Labour leader Johann Lamont says Voting SNP is like putting ‘Craig Whyte in charge of your tax returns’, she learns from SNP comedy has impact!

Dear All

It seems that the Labour Party has decided to step up another gear in the council election battles in Scotland.

Johann Lamont has ripped into the SNP yesterday, warning that voting for them was “like putting Craig Whyte in charge of your tax returns”.

Quite funny and topical given the nightmare of Glasgow Rangers at present!

Yesterday was the Scottish Labour leader’s chance to launch a blistering attack as she kickstarted Labour’s council election campaign.

In politics the truth hurts and Labour have learned lessons from bitter defeats, Lamont used figures showing Alex Salmond’s government have passed on 90 per cent of the budget cuts imposed on them by the Con-Dems to councils.

The net result of the SNP not starting local government reform is costing jobs and hitting services, it may backfire on an increasingly out of touch Scottish National Party.

In this election, this is all about the ‘Salmond bounce’, not local issues for the SNP as the campaign is very much being centralised from SNP HQ.

They are trying to run this election as a mini Holyrood.

I wouldn’t have done that because without diversity, it shows that SNP Councils will effectively be run by Edinburgh.

Democracy will suffer and decision making will effectively be taken out of local councillors’ hands. The upshot of this is that the public may decide that in order to keep councils local, they will not vote the same as they did at Holyrood.

In Lamont’s keynote speech in Edinburgh, she compared Alex Salmond’s record with Craig Whyte’s ruinous spell as owner of Rangers.

She told supporters:

“Putting Alex Salmond in charge of your local council is like putting Craig Whyte in charge of your tax returns.”

In the SNP, there are concerns in Glasgow about how very wrong the current approach by Sturgeon’s cronies is, some people are saying privately that the party will not win outright control.

Although a coalition remains a possibility!

But is that possible?

Mainstream parties will probably not go into coalition with the SNP for the simple reason; that they know the SNP will use council resources as a propaganda tool for independence, their leadership will warn them off.

Lamont’said that Labour’s top priority in all of the 32 council contests across Scotland was to create jobs.

In unemployment blackspots such as Glasgow, this has a certain appeal; Labour is targeting youth and over 50’s.

Sturgeon’s cronies completely ignored the plight of the over 50’s in Glasgow, a growing sector of the long term unemployed.

Lamont threw into sharp contrast the SNP’s aim, articulated by its gaffe prone old aged pensioner leader Allison Hunter of furthering their independence ambitions.

Lamont said:

“For the SNP, it is a step towards separation. We will put people first, while the SNP put their referendum first. I want these elections to be a welcome respite from constitutional debates.”

The Labour campaign has been clever, something that the SNP hasn’t picked up on, their campaign has been run very low key, something which doesn’t suit the SNP.

Add to that Labour are issuing separate manifestos for each council area in Scotland, highlighting local policies, clear water between them and the SNP who have taken a centralist approach.

This is a test for Johann Lamont since she became leader last December, and she isn’t able to predict anything, voters are in flux to some extent, they need people to believe. Labour’s tactic of going local is the right idea.

Whether it will pay off at this election remains to be seen but it is the right tactic.

Previously the SNP used the slogan ‘elect a local champion’ for the SNP this election is anything but local in terms of policies which are lacking and in people.

The SNP thinks that outsiders make better candidates than born and bred Glaswegians, as most of their candidates weren't born in the city of Glasgow.

After this election most of the SNP Candidates who are unknowns will soon disappear from activism if not elected, and those who are elected will not be out twice a week in the community.

Because that is their track record previously!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University