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Home >> Articles Online, by Author >> Articles Online, by date published online >> E Bort, Scottish Affairs, No. 65, Autumn 2008 |
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Scottish Affairs, No. 65, Autumn 2008Annals of the Parish:The Year at Holyrood, 2007-8by Eberhard Bort |
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A Quieter Year?Scottish politics from September 2007 to September 2008 was, to use a phrase of former First Minister Henry McLeish, ‘a tale of two parties’ [1] – one buoyant, riding high in the opinion polls, led by a hugely popular Alex Salmond, apparently unassailable; the other experiencing an ‘annus horribilis’, culminating in the resignation of Wendy Alexander, after only nine months in the post as Scottish Labour leader, and the crushing defeat in the Glasgow East by-election. Remember? At the time of composing last year’s ‘Annals’, Gordon Brown and Labour in the UK were 11 points ahead of David Cameron’s Conservatives. A general election seemed a distinct possibility. Then came Northern Rock, the U-turn on inheritance tax, the election that never was – and from then on an astonishing downward spiral – 10p income tax, lost data, the Crewe by-election, the Glasgow East by-election, demands for a leadership challenge. Now, on the eve of Labour’s autumn conference, after the demise of the Bank of Scotland and what looks like meltdown in the global financial system, Brown and Labour in the UK are more than 25% behind the Tories [2] – the most unpopular UK government for generations. Some pundits had murmured that 2008 might be quieter year, a year where the dust of the upheavals of 2007 would be allowed to settle. Well, for a quiet year there has been quite a lot going on: two leadership contests, one attention-grabbing by-election under the belt, and another one looming on the horizon at the time of writing. Scottish politics seems to have lost none of its capacity to surprise and entertain – or to annoy, as the case may be. Even when it rained gold medals for the British Olympians in Beijing during the summer, politicians north and south of the border managed to make a political football out of it. Literally – as Gordon Brown’s suggestion of a GB football team for the London games in 2012 was roundly rejected by the Scottish government and the Scottish FA (fearing it would endanger Scotland’s presence at European and World Cups); while Scottish medal winners were sceptical about the SNP’s demands for a separate Scottish team at the Olympics, given the training opportunities here, compared to what they enjoy as part of Team GB. [3] Legislation LiteAs noted in the last instalment of the ‘Annals’, [4] Alex Salmond’s announcement in September 2007 of his Government’s legislative programme had provoked comments about its ‘liteness’ – and, indeed, the list of bills passed by Parliament to be chronicled here is relatively short. Just before Christmas, the SNP government fulfilled one of its manifesto pledges, when, on 20 December, the Abolition Of Bridge Tolls (Scotland) Bill was passed by Parliament, scrapping the tolls on the Forth and Tay Road Bridges. The most important Bill to pass, for a minority government, was the Budget Bill which got approval on 6 February. Another promise made good was the passing of the Graduate Endowment Abolition (Scotland) Bill on 28 February, abolishing the fee (or ‘tax’) known as the Graduate Endowment for all students who successfully completed their course on 1 April 2007 or thereafter. The Glasgow Commonwealth Games Bill was passed on 30 April. Its primary policy aim is to meet the Scottish Government’s obligations for the 2014 games under the Hosts City Contract and deliver the commitments in the Candidate City File, providing the Scottish Ministers and councils with the powers necessary to achieve this. The Public Health Etc (Scotland) Bill was passed by Parliament on 12 June. The Bill redefines and clarifies the relationships between Ministers, health boards and local authorities in protecting public health. It strengthens the role of health boards, amends current arrangements for statutory notification of diseases and introduces statutory notification of organisms and health risk states. In addition, it aims at updating and improving the statutory nuisance regime in the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It also contains provisions to ensure that those who use sunbeds are advised of the associated skin cancer risks. Scottish Broadcasting CommissionThe Scottish Broadcasting Commission, an independent body set up by the Scottish Government to investigate television production and broadcasting in Scotland, had its first meeting on 26 October. It published its findings on 8 September. The main point of the report was the proposal for a not-for-profit digital Scottish national channel – costs estimated at up to £75m – which would fill a ‘missing piece of the public service jigsaw’. [5] The channel, the Commission said, would also provide crucial competition for the BBC, which suffered, according to the evidence it had collected, from a ‘perceived lack of ambition’ in Scottish productions. The proposed channel was widely welcomed, by First Minister Alex Salmond, the BBC’s Scotland controller Ken McQuarrie, and the political parties. The BBC Trust should also ensure better news coverage of the devolved nations, and the Commission also called for a review of BBC Radio Scotland – currently the only Scotland-wide broadcasting service – amid criticism that it lacked ambition and space for new ideas. The Commission, chaired by former BBC news boss Blair Jenkins, also called on the BBC to review its commissioning policy for Scottish programmes. Further, it recommended that some broadcasting powers should be devolved to Scotland. But the report also stated, counter to the wishes of the Scottish Government, that legislative powers for broadcasting should remain with the UK Government. [6] ‘Holyrood supposedly has oversight of the creative industries,’ Iain Macwhirter observed, ‘and yet not of broadcasting, which is the key creative industry.’ [7] He is not the only one to question the sense of such ‘constitutional ring-fencing’. He argues that it is a ‘constitutional anomaly’ which ‘will be addressed as part of the reassessment of devolution being conducted by the Calman Commission and the National Conversation.’ Scotland Office Minister David Cairns, on the other hand, backed the report’s ‘underlying principle’ that Scottish broadcasting should remain an integral part of UK broadcasting. The Liberal Democrats warned that any new channel would have to be properly resourced, while the Tories said it should be paid for partly out of private funding. [8] In June, a review for the BBC Trust (which represents viewers) had found that the BBC needed to improve its coverage of the UK’s nations and regions in its main news bulletins and factual programmes. Research found that 37% of people believed that BBC news reports were often not relevant to where they live. [9] The study included an analysis of UK-wide BBC coverage, including the main 6pm and 10pm bulletins, by media expert Professor Anthony King of Essex University. His research showed that during a month-long period last year all 136 items about health and education on the main BBC news related to England only – as separate policies applied in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Analysis of the BBC’s coverage found one in five stories involving devolution were ‘vague and confusing’ or factually inaccurate. [10] Giving evidence to a Welsh Assembly inquiry into broadcasting, the BBC’s director general Mark Thompson said, in response to the Trust’s report, there needed to be ‘significant improvement’ in the BBC’s network coverage of the UK’s nations. [11] In September, the new BBC Gaelic digital channel – BBC Alba – was launched. Besides enthusiastic welcomes, the cost of the new service also attracted criticism. [12] And, as the Stornoway Gazette reported, Highlands and Islands MSP Rob Gibson (SNP) made an appeal to the BBC and the UK government that the new channel ought to be ‘available to terrestrial viewers via freeview as soon as possible.’ The paper quotes the MSP: ‘Given the public money being spent on the channel and the fact that it is under the banner of [the] BBC, it strikes me as ridiculous that it will only be available to those that have private satellite rental. The fact that the appearance on freeview is subject to a review by the BBC Trust is a worry. If they do not give the go ahead then it could really stymie the development and impact that the channel could have.’ [13] Calman CommissionAt perhaps the worst possible moment for her (because of the donations scandal hanging over her), Wendy Alexander delivered a major speech on the constitution at Edinburgh University on St Andrew’s Day, setting out her plan to develop devolution through an independent Scottish Constitutional Commission, endorsed by the Scottish Parliament. [14] It put the seal on this constitutional U-turn for Scottish Labour, revising the position Jack McConnell had adopted before the May election. It also seemed to acknowledge that, as the Scotsman had argued after the election, ‘Labour lost votes in May because – for the first time – it refused even to discuss more powers for Holyrood, thus conceding the constitutional debate to the SNP.’ [15] Alexander singled out the strengthening of the financial accountability of the Parliament, including a review of the Barnett formula with a view to diminish the role of the block grant from Westminster through shared and assigned taxes, thus increasing the fiscal responsibility of the Scottish Parliament. While the Commission, endorsed by a parliamentary majority (the “grand, if informal, Unionist coalition” [16] ) on 6 December 2007, specifically excludes the independence option, [17] it allows for discussion of wider areas of UK constitutional reform, with the aim of strengthening both Devolution and the Union. The SNP sticks by the government’s ‘National Conversation’, which is limited to Scotland. The Commission was finally established on 28 April under the chairmanship of Sir Kenneth Calman, the Chancellor of the University of Glasgow. [18] The Calman Commission was, albeit with some caveats, [19] widely welcomed as ‘timely’, [20] and Brown’s support for the ‘review’ was noted, [21] particularly after Scotland Office minister David Cairns’s dismissal of more tax powers for Holyrood as being only of interest to the ‘McChattering classes’. [22] But now Scotland has two constitutional discourses: the SNP government’s ‘National Conversation’ (started by Alex Salmond in August 2007) and the Parliament’s Calman Commission. This dual approach, having evolved ‘for crude partisan ends’, has been criticised as divisive and confusing. ‘All the parties are agreed that the experience to date with devolution has to be reviewed,’ wrote The Scotsman: ‘But instead of finding common ground to conduct such a review in a rational manner, and thus present a united face to Westminster – the only body that can introduce constitutional change – we are left with rival projects.’ [23] For the SNP, the ‘Constitutional Commission’ heads in the right direction – more powers for the Parliament. An indication of this was Gordon Brown’s (quasi) concession that Holyrood should have a greater say in setting taxes:
Eddie Barnes is not alone in thinking that the ‘Unionist pact may not just be seen in later years as a historic moment for devolution,’ but also as ‘the moment when a referendum on independence became inevitable.’ [25] A Never-Ending SNP Honeymoon?With the main opposition party in turmoil and stumbling ever deeper into crisis, the Tories veering between co-operating with Salmond’s government and opposing it, and the Lib Dems in their self-imposed wilderness, accentuated by the surprise resignation of Nicol Stephen at the beginning of July, the SNP minority government’s honeymoon has, so far, shown no signs of ending. Despite some criticisms, the general verdict after one year of SNP government in May 2008 was overwhelmingly positive. ‘The honeymoon will end,’ stated Brian Taylor in his BBC blog: ‘Right now, though, the first minister is able to mark the anniversary of his election victory with signs of continuing popular support.’ [26] Scotland on Sunday summed up ‘a good year for Scotland’, asserting that ‘the record of the SNP’s first year in power is impressive’:
It disagreed with some key policies of the SNP:
But it hailed the effect Alex Salmond and his government has had on the ‘general mood of the Scottish people’:
Any opposition and media criticism seemed to pale in the face of success. Under Salmond, the party presented an absolutely coherent image – no sign of internal cracks or feuds which used to characterise the SNP in the past. When John Swinney presented the first SNP budget on 14 November, following the tightest financial settlement from London since devolution, [28] the attacks on ‘broken promises’ intensified. [29] No sign any more of the £2000 for first-time house buyers. Where was the commitment to match the school-building programme of the previous administration ‘brick by brick’? Insufficient funding for Scotland’s universities? Not enough new teachers to allow primary school classes one, two and three to have no more than 18 pupils? Prescription charges to be phased out by 2011, but no immediate abolition for those with chronic conditions (as unequivocally promised in the party manifesto)? [30] Undoubtedly, the biggest coup for the SNP was getting its budget approved by the Parliament, [31] with the help of the Tories. [32] John Swinney and Alex Salmond triumphantly outmanoeuvred and humiliated the opposition (with Labour eventually abstaining on their own amendment!). [33] Part of the package was that John Swinney had been able to negotiate an agreement – the much vaunted ‘historic concordat’ – with all 32 Scottish local councils to freeze the council tax. [34] Although criticised by the opposition and by academics as disproportionally benefiting the well-off and therefore directly contradicting, as David Bell argued, the SNP’s ‘cherished aim of reducing inequality,’ [35] tax payers saw the measure as a huge relief on their pockets, with more promised when the unpopular council tax would be replaced with a local income tax. Wendy Alexander’s Referendum CallThen came Wendy Alexander’s astonishing ‘shock U-turn’ [36] on the independence referendum. When she gave Scottish politics that ‘surreal turn’, [37] announcing her conversion to an independence referendum live on the BBC’s Politics Show on 4 May, one of the strangest weeks in Scottish politics ensued, ‘with the situation becoming more bizarre by the minute.’ [38] Wendy’s new departure had, quite obviously, created a ‘major headache for Brown’. [39] Coming in the immediate wake of the local electoral disaster for Labour in England and Wales, it looked as if Brown had ‘lost patience with Ms Alexander,’ as he refused to give her demand for a referendum his backing at Prime Minister’s Question Time: ‘Far from endorsing her standpoint, he went out of his way to dilute it.’ [40] That Alexander insisted on her demand, when appearing at First Minister’s Question Time at Holyrood the following day, led The Scotsman to ask whether Brown was ‘losing his grip on Scotland’. [41] The Press and Journal saw her coming ‘within an inch of landing a blow, of sorts, on Salmond,’ only to be ‘pulled out of the ring by Gordon Brown.’ [42] The paper conceded, ‘it might have been the master stroke,’ but now ‘it looks like Mr Salmond will come out of the fight better off, again, and continue with his policy of a referendum in 2010.’ Brian Taylor added, ‘The manner of executing this plan, if such a description can be used, has been utterly abominable.’ [43] He saw Labour’s ‘new-found support for a referendum’ driven by ‘calculation and fear.’ [44] Fear of electoral defeat, calculation that being blamed for not letting the Scottish people have a say could rebound on the party in the 2011 election and that, at least for the time being, the Scots would reject the independence option in a referendum. ‘Wendy Alexander’s backing of an early referendum on independence is hugely significant,’ editorialised the Scottish Daily Mail: It signals the Labour Party’s first signs of life in a year. And it presents Alex Salmond with a dilemma. How does he oppose a referendum without damaging the validity of his party’s claims that increasing numbers of Scots favour wrecking the Union? [45] The Daily Telegraph, too, was prepared to give Miss (sic) Alexander ‘some credit’ for her ‘tacit acknowledgement that Labour has been wrong-footed,’ but called her move ‘bluffing for base political advantage’ and ‘dangerous tinkering with the constitutional settlement.’ [46] All of a sudden, a referendum seemed a question of when and how, rather than if. Strangely, having been the brainchild of Wendy Alexander, the Calman Commission seemed to be totally sidelined by Labour’s referendum U-turn. Leadership ResignationsStill reeling from the turmoil following that U-turn, on 28 June, Wendy Alexander bowed out. In the end, it was the unnecessary donations for her unnecessary leadership campaign which added the final straw. The Parliament’s Standards Committee had decided, while the Chamber had already packed up for the summer, to recommend a day’s suspension from Parliament for Wendy Alexander for not declaring the donations as personal gifts in the MSPs’ register, following the advice of Standards Commissioner John Dyer, but contradicting the advice the Clerks of the Parliament gave Wendy Alexander. The Parliament would have to vote on that recommendation – after the summer recess … . [47] The issue seemed to just not go away. And Wendy Alexander seemed to have had enough. But, as Douglas Fraser commented, her resignation had deeper reasons than just the Parliament’s Standards Commission decision:
Her leadership, long overshadowed by the illegal donations row, [49] only temporarily relieved by the Electoral Commission’s clearance of her (branded a ‘whitewash’ by SNP MSP Alex Neil), [50] had come under attack long before that shambolic manoeuvre. In a widely noticed leader back in January, the (usually) Labour-supporting Daily Record had been scathing about the leadership of the Scottish Labour leader. These are very difficult times for Scots Labour leader Wendy Alexander. (…) During her reign, she has so far failed to land a blow on First Minister Alex Salmond. (…) Labour’s first year in opposition was always going to be tough. But no one could have predicted how far their fortunes would slump in just nine months. [51] Wendy Alexander seemed to have made some progress by the time of the Labour conference in March. Eddie Barnes commented that she ‘appears to have found a clearer message to sell to the party’, and ‘she has bought herself some time.’ [52] Hamish Macdonell’s verdict was: ‘The Scottish Labour Party landed itself in a pretty big hole last May. It’s not out of it yet, but at least it has stopped digging.’ [53] But it was a false dawn. ‘Alexander’s record as leader failed to live up to the expectations,’ wrote James Mitchell in the Observer:
All commentators stressed the impact on Gordon Brown. ‘Just when it seemed things could hardly get worse for Gordon Brown, Wendy Alexander resigns in a sleaze row over donations to her leadership campaign,’ [55] but not all reactions were outright and relentlessly negative. Scotland on Sunday conceded:
‘Wendy Alexander may have lacked many of the skills necessary for political leadership,’ so the verdict of Iain Macwhirter in the Herald:
Macwhirter probably wrote the Herald’s editorial on Wendy Alexander’s demise:
Ian Swanson, while calling Alexander’s period as leader ‘effectively a wasted year for Labour,’ [59] also came to highlight at least one positive side of Alexander’s short reign:
Kenny Farquharson concurred and went even further: ‘Her term as leader was flawed, but her vision for Scotland was sound. … Wendy Alexander was right to resign. But her demise is a terrible setback for Scotland.’ [61] By contrast, the most scathing farewell came from the Sunday Times: ‘… there will be many in the SNP sorry to see her go, for she has been a singularly ineffective leader of the opposition.’ [62] Compared to Wendy Alexander’s resignation, the surprise resignation of Nicol Stephen – ‘Mr Predictable surprises everyone’ [63] – played second fiddle. Giving his ‘low profle’ leadership and his ‘recognition problem’ a cursory glance, Campbell Gunn summed it up perfectly:
Stephen, despite his ‘lack of charisma’, [65] was credited to have been ‘surprisingly nimble against Alex Salmond,’ landing ‘more blows on the nationalist’s thick hide than anyone else on opposition benches.’ [66] Both Jenny Hjul and Murray Ritchie encouraged the Lib Dems and their new leader to be ‘decisive’ and ‘radical’. If they or, more likely, the SNP won Jack McConnell’s seat when he steps down as an MSP to take up his role as High Commissioner for Malawi, the arithmetic at Holyrood would change and the relative importance of the Lib Dems would increase. Hjul discovered the Lib Dems’ federalism as a ‘firm proposal to maintain the United Kingdom based on a more federal state’ which she called ‘better than outright separatism and better than doing nothing about the shifting political landscape.’ Murray Ritchie perhaps overegged the pudding by claiming that ‘most Scottish Liberals would opt for a confederal UK containing an independent Scotland. I don’t know any who would prefer reheated devolution.’ [67] The two leadership resignations crowned ‘a charmed first year in power’ for the SNP, Campbell Gunn commented: ‘the task of challenging Alex Salmond seems to have been beyond two of the three opposition leaders, resulting in both of them throwing in the towel.’ [68] That dramatic beginning of the recess set the tone for the summer, with two leadership contests. ‘Alex Salmond must be wondering what he has done to scatter his enemies so successfully,’ mused the Edinburgh Evening News: ‘It’s just a week since MSPs broke up for the summer recess, and suddenly both the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament find themselves leaderless.’ [69] Glasgow East By-ElectionAs soon as the by-elction triggered by the resignation on health grounds of David Marshall MP on 30 June was called, it was seen as a nightmare in waiting for Gorden Brown. Glasgow East, held by Marshall with a majority of 13,500 votes in the 2005 general election, would have been seen, at any other time, as a safe Labour bastion, but not with a Labour government plummeting to a new all-time low in public opinion. [70] Alex Salmond predicted a ‘political earthquake’. [71] Martin Kettle warned that ‘to lose such a seat for the first time since 1922 would not just be a spectacular Labour disaster but also an unmissable sign of wider Labour disintegration in Scotland.’ [72] The Labour-leaning Daily Record wrote: ‘If Gordon Brown cannot hold on to the party’s third safest seat in Scotland he will struggle to hold on as Prime Minister.’ [73] The Holyrood Labour leadership contest had been postponed till after the election. Most predictions were for a close by-election; some thought Labour would narrowly win, ‘… polls and pundits predicting Labour is likely to hold on to the seat, albeit by a wafer-thin majority;’ [74] but some predicted defeat:
