The Steamie

David Maddox: The Peter Baker affair

2010-03-11T11:55:00.004Z

Much has been written about the three Labour MPs, including Livingston MP Jim Devine, and the Tory Peer up in court this morning for alleged fraud.But, it is perhaps not surprising that this is not the first time this has happened.Of course before the 1832 Reform Act and the abolition of rotten boroughs fraud and corruption were part of the job description of an MP, but what is more surprising is

David Maddox: Party fundraising

2010-03-10T21:43:00.004Z

Well if you haven't got Lords Ashcroft or Paul, a friendly union or, in the Lib Dems case, a criminal to fund your election campaign then you have to get down to some good old fashioned fundraising events.Take for example this invitation circulated around Westminster by two Labour candidates Kerry McCarthy (MP for Bristol East and Labour's Twitter tsar) and Lucy Powell (candidate for Manchester

Scotsman Podcast: Week 4

2010-03-10T17:30:00.005Z

[This week's participants: Lesley Riddoch, Tiffany Jenkins and Peter McMahon]The fourth episode of The Scotsman's politics podcasts is now online.This week Lesley Riddoch is joined by Tiffany Jenkins and Peter McMahon to discuss the issues that have been making the news in Scotland this week.Play: Podcast Week 4 Click here to download the podcast » (right click and 'save as')Subscribe to the

Eddie Barnes - They're now Nicola's games

2010-03-09T14:04:00.003Z

Steven Purcell now having departed the scene, who is now going to be the public face of Glasgow's Commonwealth games? Step forward Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.The Health Secretary pops up in the papers this morning at the promo shot for the Games' new logo (it consists of some circles and a letter 'G', and cost £95,000. Well done!) Why, you might well ask, did the Health Secretary feel

David Maddox: Budget gossip

2010-03-08T15:19:00.003Z

The chat in the Westminster bubble today centred on the mystery of what could be Labour's last budget for some time.The dates mooted have been next Wednesday (17 March) or the Wednesday afterwards.The first, as mentioned in a previous blog, would mean that we would probably have an 15 April general election, the second a 6 May election.But the reason for the gossip is that it is common practice

Monty: Will a real Liberal ever stand up?

2010-03-07T17:51:00.004Z

Since I resigned from the Conservative Party in 2005 I have found the liberation from feeling compelled to support most, if not all, of what its leaders might espouse intellectually invigorating and good for the soul. In 2007 I gave only my regional vote to the Conservatives and in 2010 I continue to have an open mind – open, that is, to who best

David Maddox: Dates for the diary

2010-03-03T19:41:00.004Z

I spoke to one senior Labour backbench MP today who has been used as a campaign co-ordinator who is adamant that the election will not by 6 May but April 15. His reasoning for this is the the next set of GDP figures which are due out on 23 April, St George's day. As with the knight and the mythical dragon he fears that they would slay any Labour recovery.The GDP release has already been well

David Maddox: Remembering Michael Foot

2010-03-03T17:44:00.005Z

Today in Westminster has been full of anecdotes and memories of a man who lit the place up with his eloquence and wit after it was announced that Michael Foot had died today aged 96.My own memory of him was going with my dad to hear him deliver the annual Thomas Payne lecture at the University of East Anglia in Norwich.Of all the speakers I heard give that lecture over the years Foot probably

Eddie Barnes: The SNP should be grateful for being left out of debates

2010-03-03T13:52:00.001Z

My views on the rights and wrong of the forthcoming TV debates, and the fact that the SNP aren't going to be involved, are on record but I'm beginning to wonder whether this is really going to be that bad for the Nationalists after all.On the downside for the SNP, the fact that Messers Clegg, Brown and Cameron will be on our screens vying for our votes - with no sign of the SNP - can only help

David Maddox: Change of Lib Dem strategy?

2010-03-02T16:24:00.003Z

Those of you who take an interest in party election leaflets - and I guess if you can be bothered to read this blog it will probably include you - then the utterances of Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat's Shadow Scottish Secretary, on Newsnight Scotland last night may have come as a surprise.To put this in context I would ask you to remember the classic line used by all parties now, but

David Maddox: Clarke takes centre stage

2010-03-02T15:12:00.005Z

As a new boy down in Westminster I had never really appreciated until this morning how much the Conservatives need the presence of Ken Clarke, hush puppies and all, to give their top team substance until this morning.The City raid by the three top men who hope to be running Britain's economy from about 7 May (Cameron, Osborne and Clarke, pictured above in slightly happier bigger poll lead times)

SNP Tactical Voting - Why I'm voting SNP

2010-03-01T13:20:00.001Z

In the maelstrom of 24-hour media it is easy to forget how important this coming election is for the people of Scotland despite an economy lagging behind the UK’s (which is lagging behind Europe’s), an unemployment rate that is expected to outstrip the UK’s in 2010 and health and crime statistics that are nothing short of embarrassing on even a global scale given our country’s history and

David Maddox: Hell of a week

2010-02-25T12:39:00.003Z

In a week where one leading Scottish politician was complaining about the forces of hell being unleashed on him, while another was apparently trying to suggest that he was next to God (or was that God next to him?) it turns out that a third is actually going try to take on the fiery inferno herself. But whilst Chancellor Alistair Darling's motive may have been revenge on the Prime Minister and

Caron's Musings: Labour slammed by Electoral Commission over Glasgow NE by-election

2010-02-23T09:37:00.001Z

The Electoral Commission has criticised the Labour Government for leaving it almost 5 months to hold the by-election to replace former Speaker Michael Martin, who was forced to resign over the MPs' expenses scandal.Labour's excuse, that the parliamentary Summer recess got in the way is not even half way to being plausible. For a start, they had several weeks' notice that Michael Martin was going

David Maddox: The Numbers Game (28) - What is the Cameron effect?

