A SAD SIGHT FOR AN OLD SOCIALIST TO SEE. CALTON HILL EDINBURGH SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21 2013.

I was a great admirer of Dennis Canavan years ago when he fought on the left of the Labour Party for the causes which meant so much to us both. I also think that the party made a big mistake when they refused to endorse his candidature for Holyrood. That as we now know set in train a series of events which saw him make an equally bad mistake by leaving the Labour Party, thus beginning his sad descent and bringing him to the sad place he is now, ensconced as he is now with egomaniacs, political shysters and hidebound single issue zealots in the reactionary cause of nationalism. From Socialism to nationalism for a potentially great left wing crusader is a tragic journey, very very poignant. He gave his enemies what they wanted, his resignation, if ever there was a man whom I thought would stand and fight and never give in for what he believed in it was Dennis. I could never however be unkind to him though because he gave so much and suffered so much as well in other ways.

I was watching home made films and photos of the independence rally and saw Dennis speaking, the picture was taken from behind and to the side of him. There in much profusion in front of him were the vivid flying colours of various organisations waving in their enthusiasm; he can still move a crowd can former Labour MP Dennis Canavan.

My heart went out to him though when I saw with horror that he surely could not avoid seeing the bright yellow banners of the Flemish Nazis who had come to show their support for the snp, no surprise of course when you consider the snp's history but, Denis Canavan! being cheered on by Scottish Nationalists and Flemish Nazis and fascists, Dennis Canavan!

OK lets be generous; it was after all an old and much loved comrade I was watching, did he see them? I'm afraid so, did he know who they were? I don't know but their presence was well trailed, did he mention them? I don't know. If he saw them; knew who they were and did not mention them what then? I will out of respect for what he once was reserve my judgement but in all my time in politics it is one of the saddest sights I have ever witnessed. I want so much to see him beaten in this struggle and beaten heavily and I never thought I would ever hear myself say that about Dennis Canavan and that made it a very sad day for me.

“I TOOK MY HARP TO THE PARTY BUT NO ONE ASKED ME TO PLAY” ALEX SALMOND – SEPTEMBER 21 20 13, EDINBURGH.

The snp's Nicola Sturgeon bullishly and rather comically announced a crowd of 30,000 which is a nice tidy number and represents 0.6% of the population of Scotland give or take a few. The "Harry Margolis" or Polis as we here in the west call them announced a dangerously precise sounding number of 8,300 which is 0.16% of the people of Scotland, heads are no doubt swimming at the colossal figures, imagine the logistics of stewarding such a gathering, I understand the Scottish Association Cubs, Scouts, Brownies and Guides provided the extra stewards required to support the overstretched Polis.

The discrepancy arises of course with the contradictory calculations of the not quite gigantic numbers who attended the so called "march for freedom" led by the snp in Auld Reekie today. There were in fact just to confuse things further 3 estimates of the numbers, 8,300 by the rozzers, 15,ooo by the organisers and 30, 000 by the cerebrally challenged Nicola Sturgeon, it was ever thus I hear you experienced marchers say. The inevitable jokes have started with the pitiless and derisory description of the event as a stroll rather than a march for freedom, people can be unkind can't they? But; on the other hand people do not like political parties so blatantly trying to; as our American friends say "blow smoke up their asses" with "asses" being rewritten to replace the good old British word "arses" meaning of course that the political party in question is lying about the numbers.

A rather meaningless football match at Celtic park today attracted 6 or 7 times the lowest estimate; 4 times the middle estimate and 2 times the highest estimate, woe and twice woe and even bloody well thrice woe for the wretched snp it would seem, ochone, ochone , o'f******g'one, the game's a bogey. The appalling fact is that Hibs and Hearts draw bigger crowds and they are unarguably utter s***e . It looks like car boot sales will see a rush in kilts and wee toy daggers for sale over the next couple of months as the remnants of the snp rabble lug themselves " hameward tae think again" meanwhile the Scottish Police Force will have to endure the indignation of being placed on the burgeoning list of organisations who are part of the great Global anti snp conspiracy, they will be distraught, no doubt about it, Polis heads will roll under an snp dominated separate Scotland.

