Tag Archives: snp

Fraser Macpherson

Haggis, Neeps and Liberalism #11: Lessons from Glasgow North East

By Fraser Macpherson | Sun 15th November 2009 - 11:38 am

Labour’s crushing victory in the Glasgow North East By-election was hailed by the victor Willie Bain as a resounding endorsement of Gordon Brown and a “a resounding ‘No’ to David Cameron.” Well, maybe in Glasgow North East, but I suspect extrapolating the Labour victory in this constituency as having huge implications across the UK political scene would be foolish.

The SNP said throughout the Glasgow North East campaign that the by-election was a two horse race and, after the nationalist victory in Glasgow East last year, victory for them was possible. A case of all too predictable SNP hope over reality. Over the years, the SNP has had a bit of a habit of sensing victory where none exists. Remember the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, so comprehensively won by Willie Rennie? If you’d have believed Alex Salmond a day or so before polling day, SNP victory was certain. In fact, they came a poor third.

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Posted in Op-eds, Parliamentary by-elections and Scotland | Also tagged and | 12 Comments
Stephen Tall

Scottish Lib Dem conference: your LDV reader

By Stephen Tall | Mon 2nd November 2009 - 10:30 am

On Saturday, LDV reported the news that the Scottish Lib Dems were uniting behind leader Tavish Scott’s opposition to the SNP referendum on independence, ahead of a special private conference for party members. And so it came to pass, as the BBC reports:

Tavish Scott has consistently opposed a referendum, but some divisions within the party have emerged and the issue was debated in a closed session at the party’s autumn conference in Dunfermline, Fife, on Saturday.

Senior Lib Dem MSP Ross Finnie, who has been asked to lead a consultation with members about the party’s stance,

…

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Posted in Scotland | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | Leave a comment
Stephen Tall

Times: Tavish Scott expected to see off Lib Dem rebellion on opposition to referendum

By Stephen Tall | Sat 31st October 2009 - 1:00 pm

A week ago, LDV asked the question, Is it time for the Scottish Lib Dems to back an independence referendum?, amid suggestions in The Sunday Times that there was “a growing rebellion within the party’s ranks over its opposition to Alex Salmond’s Referendum Bill.” Today’s Times reports that Scottish Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott will win overwhelming backing for the leadership line:

Senior Lib Dems were increasingly confident that a minority of “referendum rebels” would not succeed in forcing Mr Scott into a U-turn that could pose serious question marks over his continued leadership.

The issue of the Scottish government’s

…

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Posted in Scotland | Also tagged , , and | 12 Comments
Stephen Glenn

Haggis, Neeps and Liberalism #7: The Megrahi Documents

By Stephen Glenn | Wed 2nd September 2009 - 12:45 pm

The Megrahi case has ripped apart the peace of the Scottish Parliamentary recess, with even some former Lib Dem leaders taking a differing view to our leader in Holyrood. Today the UK Government and Scottish Parliament have released papers relating to the discussions that have gone one over the last two years. It ranges from correspondence between Westminster and Holyrood, to memos of meetings with Libyan officials, to the compassionate release request listing medical conditions.

These start chronologically with the first letter from then-Lord Chnacellor Lord (Charles) Falconer to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond outlining the Memorandum of Understanding that Westminster had set up with Libya regarding a number of judicial issues. The Memorandum was drawn up to look at increasing bilateral co-operation covering, amongst other things, commercial and criminal issues. The legal issues were not exclusively about Mr Al Megrahi, but looking at the bigger picture of co-operation between the two nations at large. However, Lord Falconer did say that nothing could be ruled in or out, but that co-operation and consultation between Westminster and Holyrood would be carried forward.

However, it the path of the UK’s justice secretary Jack Straw’s correspondence that sheds a lot of light on the situation, especially considering the Labour response in Holyrood.

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Posted in Europe / International, Op-eds and Scotland | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , and | 4 Comments
Stephen Glenn

Haggis, Neeps and Liberalism #2

By Stephen Glenn | Wed 11th March 2009 - 10:50 am

This is the second in a regular, and now named, series of articles by Scottish-based bloggers giving their thoughts about developments in Scottish politics.

