Conservative candidate John Lamont has short term memory

I noticed in John Lamonts latest leaflet ironically titled "Common sense with John Lamont" a moment of short term memory loss.

In the leaflet, John Lamont has criticised Euan Robson, his Scottish Liberal Democrats challenger (SNP and Labour are over 4,000 votes behind Euan), for wanting to become an MP.

Is this the same Conservative John Lamont who spent tens of thousands of pounds trying to beat Michael Moore to become an MP only last year?

It certainly is.

Maybe John Lamont and the local Conservatives have got some short term memory loss?

Police Federation go for scaremongering advert

When I got to page 15 of my Metro this morning, I was somewhat taken aback by the advert from the Police Federation.

I think it is cheap and nasty scaremongering.

Don't get me wrong, organisations have the democratic right to their views, and to voice them, but cheap scaremongering from the Police Federation is just that, cheap.

The Police Federation is an organisation I have worked with over the years, mainly when I worked for Vince Cable MP, who at the time was the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Police.

According to their website:

the Federation is reliant on negotiation alone to reach agreements on pay and conditions.

I'm not keen on their current attempt to negotiate.

Here in Scotland we have the SNP, Conservatives and Labour planning to scrap local policing putting around 3,000 frontline police jobs at risk.

Not through cuts to funding streams but through a massive and expensive centralisation programme.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are fighting this disastrous proposal from the other three parties, we want local police to be local police, not directed by bueracrats in Edinburgh.

Police should be out on the beat, not filling out paperwork in back offices and certainly not all pulled from communities around Scotland to police football matches in the big cities by the Edinburgh bueracrats.

They also want to centralise our fire service as well, what is next after the police and fire services?

Sign our petition today to add your voice to Save our Police and Fire services.

Conservative MSP John Lamont uses poppy to score cheap political points

To be fair, readers of my little blog know I do not have a lot of time for John Lamont MSP at the best of times, but even he has slipped to a new low this week.

There are some issues you do not, as they say "go there" and using the poppy and veterans to attack your political opponents is one of them, fairly close to the top of that list.

In the Southern Reporter, John Lamont MSP has fired off a press release attacking all MSPs but specifically the other MSPs covering the Borders and the South of Scotland for not attending the poppy appeal launch in Holyrood. He claims just six MSPs were there.

I'm not sure if he walked round with a register while talking to the veterans who attended, or just counted at one point of the event.

I think back to last year, when John Lamont MSP was bored of his current job and was trying to go for the Westminster seat (and failed miserably) and missed many events aimed at the Borders voters whether at Holyrood or actually in the Borders themselves.

Did Michael Moore, Jeremy Purvis MSP or Jim Hume MSP make cheap political jibes about them?

No, they accept that different people have different diary requests and pressures and therefore cannot attend everything.

It also appears that John Lamont was wrong anyway about the attendees, as Jeremy Purvis has corrected the Southern Reporter, because he did in fact attend the Poppy Scotland launch event.

I think the bigger point here though is that John Lamont has stooped to a new low and brought the poppy into politics purely and solely to attack his political opponents in the six months before an election.

The poppy is not a weapon to be used against other people, the work of Poppy Scotland is massively important and should be promoted, not politicised;

Poppyscotland is the leading charity supporting ex-Servicemen and women and their families in Scotland. We are probably best known for running the iconic Scottish Poppy Appeal, but we work all year round to help veterans and their families receive the care and support they urgently need.

The Scottish Poppy Appeal raises over £2 million each year and, combined with our other year-round fundraising, we are able to provide financial assistance to thousands of ex-Servicemen and women as well as helping to fund specialist services such as long term care, housing and employment.

We were established in 1923 as The Earl Haig Fund Scotland but adopted our current name and logo in 2006 to reflect our revised fundraising activities and charitable services work. We are an independent charity and rely entirely on public donations to allow us to continue our life-changing work.

I hope that John Lamont MSP will realise he has made a major error of judgement on this occasion, although I won't hold my breath.  He should apologise publicly for dragging Poppy Scotland into his cheap political election row and then make an additional donation to them.

When he lays his wreath on Sunday, I hope the veterans present will remind him that cheap political jibes such as his don't win votes and if they had acted in the same childish manner during the wars they represented our great country in, John Lamont wouldn't be here now.

You can read more about Poppy Scotland, follow them on twitter and add a twibbon to your facebook or twitter profile to help them publicise their great work or make a donation.

Scottish Conservative candidate Colin McGavigan describes carers as "the great unwashed"

The Scottish Conservatives are not having a great week, on Tuesday one of their candidates called Scots thick and then he resigned.

I blogged about this yesterday morning Conservative candidate Ivor Tiefenbrun describes Scots as "so thick" and his subsequent resignation yesterday evening Conservative candidate Ivor Tiefenbrun resigns over insult to Scots.

