An SNP MP Will Cut Your Local Voice

The SNP are standing as they say at this election your local champions, saying that more Nats will get a stronger voice in Westminster. However, one of the answers from our local SNP candidate throws serious doubt on their ability to achieve that.

One of the questions asked at the Linlithgow hustings last night was is £180,000 in expenses an appropriate amount for an MP. This was £7,000 short of the greatest amount our Labour MP had claimed when he was the UKs most expensive member.

As I pointed out none of the four of us sat at the table would have a say in what was the appropriate limits of your MP's expenses from now on, or on their salaries, this was a matter for an independent commission.

Before me however Tam Smith plucked a figure of £60,000 out of the air. He was going to save money by not running a local constituency office and only holding one surgery a week. It would also appear from that amount that he would be hard pressed to employ more than one member of staff whether that was at Westminster or locally to help him out. He had already agreed with me that answering all the election correspondence by yourself was a time consuming matter, so one wonders just how he would survive on such a tight self imposed restriction.

There are ways to save money under the independent expenses cap and I will be aiming to do that. Booking travel tickets well in advance to save money. Looking for London accommodation that is accessible from Westminster but not necessarily within walking distance of the Commons where rents*are extortionate. So that would be somewhere that is within cycling distance, having cycled in London as a student I know that things have improved since then. I'll also use panniers to carry my papers etc not a chauffeur driven car like David Cameron.

Yes there is a limit, but that is not what you should spend to. You can be frugal within the rules and within the limits and that is what I aim to do if elected. But you also need to provide a suitable level of service to your constituents.

That is why if I am elected on May 6th I will also run a local office. Just the one mind, I don't agree with Michael Connarty that you need two to be able to deal with two different council areas, two health boards, two police authorities etc. You merely need staff that are able to pinpoint which part of the constituency someone is in and deal with the correct authority. I think it is important to have a staffed local office so that local constituents do not have to call a London or mobile phone number to get hold of you during working hours.

What Tam is looking to do is cut the service you would receive from an MP if he were elected, rather than aim to give you value for money. He is also going to be cutting the effective voice of local people.

* Yes under the new rules I would have to rent once elected, no more buying of second homes.

Tam Smith Plagarises Me and Fails on Facts #LEF

My SNP opponent Tam Smith has just posted a very familiar image on his blog.



Familiar because it is my image used on my blog on 12 April. Also wrong as Tam himself admitted in the radio debate on Thursday, which airs next week on Central FM, that three of us in our contest are opposed to wasting £100bn on replacing trident. So he is trying to gain political capital out of a deliberate distortion of the facts which he's even admitted in public.

As for Michael Connarty's letter to me yesterday, as I blogged yesterday he wrote to me that:

"As someone who has had cause to visit me at one of my regular constituent consultations or contact me by telephone within the past five years, I hope you will agree that I have done my very best to resolve the complaints or problems that you have contacted me with."

On further investigation I've checked that personal details given to the MPs on casework is not allowed to be used for political purposes unless there is some sort of disclaimer to allow their use. As a hoarder of emails going back to the last millennium I have checked that I have never signed such a disclaimer for Michael, or any other MP for that matter.

I've also just noticed that one two occasions the MP who said "I never give up until all avenues have been pursued on your behalf" failed to even acknowledge my concerns on tightening of our libel laws in 2008 or recognising Montgomery Scott Linlithgow's most famous future son. Also on prohibitive parking regulations for Livingston fans at Stirling Albion he failed to take action. As for his agreement with me when he said "I agree" he went through the wrong lobby for me and many other local voters.

Tam Doesn't Get the Social Media Generation

Earlier I blogged about how the SNP had made an epic fail with their "Jim Murphy on Facebook? #EPICFAIL" headline. Well they have just been trumped by my SNP opponent in the General Election Tam Smith. Who has just tweeted:



Being intrigued I followed the link but got this:



Yeah, that's right I get a locked area of his website. Who knows what he was wanting to say about the Labour Secretary of State for Scotland.

I was wondering what his other 11 followers were making of it until I realised how many were backing me.

