Willie Rennie MSP takes the reins of the Scottish Liberal Democrats

I'm delighted that Willie Rennie decided to take the plunge and go for the leadership of the Scottish Party.

As nominations closed at midday today, Willie Rennie was the only candidate for the leadership, so no all member ballot was required this time, unlike 2008.

Willie Rennie chose the Fife coastal village of North Queensferry where, in the shadow of the Forth Bridges, he announced to the media that he had been confirmed as the new leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

Willie replaces Tavish Scott, who resigned 10 days ago in the wake of devastating Scottish Parliament election results.

Despite the three leaders of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservatives all resigning following the elections results twelve days ago, it is the Scottish Lib Dems who announce their new leader first.


Following the leadership announcement, Willie Rennie said:

"I will be working with my colleagues in the Scottish Parliament to stand up to the SNP bulldozer.


"We will not sit on our hands in the face of an SNP majority - we will be that Liberal voice standing up for the values that Scotland holds dear."

I am delighted to be working closely with Willie Rennie and relish the challenges that we will face over the coming years.

Tavish Scott resigns as the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats - my view

Thursday night and Friday was hard for me to take as many candidates (and friends) across Scotland were losing seats and deposits as the domino effect of the SNP majority was happening before our very eyes.

The whole team had worked so incredibly hard, some candidates and their teams doing the volumes of door knocking and leafleting they hadn't seen since the early 1980's.

We had deliberately reduced the team in Clifton Terrace, our Edinburgh HQ from the levels of the 2007 campaign because we knew we had to get our teams out in the constituencies.

Despite some criticism from people we did not take our voters for granted in any area, in fact more resources went into some of these areas than originally intended.

When I left the office on Friday I had been awake and out of bed for 35 hours, when the final result came in from Mid Scotland & Fife regional list, announcing Willie Rennie as our 5th MSP, I was exhausted and needed sleep, badly - I'm not as young as some of my team.

I had actually left the office at 7.30am to go to the hotel to get some kip, unfortunately as I fell asleep Sir Robert Smith MP telephoned, closely followed by Elspeth Finlay. So much for that idea.

I awoke on Saturday morning around 8am, as Loco, my cat was scratching the door and miaowing - she wanted breakfast, and wasn't letting my lack of sleep or the SNP get in the way.

I then fell asleep in the chair and awoke just in time to head into town for a staff meeting with Tavish and the new parliamentary party ahead of a meeting of the Scottish Party Executive.

It was at this meeting that Tavish dropped his bombshell, he was resigning with immediate effect!

If my emotions weren't all screwed up already, then this news gave them another bash.

In his resignation statement he said:

“I want to announce that I am resigning the leadership of the Scottish Liberal Democrats with immediate effect.

“Thursday’s Scottish General Election result was disastrous and I must and do take responsibility for the verdict of the electorate.

“The party needs a new direction, new thinking and new leadership to win back the trust of the Scottish people.

“I am honoured to serve as Shetland’s MSP in this Parliament.”

I have only been in Scotland since the end of May 2008.  Tavish became Leader in August of the same year and we had enjoyed a good relationship since, we didn't always see eye to eye, but we always had the debate.

I will certainly miss working with Tavish and look forward to working with the new leader - whoever that should be.
Since the General Election, Tavish had known that this election was never going to be just about Scotland, firstly we thought the AV referendum would divert attention but then as time went on we knew the coalition would be the focus.

I will also say I have continued to be disappointed by some strands of the Scottish media for not being fair on Tavish.  Glenn Campbell for one in the Leaders debate often cut Tavish off mid sentence and got his own personal digs in on the coalition, but never did the same to Annabel Goldie.
 
I'm not playing cry baby about this, but Scottish journalists need to learn to be consistent across all parties, not behave like Premiership referees and respond to behaviour from some angles favouring one party or another.
 
Tavish didn't need to resign yesterday, he could have made the announcement and then set a date in the future, but he stood up and took full responsibility for the result.
 
In the short term, Jo Swinson MP, currently the Deputy Leader becomes acting leader. The timetable for the election of the new leader will be announced in due course.

Supporting the NUS Scotland LGBT mental health campaign is important - DO IT!

It's funny how Twitter starts a relationship.  I sent congratulations to Nathan Sparling who announced on Twitter he had won the election to be the new NUS Scotland LGBT Officer.

Nathan soon got into his new role and then got in touch asking if Tavish Scott and the Scottish Liberal Democrats would support the new NUS Scotland campaign on mental health in the LGBT community?

Tavish Scott was very quick off the mark and more than happy to support the campaign and said;

"One in four people in Scotland will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives. Given that Stonewall has reported that approximately half a million of Scotland’s population are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, it’s clear that these are issues that affect a great many people. And with research suggesting that LGBT people may experience higher levels of mental health problems, we recognise that more should be done to improve the experiences of the LGBT community when accessing mental health services.

"We therefore warmly welcome the NUS campaign and agree that mental health services in university and college campuses, health services and communities in general should be free of discrimination and fully accessible to all."

Did you know that someone from the LGBT community is four times more likely to commit suicide then other people?

With homosexuality only being declassified as a mental illness by the World Health Organisation just 19 years ago, in 1992, it is not surprising that accessing mental health services is often daunting or simply not an option for LGBT people.

This was a fact I did not know and was I actually shocked by it.

