Angus MacNeil MP

Yes, all the MPs are at it. So he without sin should cast the first stone...

And why is an SNP MP staying in the Union Jack Club??

MPs' expenses: cash-for-peerages MP claimed for Toblerone

The MP whose police complaint triggered the cash-for-peerages inquiry tried to charge the taxpayer for his drinks bills, a chocolate bar and hundreds of pounds of "petty cash".

By Simon Johnson, Scottish Political Editor
Last Updated: 12:16AM BST 16 May 2009

Angus MacNeil also attempted to use his expenses to pay for books, mobile phone calls and stays at the Union Jack Club, a private members' society in London, after he had bought a flat in the capital.

The Commons' fees office rejected the claims but did not withhold the entire cost of the Scottish National Party MP's drinks bills, which came to more than £90.

In August 2007, he submitted a claim to recoup £500 petty cash, with half that sum allocated to that month and the other half for July 2007.

By dividing the sum in two, he ensured that it did not breach the £250 limit, above which MPs had to provide receipts.

On the same claim, which totalled £750, he tried to recoup £152.58 of mobile phone costs and £42.50 for books. However, the fees office rejected these too and only £20 was paid.

In December 2005, Mr MacNeil, MP for the Western Isles, submitted 15 receipts for hotel stays in London, totalling nearly £3,600.

They included bills for vodka, soft drinks, cans of Heineken lager and small bottles of white wine from the mini-bar, bar bills, the cost of room service and £2 for a Toblerone chocolate bar.

Mr MacNeil's total drinks and mini-bar bill came to more than £70, but the fees office only reduced his claim by £43.49.

He tried to claim for beverages again the following March, but his £22.50 claim for "night porter drinks" at the Glasgow Hilton was refused.

At the end of 2005 he bought a flat in London for £220,000, charging the taxpayer nearly £3,500 in solicitors fees and stamp duty and £834.26 per month in mortgage interest.

However, in July 2006 the Scottish Nationalist he attempted to claim for two nights' stay at he Union Jack Club, which is about a mile from Westminster.

Mr MacNeil has also had a £373.54 claim for a bunk bed rejected as only costs essential to his duties as an MP are allowed by the Commons Green Book.

However, he successfully claimed £4,000 for his London home's kitchen, flooring, furniture, gas fire, boiler and doors to be removed.

He then claimed another £3,000 for new ones to be installed, including £448 for a black granite and golden pine fireplace.

The SNP MP claimed more than £3,500 for household goods, including £606 on curtains and sheets from John Lewis and £500 for a LCD television.

Mr MacNeil claimed for several hotel rooms in his constituency, which is usually forbidden. But he later got permission from the fees office for the arrangement, given the difficulty of travelling within the Western Isles and to and from the mainland.

Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister and SNP leader, last week said that MPs owning a second home was "dangerous" and property speculation lies at the centre of the expenses scandal.

However, the Telegraph has revealed that both Mr MacNeil and Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster, have used their allowance to fund mortgages on their London homes.

Mr MacNeil stressed that his drinks claims also included soft drinks and denied that he had been "chancing his arm" by submitting them.

He said that expenses were a low priority for him because of his busy schedule, and he looked to the fees office for advice. The MP argued it was "reassuring" that his inadmissible claims had been rejected.

Mr MacNeil said that his petty cash and telephone claims were valid expenses, but had been claimed for under the wrong heading.

In the case of the telephone bills, he said he had not resubmitted them, adding: "I'm the loser in this carry on financially."

He argued it was unfair MPs with constituencies near London could see their families during the week, but he could not claim for the cost of a bunk bed for his.

Two years ago, Mr MacNeil made a public apology after it was revealed he had drunkenly kissed two teenage girls in an Orkney hotel.

Angus Robertson MP

This from the Telegraph. Sabatier knives, eh?

SNP's Angus Robertson claims £80,000 for second home: MPs' expenses Angus Robertson, the leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster bought and refurbished a flat in London, claiming the stamp duty and over £4,000 for furnishings, after renting for several years.

Angus Robertson also successfully appealed to the fees office when they turned down his claim for a £400 home cinema system. Under the rules in the Scottish parliament, the MP for Moray would already have had to publish his expense claims in much greater detail.

The Telegraph is publishing a series of articles detailing expense claims made by MPs from all political parties, including the more minor parties in Westminster. Mr Robertson's claimed for furniture after he bought the £227,500 property in March 2006. As well as claiming the legal fees and £2,275 stamp duty on the flat in Lambeth, he spent £2,324 for a sofa bed from Habitat and £1,271 at upmarket furniture shop Heal's.

