SNP surges ahead of Labour in wake of budget

It was only a few weeks ago that Iain Gray told delegates at his Scottish Liebour conference in Dundee (now a fully SNP city) that apparently "Scottish Labour is back"! Oh, how wrong he was!! Today, only about a month later, the SNP has proved once more that not only is Labour in Scotland NOT back but it's now in a worse and dire state than it ever has been before! Seriously, it's just getting embarrassing for them now! And to give you an idea of just how sad a state they're in, have a look at who voter's wanted as First Minister. Alex Salmond leads once again on 37%, a massive 19 points ahead of Iain Gray who is not only in third place (behind Annabel Goldie who is Second on 10%) but is actually only got the support of just 7% of those polled!! That's lower than what Wendy Alexander got!! So great progress Iain, what an achievement! You've actually succeeded in becoming less popular than your predecessor, Alexander the not so great! Think about though, managing to become less popular than Wendy Alexander is definitely an achievement and Iain Gray deserves our congratulations for doing so! Or perhaps not!

In terms of Holyrood voting intentions, in the constituency vote the SNP leads over Labour by 7 points and in the regional vote the SNP leads by 9 points! What this poll actually shows, if you look closely into the results, you actually find that the SNP is actually more popular among Labour voters than Labour is! As for Westminster, both SNP and Labour are neck-and-neck with Labour on 32% and SNP on 30%! This to me says that the SNP is becoming closer to achieving our 20 seat target at Westminster! One seat to watch: Dundee West, a seat now certain to go SNP at the next election! So for Labour it's a sorry state of affairs but, in the end of the day, does anyone really feel sorry for them? Nah, didn't think so!

Labour party is sinking in sleaze!

Well, the story of the "smear campaign" emails appears not to be letting up, which personally I think is great as it allows myself and many other bloggers to talk about the absolutely dire situation in which the Labour party appears to have entrenched itself! It's now becoming a weekly habit, with yet another story of sleaze coming out constantly. It used to be that it was tales of "Cash for honours" when it was Tony Blair, which certainly caused him a bit of bother, to say the least, then Gordon Brown came to power with a "pledge" to end the evil Bogey monster that is spin!! But, just like the story of his life, he broke that promise with devastating consequences, for him anyway! First there was expenses. Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate that expenses are important for MP's who live in Places like Shetland, but how can an MP who lives in London be able to claim expenses for 3 different homes, not to mention all the essential perks that just have to come with those homes such as the 42" widescreen plasma screen HD TV!! Oh, and let's not forget the £300 expenses claims for, wait for it, PLANT POTS!!! Yes, your read it correctly. That's Jacqui Smith for you! And what about the Chancellor Alistair Darling? Well he's claimed expenses for 4 homes, despite the fact that his official home at 11 Downing Street is Rent Free! And for some reason one of the homes he claimed expenses claims for was in the Western Isles! I don't get it, what would an MP who represents an Edinburgh constituency need a home in the Western Isles for? Oh, that's right, it's a "holiday home"!! Well that makes perfect sense now why it would require taxpayers money to pay for it!



Seriously, Labour is sinking in sleaze. Another recent example of this was Jacqui Smith's husband. Yet another expenses claim, though not for a house this time. Instead they claimed taxpayers cash for pornographic movies, or should I say "added features"! This is a disgrace, and what's even more disgraceful is that the money claimed has not been asked to be paid back to the taxpayer! This week, we've had the latest "Big" story with the "Blog-gate affair"! Gordon Brown claims that he did not know about it, but how on earth could he possibly not know about it when he is his closest advisor whom he spends more time with than his wife, Sarah Brown! It's all a bit of a mystery to me, but what it does show is that if the Labour government can't even control it's own advisers, then how can it possibly control the country, especially at a time of recession, one which Labour created!! The end of the New Labour project is near!

Don't believe the "Gray" man of Scottish politics

Iain Gray decided to use his party conference and his conference broadcast to, yet again, do down Scotland and the Scottish people. No surprise there then! Iain Gray used the slogan "a better future", but what may seem a better future for the cronies of the Scottish Labour party may not exactly be what the people of Scotland would consider a better future! But let's have a look closer, shall we. What exactly is Iain Gray's idea of a "better future"? Well, imagine that you were Iain Gray (scary, I know, but just give it a try, even if it's unbearable!) and you are trying to think up "new" ideas for Labour to present to the people. Well, firstly, stating that Westminster is right to impose a £500 million cut to the Scottish budget has got to be top of the agenda, oh, and defending Westminster for holding onto the £400m council benefit, after all, it doesn't really matter if the money rightfully belongs to Scotland, does it? Secondly, voting against free school meals is vitally important, I mean, young kids don't really notice, do they? Third, stop the scrapping of the council tax and replacing it with a Local Income Tax, even if it is fairer and would make the vast majority better off! And while you're at it, why not continue to raise the council tax at the same time! Fourth, back your faithful commander & chief and dear leader, Gordon Brown, at all times, especially with plans to privatise the Post Office, and always follow orders from London, after all, we don't want to be "cut off from London", now do we? When asked what Labour would do differently from the SNP and what possible better alternatives you might have, just remember to always say "Were working on it"! Oh, and maybe and on to the end of that "Stop asking us to come up with policies"! Lastly, and most importantly, do not let Scotland gain her Independence!! Say lines such as "cut off" and "isolation" to try and convince the people to think that this is an accurate description of independence. Treat the Scottish people with contempt, stop any referendum coming forward! Tell Scotland that we cannot possible have the intelligence to run our own affairs and Scotland could not possibly handle the recession, even if it was London which got us into it in the first place! As First Minister you must continuously do down Scotland and its people, so to stop them gaining any real self confidence!

