Eddie Barnes: Brown vs the media

Fresh from his combative performance at the party conference yesterday, Gordon Brown appears to have decided that along with the Conservatives, he is going to take on the media as well. The Prime Minister was in an unusually confrontational mood during an interview with Sky's Adam Boulton this morning, describing Boulton as "a political propagandist" and repeatedly accusing Sky's political editor of getting his facts wrong, and failing to ask the right questions.

Coming on the morning that Sky's Murdoch stablemate The Sun officially declared for the Conservatives, you can imagine why Brown might be a little sore at the media coverage he is receiving. It's all so unfair isn't it?....last week, he is lauded as World Statesman of the Year by Bono....this week, all the British press pack want to know is whether he's definitely going to cling on until the election date.

The Brown's are said to be furious about whay they see as the bias of the UK press pack. Newly self-cast as official underdog, it now looks as if the PM is preparing to cast the media as part of the great conspiracy trying to force a Conservative government upon the country. It's another of Brown's dividing lines: on the one side, there's him and the silent majority, who want to talk about the "issues that matter"; on the other, there's the media elite who are only interested in froth and personality.

Dangerous ground. It was never an either/or situation. The truth is that both personality and issues matter. Brown could take a leaf out of Lord Mandelson's book who has managed to turn the media's fascination with his own personality to his considerable political advantage.

None of this is that easy to take on board when you're facing the pummelling that Brown is getting at present. But it would be Prime Ministerial to try.

David Maddox: Was the Labour Party trying to tell Gordon Brown something?

M People's Moving on Up sounds pretty uplifting when you're a party staring defeat in the face, but on closer inspection it is an odd choice of song to play Gordon Brown off the stage with, perhaps in more ways then one.
Read for yourself:

You've done me wrong, your time is up
You took a sip (just a sip) from the devils cup.
You broke my heart, there's no way back.
Move right outta here baby.
Go and pack your bags.
Just who do you think you are?
Stop acting like some kind of star.
Just who do you think you are?
Take it like a man baby if that's what you are.

[chorus]
'Cos I'm moving on up.
You're moving on out.
Movin' on up.
Nothing can stop me.
Moving on up.
You're moving on out.
Time to break free.
Nothing can stop me,
Yeah.

They brag a man has walked in space,
but you can't even find my place.
Mmm there ain't nothing (not a thing) you can do
'cos I've had enough of me baby being part of you.

Just who do you think you are?
This time you've gone too far.
Just who do you think you are?
Take it like a man baby if that's what you are.

[chorus]

David Maddox: Labour and the Brown stuff - aka The Numbers Game (21)

More and more it seems that bookmakers are providing the first early comment on the political fortunes of parties at key events.
This is because they track the bets punters make during big speeches
PaddyPower has just sent through a fascinating analysis of the affects of Gordon Brown's speech on the odds as it inspired people to lay bets on everything from his party's popularity after the conference to how long the applause would last.
One immediate effect though is that Labour's odds remain unchanged to win the election at 11/2 with the Conservatives remaining hot favourites at 1/12.
According to PaddyPower: "In general the speech looked likely to have a small positive effect on Brown’s approval rating next month with a fall in YouGov’s poll to 21-25% starting at 9/4 and drifting out to 3/1. The key time coming just after 3.00pm when Brown discussed pensions. A rise to an approval of 26-30% remained favourite throughout the speech, starting at 13/8 and finishing at 11/10."

Here were the key moments for the political gamblers when a flurry of bets were placed:

Length of Applause
14:31 Sarah Brown
14:36 Talk of Labour achievements
14:47 Talk of Bank collapse
14:52 New Banking Law and banks paying people back
15:02 Raise tax at top
15:13 Talk of troops
15:22 Personal Care for Free
15:25 Abolish heriditary principle in house of lords
15:31 Talking of dreaming

Approval
14:31 Sarah Brown
14:41 Talk of employment and saving jobs
14:49 Talk of his parents and family values with NHS
14:55 Climate Change deal
15:03 Free Child Care, Child Tax Credits
15:09 Talk of immigration
15:14 Threat to Iran


PaddyPower has also given us a series of post speech odds:

Who will win the next UK General Election?
1/12 Conservatives
11/2 Labour
80/1 Liberal Democrats

Gordon Browns’ October Approval Rating (Yougov Poll, Sept 09 = 26%)
16/1 10% or less
12/1 11 - 15%
8/1 16 - 20%
3/1 21 - 25%
11/10 26 - 30%
3/1 30 - 35%
8/1 36 - 40%
10/1 Over 40%

How many seats will Labour win at the next Election?
5/1 Less than 150
11/10 150-200
13/8 201-250
6/1 251-300
10/1 301-350
33/1 351-400
50/1 Over 400

It will be interesting to see how accurate the above is and whether the cash pundits are as good or better than us political hacks.

Eddie Barnes: Brown's last stand

GORDON Brown has just arrived in Brighton for the last Labour conference before the general election, and he brings with him a new secret weapon in his bid to beat David Cameron at the next General Election. The secret weapon is called....David Cameron.

