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Reluctant Hero

SNP - One Year in Power

Despite Labour's pre-election forecast of doom if we voted for the SNP, they have made it through the first year.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7377297.stm

The Scottish Government is repaying the people's trust and breathing new life into democracy, First Minister Alex Salmond has said.

His comments came a year after the SNP's historic Holyrood election win.

Mr Salmond said the minority administration had delivered for public services, while dealing with national issues like the Glasgow airport attack.

But rival parties accused the Nationalists of breaking promises and "style over substance" politics.

Mr Salmond said his government had made Scots' lives better through policies such as freezing council tax and scrapping the student graduate endowment, while building support for an independence referendum.

He said Scotland had faced up to major challenges, including the Grangemouth refinery strike and the Glasgow Airport attack - and warned the nation was not immune from current global financial problems.

"Almost one year ago we said that it was time for Scotland to move forward," Mr Salmond told the BBC Scotland news website.

"The people of Scotland agreed and they entrusted us with government.

"We are repaying the trust of the people of Scotland by breathing new life into Scottish democracy, and delivering for our great public services."

But Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander said style rather than substance had been the mark of the Scottish Government in its first year.

"A year ago they promised to dump student debt, reduce class sizes, match Labour's school building programme and introduce first time house buyers grants," she said.

"Promises they solemnly made to the people of Scotland, but pledges they've broken with barely a murmur of apology."

 There is a feelgood factor in Scottish politics which has little to do with Alex Salmond

Annabel Goldie
Scottish Tory leader


The science of opinion polls

Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Tory leader, claimed the SNP was "riding high" in the polls, not because of support for independence, but because they were not the Labour party - which led Holyrood's coalition government for eight years.

"There is a feelgood factor in Scottish politics which has little to do with Alex Salmond," she said, adding: "I felt with minority government, the real winners would be the Scottish public."

Miss Goldie also said her party had extracted key government budget concessions on boosting police and cutting business rates.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Nicol Stephen claimed the SNP was prepared to say anything to get into government, adding: "Far from confidently governing with a clear agenda, the SNP have lost a series of crucial votes on the floor of the chamber.

"Their u-turn on whether to recruit 1,000 extra police officers was defeated, the skills strategy was thrown out and the plan to scrap the Edinburgh trams was rejected by all the other parties."

Scottish Green leader Robin Harper said it was "hard to be kind" about the government's record on the environment, but welcomed the ruling out of new nuclear power stations and its climate change fund.
azzuri

Re: SNP - One Year in Power

Reluctant Hero wrote:

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Nicol Stephen claimed the SNP was prepared to say anything to get into government, adding: "Far from confidently governing with a clear agenda, the SNP have lost a series of crucial votes on the floor of the chamber.


Tea actually came through my nostrils when I read that.  Laughing
Alasdair

Re: SNP - One Year in Power

Reluctant Hero wrote:
But Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander said style rather than substance had been the mark of the Scottish Government in its first year.

"A year ago they promised to dump student debt, reduce class sizes, match Labour's school building programme and introduce first time house buyers grants," she said.

"Promises they solemnly made to the people of Scotland, but pledges they've broken with barely a murmur of apology."


If difficult to take anything this women says seriously, what with all the scandals over funding we've seen in the Labour Party - all nicely swept under the carpet - and then there was her fantasy land speech she made at the Scottish Labour conference.  Labour and socialist in the same sentence, you've got to be joking!

As to broken promises, given that the SNP is a minority government it's hardly surprising they've failed to deliver it all in the first year ... labour couldn't deliver all of their in now going on 11 years.  Asides, some policies were obviously never going to happen, £2000 for first time buyers for example.
Reluctant Hero

Quote:
If difficult to take anything this women says seriously


Alexander was on the Radio this morning again denying that she had anything to do with the dodgy donation.  In a passing comment when refering to her first couple of months as Labour leader, she said that she had no honeymoon period due to the problems that came along when someone in her party had accepted a £950 donation.

You couldn't make it up  Laughing
agentmancuso

Re: SNP - One Year in Power

azzuri wrote:
Tea actually came through my nostrils when I read that.  


A sudden pang of guilt was it?

Quote:
In challenging the Deputy First Minister Nicola Cheerful over false claims by Alex Salmond that the Government has launched a consultation on the SNP’s election promise to scrap student debt, Nicol said,

“The First Minister gave a BBC interview last week. He was asked why the Government had dropped its promise to write off student debt. In reply, the First Minister said:

“'We've published a consultation document on student debt, which is out for consultation at the present moment. I am sure that's available to read.'

“Is anything that he said in those two sentences true?

“The First Minister was very clear last week that he had published a consultation and that it was available to read. However, we made a request for the document under the freedom of information legislation and we got the following back from the Government:

‘We believe that releasing information on the policy proposals would not be in the public interest at this time.’

“What is it with the Government and this policy?

“Four weeks ago, Fiona Hyslop appeared on STV to deny that she had ever promised to write off student debt in the first place. The First Minister has now been on the BBC to fabricate an entire Government consultation. In the interview, James Watson from Glasgow, the father of a student, asked him, ‘Why do you have to lie to the people to get voted into power?’

“Can the Deputy First Minister give Mr Watson an honest answer?”

I am going to be generous here and say that Nicola Sturgeon did well too - she's actually a rather good performer and less abrasive than Salmond. Labour Leader Wendy Alexander was utterly terrible, but nothing new there then.

Nicol continues to receive praise for his sharp questioning at FMQs from political pundits across the board:

· Alan Cochrane, Scottish Political Editor, Daily Telegraph: “By God, he's done it again! Regular readers may well be growing tired of this column's paeans of praise directed at Nicol Stephen, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, but the fact remains that he is, by a long Scots mile, easily the best opposition that we have to Alex Salmond." (Telegraph 02.05.0Cool

Eddie Barnes, Political Editor, Scotland on Sunday: “It was another surgical strike for Nicol Stephen.” (Holyrood Live 01.05.0Cool


Thanks to Cllr Macpherson

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