Scottish Labour in turmoil as Malcolm Chisholm stands down from front bench

Just eleven days after Scottish Labour announced their new front bench team, they have been plunged into turmoil as Malcolm Chisholm resigns.

Malcolm Chisholm was their education and life long learning spokesman.

Malcolm Chisholm said he reconsidered his position after failing to be appointed by his party as convener of Holyrood's health committee.

A Labour spokesman said:

"Iain Gray asked Malcolm Chisholm to use his experience and ability in the shadow cabinet and he had agreed to do so.

"He has since reconsidered and changed his mind."

Ken Macintosh has taken his place as education spokesman while Patricia Ferguson becomes the culture spokeswoman.

Malcolm Chisholm MSP, Edinburgh Northern & Leith

This is Malcolm Chisholm's fourth resignation, the first back in 1997 was over child benefit cuts, then Iraq and in 2006 over trident which was a "matter of principle".

In 2006 Malcolm Chisholm was the Communities Minister and resigned from the Scottish government after voting with the SNP over the replacement of Trident.

He was one of four Labour members who supported the SNP's motion opposing the replacement of the nuclear submarines with up-to-date models.

Is this the end of Malcolm's front bench career and was the resignation just sour grapes?

Michael Moore MP - Strengthening Scotland's future

Today has been a historic day, Michael Moore MP communicates with Lib Dem members in Scotland.

Dear Andrew,


Today the Government published its Scotland Bill. When this becomes law, a second and exciting phase in Scottish devolution will begin. We are strengthening Scotland’s future based on three principles: empowerment, accountability and stability.

This Bill starts its parliamentary process with the support of the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Each of our parties - plus business and civil society - contributed to the Calman Commission, which drew up the blueprint for it. It is right that change of this sort should be built on a broad consensus. But now it is this government that is turning those principles into practice.

And let's be clear: this plan is steeped in Liberal Democrat values.

We believe in devolution. By nature, we are mistrustful of centralised government and welcoming of the flow of power from Westminster to our nation states, our communities and to individuals too. When the Scottish Constitutional Convention drafted the plan for a Scottish Parliament, we were at the table. When the referendum campaign was raging, we were on the streets campaigning. And in 1999, when the first democratically elected Scottish Parliament was elected, we joined the coalition government that heralded a new era of Scottish politics.

The Bill is diverse in content, and gives the Scottish Parliament a range of new powers: regulating air weapons; setting drink-drive limits; establishing a Scottish national speed limit.

But its centrepiece is the devolution of tax and borrowing powers. This is the greatest transfer of fiscal power from London since the creation of the UK. Today, the Scottish Parliament only has revenue powers over council tax and business rates and raises only 15% of its own revenue. The Scotland Bill transforms that. The most significant change we will make is to create a Scottish Income Tax. We'll do this by cutting 10 pence off every band of income tax. We will proportionately adjust the block grant that Scotland receives, and then allow the Scottish Parliament to reset the tax rates. We will also give the Parliament nearly £3 billion in borrowing powers.

This will empower the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government to make tax and spend choices that will determine future revenues and help shape Scotland's future economy.

It will also make both more accountable to the Scottish people. It is an incomplete construct to have a Parliament that spends money but is responsible for raising little of it. By giving these tax powers to Holyrood, MSPs will have to answer to voters for the money that they spend. And by moving those spending decisions closer to Scottish society and to Scottish business, both will be better placed to influence the decisions that impact on their lives and livelihoods.

By empowering Holyrood, we are also ensuring its stability. Our plans will be phased to ensure no sudden shock or windfall to the Scottish budget. By giving the Parliament – which has been a success over the past decade – room to innovate safely, we will strengthen Scotland within the UK.

And for all their bluster, the SNP has no alternative. Their plans for full fiscal autonomy are a non-starter: light on detail, high on cost and fraught with risk. No industrialised country has ever gone down that road. This is independence masquerading as reform. It won’t wash.

But for our party, the victory here is not a tactical one. It is principled one. We are working with others to devolve power from the centre to the communities that need it and know how to use it.

This is good for Scotland, and we should be proud of it.

Best wishes,
Michael Moore
Secretary of State for Scotland

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.

Is George Galloway set to become an MSP?

George Galloway, once an MP who then turned into Rula Lenska's milk lapping pussycat in Big Brother, now writes for The Daily Record.

Today George hints heavily in his column that he may well stand for the Glasgow regional list in next years Holyrood elections.

I, myself, am coming under serious pressure to be a candidate, not in Oldham but in Glasgow, and for the Scottish parliament in May.

Given there are 208 days to polling day, he has a while to decide which party to stand for, if any.
I wonder what has made gorgeous George think about this, he claims it is the;

Football supporters, leaders of the Asian community, trades unionists, former constituents - even members of the Labour Party are all saying that the Scottish parliament needs some heavier-weight members if it's to develop as a real parliament worthy of the name.

Will the good folk of Glasgow want an MSP who was branded a laughing stock by a London Labour opponent for appearing on Big Brother?