There is something about glasshouses and stones being thrown inadvisably.

Do Not Be Fooled by Inaction of a Quiet Party

Last summer Stewart Hosie MP the SNP's Treasury spokesman said:

"Hauliers, and motorists in rural areas, have been struggling with forecourt prices for some time, but the recession, and now Alistair Darling's plans to increase fuel duty even further are the final straw.

"A road fuel regulator would see any extra cash raised from VAT on higher pump prices go straight back into an equivalent cut in fuel duty.It would give a real lifeline to Scotland's hauliers who are unable to plan effectively for the future because they do not know what the price of fuel will be."

In the European elections the SNP said:

"The SNP is the only party offering a strong voice for Scotland in Europe.

"Only an SNP voice in Europe will put Scotland's economy and Scotland's industries at the forefront of European debate and see Scottish issues represented in Europe."

They also have a voice in Westminster, so how did they use that voice today? Well as Andrew Reeves points out today there was a prime time for Stewart Hosie to make those feelings about Scottish hauliers and motorists heard. Alistair Carmichael the Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland brought a debate to Westminster Hall on fuel prices in rural areas. Just the sort of debate that Hosie and his colleagues should have been jumping up and down in, making speeches and interventions, making that voice heard.

Well not as Alistair Carmichael tweeted:

"Good turnout for debate. MPs from all parts of the country. Disappointed no one from the SNP"

Adding as the debate progressed the nature of the issue:

"Several MPs make the point that people in islands have lower incomes and pay more of it for fuel"

Alistair is also Shadow SoS for Northern Ireland so he commented that:

"Three Northern Ireland MPs remind us that this is a problem for them too."

The Lib Dems have for a long time be vocal on this issue and only last month George Lyon Lib Dem MEP called on the UK and Scottish governments to work together to secure a fuel price derogation for the country’s rural and remote areas.

The result of Alistair Carmichael's debate this morning, well as he tweets to this European colleague:

"@georgelyonmep We later got a concession from the minister about examining EU schemes. Can we discuss this some time?"

Liberal Democrats have worked together to get the Minister to look at this issue while the SNP were posted missing through inaction.

Iain Duncan Smith former leader of the Tories said of himself, "do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man". I say today we've learnt just what voice the SNP have for the people of Scotland, it is one that wants to be heard by the people of Scotland in making promises to take action, but when that it comes to getting time to talk about the need for action they fall silent.

Therefore as we head into a Westminster election people should not be fooled by the inaction of a quiet party. They often show they don't care about Westminster, but claim to care about the people, but what when Westminster can actually help them to care for Scotland? Like today.

The SNP are not prepared to make real noise about the needs of Scotland, they only want the voters to think they do so they will vote for them, to give them independence. Then what? Their inaction and quietness speaks louder than....well I would say words...but there were none.

Last autumn our local SNP candidate for Westminster Tam Smith said:

"The Treasury’s tax take on diesel is modern day highway robbery. It is a national scandal that, in an oil rich country like Scotland, we are paying over 30p a litre more than motorists in Romania and Bulgaria.

"Key sectors like the haulage industry are reeling from forecourt costs, and Alistair Darling must use his Pre-Budget report next month to bring down the cost of fuel.

"A strong haulage industry is a vital part of our economy. Scottish hauliers are being put at a huge competitive disadvantage by this, and the prices just seem to go up and up and up. The fact is that soaring fuel prices are actually hindering economic recovery from recession."

Yet his colleagues failed to use their opportunity today to point out the issues facing rural Scotland, that many of them represent. Thankfully for the people of Wales Plaid Cymru did not take their position so lightly as the SNP did. But the SNP in Government in Holyrood or in Westminster seem so determined and focused on one goal they forget to take necessary steps along the way, when the time is right.

Yes sending Tam to Westminster would bring about a change but by the inaction of his would be colleagues over an issue that affects many Scots that would not be a change for the better, nor the needed change that the people of Linlithgow and East Falkirk need.