His second home allowance claim rose by over £4,000 after he bought the flat, having previously rented a flat five minutes away. Other purchases include an espresso maker, £100 for Sabatier knives and £20 for a corkscrew. He also bought a television for £1,119, but the fees office only paid their “recommended maximum” of £750.

Last year, he claimed £400 for a “home cinema system”, according to the receipt. The Fees office wrote to him to ask if the expenditure was necessary. “We are, therefore, required to ask you to reconsider the amount you are claiming for this item.” Mr Robertson wrote to the fees office to say that DVD player and recorder “was purchased to catch up with recorded political programmes and also has a built in radio function.”

The fees office paid the £400 claim. In 2005, on the last day of the financial year, Mr Robertson spent £526 on bed linen and £183 on a rug at the John Lewis in Edinburgh. Because he was claiming the second home allowance on the London flat, the fees office wrote to Mr Robertson to ask him to “confirm in writing that the household items and rug purchased from John Lewis are for [your London property] and not for another address.”

Angus Robertson became the leader of the six SNP MPs in Westminster in May 2007, after Alex Salmond's election as First Minister for Scotland. He has claimed £104,373 in the last five years. Last week, the Telegraph revealed that Alex Salmond claimed £800 for food on during recess and had a hotel bill cut by the parliamentary authorities when he charged the taxpayer for drinks from a minibar. Mr Robertson said: “These were one off set-up accommodation costs for a small flat in London which I use when staying over in London.

They include essentials such as a bed, bedding, kitchen equipment and a TV. All claims relate to my parliamentary work on behalf of my constituents”. He added: “As a supporter of transparency I welcome the belated publication of information and hope for a speedy reform to the whole expenses system in the House of Commons and House of Lords. Westminster should follow the Scottish Parliament and regularly publish details”.

SNP dreams are "absurd" say the Financial Times

Reproduced from today's Financial Times:

Scotland wakes from dreams of independence
By Chris Giles, Economics Editor

Published: May 13 2009 03:00 | Last updated: May 13 2009 03:00

For much of the past decade Scotland's economy has been robust enough to keep alive the nationalists' dream that devolution would lead on to full-blown independence.

As recently as two years ago the Financial Times dissected Scotland's finances and concluded it had the economic strength to operate independently of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

But those two years have utterly changed the econ-omic landscape north of the border, just as they have across the whole developed world. On devolution's 10th birthday, considerable doubts now hang over the economic viability of a go-it-alone Scotland.

That assessment will cheer and depress Scots in equal measure. It results not from a sudden local economic implosion; the latest Scottish government estimates show the economy declining almost in lock-step with the rest of Britain. As the British economy and public finances have deteriorated, so have those in Scotland.

The problem is rather that in many ways Scotland and its economy are not unique, as residents like to believe. As Dougie Adams, head of consultancy at Oxford Economics, says: "In most areas, Scotland looks like a sliver of the UK." Talk by Alex Salmond, Scottish National party leader and first minister in the devolved parliament, who in 2007 spoke of Scotland joining an "arc of prosperity" that would include neighbours such as Ireland, Iceland and Norway, now appears absurd.

Instead, it is the long underperformance of the Scottish economy, troublingly low productivity and dreadful public finances that make independence hard to imagine for all but the most die-hard nationalists - even if Scotland were to receive all the UK's oil revenues.

In the decade of devolution there has been a marked disparity between Scotland's economic performance and the vibrancy of its labour market. While output continued to grow more slowly than that of the UK as a whole - 0.4 percentage points lower than the 2.5 per cent UK annual average - Scotland's employment rate of 75.4 per cent in the three months to February was higher than the English rate of 74.1 per cent. Correspondingly, unemployment was 1.4 percentage points below the English average of 6.8 per cent.

The difference goes back to the 1980s recession, which destroyed much of Scottish industry and the high- product-ivity parts of its economy. Ever since, Scotland has been unable to keep pace with England's econ-omic output and the relative strength of its labour market suggests a persistent problem of low productivity.

One reason for the apparent distinction between bad growth figures and better employment numbers is that England has enjoyed faster population growth. The Office for National Statistics shows that Scottish gross value added per head has remained pretty stable compared with the UK average from 1989 to 1997, the most recent year of data, so the poor performance of the past can be overstated.

But even if the past is not as bad as portrayed, many have feared for the Scottish economy because of its dependence on financial services and public services.