So the Scottish Liberal Democrats today announced their full backing for NUS Scotland’s innovative new LGBT campaign ‘There’s More to My Education’, which is pushing for better representation of LGBT people in the Scottish Government’s anti-stigma and mental health campaign, and wants university, college and community mental health services to be more friendly and accessible for LGBT students.

I recall when I came out when I was 15, it was a massive issue for me, it was one of the biggest decisions of my life and yet was one of the loneliest.

The gay scene is fun when you have tons of friends around you, I worked in the Admiral Duncan pub, one of the gay nightclubs in Nottingham so I had a huge circle of friends, but strangely when you really needed friends they weren't always there for you.

I've been lucky over the years with some great friends helping me through some tough times in my life, including the period when I was 18 through to 21 when after I came out to my Mum, we never spoke once during that period.

The time my closest friend died - he had the very same heart disease I do - that was a tough time.

I'm not going to list everything but needless to say, like many others in the world, I've had tough times to get through, they are not all to do with my sexuality but trust me when I say, the gay scene is great when you are young, but it can be bloody tough too.

That is why this campaign by NUS Scotland is so important.

Please encourage your candidates, of whatever party to sign the petition.

Nathan, good luck in the new job!

Save our Scottish Police from the SNP, Conservatives and Labour plans

There is a massive campaign brewing here in Scotland and the political parties are lining up on one side or the other.

The SNP put forward proposals to scrap the current eight Scottish Constabularies and replace it with just one.

The cost will be at least £92million and cost between 3,000 - 4,000 frontline police officers.

Both the Labour party and Conservatives have joined the SNP and now all three also want to create just one fire service as well. Labour also want to centralise care and NHS services.

Although the Liberal Democrats are often against centralisation, the proposals by Alex Salmond, Iain Gray and Annabel Goldie just don't make sense in many areas of Scotland - especially in the rural communities and the many islands that make up this great country.

Their expensive proposals must be stopped.

You can watch Tavish Scott and Charles Kennedy explain why below.




You can sign the online petition HERE and like the facebook campaign page HERE.

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.

Ed Miliband's insult to the voters of Scotland

Yesterday was Scottish Labours conference, if you missed it, it's understandable as media coverage was lower than that of other Scottish Parties because Labour chose to have their Autumn one covered in more detail.

Maybe Ed Miliband realised that with hardly anyone watching, he could say whatever he wanted?

So, despite the fact that in their thirteen years of government, of which Ed Miliband was part, Labour sold off Britain's gold at a twenty year low price, offered Britain's pensioners a miserly and insulting 75p increase, failed to link the basic state pension to earnings, oversaw a £10 million tax credit bungle, insulted people by doubling the basic rate of tax from 10p to 20p, let bankers run riot, oversaw £3 billion of benefits being overpaid and took us into an illegal war in Iraq.

They also left no money in Liam Byrne MP's own words and left us saddled with paying interest payments of £120 million per day on their debts!

So, what were Ed Milibands words of wisdom to the voters of Scotland?

Hitting out at the Tory-Lib Dem coalition, Mr Miliband told the conference:

"I have never wanted this to be a five-year government because of the damage it will do.


"And when people ask me, 'what are you going to do to reverse things in 2015', I say 'we can't wait until then'.

"So let's use these elections to give us the best chance of stopping it going to the full term."

Sorry?  Mr Miliband, I hate to tell you this, but it appears your advisers forgot to mention that the Scottish Parliament elections on May 5th (or May 6th in Dunfermline according to Labour) have nothing to do with removing the coalition government as voted for in last years election.

The Scottish Parliament election is about voting for your local and regional MSPs (use both of your votes) and who then forms the Scottish Government.

Don't be so patronising and rude to the Scottish voters a d insult them that they should make this a vote on the coalition because you lost last year.  Isn't it time you stopped blaming the voters for voting you and your party out of office?

I realise you blamed the previous Tory government for most of the thirteen years you were in power, but they rejected you and your party last May.  Get over it.

As red Ed mentioned the coalition, let me just mention four of the achievements made by the new coalition government because of the Liberal Democrats being part of it (in no particular order) in just ten months;

1. The link between pensions and earnings, scrapped by Margaret Thatcher, was restored in the Coalition’s first budget. The annual increase in the state pension will be protected by a ‘triple lock’ - the rise will be in line with earnings, prices or a 2.5% increase, whichever is the greater.

2. We have scrapped the ID card programme. The ID card database was publicly destroyed on 11th February 2011.

3. In June’s emergency budget we increased the rate of Capital Gains Tax to 28% for higher rate taxpayers while keeping it at 18% for basic rate taxpayers. This will raise an extra £1bn and end the disgraceful situation of bankers paying a lower rate of tax than their cleaners.

4. In June’s emergency budget, we raised the tax threshold by £1,000, lifting 880,000 low earners out of tax completely (from this April). It will increase each year of the Coalition Government until it reaches £10,000, which will lift an additional 3 million people out of tax altogether.

In Scotland Tavish Scott fought for local Post Offices to receive over £1million support, last year 50 of Scotland's Post Offices developed their business thanks to the Post Office diversification funds, a further £1 million has gone into the fund for this year.

Other concessions made to the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament budget include:


· Additional funding for FE bursaries of £15 million, spread across 2010-2011-12 to provide additional student support for current student numbers.

· Additional funding of £8 million in 2011-12 that would support an additional 1,200 college places and associated student support.

