The petty Glasgow Vs Edinburgh fight must end now

Do not get me wrong, there always has been a traditional "rivalry" of sorts between Scotland's two biggest cities. But these have always been light-hearted and nothing more a than a wee joke! What I'm talking about is something which has recently emerged with a vengeance! As you may have noticed, the Labour party used the slogan "anti-Glasgow" during the Glasgow North East by-election campaign, saying that Edinburgh was "ripping off Glasgow" and that the SNP Scottish Government did not like Glasgow! Well, for one thing, I don't see how the Glasgow rail link cancellation is the fault of the good folk of the city of Edinburgh! And to claim that Glasgow is being "ripped off" is completely unfounded, since Glasgow receives more government funding than any other place in the whole of Scotland!

Of course, the reason for Labour's "ripping off" claim is based on simply the fact that the Scottish Government is located in Edinburgh and that some how, because of this, they are "biased" towards Scotland's east coast and will do nothing for the West! So how true is this? Well, let's compare the two cities. Firstly, where does the money go:

Glasgow City Council :- £1,544,70 million

Edinburgh City Council :- £873.00 million

What about other East and West coast areas:

East Lothian Council :- £190.12 million

East Dunbartonshire Council :- £202.92 million

As these figures clearly show, the West of Scotland receives far more funding than the East, especially Glasgow!

But getting away from the facts and figures now, my main point is this: of course making statements to the deprived areas of Glasgow that the other big city, Edinburgh, is "ripping Glasgow off" is going to make people in these areas feel angry and build up resentment towards Edinburgh! What Labour is doing here is merely just making up excuses, and also a distraction, for the decades of neglect to these areas from the Labour party, something which, sadly, people are falling for!

All this is wrong. Playing the blame game between these cities is, and never will be, the right thing to do! We should all be proud that Scotland has two such great cities! Edinburgh - Scotland's wonderful and historic capital city, and Glasgow - the nations largest city and soon to be the proud host to the Commonwealth games!

What we need is for both the cities to work together, to ensure that the best possible outcome is reached for both Glaswegians and Edinburggers! Both cities are intensely proud, and there is nothing wrong with a little healthy competition, but the way things are going, and the way the Labour cronies continue to encourage this, we will soon end up with a situation were all we have is constant sniping and accusations being thrown at each other! Scotland should not become divided like this, and Labour should stop it's campaign of east coast resentment now!

The real winner is apathy!

So Labour have won the Glasgow North East by-election, continuing Labour's 74 year rule over this area! Despite all the problems that make this the most socially deprived area in Western Europe, voters have stubbornly decided to stick with more of the same failed politics that has held Glasgow back! But on a turnout of less than 35%, it is fair to say that the real winner of this election is not Labour, but rather voter apathy! The fact that so few people turned out to cast their votes shows that people have lost faith in politics and, I feel, that is a disaster for democracy, as it shows that people believe that nothing will change and so feel it is not worth them voting! This is something which needs to change and that will only happen when we convince voters that to get change, you need to vote for change!

So I'll say well done to Willie Bain, I hope he'll work hard for the area, but I wouldn't read too much into this result as a feeling of the national mood!

GOOD LUCK DAVID!!!

Just a quick post tonight to say good luck to David Kerr and the SNP in tomorrows by-election in Glasgow North East! This will be a major election, and most likely the last one before next years general election! In David, the SNP has the best candidate to represent this seat and wont take his orders from the London Labour establishment either! He will be true voice for Glasgow and for Scotland! Despite the significance of this election however, it does look as if turnout will be low, but let me make it clear, no matter what folk might say about being disaffected with politics or politicians being only in it for themselves, there is never any excuse for not voting! It is your democratic right, which our ancestors fought hard to achieve, and to not vote is not only a betrayal to those who fought and died for the vote, but is an insult to themselves and to democracy, as they are not letting their voice be heard and calling for change! So I urge the people of Glasgow North East to not waste their vote by not voting, get off your backside and get out and vote! Wouldn't you feel better knowing you had actually voted than knowing you hadn't!

Too close to call!

