ALEX Salmond admitted yesterday that he would have to alter his plans for the first 100 days of a Nationalist government if the SNP was forced to operate as a minority government. [Source]
Alex Salmond faces the prospect of governing precariously unable to implement his party's only distinctive idea. [Source]
Alex Salmond conceded last night that his attempts to build a coalition to run Scotland had failed and that his party was headed for minority government. His comments came after a day of setbacks for the Scottish National Party. [Source]
It is certainly true that the election did not deliver to Mr Salmond a hand of cards which would enable him to crush his opponents. But, from the moment his helicopter landed at Prestonfield last Friday, he has played that hand of cards beautifully. He has wooed (however unsuccessfully) the LibDems and the Greens; he has been willing to talk without preconditions; he has emphasised the primacy of a 'progressive consensus' (whatever that means); and, like a rash, he has been all over the media, displaying reasonableness as if it were going out of fashion. Of all Scotland's politicians, Mr Salmond has been head and shoulders above the rest when it has come to attempting to sort out the horlicks left by the election.
Meanwhile, like some Achilles of yore, Mr McConnell sits sulking in his tent, while his Labour Party acolytes consider their legal options for bringing down chaos on whatever kind of administration could be patched up. And Mr Stephen plays Greta Garbo, wanting to be alone. What is either of them contributing to the common weal, in this time of crisis?
And, if Mr Salmond ultimately fails in what appear to be his valiant efforts to construct some kind of administration, and this results in another general election, who will get the blame? I rather doubt if it will be the SNP. Which, in turn, will make it increasingly difficult for the other parties to obstruct his efforts. At the moment, it's a win-win situation for the SNP: either they succeed in establishing a minority administration or they fail but get the credit for trying.
Mr Salmond is proving to be rather more clever than I gave him credit for.
1 comment:
"Alex Salmond faces the prospect of governing precariously unable to implement his party's only distinctive idea."
Apart from their claims to want a Corporation Tax cut to stimulate the economy, the SNP are just Labour in a kilt. They are very much part of the social democratic consensus which has failed Scotland for decades. Of course Salmond is only interested in Corporation Tax cuts, like any socialist the idea that people should keep a greater share of their own money is anathema to him.
Just like Labour he believes in a strong state and weak citizens, high public spending on the unreformed state sector, state control of health and education. The best you could say is that he has two distinctive ideas rather than just one.
How many times did the SNP vote against Labour bills in parliament?
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