Then this morning we woke up to hear that the Scottish Conservative candidate for Clydesdale, Colin McGavigan had tweeted:

"kids in care: why do the carers look like the great unwashed? They're supposed to be carers not warders."

These comments by Colin McGavigan were made in response to a BBC documentary broadcast on Tuesday night, focusing on children in care.  You can read the full story in The Scotsman.

Mr McGavigan was yesterday forced to express his "utmost respect" for carers in a statement issued by his party.

However, the Scottish Tories are set to allow him to continue as the party's Clydesdale candidate at next year's election on the grounds that they believe he has no case to answer.

I think this case should highlight to all of us in the public eye, whether it be a candidate or support staff such as myself, our tweets are followed by journalists waiting for this catastrophic mistakes.
 
I disagree with the Conservatives though, how on earth can they say there is no case to answer?  Yet again this shows one of their candidates as out of touch. 
 
How on earth can the voters respect someone who can cast aspersions such as this in a public forum?
 
Sorry Annabel, I really think another one bites the dust!

Conservative candidate Ivor Tiefenbrun resigns over insult to Scots

They say a week is a long time in politics, however, for Ivor Tiefenbrun three days is enough.

On Monday he was the Conservative candidate for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn.

On Tuesday, he insulted Scots while at the same time defending Margaret Thatcher in an interview published in The Scotsman.

Also on Tuesday,  a spokesman for the Scottish Tories denied Mr Tiefenbrun had made the comments, stating:

"The candidate denies using these words and does not hold these views."

On Wednesday, he has to resign as the Conservative candidate for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn.

However, in a statement published today [Wednesday], Mr Tiefenbrun said:

"There are many important issues facing our country and I have no desire for anything to divert my party - or indeed the media - from concentrating on those vital challenges.

"Accordingly, I will not be standing in the forthcoming Holyrood elections. I wish my successor and our candidates across Scotland well in May."

Andrew Fulton, Scottish Conservative Party Chairman, added:

"I have spoken to Ivor and respect and understand his decision which has been taken in the best interests of the party."

So, the Conservative Party are now seeking a new candidate for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, preferably one who doesn't insult the very people they may well rely on for votes next May.

Conservative candidate Ivor Tiefenbrun describes Scots as "so thick"

I must admit when I read the headline in yesterday's Scotsman, I did  a double take and thought “Really?”  Would anyone be so stupid as to say that?  Has The Scotsman got this out of context?
 

Apparently not.  The Conservative candidate Ivor Tiefenbrun has defended Margaret Thatcher's policies and in doing so said "It's only because Scots are so thick that this was swallowed."

Now,  I have to be honest, Ivor isn't the only man to defend Margaret Thatcher's policies. A fairly well known Scot within the world of politics has also done this, not yesterday but during the Glenrothes by-election in 2008. This person said that the Scots didn't mind Thatcher's policies.

Have you guessed who it is yet?

Well it was in fact Wee Eck himself, our very own First Minister and leader of the single issue party itself, the SNP's Alex Salmond.

Who would have thought that he would support the devastation that Thatcher brought to Scotland?

Anyway, I digress. Back to Ivor who has in fact been selected as the Tory candidate for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn.

He claimed Baroness Thatcher had;

"saved our cities" in Scotland and had broken the "corrupt power" of the trade unions as well as "enabling people to buy their own homes" during her 11 years in power.

No-one will argue that allowing people to buy their homes was entirely a bad thing, although we should remember that most councils were then prevented using the money raised from the sale of these homes to build  any more by Thatcher. That’s why we have such an affordable housing crisis today. Ivor Tiefenbrun played a leading role in the anti-devolution Think Twice campaign so isn't always on message with Scots anyway.

Mr Tiefenbrun defended the 1980s governments of Lady Thatcher, whose controversial policies included the unpopular poll tax and wide scale closure of Scottish coal mines.

He said:

"The way Labour work is that they have demonised Thatcher as if she was an evil force.

"It's only because Scots are so thick that this was swallowed."

When asked to explain his comments by The Scotsman, Mr Tiefenbrun said;

"You would have to be thick to accept that" Lady Thatcher had been bad for Scotland.

I am neither a Scot, although I now live here and call this home,  nor am I thick and I can see the damage that Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives did across Scotland in the 1980s. What I can also see is that Labour didn't mend some of the damage either.

During the Glasgow East and Glasgow North East by-elections in the last two years I saw that there are still areas of deprivation which should not exist in this day and age and it is only down to the communities living there that they don't let it beat them.  Yes the Conservatives did damage this country and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Ivor Tiefenbrun continued;

"We have to look at the education system and ask if we have got too many teachers."

Too many teachers?  When did Mr Tiefenbrun last visit a school?

The Tory businessman was last night heavily criticised for his remarks, which included a claim that patients could;

"walk into hospitals and be dead in 48 hours from an infection."

