Crime and Comics

The political party conference season is again interrupting the usual programme of comedy shows on television. There ought to be a referedum to determine the fate of poitical parties. "Do we need them" is the question to be answered.
If the claimed concerned outpourings of our elected so-called represerntatives are to be believed then we, the voters are to be given more of a say in our democracy. Such uttereances come across as perverse beacuse our representatives are suppposedly already expressing our views and opinions in the Scottish Parliament.
There may possibly be a better chance for those of us who reside in Scotland, especially now that New Labour has adopted a change of title; now it is to be known as Scottish Labour. Howevr it is still unclear as to whether the 'New' tag, and the loss of socialist ideals that accompanied its introduction, will be restored.
Thge latest nosense being trailed by 'Scottish Labour' is a claim for increased cash for their leader, Wendy. Small wonder that the SNP consider this as hypocritical because it was The Lib/Lab coalition that brought in the rules to prevent opposition parties gaining extra funds. But is there not also an attempt to influence the working of the group that will report sometime in the New Year on tha allocation of such funding. Will the money supply ever satisfy the politicians? Is it perhaps the case that Scottish Labour is feeling the loss of the increased number of support staff that they had made available when they were in power?
Those in the other place, the London Parliamenthave been playing their favourite games of claim and counter claim; Brown is wooing the 'middle England lot by giving the Thatcher woman tea and making announcements to all except Parliament; while Camerron tells how he will give cash assistance to first time home buyers but fails to tell them how he proposes to build the necessary houses for them to buy.
Throw in to this pot pourri the clamour for an election, which only the politicians seem to be asking for and you can see that what is broken about society is the cosy world of politics. Who needs them?

Who failed to lsten?.

The race has been run, and now the problem seems to be that there is no clear winner. When the Scottish Parliament election began with the polls giving the impression that the SNP were likely to make a killing, it was clear that the New Labour tactic of raising the spectre of fear of unemploment, uncertainty, higher taxes and all the other emotional pressures, was failing.
Now the electorate have to cope with what is a hung parliament because not only did the inroduction of a new voting system and the money saving ploy of holding two different elections on the same day, plus putting two different ballots on one paper, but it is highly likely that it will be a minority government
with the SNP in charge.
The matter of running the Scottish Parliamentary elections is the responsibility of the London Government via the Scottish Secretary. The fiasco that has further alienated the Scottish electorate will not be allowed to fade. There is already talk of legal challenges in a couple of cases where individuals believe they are in some way disenfranchised differently from the 140,000 plus whose papers were rejected. If a recount is countenanced then it will of necessity have to be a total recount; in other words a re-run of the election, because everyone who cast their vote has a legitimate complaint. It cannot be right to choose between victims.

The basic question that must be answered by Mr. Alexander is 'Why was the advice of Arbuthnott and others ignored?'