So, back into reality now and thankfully leaving the somewhat strange and quirky mind of Iain Gray, do you think that his idea of a better future is a good one? You decide, as I trust you to make the right decision!
Personally, I don't think I really like Mr Gray's idea of a "better future"!

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!!

BREAKING NEWS: Budget voted down!

There has been shock and turmoil today after the Scottish Governments budget was voted down in parliament. The votes eventually came down to this - the SNP, Tories and Margo MacDonald voting for the budget and Labour, Lib Dems and Greens voting against! This created a tie vote of 64 - 64 meaning the Presiding Officer had to cast a vote and, with convention, voted for the status quo! First of all, lets be clear, no one seriously expected Labour to vote for the budget, nor the Lib Dems, but the way that the opposition have acted is, frankly, childish! They have been playing party politics and in a time of economic crisis and recession this is not the time to be creating unnecessary problems which could escalate into an even bigger crisis and put even more people's jobs on the line!

My guess now is that over the course of the next couple of weeks there will be discussions to win the support of the Greens and, depending on how quickly the Greens decide to support it, a second budget will be presented and will be passed.

The people of Scotland will not take kindly to the way the opposition have acted and will remember this the next time they go to the ballot! I think it's time all the parties got their act together and worked in the Scottish national interest and vote in favour of this budget!

Poll puts SNP on course to beat Labour!

Hi all, I start of first off all by commenting on how it looks as if a few of the predictions I made for 2009 look set not to come to be, such as George Osborne being replaced and Gordon Brown calling an early election! I suppose it just goes to prove that 2009 is set to be a very unpredictable year. So why is it unlikely that Brown will call an election? Well, it's the obvious answer - the polls are beginning to go against Labour again. First of all in terms of UK polling, the Tories now have 45% while Labour are down to just 32%! If repeated at an election Labour would be trumped! Now, what about here in Scotland? Well, the poll for Scotland 2 polls were released at the weekend. The two combined made some very interesting reading. Both the SNP and Labour are put on 30% making it 'head to head'. What was really interesting however is that the poll put the Tories on 24% in Scotland! I know, it's a shock! The Lib Dems are really in a dire state as they are placed on just 12%. The two individual polls went like this:

YOUGOV POLL FOR SUNDAY TIMES

Conservatives - 28%
Labour - 28%
SNP - 27%
Lib Dems - 14%

COM RES POLL FOR INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
SNP - 33%
Labour - 31%
Conservatives - 12%

Personally, I don't feel that the first poll is an accurate reflection of actual voter feeling in Scotland where as the second poll does look much more accurate! However, what this simply shows is that only the SNP can beat Labour in Scotland in a general election! Feel free to leave comments.
Also, looking forward to the Inauguration of Barack Obama tomorrow! You can catch it live on BBC One from 4pm. Come back for a round up of the day's historic events in the post tomorrow.

Labour must admit it is no longer a left wing party

Well, many people thought they would never see the day! But now we can now truly say with complete honesty that New Labour is no longer the party of the working class! Why? Because it has emerged that the UK London Labour government has spent over £5 million on legal fees to fight against the claims of sick miners! A Labour government fighting "against" the miners! Many miners thought they would never see the day, but now they can see the Labour party for what it really is - a party which is more interested in having power and would rather pay lawyers to block claims, than pay compensation to miners left with industrial injuries!
So what are the miners asking for? Well, As many as 1,000 former miners are suffering from coal miners knee, Osteoarthritis, and chronic lung disease from dust inhalation, and what they are calling for is compensation. A reasonable claim I would have thought. But not Labour! These miners were not included in previous compensation schemes and are being forced to take their battle to the courts. This is disgraceful what Labour is doing and should be stopped immediately! They should give the miners they compensation which they deserve and the last thing we need is a lengthty legal court battle! Action needs to happen now, or some of these miners who are suffering from these injuries will have died by the end of such a legal battle! And, surely, after acting like this, Labour should admit that it is no longer a party of the left!