Annabel Goldie has a lot to deal with being the leader of the 4th party in Scotland with just one MP in Westminster and candidates such as Gill Dykes claiming to be an MSP when she isn't, John Lamont who is bored of Holyrood and now Ivor Tiefenbrun who is insulting Scots by calling them "so thick".

I hope Annabel does the decent thing and at the very least insists Mr Tiefenbrun issues an apology, very quickly, or he may just face calls for his resignation from the good folk of Glasgow.

Conservative candidate Gill Dykes claims she is an MSP, but she isn't

Next May, voters across Scotland will be heading to the polls to elect their constituency and regional MSPs.

The Conservatives, like all other parties are already campaigning, but one of their candidates is already claiming she is the MSP, seven months before a vote has actually been cast.

Perhaps she is a medium, or has at least consulted Mystic Meg or the like?

Gill Dykes has sent out a campaign postcard to residents ahead of next May’s polling day which is headed: “Gill Dykes MSP for Dumfriesshire.”

However, Gill Dykes is not an MSP, for Dumfriesshire or anywhere else for that matter!

The current MSP, Labour's Elaine Murray has reacted angrily to the leaflet.

She told the Dumfries and Galloway Standard:

“It is very concerning that another candidate is trying to pass herself off as the MSP. It shows extraordinary arrogance.”

The other side of the campaign postcard features a photograph of her and the words “Gill Dykes for MSP” – a statement Gill Dykes insists proves the postcard is not misleading.

She said:

“You have only looked at one side of the postcard, when you look at both sides it shows that I am the candidate.”

Gill Dykes has denied that the statement on the other side was misleading.

What a lot of pish, everyone knows any leaflet through your letterbox has 10 seconds before it hits the recycling box, so for Gill Dykes to say she thinks overall with people reading both sides of the postcard it isn't misleading, is quite frankly nonsense at best.

Let's hope it is a genuine mistake and not an attempt to mislead the public?

Mrs Dykes is currently a Conservative councillor for Mid and Upper Nithsdale and is also a parliamentary assistant to Galloway and Upper Nithsdale MSP and presiding officer Alex Fergusson.

Elaine Murray MSP added:

“People expect honesty from politicians and it is highly unfortunate that the Conservative candidate appears to be trying to mislead the public.

“I understand that this has been reported to the Electoral Commission and I think it is important it is investigated.”

This is a highly embarrassing mistake for the Scottish Conservatives and especially for Gill Dykes.  And given Gill Dykes beat Derek Brownlee by just one vote to get the nomination, mistakes like this will not be tolerated within the Conservative Party either.

David Mundell MP set to appear in court over election expenses probe

The Sunday Herald once again carries the story about David Mundell MP heading to the courts regarding the mistake in his election expenses.

The Scotland Office Minister, who is in charge of election conduct north of the Border, is preparing to petition the Court of Session after filing a misleading account of how much he spent on the campaign trail earlier this year.

David Mundell, is expected to ask the courts permission to make retrospective changes to his official spending returns, which he previously signed off as “complete and accurate”.

However, even if successful, he still faces a possible legal sanction for breaking the spending limit in the short campaign expenses.
David Mundell MP has already referred himself to the UK election watchdog over the error.

It is understood that Conservative Party lawyers in London recommended the court action and a date has been set for later this month, although Mundell is not expected to appear in person.

Under the 1983 Representation of the People Act, courts can allow candidates to amend errors in their returns caused “by inadvertence or any reasonable excuse of a like nature”, provided they were made in good faith, not calculated.

In 2005, Gordon Brown’s local Labour party petitioned the Court to include a rates bill for £200 in the then-Chancellor’s election expenses after the filing deadline had passed.

However, unlike Gordon Brown, David Mundell could still be in trouble after a petition is granted, as his mistake broke the legal spending limit.

Breaching the spending limit is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £5000.

Lib Dem Voice also carries the story.

Conservative MSP Ted Brocklebank to stand down

Conservative MSP Ted Brocklebank has announced he will be standing down at the 2011 Holyrood elections.
The 67-year-old former journalist was elected as a member for Mid-Scotland and Fife in May 2003.

He said it had been an "immense privilege" to serve his constituents but said he was hoping to return to his former career in broadcasting.

Mr Brocklebank was the Scottish Conservatives former rural development and fisheries spokesman but resigned in February 2007 in protest over a policy U-turn.

He was angry that David Cameron stepped back from a threat to withdraw the UK from the EU common fisheries policy.
The Conservative MSP is currently the spokesman for Europe, external affairs and culture.

"It has been an immense privilege to serve the people of Mid-Scotland and Fife and I have greatly enjoyed my time in the Scottish Parliament," he said.

"I don't see myself putting my feet up and playing with the grandchildren. I feel very active.