The dire headlines generated by the collapse and rescue of the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS threaten Scotland because financial intermediation had been a rapidly growing part of its economy. Between 1999 and 2006, the most recent year of data, official figures based on incomes and profits of -Scottish-based companies showed financial intermediation growing from 5.2 per cent of its economy to 7.4 per cent. The rise in the share was faster than for England, where the sector increased its share by 1.9 percentage points over the same period.

But it is its reliance on public services to propel growth that sets Scotland's economy apart. The increase in jobs in public administration, health and education has been faster in Scotland than in almost all other regions bar Northern Ireland and the coming public spending squeeze will hit its economy hard.

This will be tricky enough for Scotland within the UK, but if it had to stand alone its public finances would be subject to intense scrutiny. While the FT's analysis two years ago Financial Times analysis showed Scotland could survive separation from the UK because international maritime rules suggested it would take the lion's share of North Sea oil revenue, falling oil prices now mean an independent Scotland might face a budget deficit of 14 per cent of Scottish "gross value added" this year if it received the bulk of North Sea oil revenues. Without oil the books would be in the red to the tune of 23 per cent of GVA.

As Mr Adams puts it, trying to persuade investors to swap gilts for Scottish government debt, for 8 or 9 per cent of the UK debt mountain, "would be an interesting sell story in inter-national government bond markets already flooded with supply".

Tomorrow: Has devolution changed national identity?

Video: Chris Giles talks about on the economics of the economics of Scottish statehood at www.ft.com/scotland
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

Alex Salmond claimed £800 for food on MPs' expenses

This from the Telegraph. How will the SNP explain this?

Alex Salmond, Scotland's First Minister, claimed £400 per month for food when the Commons was not even sitting.

Later, after winning power at Holyrood, his appearances at Westminster became scarce but he still claimed more than £1,700 in expenses for food in 2007/08.

The SNP leader also had a hotel bill cut by the Westminster authorities when he charged the taxpayer for drinks from a minibar.

MPs can claim a maximum of £400 per month for food, without having to produce receipts, but questions will be asked why the First Minister spent so much. Commons records show Mr Salmond claimed the maximum allowance for eight months in 2005/6, a total of £3,200.

However, included in Mr Salmond's claim was £800 for the months of August and September 2005, when the Commons was on its summer recess. Mr Salmond voted on July 12, 2005 but was not required to take part in another division until October 12.

The SNP's victory in the 2007 Holyrood election curtailed his appearances at Westminster, but the food claims did not stop.

In the 2007/08 financial year, which covers the period between the end of March 2007 and the start of April 2008, he voted on only six days in the Commons.

However, he still claimed £1,751.50 for food, or more than a third of the maximum allowed for the entire 12 months.

Mr Salmond is a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Gordon as well as continuing as MP for Banff and Buchan, a seat he has held since 1987.

His dual mandate has brought continued criticism from Labour and Tory politicians, who have demanded that he stand down from his Commons seat.

He earns £80,224 as First Minister, as well as £64,766 as an MP and draws one-third of his £56,671 Holyrood salary. But he donates that third to a trust named after his late mother, Mary, to help community groups in the North East.

One embarrassing detail from Mr Salmond's expenses was a claim for an overnight stay at a London hotel in July, 2005. The Commons authorities ''docked'' it by £9 because he had included drinks from hotel room mini bar in his claim.

Mr Salmond also received £54.75 for towels, £540 for bed linen, £650.40 in curtains and £1,093 for a bed and bedding in 2005/06.

These items were bought for the flat Mr Salmond rented in Central London and all were allowable under Commons' rules.

Mr Salmond said: "The claims for food allowances were entirely in accordance with the Green Book rules at the time."

He said his spending on furnishings was similarly within the allowed limits, adding that the minibar claim was in respect of soft drinks and he ended up paying the £9 bill.

The New Homecoming Video

Whoever has done this deserves an Oscar. Or two.

Trouble for Fiona Hyslop

A bad week for Fiona Hyslop, the SNP Education Cabinet Secretary. First, she seems to be having a fight with some students about tuition fees and student grants.

They wrote her a mass letter signed by lots of student politicians saying she was failing to ease student hardship, and she wrote back and said they should "grow up" and their comments were "politically ill-judged".

Now that doesn't tend to win you friends amongst people who don't like your policies anyway.

But now the Times are carrying a report from today saying Fiona Hyslop is "left reeling" after her number 2, Keith Brown, and ex-SAS special forces soldier, admitted the pair need to "raise our game".