Having spoken to Labour contacts today, it appears the entire aim of this conference is to try and shift all the attention away from Brown and instead focus it firmly onto the Conservative leadership. Yes, there will be plenty on the plans Labour has for its next term in office but the main aim will be to put a rocket up the Tories. The message will be along the lines of "you think we're bad? Just wait until the next lot get in." Crucially, this has the advantage of uniting the fractious party faithful, seeing as hating Tories is just about the only thing they can agree on any more. So focussed is the attack that even Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy, whose day job up till now has been to shadow the SNP administration, will devote his entire speech on Monday to the Conservative threat. Those on cliche-watch this week should look out for the phrase "elections aren't referendums, they are choices". Count the number of times you hear it.

David Maddox: The Numbers Game (20) - Odd predictions for Glasgow North East

Ladbrokes have just issued their odds for the declared candidates in Glasgow North East. The biggest surprise are the small odds for former Glasgow Airport bomb hero John 'Smeato' Smeaton who has just been announced as the Jury Team candidate.
His odds of 8/1 are much shorter than two of the established parties, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems, who admittedly stand a snowflake in Hell's chance of winning the seat. Strange though considering the Jury Team got the least number of votes in the recent European elections.
Ladbrokes spokesman Robin Hutchison explains: "Over-turning a Labour majority of 10,000 will be tough, even for a bloke who set aboot suicide bombers. But if anyone can, Smeato can."
Apparently he may not have said that had he witnessed the press conference launching Smeato as the candidate. I'm told by a colleague it got so out of hand he struggled so much that the Jury Team minders had to step in to cut it short. The event was punctured by long pauses as he struggled to answer basic questions.
Which goes to prove tackling suicide bombers is one thing, tackling hardened Scottish political hacks is an altogether different prospect.

Anyway here are Ladbrokes' odds for Glasgow North East:

Willie Bain (Labour) 4/6
David Kerr (SNP) 5/4
John Smeaton (Jury Team) 8/1
Ruth Davidson (Conservative) 100/1
Eileen Baxendale (Liberal Democrats) 100/1
Tommy Sheridan (Solidarity) 100/1
John Swinburne (Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party) 200/1
Kevin McVey (Scottish Socialist Party) 200/1
Charlie Baillie (BNP) 500/1

David Maddox: The Greens - not all is how it seems

I notice that James Mackenzie, that tireless spindoctor and general dogsbody for the Green Party in Scotland, has come up with a surprising admission on his Two Doctors blog.
As the world leaders sat down to discuss nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, Mr Mackenzie the official mouthpiece of a party supposed peaceniks, announced that he wants to increase his own personal nuclear arsenal from two to three.
He was talking about his collection of board games - apparently he already possesses Confrontation and War on Terror, which sound more like George W. Bush's hobbies. Far be it for me to suggest that this is a sign of latent megalomania in the otherwise urbane and personable spin doctor, but it does appear that for him subconsciously, as in a misquote of the James Bond movie, the world (let alone Scotland) may not be enough.
However, we must hope he does not become a global domination because the world may be left lacking. As his blog shows he probably would not allow either chess or cricket to be played, thus depriving civilisation of its two best past times.
His objection to chess is that he believes computers are better at the game because they can process more information. Yet the only time the world's best player lost to a computer was Garry Kasparov against the second Deep Blue constructed by IBM.
Subsequent investigations have suggested that IBM may have cheated and used other grandmasters in a bid to boost its share price. The company quickly dismantled the computer before any checks could be made or a rematch could take place.

David Maddox: At the risk of sounding like a cybernat...

This item Labour have just put out is possibly the most outrageous press release I can remember in my time in Holyrood, which is saying quite a lot.
I will spare you most of the gory details, but entitled: "SALMOND THREATENS TO CANCEL MORE GLASGOW PROJECTS" it claims that the First Minister during FMQs threatened to "cancel the new Southern General Hospital and the National Indoor Sports Arena if he does not get his way on the cancellation of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link."
It then quotes Glasgow Shettleston MSP Frank McAveety: “The First Minister’s threat to take away funding for the National Indoor Sports Arena is just more bluster. He knows fine well that he signed a commitment to deliver this facility, which is vital to the success of the Commonwealth Games."
I had to check with some fellow hacks, that I had not dreamed what really happened in FMQs. They confirmed to me that none of the above press release is true. Mr Salmond used those projects as examples of how Glasgow is still getting a lot of infrastructure investment and at no point was there a threat to cancel them. I write this as a journalist who has not exactly been shy of criticising the First Minister.
This release probably has something to do with upcoming Glasgow North East by-election and, as a colleague pointed out to me, there are a lot of weekly papers who do not have staff here who may pick it up and report it as fact.
Not exactly the most honourable moment for Labour in Holyrood, even if ultimately it is effective.

Rift? What rift? - Eddie Barnes

Gordon Brown has clarified that, contrary to reports this morning claiming that President Obama had ignored his requests for some face time while in New York, in fact they have never stopped talking since he arrived there.

Following widespread reports in this morning's press that the White House snubbed Brown over a meeting, Brown says today: "I talked to President Obama."

