Sunday’s Scotland On Sunday newspaper featured an interesting interview with Liberal Democrat MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk and Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore. The interview begins with a discussion of the pre-Christmas ‘sting’ on Liberal Democrat MPs by journalists from the Daily Telegraph, of which Michael was one of the (albeit less publicised) ‘victims’. Also touched on is the Scotland Bill, which is one of the main focuses of Michael’s attention.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview, in which the upcoming Scottish Parliamentary elections are discussed:
The other big issue on the agenda is May’s election. While Clegg has the luxury of not having to face the electorate till 2015, his colleagues in Scotland have ten weeks. They’re going to get walloped, aren’t they? Moore says the received wisdom isn’t so. “I’m going round the country talking to candidates and local parties and it is tough because of the circumstances, but nobody is shying away from that. I’m confident that if we do our traditional work in our constituencies and regions then we will confound some of the claims.”
You can read the whole piece here.
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One Comment
A poll last week showed more people in favour of Holyrood getting complete control over tax than the model proposed by Westminster, where responsibility is shared. It has prompted claims that Moore has failed to sell his ideas strongly enough.
Or maybe it shows that the Scottish people aren’t quite as stupid as the authors of the Scotland Bill assumed they were when they dreamt up their little unionist wheeze.
I’m loathe to blame Moore for any of this though. He’s growing into of the best politicians in the country and I doubt he had much choice in taking the job he’s in, let alone have any responsibility for the evolution of the Scotland Bill.