· 1,500 additional Modern Apprenticeships, including 500 places for the renewables sector, at a cost of £2 million

· 2,000 additional flexible training opportunities

That is what the the voters of Scotland are looking for, solutions for Scotland, not a power grab as Ed Miliband has suggested.

Scotland gets a better budget thanks to the Liberal Democrats

I’m so proud to be a Liberal Democrat today

As both a member of staff with over ten years service and a party member even longer, the last eight months or so have often been difficult with the media developing an acid tongue against us many times.

But yesterday in Scotland we had some exciting news.

Yesterday was the day when the Scottish Parliament approved the budget.

It is a better budget because of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, after securing concessions to the budget on college bursaries and places, modern apprenticeships and support for Post Offices across Scotland.

This is a better budget. It’s better for young people wanting the skills they and we need for our economy. It’s better for our colleges that will be able to provide more opportunities. And it’s better for businesses that will have more opportunities to take on apprentices.

This is a better Scottish budget because of Liberal Democrat involvement.

Students now have additional places at college and bursary support. We have also secured funding for additional modern apprentices and funding for a second year of our Post Office Diversification Fund.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat Budget wins are:

• Additional funding for Further Education bursaries of £15 million, spread across 2010-2011-12 to provide additional student support for current student numbers.
• Additional funding of £8 million in 2011-12 that would support an additional 1,200 college places and associated student support.
• 1,500 additional Modern Apprenticeships, including 500 places for the renewables sector, at a cost of £2 million (an issue Tavish Scott raised at First Minister’s Questions on 9 September 2010).
• 2,000 additional flexible training opportunities.
• Funding of £1 million for the operation of a further Post Office Diversification Scheme in 2011-12.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have been fighting hard for students and even NUS Scotland are pleased with what we have achieved.

Commenting on the student support package, Liam Burns, President of NUS Scotland, said:

“This is great news and testament to the hard work of thousands of college students across Scotland and the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Students across colleges and universities have mobilised fantastically well, with over 32,000 letters and emails sent to MSP’s on this issue. To win £15m college bursaries, and £8m for college places, in a budget which is being cut is a fantastic result. We hope this will now end the yearly ritual of college bursaries running out and end the threat of cuts to 40,000 of our poorest students.”

We also know that Post Offices are often the hub of local communities across Scotland, which is why we are also very pleased that we have secured funding for a second year for our idea of a Post Office Diversification Fund. This benefited fifty Post Offices in the last year and can now benefit more this year. The fund helps post offices introduce new types of business (such as hot food or drinks). It will help them stay open, serving their communities.

Of course, this budget and the changes Tavish and the team have secured will not solve all of the problems that Scotland faces. Our colleges and communities still face enormous challenges. Much will have to wait until after May. Our plans for government envisage a spending review and budget revisions very quickly after the election.

The steps we have secured mean a better budget for Scotland than would have been the case without the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

However, because of their hard work – students gain, the economy gains, employers gain and most importantly Scotland gains.

So, today all in all is a great day to be a Liberal Democrat in Scotland. 

This article was written for and appears on Liberal Democrat Voice.

SNP drop prescription charges when NHS is laying off nurses

I don't understand the SNP.

Why cancel prescription charges for everyone when we are in the middle of a major recession?

The SNP's, Nicola Sturgeon announced to the SNP conference in Perth that the sick should not have to pay for "Labour's economic mess".

Erm, sorry Nicola but your own SNP run Scotland's NHS, not Labour and it is you as Health Minister who is taking the money away from frontline NHS services and in return giving everyone in Scotland free prescriptions.

What a backwards way of prioritising funding.

I am able to afford a prescription should I need one, as can many people across Scotland so surely, instead of offering what is just a basic election grabbing headline shouldn't the SNP be more government like and do this in a more systematic way?


Universal benefits are not a forward way of running the country's finances.
 
Over on Caron's Musings she said;

This reminds me of research done by the Scottish Liberal Democrats last year which shows that over the whole of their four year term, the SNP will have given 133 times more every year to a household on £100,000 than they have to households on £15,000. That doesn't seem very fair to me.

At that point last year, Tavish Scott said;

Over four years, the SNP will have spent £950m on a set of distorted priorities and hand-outs that give more to the rich than to the poor.



“If you have two children and earn £100,000 then you will have gained £802 per year from the SNP.


“But if you have two children and you earn £15,000 then you will have gained just six pounds and seven pence.


“So that’s enough champagne and lobster every night for the rich, but a fish supper for the poor.


“So I mean it when I say that, in Scotland, the only party at the General Election for a fairer society will be the Liberal Democrats.”

Caron is spot on, the SNP are in denial, first they offer us a council tax freeze, ensuring Councils will cut frontline services and now Nicola Sturgeon is guaranteeing more cuts in Scotland's NHS by giving universal free prescriptions to everyone in Scotland.

I am all for helping those on low incomes and those who need prescription drugs constantly, but I and anyone on salaries over £35,000 can all afford a prescription charge if it is required.
This is just another example of the SNP putting even more money into the pockets of the richest people in Scotland and not governing responsibly - next May it is time for change and only the Scottish Liberal Democrats led by Tavish Scott are offering a programme for a fair and prosperous Scotland.

Former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy First Minister, Nicol Stephen, has announced that he is standing down next May

Nicol Stephen MSP has announced today he is standing down 28 years after first being elected a councillor, then an MP and latterly an MSP.

Following the announcement, Nicol Stephen, former Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Deputy First Minister of Scotland said:

"I have decided to stand down after serving in the Scottish Parliament for 12 years. It has been a great privilege to represent the city where I was born and grew up.

