantastic list of what is going to be delivered by the SNP:

- Help for households to beat the credit crunch, providing extra funding for councils to freeze the Council Tax for another year.
- Another cut in the cost of single prescriptions from April, down from £5 to £4... with 12-month pre-payment certificates cut by £10 to £38.
- Business rates for 120,000 small businesses will be abolished, helping shops and local firms cut costs and protect jobs in these tough times.
- £230 million of accelerated infrastructure spending to keep the Scottish economy moving and support 4,700 jobs. - Extra funds to help train 1,000 additional police officers, to put more bobbies on the beat and improve safety on our streets.
- £15 million to help provide home insulation for 90,000 homes - targeted on those most in need. - £16 million to recruit 18,500 new apprentices. PLUS: - - £300 million more for the NHS. - £70 million more to invest in affordable housing. - £60 million more for town centre renewal. - £40 million more in funding for free personal care for the elderly.
- A total of £1.8 billion in additional expenditure - securing a total of 35,000 jobs!

Sounds good, eh! Back soon.

Budget set to be fast tracked

Many of us will be giving a sigh of relief after hearing the news that the second budget now looks all but certain to be passed by parliament. It's great to see all the parties, except Labour, working together to produce an even better budget. But, Labour now just seems adamant to keep refusing even the possibility of contemplating supporting the budget! And why is this? Well, my guess is as good as yours, but one possible reason is that the budget includes policies which have been proposed by other parties, so won't support it just for that reason, even if they originally supported that particular policy anyway! Well, whatever the reason one thing is for certain, Scottish Labour is the loser and the voters are definitely not liking them for this. A poll conducted by the Sunday Times showed that not only does the SNP have huge support over the budget – with all the other parties on negative ratings – but that the SNP would extend its Scottish Parliament lead over Labour to six points, compared to 1 point in the May 2007 election. In terms of who is the best person to make the right decisions in tough economic times, both Alex Salmond & Gordon Brown were at 33%. And what about who would make best First Minister, well that's an obvious one! Salmond was at 35% and Iain Gray was at 15%.

So, with the SNP government at such a strong position, it's hardly surprising that the opposition don't want an election. The budget will be passed tomorrow, so don't expect too many big surprises.