Another day, another opinion poll...

For the third day in succession, an opinion poll predicts disaster (perhaps even 'calamity') for Scottish Labour. This time, it's The Telegraph with the bad news:

The poll suggests the SNP would gain 46 seats in the 129-seat Parliament - an increase of 19 - while Labour would dip below the 40 mark, gaining just 39. The Liberal Democrats and Tories would be 18 each, the Greens five and independents three.

Alan Cochrane of The Telegraph, not naturally in sympathy with Labour, offers Mr McConnell what would appear to be dubious advice:

Yesterday, Jack McConnell delivered up what his critics say is his somewhat poisoned mantra - namely that if you vote SNP you get independence. Full stop. Or rather semi colon, because he goes on to claim that if you get independence you also get higher taxes.
Mr McConnell is getting a bit of a bashing for this line but the fact is that he's right. The second bit about taxes may be a bit problematical but to keep hammering on that the SNP's main objective is to smash the United Kingdom must be the way to go. Of course it's negative and of course it's desperate but it is also true.

In other words, keep on bashing your head against the brick wall. It may not have done any good up to now, but just keep on.

On the other hand, I was rather depressed by The Scotsman's somewhat poignant description of the launch of the Labour campaign:

Mr McConnell chose to forego a glitzy campaign launch, instead taking to the road with his "education express" battle bus and heading to Loanhead in Midlothian, to the muddy building site that will soon be the joint school campus of Loanhead and St Margaret's Primary School.
In a stark contrast to the SNP's packed news conference, Mr McConnell and Rhona Brankin, the deputy communities minister, stood in white hard hats on a building site with only one reporter and a handful of photographers present.

Out-thought and out-manoeuvred once again. Labour really must sharpen up their act.