Dear All
The next Holyrood is in 2021, this election
is important in a number of ways for different people, most people at present are
seeing the election as a genuine three way contest between SNP, Scottish
Conservatives and Scottish Labour. I still believe that we are looking at a
possible hung parliament if the current situation remains more or less the
same.
Prior to Holyrood 2021, there will be no
Scottish independence referendum which will suppress any chance of momentum for
the SNP. Given that is the prospect, this election could be all about the ‘hard
grind’ on the doorstep, politicians having to fight for every vote instead of
the contest being cluttered up with bogus dreams of independence. The Scottish
Conservatives are the second party of Scotland at present, they have a chance
to take control of the Scottish Government as much as the other two.
No one is getting a walk through, the
Scottish Conservatives need to widen their appeal and work areas that perhaps
they are traditionally strong in, like gold mining; there will be a lot of
toiling for votes. In politics, it isn’t unusual for parties to bum their load
on their prospects at an election. Everyone thinks they are ‘in with a shout’.
To that end, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson is
"likely" to be Scotland's next first minister according to her
deputy Jackson Carlaw. Jackson Carlaw insists it was "perfectly possible,
if not in fact now likely" that she would lead the next Scottish Government.
Given the SNP is effectively leaderless
with Nicola Sturgeon, given the scandals, failures and inability to manage
government, the SNP are looking more than tired. If you factor in the constant rumours
swirling that Nicola Sturgeon is looking for another job, especially after her
American trip, you can see why people think a change of government is in the
wind. Run as a one man band, the SNP haven’t a leader in waiting post Sturgeon,
in fact post Sturgeon, the best they can hope for is a John Swinney return as
caretaker leader.
Far from being a party with a wealth of
talents, the SNP is populated by small people.
One thing which Jackson Carlaw uses to
float his claim is that he likens the current SNP administration at Holyrood to
the end of the Conservatives' 18 years in power at Westminster, under Margaret
Thatcher and then John Major. During that era, there was infighting by the
Conservatives which doesn’t really translate to the situation the SNP find
themselves in now. Although there is the Salmond problem in the wings, Alex
Salmond is out of the party, his disgruntled supporters might be vocal but
their modius operandi is to plug Scottish independence.
Jackson Carlaw is acting as interim leader
while Ruth Davidson is on maternity leave, his stint in the chair is going
reasonably well, and he hits the nail on the head when he says that SNP having
been in power in Scotland since 2007 have developed a sense of entitlement.
When parties get that feeling, the rot sets in, politicians don’t work, they
don’t serve their constituents and eventually the party machine collapses where
a few kid on that they are micromanaging many, except that is only on paper.
The activist base collapse and no one comes out, the party ends up forgetting
how to campaign properly in an area.
Jackson told the Holyrood magazine:
"The second SNP administration - and
this one too - reminds me a little bit of the period of the Major years as they
wore on, where, after 18 years of Conservative government, there was more of a
sense of entitlement setting in, and a sense among people that this is how it
now is in the ordered way of politics and nothing is ever really going to
change that. Well, we found out very rudely in 1997 that the electorate is very
capable of deciding when it's time for a change and it can decide for a change
in a way that you would never have thought possible, even five years before it
happened."
The biggest letdown leads to Conservatives
losing the government to me always appears to centre round management of
domestic politics. The opposite can be said of the Labour Party, their fall at
the end of the Blair/Brown era centres around badly damaging foreign policy
decisions.
A smart party takes care of the both the
home front and foreign adventures, keep that in balance and everyone loves you,
tilt too much and you’re out the door!
The other party in contention for Scottish
Government is the Scottish Labour Party led by Richard Leonard. Leonard is
still finding his feet, being slotted as the third party of Holyrood has been a
shock to the Labour Party. They might not have seen that coming but others did,
the Labour Party reaped the consequences of their actions, too many changes of leaders
at Holyrood, and effectively no impact. Proposing policies one minute and the
next campaigning against them doesn’t gel with the public. If you take the SNP’s
‘poll tax on wheels’, and think back to 2000, the Labour/Lib Dem came up with
this, only to see it dropped.
Another gem which probably sticks in people’s
minds more is PFI hospital car parking charges which Scottish Labour brought in
and then when opposition mounted a fierce campaign against them.
Of course, you could be swayed by people
saying that those policies of the past where brought in by people who are now
gone, and the new team never supported them. You have to ask the question why
people then didn’t know such policies were against Labour values. Richard
Leonard needs to get Scottish Labour active, but to be active, you need
something to sell on a doorstep, and of course you need to believe in the
candidate whether it be for Holyrood, Westminster or council. The clock is
ticking for Scottish Labour and they have to abandon the mindset that 15
minutes at FMQs at Holyrood represents ‘work’ and makes up for the lack of
activism in the party.