"Over the years I have been involved in many successful campaigns, such as saving Garthdee and Cults libraries from closure, securing the building of new schools in Aberdeen, and sanctioning the re-opening of Laurencekirk Station. But the greatest satisfaction has often come from helping local constituents on a whole range of planning, transport, health and education issues.

“At the national level, being an MSP and a Minister also gave me the opportunity to make a difference – such as the abolition of student tuition fees in Scotland, the drive for more renewable energy, introducing enterprise education in our schools, and the setting up of the Calman Commission to give more powers to the Scottish Parliament.

“I could not have achieved any of this without the help and hard work of many people. I would like to thank everyone who has given me such strong support over the years.

“However, I will be staying very much involved in local politics. And I have a few campaigns still to win – such as saving Harlaw Academy from closure, building a full Olympic-sized swimming pool in Aberdeen and getting a fair funding deal for our city. So there is still a lot to do over the next seven months.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott MSP paid tribute to Mr Stephen’s contribution, saying:

“Nicol has made an enormous contribution to both the North East and to Scotland.

“I've known and worked with Nicol since his seminal Kincardine & Deeside by-election win in 1991and we've shared many exciting political times since.

“The first Scottish coalition in 1999 was put together by Nicol, after he won the Aberdeen South constituency in the Scottish Parliament. He played a huge role in Ministerial life, ultimately as Scotland's Deputy First Minister.

“I will miss his presence, strategic approach and sense of humour as a colleague and above all a friend in Holyrood. I wish Caris and the entire Stephen tribe all my best wishes and happiness for their future.”

I first met Nicol in January 2007 when only days after being appointed as the Lib Dems Campaigns Officer for London I was dispatched to Inverurie, Aberdeenshire to assist in Nora Radcliffes campaign against Alex Salmond.

Nicol was driven to win and keen to stand on the record of the eight years of successful coalition with Labour (you see readers, coalition isn't that new in the UK, just the media down south didn't realise) but Scotland wanted change and the SNP were offering it.

Three years later the voters of Scotland have realised that the SNP have let them down and have u-turned on their 2007 election pledges.
Nicol Stephen has been the MSP for Aberdeen South since the first Scottish Parliament elections in 1999. He was Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 2005 to 2007 and leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2005 to 2008.

He has held a number of ministerial posts in the Scottish Government, including:

- Minister for Enterprise & Lifelong Learning (2005 to 2007)

- Minister for Transport (2003 to 2005)

- Deputy Minister for Education & Young People (2001 to 2003)

- Deputy Minister for Education, Europe & External Affairs (2000 to 2001)

- Deputy Minister for Enterprise & Lifelong Learning (1999 to 2000)

He has taken a major interest in renewable energy and as Scottish Enterprise Minister encouraged the commercialisation of wave and tidal power by introducing a banded green credits system that gave extra support to marine renewables for the first time in the UK. He won the award as Green Energy Politician of the Year in 2006. His citation stated: “For his passionate support in Scotland and abroad for renewable energy and recent commitments to 100% green electricity in Scotland by 2050” (As Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats he set a target of 100% of Scotland’s energy being generated from renewable sources by 2050.)

In 2007 he helped to initiate the Calman Commission – a major review of Scottish devolution, which recommended extending the powers of the Scottish Parliament. The current UK coalition government is now committed to implementing the key recommendations of the Calman Commission.

In both 1999 and 2003 Nicol Stephen was a member of the Liberal Democrat negotiating teams which entered into coalition agreements with the Scottish Labour Party.

In government, Nicol Stephen has been involved in several high profile positions. In 1999 he was the Minister who instructed the abolition of student tuition fees in Scotland. He chaired the Scottish Qualifications Authority review committee, which was formed after the Scottish exams crisis in 2000. He was chairman of the review of Enterprise Education in Scottish Schools, which resulted in the “Determined to Succeed” recommendations and major new funding for enterprise in schools. In 2002-03 he chaired a major review of physical education in Scotland’s schools. He also led the Government’s drive for improved school meals in Scotland as part of the Hungry for Success initiative.

He has also been responsible for piloting several important pieces of legislation through the Scottish Parliament, including improvements to the delivery of major transport projects and the creation of Scotland’s first National Parks. He was chair of the Forum for Renewable Energy in Scotland from 2005-07.

In government, Nicol Stephen has also given strong support to Scottish business, promoting key sectors such as energy, life sciences and electronics internationally in countries such as China, Japan, India and Russia.

Nicol Stephen attended various EU Council of Ministers meetings - and was the first Scottish Minister to lead for the UK Government at such a meeting. He was formerly a full member of the EU Committee of the Regions and is currently an alternate member.

Nicol Stephen has been a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit committee since 2008.

Nicol Stephen was the MP for Kincardine & Deeside from 1991 to 1992 following the by-election win. During this period he was a member of the Liberal Democrat Treasury Team in the House of Commons and his party’s spokesman on small business.

Nicol Stephen was a founding director of Grampian Enterprise, the local enterprise company for North East Scotland. He was the first chair of CREATE (the campaign for rail electrification from Aberdeen to Edinburgh.) He also founded the STAR Campaign to save Tor-na-Dee Hospital and Roxburghe House (a local hospice in Aberdeen). He was the first chairman of the Grampian Initiative – a business and political partnership formed to promote the economy in North East Scotland. He was made a “Grampian Ambassador” by the former Grampian Regional Council for his efforts to promote the region. Following the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, he became chairman for a time of the Friends of Gomel.