What is it they say in politics about your opponents being opposite you but your enemies behind you?

More on controversial SNP candidate

A lot of blog traffic on whether the SNP candidate's view on Islamism (as opposed to Islam) make him unsuitable to be a candidate for the SNP.

This from Scottish Unionist:

Osama Saeed defends supporter of armed jihad
Posted by Scottish Unionist at 9:47 PM. There are 13 comments.
On 7th November 2006, SNP candidate Osama Saeed wrote on his blog that the arrest, in Yemen, of Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki was “further evidence of what a crock the war on terror is”.

“Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki was originally hounded in the US becuase [sic] two of the 9/11 bombers happened to pray at his mosque. Many of my Muslim readers will either know him personally or have heard his lectures. He preached nothing but peace, and I pray he will be able to do so again.”

Nothing but peace? Perhaps up to that point in time. But the NEFA Foundation says of Al-Awlaki:

“In early January of 2009, al Awlaki published an essay titled “44 Ways to Support Jihad” on his web site. The paper is targeted to a young, English-speaking , Muslim audience and calls for armed and financial support of Jihad against the “kuffar.” This backgrounder on Anwar al Awlaki discusses his experience in the United States, his reputation as an ideologue, and his connections to Al-Qaida.”

Labour MP Tom Harris has a video on his blog with some extraordinary statements from a Yusuf Qaradawi, and says this:

According to this paper, written by Qaradawi, the beating of wives is acceptable. And here, Qaradawi writes that western tolerance of homosexuality “put man in a position even worse than animals” and suggests that capital punishment is an appropriate response to homosexuality.

But, according to Osama Saeed, who leads the Scottish Islamic Foundation, Qaradawi is an “eminent scholar”....

Is he unsuitable? That's for the SNP and the voters to decide.

But it is all highly embarassing stuff for Alex Salmond.

Anti-fundamentalist Muslim organisation issues "alert" over SNP candidate

Embarrassing news reported in the Times yesterday regarding the controversial SNP candidate for the next UK general election in a Glasgow seat.

Ed Hussain, former jihadist and author of The Islamist, claims Mr Saeed's views render his position untenable. The full "alert" can be found here.

SNP urged to drop 'sectarian and divisive' Muslim candidate

An organisation set up to counter Islamic extremism in Britain has accused a Scottish National Party parliamentary candidate of being “sectarian and divisive” and alleged that he is using the Nationalists as a front to campaign for his radical views.

The Quilliam Foundation, a think-tank set up by two former activists to foster better relations between Islam and the West, is urging Alex Salmond to drop Osama Saeed, formally adopted last week as the SNP's general election candidate in Glasgow Central, unless he changes his views.

The foundation claims that Mr Saeed, a former spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain and who has set up the Scottish Islamic Foundation (SIF), has written in support of a global Caliphate that would see the world's 1.3 billion Muslims united in a superpower under one leader - a position, says the foundation, that is also espoused by al-Qaeda.

Ed Husain, the director of the foundation, told The Times last night: “It is encouraging that the Scottish National Party is trying to promote more ethnic minority and Muslim candidates - however it is troubling that members of the party's hierarchy appear unaware of the nature of Islamism and unaware that through their support for Osama Saeed they might be inadvertently promoting one of the more divisive and illiberal strains of modern Islamic thought.”

“Osama Saeed should be told by Alex Salmond to change his views or stand down. He is more interested in politicising Islam as a global revolutionary movement.”

A very difficult one, but Mr Saeed needs to be clear about where he stands on these things - and the SNP must take whatever action is needed to make that happen.

Putting ideas into his head

Alex Salmond gets called odd things by people, that's for sure.

Sandi Thom introduces him as "Sir Alex Salmond" in the infamous sing-along video, and The Steamie reports:

ALEX Salmond is not renowned as someone who lacks confidence or needs his ego massaged.

But that message had not got through to one recipient of a health and safety award at the STUC conference today. Receiving his award from Mr Salmond, the star-struck soul could only reply: "Thank you Mr President."

The First Minister emerged from the hall, his chest puffed out even more than usual, murmuring to himself: "I quite like the sound of that."

If that's not a warning, I don't know what is ...

Maybe MP/MSP/First Minister just isn't enough for the man!

Fame at last!

Fame today, as we are featured in the Scottish edition of the Times newspaper. According to that venerable organ of er…something, this website is a secret stealth operation masterminded by Damian McBride or the Labour party. (Regretement, non – its much more boring than that.)

