Tories Win in West Aberdeenshire EU Vote

I hear the Tories have won in West Aberdeenshire in the EU vote. This is great news.

Statement from Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell:

“On the basis of tonight’s European results, Conservatives are winning again across Scotland, taking seats like Edinburgh South, East Renfrewshire and Dumfries & Galloway from Labour and Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk and West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine from the Liberal Democrats. This European election result is a disaster for Labour in Scotland. It only emphasises that the choice at the next Westminster election is between a tired and failing Labour Government or a rejuvenated Conservative Party. Only the Conservatives can remove Labour from Downing Street."

This is a good reflection of the hard work being put into Scotland. Here in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Alex Johnstone is putting in a huge amount of work and it is obviously paying off. Let us hope it is reflected in the coming (shortly?) General Election.

Some Light Reading from David Cameron at the Guardian

David Cameron has four articles in the Guardian tonight at A New Politics which is on the Comment is Free site.

The first article is entitled We need a massive radical redistribution of Power and starts out

Adding his voice to the Guardian debate, the Conservative leader argues today that public fury at the MPs' expenses scandal points to deep problems in the British political system, and calls for restoring local control in the spirit of glasnost

In it David Cameron argues that

The anger, the suspicion and the cynicism – yes, with politics and politicians, but with so much else – are the result of people's slow but sure realisation that they have very little control over the world around them, and over much that determines whether or not they'll live happy and fulfilling lives.

The second article is entitled Democratic accountability and starts out

From local to central government, the driving principle of Conservative reform will be from the powerful to the powerless

In this Cameron says

But it's not just by decentralising power and reforming parliament that we can redistribute power away from an over-mighty executive. We need to end the culture of sofa government, where ­unaccountable spin doctors in No 10 – whether it's Alastair Campbell or Damian McBride – toss around ideas and make up policies not to meet the national interest but to hit dividing lines or fit the news cycle.

The third article is entitled The Post-Bureaucratic Age and starts out

Where the information revolution meets progressive Conservatism, people will control the things that matter to them

In the article David says

The lack of power and control people experience from politics was barely tolerable when times were good. But now times are hard and people are on the receiving end of wage cuts, job losses, negative equity, home repossessions and rising crime – and revelations about their rulers' behaviour, which has disgusted them. They are furious and finally demanding big change. Big change and a new politics is exactly what people can expect from a new Conservative government. We'll begin a massive redistribution of power in our country from the powerful to the powerless – from the political elite to the man and woman in the street.

The fourth and last article is entitled Electoral Reform and starts out

We'll consider fixed-term parliaments, but not proportional representation, as many in the Guardian series have demanded.

In it Cameron has a go at the current Government and its, and our, unelected leader

We also need to look seriously at the immense power prime ministers wield through their ability to call an election whenever they want. I know there are strong political and moral arguments against fixed-term parliaments. Political – because there's nothing worse than a lame-duck government with a tiny majority limping on for years. And moral – because when a prime minister has gone into an election and won it promising to serve a full term, but then hands over to an unelected leader halfway through, the people deserve an election as soon as possible. These arguments are of course particularly relevant today

I would recommend that anyone of any political persuasion reads these and has a think about what they mean.

You may agree or disagree with them, you may or may not believe that any party, far less a Conservative party, could be able to put them into being, they may make you angry or happy, they may even get you interested, if so they have achieved their aim and made you think about what is going on in the UK at the moment and make you want to do something about it.

Only when most of us want to do something about the current state of this country will it happen. Politicians themselves don't make anything happen, the truly good politicians though, might just get us pointed in the right direction, and get us back on our feet and believing in this once great nation.

A new politics: blueprint for reforming government | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

How to do an Attack Video - Nothing Britsh about the BNP

This is how to do a proper attack video compared to Labour's inept attempts.

The British National Party likes to hide its true nature behind lots of policies that many people agree with. It's true that many of the big parties are failing but there's a horrible truth at the heart of the BNP. The BNP is a racist party that wants to build an All White Britain. Here's a key quote from the BNP leader Nick Griffin:

“I want to see Britain become the 99 per cent genetically white country she was just eleven years before I was born, and I want to die knowing that I have helped to set her on a course whereby her future genetic makeup will one day not even resemble that of January 1948, but that of July 1914. Nothing will ever turn me from working towards that final vision.”