Nicol Stephen was elected as a member of Grampian Regional Council from 1982 to 1991 and was chair of its Economic Development and Planning Committee from 1986 to 1991.

Nicol Stephen is the Honorary President of the City of Aberdeen Swim Team (COAST) and is leading the campaign for an Olympic-sized 50m pool in Aberdeen. He is also a member of the cross party political advisory group of Reform Scotland – an independent think tank. He is also involved in a number of not-for-profit initiatives to promote science, sport and enterprise amongst young people across Scotland.

Scottish Liberal Democrats launch their manifesto

This morning Tavish Scott, Alistair Carmichael and Kevin Lang launched the Scottish Liberal Democrats manifesto on a launch in Forth Ports, Leith.

Elections that can really make a difference don’t come along very often. But this is one of them.

This May, you have an opportunity to shape the future of our country for the better. We’ve had 65 years of red team, blue team politics: the same parties taking turns and making the same mistakes, letting you down.
They have taught people to expect little from politics, and get less.

It is time for something different. It is time for something better.

Doesn’t it make you angry that after 65 years of red-blue government, a child’s chances in life are still more determined by their parents’ bank balance than by their own hopes and dreams? Doesn’t it make you angry that the banks have been allowed to ride roughshod over our economy, and are still handing out bonuses by the bucketload? That politics is still the plaything of wealthy donors and corrupt MPs? That despite endless warm words from politicians, our climate is in danger? That the poorest are the ones who pay the biggest chunk of their income in tax?

Liberal Democrats believe that the way things are is not the way they have to be. We think that you should fight for what you believe in, and fight for change. So our message for you in this election is simple.

Don’t settle for low politics and broken promises: be more demanding. Set your sights on the Britain – and the Scotland – you want for your children and your grandchildren, and use your vote to make it happen. 

Only the Liberal Democrats have the big ideas for fundamental, structural changes in the way our country works to make it fair.

Only the Liberal Democrats will shake up the tax system to put £700 back in the pockets of tens of millions of low and middle income families, paid for by ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share.

Only the Liberal Democrats will break up the banks and start Britain building things again to create a sustainable economy.

Only the Liberal Democrats will give schools the investment they need to give every child, no matter their background, a fair start in life.

A strong vote for the Liberal Democrats means the end of red-blue, blue-red politics. It means the end of the stitch-up between the two old parties. It means the opening up of our rotten political system. It means the beginning of real change that works for you.

So don't hope for the best: vote for the best Choose the Liberal Democrats.

Download the manifesto.

Perth - the future is bright

I haven't been tweeting or blogging much from the Scottish Liberal Democrats conference in Perth because it's been both a busy conference for me, 12 hours in a basement meeting room, The Old Library meeting MPs and candidates and their campaign teams and the fact that the mobile phone reception is so awful, not just in the Library but generally around the conference centre and the Royal George Hotel.

A great day on Friday with a great speech from Nick Clegg and a fantastic photo session with a stack of our candidates signing the NUS pledge on tuition fees.

Yesterday saw a fantastic speech from Leader Tavish Scott and a great election presentation by Alistair Carmichael MP where apparently even I got a mention and a round of applause - many thanks AC and the people in the audience, much appreciated.

Well, today is another busy morning and still great debates and speeches but I have more meetings to do so doubt I will make the hall, but you never know, I might even get to visit the exhibition!

There is a great buzz here, much better than last year, and as you know we went on and won the MEP seat when pundits and journalists were writing is off, well let's see where we go from here this weekend.

We are in second place to Labour here in Scotland, with Cameron's Conservatives only having a solitary MP in Scotland, and he is under threat from a Lib Dem surge and the SNP being irrelevant in Westminster elections polling day, whenever it may be will be an interesting election.

How many MPs will we have after polling day? I am very confident we will have more than we do now, I know that because voters are switching to us all across Scotland, getting fed up of the UK red/blue swingometer and it is Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats offering an alternative choice for people.

Let us see, but we will go from Perth with a spring in our step and fired up to campaign, campaign, campaign.

New Year message from Tavish Scott and the Scottish Liberal Democrats

New Year message from Tavish Scott, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

“This year, 2010, will be one of the most momentous in politics for generations.
We know there must be a General Election. But nobody knows how that will end.

“The polls are all over the place. But they all show the Liberal Democrats in a stronger position in the run up to an election than we have been for generations.

“We are the challengers to Labour across Scotland.

“We have well-resourced target seats that are campaigning harder than ever.

“We have inspiring candidates who deserve to be part of the new House of Commons.

“And the choice facing the country at the time of economic recession and the failure of old politics means it has never been more important to break the red-blue-blue-red pendulum of British politics.

“Our plans for a fairer society and a sustainable economy have never been clearer.
We will take the low paid out of income tax, cut tax bills for middle earners and stop the very richest in the land using loopholes to avoid their fair share.

“We will reform politics, not least to end an electoral system that has created a culture of a “seat for life” and “winner takes all” that has led so many MPs to exploit the system for their own gain.

“We will build a sustainable economy, creating jobs and opportunity for the record number of young unemployed. We will avoid creating a lost generation of young people, as Mrs Thatcher did in the 1980s. Her mistakes squandered the chances of thousands of people. The legacy remains. Poll after poll shows that most Scots still think that the Conservatives are the party for the well off not ordinary people.

