the wilted rose

As someone from an Ulster-Scots heritage, I naturally take a keen interest in political events in Scotland, my country of ancestry, (and I’ve always fancied taking up an academic post at a university in Glasgow) but, while I admire Alex Salmond and am delighted by the SNP’s meteoric rise at the expense of Labour, I’m a unionist.

One of my first posts in this blog last August was on Jack McConnell’s appointment as High Commissioner to Malawi and Wendy “Bring it On” Alexander’s ‘heir apparency’ and forthcoming coronation as Leader of Labour’s MSPs.  Now, as a journalist from the Daily Herald said on Sky News, Wendy has given Sub-Prime Minister Brown a ‘late anniversary present’. I read about her resignation on my mobile’s WAP so I couldn’t wait to get home to see what my favourite SNP bloggers had to say about this matter.

As Tartan Hero points out,

Wendy Alexander is expected to announce within the next hour that she is standing down as leader of the Scottish Labour group in the Scottish Parliament. The final straw appearing to be the one day ban being proposed by the Standards Committee for her failure to register donations to her non-leadership campaign last Summer.

And J. Arthur MacNumpty says:

she has “become the story” regarding the donations scandal.

She had become the story in December, but the whispers have got too much. The referendum row didn’t help, and her performance at FMQs made things worse. The one-day ban turned out to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Julie Hepburn, the next SNP MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, hasn’t yet posted on the subject – but her response will be, as always, good – but only 6 weeks ago she responded to Wendy’s call for the SNP to “Bring it On” (i.e. a referendum):

Who could have predicted such an astonishing U-turn from Wendy Alexander? This is the woman who has for years told us again and again that the people of Scotland did not deserve the right to choose their own future in a democratic referendum. For her, such an opportunity was a mere distraction from the ‘real’ issues. She subscribed to the patronising view that Labour – and the other unionist parties – were better placed than the people of Scotland to decide what was in our best interests.

Suddenly, in a cynical and desperate attempt to ‘outflank’ the SNP, she has given us exactly what we want. We want the people of Scotland to be given the chance to have their say on the future of this country, in a democratic referendum on independence. The people of this country have never had the opportunity to choose independence in such a vote, and it is long overdue.

Brown is against a referendum so it will be interesting to see how Wendy’s successor (if there is anyone left to take on the job) will handle this sensitive issue.  

The next SNP MP for Gordon (i.e. the constituency for which Mr Salmond is an MSP), Richard Thompson, reckons:

Labour is trying to blame the SNP for this – everyone, in fact, but themselves. This is cant, pure and simple. Wendy and her team were the architects of their own misfortune, and the briefing against her came from within her own party throughout. I’ve no doubt that she’s pretty bright, certainly by the standards of her colleagues, but ultimately, it’s her unfortunate personal style, lack of attention to detail and inability to take others with her that has been her political undoing.

No post so far from Glasgow Central’s next SNP MP, Osama Saeed, (incumbent Labour MP Mohammad Sarwar, who voted for 42 days, is retiring and has lined up his son to stand in this seat), but late last year Mr Saeed commented on Wendy’s donorgate scandal:

Wendy has not just disgraced her own office, but has potentially jeopardized the probity of politics for a long time by not resigning. It has been said that she and Charlie Gordon were going to resign, but were told by HQ in London not to because of the reverberations. If this wasn’t actually what happened, Charlie Gordon made his own very clever moves too. He deflected calls for a by-election by saying he’d make a statement on his future later in the week. End of the week came, and he had nothing to say. Media had lost interest by then. The world moved on.

And finally some words of wisdom from ASwaS last month, which makes me think maybe Brown pushed Wendy because she contradicted him:

This isn’t going to end well. Gordon and Wendy have now contradicted each other too publicly for there not to be some kind of politically violent resolution. This is elevating the issue from a Scottish one to a UK-wide one that threatens the integrity – not to mention credibility – of an already vulnerable Prime Minister.

Alex Salmond will certainly be smiling at Wendy’s ‘late anniversary present’ to Brown, since the SNP should be in a position to win the Glasgow East by election, especially on a 40% turnout (typical of by-elections) – and if Elaine C. Smith – who played Rab C. Nesbitt’s wife – is the SNP candidate.

The Scottish Parliament seat of Glasgow Ballieston is the nearest equivalent and here are the 2007 results:

Margaret Curran (Lab) 9,141
Lachlan McNeill (SNP) 5,207 (+11.2)
Richard Sullivan (C) 1,276
David Jackson (LD) 1,060
George Hargreaves 588

A high SNP turnout, disaffected (ex) Labour voters voting SNP, Conservatives & Lib Dems voting tactically (5,000 voted C & LD in 2005 in Glasgow East) could turn this into an SNP Gain.

It could be the Scottish equivalent of Crewe & Nantwich – this should be a rock solid Labour seat, but is vulnerable to an SNP challenge in a by election.

Scotland is supposed to be Labour’s heartland, but it just shows what a mess Brown, Alexander, Darling, Browne and the rest have made.  And they’ve robbed low-income Scots workers by abolishing the 10p tax rate.  Not to mention rising prices. 

And don’t you think it’s ludicrous that in a net oil producer like Scotland (billions stolen by Whitehall) Scots people have to pay the absurdly high petrol prices at the moment?  Which wouldn’t be so absurdly high were it not for tax rates on petrol.

In these circumstances, wouldn’t it be crazy if Glasgow East returned anything else other than an SNP MP?