"I've enjoyed my eight years but I'm equally looking forward to getting back to my old trade."

He added: "It will be good to re-discover my non-partisan voice again, especially on fisheries and media matters."

Conservative leader Annabel Goldie said the MSP had made "an important contribution" to the Conservative MSP group and to the parliament.
"His career experience before entering politics has enabled him to be an authoritative commentator on a range of issues but particularly those related to media and culture, " she said.

Scottish Conservatives let Michael Crow go and their plush HQ, what's next?

The Scottish Conservatives are going through a real internal struggle at the moment, during the general election they made a huge issue of targeting eleven seats, despite only starting with one.

They spent huge amounts of money on advertising vans as their daily photo props including a garage and container lorry one day, but what did these achieve?  Very little in reality other than a few spots on the election gaffes video done during the final week of the campaign.

So, what was the effect of their targeting strategy, erm, well, nothing, not one seat changed hands in Scotland, the Conservatives started with one MP, David Mundell and he is still their solitary MP.

It finished Labour 41, Liberal Democrats 11, SNP 6 and Conservatives 1.

Then we hear the Scottish Conservatives are to move out of their offices on Princes Street, The Scotsman claim these cost £100,000 per year, into their association office in Edinburgh North & Leith, another step down.

Internal criticism was next with Conservative Peer Lord Forsyth describing his party as a "marginal" force in Scotland.  He said it was time for a structural rethink of the Conservatives north of the border.

Hours later we hear there is to be a great review into why the Conservatives did not advance in Scotland.

Scottish Conservative chairman Andrew Fulton announced he is setting up a commission;

A commission, chaired by Lord Sanderson, will be set up to look at the structures of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and examine how it works, and recommend any changes which would strengthen it.

This commission seemed to create even more splits within the rank and file of the Scottish Conservatives and finally yesterday the crack opened up enough to swallow Michael Crow.

Michael Crow was appointed just 18 months ago as the Scottish Conservatives Director of Strategy and Communications on a reported six figure salary.

The party, which won just one Scottish seat on 6 May, said he was let go as director of strategy and communications due to "financial constraints".

But if you read between the lines in some of the tributes in yesterdays Scotsman, there is also an apparent dislike, is this because he dragged the Scottish Conservatives into a modern political party that they are uncomfortable with?

Or is this just a split between modernisers and the old guard?

Conservative MSP David McLetchie, who is their Chief Whip in Holyrood told The Scotsman;

"I've won my seat on two occasions, even defeating the current Labour leader [Iain Gray].  I didn't need Michael Crow's help to do that...."

Ouch - bitter or what?  Maybe jealous of the reported salary Michael Crow was on?

So, the HQ has gone, the Director of Strategy and Communications has gone, who or what is next???

Scottish Conservative reshuffle - hold onto the deck chairs

So, following the Scottish Conservatives returning just one MP at the general election and Bill Aitken announcing his resignation (for next year) Annabel Goldie rushes out to rearrange the deck chairs.

The Scottish Conservatives leader, Annabel Goldie has rushed to rearrange what deckchairs she has left.

The BBC reports;

John Lamont, who failed to win one of the Tories' UK election target seats, is handling justice issues.

Now John Lamont was one of 5 MSPs who chose to ignore the dual mandate issue and their parties and stand as a candidate for Westminster while already being an elected parliamentarian - I personally think this is wrong given the parties all signed up to cleaning up politics.

You can read about the cleaning up of politics including the actual clause (see this post).

The surprise of the reshuffle is the appointment of Gavin Brown MSP as political advisor to Annabel Goldie, now I have never met Gavin so went to his website to read a little about him.

His website is three years and 140 days out of date - it has not been updated since New Years day in 2007.

He claims he is standing for Edinburgh South - which is false, he also claims that the Conservatives are the main challengers in Edinburgh South, also false (it is in fact the Liberal Democrats who hold the Edinburgh South seat) and it was Fred Mackintosh and the Liberal Democrats who started second at the General Election and finished second with the Tories falling even further behind in a very distant third place.

It is hardly reassuring if he is now the political advisor to the leader, poor Annabel Goldie.

Anyway, here is the full Scottish Conservative line-up:

• Leader: Annabel Goldie
• Deputy leader and health: Murdo Fraser
• Justice: John Lamont
• Finance: Derek Brownlee
• Education: Liz Smith
• Rural affairs: John Scott
• Chief whip and campaign manager: David McLetchie
• Political adviser to the leader: Gavin Brown

Not a good day for the Conservatives - one former candidate endorses the Liberal Democrats as one candidate is suspended

Not a great day for the Scottish Conservatives today, firstly Chris Walker, the former Conservative candidate for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk comes out to back Liberal Democrats Michael Moore to win and then only hours later North Ayshire & Arran Conservative candidate Philip Lardner is suspended over his homophobic views.

