SNP NORTH AMERICAN NETWORK NEWSLETTER

Issue 23, March 2000

NOTE-- due to regulations set by the Labour party in London

SNP BUOYED BY STUNNING RESULT IN AYR BY-ELECTION - LABOUR THIRD

The result of the Ayr by-election - the first for the Scottish Parliament - produced a stunning result for the SNP with the party storming into second place behind the first-place Tories whose vote hardly moved. The seat had been held by the Labour party with a tiny majority of 25 over the Tories and was considered a two-way marginal with the SNP as third place also rans.

The SNP's candidate Jim Mather, considered the best by most political pundits, said:

"The voters of this constituency have shown that the SNP has appeal throughout mainstream Scotland. And that is because we are the only party that believes in a strong economy and strong public services.

"It is a sad day when New Labour would rather see another Tory face in the Scottish Parliament than one belonging to the SNP. But they are terrified about our vision for a prosperous new Scotland.

"The Scottish National Party attracted people from all political backgrounds in this election. And New Labour saw their traditional voters abandon them in favour of a new political home in the SNP.

"In a two horse race New Labour have come third - and a bad third!"


TORIES FAIL TO SHAKE-OFF 135 YEAR LOW

Reflecting on the party's performance in the Ayr by-election the SNP leader Alex Salmond MSP said:

"This is a stunning result for the SNP and demonstrates the effectiveness of a campaign that we took seriously from the minute the by-election was called until polling day.

"We had a superb candidate and fought a campaign which persuaded people that the SNP has a positive and dynamic agenda for the future of Scotland.

"The substantial rise in our support - large enough to wipe out most of the ministers in the Scottish Executive - is a vindication of the effectiveness of our campaign.

"No matter the political territory - whether it is rock solid Labour Hamilton South or the Labour-Tory marginal of Ayr - the SNP has proved to be the political challenger across Scotland.

"The by-election has shown any talk of a Tory revival to be a fantasy. The Tories are up just one per cent on their performance last May, and that was their worst result in Scotland since 1865.

"The SNP has proved that it can go head to head with either of the London establishment parties, and win for Scotland."


AYR BY-ELECTION RESULT

The result of the by-election was:

Party Vote % % change from 1999 Vote change from 1999

Tory 12,580 39.44% +1.42% -1,658
SNP 9,236 28.95% +9.49% +1,945
Labour 7,054 22.11% -15.97% -7,209
Socialists 1,345 4.22% +4.22% +1,345
LibDem 800 2.51% -1.93% -862
Green 460 1.44% +1.44% +460

The 1999 result was:

Party Vote %

Labour 14,263 38.08%
Tory 14,238 38.01%
SNP 7,291 19.47%
LibDem 1,662 4.44%



BRITISH EMBASSY DENIES TARTAN DAY SNUB TO SNP

The UK's ambassador to the United States has denied claims that he deliberately banned SNP MSPs from a special reception to mark Tartan Day in Washington after it was alleged he told organisers that when it came to Alex Salmond and the SNP he "didn't want them in his house".

Organisers of Tartan Day 2000 were furious over what they saw as a "politically-motivated" attempt by British diplomats to give the event a unionist tone. Members of Tartan Day’s organising committee – containing US representatives of both the SNP and Labour Party– claim the embassy tried to influence who was invited to a lunch in the US Senate. There are also suspicions that invitations to an embassy reception were deliberately sent out late.

Organisers are angry that with a prospective celebrity guest list including Sir Sean Connery, Robert Redford, Donald Trump, Charlton Heston and Rod Stewart, invitations only began going out six weeks before the event.

In what is being viewed as a calculated piece of symbolism, the embassy invitation card is emblazoned with a prominent logo of the union flag. One felt that a lot of actions were being geared to preserving the union as opposed to promoting Scotland.

The SNP are tabling questions to the Foreign Office, in order to get to the bottom of the matter.


