NEW LABOUR FACE THE MUSIC......

Hard on the heels of my last blog, this image was sent to me and I could not resist posting it for your enjoyment.

Who could have predicted how fast New Labour reach out for the double barrelled shotgun and place it straight on the feet.

The ghost of donations past comes calling, but unlike Mr.Scrooge, this story doesn't look as if it is heading for a happy ending!

Who knows how many will be casualties by Christmas morning.

The disgraceful hiding of illegal donations typify how that this current Westminster government have been in power for too long. The perception of arrogance will not go away. How Brown must have wished he called that election in October!

The ghost of donations present has today haunted the British Labour Party in Scotland, with Charlie Gordon falling on his sword. For BLP (Scotland Region), there are many issues which have been uncovered. Firstly, the lack of talent within their Holyrood group is exposed, when your campaign manager cannot get the simple things right. You would think a quick check of the rules would be a basic requisite for one of your team, but no, not for Wendy.

Secondly, why was there such a rush for a Campaign fund when it was obvious there would be no challenge to Wendy for the leadership.

Thirdly, there appears to be a suspicious link between some members of Labour with this Mr.Green. It is no secret that Charlie Gordon wanted to build Silverburn, once Glasgow lost Braehead from its boundary.

Lastly, and more crucially, this latest crisis has exposed the levels of subsidy the "Scottish" party really receives, as exposed by no less a figure than Major Joyce. It would appear that a proportion of Mr.Abrahams money was given to the Scottish party for the Holyrood elections. The "Scottish Labour Party" accounts are full of descriptions of items which refer to being "paid by the Labour Party", however, curiously the level of subsidy is never mentioned!
Last year, comrade nationalist party Plaid Cymru, successfully removed the Welsh Labour Party as an accounting unit, and thus were able to remove Welsh Labour on the ballot paper, the reason? the level of subsidy from the UK Labour Party.

Whatever else is uncovered over the next few weeks, we should not lose sight of the fact that the Scottish Labour Party is a sham, and must be removed. The electoral commission has a duty and responsibility to investigate this matter as well as the others.

Perhaps that will be the visit for the ghost of donations future............

THERE MAY BE TROUBLE AHEAD.......

The implosion of New Labour, and the British Labour Party (Scotland Region) continues apace, and above is my suggestion for a new anthem to replace the Red Flag, an inappropriate song for a political party that has privatised more Public Services than Thatcher and Major.

Only months ago we were promised that when the Westminster Election (2007 postponed) will finally be called, the key theme from New Labour would be competence. In this regard, on both sides of the border, they have failed with distinction.

From losing the personal details of millions to having employment shorter than many call centre workers for its own spin doctors, you can only wonder how long the potatoes would run out if New Labour/BLP (Scotland Region) were running a chippy!

Like the Liberal Democrats, they are now prone to errors on a daily basis.

In Scotland of course, they look even more tired than they did when they formed the Executive, and the daily "broken promise" press release appears more like a broken record. For a political party shy of only 1 seat in the Scottish Parliament, you would expect better, however, BLP (Scotland Region) reach unparalleled depths of ineptitude.

There's a crisis at its core, and I am now beginning to wonder whether comparisons with Lloyd Georges Government are more apt. Consider this, a political party elected by a huge mandate but in the process sold its core beliefs to hold onto power, only in time to be swept away as the voter showed its contempt, ended in the wilderness.

Competence or the lack thereof will be their undoing.

In time as the song says they will face the music................

PROGRESS FOR SCOTLAND

Progress is for me the key theme as John Swinney released Scotland's budget over the next three years, in contrast to the New Labour benches whose negativity towards Scotland reaches unparalleled levels.

A phased programme towards free prescriptions, reductions in class sizes, removing health inequalities within Scotland via investment, increased police on our streets, increased free nursery provision, and a freeze on the unfair, regressive, Council Tax are for me, the main highlights which will please hard working families across the nation.

Given that the SNP faced the tightest spending round since devolution, we were able to show that a Government with a clear purpose, focus and ambition, can still produce good governance. Just imagine how good this budget would have been in an Independent Scotland.

Whilst the pledge to eradicate student debt has had to be shelved, for now, it is clear that we have the talent to produce good government and to take the country forward. With more powers, so much more can be done.

As a local government worker and trade unionist, I am delighted that Councils will have more freedom to concentrate on its priorities, which can only enhance local democracy and increase accountability.

Of course with all this good news, you would think that our opponents would welcome such a progressive package for our Country.

Instead, they still wallow in their negativity. Indeed, I am pretty sure that if our MSP's were playing opposition political speak bingo, those with the words "broken promise" would have the greatest chance of shouting house! It is clear that the opposition find themselves less and less relevant and out of touch with the peoples priorities.

The SNP committed itself to progress for Scotland..........

Our achievements in the next four years will see that commitment realised.

HOST CITY

A fantastic day for Glasgow and Scotland, as the Commonwealth Games Federation voted to give the Dear Green Place the right to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games (hopefully in an Independent Scotland and SNP Controlled Glasgow City Council but that's a debate for another time).

The atmosphere around the city was electric after the decision was announced, and it was particularly funny to see my own boss on television jumping up and down on National Television, who was there as part of the Bid team contingent.

We were supposed to all have access to our PC's at work, only for most of us this didn't happen, except for the very lucky modern apprentice who was quickly surrounded by the rest of us watching the announcement, Only for the BBC to completely muck this up - had a chuckle at a very smug looking John MacKay on Scotland Today tonight saying that STV were the only channel showing the event live. Anyways, once we heard the news....cue pandemonium across Glasgow....

Special praise for everyone involved, and i know many of my fellow Glasgow City employees who worked extremely hard to bring this about, and priase too for all the politicians who worked together.

Maybe this will stop Transport Scotland from ripping apart proposals to split the NADICS/CITRAC functions into 4 separate entities, given that Managers within this service helped put together the Traffic Management arrangements for the Sydney Olympics a few years ago, but common sense never really stops quango's from making idiotic decisions. More of this later.

A tremendous day, perhaps even a tremendous month.

We all now wait for next Saturday to see if another special occasion can give Scotland a victorious result.......

THINKING BIG

At long last my Conference blog due to being laid low with the post Conference heavy cold. Thinking Big was the key to the First Ministers address to the Conference, laying out quite clearly the difference between the SNP and our Unionist opponents.

The buoyant mood of the Conference was simply contagious, and it is clear that activists from all over the country wish to build on our success from the elections in May.

The conference started for me oddly enough with a telephone call at 7.45 am from the evening times regarding suspensions which had been handed out to some employees who work for Glasgow's Parking service, and i spent most of that day on the telephone to Trade Union Colleagues trying ascertain if the issue had been settled. If I could say more about this I would, however, someones actions that day, I will have to address elsewhere.

Saturday saw me preparing for a meeting with a Government Minister, and regrettably missed the fringe meeting with the NUJ.

I was pleased that the Party has decided too campaign on the issue of Post Office closures, A subject I have referred to in this blog in the past.

The SNP Government has made a very good start, restoring free education, the phased withdrawal of prescription charges, Bringing accountability back to Government by cutting the number of quango's, commitment to completing the M8 motorway are just a few of the things so far that will a huge difference to people's lives.

This in contrast to the BLP (Scotland Region) benches at Holyrood who's sole tactic at the moment is to confuse the voter over the SNP's commitments. A term lasts 4 years guys....

Thinking Big gets thins done, and reaps rewards. Here's hoping Glasgow's Commonwealth Games bid thinks big in Sri Lanka next week .......