Fitaloon at MicroShaft

In all the hoo-haa about Bigotgate this was overshadowed. The SNP must be hopping that the £50,000 they raised to help their case resulted in little or no media attention and even less public exposure. Basically they have pissed the money up against a wall in a failed publicity stunt.

My feeling has always been that the debates shouldn’t be shown in Scotland on Normal (This is not a bigoted comment, honest) TV. If you really wanted to watch them they would be on Free to View channels or the regional channels you can pick up if required. The exclusion of the SNP gives undue advantage to other parties.

Stupidly though the SNP didn’t do this early enough as they tried to use the court case as a publicity event rather than a true attempt to ensure fairness in Scotland. They have paid the price for this, both on the ruling, and on the lack of publicity.

The ruling was as follows:

In her ruling, Lady Smith said the SNP’s demands would lead to

“wholesale disruption”

to the series of debates and would leave viewers with an

“incomplete picture”.

She stated:

“Whether one compares the debates to three rounds of a boxing competition, a three-course meal, a play in three acts or any similar convenient analogy, the planned event that is the series of leadership election debates is now two-thirds of the way through and has, thus far, taken place according to plan.”

The Nationalists are still seeking a judicial review of the decision to hold the debates between the leaders of the three main UK parties, with a two-day hearing due to take place in June.

SNP fails in Scottish court bid to block prime ministerial TV debate – Press & Journal.

During the Defence in the World debate yesterday in Parliament we saw the usual mixture of MP’s attending the debate, a reasonable amount of Conservatives who made a number of speeches, a few Labour MP’s who have big items due up in the Defence Budget , but when we get to the minor parties what do we see, let Andrew Murrison have the first words:

Andrew Murrison (Shadow Minister, Defence; Westbury, Conservative)

It is a pleasure to commence the wind-ups at such an early hour. We have had a series of good contributions-a total of 11 from right across the House-and, although I tend to get rather cynical sometimes, especially after six hours of sitting in the Chamber, I have to say that they have all been of exceptional value. I must add, however, more in sorrow than in anger, that it is a pity that we did not get any Back-Bench contributions from the Liberal Democrats. If they want to be taken seriously on this subject, as on any other, they need to show a bit more interest.

It is particularly good to be debating defence on the Ides of March, perhaps slightly portentously.

Mind you what do you expect from  a party who really don’t know what their policies are. They are a complete waste of space an money.

Second we have the following from Ian Davidson:

Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West, Labour)

Will the hon. Gentleman also recognise that no Members from the Scottish National party are present to make Back-Bench or other contributions? That is also very much to be regretted given the importance of shipbuilding in Scotland.

You might at least have expected Angus Robertson to have something to say considering the importance Defence has to his constituency.

It is a pleasure to commence the…: 15 Mar 2010: House of Commons debates (TheyWorkForYou.com).

The Caley has been taking a bit of a blasting from the SNP, but this article should have them really boiling over. They seem to have a fatal attraction for anything that hints at them not doing so well in the polls.

Surely at some point they will work out they are having the piss taken out of them….

…. The Cal Merc has this:

SOMETIMES you have to wonder whether our political leaders think before they act.

This morning the Scottish Government issued a consultation on – rabbits.

The consultation seeks views on the welfare of rabbits kept as pets. This does not cover the welfare of rabbits farmed for food, oh no, that will doubtless be the subject of something bigger and more substantial.

In the scale of the Scottish Government’s £30 billion budget, it probably doesn’t amount to much more than a hill of lettuce leaves, but the fact that officials believe this is a good thing to be spending money on at this time does seem out of touch, at the very least.

Labour certainly seem to think so.

Ian Davidson, Labour MP for Glasgow South West, said: “I don’t know why lemmings are so concerned about rabbits.
“We are coming out of the worst economic crisis since the Second World War but it seems to have escaped the attention of SNP ministers.
“Their job is to help get people back into work. Instead of cutting teacher numbers or cancelling vital capital investment, they are worrying about rabbits.
“They’ll probably want a referendum on the outcome of their consultation.”

Rabbiting on | Caledonian Mercury – Politics.

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.