The Times story is by ex-Labour spindoctor-turned-journalist Lorraine Davidson, who split from the party some years ago. We’re afraid you’ll need to get better sources, Lorraine, but our hits have whooshed up massively this morning as people come to have a look round.

So, welcome to A Leaky Chanter.

We’re quite proud of it actually.

As you’ve spotted or read, we don’t like the SNP much. It’s not personal, so we try not to make it personal. It’s just the fact that we don’t like what we see them doing with the power they have.

We’ve been around for longer than most of us care to remember. Between us, we’ve dabbled in journalism, politics, the civil service, a bank and various other nefarious professions.

We want to have our say. Our ideas come from what we see in Scotland, from the media, from what we observe of politics – and what people email us.

So keeping popping back, see things from our point of view and feel free to comment.

(Moderation is on because someone keeps posting obscene words which isn’t big and isn’t funny.)

UPDATE: Thanks to Scottish bloggers who have been hat-tipping - Caron's Musings, Stephen's Linlithgow Journals, Tory Bear, And Another Thing. Sorry if we've missed any.

Alex Salmond is Ronald McDonald

Red faces in Camp SNP this morning after it was revealed that their new election slogan is stolen from... McDonalds!
Of course the SNP have form on this - their 2007 election slogan was borrowed from the Australian Labour Party, and their Glenrothes by-election slogan Yes We Can was also used by, er, Barack Obama.

Here are come memorial badges made by McDonalds to celebrate their slogan. To there you have it - the SNP is mince. (Cue 1001 other bad puns.)

SNP advert cost more than Slumdog Millionaire

So the filming for Slumdog Millionaire, the winner of 8 academy awards cost $5 million, out of a total production budget of $15 million. That's for 120 minutes of top-flight, no stops pulled quality television. Cost per minute: about £28,000 sterling per minute of footage.

But somehow the SNP's Homecoming Advert - one minute of largely SNP donors singing a cringeworthy rendition of that brilliant Scottish song, Caledonia - costs £233,000 to film, out of a total budget of £260,000. Cost per minute: £233,000 sterling per minute of footage.

The Record has an industry insider reporting that the going rate for the ad would be about £2,000.

This is our money - why is it being wasted on an advert that is mainly being shown to people who already live here?

Story covered the Record, BBC, Times, Herald and the Sun.

Salmond sings again

This in from a correspondent:

The £14,000 bill for Alex Salmond's phantom home

So the expenses for MSPs are published. Why has our first minister, Alex Salmond, claimed £14,000 for a house he doesn't use....?

We demand to know.

Hilarious new movie about Alex Salmond and Sandi Thom

Oh, this hurts. We haven't laughed so much for some time. Click on the image to watch this video, or see it in mini here, but it's much better in big:



Hat-tip to: I Heart Sandi

The Famous Duet

SNP send out press release because their MP turns up to vote

Alex Salmond is a man with four jobs - MP, MSP, First Minster and Leader of the free world SNP.

Why exactly does the SNP chief spin doctor - a paid official of the civil service - need to
send out a press release to inform the world that the Mr Salmond would be making an appearance in the House of Commons.

Perhaps because Mr Salmond's attendance record is at the Commons is so poor they feel mthe need to stick out a press release when he does finally show up.

From: kevin.pringle@XXXXXXX
To:
Date: 25/03/09 16:19
Subject: SALMOND ATTENDS IRAQ INQUIRY DEBATE


Wednesday 25 March 2009

In his capacity as Banff & Buchan MP, First Minister Alex Salmond is
present in the House of Commons this afternoon for the debate and vote on
an independent inquiry into the Iraq war..... (cont, blah, blah, blah)

The SNP man who thinks the peace process is deeply flawed

Mark Hirst is a Nationalist with history. Three years ago, he unceremoniously resigned as a researcher for SNP MSP Sandra White.

His offence? Calling our national flag a "butcher's apron" and other careless whispers. He denied he was freelancing and tried to implicate his boss.

Now operating as an SNP researcher, he makes another appearance on our national radar, spouting extraordinarily offensive views about the Northern Ireland peace process. The offending organ? The Scots Independent blog.

The peace process and new political institutions on Northern Ireland "are and remain deeply flawed", he says.

He claims that Sinn Fein is only maintaining peace "to ensure a smooth political transition to the point where a majority nationalist and republican government can call a referendum on reunification and the children being produced now in their communities endorse that peacefully…" - in other words, the Catholics are breeding to try and undermine the state. We thought that kind of approach had died out in the 1890s.