Further info on this can be found at:http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jan/12/government-miners-compensation-costs

Secret minutes reveal disarray in Labour

We already knew that the Labour campaign in Glenrothes was in complete disarray, but I don't think any of us could have believed just how badly they were doing! Indeed, it has been revealed in several of today's Sunday papers that secret minutes from the Labour Party show them in disarray as they planned the by-election in Glenrothes. The minutes showed that even Labour's own activists believed the photo of Gordon Brown with Margaret Thatcher was "a big mistake". They also admitted, what we've known all along, that the Labour party in Fife wasn't geared up for modern campaigning. The minutes, which were written by Gordon Brown's election agent Alex Rowley, also said that "across Fife there is a 5.5% swing to the Nationalists!" He also said "They (SNP) work hard to identify their support and get them out!" Labour activist Judy Hamilton claimed that Labour had lost touch, had no attraction for young people and the party ethos was that of the South of England stating "It does not resonate in Scotland"!! Councillor Ian Crichton admitted that the SNP has momentum! And as if that just wasn't enough, a senior Labour campaign organiser said that the party reckoned they were 3000 votes behind!!!

Well folks, with only a few days to go till Thursday and the Labour party acting like this, I think we can all guess which way it will go! Anyone wish to place a bet :)

Sarah Brown visits Glenrothes, stays for only 12 minutes, and refuses to even speak to the media!

You would have thought that the wife of the Prime Minister would have done much more than this. But, as usual, the Labour party spin machine decides that it is better to be seen on TV rather than actually hearing what the voters are saying! While her husband, Gordon Brown, may have been enjoying some good press recently for his bank bail-out plan, the people of Glenrothes, along with the rest of Scotland have not been fooled and know that while he may be doing all he can to save the banks he is doing very little, if anything, to save the tens of thousands of ordinary people who now risk losing their jobs!! It is disgraceful to see that, from a party which used to pride itself on being on the side of the working class, has now not only abandoned them but seems to be doing all it can to harm them and make their life's as hard as possible, as well as having the odd jibe on Scotland and Scottish self determination! If anything is clear now it is which party is on your side and that party is the Scottish National Party! The SNP is standing up for you and, as the Scottish Government, is doing all it can to protect people from the current financial crisis and putting money back in your pockets, such as freezing the hated council tax (which will soon be replaced with a much better Local Income Tax) and fazing out prescription charges! While the SNP Scottish Government is working hard for ordinary Scots, the Labour Westminster Government is doing all it can put down the Scottish People! It's not just that people have left labour, it's that Labour has left them and Glenrothes will send that message to London Labour and demand a cut in fuel prices and VAT!

If your from Glenrothes then please, don't vote for a party which has and will continue to leave you behind, vote for a party which is ON YOUR SIDE and stand up for you and for Scotland! Make sure you send Labour the message, put Glenrothes back on the map, VOTE FOR PETER GRANT! VOTE SNP ON NOVEMBER 6TH!!!!

What to expect at the weekend

So it's now Friday, it's the end of another busy week and we can now look forward to the weekend! But what can we expect? Well, first of all, we have the results of the contest to be leader of the Scottish Labour Party. Cathy Jamieson, Iain Gray and Andy Kerr are all contesting for what looks like a close race! Ian Gray is apparently the front runner to succeed Wendy Alexander, but to be fair I don't think any of them could stand up to and match First Minister Alex Salmond! He is certainly enjoying a prolonged honeymoon, and rightly so! The SNP Government is proving to be, possibly, the most popular government Scotland has ever had! Saving hospital A&E departments, abolishing prescription charges along with bridge tolls and student fees, freezing council tax, cutting business rates, axing government departments and quangos such as Scottish Enterprise, rejecting nuclear power, opposing Trident, replacing PFI, and ending private involvement in the NHS are all just a few of the achievements made so far and, trust me, there are a lot more still to come! Meanwhile, compare this to the record of the 3 Labour leadership contenders - Cathy has proved that she is unable to put on a strong performance at FMQ's (as shown just this week as she resorted to party politics rather than the real issues). Iain Gray showing in the opinion polls are not great as he polled just 3% in a poll for who would make the best First Minister (Salmond scored 41%). And, as for Andy Kerr, well as the Health Minister in the previous administration, he spearheaded the very unpopular closure of the Ayr & Monklands A&E departments!

So, all in all, it will be interesting to see who wins the highly poisonous gauntlet (or Scottish Labour leader), but, to be frank, none of them are up to the job of taking on Alex Salmond!!

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND!!!

Bad news (again) for Labour

When I picked up my paper this morning I didn't really expect to read anything big, but, as if things coudn't get any worse for Labour, a new You Gov poll has put Labour a massive 16 points behind the SNP for the Scottish Parliament. And, as if that wasn't enough, the poll also gave the three contenders for the poisioned gauntlet (also known as the Scottish Labour leadership) very poor results. The question asked who would be the best First Minister. Cathy Jamieson had a dismal 8%, Andy Kerr on 5% and front runner Iain Gray on a completly useless 3%. Meanwhile, while Tory leader Annabell Goldie came second with 9%, Alex Salmond was put on an impressive 41%. That's SIX TIMES more than Cathy Jamieson!

It just goes to show who is winning the popularity battle and who is winning the hearts and minds of the Scottish People. As for Independence, the poll showed that, under a Conservative government at Westminster, support for Independence rises to 50%, while support against independence is put at 42%. This leaves me only one thing to say, 2010 - "BRING IT ON"