Chris Walker has been very brave to come forward and publicly support another party's candidate and it is great to see his obviously sincere words about Michael Moore.

John Lamont heard the news from BBCs Richard Gordon apparently, just as Lamont was about to welcome SamCam.......ouch!

You can read about Chris Walkers endorsement of Michael Moore here.

Then onto the appalling attitude of primary school teacher and Conservative candidate Philip Lardner.

Thanks to Pink News the shameful content of the Conservative candidates website has not just been brushed aside and swept under the carpet.

"The promotion of homosexuality by public bodies (as per 'clause 28′/section 2a in Scotland,) was correctly outlawed by Mrs Thatcher's government. Toleration and understanding is one thing, but state-promotion of homosexuality is quite another."

This just shows that the deep vein that runs through right wing Conservatives is still there, alive and well but now covered up by a brushing of foundation to hide the blemishes.
Philip Lardener goes on;

"Christians (and most of the population) believe homosexuality to be somewhere between 'unfortunate' and simply 'wrong' and they should not be penalised for politely saying so – good manners count too, of course.


"The current 'law' is wrong and must be overturned in the interests of freedom as well as Christian values."

From the BBC News website;

Mr Lardner had been reinstated to the party in 2008 after a previous suspension over claims he made racist comments by portraying former leader of white-rule Rhodesia, Ian Smith, as a hero.

This line obviously begs the question why and how was this person allowed to go through and represent a Party (Yes, I would the same about a Lib Dem too) with these awful views?

Unfortunately for the good people of North Ayshire & Arran, Philip Lardner will still appear as the Conservative candidate on the ballot paper on May 6, despite the swift suspension of Lardner by the Conservative Party.

Recently, Tory MP Chris Grayling was recorded saying he agreed bed and breakfast owners should have the right to bar gay couples if they wish.

Meanwhile, Julian Lewis, the incumbent MP for New Forest East and shadow defence minister, told a constituent that he was against equalising the age of consent for gay men as he believes gay sex carries a high risk of AIDS - full story here.


If you want to read about the Conservatives record in the House of Commons then you can do so here.

They haven't changed, just trying to cover it up to get votes.  The support for the Conservatives has dropped from LGBT people, while support for the Liberal Democrats has soared.

Annabel Goldie in wee Borders rant (getting it all wrong)

So, despite knowing that there were no flights David Cameron missed the Scottish Conservative manifesto launch (I say Conservative as there is only one Westminster seat they hold up here in Scotland) in Melrose, a beatiful town in the Liberal Democrat constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk.

There are trains "Dave".  But "Dave" was in fact still in London.

Anyway, Annabel fell into a trap yesterday, and spent around five minutes of her speech ranting and attacking the Liberal Democrats (you know you have them rattled once they start attacking you) with a mild dose of hypocrisy and nonsense.

Perhaps a change by the Conservatives following Nick Cleggs performance on the Leaders debate and recent polling.

"If you vote Liberal Democrat, then you will get Labour." said Annabel.

Nonsense.

If on May 6th you vote Liberal Democrat Annabel, then Michael Moore will be re-elected as the hard working MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk.

Annabel and call me "Dave" Cameron insult the voters intelligence when they peddle this stupid line.

She then said to John Lamont MSP - "John, you have won this seat once now go and win it again."

Nonsense.

John Lamont MSP won the seat of Roxburgh & Berwickshire - which as any person in the Scottish Borders will tell you, is entirely different to Michael Moore's seat.

Ironically, Annabel then went on to talk about the thousands of people who have lost their jobs in the recession, BUT failed to justify why John Lamont MSP is then seeking a second job and will NOT stand down for twelve monthsafterwards as the MSP.

Two jobs John and Annabel?

When thousands of people have lost their only job? 

Hypocrites.

David Cameron claims he wants to clean up politics and yet two of his MSPs (obviously already bored of their jobsas MSPs) are seeking a second job and have no intention to stand down immediately but will try and do the two jobs part-time for at least one year.

John Lamont is clearly an embarrassment to both of his leaders, Annabel Goldie and David Cameron as they are both on the record now accepting the Kelly report in full - will either of them be telling John Lamont to drop one or other, or have they changed their minds?

In fact the Kelly report states that this practice of sitting in two legislatures should end before the 2011 elections so in fact John Lamont should decide to either (a) quit as an MSP now and fight the general election or (b) quit as a candidate now and focus on what he was elected to do which was a be a full time MSP.

Annabel Goldie has constantly hassled Alex Salmond about this dual mandate issue for a while but is now on the back foot and looking rather stupid because of both John Lamont and Alex Johnstone (another Tory MSP who wants two jobs).

The only people that lose out with these "Tory two job types" are the voters who deserve a full time MP and a full time MSP - not a part time one trying to do both jobs.
 