“In Scotland we have set the political pace on our campaign for a fairer society. We are winning the argument that there needs to be restraint on the pay and bonuses on those at the very top of the public sector in order to keep jobs and services going for those at the bottom of the income scale.

“I know that our council by-election gains from all parties in 2009 will be followed by Westminster gains in 2010.”

My review of 2009 - my top twelve blog posts

2009 for me personally has been a hard year, not just with elections and work but not selling our old flat in Dartford, my partner Roger not able to get a job for a year, finding out my Mum had pancreatic cancer, closely followed by her death only a matter of weeks later, finding out a close friend died in May, losing two good friends in December and then at 4.20am this morning on her birthday, Roger's Nan lost her fight with cancer - 2009 f**k off, you've been shit!

So, I sat here and wondered how to remember this year, I finally decided to do my review by favourite monthly blog post.

A mixture of political and personal, do enjoy.

January - Tavish TV - Save our Forests January saw the Scottish Liberal Democrats turn their campaigning might on the SNP who were planning to sell off 25% of Scotland's forests. The Liberal Democrats and many environmental charities united to fight the SNP - finally in March we won!

February - Lost - one marked register. One owner, no history. February saw the story of the Sheriff's Office who lost the marked register for the Glenrothes by-election.

March - Baby's details on National DNA database The fact that the DNA of a baby under one year old has been stored on the police national database, is utterly scandalous and Jacqui Smith MP should be ashamed of herself and the Police.

April - A message for Nigel Griffiths MP and the Labour Party The Edinburgh Labour MP (until the election) blamed Edinburgh City Council for the closure of the capital's Post Offices. Utter crap Mr Griffiths, look in the mirror and along your benches, the Labour Party has closed even more Post Offices than the Conservatives did in their last term in government!

May - Labour fall to third place for first time in 22 years Wow, no-one ever saw this coming really where the governing party, currently Labour fall to third place in the polls, with the Conservatives on 40%, Liberal Democrats on 25% and Labour on 22%.

Bonus month - The best advert, ever!

June - Queen's Birthday Honours list My sister's boyfriend John gets a Royal Victorian Medal in this years Birthday Honours List, after 16 years of continuous service working for the Royal Family.

July - Police Officer to face prosecution over deaths of police dogs I have blogged a few times about this awful case of animal cruelty, it all went very quiet after this part but satisfaction in his prosecution - utterly appalling that a serving police officer allowed this to happen.

August - I really couldn't pick just one, so I have gone for three this month Tories claim homophobia doesn't exist, Le Grand Bleu yacht leaves Leith Harbour and Megrahi and MacAskill.

September - 8inch penis is average, Glasgow men are above average It really does speak for itself, Glasgow boys are bigger.

October - Caroline Righton and the Tory smear campaign This was an appalling attempt by a Conservative candidate to smear a Liberal Democrat candidate - it failed and shows that not all of David Cameron's A listers should be candidates.

November - John Lamont MSP is the most expensive MSP and sticks two fingers up to Cameron and the Kelly Report. My review of the year couldn't ignore John bubbles Lamont.

December - Is taking a photo of a building a crime? Why the Police are taking this so serious, god only knows but it really is quite pathetic and they need to calm down and react appropriately.

Well, that is the summary of my year via my blog, onwards and upwards for 2010, it's going to be a very busy year.

Detention for Fiona Hyslop as Tavish Scott goes top of the class

So, Alex Salmond has today sacked Fiona Hyslop as Education Secretary and moved her to a non cabinet position covering the external affairs and culture portfolio and to add insult to injury the responsibility for the constitution has been removed from the post.

Mike Russell (previously Environment minister sacked for proposing to sell off 25% of Scotland's forests) has now been moved from Culture minister to Education Secretary. Let's hope his first idea isn't selling off 25% of the schools!

This reshuffle has come about partly because of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

On Saturday, Tavish Scott informed all four main parties in the Scottish Parliament that he was intending to propose a motion of no confidence in Fiona Hyslop as Education Secretary in the allocated Liberal Democrats opposition day in Parliament on Thursday.

Alex Salmond obviously didn't want to go through the pain of a debate where the Liberal Democrats launched a full frontal assault on Education, so he has pushed Fiona Hyslop rather than be publicly humiliated in Parliament.

Although as Tavish Scott rightly points out, this isn't about Alex Salmond, Fiona Hyslop or even Mike Russell it is about the children, it is about all of those children going through school.

There are 54,000 children across Scotland in P7 classes who face the start of the new Curriculum For Excellence next August. Yet, here we are only eight months away and teachers still have not had the details of the assessments and the exams that they need to do their job properly and ensure our children have the best start.

Without a fresh approach and some new thinking, the new curriculum will be under-planned and under-resourced and I am sure the SNP will blame the local councils and teachers alike if this happens.

As I blogged on Saturday there is a crisis not only in teacher numbers but also the relationship between the government and the councils. The latest figures show there are 1,300 fewer teachers than this time last year and class sizes continue to rise.

Fiona Hyslop threatened to nationalise every school in Scotland and remove any role for local government. No-one believes that the Minister in Edinburgh can possibly run every single school and nor should they, that is why we elect local councillors and employ good staff who implement the education strategies.

The other bizarre part of this re-shuffle is that the First Minister has now personally taken responsibility for the forthcoming bill on an independence referendum.

Why?

