In the 1970's the SNP became a significant political force and today's popular mythology would have us believe that they were a left-of-centre progressive party. This may have been because of Margo MacDonald, the poster girl for the SNP who fought and won the Govan by-election. She was a genuine champion of social justice. The party as a whole embraced a wide cross-section of political views and the leadership during the 1980s was right of centre, led by Gordon Wilson and with many SNP Councillors and MPs fairly right-wing local businessmen who abhorred any form of socialist enterprise. There were others in this first flush of SNP growth such as George Reid, who has been an excellent speaker of the Scottish Parliament, and Margaret Bain who were far more progressive.
In recent years the SNP has embraced a lurch to the left and Nicola Sturgeon is certainly genuine in her commitment to social justice. Alex Salmond was more AC/DC depending on who he was speaking to and whom he wanted to denigrate at the time. The vast army of voters who switched to the SNP at the last general election came from the left, dismayed at the Labour Party with its drift to the centre under Blair and Brown and the absence of any effective Scottish leadership or direction since the loss of titans like Donald Dewar, John Smith and Robin Cook. The reason that the SNP took power in the Scottish Parliament,
The SNP have been very skilful since becoming the government in 2007 at pilloring Labour for the economic recession, their failure to effectively challenge the Tories on austerity as well as their support for Trident. This played well with the electorate, as did the constant refrain that Scotland's increasingly fragile public services were the result of Westminster's control of tax and spending. Well, that no longer applies and there was the opportunity from the onset of the Scottish government to augment tax by 3p in the pound. Now that these powers have been transferred to the Scottish Government there is no longer any excuse for not protecting services if this is the proclaimed priority of the SNP.
It could be the tipping point for the SNP as they seek to be returned to power in the Scottish election next May. They decided in the Scottish budget not to deviate from the UK tax rates or to allow Councils to raise Council tax to offset the massive cuts they have already made and which will cut even deeper next year. It is time for the SNP to decide whether they are prepared to invest in services or simply continue to shadow the policies of George Osborne. The day of reckoning is approaching and after eight and a half years of SNP rule that has been sustained largely by criticism of the tribal politics at Westminster. They now have to be accountable. Clearly, they are frightened of deviating from the UK too much. After all oil prices are down from the $110 that they predicted prior to the independence referendum to $40, whisky sales are falling and tourism has had a mixed year as visitors from England have thought twice about visiting a country that seems to have turned its back on the UK.
In recent years the SNP has embraced a lurch to the left and Nicola Sturgeon is certainly genuine in her commitment to social justice. Alex Salmond was more AC/DC depending on who he was speaking to and whom he wanted to denigrate at the time. The vast army of voters who switched to the SNP at the last general election came from the left, dismayed at the Labour Party with its drift to the centre under Blair and Brown and the absence of any effective Scottish leadership or direction since the loss of titans like Donald Dewar, John Smith and Robin Cook. The reason that the SNP took power in the Scottish Parliament,
The SNP have been very skilful since becoming the government in 2007 at pilloring Labour for the economic recession, their failure to effectively challenge the Tories on austerity as well as their support for Trident. This played well with the electorate, as did the constant refrain that Scotland's increasingly fragile public services were the result of Westminster's control of tax and spending. Well, that no longer applies and there was the opportunity from the onset of the Scottish government to augment tax by 3p in the pound. Now that these powers have been transferred to the Scottish Government there is no longer any excuse for not protecting services if this is the proclaimed priority of the SNP.
It could be the tipping point for the SNP as they seek to be returned to power in the Scottish election next May. They decided in the Scottish budget not to deviate from the UK tax rates or to allow Councils to raise Council tax to offset the massive cuts they have already made and which will cut even deeper next year. It is time for the SNP to decide whether they are prepared to invest in services or simply continue to shadow the policies of George Osborne. The day of reckoning is approaching and after eight and a half years of SNP rule that has been sustained largely by criticism of the tribal politics at Westminster. They now have to be accountable. Clearly, they are frightened of deviating from the UK too much. After all oil prices are down from the $110 that they predicted prior to the independence referendum to $40, whisky sales are falling and tourism has had a mixed year as visitors from England have thought twice about visiting a country that seems to have turned its back on the UK.
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