For good measure, he adds: "I talked to him at the meetings."

Just in case we hadn't got the message, he goes on: "I talked to him before I came to the meetings here."

He continues: "I had a long talk with him after Monday’s meeting."

And just so as it's crystal clear, he concludes: "We are meeting today, we are chairing two meetings."

Got that? President Obama had better make sure he keeps his bedroom door locked tonight.

David Maddox: Only a pawn in their game

Forget Obama, Brown and Gaddafi at the UN, the SNP's plans to liberate Scottish television from the BBC and especially Nick Clegg's speech, the news this week that Garry Kasparov and Anatoli Karpov are to resume hostilities over the chess board to mark 25 years after their first epic encounter was for me the story of the week.

It brought back memories of how as a 10-year-old fanatical chess player (sadly never better than a Norfolk county finalist) I avidly followed what became one of the greatest mental contests in human history (pictured above). As this week has shown it is one that will only end when one of the two grandmasters finds that his next opponent is the grim reaper in a Seventh Seal or, for the less high brow, a Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure fashion.
It also reminded me of a conversation I had with James Mackenzie, the Greens spindoctor and general dogsbody famous for his Two Doctors blog, about board games.
He is a collector of weird and wonderful board games and I believe has one with the aim of nuking the world, which perhaps isn't the Greenest objective.
But he is also a keen backgammon player and is teaching Green MSP Patrick Harvie how to play. Unfortunately he does not like chess and in a recent e-mail to me said: "Chess is a limited game which can be won simply by processing further into the future than your opponent."
A surprising observation for an otherwise intelligent and cultured individual about arguably the greatest test of mental skill ever devised.
But, getting back to Kasparov and Karpov, what has this rematch of the old grandmasters got to do with politics? Well actually quite a lot.
In 1984, five years before the Iron Curtain fell, this was a contest between the old and the new. Karpov was the Communist Party's establishment man, appropriately a strategist who strangled his opponents with carefully worked out positions. Kasparov represented the new Russia, pro-capitalist and pushing for freedom, which again was reflected in his faster, more flamboyant unpredictable style of play.
The two were enemies over the board, personally and politically. Their enmity was such that a board had to be fixed under the table to stop them kicking each other.
Initially, as with the old Communist regime, Karpov had the upper hand, but the match was abandoned when he was 5-3 up because the two were deadlocked in constant draws and there were fears for their health.
Then in 1985 they returned for a rematch and, in what would eventually reflect the new order, Kasparov won easily. He never lost a match to Karpov again although they clashed many times.
Kasparov actually went on to get involved in politics as an opponent of the Putin regime. After he was arrested following a demonstration it was interesting that one of his first visitors in prison was his old rival Karpov, showing that respect for a great opponent overcomes enmity and differences of opinion.
But their contest a quarter of a century ago was not the first to have a political dimension. Before Karpov became world champion, the American Bobby Fischer became the first man to overcome Soviet domination of the chess world when he beat Boris Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972 (pictured below), in contest that was loaded with Cold War politics.
Fischer is the one player who could lay claim to be on a level with Kasparov and Karpov as one of the greatest players ever. But he reportedly went mad and walked away from the game after winning in 1972 only to re-emerge years later apparently supporting the unpalatable Serbian regime in the 1990s.
He once described chess as "war on a board" but was not the only one to give it a dimension of reflecting life and politics.
The former US President Benjamin Franklin said: “Life is a kind of Chess, with struggle, competition, good and ill events.”
Although as Arthur Conan Doyle noted it is not always a good thing. He said: “Excellence at Chess is one mark of a scheming mind.”
Which brings me back to my conversation with James Mackenzie. The Greens have at times shown a certain endearing innocence when it comes to the darker arts of politics, not least in their hopeless budget negotiations earlier this year.
So, taking some Holmesian authoritive advice, perhaps Mr Mackenzie should be teaching his MSPs how to position their pawns rather than relying on the random throw of the backgammon dice.

scotsman.com to host live debate with Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy

DO you have a question you would like to ask the Secretary of State for Scotland?

Readers of scotsman.com will be able to put their questions to Jim Murphy in a one-hour question-and-answer debate next month.

The live text debate is the first in a series on scotsman.com that will see Scotland's top politicians put on the spot by the country's electorate.

Jim Murphy will be answering questions live on scotsman.com on October 6 from 4pm alongside responding to those submitted before the event.

scotsman.com editor Alan Greenwood said:

"We are delighted to begin what we hope will be a series of lively discussions with Scotland's key decision-makers.

"Scotland is at the forefront of debate in the UK and on the international stage so this live debate couldn't be more timely.

"The site has long been a forum for political debate however this is the first that a leading politician will come face-to-face with our audience."

To log on to the debate visit scotsman.com/jimmurphywebchat where you can also set an email reminder.

You can submit a question before the event by emailing enquiries@scotsman.com

Questions will be selected on merit by scotsman.com.