And the current violence in Northern Ireland will be used to attack the SNP's policies, he claims:

the ultimate letting go of Ulster by the British is likely to coincide with the point where Scotland finally reaches out for her national freedom also. Ongoing conflict in Ireland will be used, as the financial crisis has been used, to scare Scots into rejecting independence on the basis that, as in the case of Ireland, attempts at freedom invariably lead to conflict.

Salmond must have this man sacked - and sacked now.

Salmond in Monaco tax haven row

This from the Sunday Herald:

FIRST MINISTER Alex Salmond has been criticised after it emerged that one of his economic advisers is a tax exile based in Monaco. Engineering tycoon Jim McColl lives in the world's richest street in the Mediterranean statelet known for its no income tax policy.

Liberal Democrat MP Vince Cable said it was "completely unacceptable" for a tax avoider to be advising the SNP government.

McColl was appointed to Salmond's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) in 2007. The First Minister described the group as "the most formidable intellectual firepower ever to have tackled Scottish economic underperformance".

Described as Scotland's richest man, McColl built up his £800 million fortune after buying a stake in boiler firm Clyde Blowers in 1992. His business success has been boosted by a number of acquisitions, including Weir Pumps and several companies from US giant Textron. He also chairs Glasgow's Welfare to Work Forum.

Salmond's judgement has been questioned after it was revealed that McColl is also a tax exile living in Monaco.

According to his firms' filings at Companies House, the multi-millionaire lives in a street described in the Dow Jones' Wealth Bulletin as the most prosperous in the world. Flats there change hands for up to £22m.

SNP civil servants lied over conflict of interest transport contract

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Scotland on Sunday report that SNP civil servants misled MSPs over the involvement of a senior official in awarding a contract - to a company that he had shares in.

This from SoS:

Transport Scotland's former chief executive Dr Malcolm Reed told the Scottish Parliament in January that his finance chief Guy Houston, a shareholder with FirstGroup, had only taken part in two meetings "after the deal had been struck" on the contract to run ScotRail. His evidence was used by the agency to claim that Houston had not influenced the final decision to award the deal to the firm.

But the agency has now admitted that Houston actually attended several other internal meetings at Transport Scotland when the decision over the lucrative ScotRail contract was still being discussed.

The key question is: when did Stewart Stevenson know? And why did he rush through the contract years earlier than needed - with no public consultation?

And the key question - how many SNP MSPs are also ScotRail shareholders??

More Reward for Failure?

The SNP were quick to jump on the bandwagon when the countries bankers were being rewarded with bonuses for their failures.

The Chanter wonders whether they will apply the same rules in their own house as we learn that each of the SNP's three sacked ministers is entitled to a £5000 grand pay off.

That's right, people like former School's Minister Maureen Watt get a £5000 bonus for failing to build a single school and suggesting that kids should walk to school as part of their PE lession!

That's a lot of rowies Maureen.

The case of the pompous ass

The Sunday papers do not make comfortable reading for Mr Salmond, who our (reliable and, er, professionally impartial) sources tell us was in a foul mood all week anyway.

The Sunday Times shows Labour ahead of the SNP on Holyrood, Westminster and European elections.

SoS reports that Kevin Pringle, his chief spinner who is actually paid as a civil servant, is about to be bollocked by the permanent secretary for calling Ming Campbell, the national gramps, a pompous ass. But then we guess Kevin knows a lot about working with pompous asses.

And its also revealed that Salmond is a secret admirer of Bush, calling him impressive, humorous, and calm in a crisis. Whatever next? He'll be admiring Thatcher soon.

The day Beaker swears in the Scottish Parliament

Stewart Stevenson is not a man known for his personal modesty. In fact, he's much better known for being the original inspiration for Beaker.
But today he got very angry in the Scottish Parliament and swore at one of his MSPs. (This kind of thing is very no-no for parliamentarians.)

Beaker, summoning up all his swirling anger at the world, said "bollocks". And then smirked and giggled a bit.

He lost his temper during a speech by a Lib Dem (whose name we have forgotten) on the Aberdeen Crossrail, whatever that is.

The off-mic outburst was aimed at Mike "lets-get-ready-to" Rumbles, who he later claimed was passing unfavourable comment on ministerial relationships with transport officials.

Politicians were apparently stunned by the exchange, which stopped the Lib Dem speaker in her tracks and prompted the Chief Orifice Alex Fergusson to reprimand the minister. He later said sorry for his "intemperate" language.

