The Daily Record - Magnus Gardham

Poll Spinning

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:37:00 +0000

GOOD poll spinning from the SNP - as always - today but the full picture is worth looking at.

Angus Robertson said victory in an independence referendum was achievable after the latest TNS System 3 (now TNS-BMRB) poll.

It showed:

Support independence 36 per cent

Oppose independence 39 per cent

Undecided: 25 per cent.

The SNP say - correctly - that's the lowest level of opposition since the TNS series of polls (seven in all now) began in August 2007.

But they don't say the latest survey is far from the most encouraging in terms of independence.

It actually shows a fall in support for independence from the previous poll in February, when it stood at 38 per cent - two points higher.

And the SNP ignored the April 2008 snapshot when support actually outweighed opposition (41 per cent backed independence, 40 per cent opposed).

Critics are also wary of the TNS series because it asks a "soft" question. (Voters are asked if the Scottish government should "negotiate a settlement with the Government of the United Kingdom so that Scotland becomes an independent state".)

The Nats won't be worrying, though.

They've achieved a good - and on-message - hit in one Glasgow paper today with an exclusive leak of the latest results.

Tories continue to eat at Salmond over food expenses

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:54:45 +0000

THE Tories kept up the pressure on Alex Salmond over his £800 food expenses yesterday.

Annabel Goldie wanted to raise the issue at First Ministers' Questions but that was ruled out by the Presiding Officer.

It didn't matter. She had the press release ready.

SALMOND ASKED TO EXPLAIN WESMINSTER FOOD CLAIMS

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:12:52 +0000

ALEX Salmond is under pressure to explain why he claimed £800 for food during Westminster's summer break.

The First Minister only gave a handful of occasions when he was in London in the summer, when he was confronted on a radio phone in.

And the records show he spent much of the time - summer '05 - in Scotland.

The story was overshadowed by yesterday's dramatic events at Westminster. But it's worth a closer look.

Salmond, as the Telegraph revealed earlier this month, billed the £800 for groceries and meals in August and September 2005.

SALMOND FACING PRISON PROBE

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:42:13 +0000

ON Sunday, the FM's chief spindoctor declared opposition attacks over prison absconds had "fizzled out".

Twenty four hours later, it emerged a complaint over Salmond's handling of the issue has been referred to former presiding officers Lord Steel and George Reid.

The row is not exactly fizzling out, but Salmond is confident that he will be cleared of misleading parliament.

He insists it would have been wrong for him to reveal a second criminal was on the run from Castle Huntly, as the timing of any announcement was an operational matter for the police.

His opponents believe he had a duty to alert parliament, rather than keep quiet and score political points about his record on prison security.

It seems that feeling is shared, in some quarters at least, at Tayside police.

Police sources say they would have had no objection to the First Minister revealing that killer John Brown had absconded.

They say the timing of the announcement was dictated by the somewhat prosaic "operational matter" of when they received a picture of Brown from the SPS to go with the press release.

Salmond and MacAskill under more pressure over prisons

Fri, 29 May 2009 13:27:07 +0000

LABOUR and the Tories are cranking up the pressure on Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill over prison absconds.

Labour are making the issue the focus of their Euro election campaign - their glossy new leaflets include a petition calling for MacAskill to be sacked.

Meanwhile Annabel Goldie has written to Salmond demanding a Holyrood statement explaining his "conduct".

Prepare for an autumn by-election.

Fri, 22 May 2009 16:54:12 +0000

NO decision on the timing of the Glasgow North East by-election will be taken until after Michael Martin steps down as Commons Speaker and MP on June 21.

It makes a summer poll highly unlikely.

Scottish Labour - who were keen to avoid a July campaign - are now very confident it will take place in September or October.

And who knows if it will be a separate by-election?

Speculation about an October general election continues to grow. The people of Springburn could be going to the polls with the rest of us.

Timing is important - unless you're Labour

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:48:22 +0000

About that "Tory-Nat alliance"...

Timing is important in politics - which is why the following sequence of events was slightly unfortunate for Labour yesterday.

Is new alliance a coincidence?

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:40:20 +0000

Another thing about that "Tory-Nat alliance"...

Just spoken to a Labour MSP who was not un-involved with the mandatory jail for knife crime call. He's admitted: "There were some odd coincidences yesterday.

Is new alliance a coincidence?

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:40:20 +0000

Labour not scaremongering over BNP

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:38:05 +0000

LABOUR are worried the Westminster expenses scandal will give fringe parties - including the racist BNP - a boost in the Euro elections on June 4.

Campaigning in Glasgow yesterday, MEP David Martin said there was a "real danger of an anti-politcs vote" that would help the BNP.

It's become fashionable to dimiss such claims as Labour scaremongering designed to get their core vote out.

And it's true the BNP have no realistic chance of winning a Euro seat in Scotland (unlike parts of England).

But we should not forget the BNP polled 19,427 votes across Scotland in the 2004 Euro election, a 1.65 per cent share.

If the total or the share go up, it will be a major embarrassment for all the mainstream parties and the country as a whole.

Nicola Sturgeon gets applause at Hero awards

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:34:57 +0000

NICOLA STURGEON brought the house down at the Daily Record Our Heroes awards night on Friday with a near-the-knuckle gag.

It was aimed at host Tam Cowan and was the one about car parking, female drivers and male boasts.

I'm sure I don't need to spell it out.

Nicola, who was presenting an award, may have been taking revenge for a few swine flu jokes.

Cybernats are a growing problem for the SNP.

Wed, 06 May 2009 12:00:29 +0000

THE SNP are under growing pressure to distance themselves, publicly and clearly, from the increasingly nasty material popping up on Nationalist websites.

The issue has been bubbling away for a while.

But last week a Nationalist scandal site ran a particularly unpleasant spoof/smear about Scots Labour leader Iain Gray's private life.

And the Scotsman's (English-born) political reporter David Maddox came in for playground abuse on another site.

Patrick promises us a tweet

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:37:49 +0000

CAN'T wait to read Patrick Harvie's blog today.

He's promised a "full blog update" to those tweets he sent from the dinner at Gordon Brown's home last night.

John 'Mutton' Might Worry

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:48:18 +0000

GORDON Brown's cabinet meet in Glasgow tomorrow and details of various ministerial visits on the day emerged from No 10 last night.

The trip, of course, comes amid no little hand-wringing over the unpleasant activities of ministerial press minders.

So much so that Defence Secretary John Hutton might feel slightly paranoid if he looks closely at the Downing Street op note.

It says: "The Prime Minister's visit will be open to pooled media in the usual way.

"He will be accompanied by Minister for Scotland Jim Murphy and Defence Secretary John Mutton."

More on that Scottish government pay freeze.

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:57:51 +0000

WELL that didn't take long.

The FM will now donate all the Westminster pay increase coming his way to his charitable trust, his chief spin doc has just announced.

He'll donate his take home pay from the £1475 increase to the Mary Salmond Trust.

It means that, like all other government ministers, his wages will be pegged at 2009/9 levels.

Quick work to close down a potentially embarrassing story.

Chief spin doc said: "This is a decision for government to show, as a government, we are on the side of the people."