REQUEST RE-BROADCAST OF ALEX SALMOND INTERVIEWS ON TARTAN DAY

Tartan Day will be a day when the spotlight is on Scotland in America and SNP (USA) are hoping that supporters will help out in getting the interviews with Alex Salmond on his last visit re-broadcast on C-Span and NPR. Both NPR and C Span respond to viewer requests and will be responsive to this.

NPR prefer e-mail requests and can be contacted on morning@npr.org - send the request for the attention of editors. The infomration line for C-Span is 765-464-3080, then press button 3 to ask for viewer request for rebroadcast.

As well as the Alex Salmond interviews you may wish to request the opening of the Scottish Parliament. It may help to point out the week long events, receptions, festivals, ceilidh, to celebrate Scotland and the fact that there will be many thousands of Scottish-Americans all across the country celebrating Scotland that week.


SNP OVERTAKE LABOUR IN SYSTEM THREE POLL

The latest System Three poll published in the Herald newspaper shows that SNP support has surged ahead of Labour in votes for the Scottish Parliament. On the first question for a Scottish Parliament election, the SNP have risen by one point from last month to 37%, with Labour falling by 3% - putting the SNP just four points ahead of Labour. On the second question, the SNP have gained one point to 34%, while Labour have fallen by three - putting the SNP five points ahead.

Commenting on the poll SNP leader Mr Alex Salmond MSP said:

"This is an excellent poll, showing a surge in support for the SNP and a slump for Labour. Across both Scottish Parliament questions, Scotland's Party have increased their support over Labour.

"As well as the dither and drift of Donald Dewar's administration, the Tory-style policies of Tony Blair in London are dragging Labour down in Scotland.

"Tony Blair is Labour's problem in Scotland, where he is even less popular than Donald Dewar.

"This poll shows that SNP support is well above last May's election result, with Labour and the Tories down. The poll confirms that Labour are in a process of decline in Scotland, and that the Tories and Lib Dems are languishing in the doldrums. Clearly, more and more Scots want Scotland's Party to run Scotland's Parliament."


SYSTEMS 3 POLL RESULTS

The results of the poll are:

Party Constituency Vote Regional Vote

SNP 37% 34%
Labour 33% 29%
Tory 14% 11%
LibDem 11% 15%
Socialist 3% 5%
Green 2% 3%
Others 1% 3%



"LABOUR IN DENIAL OVER DEVOLUTION"

Scottish National Party Deputy Leader Mr John Swinney MSP has said that Labour's London-based Scotland Secretary, John Reid, is in denial over devolution after remarks he made in the Holyrood magazine.

Interviewed in the magazine John Reid' said: "Devolution was always conceived as adding value to the governance of Scotland. The idea was not to create a separate parliament . . . it was meant to add value, to complement what we do at Westminster - not substitute it."

Commenting on the remarks John Swinney said:

"London-based politicians such as John Reid are now so jealous of the work of the Scottish Parliament that they are in denial over the reality of devolution.

"John Reid is talking gobbledygook. Of course the Scottish Parliament is a different and distinctive parliament from Westminster, and adds enormous value to the governance of Scotland on that basis. It is passing primary legislation that is no longer handled at Westminster, so clearly it does substitute the London parliament in all the areas of devolved responsibility.

"John Reid is trying to pretend that the Scottish Parliament is some kind of Westminster sub-committee. The reality is that it is a national parliament, and over two-thirds of Scots want it to gain more powers.

"In the past, Donald Dewar talked of a Scottish Parliament as representing a 'transferred mandate' - a fact that John Reid is now trying to deny.

"By proposing to take air traffic control out of public control and giving our pensioners a miserable 73 pence rise, Westminster is adding no value at all to how Scotland is governed. And John Reid's Scottish Grand Committee and Scottish Office are a massive waste of money to the Scottish purse, and should be abolished."