He then went to sit down with a damp facecloth to cool his fevered brow.

Mike Russell is at it again

Fresh from attacking towns and cities across Scotland, it has been revealed that the SNP's most embarrassing minister, Mike Russell, is in favour of freezing government expenditure for the lifetime of an entire parliament.
His comments to the Policy Institute in 2006 were made only months before he became an MSP for the second time.

In what is a highly embarrassing intervention for The Fish, Russell's plan would see a cut of £4 BILLION in public services.He also endorsed the privatisation of the NHS.

This is what the Rustler said:“The real example of Ireland - and all nationalists need to take note of this - is that the economic miracle was a product of a reduction in Government size - from 51% of GDP in 1986, through 41% in 1990 to 35% today. This was achieved not by rigorous cutting, but by stimulating economic growth - in other words by increasing the size of the cake.

“We could follow suit, but to kick start the process we would have to freeze expenditure for some years (for the duration of a Parliament perhaps) in order to get some impetus underway.

“A direct link exists between economic growth and the size of government, and it is vital that we recognise this in Scotland. Vital too that we accept that state cannot do everything - that we change the Scottish dependency
mindset.

“This mindset was illustrated on Radio Scotland last week. In a report on a mobile tracheotomy clinic, the reporter twice expressed regret that this is was a private sector initiative. Why? It did the job quicker than the public
sector had been able to do it.”

Target number 1 for the next reshuffle.

Alex Salmond must sack his chief economic advisor today

Alex Salmond's chief economic advisor must resign today. On top of defending short selling, bonuses, and saying a £2.5 million salary wouldn't buy him bragging rights in a Soho wine bar, it appears that he is a professional tax dodger.

This from The Sunday Herald:

ALEX SALMOND'S CHIEF ECONOMIC adviser is at the centre of a tax avoidance row after it emerged that his investment group's hedge fund is running businesses from a tax haven.

Sir George Mathewson, who heads the SNP government's council of economic advisers (CEA), is chairman of London-based Old Oak Holdings.

Old Oak is the holding company for Toscafund Asset Management LLP, which has several of its "mutual funds" registered in a Cayman Islands office block described by the US president, Barack Obama, as "the biggest tax scam in the world".

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Four of the funds were registered in the Caymans after Mathewson, a former RBS chairman, took up his post with the government.

Andy Kerr, Labour's finance spokesman, said: "Here we have a short-selling, big-bonus-bragging, RBS-super-salaried, tax-avoiding adviser to the first minister. When will Salmond do the decent thing?"

And even Iain MacWhirrter, a man who knows the zeal of an SNP convert like no other, knows the writing is on the wall:

...the capo di tutti capo of the Edinburgh banking mafia, Sir George Mathewson, the former boss of RBS. He prudently left the bank on the eve of disaster in 2006 to become - as we report today - a "spiv and speculator" (as First Minister Alex Salmond might put it) based in the Cayman Islands tax haven. Does the government really need financial guidance from the man who created the world's worst bank and makes his living short-selling shares and avoiding paying UK taxes?

The man who famously said a £2.5 million bonus "wouldn't give him bragging rights in a Soho wine bar". Yet Salmond, also a former employee of RBS, was still defending Mathewson's reputation at question time last week. Like this entire generation of politicians, Salmond has sold his soul - or a part of it - to the evil geniuses of the banking world.

Is it right and proper for someone who avoids paying UK tax - however legally - to have any say on the formation of economic policy in Scotland?

We say a week before he becomes too much of an embarrassment to the Fish*.

* For new readers - Salmond and Sturgeon

Another book by an SNP minister - developing

Rumour has it that another book by an SNP minister has surfaced, with very unsavoury comments. We are digging...

Mike Russell is thanking his lucky stars.

Kevin Pringle implicated in Russell attack on Scotland

Extraordinary development - the First Minister's official spokesperson and most trusted adviser was involved in the production of Mike Russell's book which make outrageous attacks on Scotland.

In the forward to the book, Mike Russell says:

One other individual who has contributed greatly, and shouldered much more than should have been expected of him, is Kevin Pringle. He deserves special thanks as he agreed to add his burdens and (as a friend) read this manuscript in proof. In so doing he offered many valuable and wise suggestions.

Seems like those wise and valuable suggestions didn't extend to not insulting the people of Aberdeen, Dumfries, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Wanlockhead and Stirling.

The First Minister should urgently clarify whether Pringle shares any of his friend's offensive views.