David Maddox: Revising the political lexicon

I've just returned from yet another conference on 10 years of devolution although, as The Scotsman is the official media partner, I should say that Scottish Parliament and Government: 1999 to 2009: Scotland after the first decade, the possible future, organised by the consultancy Mackay Hannah is one of the best ones I've attended yet.

It's two keynote speakers were inevitably First Minister Alex Salmond and his Labour rival Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murhpy (no not Holyrood Labour leader Iain Gray).

There had been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing over when they should speak. One was supposed to open and the close, in the end they were both placed at the beginning. Then Mr Murphy tried to turn it into a debate, an idea quickly dodged by the FM.

It was noticeable that the conference was chaired by a professional mediator, John Sturrock QC of Core Solutions.

The end result was two speeches and Q&A sessions where the two outlined ideas and thoughts familiar to many of us who have heard them regularly before. However, if ideas were not a new currency the two at least tried to invent some new words and phrases for their ongoing conflict.

Firs up, Mr Salmond, managed to invent a new word - "bandiage" - as in the general political bandiage, otherwise known to the rest of us as "debate."

Not to be outdone, Mr Murphy decided to go digital on the First Minister, so to speak. A referendum, he said, is "a black and white solution to an HD conundrum." I should explain to the less technically minded that HD refers to high definition the latest ultra visual technology used for televisions.
He went on: "Nationalism is the pathway to the past, we are in the fast lane to the interconnected super highway."
One suspects it was all getting a little geeky for the audience and there was some bafflement at his phrase TGI Britain, which after a moment's thought turned out to be "thank God it's Britain."

But both seemed quite pleased with their innovation in political lexicography, so I would guess we will hear these and further additions more in the coming months.

Eddie Barnes: Love-bombing the LibDems - Scottish version

The LibDems can hardly move at present without some supposed political opponents attempting to hug them close. With David Cameron trying down south to become Nick Clegg's new best friend, now it is Alex Salmond's turn this morning to suck up close to the men in yellow.

At a conference on devolution this morning, the First Minister has declared that he is "minded" to propose putting a so-called 'multi-option' question to voters in his proposed referendum so that, along with the status quo and independence, voters would be asked whether they would like the Scottish parliament to have more powers. "That seems to me to be an entirely reasonable, consensual and democratic way forward," he declares. The development this morning appears to be that the multi-option referendum is now the SNP's preferred choice of question.

Labour and the Tories won't buy it, but - as we have been reporting over the last two days - the Liberals are swithering all over the place about whether to back the referendum or not. On the one hand, they don't want to help out the SNP by handing them their referendum. On the other, they are not happy at all about being cast by the SNP as part of an arrogant Unionist alliance, denying the people a say. Now Salmond is effectively offering to meet them half-way - if you won't go for dinner, at least let me buy you a drink, he suggests.

Canny politics.....now let's see if Scottish LibDem leader Tavish Scott pukkers up. The lean Shetlander is insistent that he will not back the bill under any circumstances, but the pressure is mounting from within his party. Interesting times.

Gerri Peev: Cable tangled

The storm clouds have gathered over Bournemouth. Overnight, a whale stranded itself on the beach. Perhaps it was an omen of the disastrous day that lay ahead. First up, Vince Cable was ambushed in a "shadow cabinet" meeting of the Lib Dems over his mansion tax policy. Cable is a clever man who has a good run in the press and with the wider public. There are even some predictions that his mansion tax will go down well with voters. It could even be pitched to those on the right as being preferable to taxing income, which is the product of hard work. But the normally careful Cable was left tangled by not sorting the detail of the policy. He seems too affable a man to have let the stardust go to his head, but colleagues were left raging that he had not consulted them over such a fundamental policy change.

Next up, was the press briefing with Clegg's chief of staff, Danny Alexander, who provided the press with a third statement on what the Lib Dems thought should happen to the Attorney General Baroness Scotland, who has been fined for hiring an illegal immigrant as her cleaner. While Chris Huhne took to the airwaves to say she should be sacked, Clegg said she should stay. Meanwhile Alexander suggested she consider her position. During the briefing, a Blackberry alert came through with the message that Clegg had said she should perhaps consider her position. By the end of the day a statement came through saying that her position "looked untenable".

Then came the onstage swipes at Clegg's leadership from his own frontbenchers: pensions spokesman Steve Webb said the party had had enough despair for a week, while Dr Evan Harris, the spokesman on science, suggested that Clegg had some way to go before becoming a great leader.

And then Clegg was bounced into firming up his opposition to a referendum in a BBC Scotland interview, after The Scotsman's story this morning. Tavish Scott had claimed that perhaps colleagues who suggested the policy would be reversed had ingested too many pina coladas. For the record, this correspondent was not sharing cocktails with her sources at the time of acquiring the story. Perhaps Scott was just worried he was on the rocks?

To cap the day off, journos were given a few extracts from Clegg's speech...There is a killer line in it which voters must listen out for tomorrow. The old addage that any publicity is good publicity is truly being stretched for the Lib Dems this week. It almost stirs sympathy for them.