DEWAR'S OFFICE 'KNEW OF SPIRALLING HOLYROOD COSTS'

The spiralling costs of the proposed Scottish Parliament building - rising from an initial £50 million to £190 million - have drawn the Labour First Minister Donald Dewar into the centre of the growing scandal. Mr Dewar was responsible as Scottish Secretary before devolution for choosing the site and appointing the architect before handing responsibility to the Scottish Parliament.

Now there are revelations that he knew the costs of the Holyrood parliament were rising dramatically in the run-up to the Scottish election, but he did not disclose the inflated price until the project was handed over to Sir David Steel, the Presiding Officer, The Scotsman has learned.

Mr Dewar's officials are understood to have received monthly cost updates from a firm of building accountants.

The SNP leader, Alex Salmond, said this latest revelation was further evidence of key information being hidden from public scrutiny. Mr Salmond clashed with the First Minister over his failure to obtain a number of technical reports and cost assessments which could shed new light on whether Holyrood was significantly cheaper than the SNP's preferred site on Calton Hill.

In a series of exchanges during First Minister's Questions Mr Dewar refused to release the documents. SNP requests for technical reports have been resisted by project team officials and Scottish executive civil servants with one request "referred upwards" and never answered.

Mr Salmond said: "Clearly, this information needs to be placed before the parliament and the public as soon as possible. This is yet another key piece of evidence which must be made available."



BRITISH TOURIST AUTHORITY SELLING SCOTLAND OUT AND SELLING SCOTLAND SHORT

The Scottish National Party Transport Spokesperson, Kenny MacAskill MSP has published a paper which exposes the British Tourist Authority as having vested interest in London and failing the needs of the Scotland.

The paper highlights the fact that the number of people visiting Scotland from overseas has declined, and that the Scottish share of the UK market is static.

This is because Scotland is being marketed by the British Tourist Authority, a body which appears to be synonymous with the English tourist council and whose board members' vested interests in London based attractions and the London economy suggest a conflict of interests when it comes to promoting Scotland.

This is compounded by the fact that 70 per cent of US tourists (Scotland's largest market) coming to Scotland arrive here via London and other routes. Kenny MacAskill MSP said:

"The British Tourist Authority does not seem to be promoting Scotland, but satisfy the needs and interests of its board. They are flying tourists into London to visit attractions in which they have an interest, to assist an economy which they want to develop.

"The British Tourist Authority should be bringing tourists in to Scotland, not up from London.

"Scotland will never properly develop as a tourist destination while it is being marketed by an authority with a vested in interest in filling London's dome.

"The Scottish Tourist Board have got to step in, fill the gap, and market Scotland properly overseas.

"Our industry is languishing while other nations are taking the lead. Estonia has seen tourism increase by 75 per cent in the last five years while we have gone backwards.



SNP's FIVE KEY DEMANDS TO REBUILD SCOTLAND

Having dedicated their opposition half-day debate on public investment in Scotland the Shadow Housing Minister Ms Fiona Hyslop MSP laid out five key areas to rebuild Scotland. She said:

"The Lib/Lab coalition is failing Scotland. Public Investment is in crisis and we will be using the debate to demand action in five key areas:

* Open the £60 billion War Chest held by the London Treasury to support Public Services. After the budget measures the Chancellor has admitted that he still has a massive surplus over the next four years. He could invest this within his own fiscal rules. In fact, he could invest significantly more within the Maastricht Criteria of European borrowing constraints.

* Increase the freedom of Local Authorities to borrow the money they need to meet their investment crisis. Again there is significant scope for this even within the Chancellor's own fiscal rules and within the strict Maastricht Criteria.

* Relax the 75% clawback rule to free a further £165 million for public housing. Again there is plenty of financial scope for this within the current rules and constraints.

* Consider the scope for the abolition of section 94 consent which needlessly double counts council investment. This could free up £360 million for Schools and Roads and the Government should closely consider the opportunity this would provide within the current financial constraints.

* Set up an Immediate feasibility study into the Public Service Trusts to replace the discredited PFI scheme they inherited from the Tories. There is no financial reason for PFI, it is costly and wasteful of public resources.