Annabel Goldie also defended rates relief for businesses yesterday, great I hear you all cry, then why did John Lamont, Annabel Goldie and the other Conservatives in Holyrood vote against the rates relief package just last week that would have save hundreds of businesses in the Scottish Borders thousands of pounds?
 
Yet another case of don't do what I do, just do what I say from Annabel Goldie and the Scottish Conservatives.
 
Annabel went into rant and attack mode against the Liberal Democrats yesterday saying we cosy up to Labour.
 
So, Annabel Goldie I ask you this why, have you spent the last three years as Alex Salmond's Holyrood bedfellows?  You support them in so many votes instead of standing up for the Scottish people it is nothing more than shameful.
 
The Scottish Conservatives are just propping up the SNP minority Government in Holyrood, nothing more and nothing less.
 
If people want change then it is time for Nick Clegg and the Scottish Liberal Democrats - already the second party in Scotland in votes and MPs (more MPs than the SNP and Conservatives combined).
 
It is the Liberal Democrats that challenged the Labour Government and Conservatives over the Iraq war.
 
It is Nick Clegg who led the campaign to clean up politics and put forward proposals to Parliament - voted down by Labour and the Conservatives.
 
It is Nick Clegg who first demanded the right to sack your MP for the voters - voted down by Labour and Conservatives.
 
Whose Party are the hypocrites Annabel?

Cameron's Conservative candidate Peter Lyburn misleads the public

We all know there are banana skins during an election - from other parties helpers trying to infiltrate under false pretences (I recall from the Brent East by-election a Conservative member of staff pretending to be a journalist) or even the media just trying to catch a candidate out on policy or the like.

But, when you create your own banana skin, there is very little sympathy out there.

Peter Lyburn is the Conservative candidate for Perth & North Perthshire and he has made a major mistake this week.

David Cameron has made a major issue of getting business men and women to sign a letter agreeing with him that should he get the keys to 10 Downing Street he will scrap the Government's proposal to raise National Insurance.

Well, I wonder how Cameron feels about his Perth & North Perthshire candidate 'making up' a list of his own of local businesses claiming to support the very same policy?

The Courier have the full story.

Despite The Courier having contacted quite a few of those listed on Peter Lyburn's and the majority not being happy about being included, Peter Lyburn was then quoted responding to The Courier;

Mr Lyburn responded, “The Conservatives have been very clear in press releases and interviews that we welcomed support from businesses for our economic plans. Every business person on that list supports Conservative plans to scrap Labour’s jobs tax.”

This quote just shows how completely arrogant the Conservatives are being about this.

Their candidate has made a major mistake and not only misled these Perth businessmen by not telling them explicitly their names would be given to the media, potentially damaging their local reuptation but this then misleads the public who quite rightly will assume these people knew.

The President of the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce, Paul Shields, a local hotelier, said;

“I’m disappointed that I’ve been misquoted and disappointed that I’ve been used for political games.”

I think Peter Lyburn needs to think about his political career, nominations close tomorrow!

Caron's musings carries a very good part two to this story, here is a little snippet;

Anyway, here are Mr Lyburn's pledges to the people of Perth....
Pledge 1 "To show by our actions that politics need not be a dirty game"
Pledge 2 "Not to mislead the public"
Pledge 5 "To fight a clean, honest and positive campaign."

It looks like the Scottish Conservatives, with just one MP in Scotland won't be making a breathrough in Perth & North Perthshire.  So, that 'list' of eleven target seats is now down to ten then Dave?

Cameron's Glasgow South West candidate, Heather MacLeod quits over party’s ‘nest of vipers’

Only the day after David Cameron admitted he does not expect the Conservatives to do well in Scotland, one of his leading candidates has quit the Conservative Party.

In today's Sunday Herald Heather MacLeod, who has resigned after a “bitter and bloody” feud with fellow Conservatives, said she felt “complete and utter disgust” with a section of the Scottish Conservatives.

She also accused the Scottish party of failing to match leader David Cameron’s progress and said she had concerns about an allegedly inappropriate relationship between two senior Tories.

Heather MacLeod’s problems with a group of fellow party members started last year when she and another Conservative candidate, Fiona Houston, set up the Social Justice Scotland think tank.


The pair then fell out over the organisation’s direction, and the row was made even worse when some fellow Conservatives raised questions about Heather MacLeod’s financial background.

According to Companies House, Mrs MacLeod has been a director of companies that have gone into liquidation.

However, Mrs MacLeod has told the Sunday Herald that a “nest of vipers” in the party had tried to “discredit” her to seize control of Social Justice Scotland.

The row is a blow for a party whose senior strategists expect to win only a handful of Scottish seats at the election.

One senior Conservative source said he feared Mr Cameron could be deprived of an overall majority due to the under-peformance of the Scottish Conservatives.

