Lib Dem Coalitions

Sent to the Herald:  25th May 2007.  Not Published

Sir

So now the Lib Dems, having refused to countenance administration with the SNP in Scotland, abandon Plaid Cymru in Wales and hand the defeated Labour group the reins of power. It seems their support for liberalism, or for that matter democracy, does not stretch beyond slavishly following whatever private arrangements have been made by Menzies Campbell and Gordon Brown in London.

A party that was once the most progressive and radical of the three British unionist parties has now become a minor faction within the Thatcherite New Labour apparatus – determined at all costs to get a seat in Cabinet at No.10, even if this means riding roughshod over the voters of Scotland and Wales and deliberately undermining the very devolved institutions they once fought to achieve.

Once the Liberal Democrats supported PR for Westminster and a federal United Kingdom. Now all it seems they stand for are deals cut on the Edinburgh-London shuttle and ignoring the wishes of the electorate. They do so at their peril.

Yours etc

Anne Moffat (again)

Sent to the Herald: 24th May 2007. Not Published.

Dear Sir,

The outburst of a Liberal Democrat MSP during the recent election
campaign on “xenophobia” in the SNP has been surpassed now by a Labour
MP in terms of personal insult. Anne Moffat (whoever she is) should
apologise immediately for her highly offensive comments in Westminster
regaring the First Minister of Scotland.

She should then ask the Chagos Islanders what their thoughts are on
the forced deportation of entire peoples and then ask the people of
Iraq what they think about wars of aggression and foreign occupation.

Yours for Scotland,

Anne Moffat

Sent to the Herald: 24th May 2007. Not Published

Sir

Parliamentary privilege notwithstanding, Anne Moffat’s comments yesterday in the House of Commons are almost beyond reproach. To blame any particular voting system for the election of the Nazi regime in Germany, and then to liken this event to the recent election result in Scotland, is a disgusting slur not only on the particular individual she mentioned, but on everyone associated with the electoral process – including the electorate themselves.

Will she stand by these comments and follow them through to their logical conclusions? Ireland goes to the polls today, using a system even more proportional than that in Scotland. France is also about to go to the polls to elect its parliament, having just elected a new president, using a run-off system than provides more choice and proportionality than the system used to elect Ms Moffat. Can we expect her next week to stand up in the ‘Mother of Parliaments’ and compare Ireland’s Taoiseach and the French Premier Ministre to the Führer of the Nazi regime? Better that she stand before the House and make an unequivocal apology, or that some form of disciplinary action is taken against her, before anyone accidentally associates these comments with the beliefs of the wider parliamentary group to which she belongs.

Yours etc

Scottish Olympic Team

Sent to the Herald: 21st May 2007. Not Published.

Dear Sirs,

I see that the First Minister appears to have upset some people by his indicating support for the concept of a Scottish Olympic team (report, 21 May). Not being an athletic runner myself, I shall defer to the knowledge of the meddle winning Lee McConnell if it really is the case that wearing a Union flag enables one to clear hurdles faster than when wearing a Saltire. However, is there some research out there in the field of sports science that would support such a proposition?

Yours for Scotland,

Overshadowed

Sent to the Herald:  17th May 2007.  Not Published.

Sir

In 1997, the referendum on the Scottish Parliament was ‘overshadowed’ by the death of a member of the royal family.

In 1999, the first elections were ‘overshadowed’ by the war in Kosovo.  In 2003, the war in Iraq and the farce of the Parliament building bequeathed by the Scotland Office ‘overshadowed’ the second elections.

Now in 2007 a farce over the electoral system, organised by the Scotland Office, ‘overshadows’ the elections, and the decision not to send a member of the royal family to war ‘overshadows’ the election of the new SNP First Minister.

Under independence the monarchy will be a constitutional triviality, the Scotland Office non-existent, and our country will not involve itself in illegal wars.  With full powers and increasing relevance to improving the lives of Scotland’s peoples, perhaps then the media will allow our Parliament to come out of these shadows and provide the coverage it deserves.

Yours etc

Coalition “Crisis”

Sent to the Herald: 7th May 2007.  Not Published. 

Sir

The Liberal Democrats’ decision to rule out joining a coalition government (Coalition crisis as LibDems reject bid from SNP, 7th May) is bizarre, if not laughable, given that introduction of PR at Westminster and a claimed support for consensus politics is supposed to be their top priority.  While they are entitled to argue a case against the prospect of independence, to refuse point-blank to discuss the idea of a referendum on the issue, or any process that may deliver more powers to the parliament, is hardly liberal or democratic.

Their real fear is not a referendum, or indeed even independence, but the fact that their credibility would be even more shot to pieces if after a third election of drawing firm lines in the sand, they were seen to abandon these once again. While every other party left some room for negotiations during the campaign, they have deliberately boxed themselves out of government and any chance of delivering their policies or building consensus for a new, progressive government in Scotland.

Throughout all this, the ministerial ambitions of Menzies Campbell and dark hand of Gordon Brown can also be detected.  Attempts by Westminster politicians to micro-manage Scottish politics have led to last Thursday’s result.  Further interventions will only strengthen the resolve of Scottish voters to reject London control and move our parliament, and country, forward to independence.

Yours etc