No process existed under the first two terms of Holyrood to hold the First Minister to account, but after an initial complaint against Mr Salmond over his handling of the Donald Trump planning application, he established a system whereby former presiding officers would examine specific complaints.
Does this mean there was never any reason for any MSP to question previous First Ministers? I doubt that. It's more likely that the opposition are looking for a scalp, preferably Alex Salmond's scalp.
The labour party aren't happy being told off by the former presiding officers, they're not happy at all. In fact they're so unhappy they now have a former deputy Presiding Officer accusing Mr Salmond of using public funds to campaign. Ms Ferguson (above) has lodged the complaint after it emerged that Mr Salmond is to hold a government-funded meeting on Scotland's constitutional future in a part of Glasgow soon to be the venue of a crucial by-election. The 'national conversation' event is to be held on September 1 in Molendinar Community Centre, in Glasgow North-East and is part of the Scottish Cabinet's summer tour of Scotland.
Patricia Ferguson, the labour MSP for Glasgow Maryhill, said she had written to Mr Elvidge and claimed the SNP had been "caught red handed abusing taxpayers money to campaign in the by-election".
A spokesman for Mr Salmond denied Ms Ferguson's allegations, saying the decision to take the Cabinet to Glasgow as part of the summer tour had been taken months ago. The spokesman added that the location for the Cabinet and National Conversation event was recommended by officials. "Labour seems to be judging the SNP Government according to their own standards of conduct," he said.
I know people who have attended these Cabinet and national conversation meetings (only one an SNP member) and they considered them to be far more about current policy and the operations of the Scottish government than about independence.
Didn't the Calman Commission travel the country asking the public their opinions on how to make Scottish government better, but pedaled the unionist line? Didn't Calman refuse to invite the SNP on board because he refused to even acknowledge that a third of the country's voters wish independence? Eventually Calman was pushed into consulting with the SNP but he was most reluctant to take this step.
As yet the cost of the Calman Commission's jaunts have not been declared, but I should think it will be far in excess of the £500,000 quoted as the cost of the Cabinet and national conversations meetings. Some brave journalist may submit an FOI regarding the price of this roadshow.
It's obvious these meetings have to be arranged many months in advance and to suggest this was suddenly arranged because of the forthcoming by-election, is a nonsense. If labour hadn't decided to leave the good people of Glasgow NE without an MP until November, the by-election could have been over and done with by 1 September. The people of Glasgow, whether it be north, south, east or west, deserve the same attention as other places in the country. The Calman Commission could have visited Glasgow North East but it decided not to do so. Maybe they thought, after considering the neighbouring MP is SNP, there would be too many voices calling for a discussion on independence.
Footnote 08.56: Stephen's Linlithgow Journal has posted on the same subject. The tone is rather acerbic as you would expect from a Libdem, but it's also witty and deserves a mention.
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12 comments:
Morning Madame,
Soor Grapes or Plooms me thinks by Labour! So much for Jim Murphy's a more mature style of politics in Scotland; his team are the biggest disgrace for Scotland in 60 years.
We've had enough we've moved on and Labour have been found wanting on ever single front, question, point of note and Parliament issue; it's not good enough we know it, they know we know it and they're behaving like bairns.
Can't wait to get rid of these incometenet fools Scotland deserves better.
Go on the SNP!
Crazy D
Morning Sir
They're not doing their cause any good behaving like bairns CD. I'm sure there are plenty policies they could tear apart but they don't have the ability to do it effectively.
Sunny here. :)
As Labour are down to their last political pennies by inducing the 'Mud Sticks' conjecture, shouldn't they at least make the effort to practice their aim? It's desperate that they can't even get wrong facts right. I suspect handing them a blunderbus to decide whether they should shoot themselves in the foot - they probably would!
Like any good Boxing match you have to throw a few punches to get the measure of your opponent.
some miss wildy but eventually you always land one maybe even a knockout....anyway this is a old time boxing bout no rounds and just slug it out till there is only one winner.
As you so rightly point out, if the by-election caused by the forced resignation of the discredited Speaker had been held within a decent time limit after Martin went, then it would all have been over and done by September.
When, oh when is Scotland going to get the opposition it deserves, a grown up political party that will oppose for the good of Scotland, not for cheap partisan point scoring?
Has this Ferguson character (of whom I've never heard) not got contstituents with real problems that she could be fighting for? Is everything so good for her constituents that she can waste her time, and our money on this nonsense? And when are the parliamentary autorities going to tell this pathetic bunch of spoiled kids to start doing the job they are paid for and stop behaving like playground bullies?
Aye Clarinda but they'd overdo it and shoot both feet. It shows just how shallow and talentless the labour party are these days, something I never thought I would witness.
I'm all for a good boxing match Niko but not when I'm paying for the punches.
Now if they attacked policy that would be a different matter.
Is it me or are the labour party extremely quiet these days? Possibly they've left en masse for their holidays. How many do you think will have made late reservations for self-catering in the Lake District?
I think the former presiding officers said exactly that yesterday Tris but it doesn't appear to have filtered through to Ms Ferguson. Maybe Scottish labout need to borrow one of the large bunch of PR people in London.
Labour's shunning of Glasgow NE is no surprise but it is a disgrace on their part. Shame on them, and it's a shame for the Scots, as ever, under a UK government. Typically shat on.
It is a disgrace VotR. To leave people unrepresented for months on end isn't democracy. But then when was labour ever democratic in Scotland.
Henry Mcleish set a rather high bar when he resigned over, um, not doing anything wrong. Hard to beat that...
Aye Mek, his colleagues were a great support weren't they? Speak about running for the hills.
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