Fitaloon at MicroShaft

The Tories and the SNP have a reasonable relationship now in Scotland and with the Referendum having to be shelved fore the moment the Tories  have a chance to build on this relationship as they move into Government.

David Cameron has been addressing the Tory Conference in Perth and has promised.

“That will signal the beginning of a new relationship, a fresh start, based on mutual respect,” he will say, adding: “It will be good for Scotland, good for Britain and good for the Union.”

Mr Cameron will also say he takes seriously the recommendations of the Calman Commission – which called for more powers for the Scottish Parliament – and wants to make devolution stronger.

“Not just because it is a weapon against the Nationalists’ obsession with independence – but because devolution should be central to our whole political approach,” he will say.

“Today we are the party that passionately believes that local is best, the party that knows that the more power people have, the more responsible they become, the more fulfilled they are – we are the party of decentralisation.”

Please, this is the way to go in Scotland.

BBC News – David Cameron promises ‘fresh start’ with SNP.

Sure to be much wailing and gnashing of Teeth from the SNP at this story. The BBC has this

Scotland’s deputy first minister has written a letter of support for a man who could be jailed over benefit fraud.

Nicola Sturgeon asked the court to consider “alternatives to a custodial sentence” in the case of Abdul Rauf.

The 60-year-old, who is a constituent of Ms Sturgeon, defrauded £80,000 from the Department of Work and Pensions.

Labour said she had made an “appalling error of judgement” and should resign. The SNP said her representations on behalf of a constituent were routine.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard how Rauf admitted failing to declare a property in Newington, Edinburgh, worth £200,000 on his application for income support.

He subsequently received £650 a month in rent while he claimed the benefits between 2001 and 2006.

At the same time he was living in a £400,000 house in Glasgow’s Maxwell Park area.

When the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) later discovered that he owned the Edinburgh property Rauf said he did not declare it as it had “slipped my mind”.

Oops, major Sturgeon fail.

BBC News – Minister intervenes in fraud case.

A visit to Culloden in Summer 2009. The visitor centre there is superb and well worth an extended Visit and the GPS enabled guide round the battlefield they provide is a great idea.

Of course you don’t want to have anything to do with the those nasty Nats who may be sponsoring free trips to Culloden in case they  indoctrinate you with a ‘narrow nationalist’ view of Scots history.

Tom Harris has observed something that has been very evident out in the Blogging World ever since Kenny MacAskill released Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on “compassionate” grounds.  Yes ,many  SNP bloggers and commentators are  behaving like snippy SNP’s, nothing you say or do is right unless you agree with the Sainted Kenny.

I have already said that I agree with his decision but just not his reasons so I haven’t been that bothered with them either here or elsewhere, but others who have dared to comment or argue about the case have been the subject of at  times what seems like co-ordinated bad-mouthing from some sections of the SNP. It’s almost as if they have something to hide….

Disagree with MacAskill? Then you’re not ‘right’ | And another thing….

Alex Salmond Posturing

I see that Parliament’s standards commissioner has asked Alex Salmond to explain why he claimed £790 towards the legal costs of trying to impeach then PM Tony Blair.

In 2004 Scottish and Welsh nationalist MPs tried to impeach Mr Blair accusing him of misleading Parliament over Iraq.

Labour MSP Lord Foulkes complained to John Lyon that public money should not be used for “party political” purposes. This is what I said back on the 19th June:

I see that the nice Mr Salmond and his SNP party has been stealing from us, the taxpayers of this country, by trying to have that nice Mr Blair impeached. Whilst this might have been a “good cause” at the time, I don’t see why the taxpayer should fund this sort of party political posturing. I assume that this money will be repaid.

Apparently  a spokesman for Mr Salmond – Scotland’s first minister – said he and other MPs involved had been

“Extremely proud of the action they took  and that the vast majority” of people believed the war to be “illegal and immoral”.

Well once you have a majority government Mr Salmond then you can do this, until then stop the party politics on OUR money.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Salmond queried over legal fees.