Bordering on farce, the Labour campaign was off to a ‘nightmare start’, as ‘their favoured candidate pulled out at the last minute, then others could not be persuaded to stand.’ [76] Thus, the party missed out on the first weekend of the short campaign. Observing Scottish Labour over the past few months has been like watching a re-run of the Seventies slapstick comedy Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, with pratfall followed by a slip on a banana skin, then stepping on a garden rake. You half expect the party to crash en masse through a shop window on a pair of roller skates. [77] The ‘selection debacle’, [78] satirised by Eddie Barnes as ‘the strange tale of Labour and the missing candidate’, [79] made the campaign not easier for Labour. Increasingly, defeat became a real possibility. [80] And the predicted earthquake happened. After Dunfermline in Febuary 2006, another ‘safe’ Labour seat in Scotland changed hands. ‘SNP storms to historic election victory by 365 votes,’ shouted the front page of The Scotsman on the day after the by-election. [81] The SNP ‘narrowly snatched a sensational victory … over Labour’s Margaret Curran after recording a 22% swing.’ Gordon Brown had been given ‘a Glasgow kiss’, as Jason Grove had it – ‘a short, sharp headbutt designed to leave its victim dazed and bleeding in the gutter.’ [82] In the past, when the SNP won seats from Labour, it tended to lose them at the next general election, ‘but in the current climate all bets are off.’ [83] Kenny Farquharson offered this analysis of Salmond’s triumph:
Glasgow East was the icing on the cake for the SNP and in particular Alex Salmond who – in stark contrast with Gordon Brown – had been a constant presence in Glasgow East during the campaign :
Moreover, Glasgow East stands for a deeper, perhaps seismic shift in the political landscape of Scotland. Salmond’s ‘is no longer a small, crabbit party of protest,’ John MacLeod wrote in the Scottish Mail on Sunday:
On a wider scale, the Independent tried to assess the significance of the Glasgow East result:
Leadership ContestsGlasgow East ‘was the asteroid that threatens to wipe out the Labour dinosaur and the time has come for the great beast to evolve or risk political extinction.’ [87] It raised the stakes for the Scottish leadership campaign of the party. According to The Scotsman, ‘Labour needs a bold new direction and confidence if it is to take on Alex Salmond. On the current showing, its leadership contenders will have to work harder to convince us they have a roadmap.’ [88] One of the problems is that ‘in the Labour Party rule book, the leader of the Scottish Labour Party remains Gordon Brown, or whoever happens to run the party at a UK level. The advent of devolution did nothing to change this.’ [89] As Iain Macwhirter has tirelessly argued, ‘some way has to be found to make the Scottish leader a real leader, otherwise Scottish Labour could end up going into the same political oblivion that obliterated the Scottish Tories.’ [90] After Glasgow East, Macwhirter had published a more extended analysis of the decline of Labour in Scotland:
From a slightly different angle, Kenny Farquharson arrived at the following conclusion:
Arguably, the most important intervention during the leadership campaign came from Tom MCCabe MSP, a former Holyrood minister. [93] McCabe’s advice to whoever succeeds Alexander is … sage. The leader must speak for the Scottish party as a whole, not just the group in Edinburgh. He or she must get on to the front foot of the constitutional debate by supporting extra financial powers for the parliament. The new leader should also challenge the UK government, of whatever hue, when the need arises. … Given Tom McCabe’s article, it is a pity that four candidates are not going for the top job. [94] While Paul Hutcheon piled scorn on the complex electoral college (involving MPs, MSPs, councillors, party members, trade unions and affiliated organisations) the Scottish Labour Party uses to select its leader, claiming that ‘the three-way battle between Iain Gray, Cathy Jamieson and Andy Kerr is perhaps the most anti-democratic farce you will witness in the UK this year,’ [95] Iain Macwhirter contended that ‘of the three leading candidates the only one the SNP worries about is Cathy Jamieson, who is much brighter than she is given credit for, and performed very ably at First Minister’s Question time as a stand-in for Wendy Alexander,’ [96] and Joan McAlpine found all three of them – Cathy Jamieson, Iain Gray and Andy Kerr – ‘equally bland and unpalatable.’ [97] Anyway, as Campbell Gunn summed up the summer, he seemed to offer a little ray of hope for embattled Labour:
In the end, Iain Gray prevailed with a comfortable majority in a proper contest, ‘which gives him a powerful mandate.’ [99] He promised a ‘fresh start’ for the party, cautiously welcomed in the media. [100] ‘It is time to close the manifesto on which we fought the 2007 Scottish election and time to write our programme for Scotland for 2011 and beyond,’ he said. Margaret Curran, the defeated candidate in Glasgow East, was given the portfolio to develop ‘policy which was in line with Labour values but in touch with the wider Scotland.’ Gray said lessons from the by-election loss of Glasgow East to the SNP would be learnt and written into ‘every line’ of Labour’s programme for winning in 2011. This would include reform of the council tax to make it fairer while still protecting local services. [101] Gray made clear he would argue for Scotland to receive a share of the millions being invested in London for the 2012 Olympics. Some of the investment was in fact regeneration cash, and Scotland should get a share of this extra spending through the Barnett formula: ‘I will make that argument – it’s my intention to stand up for Scotland,’ he said. He also argued for Scotland to receive more in council tax benefit: ‘Scotland should be receiving more than £400 million because 48 per cent of pensioners in Scotland who are entitled to council tax benefit don’t receive it at the moment.’ Rejecting local income tax, he said he wanted to see a reformed council tax, but argued that since it would still be a property tax it would not mean losing the council tax benefit cash, as the UK government says will happen if the SNP goes ahead with its proposed local income tax. As Brian Taylor blogged, ‘this could be intriguing.’ [102] But Gray rowed back on the referendum commitment the party had made under Wendy Alexander. He ruled out Labour support for the SNP’s planned referendum on independence. ‘Wendy Alexander was right to challenge Alex Salmond to put the question to the public and get it out of the way,’ he said, but Salmond had made clear he is not going to do that: ‘He wants to bring forward a referendum bill with a question that’s rigged and a timing that’s rigged and we cannot support that.’ Asked if he would support a referendum if the question was right, Gray said: ‘There is no prospect of that.’ [103] Clearly, he is alluding to the SNP’s speculation that a Tory government at Westminster would boost a yes vote in a Scottish independence referendum, which is backed by a recent YouGov poll. [104] But will Labour really risk going into the 2011 election campaign as the party that has blocked a vote on Scotland’s constitutional future? This is dangerous territory for Labour. If Gray denies Scots the opportunity to have their say, Labour will be punished even more. Who wants to back a party that doesn’t trust the people? [105] Gray’s inauguration as new Scottish leader was also overshadowed by news of MPs plotting against Brown – and, a few days later, by the resignation of David Cairns, the No.2 Minister in the Scotland Office (who had been responsible for Labour’s Glasgow East campaign), adding to the ominous signs that it was increasingly ‘a question rather of when and how than if Gordon Brown steps down.’ [106] The precarious situation of Labour at Westminster – and its leadership woes – ensured that the Labour contest dominated the summer, compared to the contest triggered by Nicol Stephen’s resignation. Tavish Scott was the favourite to succeed him but, as the contest progressed, some media pundits saw the vote between him and Ross Finnie and Mike Rumbles as too close to call. They were wrong. Scott secured a 59% share of the turnout. Seemingly ignoring the advice to be ‘brave’ and ‘decisive’, he reiterated in his first statements Nicol Stephen’s position that he would do nothing which might bring about independence ‘by the back door’. [107] Then, in sync with the Lib Dems’ Bournemouth conference turn towards becoming a taxcutting party, he called on Holyrood ministers to bring forward an emergency income tax cut to help struggling families. A 2p in the pound cut, he said in Bournemouth, would save the average Scot more than £300 a year, easing the pain of the current economic crisis. [108] To complete the summer of resignations, Robin Harper, the ‘cheerful chieftain of the Scottish Greens’, announced that he would leave the leading position ‘under no pressure at all.’ [109] He’ll remain an MSP until the Scottish Parliament election in 2011, and has recommended to his party that his colleague Patrick Harvie should become his successor. SNP Flagship Policies Under Fire‘The new Lib Dem leader in Scotland must save us from LIT, be it the SNP’s or something cobbled together in an SNP-Lib Dem committee.’ [110] Replacing the unpopular council tax with its brand of Local Income Tax is one of the flagship policies of the SNP. While popular in the polls, it ‘may still be a high-risk strategy politically,’ [111] as the consultation produced an overwhelming wave of criticism of the proposed scheme. Business leaders voiced their opposition. ‘In business and economic terms, the case against local income tax remains overwhelming,’ wrote Peter Jones. [112] And Teresa Hunter added:
Liz Cameron, the Chief Executive of the Scottish Chamber of Commerce, made this intervention:
Labour has painted LIT as the SNP’s poll tax. And Tom Gordon and Jason Allardyce seem to hint at similar historical parallels: As Margaret Thatcher found to her cost, the introduction of a new tax can bring a swift end to even the most feted political career. Her replacement of rates with the community charge, or poll tax, in the late 1980s led to rioting in the streets and to a cabinet revolt. Salmond knows all this, but so far hasn’t blinked, dismissing his growing ranks of critics as out-of-touch with the political mood of the country. [115] Having variously declared ‘dead in the water,’ [116] ‘a disgrace’ [117] and ‘ill-considered’, [118] suggestions of a ‘backroom deal over local income tax’ between the SNP, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens ‘send shivers down the spine of middle Scotland and the business community.’ [119] With the Glenrothes by-election in view, the Edinburgh Evening News spotted a potential trap for Labour:
Another plank of the SNP policy platform, the Scottish Futures Trust, also came under fire. It was called a ‘shambles’ and a ‘broken election promise’ [121] and was roundly rejected by the Daily Record:
The Unions branded the Scottish Futures Trust a ‘costly and unnecessary new quango,’ [123] although the appointment of Sir Angus Grossart was seen as ‘a major coup for the Scottish Government’ which ‘provides the one ray of hope that the Scottish Futures Trust may work.’ [124] Other points of criticism concerned the continuing litany of ‘broken promises’ [125] and inactivity in the face of industrial and public service unrest:
Water off a duck’s back. Despite all this criticism, ‘Mr Salmond is not only continuing to set the pace on legislative reform, he is also showing an impressive ability to force his opponents to play to his tune. … the Salmond ascendancy continues as Labour slumps.’ [127] Legislative ProgrammeAfter the summer recess, the Scottish Government set out its plans for the coming parliamentary year, containing 15 bills announced by the First Minister in Parliament on 3 September. [128] Apart from the annual Budget Bill, the focus will surely be on the Council Tax Abolition Bill – the SNP’s plan to replace council tax with a 3p local (but centrally set) income tax. The council tax, often branded ‘unfair’ and ‘regressive’, is to be replaced by a new method to raise public cash based on ability to pay, saving the average Scottish family between £350 and £535 per year – according to Government claims. The proposals as they currently stand do, however, not have enough parliamentary backing to go through. But both the Greens and the Lib Dems have begun to talk to the SNP about a compromise. And Margo MacDonald, the independent Edinburgh MSP, has offered her backing in return for extra cash for the Capital. [129] The other controversial issue is that the UK Government has told Scottish ministers they cannot retain £400m a year in council tax benefits from Westminster if council tax is scrapped. [130] The Rural Schools Bill is to introduce a presumption against the closure of rural schools, which make up 41% of Scottish primaries and 23% of secondaries. The SNP has already overruled the closure of three schools, preventing hardship for the residents and economies of rural communities. This Bill would aim to improve the consultation process on proposed closures, but critics have questioned whether forcing councils to keep open schools with only a few pupils on the roll would be a justifiable cost. Another Health Bill would ban the open display of tobacco products in shops and bring in a tobacco sales registration scheme. In order to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence, ministers said they wanted to ban under-21s from buying drink at off-licences and set a minimum price for alcoholic drinks in an attempt to stop cut-price booze deals. The age restriction plan has been branded an ‘ill-thought-out, reflex reaction not based on evidence’ that would not solve Scotland’s drink problem. [131] The Scottish Climate Change Bill is to introduce a target to achieve an 80% cut in emissions by 2050 (going beyond the UK target of 60%), along with a legal framework to ensure work towards achieving the goal was being carried out – but no annual reduction targets as promised in the SNP manifesto. A Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill aims to reform community sentencing, while ensuring serious and violent offenders would still be sent to prison and dealt with ‘firmly and effectively’ in jail. Also, a Sentencing Council would be set up with the aim of improving public confidence in sentencing decisions, while the Bill would also reform criminal law and court procedures. The Scottish Parliament and Local Government Elections Bill is to draw the lessons from last year’s election fiasco (with 146,000 spoiled ballot papers). Its main focus is on separating the Scottish Parliament and the Local Council elections, but it cannot do what Alex Salmond