On Friday evening I’d just completed a long week at the office in one sense wishing I was in Harrogate with my fellow Lib Dems – but at the same time too exhausted for a full weekend of Conference, having squeezed one full extra day into the week that would go without payment as a result of a freeze on overtime. But as I walked to the bus through Edinburgh Park I saw that lights were …

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Posted in Conference, Op-eds and Scotland | Also tagged , , and | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

Scottish Lib Dems call for end to “chatter about the constitution”

By Stephen Tall | Wed 4th March 2009 - 6:08 pm

Lib Dem Voice reported last week that Scottish Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott had made clear his opposition to a referendum on Scottish independence:

Liberal Democrats do not support independence and we will not support a referendum that could let independence in through the backdoor.”

Today the Scottish party will go one stage further and move an amendment in the Holyrood Parliament calling for any idea of a referendum to be dumped until after the next elections in 2011. It is thought likely that Labour and the Tories will rally behind the Lib Dem amendment, which would ensure the SNP was …

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Posted in News and Scotland | Also tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

Tavish vetoes SNP independence referendum hopes

By Stephen Tall | Thu 26th February 2009 - 4:48 pm

Despite Lord (Paddy) Ashdown’s public declaration last week that the Lib Dems should support a referendum on Scottish independence, Tavis Scott has made it clear he won’t budge – here’s today’s Daily Telegraph:

Tavish Scott, the Scottish Lib Dem leader told the Daily Telegraph he would rebuff any offers made by the First Minister because he did not want to be drawn into a constitutional “trap” that could threaten the Union. … The rejection leaves Mr Salmond with an almost impossible task to win the parliamentary majority he requires at Holyrood to get his Referendum Bill passed. Without the

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | 5 Comments
Bernard Salmon

Our correspondents in Scotland

By Bernard Salmon | Wed 18th February 2009 - 6:48 pm

This is the first in a regular series of articles by Scottish-based bloggers giving their thoughts about developments in Scottish politics. Bernard Salmon is a Lib Dem activist based in Inverness and blogs at thesoundofgunfire.blogspot.com.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond proved himself to be a wee sleekit cowerin’ tim’rous beastie last week.

His betrayal of the SNP pledge to abolish the council tax and replace with a so-called ‘local’ income tax (in reality a nationally-set tax of 3p in the pound) was supposedly motivated by the fact that the parliamentary arithmetic was against him. Although the Scottish Lib Dems supported …

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Posted in Op-eds and Scotland | Also tagged , , , and | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

Paddy: Scottish Lib Dems wrong to veto independence referendum

By Stephen Tall | Tue 17th February 2009 - 7:57 pm

The Scotsman reports on the intervention of former Lib Dem leader, Lord (Paddy) Ashdown:

THE Unionist parties in Scotland should back a referendum on independence to finish off the SNP as a political force once and for all, former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown has claimed. Lord Ashdown told The Scotsman that he believes his own party has got its tactics wrong in Scotland in dealing with the Nationalists. And he said that Wendy Alexander was on the right lines when she challenged First Minister Alex Salmond to “bring it on” and hold a referendum on independence. …

The former Liberal

…

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Posted in News and Scotland | Also tagged , , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Scottish Lib Dems offer to “get round the table” with SNP over budget

By The Voice | Thu 29th January 2009 - 9:49 am

Tavish Scott, Lib Dem leader of the Scottish Lib Dems, has offered to open discussions with the SNP government in Scotland to resolve the budget breakdown triggered by the Holyrood parliament’s rejection of the SNP’s budget for 2009-10.

Though the Tories fell in line with the SNP, the 16-strong Lib Dem group, together with Labour and the Greens, voted against – the budget was ultimately defeated on the casting vote of the presiding officer. But this morning the BBC reports:

The Liberal Democrats want discussions with the Scottish Government about what concessions might gain their support for a revised budget.

…

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Posted in News and Scotland | Also tagged and | Leave a comment
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