With less than 48 hours to go now until the Glasgow North East by-election, you would perhaps expect me to give an indication of who i think will win, but I'm not going to! My reason? Well, to be honest, it's because I don't know who is going to win. While it looks as if Labour is probably still ahead, the SNP has actually closed the gap significantly over the past few weeks and, no matter what the media or the Labour party say, the SNP does still have a good chance of winning this seat!

A poll for the Telegraph a few weeks ago in the constituency showed that the gap between Labour and the SNP was indeed narrowing, and chances are that gap has narrowed even further since then. This is why I think that it is too close to call! Saying that, however, I would not be surprised if Labour manages to hold on to the seat, simply because their scare tactics and negativity throughout the entire campaign appears to have made an effect on the voters! Saying things like the SNP are "ripping off Glasgow" has scared voters into thinking that only by sticking with Labour will protect them, despite that fact that it is Glasgow City Council which is doing the damage by closing down schools and community centres! And it is the London Labour Government which has just announced the scrapping of the Glasgow to London rail link, despite them continuously attacking us for not building the airport rail link because of funding shortages!

So at this time I'm not going to call it, but a warning that Thursday could be a victory for fear over hope, should Labour hold on to this seat once again even after 74 years of domination!

John Smeaton to stand in Glasgow North-East

John Smeaton, the baggage handler who rose to fame after the Glasgow airport terrorist attack, has decided to stand as an independent candidate who is being sponsored by the Jury Team! He says that hes fed up with the "political elite" and is fed up with the way the MPs have fiddled with their expenses. Personally speaking, while he seams like an honest person, I don't think he is really up to the job of being an MP! He is certainly well known and liked, especially in the constituency, but could he really stand up in Parliament and take on the "big beasts" of Westminster? Glasgow north-east desperately needs an MP who is able to stand up and win the arguments and, sadly, I just don't think John Smeaton could do that! As for the by-election itself, it would be nice to have a date!

You can read more about this story here

Labour chief whip spills the beans on early election!

Apparently it's been revealed that the Labour chief whip has stated that the new speaker will "only be in the position for a few weeks before the election is called"! So does this mean that we are now looking at an early autumn election then? Of course, he could have been referring to the Glasgow North East by-election, but who knows, he may well be talking about a general election!

Talking about the by-election, latest info about the likely candidates. SNP candidate looks likely to be Councillor Grant Thoms, which would make sense seeing as he represents a wide area of the constituency in the council. Labour candidate looks likely not to be Paul Martin (Michael's son) so looks as if it's going to be Willie Bain, Michael Martins election agent.

Whoever the candidates are and no matter how good it looks for the SNP, I'm not taking anything for granted! At the moment, I think the SNP is probably ahead, but we won't know for sure until the campaign is properly underway and the voting actually takes place. The state of Labour, both locally and nationally, being in such a dire state certainly helps us, as does the fact that a lot of the Labour council school closures are in the area!

Labour sources have admitted that they don't believe they will win this one, but they said that before Glenrothes! Saying that, however, the situation has changed dramatically since Glenrothes and things are more favourable towards the SNP this time!

By-election in Glasgow North East?

After watching the Speaker Michael Martins abysmal performance in the Commons yesterday, it is now looking increasingly likely that the Speaker will not only stand down from the Speakership but will resign as the MP for Glasgow North East as well! This would, obviously, trigger yet another likely devastating by-election for Labour!

Glasgow North East is just right next door to Glasgow East, now held by John Mason (Hooray!), and we all know that the last thing Gordon Brown wants now is another by-election defeat in a Labour heartland, and with the decision of whether a vote of no confidence on the speaker is to held or not now entrusted upon the Prime Minister, I'm not sure he will really want to hold a vote.

A vote of no confidence is urgently needed and I think over the coming days we will see various MP's demanding that the PM holds the vote. Of course, it's equally likely that the Speaker will use the threat of triggering a by-election as a way of hopefully persuading the PM not to hold the vote!

Whatever Gordon Brown decides to do, one thing is for certain, and that is that the next few days will be very interesting indeed and the likelihood of a by-election in Glasgow North East will increase dramatically! In the words of one MP, "We are looking at a dead Speaker walking!"