The First Minister should be way too busy to take a bill through Parliament. So, is this decision because no-one else is with him? Not enough talent in the SNP benches? Or just that Alex Salmond isn't busy enough and this will help fill his day?

Seriously though, I do not think the First Minister is sending out the right message if he has to personally oversee a Bill through Parliament at the time we are going through a major recession.

Scottish Lib Dem Conference aftermath

Well, there were shocks and strange decisions yesterday at the Scottish Liberal Democrats conference in Dunfermline.

According to the media, we were holding it behind closed doors to keep the splits private, erm wrong, it was behind closed doors because only Party Members can vote on amending our Constitution, why would we let anyone else in on that?

The decision for this conference to be a Members only event was taken around 6 or 7 months ago, long before the decision to discuss Independence was taken. The SNP are obviously unhappy today as they assumed we would split, splinter and crumble.

Sorry to disappoint Alex Salmond but we are stronger than that, some may say it's because we are made and Bru'd in Scotland from girders, to pinch a slogan from a well know drink.

There were shock decisions as I said before, don't get me wrong, not many expected cream cheese in their ham & cheese rolls or food left over from the lunchtime fringe events!

I jest, as Caron muses, with 60 pages of constitution to go through and therefore 441 potential votes, oh yes, and there is the Party's AGM to start the morning off there was plenty for the Party Members to get their teeth into.

My view on the day, a good day, with some great speeches and debates and the aftermath?

A strong Party, a strong Leader, Tavish Scott who is leading us into the General Election campaign positive, strong and determined to win more votes and win more seats and replace the Labour Party.

Don't forget, the SNP may have the minority government in Scotland, but for Westminster, where the SNP are irrelevant and the Tories one MP even more so, it is only the Scottish Liberal Democrats who can replace Labour in Scotland - it is we who are second with the number of MPs going into this election and with the polls only putting us 4% apart it is the Scottish Liberal Democrats who are marching forward, upwards and onwards.

Glasgow North East - the thirteen applicants

Nominations closed yesterday for the Glasgow North East by-election with a mammoth 13 candidates, who in alphabetical order are;

• Charlie Baillie, British National Party
• Willie Bain, Labour
• Eileen Baxendale, Liberal Democrats
• Mev Brown, independent
• Colin Campbell, The Individuals Labour and Tory (TILT)
• Ruth Davidson, Conservative
• David Doherty, Green Party
• Mikey Hughes
• David Kerr, SNP
• Louise McDaid, Socialist Labour Party
• Kevin McVey, Scottish Socialist Party - Make Greed History
• Tommy Sheridan, Solidarity
• John Smeaton, Jury Team

The seat became vacant over 120 days ago when former House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin MP resigned over the MPs expenses and his handling, or not of the scandal. He now sits in the House of Lords.

Here is a brief summary of the 13 candidates.

As the fury over Nick Griffin on Question Time subsides, he turned up in Scotland yesterday but failed to turn up to support his by-election candidate after being pelted with eggs following a radio interview. The BNPs by-election candidate, David Baillie was in the news this weekend for saying that the BNP should remain for whites only.

Willie Bain is the Labour Party candidate, who works in London but still travels back to his Springburn home each week to fight his first ever election.

Councillor Eileen Baxendale is the Liberal Democrats candidate and is a former social worker with over twenty years experience working all over Glasgow including some key projects within Glasgow North East itself. Tavish Scott, on his second visit to the seat and Eileen yesterday were at the Royal Mail's main sorting office in Springburn criticising both Labour and the SNP for their handling of Royal Mail.













Mev Brown is an independent candidate who stood under the Jury Team banner at the European elections and has previously stood as a Tory and various independent banners.

Colin Campbell is the candidate for the TILT Party - The Individual Labour & Tory Party.

Former BBC journalist Ruth Davidson is the Conservative Party candidate and has been critical of the Labour party handling of the TA, as a former TA member herself.

David Doherty is standing for the Green Party, he has previously campaigned for them in the European elections.

Mikey Hughes is standing as an independent, he was the runner up of Big Brother 9 and is a radio presenter for Insight Radio.

David Kerr, another former BBC journalist is the SNP candidate, although not their first choice, nor their second either, he is the third choice candidate and Alex Salmond is already playing down their chances.

Louise McDaid is the Socialist Labour candidate.

Kevin McVey is standing for the Scottish Socialist Party and has pledged to forsake the MPs salary.

Veteran politician Tommy Sheridan is standing for Solidarity and was co-convener of the Scottish Socialist Party before leaving to form Solidarity.

The Jury Party, founded by a former Tory has selected John Smeaton who it has already been rumoured was going to stand down but obviously not. John found fame as a baggage handler at Glasgow Airport when he tackled one of the airport bombers.

Polling day is November 12th for the by-election.

Glasgow North East - and we are off

Despite the fact that the people of Glasgow North East have now been 115 days without Westminster representation and that as of yesterday Labour still had not moved the writ in Parliament for the by-election to take place, the Liberal Democrats launched their campaign yesterday with Leader Tavish Scott, Eileen Baxendale and Robert Brown MSP in Springburn.

As is always the case with these things we had journalists getting a wee bit irate because of deadlines, and it showed in their questions (a chill pill may have been in order there), Tavish was delayed because a van broke down on the M8 and it was overcast.

But there were some good photos with a local family and with Eileen's family there as well it was a great launch, but be under no illusion this wasn't the Liberal Democrats starting there in Glasgow North East yesterday, oh no, we have been there for weeks now, in fact months.