really wants, i.e. transfer the power to run Scottish elections from Westminster to Holyrood. After this year’s wash-out of a summer, a Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill seems a very timely piece of legislation. The Bill would create a single enforcement body to oversee the operation of reservoirs and strengthen flood risk co-ordination. It would also incorporate European flooding legislation into Scots law. Under the Public Services Reform Bill, Scottish public bodies and scrutiny bodies would both be cut by 25% by 2011. It would also resurrect plans to incorporate Scotland’s main arts bodies into a new organisation – Creative Scotland, which stumbled at the first hurdle in its passage through Parliament in mid-June. The plan to merge the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen had cross-party backing, but was thrown out after MSPs refused to back the financial arrangements contained in the legislation. A Children’s Hearings Bill is to set up a unified children’s hearing system to deal with youngsters in trouble or at risk, with its 33 separate organisations brought under one national body. The Additional Support for Learning (Amendment) Bill would allow parents and children to make requests to attend schools outside their catchment area under this bill. It would also set up mediation and dispute resolution services where requests are rejected. A Marine Bill aims to reconcile the marine industry (50,000 jobs and £2.2bn income generated from Scotland’s seas, excluding oil and gas) with the protection of the tens of thousands of marine and plant species in Scots waters. Three legal reform bills round of the legislative programme. The Legal Profession Bill would bring in the first significant reform of the legal profession since 1980; the Arbitration Bill is to modernise arbitration law in Scotland, making it easier for people and businesses to settle disputes out of court; and the Legislative Reform Bill aims to improve scrutiny of legislation, in tandem with the Scottish Parliament. Yet before any of these Bills reach their decisive stages in the Parliament, the focus will be firmly on the by-election for the other Parliament which could have far-reaching consequences, bringing a boost for Iain Gray or continuing the electoral rampage of the SNP, making or breaking Gordon Brown’s fate as Prime Minister. [132] Glenrothes By-Election‘If Gordon Brown needed the Glasgow East by-election like a hole in the head, he needs the forthcoming poll brought about by the untimely death of Glenrothes Labour MP John MacDougall like a full decapitation.’ [133] The Glenrothes poll, expected to be held in November, ‘may turn out to be do-or-die time for the Prime Minister. For Labour, in its present baleful state, either would be better than what they have at present.’ [134] Despite a majority of over 10,000 in 2005, Labour are perceived as outsiders in the race. ‘No, it isn’t looking good for Labour,’ according to Iain Macwhirter: ‘The SNP will have to mount a dreadful campaign to lose in Glenrothes. I’m afraid this could be Gordon’s big red one.’ [135] Again, the focus is firmly on Gordon Brown’s political fate. Iain Macwhirter, once more:
For a moment, it looked as if Labour could launch a surprise candidate in the person of former First Minister Henry McLeish. Selecting Henry McLeish would have been a ‘fascinating choice’, [137] but then McLeish made clear that he would not be available. And the consensus seems to be that ‘everything … points to an SNP triumph in the nextdoor seat to Brown’s own.’ [138] Indeed, according a Guardian editorial, ‘the surprise today would be a Labour win, not a loss.’ [139] OutlookSo, how will the ‘tale of two parties’ continue? Will other parties get a word in edgeways? Will Iain Gray do any better than Wendy Alexander in repositioning Labour? Will Glenrothes be a new start for Labour or the seal on Gordon Brown’s fate? If there were a change of Prime Minister, would that trigger a UK general election? Will the SNP honeymoon go on and on and on? Will John Swinney find partners for a compromise on local income tax? When will we see a Holyrood by-election in Motherwell and Wishaw? And let’s not forget the European Parliament elections next June – in their own right, with Lisbon in limbo after the Irish referendum vote, and as the last electoral test before the next UK general election … . [140] The Calman Commission and the National Conversation will produce their reports – will it provide substantial proposals for increased powers of the Scottish Parliament? Would that bind a future Conservative government in Westminster? Let’s spell out what’s at stake. If Calman fails to come up with a renewed and reinvigorated form of devolution, with real power over the Scottish economy, then the Union is unlikely to survive. In fact, it won’t deserve to survive. The devolution we have today was a historic first step away from London rule, but it simply isn’t up to the job of delivering a Scotland that takes real responsibility for itself and its future. In a choice between independence and the status quo, many Scots – myself included – would be tempted to opt for full sovereignty. Calman’s job is to ensure there’s a credible third choice: a strong and grown-up Holyrood Parliament that governs in partnership with Westminster – but can no longer blame London for Scotland’s many ills. [141] And what then? Will pressure mount to put the recommendations of Calman and/or the National Conversation before the people, or will the SNP introduce a referendum bill next September without a chance of getting it through Parliament? Or will all that party-politicking simply ‘seem piffling’ while banks collapse and ‘tales of financial apocalypse’ unfold? [142] Will, therefore, the next ‘Annals’ reflect on a quieter, perhaps less eventful year in Scottish politics? Don’t bet your Lehman Brothers shares on it. September 2008, online March 2009
Eberhard Bort is the Academic Coordinator of the Institute of Governance at University of Edinburgh and Director of its Parliamentary Interns Programme. He is once again indebted to Margaret MacPherson’s indispensable monthly ‘Parliament News’, available at the Institute of Governance’s website <http://www.institute-of-governance.org/pn/curr_issue.html>. More detailed quarterly monitoring reports on Scottish devolution can be found on the Constitution Unit’s website: < http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/research/devolution/devo-monitoring-programme.html>. [1] The phrase comes from Henry McLeish, former Labour First Minister, on Politics Now, STV, 26 June 2008. [2] Jim Pickard, ‘PM prepares to face party among Tory poll surge’, Financial Times, 18 September 2008. [3] The Scotsman (Editorial), ‘Olympic success is not a political football’, 25 August 2008. [4] Scottish Affairs, No.61 (Autumn) 2007, pp.18-49. [5] BBC News online, ‘Scotland ‘needs national channel’’, 8 September 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7603396.stm [6] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/08_09_08_broacasting.pdf [7] Iain Macwhirter, ‘BBC Scotland needs to get with the programme’, The Herald, 8 September 2008. [8] Phil Miller, ‘Funding question for £75m Scots TV channel’, The Herald, 9 September 2008. [9] BBC News online, ‘BBC told to improve UK coverage’, 11 June 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7447985.stm [10] The Daily Record, ‘BBC told to improve national coverage of Scottish news’, 12 June 2008. [11] BBC News online, ‘More devolved issues for BBC news’, 16 June 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7457200.stm [12] Liz Thomas, ‘BBC launches controversial £21m Gaelic channel – costing £365 per native speaker’, Scottish Daily Mail, 14 August 2008. [13] Donnie Macinnes, ‘Plea for more viewers to see Gaelic channel’, Stornoway Gazette, 10 September 2008. [14] Douglas Fraser, ‘Alexander calls for tax powers to replace the Barnett formula’, The Herald, 1 December 2007. [15] The Scotsman (Editorial), ‘Labour fails to get the message’, 22 June 2007. [16] Ian Bell, ‘Can we plot a fourth way for Scotland?’, The Herald, 8 December 2007. [17] Louise Gray, ‘Parties join forces to bulldoze SNP’, The Scotsman, 7 December 2007. [18] Other members include a childhood friend of Gordon Brown (Murray Elder), a former Deputy First Minister (Jim Wallace), two former Tory ministers (Lord Lindsay and Lord James Douglas Hamilton), a veteran trade union leader (Matt Smith of Unison) and a Big Brother contestant (John Loughton, chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament). [19] Hamish Macdonell, ‘They want to save the Union but have they set a course for independence?’, The Scotsman, 26 March 2008. [20] The Herald (Editorial), ‘Devolution revisited’, 26 March 2008. [21] Douglas Fraser, ‘Brown promises extensive review of devolution’, The Herald, 25 March 2008; Simon Johnson, ‘Brown backs review on Scots taxation’, The Daily Telegraph, 26 March 2008; Bill Mackintosh, ‘Brown opens door to Holyrood tax powers’, Sunday Herald, 17 February 2008. [22] Michael Settle, ‘Minister dismisses more tax power for Holyrood’, The Herald, 12 February 2008. [23] The Scotsman (editorial), ‘Dual approach to devolution debate can’t succeed’, 7 December 2007. [24] Edinburgh Evening News (Editorial), ‘It’s only a very short hop to full separation’, 6 September 2008. [25] Eddie Barnes, ‘Unionist pact to debate devolution may hasten independence vote’, Scotland on Sunday, 9 December 2007. [26] Brian Taylor, ‘Making New Friends’ (Blether with Brian), BBC News online, 2 May 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/briantaylor/2008/05/making_new_friends.html [27] Scotland on Sunday (Editorial), ‘A good year for Scotland’, 12 April 2008, [28] Following the announcement of the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review by the UK Government, Alex Salmond said that the Treasury claim that the real-terms increase in Scotland over the next three years is 1.8% per annum, but that the actual, real-terms increase over the next 3 years was only 1.4% (the difference due to re-drawing the baseline for English health expenditure). [29] Douglas Fraser, ‘Sharp jolt of reality leads to broken promises’, The Herald, 15 November 2007. [30] Lyndsay Moss, ‘SNP accused of broken promises as free prescriptions plan is unveiled’, The Scotsman, 6 December 2007. [31] Hamish Macdonell, ‘A total triumph and an utter defeat’, The Scotsman, 7 February 2008. [32] BBC News online, ‘Ministers agree budget compromise’, 31 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7219798.stm [33] The Herald (Editorial), ‘Salmond’s triumph’, 7 February 2008; Magnus Gardham, ‘Victory for Alex Salmond as budget is passed’, The Daily Record, 7 February 2008. [34] Robbie Dinwoodie, ‘Political coup for Swinney as councils all sign up to agreement for a tax freeze’, The Herald, 17 November 2007. [35] See Peter MacMahon, ‘SNP in no position to claim moral high ground’, The Scotsman, 4 December 2007. [36] Douglas Fraser, ‘Alexander backs independence referendum in shock U-turn’, The Herald, 5 May 2008. [37] Gordon Brewer on BBC Newsnight Scotland, 6 May 2008. [38] David Perry, ‘Wendy defiant in referendum row’, The Press and Journal, 8 May 2008. [39] Bill Jamieson, ‘Wendy’s cry brings on major headache for Brown’, The Scotsman, 9 May 2008. [40] Brian Taylor, ‘Where’s your referendum now?’(Blether with Brian), BBC News online, 7 May 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/briantaylor/2008/05/wheres_your_referendum_now.html [41] David Maddox, ‘Losing his grip on Scotland’, The Scotsman, 9 May 2008. [42] The Press and Journal (Editorial), ‘Referendum announcements’, 8 May 2008. [43] Brian Taylor, ‘Not jut any referendum’ (Blether with Brian), BBC News online, 8 May 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/briantaylor/2008/05/not_just_any_referendum.html [44] Brian Taylor, ‘Calculation and fear’ (Blether with Brian), BBC News online, 5 May 2008 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/briantaylor/2008/05/calculation_and_fear.html [45] Scottish Daily Mail (Editorial), ‘Labour is alive again. But it may be too late’, 7 May 2008. [46] Leader Comment, ‘Union put in peril by Labour’s electoral games’, The Daily Telegraph, 7 May 2008. [47] Which the Scottish Parliament did at the beginning of September, overruling the Committee. [48] Douglas Fraser, ‘The final straw for Wendy Alexander’, The Herald, 30 June 2008. [49] Campbell Gunn, ‘Wendy’s woes are not going away’, The Sunday Post, 13 January 2008; Leader Comment, ‘Wendy’s refusal to go has left Scottish politics in cold storage’, Sunday Herald, 3 February 2008. [50] Ian Swanson, ‘MSP says ruling on Wendy donation is ‘a whitewash’’, Edinburgh Evening News, 8 February 2008; Joyce McMillan, ‘With Wendy’s house in order, now it’s time to act’, The Scotsman, 9 February 2008; Iain Macwhirter, ‘Wendy’s in the clear, but the real winners are the SNP’, Sunday Herald, 10 February 2008. [51] Daily Record (Editorial), ‘Alexander yet to score point’, 28 January 2008. [52] Eddie Barnes, ‘It may sound cuckoo, but Labour thinks spring has sprung’, Scotland on Sunday, 30 March 2008. [53] Hamish Macdonell, ‘Still in a hole, but they might have found a way out’, The Scotsman, 1 April 2008. [54] James Mitchell, ‘Great expectations came to nothing’, The Observer, 29 June 2008. [55] Scottish Daily Mail (Editorial), ‘Now Wendy adds to Gordon’s many woes’, 30 June 2008. [56] Scotland on Sunday (Editorial), ‘Labour’s lost love’, 29 June 2008. [57] Iain Macwhirter, ‘Not great leader but she had the right idea about Scottish Labour’, Sunday Herald, 29 June 2008. [58] The Herald (Editorial), ‘What now for Labour?’, 30 June 2008. [59] Ian Swanson, ‘The battle begins…’, Edinburgh Evening News, 31 July 2008. [60] Ian Swanson, ‘Leadership is not the only change needed’, Edinburgh Evening News, 11 September 2008. [61] Kenny Farquharson, ‘How bad was she?’, Scotland on Sunday, 29 June 2008 [62] The Sunday Times (Editorial), ‘Let the party begin’, 29 June 2008. [63] Douglas Fraser, ‘Stephen faced ultimatum: choose family or leadership of the party’, The Herald, 3 July 2008. [64] Campbell Gunn, ‘So, nothing much happens in recess!’, The Sunday Post, 6 July 2008. [65] Martin Williams, ‘‘Safe’ option who achieved credibility’, The Herald, 3 July 2008. [66] Jenny Hjul, ‘Their role could be decisive, but are the LibDems up to it?’, The Sunday Times, 10 August 2008. [67] Murray Ritchie, ‘It’s time for the Lib Dems to get radical’, Scotland on Sunday, 31 August 2008. [68] Campbell Gunn, ‘It’s back to bread and butter politics’, The Sunday Post, 31 August 2008. [69] Edinburgh Evening News (Editorial), ‘People deserve good opposition party leaders’, 4 July 2008. [70] Andrew Grice, ‘Poll: This is the least popular Labour government ever’, The Independent, 3 July 2008. [71] Chris Watt, ‘Salmond predicts voting ‘earthquake’’, The Herald, 8 July 2008; see also: Ross Lydall, ‘High risk for Salmond as he fronts bid to trigger ‘earthquake’’, The Scotsman, 23 July 2008. [72] Martin Kettle, ‘This byelection could be the most important ever’, The Guardian, 4 July 2008. [73] The Daily Record (Editorial), ‘Right Choice’, 7 July 2008. [74] Ian Swanson, ‘Win or lose, this vote will deliver verdict on Salmond’, Edinburgh Evening News, 24 July 2008. [75] Scottish Sunday Express (Editorial), ‘Labour meltdown