The looming elections
With cuts, cuts and more cuts on the agenda, being in the hot seat suddenly looks like a horrible place to be for the SNP with a Scottish Parliamentary election looming.
I took some abuse, mainly from SNP activists in 2007/8 when I suggested that the SNP got it totally wrong by forming the Government, as they would have been much better being the opposition.
Time has (sadly for all sorts of reasons) proved me completely right.
Can you imagine Alex Salmond on the opposition benches in Holyrood berating the cuts agenda? It could have been an almost automatic SNP majority in 2011 and hence onto an Independent Scotland.
Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war.
Along with the adverse polls, is it any wonder that there is an unexpected series of retirals from the Parliament as the reality of implications of holding the purse strings starts to click.
Unfortunately, it is many of the most able from the SNP benches who seem ready to go with their heads held high, whilst the unable and unemployable hold on kicking and screaming for dear life.
Word reaches me of 3 or 4 other senior SNP MSPs who are planning on standing down before the elections, and of list and constituency MSPs at war: on current voting intentions they can't both be returned, and fraternal co-operation has disappeared.
The 2011 elections are going to be interesting for all sorts of reasons, but represent a chance for Scotland to create a new and revitalised identity for itself, with less Party affiliation and more independent thought.
As I also predicted years ago, RET is up for grabs just before the election, with a decision to be made by the winners, which in light of the budgets cuts, is the worst news possible....
I took some abuse, mainly from SNP activists in 2007/8 when I suggested that the SNP got it totally wrong by forming the Government, as they would have been much better being the opposition.
Time has (sadly for all sorts of reasons) proved me completely right.
Can you imagine Alex Salmond on the opposition benches in Holyrood berating the cuts agenda? It could have been an almost automatic SNP majority in 2011 and hence onto an Independent Scotland.
Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war.
Along with the adverse polls, is it any wonder that there is an unexpected series of retirals from the Parliament as the reality of implications of holding the purse strings starts to click.
Unfortunately, it is many of the most able from the SNP benches who seem ready to go with their heads held high, whilst the unable and unemployable hold on kicking and screaming for dear life.
Word reaches me of 3 or 4 other senior SNP MSPs who are planning on standing down before the elections, and of list and constituency MSPs at war: on current voting intentions they can't both be returned, and fraternal co-operation has disappeared.
The 2011 elections are going to be interesting for all sorts of reasons, but represent a chance for Scotland to create a new and revitalised identity for itself, with less Party affiliation and more independent thought.
As I also predicted years ago, RET is up for grabs just before the election, with a decision to be made by the winners, which in light of the budgets cuts, is the worst news possible....
5 comments:
"Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war."
Can you explain?
Angus The Great Plan takes shape!
Throw a curve ball - standing for election again, people assume 2012 Council Elections. Suddenly 2011 New Party SNP Independence Continuing, Angus to stand against AA.
You heard it here first.
Angus I can see Ret becoming a bit of a hot potato looking at the cost to value ratio across Scotland, yes it has helped your tourism economy in the Western Isles. BUT can you seriously see the money being available to roll it out across the Scottish Islands. I believe your currant MP campaigned on a soap box of vote for me is a vote for RET, and only the SNP can save it. I also believe the Labour man who was his closest competitor was also singing the praises of RET to those who were prepared to listen. It would be such a shame if it was all to be abandoned, (whoever is to blame) when the costs are totted up. I was on a Transport Steering Group that was looking at the various discount schemes both ADS and the Ferry Discount scheme Labour wanted to introduce, (although they had ten years to do it and did not) for true value to the people of Island communities FDS had by far the best cost to value ratio of all the schemes we looked at, in the sense that the benefit was to the community and their direct families and would encourage people to stay on the islands as a transparent price difference and benefit to living in the community is easily seen. The fact that FDS would also apply to inter-island ferries encourages cross island trade.
I think the SNP could benefit from saying RET is too expensive but we will introduce the FDS until the finances improve.
Hope you are all well in the western Isles and that the weather is treating you better than us.
Re: Anon@12:16
I think what he means is that if the SNP had gone into opposition after the last scottish election with a cracking mandate to be the opposition party then in the upcoming election they would have been able to point to all the financial hardship/cuts etc and blame London - the electorate would most likely have bought it and the SNP would most likely have got a whopping majority and been able to shove independence through quite easily.
As it is by being greedy and grabbing power when they weren't actually ready for it they have been exposed as a largely 1-trick pony in terms of policies. I don't think there is any single area where they have radically improved matters and in some they have actually made things worse.
I reckon that labour will end up getting a walloping majority in the next election - largely to counter the 'tory/lib/snp' cuts. Course the fact that saidlabour admin will be just as constrained as the current snp one in terms of spending will be irrelevant to the vast majority of the electorate.
"New Party SNP Independence Continuing, Angus to stand against AA"?? Just one problem can see with that, 9:20AM - Angus isn't a nationalist, is he? If he really was a nationalist then he would have remained in the SNP, surely. I think his new party will definitely need a different name.
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