Eileen and the team have been out knocking on thousands of doors and local residents have been genuinely pleased to see the face of someone who cares, someone who has spent nearly twenty years on and off working in the heart of their community and understanding them, not patronising them like some of the career politicians.

If you have never been to Glasgow, and to be honest prior to me taking this new role on in Scotland my experience of Glasgow used to be running from Central Station to Queen Street Station to then get a train up to see my Mum in Ardgay.

Last year I spent six weeks there with our fantastic candidate Ian Robertson in the Glasgow East by-election and then various times with Katy Gordon our candidate fighting to be the next MP for Glasgow North and now recent weeks in Glasgow North East.

The area may have not had the funding it so richly deserves, but the people and the communities are so united and their determination is amazing. I have met some great people in Glasgow and yes, that is where I was introduced to Irn Bru, like the people a great product of Glasgow.

With Labour closing schools across Glasgow, and the SNP yet to build any schools since coming into power the children of Glasgow will surely suffer, if not now certainly in the future and we want the school building to commence again as it was happening when the Liberal Democrats were in Government, the money is there for the SNP to do it and to continue our record of building new schools - I know they have just announced a new wave of school building but why did they stop the programme? Why has nothing been built in the last two years?

The SNP are so all over the place in Glasgow North East, they are on their third candidate already, so before nominations close it may very well all change again, who knows?

This election should not end up with another career politician being elected in Glasgow North East because that isn't what the people want or need, they need someone who will stand up for them after decades of Labour neglect and now SNP u-turns and inaction on the things that really matter in their communities across the area. Change is certainly needed, a vote for the Liberal Democrats will certainly bring about that change.

Liberal Democrats conference in Bournemouth

Another year, another conference, another seaside town, although that changes big time next year when we go to Birmingham and Liverpool.

This is day five for me, however conference only officially opened on Saturday. The sunshine is beaming down on the record number of conference delegates here and the general mood is a good one. Apologies for the lack of blogging but I am here working and generally up and working from 8am through to well after 10pm.

I arrived on Thursday evening where I started with our Departmental meeting took place, most of Friday I was training delegates and then Nick Clegg came along to the Campaigns Department rally later that evening. Then on Saturday again I was training most of the day and then in the evening there was the main conference rally and Sunday morning at 9.30am I made it in to the conference hall to watch the Devolution debate.

Some great speakers included Kevin Lang, Beverley Hope, Alistair Carmichael and George Lyon from team Scotland. Tavish Scott then addressed conference yesterday afternoon, unfortunately I couldn't attend as I was doing a mammoth three hour training session.

I then attended a fringe event in the evening - so far a fantastic conference, but a busy one for me, people don't understand why we always come back year after year, conference is a great motivational event and long may they continue.

Should the Scottish Parliament be recalled?

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi has been released as I have previously blogged and now the presiding officer, Alex Fergusson at the Scottish Parliament feels it is acceptable to recall Parliament.

Tavish Scott MSP was calling for the Parliament to be recalled last week to discuss the upcoming decision. No, his request was turned down, but not now the release has taken place we read on the BBC News website - "Holyrood presiding officer Alex Fergusson announced the move to bring back MSPs from their summer break, days after turning down an earlier request from the Liberal Democrats."

Now I do not see the point, it's a bit like shutting the door, long after the horse bolted.

But what is there to actually debate? Apparently there will be a statement from Kenny MacAskill followed by questions from MSPs, what an absolute wate of time. I wonder what the cost is to recall Parliament for one day, just a week before the Parliament was due to reconvene following the summer recess anyway?

Kenny MacAskill, surely one of the most hated men in politics today is facing criticism from Barack Obama downwards for his decision to release Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, dying from cancer, faced a sentence "imposed by a higher power". I'm not a religious type so find this slightly over the top. Don't get me wrong, cancer is a very nasty disease but it's nothing to do with a higher power.

Scottish Lib Dems launch their European election campaign

I know I am late with this, but as the Deputy Director of Campaigns and the Agent I am somewhat busy.......

Anyhow, it was a great launch on Tuesday at Longannet Power Station. We had a great briefing and tour round the main control room.

George Lyon, our number one candidate for the European elections on 4th June, has called for Longannet Power Station to be made a test centre for Carbon capture and storage technology.

George was joined by Tavish Scott, Alistair Carmichael MP and retiring MEP Elspeth Attwooll to launch his campaign for the European elections. The Party is wanting Scotland to become a world leader in carbon capture in conjunction with the continued pursuit of renewable energy.

George Lyon said: "Scotland has the potential to lead the world in carbon capture technology and the facilities at Longannet are ideal for it to become a centre of excellence.

"Scotland undoubtedly has a leading role to play in the development of clean renewable energy, but this must be coupled with the use new carbon capture technology. Developing nations like India and China are fueling the growth of their economies with coal. I want to ensure that Scotland is ready to take advantage of this emerging market.

"We cannot tackle climate change alone. We must work with our European neighbours and not in isolation. That is why it is vital that Scotland has a strong Liberal voice in Europe."

Tavish Scott MSP, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, added:"The European elections offer a clear choice. A strong Scottish voice working with Europe to tackle economic turmoil, climate change and cross border crime together or no change with other parties.

"A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a positive vote for change. Labour's recession, rising unemployment under the SNP and Tory isolationism means now, more than ever, we must work with Europe to make Scotland strong and safe."