will start decades in the wilderrness’, 20 July 2008. [76] The Daily Record (Editorial), ‘Right Choice’, 7 July 2008. [77] Scotland on Sunday (Editorial), ‘Slapstick Politics’, 6 July 2008. [78] Hamish Macdonell, ‘Selection debacle has piled on the woes for party’, The Scotsman, 7 July 2008. [79] Eddie Barnes, ‘The strange tale of Labour and the missing candidate’, Scotland on Sunday, 6 July 2008. [80] Ned Tweedie, ‘Labour risks a Glasgow kiss’, The Daily Telegraph.19 July 2008. [81] Ross Lydall and David Maddox, ‘SNP storm to historic election victory by 365 votes’, The Scotsman, 25 July 2008. [82] Jason Groves, ‘Can Brown stay after Glasgow’s kiss-off?’, Scottish Daily Express, 27 July 2008. [83] The Herald (Editorial), ‘The SNP triumph’, 26 July 2008. [84] Kenny Farquharson, ‘Salmond rewrites the rulebook’, Scotland on Sunday, 27 July 2008. [85] John MacLeod, ‘Once again, Alex Salmond has rolled the dice and won – as a devastated Scottish Labour continues its remorseless decline’, The Mail on Sunday, 27 July 2008. [86] The Independent (Editorial), ‘Labour’s Glasgow East defeat is a portent of worse to come’, 26 July 2008. [87] Edinburgh Evening News (Editorial), ‘Labour must evolve now or face extinction’, 5 August 2008. [88] The Scotsman (Editorial), ‘No positives coming out of Labour’, 11 August 2008. [89] Eddie Barnes, ‘Up to the job?’, Scotland on Sunday, 3 August 2008. [90] Iain Macwhirter, ‘Time for Scottish Labour to find its own voice’, The Herald, 1 September 2008. [91] Iain Macwhirter, ‘The Death of New Labour in Scotland’, Sunday Herald, 27 July 2008. [92] Kenny Farquharson, ‘Labour doesn’t look hungry for power’, The Sunday Times, 10 August 2008. [93] Tom McCabe, ‘What do we in Scottish Labour need in our nation’s new political landscape? A leader with the guts to stand up to Westminster’, Sunday Herald, 3 August 2008. [94] Sunday Herald (Editorial) ‘A ray of light for Labour, but is it too late?’, 3 August 2008. [95] Paul Hutcheon, ‘Labour’s electoral charade’, Sunday Herald, 24 August 2008. For a more measured, but no less incisive view, see Brian Taylor’s ‘Blether with Brian’ blog ‘Not technical, but fundamental’, BBC News online, 28 July 2008, http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/briantaylor/2008/07/not_technical_but_fundamental.html [96] Iain Macwhirter, ‘Labour in Scotland is a body without a head’, The Herald, 28 July 2008. [97] Joan McAlpine, ‘Pretenders to Labour throne lack vision’, The Sunday Times, 7 September 2008. [98] Campbell Gunn, ‘Labour set for a new start’, The Sunday Post, 7 September 2008. [99] Lorraine Davidsoon, ‘Labour’s new leader could unsettle SNP’, The Sunday Post, 14 September 2008. See also Hamish Macdonell, ‘Now Labour must accept that Scotland should take priority’, The Scotsman, 16 September 2008. [100] See The Scotsman (Editorial), ‘Gray to be applauded for taking a fresh approach’, 15 September 2008. [101] BBC News online, ‘Gray becomes Scots Labour leader’, 13 September 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/7614081.stm [102] Brian Taylor, ‘Blether with Brian’-Blog, ‘Fine words, noble sentiments’, BBC News online, 13 September 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/briantaylor/2008/09/fine_words_noble_sentiments.html [103] Ian Swanson, ‘Gray assembles new shadow cabinet in bid for fresh start’, Edinburgh Evening News, 15 September 2008. [104] Robbie Dinwoodie, ‘Conservative win would “fuel support for independence”’, The Herald, 8 September 2008. [105] Kenny Farquharson, ‘Will Labour be glad to be Gray?’, Scotland on Sunday, 14 September 2008. [106] Gordon Brewer on Newsnight Scotland, 16 September 2008. [107] BBC News online, ‘Scott plays down referendum issue’, 27 August 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/7584125.stm [108] BBC News online, ‘Scott calls for cut in income tax’, 14 September 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/7614646.stm [109] Douglas Fraser, ‘‘I’ve done my 10 years. I think I’ll have a wee bit of fun’ – Interview’, The Herald, 13 September 2008. [110] The Scotsman (Editorial), ‘Who’ll save us from LIT?’, 8 August 2008. [111] Campbell Gunn, ‘Local tax is a high-risk strategy by SNP’, The Sunday Post, 7 September 2008. [112] Peter Jones, ‘The business case against local income tax stands’, The Scotsman, 15 August 2008. [113] Teresa Hunter, ‘SNP’s tax would increase burden on struggling families’, Scotland on Sunday, 7 September 2008. [114] Liz Cameron, ‘Taxing times are justified for LIT’, Edinburgh Evening News, 9 September 2009. [115] Tom Gordon and Jason Allardyce, ‘Spitting tax’, The Sunday Times, 7 September 2008. [116] The Daily Record (Editorial), ‘Tax plan dead in the water’, 19 June 2008. [117] The Daily Record (Editorial), ‘Tax plans are a disgrace’, 4 September 2008 [118] The Daily Record (Editorial), ‘Just Nat Fair’, 2 June 2008. [119] Michael Tait, ‘LibDems and SNP to strike backroom deal over local income tax’, The Mail on Sunday, 7 September 2008. [120] Edinburgh Evening News (Editorial), 9 September 2008. [121] David Maddox, ‘Big projects must wait as SNP funding plan remains in doubt’, The Scotsman, 21 May 2008. [122] The Daly Record (Editorial), ‘Nats need to get a grip’, 11 September 2008. [123] Cameron Brooks, ‘Union delivers scathing verdict on new public financing scheme’, Aberdeen Press and Journal, 9 September 2008. [124] The Scotsman (Editorial), ‘Grossart appointment offers hope’, 11 September 2008. [125] Mark Howarth, ‘SNP breaks promise on more police’, Scotland on Sunday, 24 August 2008; Fiona MacLeod, ‘Tories claim SNP class size target policy is illegal and unworkable’, The Scotsman, 10 September 2008; and The Daily Record (Editorial), ‘SNP are failing all our children’, 12 September 2008. [126] The Scottish Mail on Sunday (Editorial), ‘A tough test ahead’, 27 July 2008. [127] The Scotsman (Editorial), ‘Salmond makes another giant leap’, 8 September 2008. [128] BBC News online, ‘Scottish legislation plans in full’, 3 September 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/7595583.stm [129] Ian Swanson, ‘Margo ready to back local income tax in return for Capital cash’, Edinburgh Evening News, 15 September 2008. [130] BBC Nesw online, ‘Frosty response to local tax plan’, 9 March 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7285326.stm [131] Katrine Bussey, ‘Fresh criticism of alcohol sales plan’, The Scotsman, 7 September 2008. [132] Kevin Schofield, ‘Lose Glenrothes by-election and you’re out, Gordon Brown is warned’, The Daily Record, 16 September 2008. [133] Edinburgh Evening News (Editorial), ‘The longer-term prospects look grim for Labour’, 14 August 2008. [134] Eddie Barnes, ‘Brown gives it one last shot’, Scotland on Sunday, 7 September 2008. [135] Iain Macwhirter, ‘If Brown loses on home turf, he risks losing everything’, Sunday Herald, 17 August 2008. [136] Iain Macwhirter, If Brown won’t call it a day, Labour must do it for him’, Sunday Herald, 7 September 2008. [137] Robbie Dinwoodie, ‘Why McLeish could be the ideal candidate’, The Herald, 15 August 2008. [138] Martin Kettle, ‘Go early and take the hit – or go late and risk a knockout?’, The Guardian, 15 August 2008. [139] The Guardian (Editorial), ‘Brown’s backyard blues’, 14 August 2008. [140] Gerri Peev, ‘European poll defeat “would force Brown out of office”’, The Scotsman, 20 September 2008. [141] Kenny Farquharson, ‘All the commission’s men must be heard’, Scotland on Sunday, 7 September 2008. [142] Brian Taylor, ‘Sentiment and history’ (‘Blether with Brian’), BBC News online, 17 September 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/briantaylor/2008/09/sentiment_and_history.html
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