David Maddox: Troubled times for Tavish

The Scotsman front page today by my colleague Gerri Peev has certainly caused a stir in the otherwise quiet corridors of Holyrood.
The idea that the Lib Dems are considering backing a referendum has come as a surprise, although the party's vacillating record of changing its mind on various issues means that we should have half expected it.
The interesting aspect here is that Tavish Scott, the Scottish leader, has been adamantly against a referendum in the current economic circumstances. Most people believe that privately he is against one in almost all circumstances bar an outright SNP majority when his party's opposition would make no difference anyway.
What seems to be happening here is that Mr Scott and the Scottish party are being bounced into supporting the referendum by the UK party leadership, in one stroke undermining the supposed autonomy of the Scottish party in the Lib Dems' federal set-up.
Apparently pressure is coming from Vince Cable, the man most people want to be chancellor, who is now the Twickenham MP but was a Glasgow councillor.
What seems to be driving this is that the Lib Dems think a Tory victory will undermine support for the Union in Scotland and they believe that with Labour rapidly disintegrating they are the only party capable of saving the UK. They believe that the SNP can win an outright majority in 2011, which in my view at least, shows a surprising lack of understanding of the consequences of the Holyrood electoral system which mitigates against any majority.
Call a referendum now and you don't have to fight one at a time more convenient for the Nats.
It all echoes former Labour leader Wendy Alexander's ill-judged: "Bring it on!"
But this is bad for Mr Scott. During the late summer he lost the confidence of his Scottish party over his views on keeping Megrahi locked up in Scotland, now the UK leadership seems to question his judgement on a referendum.

Gerri Peev: Another tax train wreck

Vince Cable has a few hours to turn around a potential disaster for the Lib Dems. The party wants to tax people 0.5 per cent of any property values over £1million. This could raise £1.1 billion. This is where the clarity ends. Advisers could not explain whether they would use the 1991 valuations or whether to carry out a UK wide revaluation. Nor could the Lib Dems explain how much this would cost. Nor where the distribution lay. (Hint, probably in target Lib Dem seats in the wealthy south, London and of course Edinburgh). Cable himself is probably likely to be hit with the tax, Nick Clegg certainly will be.
Where does this leave their previous pronouncements on property taxes being unfair? Time is of the essence here. The Twinkletoes of Twickenham needs to perform a pretty good double step.

Chris Mackie: 10 years of laughter and fun in the Kenny and Jack Show

Sporting some carefully nurtured stubble, more at home on the chin of serial automotive snoozer George Michael, Jack McConnell kicked off a lively day of debate at the Law Society of Scotland's devolution debate on Friday.

Tieless, full of jokes and looking relieved that the Lockerbie decision hadn't fallen to his administration, Jack (famously pictured right as First Minister in Tartan week in America) regaled delegates on the successes (and failures) of devolution as he saw them. Among the clear positives, he contended, was the introduction of the smoking ban, something he revealed had caused him a degree of nervousness before it was enacted. Chided by a frosty reception at a licensing industry jolly weeks before the Bill was passed and fearful of widespread civil disobedience of the new measures, Jack had, he reported, barely slept during the night before its introduction.

Later, he outlined some areas for improvement of the arrangements. Among those was the need for a more mature dialogue between Holyrood and Westminster, and he expressed incredulity that the Megrahi decision hadn't been discussed at a high level between governments before deploying the old "if an alien had landed from the planet Zog, what would he have thought?" rhetoric to make his point.

Another contention was that the current system of 32 local authorities was unsustainable and should be scrutinised by an all party review body. Maddeningly, however, he failed to tell the audience a) precisely what he thought was wrong with the system, and b) how he believed it could be improved.

He also called for a radical change to the taxation powers of the Parliament, suggesting that responsibility for income tax gathering could be split between both Governments. And he lamented the lack of a serious policy shaping community in Scotland, revealing that, during his tenure as First Minister, only a handful of times had a policy report crossed his desk that sparked serious debate in the Government.

Later in the day, Sir Kenneth Calman (pictured left) cut a wry figure as he took to the lectern to offer a review of his Commission before taking questions from the floor. He insisted that the process of gathering evidence for his report had been "great fun" with the hard work punctuated by members of the commission circulating e-mail jokes around the group. If any curious reader wants a record of those gags, they may well be available via the submission of a creatively worded FOI request.

Speaking to The Scotsman after his appearance, Sir Kenneth revealed that he had managed to see his daughter's (http://www.susancalman.com/) recent stand up appearance at the Festival Fringe, and claimed to have helped her write some material. As for the remainder of her show, he was less enthusiastic: "She sometimes uses language," he said, "that is not for my ears."

Gerri Peev: Taleban, toffs and tepid conference

The sun may be shining but Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey was threatening to hose down over Nick Clegg's parade by calling for a new policy in Afghanistan. This would, he said, involve "taking tea with the Taleban".
Iain Dale has a good summary of Davey's (PG) tips over here http://tiny.cc/RaiU1 .