Deeper Cuts of the PBR

I'd thought that local SNP candidate Tam Smith would have learnt his lesson and stopped taking attributed quotes to other SNP spokespeople as his own. Sadly I see I've been proved wrong this time he is Michael Matheson MSP on the health committee.

However, the point that Tam raised about how the National Insurance hike will affect the NHS is valid one. As I blogged during and after last week's pre-budget report the pre-budget was full of regressive rather than progressive tax measures. Both the return of VAT to 17.5% and the increase of National insurance are leading to a high proportion of our poorer people paying a considerable amount in tax.

Obviously the rise in National Insurance will have an impact on all employers as their increase is payments is more than that which comes directly out of the employees pay. Those that are public employees obviously are taxing Peter to pay Paul. The SNP are saying that Darling National Insurance proposals equate to £44m out of the NHS Scotland budget. I'm not going to dispute that. Tam breaks that down to £5.99 million and £2.33 million in NHS Lothian and NHS Forth Valley respectively.

That is a considerable part out of the budget of services that Labour say they will be protecting as front line services in England. But of course in the devolved powers that is budgeting that is done by the devolved powers. There are less other departments from which they can draw on resources, because not all areas have a devolved equivalent.

Darling can put a freeze on the top earners in public services to help with that deficit, but elsewhere a cut in top salaries is the step beyond that. Indeed that is the point that Tavish Scott has been making in order to protect our key front line services.

Labour are clearly not thinking of all the implications of their taxing proposals. They are trying to avoid the headline tax issue of doing something with direct taxation, i.e. Income Tax because they are still trying to win the General Election but not hitting that too hard. But their stealth is starting to hit people hard. 32% of taxable income is now paid in income tax and national insurance by us all. If you were to spend all that you have left on VATable items you would actually pay 42% in tax (and that is only if you do not drive, drink or smoke). Labour are already taxing us heavily and doing it stealthily. As the SNP point out they are also taxing devolved powers in other ways as the sectors that are devolved have a high proportion of wages that have to come out of the budget.

Other SNP Luminaries Speak - Tam Smith

I've been quiet all week, not able to keep an eye on t'internet. So I've only just checked on Tam Smith the SNP candidate for Linlithgow and East Falkirk's website. Since one of my last posts before the crash was looking at Tam's propensity to speak the talk of other SNP luminaries I'm pleased to see other's are now speaking on his blog.

In the last week he appears to have learnt the lesson and is quoting Angus Robertson from this news story. I'm glad to see that honesty has finally come to the SNP candidates website about just who is saying what. I hope that this is a sign of integrity in his campaigning techniques over the coming months.

Although he doesn't seem to have used the quoted in the story that says that Glasgow can end 74 years of Labour neglect that was posted on the SNP site on Wednesday.

"In the last few days Labour’s campaign has collapsed as revelation after revelation has shown up Labour’s hypocrisy.

"In the last four days it has emerged that Labour are planning 4000 job cuts in the city, slashed 300 teaching posts, are withholding £300 million of funding from the Glasgow Commonwealth and are cutting more than 40% of seats on a vital rail link into the city.

"In contrast, the SNP is winning support as we offer a fresh start for the constituency with a strong voice to speak up for Glasgow North East and to stand by the people of this area"

So if the SNP where gaining support and Labour were collapsing, just how bad were they this time last week? After all the end result was a 3:1 difference in support on the night. Was it 4:1, 5:1 just how bad were their canvas returns looking. One has to wonder just what the figures in Alec Neill's pocket were in the STV studio on Thursday night. I witnessed how far off their prediction was at first hand in Glenrothes, remember their similar quotes before Dunfermline and West Fife. Of course in fairness I also saw Labour appear to have got it wrong first hand in Livingston, I'd never seen such faces as long as Lurgan spades from the Labour mob in West Lothian before that night, and that was before the boxes started to arrive.

Tonight Matthew I'm Gonna Be....

....David Kerr candidate for Glgasow North East, John Mason MP for Glasgow East and Stewart Hosie SNP Tresury Spokesman.

Yeah, Tam Smith SNP PPC for Linlithgow and Falkirk East is back at his Rory Bremner act, this time taking on all three without crediting any.

