3rd of May eek

[cheekbones3]

Well, time for a policy-light election post, setting out my prejudices and hopefully sparking a little discussion.
 
Overall position:
 
Labour/Lib Dem coalition, has met with limited success, but is now suffering from the general dislike of Blair. SNP have a lead in the opinion polls, but are unproven. Lib Dems maybe treading water. Tories still irrelevant, especially given their unwillingness to join coalition. SSP will suffer from losing Tommy Sheridan. Tommy Sheridan will suffer from losing SSP. Greens could make headway, but I feel they will struggle to do so.
 
Party opinions:
 
Labour: Incumbent and possibly a bit complacent in recent times, and struggling under the weight of the UK's dislike of Blair. McConnell also appears to be a careerist goon, but there appear to be some ministers who are trying to make a positive difference, although policy-wise, a bit more radicalism is needed. They appear to be championing further investment in the economy and in skills and education, along with R&D. Also lofty ambitions regarding power generation.
 
Lib Dem: I agree generally with tax policies and strength of commitment to local action, if they were again to form a coalition, I'd like them to exert more influence than last time, as they appeared to sell out too easily last time round. Green credentials reasonable. Also proposing a cut in business taxes, which I've long been interested in, to stimulate new growth.
 
SNP: Proposals to use a magic pot of cash from non-existent oil bonus upon independence to pay for various socialist policies (some of which I agree with, but are already costed more sensibly by such as the Lib Dems). Nationalism for its own sake. Erk. Doesn't Scotland already get an annual windfall from the Barnett formula? Isn't this government spend already accounting for any oil bonus that comes into the UK, and isn't the oil income being maximised already by recent windfall taxes? Any separation bonuses I believe will easily be cancelled out by the loss of business confidence, the loss of Barnett income, and shortfalls in taxation as a result. I'd be like a turkey voting for Christmas.
 
Greens: Pro-environment policies great. Supporters of independence. Oops.
 
SSP/Solidarity: Some valid points to make on social welfare policy, but continuing the internal socialist power-struggles of the last few decades is doing them no good at all.
 
Conservatives: Proposals for the Conservative and Unionist Party to separate its Scottish part from the UK party do amuse me so.
 
Who do I vote for then?
 
It comes down to (in my opinion) a tactical vote for Labour to reduce the SNP's strength, although given where I live the SNP aren't that strong, I might just stick with the Lib Dems for my main vote (I think our Lib Dem MSP will be easily re-elected). For the party list vote, a tactical vote may be more relevant. As much as I want a chamber with a split power base, I'd rather worry about stymieing the growing SNP power rather than promoting the smaller parties' power just now.
 
Current thoughts - Lib Dem 1, Labour 2.
 
Opinions?

Comments

[cheekbones3.livejournal.com]

The health service is doing pretty well I think, apart from the issue of staff, and that's what I was referring to mainly by the poor management of the extra cash available. In many other ways, the cures that are available nowadays are miraculous, just the details of management and cleanliness and staffing need sorted.

Trains (I've been travelling regularly on them since 1995) are much nicer and cheaper than they were on the routes that I use them. I spend less now than when I had a young person's railcard.

Some schools are doing very well, but there's a lot of muddled thinking certainly, exams are always getting easier and the bringing up of the worst instead of the freeing of the best is always foolish. Yep student debt is rubbish too, but there's at least means-testing. I'd rather bump up taxes and reduce uni numbers, increase funding for further education/training and get marginal students doing something useful instead of dossing for a crappy degree.

Benefits have helped the poorest, but the pay-off is that the laziest can also survive, and the minimum-income guarantee makes it unattractive to get work. I don't have an idea of how to sort this out at the moment!

The prisons are in trouble because of idiotic pandering to the right, throwing more people in gaol instead of investing in rehab etc etc, which I believe is a much more effective way of dealing with many offenders. At the moment we seem to let of lot of people rot, to everyone's expense, probably two or three times over (prison cost, costs of crime).

Yep, other Home Office stuff is bollocks too and terrorism is an excuse for a loss of civil liberties, which I do not care for at all. This has not been good.

Pensions have been made worse by taxation and the dot com crash, I think they could have been helped more certainly, and the state pension should be better too.

Wasted money I don't like too, not sure what you mean about Commons screw-ups, and yep, the pandering to American policy is nonsense. Trouble is, I see a lot of these issues as almost inevitable under any government - market forces dictate a forced hand, the USA being behind a lot of it.

Positives are that the economy has been good, a lot more investment into public transport and infrastructure and health, but unfortunately a lot of bad organisation too, typical public-sector problems. I think that their reversal of the seeming national downgrade that was happoening under the previous government was reversed, now we just need some right-thinking and some balls from those in power! Has to be said too that a lot of those problems are more British than Scottish, the issues here are different and possibly better dealt with, although that's another can of worms.

[chuma.livejournal.com]

My sister is a nurse and I can tell you it is NOT doing well at the moment. In fact you shoudl ask Vic (Dagliv) who is a doctor about the way they have treated doctors of late - forcing them to go miles out of their way for interviews only to scrap the results and say they will not be re-employing anyone until the system is sorted, meaning there will be no jobs and when their contracts run out, they are unemployed. Expect some protest marches, not for pay, but just to get jobs at all!

Trains, well I suggest trying to get a train from Edinburgh to Birmingham. If you buy on the day it will cost you £80 for a single. That is THREE TIMES the cost to go by car, and this government wants to make the environment an issue???

Schools... bring back the old BTECH *nod* Give it a nicer name if you must! :)

Benefits just seem to help those who don't need help more than those who do and inconvenience them too.

Prisons: Yeah you have a point, but there has to be a deterent and giving people 8 years for murder isn't one. Agreed though, rehab is a good way to go.


And your positives. Aye the economy has stood pretty tall it must be said. I still do not agree about the funding in Health, and public transport is easier to invest in if you no longer have control of the trains...

As for Scottish problems other than British... I fail to see the differences. People care about the same things here as they do in England, only there is the whole independence crap overshadowing it. I would be half tempted to say "have your independence" on the condition that when it all goes horribly horribly wrong, the SNP disband.