To be honest, that was then and this is now and I'm not sure people really get hung about these things in the way politicians do.

Time will tell if gorgeous George will throw his hat in the ring next May, let us just wait and see.

Labour's Jack McConnell to quit as an MSP

Scotland's former first minister, Labour's Jack McConnell, is to quit Holyrood at next year's Holyrood election.  The MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw and life peer said it had been "the greatest privilege" to have served as an elected member since the parliament was established in 1999.

Jack McConnell was recently made a life peer, taking the title Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale.

This announcement today will end the speculation that Jack was considering a return as Scottish Labour leader following next May's election.  As recently as May when he was made the life peer the questions of whether he would re-stand were unanswered.

Only last year Jack McConnell announced he had decided to seek re-election as a candidate in the 2010 Scottish Parliament election.

Despite being named a future British High Commissioner to Malawi immediately after he resigned as leader of the Scottish Labour Party, three months after losing the 2007 election by one seat to the SNP, Jack McConnell never got the chance to take up the appointment, following Labour's UK general election defeat.

But he has said that Scotland's partnership with the African country would continue to be at the heart of his work once in the House of Lords.

Lord McConnell told the BBC:

"I have been an elected representative for most of the last 30 years and it is time to move on.


"I have been involved in national Scottish politics, including the creation of the Scottish Parliament and serving in government, for most of those 30 years, and it is time for others to take Scotland forward now."

"As I enter the next decade - my 50s - I look forward to new challenges.

"I will continue my work on peacebuilding - across the world post conflict reconstruction is the single biggest development challenge of our time."

Whatever the political differences with Labour's Jack McConnell, he still stands as Scotland's longest serving First Minister and he commanded the respect from people across the political spectrum, although it should be said, not all of the time.

Jack McConnell has courted controversy in his years as well.

Here is the full statement by Jack McConnell MSP:

I have tonight told the members of Motherwell and Wishaw CLP that I will not be putting myself forward for election at the May 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. My successor in the Constituency, and the Scottish Labour Party campaign, will have my full support in those elections.


I will be forever grateful to the many people locally and nationally who have helped me in the causes I have promoted, and the decisions I have made. Together we have made Scotland, and the constituency, better than they were on my election in 1999.

I have been an elected representative for most of the last 30 years and it is time to move on. I have been involved in national Scottish politics, including the creation of the Scottish Parliament and serving in Government, for most of those thirty years, and it is time for others to take Scotland forward now.

In my application to become a Labour candidate for the first Scottish Parliament elections I wrote that devolution would be judged not simply by the creation of the parliament, but by the ambitions we set out for Scotland and what the Parliament delivered for the people of Scotland.

It is that focus on ambition for Scotland, and on making a real difference, that has driven me over the last 30 years and will continue to drive me as I seek new challenges beyond the Scottish Parliament.

As a young councillor and political activist during the 1980s I argued for devolution, because I believed then, as I do now, that democratic renaissance would be good for Scotland.

In the 1990s, I worked alongside people from across the party divide to make the Parliament a reality, and for the last decade I have been proud to serve my nation - and the people of Motherwell and Wishaw - as a member of our young Parliament.

As Scotland's longest serving First Minister I focused my efforts on creating the right conditions so that the people of Scotland could flourish.

Growing the economy was my priority - moving Scotland on from the devastation of the 1980s to prosperity.

I knew we had to tackle Scotland's terrible health record - and that banning smoking in public was the right thing to do.

I challenged outdated prejudices - such as sectarianism, and stood up against anti social behaviour.

I put the future of our young people at the heart of our policy making - through the biggest school building programme our country has seen, the creation of the national youth volunteering programme Project Scotland and our efforts to support vulnerable youngsters.

And I wanted Scotland to look outwards, away from the introspection of the past, to find our place in the world as a modern entrepreneurial and multicultural nation.

When we left office in 2007, Scotland had more jobs, more people, and more confidence than could have been imagined a decade before. Services were better, economic investment was increasing, health was improving, our reforms were reducing crime and Scottish education was competing with the best in the world again.

Older Scots were warmer, more mobile and better cared for. Younger Scots had more choices and more chances. And in building a modern multicultural nation, we had refreshed our international image, and our population was increasing not declining.

As I enter the next decade - my 50's - I look forward to new challenges.

I will continue my work on peacebuilding - across the world post conflict reconstruction is the single biggest development challenge of our time.

The partnership between Scotland and Malawi will remain at the heart of my work - the link between our two countries is precious and shows that people united under a common moral purpose really can change the world.

I will continue to campaign to improve the life chances of vulnerable young people, whether here in Scotland or elsewhere.

And I will promote the vision of a modern multinational and multicultural United Kingdom, and speak up for devolution and diversity in the House of Lords.

I do not see this as end of Part One, more as the start of Part Two.

Throughout my career - from the classrooms of Lornshill Academy to Bute House, I have always tried to do the right thing.

I have made mistakes - we all do - but I believe I have served my country well and will continue to do my best in this new phase of my life.

It has been the greatest privilege. Thank you.