The BNP wants to deport non-whites from Britain. First voluntarily, it says, but it would soon create a climate of fear for all people of a different skin colour. There's nothing British about that.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS VIDEO TO YOUR FRIENDS + SIGN THE ANTI-BNP PETITION

This is a campaign against the politics of discrimination, segregation and racial supremacy started by Tim Montgomerie and James Bethell.

There's Nothing British About the BNP

Red Faces for Labour - beaten by Greens and BNP

On the first anniversary of the disaster of making Gordon Brown their Leader, Labour has another disaster as they come 5th in the Henley by-election, beaten by the Greens and the BNP. The coffers of Labour will also be a bit shorter as they have lost their deposit as well. Mustn't chortle., well not too loudly.

Now playing: Norah Jones - Broken
via FoxyTunes
Result

John Howell: Conservative 19,796

Stephen Kearney: Lib Dems 9,680

Mark Stevenson: Green 1,321

Timothy Rait: BNP 1,243

Richard McKenzie: Labour 1,066

Chris Adams: UKIP 843

Tories outpolled Lib Dems more than 2:1

C 56.95% (+3.46)
LD 27.85% (+1.84)
Grn 3.80% (+0.54)
BNP 3.58% (dns)
Lab 3.07% (-11.68)
UKIP 2.43% (-0.07)

BBC NEWS | Politics | Conservatives hold on to Henley

Rifkind: How the Irish No Vote may help the Tories

Malcolm Rifkind on the Irish No vote in a European Affairs discussion last week.

I have highlighted the most important point which is that the No Vote may delay the ratification of the treaty beyond the length of the current Labour Government. The Conservatives will then be free to put the Lisbon Treaty to a Referendum. We can only hope this is true and the public can have their promised vote.

The hon. Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh) ended her speech with a quotation; perhaps I may begin with one from many years ago. G. K. Chesterton said:

"The golden age of the good European is...a place where people will love each other; not...a place where they will be each other."

Although he was clearly not envisaging the European Union, there is a resonance between his words and the debate here and throughout Europe on the kind of Europe that we are trying to create. Is it a Europe of close co-operation, close friendship and close amity with the wider world, or a Europe that is constantly seeking further integration with some distant aspiration and ideal? Debates in Britain and elsewhere in Europe increasingly show that the wider public simply do not give their consent to the more integrated type of Europe that many of its founding fathers assumed would be Europe's destiny, and to which many in Europe, particularly continental Europe, still aspire.

Let me comment on some of the conclusions and implications that we ought to draw from the referendum in Ireland. My first point is potentially of domestic significance. If the Irish Government were to propose holding a second referendum at some future date, it would, at the very least, mean a major delay before final implementation of the new treaty; that would be an unavoidable consequence of the Irish saying that they wished to hold a second referendum. It would be perhaps another year, a year and a half, or even two years before all countries could ratify. Before then, there will almost certainly be a United Kingdom general election. If that led to a change of Government, one consequence would be that even if the treaty had been ratified in the United Kingdom, if it had not come into effect because an Irish referendum had not yet taken place, an incoming Conservative Government could reopen the whole issue by calling a referendum. That was not true until last week. Even if we had ratified, we could de-ratify if the treaty had not yet come into effect.

I have made clear my view that it would be absurd for a future Conservative Government to hold a referendum if the treaty had already come into effect; that would be a pointless exercise, and would be wrought with great difficulties. If, however, the treaty had not come into effect because the Irish had not ratified, my Front-Bench colleagues would be perfectly entitled to say, "The United Kingdom made a commitment that the British would have a choice", and that the matter should not simply be up to the Government." That is a profound consequence of what happened last week.

Conservative peers try to stall Lisbon treaty Bill

I can only wish them well in their task for the day. As the Times says

The Conservatives will table an unusual motion today urging that the third reading of the European Reform Treaty Bill, due tomorrow afternoon, be delayed, probably until the autumn.