Today he is saying:

"Scotland's banking workers deserves more than a direct line to the breadline. These reforms must not jeapordise jobs in this industry. [Kerr see here]

"As an SNP MP for this area, jobs in Linlithgow & East Falkirk, and in the city of Edinburgh [said about Glasgow North East here*], which have a direct impact on this consitueency[sic], will be my top priority and I will speak up strongly and loudly against any threat to them.

"Since Tuesday's announcement voters on the doorsteps in Bo'ness, where I am campaigning on behalf of Ann Ritchie in the local by-election have been telling me that frontline workers should not pay the price for the problems their bosses caused.

"It is clear the best way to secure a strong future for jobs in West Lothian and Falkirk district in financial services is to send an SNP MP to Westminster to speak up for this constituency and to speak up for our jobs.

"The UK Government is the main owner of these banks and any sell off that puts this constituency's jobs or Scotland's economy at risk is unacceptable." [Compare those two paragraphs with John Mason's words here]

Tam Smith continued [apparently]:

"We must have competition in our banking sector but the potential loss of local branches and uncertainty of ordinary workers in financial services is worrying for many. [Make that Mason]

Retail workers in our banks are already facing up to job losses. A vote for the SNP will tell the UK Government that West Lothian and Falkirk District's workers will not pay for Labour's broken economy." [Make that Hosie]

Let me make it perfectly clear, many people who live in Linlithgow and East Falkirk are affected by banking jobs. Some of those that get on and off the bus with me in Edinburgh Park work in some of the banking offices situated there. Lloyds have been instructed to off load Intelligence Finance which could affect the jobs of 300 people employed at Kirkton Campus in Livingston. The 3,700 frontline bank jobs that are being cut by RBS to take 14% off their staff wage bill will undoubtedly affect others.

However, the SNP had at the initial outbreak of the banking crisis pledged money from a fictious Scottish Bank in some future independent Scotland to deal with this situation. The amount they offered was £50m which now seems small fry compared to what was needed. All the while Vince Cable had been warning that the futures of our banks was not sustainable from years before, though like John the Baptist he was ignored and his pleas almost thrown out into the wilderness.

Sadly we have got to a stage where the overstretched banks may need to offload staff to survive and protect the jobs of the majority. Other industries have also gone through that sort of situation over recent months. Not all have had the benefit of a Government injection of money to see them through so the job losses have happened earlier. Rather that merely speaking 'up strongly and loudly against any threat' of job losses, Linlithgow and Falkirk East needs an MP that will look to the future, getting those who have already faced or will face the inevitable into a job. It means encouraging jobs to come to the region, using the skills that our people have got, and a lot of recent redundancies in the area have been in skilled positions.

According to the West Lothian Courier West Lothian and Falkirk are currently ranked equal 10 out of all the Local Authorities in Scotland when it comes to unemployment. At 4.4% it is 0.4% higher than the Scottish average and 0.2% higher than the UK average. There has currently been a slip to 900 vacancies listed at local job centres, but there are 4,651 people claiming Job Seekers Allowance, that is 5 people for every job that is going.

We need to hear of real action to real jobs into the area. We need to utilise the workforce's that have been or are about to lose jobs from some of the firms locally that have been laying them of. People with IT, production and financial skills are here in our area desperate to get back into work. We need to seek out those green shoots when they do appear and persuade companies as they recover that investment here gives them a skilled and dedicated workforce. Skills in some of the sectors that have been hit are transferable to other sectors, there is more to a financial job that just what it says on the time managers, IT workers, accountants, data analysts etc are also amongst those that will be losing their works. But all will have transferable skills.

So rather than a short-sighted narrow view of Smith-Hosie-Mason-Kerr we need to get others to think outside the box, see what is available, see what they can offer. Just like many of us who graduated in the early 90s had to do we had to be imaginative it what we did next, throwing off our narrow pre-conceived ideas of where we were heading.

*Sadly again on the De Havilland subscription site, but check out the key phrases on google.

Tam, Whose Line Is It Anyway?