"These are not just the demands of the opposition. Labour Controlled CoSLA has already called for the clawback on housing revenue to be abolished along with section 94 grants. Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace demanded the War Chest be opened and the Labour orientated IPPR backed the call for Local authorities to be given greater financial freedom to borrow.

"Even Ken Livingstone - the ex-Labour MP and independent candidate for London mayor - has backed the call for Public bonds to be used instead of PFI taking up the SNP idea of Public Service Trusts. Is the Scottish coalition saying the London Assembly will have more power than the Scottish Parliament?

"It is New Labour and their Liberal allies that are out of step and starving Scotland of much needed public investment."



SNP EXPOSE BROWN'S PETROL PRICE FIDDLE

The Scottish National Party has exposed a fiddle at the heart of Gordon Brown's Budget, regarding duty on petrol. In his Budget statement, Gordon Brown said:"Today inflation is 2.2 per cent", and said later in his statement: "beyond the automatic inflation rise of two pence a litre, there will be no real terms increase in road fuel duties."

In other words, Gordon Brown claimed that fuel duties had risen by the rate of inflation, and no more. But before the Budget, duty on unleaded petrol stood at 47.21 pence a litre. A two pence increase in road fuel duties represents a 4.2 per cent rise in duty - that is nearly twice the current rate of inflation, and is effectively a continuation of the disastrous fuel duty escalator.

Shadow Finance Minister Mr Andrew Wilson MSP said:

"The SNP have exposed Gordon Brown's petrol price fiddle. He claimed that duty on petrol had risen by no more than inflation, when the reality is that the tax has increased by twice the rate of inflation.

"In other words, the disastrous fuel duty escalator that Gordon Brown claimed to have scrapped has effectively continued in this Budget. The reality is the opposite of Gordon Brown's words. London Labour are still hammering Scottish motorists and hauliers by taxing fuel well above the rate of inflation.

"When it comes to pensioners, they get the basic rate of inflation and not a penny more - the miserable 73 pence increase. But when it comes to increases in backdoor taxes like petrol duty, Gordon Brown puts it up by twice the rate of inflation, and then tries to hide it.

"This is a classic example of false New Labour spin, which the SNP have exposed. Gordon Brown has been caught spinning and distorting the figures yet again."



LABOUR ADMIT HEALTH SPENDING WILL FALL FAR SHORT OF LEVEL SOUTH OF THE BORDER

In response to questioning by Mrs Kay Ullrich MSP, Shadow Minister for Health and Community Care, on BBC Radio Scotland's Lesley Riddoch Show , Health Minister, Susan Deacon, admitted that health spending in Scotland next year will only increase by £173 million, which translates to a post-budget increase of 4.3%, far short of the 6.1% promised by Gordon Brown for South of the Border. Speaking after the programme, Mrs Ullrich said:

"This admission by the Health Minister means that Scottish health spending will continue to lag behind that of England and Wales, despite the severe health problems still being experienced by the people of Scotland.

"It is clear that the Scottish Executive will not honour Gordon Brown's pledge to raise health spending by 6.1%, above the rate of inflation, each year for the next four years. In fact, the Health Minister confirmed that it is the Executive's post-budget intention to raise health spending in Scotland by only 4.3% next year.

"If the health of the people of Scotland was so much better than that of people south of the border, then you could understand this difference. All indications are, however, that Scotland needs increased health spending more than ever.

"The Scottish Executive and Tony Blair must explain why Scots should receive this second class treatment."



...AND FINALLY

Attempts by the Labour candidate in the Ayr by-election to curry favour with the local footballing supporter vote fell a bit flat on her visit to a weekend match. Trying to appear a lifelong fan of the local team Ayr United she was by accompanied by her brother-in-law - who, to be fair, was a former Ayr United captain. But when tackled by an SNP supporting Ayr fan on who Ayr beat in their last cup match she avoided the question. "Yes", said the fan, "I notice your scarf is brand new looking."

© SNP