Nick Clegg keeps referring to David Cameron and the Conservatives "expecting to govern" and attacking their "sense of entitlement"... Clegg insisted in a recent interview in the London Evening Standard that he would not be launching class warfare against the Tories. This would be odd, he admitted "for someone who went to public school". But the son of a merchant banker is clearly hoping there is a dog whistle effect here. He senses the disquiet over Cameron's privileged upbringing and hopes to exploit it. He should perhaps hope that no one points out how rich some of his frontbench team are, including millionaire Chris Huhne.

There is a distinct lack of atmosphere at this year's Lib Dem conference. So far, it seems woefully under-attended for a pre- general election rally. The party has until Wednesday to generate a sense of excitement. Wonder if Joanna Lumley will make a star appearance? Given that major international events tend to coincide with Lib Dem conference, expect another calamity in the days ahead. (Not just the leader's speech.)

David Maddox: Holyrood not Hollywood

Behind the scenes in the Scottish Parliament this week an interesting battle has been fought on a vital issue for the good of the nation.

I am of course talking about the issue of whether MSPs should be allowed to film themselves within the parliament.

It seems that in June this year the parliament's Corporate Body - the group of MSPs that decide how it is run and what should rules apply - banned MSPs filming themselves.

I understand this was less to do with filming and more to do with new SNP Glasgow list MSP Anne McLaughlin being accused of stalking various people and photographing them in parliament without their permission. She then posted some of the pictures on her Indygal blog. Admitedly this was done just before she was elevated to being an MSP after the death of Bashir Ahmad.

Rather typically of the Corporate Body, it did not tell anybody about its decision, but did ask parliament staff to search Youtube for breaches of the rule.

The whole issue only became better known when Labour MSP Elaine Murray asked permission to film a guided tour of the main chamber (which was always out of bounds) for an information video for her constituents.

The answer came back quickly - no, not in the chamber, and whilst you are at it not anywhere in parliament as well!

This caused some anxiety among MSPs many of whom have started their own regular Youtube broadcasts and film themselves at work. The garden lobby, pictured above, is a popular filming venue. Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott and Labour leader Iain Gray both have their own channels.

The idea was pioneered in Holyrood by that bete noir of the cybernats Lord George Foulkes, Baron of Cumnock. He has made it a point to try out new media first, which is why he also has the unofficial title of First Lord of the Twittery because he was the first member of the upper chamber in Westminster to join the social networking site.

The noble lord was so infuriated by the new rule that he told me: "I hope to become the Scottish Parliament's Youtube martyr."

He had decided to defy the new rule and continue with his weekly broadcast from the Scottish Parliament, but a meeting on Wednesday of the Corporate Body has ensured that he will not be hauled up before them.

I am told that the CB members decided to relax the rules as long as parties and MSPs are not trying to make party political broadcasts and not filming people who surreptitiously.

Interestingly it was a double victory for his lordship, who also persuaded the parliament to allow his wife's name to go on his Scottish Parliament Christmas cards. Previously spouses had been banned because they were not officially part of the parliament, but as MSPs pay for the cards themselves the CB members this week finally relented to pressure from Lord Foulkes.

If only he were as successful for the 500 Bausch and Lomb Livingston workers losing their jobs.

David Maddox: Lubrication and fetishes make the Holyrood world go round

It must be something about the Nationalists, because two MSP motions of late have added a little colour to the humdrum of Holyrood debate. Livingston MSP Angela Constance has declared an interest in lubricants, while her West of Scotland colleague Bill Wilson wants an end to fetishism.

But before the "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" stuff goes further these motions are on the economy rather than any (ahem!) outside interests

Ms Constance's motion is actually congratulating a firm in her constituency called Specialist Lubricants which has carried out some pioneering work and developed eco-friendly packaging. It has just won a massive contract with Tetra Pak, so has not only helped to save the environment but made loads of money in the process, which goes to prove that capitalism and environmentalism are not mutually exclusive.

Mr Wilson meanwhile has latched on to an academic paper by economics professors Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz and Jean-Paul Fitoussi, which calls for an end to GDP fetishism. It believes that measuring economic success through gross domestic product alone ignores work/ life balance and happiness.

This could be dismissed as leftwing nonsense, but, interestingly, this approach has been accepted by the right of centre French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

It should be said though that Green MSP Patrick Harvie was there first and made a call for a national "happiness indicator" when he became his party's co-convener (joint leader in normal parlance).

Anyway here are the motions for your perusal:

Angela Constance (Livingston) (SNP): Congratulations to Livingston Firm Specialists Lubricants S3M-04825: That the Parliament commends Livingston-based Specialist Lubricants for its pioneering eco-friendly packaging solution that has led to a multi-million pound contract with the global packaging firm Tetra Pak; acknowledges the importance of its development of a more environmentally friendly solution to the traditional soap and water based lubricants systems; pays tribute to the pioneering development work that has resulted in a product that has been proven to save millions of gallons of water each year in bottling facilities worldwide, and wishes the company and its workforce well in future developments and expansion of its customer base as a result of this contract with Tetra Pak.