2010-02-18T11:11:00.003Z

Fascinating Yougov poll around today with the Scottish sample a decent size at 562. It gives the first taste of political opinion since David Cameron's visit to Scotland for the Tory conference in Perth and the back end of last week.Con 21 Lab 37 Lib Dem 15 SNP 21According to Scotland Votes, the Scotsman's election calculation partner website, this provides the following results in a general

Eddie Barnes - Scotland in full unemployment crisis

2010-02-17T11:53:00.004Z

Unemployment figures out this morning are calamitous for Scotland. An extra 10,000 people have joined the dole queue in the three months up to the turn of the year, representing the fastest increase across the whole of the UK. That's 10,000 families deprived of an income and instead reliant on the State - 10,000 more people now facing up to one of the most pyschologically damaging experiences

Eddie Barnes - The Dave and David show

2010-02-16T15:11:00.012Z

If the gossip floating around Scottish Tory circles is to be believed, the event which took precedence in David Cameron's diary when he came to Scotland last week was not the party's one-day conference in Perth, but Cameron's lunchtime engagement at the Scottish Press Fund lunch in Glasgow which preceded it. The reason? Mostly because the event was being organised by David Dinsmore, the editor of

Caron's Musings: Piers Morgan interview shows good man, but not good PM

2010-02-15T09:32:00.003Z

This is basically my first, unfiltered reaction to Gordon Brown's interview with Piers Morgan. What did we learn?That Piers and Gordon are great buddies. You can tell that - I've never seen the PM so comfortable during an interview. He was nervous, cos he really doesn't like doing that sort of thing, but he managed to laugh and giggle a bit while Piers did the sex and drugs innuendo.That Gordon

Caron's Musings: Glasgow Cllr Leaves SNP for Liberal Democrats

2010-02-10T08:05:00.003Z

Respected Glasgow City Councillor Alex Dingwall has decided to join the Liberal Democrats. He was until yesterday an SNP Councillor for Maryhill and Kelvin. However, recent threats by the Holyrood Government to take away care of the elderly and schools from Councils prompted him to leave the party he'd been a member of for 31 years.He said: "the decision to leave has not been an easy one but

David Maddox: The X Factor election

2010-02-09T20:05:00.005Z

Just been listening to the fascinating debate on whether the Westminster voting system should be changed, read the reports on it in tomorrow's Scotsman.Its an anorak's debate, which must be why so many MPs are taking part.But one speech worth mentioning which may not survive the cut for various articles has just been made by Battersea Labour MP Martin Linton.He is backing the alternative vote

David Maddox: The Numbers Game (27) - Marginal results

2010-02-09T10:01:00.003Z

Two sets of polling figures have been produced this week which illustrate why general national polls are not altogether reliable sources electoral success.The TNS-BMRB poll this week was not good news for the Conservatives in Scotland this week ahead of their annual Scottish conference in Perth and visit by David Cameron.It had them stuck on 18 per cent for Westminster, a mere 13 per cent for

Eddie Barnes: McCabe's the man for Swinney

2010-02-04T11:41:00.002Z

We're informed that the SNP Government will unveil the names if the Three Wise Men who will examine their books next week, as part of the Independent Review into the Scottish Government's finances. As I've written in the Scotsman this morning, I suspect there is a lot of behind-the-scenes arm-twisting going on about who they might be, as the make-up of this review will be crucial in deciding

Eddie Barnes - Iraq: yet another question that needs answering

2010-02-02T16:04:00.004Z

Clare Short gives more tantalising evidence today on one of the most fascinating issues raised by the Iraq inquiry - the process by which the Attorney General ended up changing his mind on the legality of the war. Lord Goldsmith revealed last week that what persuaded him to say the war was legal was his visit to the US, where he met Condaleeza Rice, her legal advisers and Britain's Ambassador to

David Maddox: Banking on Sean and Andy

2010-02-02T15:08:00.004Z

Just a final thought on the events of the weekend and Andy Murray's defeat to Federer. Some people may have noticed that there was an attack on one Scottish icon - Sir Sean Connery - for fronting an advert for a French bank on green banking.Labour put out a quite contorted press release on it having a go at Sir Sean's alleged blunder.Which got me thinking as I looked up at the TV screen to watch

Eddie Barnes - Mundell for the Scotland Office

2010-01-30T10:04:00.003Z

The McLetchie-for-Scottish Secretary line is running again this morning in the blogosphere. I first heard this story knocking about at the Conservative conference in Manchester when drink may have been taken. The idea played into Cameron's "respect agenda". With McLetchie in post, the Tories could turn round to Alex Salmond and say that a member of the Scottish Parliament was sitting Cameron's