They are seeking the support of Liberal Democrat, crossbench and even rebel Labour peers to back the measure, arguing that they would not be stopping ratification altogether but delaying it while Ireland and Europe decide what to do next.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, flew back from the foreign ministers' meeting yesterday to tell the Commons that the Government believed ratification should continue as planned.

Conservative peers try to stall Lisbon treaty Bill as Ireland seeks more time - Times Online

David Davis: he may strike a chord

Matthew Parris writing in the Times today generally makes a lot of sense and his article about David Davis is no exception. He is one of the few in the Westminster Village who is finally beginning to see what many of the others have ignored.

The problem with the "Village" is it is very inward looking and closed to "outsiders" very like a typical remote rural village. It does not like behaviour that does not follow protocol and custom and while, a little eccentricity is expected, major deviations are frowned upon and the "deviant" is quickly ostracised for daring to step outside the norm.

The trouble with this mentality is that when something different does happen, like say television arriving in a remote area, it is regarded with great suspicion and decried as being "dangerous" and a threat to the normal expected behavior, whilst, outside of the village it is looked upon as the more normal way of life.

So when an MP decides that Principles are more important to him than his career and money, he is immediately looked on as crank, derided as being egotistical etc etc. You only have to look at the vapid gushings of Nick Robinson for an example of what I mean.

Yet outside the village most people have been more than impressed to finally see a man, in particular an MP stand up and say enough is enough we must take action. The number of people from all sides of the fence who have said they would Vote for Davis is extraordinary.

Will all of this, though, help Davis in his mission to expose the stunning lack of respect this Labour Government has for our Liberties, its arrogance in saying it knows best about what is good for us.

At the moment I think that really depends upon how the leaders of the two main political parties react in the coming days to this threat. If David Cameron takes up the challenge and gets right behind Davis,I think this will turn out as good boost to Tory fortunes in the next election, never mind what actions are taken by Labour. If he doesn't do this he will have passed up an opportunity to impress the British voters that he is a more honest, and dare I say it, principled future Leader of this nation.

For Gordon Brown, currently hiding away in his bunker, it is as usual a quandary. If he ignores the challenge then he will again be derided as a "bottler" never willing to take up a fight. If he takes up the challenge then he will undoubtedly be beaten in the by-election, but if he at least fought this on the merits of his case he might earn some sort of respect, which he has lost, with the British Public.

Of course as Matthew Parris says it might all blow over into a damp squib from which David Davis emerges as as a diminished and broken politician. I only hope this is not the case but that he emerges from it with the knowledge that he has helped Britain get rid of this dangerous and dying Government. He will at least know that he has galvanised the public into thinking about what is happening to Britain under Gordon Brown.

------------
Now playing: Amy MacDonald - Run
via FoxyTunes

David Davis: he may strike a chord | Matthew Parris - Times Online

Scotland’s nationalists can afford to relax

An interesting article in the Financial Times, from Harry Reid former editor of the Herald, saying that Scotland's nationalists can afford to Relax.

I have to agree with his starting paragraph when he says:

Serenity is not a word often associated with politics, particularly nationalist politics. But since the Scottish National party won its dramatic victory in the Scottish parliamentary elections five months ago, Scotland has been a serene place. Less fractious, more relaxed.

Scotland seems to be happy to be ruled by a party that genuinely has Scotland foremost in it's mind rather than always having to look to London for oversight. It has also been helped by a good degree of consensual help by most of the parties during the start of what could have been a difficult time for the Scottish Parliament, in this they have been helped by the fact that the Scottish Labour party is in disarray and disbelief that Scots should have turned their back on them. Happily this has meant them not being much of a force in Parliament during the first, possibly rocky, months.

Harry also continues with what has undoubtedly been the strongest part of the SNP government, that they have realised that we need no more legislation. He says:

The secret of the governing party’s success so far is that it has concentrated on effective administration rather than legislation. Scotland, like the UK as a whole, had suffered a surfeit of legislation from Labour, some of it ill thought-out and ill drafted. This was a particular problem in Scotland, where there is no second chamber to refine and improve poorly considered and rushed legislation. Even the SNP’s enemies concede that the loss of the imperative to legislate has had a benign effect.

