Across our country, the SNP will deliver half a million "MORE NATS LESS CUTS" campaign postcards by 6 pm tonight. (Yes, Kez Dugdale, it’s not the best grammar but it’s true for all that. And that’s what we want in Scotland. “Less” or “Fewer” cuts, whatever. We just don’t want MORE cuts, which is what Labour and the Tories will give us.*)
First minister Mr Salmond was today in Portobello in the Edinburgh East constituency. He said: "At this election, Scottish voters can elect local and national champions. SNP MPs who will make sure Scotland's communit
ies can't be ignored.
"Scotland needs champions now more than ever. The London parties offer the same agenda - they are part of the same metropolitan, political machine.
The London parties have blown the gaff on their plans for Scotland. By their own admission, Labour would cut ‘tougher and deeper’ than Thatcher, and the Tories are planning a special cut for Scotland despite being funded by Scottish resources, blowing their respect agenda away.
"The SNP are going into this campaign with a clear message for Scottish voters: more votes means more Nats, and more Nats means less cuts. The Westminster system is discredited, and only SNP champions can protect and promote Scotland’s interests.
“We can protect jobs, recovery and important local services and instead cut things like the £100,000 million replacement for Trident, identity cards, the House of Lords or the Scotland Office.”
“And in calling the election on the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland’s declaration of independence, Labour has ensured that the London parties’ refusal to allow Scotland’s voters a say over their country’s future will be an issue SNP champions will bring to the fore.
"On polling day the people of Scotland can do more than just vote for a politician, they can elect a local champion with the SNP.”
*Reference to a post that Kezia Dugdale wrote criticizing the SNP for the lack of grammatical purity in their "More Nats Less Cuts" slogan, which would have had a little more force if she herself hadn't made serveral corkers in the post.
Pics: Alex Salmond; David and Gordon with their heroine.
First minister Mr Salmond was today in Portobello in the Edinburgh East constituency. He said: "At this election, Scottish voters can elect local and national champions. SNP MPs who will make sure Scotland's communit
ies can't be ignored."Scotland needs champions now more than ever. The London parties offer the same agenda - they are part of the same metropolitan, political machine.
The London parties have blown the gaff on their plans for Scotland. By their own admission, Labour would cut ‘tougher and deeper’ than Thatcher, and the Tories are planning a special cut for Scotland despite being funded by Scottish resources, blowing their respect agenda away.
"The SNP are going into this campaign with a clear message for Scottish voters: more votes means more Nats, and more Nats means less cuts. The Westminster system is discredited, and only SNP champions can protect and promote Scotland’s interests.
“We can protect jobs, recovery and important local services and instead cut things like the £100,000 million replacement for Trident, identity cards, the House of Lords or the Scotland Office.”
“And in calling the election on the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland’s declaration of independence, Labour has ensured that the London parties’ refusal to allow Scotland’s voters a say over their country’s future will be an issue SNP champions will bring to the fore.
"On polling day the people of Scotland can do more than just vote for a politician, they can elect a local champion with the SNP.”
*Reference to a post that Kezia Dugdale wrote criticizing the SNP for the lack of grammatical purity in their "More Nats Less Cuts" slogan, which would have had a little more force if she herself hadn't made serveral corkers in the post.
Pics: Alex Salmond; David and Gordon with their heroine.
........
Wonder how he's going to afford it (the less cuts), just asking, because I'm sure someone else will.
ReplyDeleteWe spend less on the fripperies, I guess.
ReplyDeleteWe really don't need £100 billion on Trident; we don't need identity cards... we don't need to go to war every time the US President says "Go to war!"
He's an economist QM, I doubt if he will have a problem answering this for himself.
The main reason Brown and Cameron don't want to debate with him is that he would wash them out and hang them out to dry the way he does with Gray every week in our parliament.
Maybe not everyone loves Alex (I think he's brilliant), but he's one smart cookie adn no one can really deny that.
The replacement of Council tax with local income tax would have saved poor people hundreds of pouinds a year at a cost to the fairly well off.... but Labour blocked it because they....erm... because....uh... give up.
Probably because they wanted to embarrass Mr Salmond and keep the poor poor and Labour voting at the same time.
Problem as I see it then is that it doesn't matter how many more Nats you get as they'd only really take the Labour votes. That means you have to deal with a One nation Conservative PM in Westminster. Unless you get independence then I suspect Cameron will ignore Salmond.
ReplyDeleteYes, QM. Who knows what might happen. But a large number of SNP MPs in Scotland will certainly make Cameron or Brown think carefully about how strongly we feel.
ReplyDeleteNo one much pays attention to Scotland as a rule; the Tories because they feel that that apart from a few seats there’s no hope for them here. They would be happy with 4 or 5 MPs out of 59; Labour because they take Scottish voters for granted. In vast swathes of Scotland they have held sway for 70 years and more. The people vote Labour because ‘’that’s the party that people like them vote for’’, (honestly I’ve heard people say that) and Labour keep them in poverty in order to ensure that they never have aspirations above Labour level of misery.
There is no doubt that (and this may seem negative, but all is fair in love, war and politics) if we have another English imposed Tory Government, the people here will, after a while see that, if they just got rid of the massive number of Tory voters in the southern part of the UK, they would never have to have another Tory government again. It’s a step, another step in the battle for independence.
The last time the SNP had a substantial number of seats in Westminster, the London parties did sit up, take their trotters out of the trough and take notice.
That was before devolution though, I wonder how the SNP will cope if they face a much reduced budget from Westminster.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's an "if" QM. We are going to get less the same as everyone in the UK is going to get less.... Even the Queen might have a job to get a pay rise this year (Although I see the MPs managed it needless to say).
ReplyDeleteIt will be up to the SNP to highlight that we are getting less. 'If's' that belong to the past are in the past. We must look at the 'Ifs' that exist at the moment as you rightly say.
I don't think that devolution will do anything to change the fear of the main parties of Scottish and Welsh nationalism. Labour don't want it because without the 30+ seats from Scotland that they would rarely form a government in England. The Tories because they would hate to be the party that oversaw the break up of the UK. Neither wants it because it might threaten their seat at the top table and all the big summits with President Obama.
It is going to be interesting whichever way it turns out.
Yeah not gonna vote for sumone whose cant speel
ReplyDeleteDon't you Niko. It could spell the end of the world (did you see that? Spell.... spell...) oh , ok.
ReplyDeleteThank ye kingly tris, for the lovely photies o' oor potential PMs tryin' tae get some auld dear tae vote for them, and for yer comment at 3.15.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty ways we could cut oor budgets, and Trident comes top middle and bottom o' the list. ID cairds, NHS computer systems, pointless wars, bigger airports, the Queen, there's loads o' ways we could save money.
Ah cannae say ah've kent many politicians in ma time, jist a few really. But whit ah dae ken is this. Alec Salmond is easy the maist honest, decent an' principled man that Scotland has produced in many a long year. Ah'm deid proud tae ca' him ma Prime Minister, an' ah look forward tae him bein' an independent Scotland's first leader.
Ah hope tae God it happens afore the Big Yin ca's me hame.
Aw shite, that wis supposed tae say 'kindly', Sorry
ReplyDeleteIm sure that it will Sophia.
ReplyDeleteNot a lot I can add to that except to say I agree. I've had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times briefly and he's impressed me and a decent guy. I'd be happy for him to be our First or Premier Minister... or President, whatever.
Nicola's a great girl too. She'll be a good leader for Scotland one day.
Hum... I read it as "kindly" anyway... but watch out for Niko, he's got his red biro out.
ReplyDelete