Not exactly inspiring

Well here it is - the Scottish Labour manifesto. For reasons which escape me, the BBC has managed to get hold of it. Shame that the Scottish Labour Party website has yet to do so. They just don't seem to understand the good old interweb.

Despite its 104 pages, the manifesto is more remarkable for its omissions than anything included. For example, it is hard to find any mention of nuclear energy - though, as far as I can see, it is not specifically excluded from future energy supplies. Nor are there any proposals for constitutional change; not that I expected any, but one might have expected some sort of defence of the present arrangements.

I have already commented on the local government finance proposals and on teaching Chinese in primary schools. The only other point to leap out at me (page 41) was this extract from the section on crime and punishment (a section which on the whole seemed rather mean-spirited and authoritarian):

"Scottish Labour will:

- introduce new police powers to fight serious gangland criminals

- retain DNA samples and fingerprints of all crime suspects, to help convict the guilty and acquit the innocent."

Leave aside the clumsy syntax suggesting that the DNA and fingerprints would be retained by Scottish Labour rather than the police. It is the absence of any doubts about retaining the DNA and fingerprints of those not charged or those found to be innocent that worries me. Does Scottish Labour realise the implications? No thought of civil liberties? No justification offered? Do they understand what they are proposing? And, once something is in the manifesto, it has the status of holy writ if the party takes power. Worrying.

Tomorrow's newspapers will no doubt stimulate further thoughts.