The one blot on the landscape, is that which is at the heart of the SNP, Independence, I don't think that Scotland is quite ready for it. It needs a few more years of decent government from all parties before the country as a whole has the confidence to go it alone. It needs confidence that it has the people, the energy (in more ways than one) , the Businesses and in addition the belief that we will not lose out if we go it alone.

There are also a few rumblings that things may not be so easy for the SNP over the next few months. These have culminated in the vote against the SNP's record on implementing its manifesto. By 70 votes to 48, MSPs voted to recognise that the SNP was elected on the basis of promises it failed to keep and called on ministers to make a statement on why its pre-election promises are no longer government policy. It will also likely have to deal with receiving much less of a rise in spending from the Labour Government when the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) is announced next week, a rise of less than 2% is expected contrasted with rises of above 5% in the past 3 years. This may be balanced against the gaining of 900m pounds not spent in previous years that will be released to Scotland.

These will be problems that the SNP has to face over the Winter, but if they continue as they have started then they will probably rise over these setbacks. There is also the point that none of the other major parties are really ready to force the point at Holyrood at the moment as they are unlikely to achieve anything by forcing setbacks on the SNP apart from a backlash from the public who voted for a change of government.

You might wonder why a Conservative voter is looking at the SNP and saying your doing well and bring on Independence. I do as well, sometimes, but I am foremost Scottish and then Conservative, I believe that Scotland is strong enough to run itself. It has unique challenges and options that are not now best served by a Central Government in London. What the SNP has shown is that different parties and people can work together to get what is best for Scotland and this must remain the most important thing that a Scottish Government must do.


FT.com / Comment & analysis / Comment - Scotland’s nationalists can afford to relax

Bruce Luffman and Marcus Humphrey Retain their seats.

My local Conservative councillors have both retained their seats, Congratulations. Aberdeenshire Council - Elections - Ward -

How to Vote in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine

The above picture(Click to enlarge) show you how to vote in the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency for elections to the Scottish Parliament, for Stuart Whyte and the List vote, and also for the Local Government Elections in Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Upper Donside for Bruce Luffman and Marcus Humphrey.

So if you are at all confused just follow the above instructions and all will be well.

Remember not to to fold your voting slips.

This is a follow onto to the entry here about Labour dying in Scotland.

Monteith and the Tory Party

Earlier this week I blogged, how, under the leadership of Annabel Goldie the Tories are now the only major party with a realistic cash plan for the Scottish Elections, according to Professor Midwinter.

Well I thought I'd just contrast that with how well the last cash plan shaped under Brian Monteith, who appears, to be as usual trying to put a spanner in the works. Under Mr Monteith's budget Professor Midwinter was scathing as he concluded

"The Conservatives’ budgetary arithmetic does not add up, with a shortfall in their planned savings of around £670 million.

"This DIY approach to public accounting is not good enough.

"The Conservatives need to master the basics of the financial system they aspire to manage. This is a poorly costed programme, which will be difficult to implement without further cuts in public spending, to compensate for the missing £856 million in the current calculations."

Contrast that with what Midwinter had to say about the current plan.

The Tories are the only party to give "modest, fully costed proposals", rather than making "fiscally irresponsible" assumptions. Despite being a vociferous critic of the fiscal policies of the Thatcher government, Prof Midwinter praises the party for setting realistic goals for efficiency savings and costing promises made on issues like crime and education.

He wrote: "This is quite simply the most transparent and realistic set of policy and financial proposals I have read in the lead-up to the current election and far superior to the creative accounting and rosy assumptions in the policy statements of the other major opposition party, the SNP."

So what is Monteith doing now.

According to Scottish Tory Boy, he is briefing, again, against his own party. Have a look here or here.

He also has tried to undermine the Tories at ContinuityIDS, both under his own name and a few others as required.

One wonders if he is not a tad upset about the fact that he got found out when he was cheating us on Taxi Fares after ratting on his leader as the Scotsman said at the time

"I doubt there will be anyone within the group shedding tears over this. We all knew Brian had an enormous taxi bill while he was attacking David over his taxi use and accounts, so perhaps he should have been a little more circumspect - but that's never been Brian's strong suit." - SOURCE WITHIN TORY PARTY

Scotsman.com News - Conservative Party - £850m 'black hole' in Tories' finance