I was reviewing the website of Tam Smith the SNP PPC for Linlithgow and East earlier, and saw on his website that Tam had commented on the Lib Dem debate on Saturday. His blog article starts:

Commenting on the Liberal Democrats’ special conference held to debate the party’s position on a referendum on independence, the SNP called on all parties to back the right of the Scottish people to have their say on Scotland’s future, with Linlithgow & East Falkirk SNP Candidate Tam Smith saying:

"All parties must endorse the right of the people of Scotland to have their say on Scotland’s constitutional future.

"The Liberal Democrats are deeply divided on the issue and all over the place – it’s impossible to tell what their position will be from one day to the next, never mind one year to the next. The only constant thing about the Lib Dems is that they keep shifting their stance. They should hold to liberal and democratic principles and back the Referendum Bill when it comes forward in 2010."

This is just the first two paragraphs of five in quotation marks which read very familiarly to this blog writer. The reason being I'd quoted and commented on them here, when they had been said in press release and attributed to Dr. Alistair Allan MSP. Also over recent days Tam has written on diesel prices aiding recovery mixing a local paragraph straight into a quote from Angus McNeil MP. Speaking about axing the attendance allowance he morphs into John Mason MP. His comments on the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey he actually taken from the mouth of neighbouring MSP Angela Constance. On the Royal Mail strikes and Peter Mandelson having to answer questions it is the turn of Mike Weir MP to share the exact same thought as Tam.

As you can see he is claiming to say verbatim what these elected members of either parliament are quoted as saying through the SNP's own website. All this fisking in only on the first two pages of the six currently with news content on his site, I suspect if I go back further I'd find more of the same.

As someone who has been putting across the my own Liberal Democrat view in this area since this blog started up in 2005 I too have quoted party spokespersons and their words. However, unlike Tam I will credit those words to the person/s who actually said them not claiming them as my own, I will also express my own views on matters of policy. Strange then that even the words 'spoken' at the launch of his website all point to the one SNP Press Release*.

With no offence to Tam I know he is smarter than just being put up as a monkey with an SNP rosette on. However, whoever is attributing words to him which are attributed to other SNP representatives elsewhere is actually mocking the intelligence of the electorate of Linlithgow and East Falkirk. Tam has commented on my blog, an option not available on his website in any public domain, saying:

"Try out my website and keep up to date with my and the SNP activity. Let me know what you think.Are we right or what."

Well I have, and now you all know. I will be keeping an eye on it to let you know just who Rory Bremner Tam Smith impersonates next.

*This is subscription site but search for any of the key phrase and whoops they all point here.

Website Revamp

There has been a revamp of a website. No not the one all Lib Dems have been talking about, although LibDems.Org.uk does look impressive in its new clothes.

No as I had been saying for some time Tam Smith the SNP PPC for Linlithgow and East Falkirk, well at the start of the month it finally came to life. Not a lot there just now, though Tam appears to be taking me on as a local poitical Tweeter.

However, how obvious is the photo shopping on this picture. The light is coming from opposite directions, the Palace behind Tam's shoulder is his shadow unlike his forehead.

A Bit of a Damp Squib: But a Discussion on MPs Expenses

Multimedia message on 12seconds.tv

Yesterday's weather did put a bit of a dampener on things at yesterday's annual Linlithgow Street fair. Setting up in the rain on an near deserted Main Street is not something I have done before, although on occasion we have taken down in the rain.

So the actual number of residents we saw on this annual event was down on normal. As most of the people out and about were the people manning other stalls who we knew already. One highlight of the day was the cross party cooperation when the SNP's gazebo (the blue on at the start of the video above took off. While I held unto ours Kevin McPhillips our local convenor ran down to help and the Conservative Provost Tom Kerr who was down there at the time all helped to prevent any damage of injury from it fly up the vennel.

Other cross-partyness occurred when Kevin, Tam Smith SNP PPC for Linlithgow and Falkirk East, John Barrett Lib Dem MP for Edinburgh West and myself* were discussing amongst other things MP expenses. John raised the point that he himself is shocked by some of the travel expense claims of some of Scotland's highest claimers who are on the same flights as him (some from very nearby to where this discussion took place). He also find it rather shocking that they can manage to claim more for travel than Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael who only has one BA monopolised route to take him back to his constituency, and then has to use ferrys to get him about in his constituency.