*S3M-4867 Bill Wilson: Ending the GDP Fetish: That the Parliament welcomes the recent report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, contributed to by economics professors Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz and Jean-Paul Fitoussi, which calls for an end to "GDP fetishism"; believes that an economic approach focused on ever-increasing GDP to the detriment of other factors is unsustainable and has been disastrous for the wellbeing of individuals and the environment; agrees with the report that a new indicator of progress is needed, one that considers issues such as environmental protection and work/life balance as well as economic output, to rate a country’s ability to maintain the sustainable happiness of its inhabitants; notes that, were such methodology to be used, and, as a result, GDP took into account outcomes and not just financial inputs, the United States of America’s apparently large economic lead over France in terms of its GDP would be greatly reduced due to France’s high-quality health service, welfare system and long holidays, all of which contribute to the wellbeing of its inhabitants; commends French President Nicolas Sarkozy for his response to the report, not least his statement that "the [present economic] crisis doesn’t only make us free to imagine other models, another future, another world. It obliges us to do so", and his instruction to France’s national statistics body, Insee, to update its methods in accordance with the report’s recommendations, and calls on the Scottish and UK Governments urgently to follow his lead and to encourage other countries to do so.

David Maddox: Easy to forget the small things...

Which must be why the Scottish Government forgot to list the publication of the draft budget on Thursday in its week ahead diary. It is after all only the biggest event of the Scottish political week.

But with the tough choices ahead of him, maybe finance secretary John Swinney, who bears a vague resemblance to Homer Simpson (top right), hoped nobody would notice.

David Maddox: For Foulkes Sake (14) - In Constance sorrow

It has been noted that the noble one - Lord George Foulkes, MSP to the Lothians, Baron of Cumnock, First Lord of the Twittery - has been taking a lot of interest in Livingston of late.

This seems to be a slight change of focus for his lordship who has spent the last two years concentrating on being a roving MSP for Edinburgh in his list role.

But with the threat of 500 jobs going at Bausch and Lomb, which an adviser to the First Minister behind the dastardly deed and a former SNP spin doctor doing the public relations for it, George has got on his charger and rode in to fight for the workers.

Others have seen another motive. And today I gather the noble one was accused point blank of preparing to run against SNP Livingston MSP Angela Constance (pictured top left) in 2011.

He, of course, denies this and insists he will be retiring to his red leather armchair in the House of Lords after 2011. But think on this, he also denied that he would be an MSP in 2007 prior to the selection of candidates for the election and lo and behold he is here.

David Maddox: The not so secret diary of John Mason

Having spent most of his summer last year campaigning in and then winning the Glasgow East by-election for the SNP you would have thought that John Mason (pictured) would relish the chance to have a proper holiday this year.
It is not as if the man who famously refuses to have a television in his house would want to sit back with his feet up at home and he is known to enjoy a spot of hiking, which in a way is what he did.
The Steamie can now reveal how he spent his summer hols, courtesy of his report to Garrowhill Community Council on 2 September where, like a boxer, he refers to himself in the third person:
"John wanted to do something practical during the recess. He gets annoyed at the amount of litter, dog fouling, fly posting etc. So he decided to remove some of the fly posting: 130 taken down so far!"
I gather that residents in his neighbouring constituency - Glasgow North East - are quite keen on his fly poster taking down services due to the amount of pesky posting by his own and other political parties for the forthcoming by-election.

David Maddox: Breaking news on Calman (don't hold your breath)

Just received this from the Scotland Office on the joint steering group chaired by Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy and made up of Holyrood (Unionist) party leaders and Westminster spokesmen on Scotland which is looking at the recommendations of the Calman Commission on devolution (remember that?):

The joint steering group convened by the Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy met at the Scotland Office today (Monday 7 September).
A joint statement was issued following the meeting:
"The steering group met to review progress over the summer in considering the Calman recommendations.
"The group met with Professor Anton Muscatelli and discussed issues around the implementation of the Commission's recommendations on finance.
"The group reviewed the Commission's recommendations on strengthening relations. They endorsed the Commission's recommendation that mutual respect should be the guiding principle in all relations between the administrations and institutions at UK and Scottish level.
"They welcomed plans to remit the recommendations about inter-governmental working to the Joint Ministerial Committee; and agreed to work with colleagues in the UK and Scottish Parliaments on the Commission's recommendations to strengthen inter-parliamentary working, including pursuing early discussion with and between the respective Parliamentary authorities."

Which says so little that it makes you wonder why they issued a statement at all. If I were keen on taking devolution forward I think I would be investing in a heavy duty mower to cut down the long grass.

David Maddox: And recognition for a true local hero...

Nice to see that an old friend of mine from Aberdeen is prominently featured in a Scottish Parliament exhibition Moving Stories which is touring the country, starting this Friday in the Granite City.

Walter Baxter (pictured right) is one of the two most impressive campaigners* I have been involved with in my journalistic life. Against the odds he fought and won a battle to stop Aberdeen Royal Infirmary's brain unit from being shut down. He was up against what is often termed the "Central Belt conspiracy", in this case to centralise all brain treatment in Edinburgh. Walter almost lost his life 11 years ago when he suffered a haemorrhage, so he knew all too well the dangers faced by a two hour ambulance journey from the North-east to the Central Belt.

I am pleased to say that as the former Holyrood correspondent of his local paper, I was able to provide him some help.

