SNP 'would nullify 40-seat Tory lead' per BBC News

'Even if the Tories are the largest party, if there is an anti-Tory majority, my offer to Labour is to work together to keep the Tories out," Scotland's first minister said.

When pressed on whether that would apply even if Labour had secured "10, 20, 30, 40" fewer seats than Mr Cameron's party, she replied: "Governments in the House of Commons are about who can command a majority."If there is an anti-Tory majority, yes... we would work with Labour to stop the Tories getting into Downing Street."'

I forsee a political crisis if this happens.

Maybe a refusal by Conservative voters in London and the South East to pay for the policies of a Labour SNP government would be in order?

George Galloway attacks SNP's hatred of other opinions - BBC Question Time

'Gorgeous George Galloway attacks the way the SNP have a hatred of views that are not the same as theirs, in particular backing up Nigel Farage's recent visit to Scotland, and how he was attacked by SNP activists, bringing shame to Scotland, especially as the SNP leader Alex Salmond backed the protesters.

Recorded from BBC Question Time, 13 June 2013.'

Oh my word, I agree with George Galloway on something, I feel dirty.


Of course our reasons are different...and there's nothong 'gorgeous' about George Galloway.SNP

Scottish independence: Leak reveals SNP fears over finances - UK Politics - UK - The Independent

The Independent reveals that:

'The Scottish government was accused of "covering up" its private fears that it would struggle to pay its bills if next year's referendum produces a vote in favour of breaking away from the United Kingdom.

Fresh acrimony was injected into the independence campaign after the leak of a paper by John Swinney, the SNP finance minister, which warned colleagues that the nation's finances – and its ability to afford pensions and public services - would be imperilled by fluctuating oil prices and the cost of an ageing population.

He said the cost of collecting taxes would soar and defence spending would have to be trimmed if Scotland went it alone.

Mr Swinney said: "Demographic pressures will increase the demand for existing public services, particularly but not exclusively in health. Spending on state pensions and public sector pensions is also driven by demographics and is set to rise."'

"A price worth paying"?

Is the price of releasing al-Megrahi, in order to oil the wheels of deals between Libya and UK companies including BP, actually possible future terrorist acts in the UK? That is the prospect that The News of The World raises this morning as it reports that:

"BRITAIN was facing the likelihood of an increased terror threat last night — after America’s CIA chiefs threatened to stop sharing vital intelligence with us following the Lockerbie bomber’s release.

...

... the fallout following the bomber’s release has now worsened with the CIA threat to stop sharing information on terrorists gathered by their agents.

They have also warned they may not pass on vital information picked up by their sophisticated eavesdropping satellites.

The Americans are furious at the bomber’s release — and at revelations this week that the Libyans had been told privately that Gordon Brown did not want al-Megrahi to die in jail.

Now senior security sources in Britain have told the News of the World the row threatens to put Britain’s security at risk.

They say American intelligence was vital in Operation Pathway — which thwarted a possible UK al Qaeda operation in April.

It also helped foil the plot to blow up an airplane flying out of Heathrow in 2006.

...

One security source revealed: “A large number of CIA agents are effectively British intelligence officers. They are doing a terribly important job.”

He added that the FBI had joined forces with the CIA to show the US anger. The recent public letter from FBI director Robert Mueller lambasting the bomber’s release was written “because the CIA are so p****d off with us but dare not speak it, so the FBI are doing it instead. That is unprecedented.”"

That's this Labour government for you; compassionate to terrorists and happy to deal with sponsors of terrorism (former and current), whilst seemingly quite content to increase the risks of UK citizens being blown to pieces. Thanks Jack, thanks Peter, thanks Gordon, thanks Tony.

"Clinicians who have assessed Mr Megrahi have commented on his relative lack of symptoms when considering the severity & stage of underlying disease"

"Clinicians who have assessed Mr Megrahi have commented on his relative lack of symptoms when considering the severity and stage of underlying disease."

Now why might that be? Maybe al-Megrahi has considerably more than three months to live. Maybe al-Megrahi's release was due to factors other than his imminent demise.

That quotation is from The Scotsman's article entitled "Medical advice on Libyan bomber 'in doubt'". Here are a few more telling extracts from the article that deserve wider coverage:

""Whether or not prognosis is more or less than three months, no specialist would be willing to say."

The report suggests that only one doctor was willing to support the claim that Megrahi had just weeks to live."

"suggestions that the doctor who gave the prognosis may have been employed by the Libyan government emerged in the report's notes. It said that a professor from Libya had been involved in Megrahi's care and the medical officer who wrote the report had been "working with clinicians from Libya over the past ten months"."

"despite promises that Mr MacAskill will publish "all relevant documentation" once permission has been received from the parties involved, a source close to the justice secretary said this would not include information about the doctor – including his or her name and qualifications."

Seen through the Labour prism

As is generally the case, the BBC are reporting the SNP's victory in the Glasgow East by-election from a Labour point of view.

"SNP stuns Labour in Glasgow East" - "The Scottish National Party has pulled off a stunning by-election victory by winning Glasgow East, one of Labour's safest seats by 365 votes.

The SNP overturned a Labour majority of 13,507 to win with a swing of 22.54%.

The SNP polled 11,277 votes in the contest, while the Tories came third with 1,639 and the Lib Dems, with 915 votes, came fourth.

SNP candidate John Mason said the victory was "off the Richter Scale", while Labour expressed disappointment.

Voter turnout was 42.25%, down on the 48% figure at the last election, with 26,219 votes cast.

The result was declared at Glasgow's Tollcross Leisure Centre in the early hours of Friday, after a re-count was requested by Labour, which won 10,912 votes in the contest."

The SNP victor, John Mason is given a couple of lines to express his views and then it is straight into Labour party navel gazing, complete with the Labour reflex line from Douglas Alexander that his party needed to "learn the lessons" from the "bad result" and from Margaret Curran that "I do believe the Labour Party has to listen and has to hear the message from the people of Glasgow East." Yet again we hear of the need for Labour to listen and learn; surely the public are speaking VERY LOUDLY and what they are saying is "we are sick of you, please go away".

The BBC allocate another few lines to the SNP further down the article before returing to the Labour party prism:

"BBC Scotland's political editor, Brian Taylor, said it was an appalling result for Labour in a constituency it had held in various guises virtually since the party came into existence.

He said: "Will it add to the pressure on Gordon Brown? Of course. Frankly, though, I don't expect him to stand down any time soon.

"He already knew he faced a tough fight. It will, however, increase the trepidation around him."

I decided to look at the other pages devoted to the Glasgow East result and consequences. The page entitled "'Shockwaves' for Labour" although headed "How serious is defeat for Brown?" on the actual page. This page is devoted almost entirely to the effect of the result on the Labour party's fortunes. The next page is entitled "SNP delivers political earthquake" but begins

"Margaret Curran started her campaign in Glasgow East by declaring that the "Labour fightback starts here"."

and is more of a history of the by-election result than anything else and devotes more time to the Labour party than the SNP.


I shall be listening to the Toady/Today programme to see how funereal it is this morning. If James Naughtie is presenting then I forsee much gloom.

'blah'

Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie asked in a written question, how many drug finds there had been in each Scottish prison over the last five years, broken down by type. The reply issued in the name of the SNP Enterprise Minister Jim Mather simply stated: "Blah."

Pretty much sums up Labour and SNP governments approaches to answering questions.