Two jobs Lord Foulkes to quit Holyrood

Labour Peer, Lord Foulkes who is also an MSP is to quit Holyrood in favour of the House of Lords, but not until May next year at the Scottish elections.

In the Scotsman Lord Foulkes said:

"I have made it clear my name is not to go forward even for an allegedly 'unwinnable' seat."

Lord Foulkes has apparently, with others been disappointed by Holyrood.

"Up until now, Holyrood has, for various reasons, disappointed some of us who were among the founders of the institution."

 Surely though as one of the founders as he states he should have influenced changes to improve it?

But he is happier now he has seen the calibre of the candidates from all parties who are putting their names forward to stand in next years elections.

"I see among the new candidates being selected for all parties great hope for the future and the opportunity for it now to really fulfil its potential."

Lord Foulkes was elected to Holyrood in 2007. As well as being a life peer, he has also previously served as an MP.  When Labour won the 1997 general election he was made a junior minister in the Department of International Development before later becoming Minister of State for Scotland.

Labour MSP Rhona Brankin to quit Holyrood at next election

Rhona Brankin MSP has served as a Labour MSP for 11 years now and at the tender age of 60 has decided enough is enough and she plans to hang up her jacket and retire from Holyrood, although she doesn't seem to rule out other roles in public life.

Rhona Brankin, said:

"After 30 years of being active in the Labour Party, I feel the time has come to step aside from frontline politics."

The former Labour Scottish Executive minister said she wanted to spend more time with her family and take up other roles in public life.

Rhona served as deputy minister for culture and sport, deputy minister for environment and rural development in the early years of the Scottish Executive.
She then went on to be deputy minister for health & community care and minister for communities.

Rhona Brankin is a former chair of the Scottish Labour party and was a member of the Constitutional Convention that drew up the blueprint for the Scottish Parliament.

She recently took over as convener of Holyrood's Public Petitions Committee when her Labour colleague Frank McAveety MSP stepped down after making inappropriate comments when the microphone was still on about a female in the public benches during a debate in Holyrood.

Rhona Brankin's current Midlothian seat will disappear at the election in May next year, with a new Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency emerging after boundary changes.

MSPs and paying for poppy wreaths

This sensitive issue surfaced earlier in the year when MSPs expenses were revealed and it was obvious that some MSPs had claimed money back for poppy wreaths when they attended a Remembrance Sunday event.

Now the body that governs Holyrood’s expenses system has decided that politicians should be allowed to charge the taxpayer if they are representing the parliament at a wreath-laying ceremony.

What a load of utter rubbish.

Firstly, the MSP does not represent the Scottish Parliament for anything whatsoever, they represent their constituents.

Secondly, the whole ethos behind the wreaths is to remember those who have given their lives while serving their Queen and Country. Surely, then £100, top estimate for those MSPs who attend a number of remembrance events is hardly a lot to pay out once a year when you earn £60,000?

£100 once a year - versus the soldiers who died in battle. Hardly something to moan about.

I would be appalled if any Liberal Democrats MSPs, MEP or MP claimed these as expenses.

I know some have in the past and I have been very happy to share my views with them and certainly would do so again if they repeated their mistake.

Tuesday 3rd November - UPDATE

Over at SNP Tactical Voting, Jeff puts a counter argument to this discussion. I do disagree with Jeff, it isn't just about the cost as he claims, it is the principle of why a poppy is worn and why we remember the 11th hour, of the 11th day on the 11th month each year.

An MP, MEP, MSP or even a Councillor chooses to be there as I did when I was Parish Councillor - with no allowances to claim -I paid for my poppy wreaths each year to be laid in my area because I was there from choice not duty.

There are also good blog posts over at Subrosa and Stephen's Linlithgow Journal.

Yet another SNP promise ditched

For crying out loud, how many of their 2007 promises do they need to ditch before the Scottish media start having a pop?

Every time the Lib Dems do anything we get attacked, this is the SNP, the minority governing party in Holyrood and yet they do whatever they want and the political journalists don't blink an eyelash - why?

So now it is only the Liberal Democrats who are campaigning genuinely to scrap the unfair council tax.

First Ministers Questions

Arrogant posturing, grandstanding or just being his true self once again.

That was my verdict after watching First Ministers Questions live at Holyrood today.

Day by day the teflon is coming off Alex Salmond and given the amount of broken promises he and the SNP should hang their heads in shame as re-reading their 2007 manifesto you do wonder what they will actually deliver on - very little.

Wendy Alexander, did actually turn up, despite a bad sore throat and started FMQ's off, and the way Alex Salmond responded you thought, whoa he's back, no, just grandstanding to the audience and especially Sean Connery, fresh in from the Bahamas or some other super star area of the world.

Alex Salmond's behaviour is completely unacceptable.

However, Nicol Stephen was amazing, I did wonder where his question was leading but pow, wham, he lands a punch and you could just see the effect his question had on Salmond, he wasn't happy.

Nicol - keep up the good work and fighting for the people of Scotland, exposing the SNP's weakness and constant stream of broken promises.