Who the hell does Jacqui Smith MP think she is?

I haven't blogged lately, partly because of a lack of time and partly because other things on my mind.

But, Jacqui Smith MP and her fellow cronies can keep her nose out of my Facebook messages - she hasn't asked to be one of my Facebook friends and until she does she can keep out of my affairs.

I post messages that I think my Friends and colleagues might find amusing, I will send them messages of smut, innuendo and useless questions but I certainly do not give the government permission to read them.

I think Jacqui Smith MP has more important things she should be attending to rather than worrying about what I'm writing on Facebook or any other social network site I might happen to be on or not as the case might be!

My message to Jacqui Smith MP;

Dear Jacqui and Gordon,

You are both massively out of touch with the people you allegedly claim you represent.

We do not want ID cards, we do not want CCTV on every street corner watching our every move, we do not want google snooping on our emails on your behalf, we don't want MPs fiddling expenses, we don't want you snooping through our Facebook messages.

However, what we do want is a Government that will pit extra police on our streets fighting crime, we do want a government that will cut down on red tape, we do want a government with the conviction to scrap the unfair and unjust council tax.

We need a Government to govern and lead not snoop and create crisis after crisis.

Jacqui Smith MP - you are the weakest link - goodbye!
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The European Elections

On June 4th, the United Kingdom and all other European Countries will be voting to decide who their MEPs should be for the next five years.

Here in Scotland, we currently have 7 MEPs, but that will be trimmed to just 6 this time round.

I am sure, like any elected official some people could not name their MEPs, however I have been pleasantly surprised how well known our Liberal Democrats MEP, Elspeth Attwooll actually is. I suspect it is because she works hard and also visits so many parts of Scotland working hard on people's behalf, so thank you Elspeth for ten years of pure hard work and dedication. Elspeth is standing down this time and will hopefully be passing on the baton to George Lyon.

It is vital we get people registered and that people have the right to vote and make their voice heard, there is a fantastic website - about my vote - which you can visit here.

Please make sure you have a vote in these important elections, whatever your political views, or your personal views about Europe it is equally important you take the time to vote on June 4th.

David Laws, Mike Smithson and reading polls

David Laws on the BBC Daily Politics yesterday was making the point that Cameron's Conservative Party's lead in the opinion polls is not as good compared with Labour's in the run up to the 1997 'wipeout election'.

Mike Smithson was quick to attack on his blog - "Why's the LD schools spokesman getting it so wrong?'

"You’ll have to indulge me if you think I’ve banged on about this too much - but I have a real “bee in my bonnet” about the phoney invalid polling comparisons that journos, pundits and politicians are rushing to make when they compare the polling position at the moment with what went on in 1996/97… "

Mike went on to point out how most pollsters over-estimated Labour’s support before polling day in 1997, adding that:

One pollster was totally out of line - ICM. Then, as now, it mostly had higher ratings for the Lib Dems and much smaller shares for Labour. And guess what happened on election day? Its approach was proved right.

My good friend Mark Pack said "I’d agree with that praise for ICM. But David Laws’s comments are fully justified by the ICM figures.

Since last summer (i.e. August 2008-March 2009), the Conservative lead in the ICM polls has varied between 5% and 15%.

If you look back at August 1995-March 1996*, the Labour lead in the ICM polls varied between 14% and 22%. There is a small overlap between these two ranges, but overall the Labour lead in 1995/6 was much higher than the Conservative lead in 2008/9, averaging 18% for Labour compared to 12% for the Conservatives.

Moreover, due to the way their respective vote shares are distributed across the country, the Conservatives need a larger lead to have an overall majority than Labour - so in fact the relative position for them is even worse than the 18% vs 12% figure suggests.

Sorry Mike, but on this one I think you’ve got it wrong: the Conservative lead is consistently significantly lower than the comparable Labour lead was.

* This is the comparable period for a 2010 election. But the point also stands for a 2009 general election, for example if you take the period August 1996-March 1997 instead. "

It appears that on this occasion Mike Smithson may just be wrong!

Conference razzmatazz

Action, music and Tavish - a fantastic Leader!

SNP forestry plans

Well, another week and another SNP u-turn. However, I'm happy with this one.

This time wee eck's party has given up on their plans to privatise 25% of Scotland's forests.

This is one thing I have felt very passionately about. I've holidayed in the Highlands & Islands since I was a wee lad.

I remember many beautiful places such as Sheigra, Ullapool, Kinlochbervie and then Ardgay where my Mum went on to live for many years.

I remember driving through miles of forests and the thought that the SNP planned to sell off a quarter of the forests to developers was just madness!

The SNP have caved in to the pressure of a major campaign led by many environmental organisations, the Forestry Commission Union and the Scottish Liberal Democrats - we alone had 8,000 signatures on a petition!

Let's hope that now this ridiculous policy has been kicked into the long grass, that's where it stays?
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Comic Relief and Tavish Scott

Well done to Tavish Scott for having a sense of humour and the guts to participate in Red Nose Day 2009.

Tavish climbed the tallest tree which is in Perth and you can sponsor him still http://www.justgiving.com/scotlibdems
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