Mike Russell is a disgrace to Scotland and should apologise - or quit the government

This from the Daily Record:

THE SNP minister charged with delivering Scottish independence wrote a book pouring scorn on the country.

Mike Russell was promoted to culture minister in Alex Salmond's recent reshuffle and tasked with convincing Scots to break from the UK.

But the Record can reveal that despite his recent plugging of the country for the Year Of Homecoming celebrations, he wasn't always so proud of Scotland.

Before he became an MSP, Russell wrote a travel book in which he claimed Glasgow smelled of "urine and rubbish" and was filled with unconscious drug addicts.

Russell said Lanarkshire was "dirty" and he took a swipe at Aberdeen and Edinburgh Castle.

He compared locals in the village of Wanlockhead, near Biggar, to the unhinged characters in the 1970s cult horror movie Deliverance.

And the South of Scotland MSP even managed to offend his own constituents by claiming Dumfries is full of "skinny, ill-dressed women in their early twenties who seem to hover around cheap Scottish shops".

Russell made the slurs in his book In Waiting: Travels In The Shadow Of Edwin Muir, in which he retraces the steps of the Orkney poet and author.

The book was published in 1998, a year before he was elected to Holyrood.

Russell's comments are all the more embarrassing in light of the Nats' attempts to persuade expats to return to Scotland as part of the 2009 Year Of Homecoming.

Speaking recently, Russell said: "The Year Of Homecoming should encourage people to rediscover our wonderful landscapes, our wide range of wildlife and our improving environment, all of which are at the heart of our worldwide green reputation."

Yesterday, Dumfries and Galloway MP Russell Brown accused Russell of being "arrogant and pompous".

He said: "He doesn't live in the area and when he occasionally pops down in his ministerial Mondeo, it is to look down his nose at local people.

"It doesn't help the cause of encouraging people to visit in the Year Of Homecoming.

"It begs the question - is someone who makes money out of slagging off our towns fit to hold that post?"

In the book, Russell said of Glasgow: "Pull over and stop the car (if you dare) and walk into the closes smelling of urine and rubbish, cluttered with dirt and debris. It is not uncommon to have to step over a comatose body, with or without a needle by its side."

Of Aberdeen, he wrote: "There is a snell wind that blows through the town and dark corners by the harbour that make passers-by walk more quickly."

And on Lanarkshire, he commented: "There is something dirty about the roads. Even the country lanes have a sort of grimy edge to them."

After visiting a pub in Wanlockhead, Russell wrote: "The scene might have been set for a Scottish version of the deep south tourist terror movie Deliverance."

Russell described the flag flying above Edinburgh Castle as "an awful mutant tablecloth".

Last night, he was unrepentant.

A source close to the minister said: "Scotland has changed significantly since 1998. It is now a substantially better country because we have an SNP government implementing progressive policies."

ABERDEEN

'It feels no more hospitable than when I first came here - there is still a snell wind that blows through the town and dark corners by the harbour that make passers-by walk more quickly'

DUMFRIES

'The centre... has the usual chain stores and the usual complement of skinny, ill-dressed women in their 20s who seem to hover around cheap Scottish shops like importuning wraiths'

EDINBURGH

'The flag on Edinburgh Castle is an awful mutant tablecloth and the National Trust for Scotland is arrogant andelitist'

GLASGOW

'The walls are decorated with spraypaint graffiti and it is not uncommon to have to step over a comatose body, with or without a needle by its side'

George Mathewson must resign as Salmond advisor - NOW

George Mathewson, the former head of the practically-bankrupted RBS, is the chief economic advisor to Alex Salmond.

Today it has been revealed that Toscafund, the hedge fund that acted as a catalyst for the Royal Bank of Scotland's disastrous acquisition of ABN Amro, made a profit of £158 million in 2007.

Toscafund, whose holding company is chaired by Sir George Mathewson, enjoyed spectacular short term gains as a result of a surge in the Dutch Bank's share price.

Sir George Mathewson said at the weekend that bankers who had to be bailed out by the taxpayer should not have to apologise: "I don't believe in all this sorry bit. What could they say? Did they do what they thought was best at the time? I suppose they did."

Mathewson also defends short selling when his own hedge fund made £158 million in 2007, because of their role in a deal that has brought the Royal Bank of Scotland to its knees.

Mathewson also said that his £750,000 bonus "wouldn't buy you bragging power in a Soho wine bar."

This man is a disgrace to the people who have lost their jobs as a result of his decisions at RBS and must go from his public post - and go now.