He also set up a highly successful charity called Brainhelp which has provided help and support for many who have suffered serious brain injuries or haemorrhages.

*There must be something in the water in Aberdeenshire which instills a bloody minded spirit, because the other most impressive campaigner I have met is another North-easterner Cdr Eddie Grenfell.

He spent many years trying and eventually succeeding to get formal recognition for the veterans of the Second World War's Arctic convoys, and while I worked with him on the campaign in Portsmouth where he now lives, he originally hails from Peterhead.

David Maddox: Recognition (of sorts) at last!

For more than two years now British government ministers and Whitehall officials have rather tiresomely referred to the Scottish Government as the old rather more demure title the Scottish Executive.

This irritating attempt to look down at Holyrood, started when UK ministers stopped their Scottish Labour counterparts from adopting the government name, has been supported by the London based press, much of which has yet to move beyond May 2007 in its approach to devolution.
But finally it appears that Alex Salmond's administration is finally on the verge of getting its due recognition in London, courtesy of a spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the Number 10 briefing this morning.
He was trying to fend off questions about the statements made by the PM's best political friend Ed Balls and Mr Brown himself on whether the UK Government wanted Lockerbie bomber Megrahi freed.
In response, the premier's spokesman said: "The most important part is that this was a decision for the Scottish executive government."
"Finally!" a source very close to First Minister Alex Salmond told me a few minutes ago.

David Maddox: Just for laughs

There was much angst (mainly from Labour) about the First Minister Alex Salmond making a joke about the events of recent weeks surrounding the release of a convicted mass murderer and his hero's welcome in Tripoli.
His friendly poking of fun at Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill at Tuesday's government funded National Conversation event in Glasgow North-east (the by-election constituency), seemed to go down with (Nationalist) parts of the audience.
The question is whether he is better as a stand-up comedian than club singer? we all remember that Caledonia session with Sandi Thom.
The Steamie has been supplied with a clip of Mr Salmond's hilarity. Click on the link to share in the joke or, if you are so inclined, feel a flush of fury at his light hearted treatment of such a serious matter.
salmond%20%27joke%27.mp3

David Maddox: The lonely world of Malcolm Chisholm

As I wandered into the canteen earlier I noticed a table full of Labour MSPs with a couple of free seats. On the next table sat all alone was Labour MSP Malcolm Chisholm.
Could it be that the former UK and Scottish minister (the first to resign from the Blair government in Westminster and also resigned from McConnell's executive) wanted a quiet moment to himself?
Or was it that he is now persona non grata after stating he will support the SNP Scottish Government in the Lockerbie bomber vote tonight and condemning his own party colleagues for politicising a quasi judicial ministerial decision?
Mr Chisholm is listed as the Labour for Edinburgh North and Leith or should that read Coventry?

Eddie Barnes - Brown still unclear on Megrahi

Gordon Brown has just issued another statement on the release of the Lockerbie bomber. He repeated his point that this was a matter for Scottish Ministers. He said he had told Colonel Gaddafi of this point when he met his recently. He pointed out that it was in the wider interests of the UK and the wider world to welcome Libya back into the international community. He insisted there was no double-dealing with regard to Mr Megrahi's release.

"There was no conspiracy, no cover-up, no double-dealing, no deal on oil, no attempt to influence Scottish ministers."

But so far as I could tell, he still didn't say whether or not he believed freeing Mr Megrahi was a good thing or not. As a result, the statement will have failed to lay the issue to rest.

David Maddox: The Numbers Game returns

Things are getting so bad for Gordon Brown that bookmakers have now started taking bets on how badly the public think of him.
Paddy Power is asking punters to put their money whether their mouths are on the beleaguered PM's latest Yougov approval rating and the one he will have at the next election.
Even though he claims that he has now fixed the economy, I fancy any of the odds 4/1, 6/1 or 8/1 for the various estimates below 20%, especially after his latest McAvity act on the Lockerbie bomber.
Here are the odds:

Gordon Brown September Approval Rating
8/1 10% or Less
6/1 11% - 15%
4/1 16% - 20%
11/8 21% - 25%
3/1 26% - 30%
9/2 Over 30%

Gordon Brown’s Approval Racing At The Next General Election
6/1 10% or Less
5/2 11% to 20%
11/8 20% to 30%
7/2 30% to 40%
8/1 Over 40%

David Maddox: Back to the grind

Today marks the end of the summer recess, so obviously Holyrood is crawling with eager MSPs delighted to be back at the chalk face....
Well actually there's hardly an MSP to be seen this morning, because they have decided to extend their holiday a little by delaying all the committee meetings this afternoon.
If I were a conspiracy theorist, not that Scotland's short of them, I would think the committee meetings were deliberately timed to clash with the publication of the Megrahi papers, when obviously political hacks will be otherwise engaged.
So to the main event of the day, the publication of those papers by the Scottish and UK governments. Great anticipation and all that, which means they will inevitably contain virtually nothing of interest. If there was a staggering revelation in them then you can bet they would not see the light of day. What may be more interesting is what is not published.