Tam (who I've found out reads this blog) also complained that the attitude of those currently elected will be reflecting badly on those who wish to stand against those currently making big claims, such as himself and the Lib Dem candidate for Linlithgow and Falkirk East. The public perception can only be changed by transparency, this may well be a key election issue in the coming years that I can see being asked of all prospective candidates.

My answer to this question is that if selected for the Linlithgow and Falkirk East seat and if successful in the General Election I should take over Michael Connarty's residence in London plus all the furnishings that he has bought at taxpayers expense. After all the residence and its furnishings were bought for the MP for Linlithgow and Falkirk East not for the personal usage of an individual. The second homes allowance is there to allow MPs from outwith commutable distance of the commons to spend their working weeks somewhere close to their weekday place of work.

We also need the full disclosure of receipts not through the Telegraph and the illegally acquired expenses but as with the Scottish MSPs through the records office at Westminster at the end of the financial year.

It also wouldn't go amiss if 'sorry' was said my at least some MP who's expenses while under one part of the regulations, fail on another as pointed out by John Barrett yesterday. The fact that all claims should be "above reproach" and that "members should avoid purchases which could be seen as extravagant or luxurious."

*That is the other three as seen from left to right in the picture I took.

West Lothian Labour in a Timewarp

Doing a little keeping up with the opposition I see that Labour in West Lothian are still encouraging people to vote for them on 3rd May....2007.

Sadly this is not the first time Labour websites in the area have been way behind. Mind you seeing as Tam Smith the Linlithgow and Falkirk East SNP Westminster PPC's own site is currently not available which at least is better that not updated since January like that of the Tory candidate Andrea Stephenson.

Here Today, But Elsewhere All Week

Having spent a the bulk of my waking hours over the weekend up in Glenrothes. I'm in my paid work today for a one day week, need to get the weekly stats done by 9am New York Time today. Then I'll be blogging light, if at all for the bulk of the rest of the week.

On Saturday we had a meeting of Linlithgow luminaries on the campaign trail. Out in Pitcoudie I ran into the Education Minister Fiona Hyslop and the SNP Westminster PPC for Linlithgow and Falkirk East Tam Smith. Unlike certain campaigners I met the other week this was the good old West Lothian bonhomie. It is now four Westminster by election campaigns this Parliament and in each one I have been on the same street as Fiona Hyslop at least once. Livingston for obvious reasons, in Dunfermline and West Fife while Willie Rennie and Douglas Chapman greeted each other elsewhere in their canvassing teams me and Fiona said hello. On the last Saturday in Glasgow East I was driven past Fiona while she was out canvassing, and then again on Saturday.

Saturday I also saw Annabel Goldie first as she arrived at the Tory HQ next door to ours, as I was being driven out to do some work. Then in Markinch town centre with their candidate Maurice Golden next to our favourite coffee house when we stopped to grab lunch, and finally as she left for the day.

While Caron has been stuck in the office in Markinch I have been out an about. But like her I have yet to run into any Labour campaigners on any of the streets I've been in. I gave seen some evidence of their existence. Leaflets on the mat behind the doors I get to, and yesterday evening in Lochgelly a Labour sticker on the ground. However, I have met on various streets SNP and Tory campaigners. I've even seen a SSCUP (Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party) deliver on my travels. But nowhere have I actually run across a Labour team, or individual actually in real time on the street. Well they have three days yet to make an appearance in my campaign, so I'll let you know on Friday.

I have however pretty much now done the compass points of the Glenrothes constituency. In the north Collydean, to the east Buckhaven and Leven, to the south Kirkcaldy North, looking across the road to Gordon Brown's constituency, and to the west Lochgelly. Though I didn't quite identify the grassy knoll green from where the threat of Sarah Brown's protection detail was aimed at the fourth estate when I travelled through Cardenden en route to Lochgelly.