As I said yesterday though, when the leader, David Cameron and senior Conservatives like Tim Montgomerie don't believe in you, then it doesn't leave many who do and certainly the Scottish voters may well just turn their back on the Scottish Conservatives.

The Liberal Democrats have more MPs in Scotland than the Conservatives and SNP combined.

With just one MP in Scotland (who is at risk anyhow from David Steel's daughter, Catriona Bhatia for the Liberal Democrats), Cameron's Conservatives are in fact the fourth party in Scottish Westminster politics and their boss, David Cameron has finally admitted that he doesn't actually think they will win many more seats in this election.
 
With daily catastrophies such as this story hitting the Scottish Conservatives it is hardly surprising they won't win many seats here in Scotland.

I will leave the final word to Heather MacLeod;

“The Scottish party really needs to look at itself. It needs to understand why it is not electable. It is becoming more reactionary, rather than learning about how to become more successful.


“The party down south has moved on, but the Scottish Tories have not.”

Tories two hour turn around saves Sturgeon's bacon

In Holyrood today the Scottish Conservatives have performed a spectacular two hour turn around to save their regular bedfellows, the SNP.

During First Minister's Questions, Annabel Goldie called for a statement from Nicola Sturgeon because of Nicola Sturgeon's letter of support for a convicted fraudster.

Two hours later there was then an emergency meeting of the Bureau to discuss the possibility of an emergency statement, however the SNP refused to give a statement today and it was then pushed to a vote.


The Liberal Democrats and Labour voted for the statement, but Annabel Goldie's Tories bizarrely supported the SNP therefore giving them a majority and saving Nicola Sturgeon's bacon.


It is unbelievable that in the space of two hours the Conservatives have gone from demanding a parliamentary statement, to backing down and voting with the SNP to delay it until a week on Wednesday.

It is outrageous that our MSPs have been denied the opportunity to question the Deputy First Minister on this serious matter, but it appears that eventually she will be called to account on the 24^th February.

It should therefore be remembered that it was the Liberal Democrats that forced a vote on this matter and it was the Conservatives’ behaviour that prevented the statement and saved Nicola Sturgeon's bacon.

Dual mandate hypocricy of the SNP - attacking Labour and Conservatives

I nearly gagged on my mouthful of maltesers (okay, there were three) when I saw the Twitter message from the SNP come through - "Labour & Tory candidates must rule out dual mandate".

I obviously have nothing against their message as not only have I blogged about the arrogance of people like John Lamont MSP (Conservative) and Cathy Jamieson MSP (Labour), along with Margaret Curran MSP (Labour) and Alex Johnstone MSP (Conservative) for all being MSPs but also now candidates for the Westminster general election but Alex Salmond remains the biggest culprit and hypocrite.

There has been nothing stopping wee Eck standing down as the MP for Banff & Buchan since he was elected as an MSP in 2007.

The SNP website today quotes Bill Kidd MSP - "In contrast First Minister Alex Salmond made it clear to the voters of Banff and Buchan and Gordon he would be seeking a dual mandate at both the 2005 and 2007 elections, and he would stand down at the forthcoming General Election."

Although this is sheer arrogance, I suppose it is one election pledge the SNP have stuck to, however, and a serious point, the SNP have also signed up to the Kelly Report and recommendations so why when the Report was published did Alex Salmond not stand down?






Why, if the SNP really are now against dual mandates have none of their MPs signed Alistair Carmichael's Parliamentary Motion, number 155, on this very matter?

One of John LamontMSP 's voters - far more influential than I, said on my blog about John Lamont "...He should stick to Holyrood and stand down as the Westminster candidate before he too is pushed."

Jeremy Purvis MSP has challenged David Cameron to put his money where his mouth is on this matter.

The most important part of this is that the SNP, Conservatives and Labour are quite obviously not interested in cleaning up politics when it comes down to it. Their candidates, Alex Salmond, John Lamont, Alex Johnstone, Margaret Curran and Cathy Jamieson all belong to political parties that have signed up to implementing the Kelly Report's recommendations in full, all aprt from this one which enables them to pocket two salaries and two lots of expenses.

It is a great pity that these five individuals and their parties have not learnt from the furore and public anger over the MPs expenses scandal.

Tories split in Scotland as they admit "The Cameron effect has not reached Scotland"

Following on from last months meeting between David Cameron and Scottish Conservative donors where they said David Mundell was not up to the job of Scottish Secretary should the Conservatives win the general election (arrogant assumption by them they will), now Cameron is being urged to allow the Scottish champagne supping Conservatives to form a breakaway party.

Apparently Tim Montgomerie editor of the ConservativeHome.com website and fairly senior Tory has urged Cameron to take this radical move of allowing the Scottish Conservatives to form a breakaway party, because the Cameron effect stops at the border.

That has nothing to do with the effectiveness of either Mundell or Goldie really Tim (not entirely anyway), it is mainly because the Conservatives are irrelevant in Westminster politics here in Scotland with just one MP (compared to twelve Lib Dems).