Looking at the Scottish Labour Party at
present, I liken it to an engine, although certain people have turned the ‘key’
the engine hasn’t kicked over. If you take a recent CLP meeting of Pollok CLP
as an example, the candidate Matt Kerr called for ‘volunteers’ to help his
campaign. Outside what some would recognise
as his group, no one volunteered. His election agent then asked for people to
deliver ‘introduce the candidate’ leaflets, no one volunteered for that either.
Of course this being the first CLP meeting of the year, you might have expected
that people might not be ready to dive back into activism. Team work is
important in politics, and it helps that you understand how to manage a team,
especially if they are helping you providing free labour. Cllr Matt Kerr won
the selection for Glasgow South West on the 12th September 2018, so that is
about 5 months, give or take, given he said he had 12 people coming out for
him, I am highly surprised that he hasn’t finished leafleting the Govan side of
the constituency. If one person can manage to leaflet the bulk of the Govan
ward on the Pollok side in about 10 days, why can’t Team Kerr finished Govan?
Obvious Team Kerr will have to work harder
and smarter.
Finally, Holyrood 2021, everything is up
for grabs for the three parties, SNP, Scottish Conservatives and Scottish
Labour. The Scottish Greens aren’t worth talking about as they have limited
appeal in Scotland. Jackson Carlaw thinks his party is in with a shout, and his
assessment might pan out. Nicola Sturgeon said she became active in politics
because of the Conservatives, how ironic would it be if she had to hand over
the keys of Bute House to Ruth Davidson?
I suspect the howls of laughter down the
corridors of Holyrood would be epic!
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
Is not a hung assembly essentially what Holyrood’s electoral system was designed to produce? Or so Geoffrey Wheatcroft wrote: ‘The system for electing the Edinburgh parliament was carefully designed to ensure that no single party, particularly not the SNP, could ever hold a majority.’ (‘Highland Games’, New Republic, 12 Jul 2012) So in 1999 Labour obtained a plurality with 43% of the 129 seats, and again in 2003 with 39% of the seats, then in 2003 the SNP had 36% of the seats, one seat more than Labour; 2011 surprised with the SNP winning a majority with 53% of the seats but they returned to a plurality with 49% in 2016.
ReplyDeleteAs I’ve written here before, Scotland and Wales implemented the wrong devolution model and its existence prevents us from enjoying a far superior alternative (one based on our Royal Burghs—i.e. towns rather than remote regions or counties—similar to the Swiss cantonal and US systems). So, unless a party has a manifesto commitment to end the abortion that is Devolution, I’ll be boycotting the assembly election as that seems the only way to register my opposition to it.
Another reason to desire the restoration of burgh-based local government: identity.
We are not just British but, simultaneously and without contradiction, we are Scottish too—or Welsh, English or Ulsterman; and in addition to that, we are Orcadian, or Shetlander, or Cumbrian, or Cornishman; and in addition to that, we are Aberdonian or Glaswegian, or Liverpudlian or Mackem, or Cardiffian or Belfaster; and in addition to that we are Lennons or McCartneys or Starrs or Harrisons or whatever our families are. All those identities exist without contradiction (normally—and such is the tragedy of civil wars and rebellions: splitting families and setting father against son, brother fighting brother).
We need to cherish our various identities and protect them—and increasingly these days revive them, so many being lost. This entails devolving as much power (where it should exist at all) as possible to the lowest feasible level; so that each community can run itself and develop institutions that reflect each community’s character. E.g. Inverness Burgh Police (1847–1968) could recruit police officers suitable to tranquil Inverness, who would be different from the hard men recruited for City of Glasgow Police (1800–1975).
E.g. the Channel Islands, the last remnants of the Angevin Empire, for centuries were ethnically, culturally and linguistically Norman French—and lived contentedly under the English then British flag. However, from 1821, Jersey saw a massive influx of English immigrants, doubling its population in 30 years and displacing the native Norman French. Similarly, when contemplating the dying of Gaelic and Cornish as languages along with other traditions, we should consider influxes of ‘outsiders’ as a factor. And so, amongst the powers that should be devolved to a revived system of local government based on our burghs, we should devolve internal immigration—i.e. immigration would continue to be set at the national level, more or less restrictive as desired; but a burgh could set additional limits, even on fellow Britons. (Another reason that controls on internal immigration would be sensible is that SJWs are like locusts: they ruin their locality and then move on somewhere else and ruin that as well by promoting the same retarded SJW ideas that ruined the place they just left. The hapless destinations of those roving SJWs should be afforded some defence against them.)
It would be rather bringing them around full circle. Granted, we're looking at a hung parliament now, but a week is a long time in politics, as a wise man said, by then maybe Davina McCall will be pope, perhaps you'll be able to download rice (actually with 3D printing it seems to be only a matter of time). Time is on their side, and they seem to be working to that as well.
ReplyDeleteThe Tories have about two years to prepare, and while Labour could still do it, I don't see them cracking Scotland unless they change rapidly, and unless that happens and they win Scotland, Corbyn will not be prime minister either. It would however, be great to see the end of the SNP. It might not happen, granted, but it might just do so too.