The Conservatives are more irrelevant in Westminster politics in Scotland than the SNP, the Westminster general election in Scotland is between the two parties with the highest number of MPs, that is Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Even the Tories admit their progress will be limited in this forthcoming general election and that Thatcher damaged Scotland.

Tim Montgomerie tells The Herald; "The Cameron effect has not reached Scotland like it has in Wales or the north of England. If the progress in Scotland is as limited as it looks like it might be, we should revisit the idea of creating a Scottish party with its own identity. It would help them break free from the Thatcher years."

So, as David Cameron's Conservatives are being urged to split from the ineffective Scottish Conservatives perhaps it is time for the Liberal Democrats to step up and claim the position of the Official Opposition in Scotland and given we have more MPs than the Conservatives and the SNP combined, it is true and with Alistair Carmichael MP as our Shadow Scottish Secretary, we can hold our own in a debate, unlike Mr Mundell.

John Lamont is the most expensive MSP and the Conservatives stick their fingers up to Kelly Report

The latest batch of MSP expenses are out and there are two names that stand out John Lamont MSP and Jim Hume MSP, both of which have spent in excess of £20,000 in the last twelve months on postage and office costs.

Firstly, let us tackle the issue of dual mandate, something the Conservative leader in Scotland has long banged her drum about, however it appears that her MSPs aren't following the spirit of her campaign.

John Lamont MSP and Alex Johnstone MSP, both Conservatives, are sticking two fingers up at Annabel Goldie and David Cameron. In fact David Cameron only this morning said all parties must embrace the Kelly report, obviously he means everyone apart from John Lamont and Alex Johnstone - whats that "Dave"? Don't do as I do, do as I say. Caron talks about the Conservative Leader's words not matching Scottish Conservative actions.

And it isn't the first time that John "Bubbles" Lamonts has ignored David Cameron, read it here.

Who said the Conservatives have changed?

Anyway back to the most expensive MSP, John Lamont, who last year spent £26,952 on postage and office supplies.

The Conservatives had an answer for all of this public money being spent, obviously, saying that it was a large rural constituency which required "a lot of work" but then pointed at Liberal Democrats Jim Hume MSP, who claimed £20,234.22 and the Conservatives said Jim had a similar constituency!

Erm, what crap the Scottish Conservatives talk.

John Lamont represents Roxburgh & Berwickshire's 47,862 constituents in Holyrood.

Jim Hume represents (wait for it, you may want to get a drink) Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock & Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Cunninghame South, Dumfries, East Lothian, Galloway & Upper Nithsdale, Roxburgh & Berwickshire and Tweedale, Ettrick & Lauderdale and their 514,105 constituents in Holyrood.

You see Jim Hume is the Regional MSP for the whole of the South of Scotland and the half a million constituents spread over nine constituencies whereas John Lamont has one constituency but is clearly not happy with being in Holyrood as he also now throwing his hat in the ring to stand for Westminster.

John Lamont MSP is clearly ignoring the Kelly Report and it's recommendations to clean up politics despite it receiving support from both David Cameron and Annabel Goldie.

Here is what one of John Lamont's constituents said on one of my earlier blog postings.

"I agree - what does he want London and Westminster or Edinburgh and Holyrood - he can't have his cake and eat it and as I voted for him as our MSP I would really like him to honour that commitment. This is just where Politicians fall down every time - they want the power and there is no greater political "bells on" than Westminster. The problem come the next election is that Scotland doesn't think the same way and John Lamont should remember that if successful in his Westminster bid he will have far less influence in Scotland as there may only be two or three Conservative MPS. Hardly a mandate for Cameron. He should stick to Holyrood and stand down as the Westminster candidate before he too is pushed."

One of the things Liberal Democrats Jim Hume MSP did was to write to many of his constituents across the whole Region and ask their opinions about the SNPs plans to sell off 25% of Scotland's forests to private developers. Jim Hume then released these findings and told his constituents the results.

Whereas John Lamont MSP surveyed, wrote, wrote again and did yet more surveys about the Borders railway - but - where are the results Mr Lamont? Are the surveys just chucked in a box in your office because you didn't get the answer you thought you were going to get?

It is time to clean up politics in the UK, and the Kelly Report goes down the right road and starts that process - it is a great pity that the Scottish Conservative MSP John Lamont is just sticking two fingers up to the whole process and obviously doesn't want to clean up politics!

Shame on them.

Google searches

As my regular readers will know, I really do feel that the Scottish Conservatives are Salmond's litte helpers and a vote for the Tories is a vote for the SNP - therefore a wasted vote.

However, imagine my surprise when I googled 'Alex Salmond' this evening, when it said;

"searches related to alex salmond"
alex salmond wife snp annabel goldie tony blair

That really says it all, doesn't it?