With apologies to TS Elliot, and for the snp.

"this is how the world ends, this is how the world ends, not with a bang but with a whimper" this by the way hurts me as much as it hurts them and many other Scots. honest it does.

THOSE ARE MY PRINCIPLES, AND IF YOU DONT LIKE THEM....WELL I HAVE ANOTHER SET” (ALEX “GROUCHO” SALMOND)

Prior to the great banking crash of 2007/2008 one of the party leaders was constantly critical of the Government for being too strict with their banking regulations,
can anyone guess who this cavalier clown was? It was none other than Alex Salmond, the financial hustler's friend, the pal of the stock exchange gamblers and shysters.

And today we have a party leader declaring that he will "bring the Royal Mail back in to public ownership if Scotland becomes independent and if it gets privatised by the Tory/Libdem Government today, note with extreme caution that he was asked on several occasions to say re-nationalise and he refused to say it. Can you guess who it is? Yes! It's Salmond again, and on this occasion his finance minister John Swinney refused to give a similar commitment the night before on national TV, when asked the question, oops. The road to Damascus appears to have relocated to Edinburgh's Royal Mile, from right wing monetary enthusiast to left wing Marxist revolutionary in one fell swoop, that's wee Eck, if you believe him?.

Does his desperation over the impending laugharendum have a part in all this? From the man who said "we Scots. did not mind Mrs. Thatcher's economic policies so much" to the crusading advocate of the socialist shibboleth of nationalism in jig time, what a man, what a crook, what a Janus faced swindler, villain, fraudster, imposter, phoney, low life crook, choose your own description folks.

Does anyone still believe anything he says? Vote "No" to separation to get rid of this vulgar embarrassing character once and for all.

THE HERALD, IT’S JOKE JOURNALISTS AND THE RUG CHEWING NATS.

The snp/separatist/cybernat crazies have been repeating their interminable drivel about how the BBC is anti Scotland and anti snp, it's an exercise in getting your excuses in before the laugharendum drubbing happens, then they will cry foul once again to the sound of loud ringing laughter. Nowhere is this more noticeable than in the comments column of the newspaper which used to be The Glasgow Herald, a once decent newspaper which has been allowed to deteriorate to a dreadful degree and is now a laughing stock. The lumpen nats have been led by the nose by the Herald's own version of the chuckle brothers the hapless third rate journalists Ian Bell and Iain Macwhirter or just "Bell and Macwhirter" Scotland's own end of the pier comedy duo. I have discovered to my cost that these people will not allow criticism of the paper or these journalists, hence the comment below which they refused to print----------- again. It's a glimpse of what an snp run separate Scotland would be like.

The level of vitriol and paranoia from the kailyard school of Scottish journalism and the nationalist crazies grows in equal proportion to the proximity of the forthcoming laugharendum. The wannabees and third division girners like Bell and Macwhirter and the snp/separatist/cybernat posters have become a pathetic joke and there is still a year to go. Where are they going to end up, what level of bulldung will they end up writing and who else will they find to accuse of bias and anti Scottishness? who else will feel their lash? flower growers, Quakers, dog owners, the scouts, the guides, little old ladies, sun bathers? Enemies and conspirators, insults and abuse for poor old bonny Scotland, real or imagined, where will it end?  

SNP STILL DUCKING AND DIVING AS LABOUR CALL THEM OUT ON BEDROOM TAX AND THEIR SEPARATION SUPPORT FALLS TO 25%

As their lies and deceit become more exposed Labour are mounting a challenge to the snp's duplicitous stance on the bedroom tax. People are becoming more aware that Salmond and the snp want the bedroom tax to harm as many Scots as possible. Their twisted logic sees that as advantage to their narrow separatist agenda. Put simply and crudely they believe that that will allow them to blame the English for the pain being suffered by Scots. and that is why they have chosen to do nothing to help those Scots caught up in this iniquitous Tory charge on the poor.

Scottish Labour has called for concerted action by the Scottish Government to help protect Scotland's social housing tenants from the impact of the coalition government's Bedroom Tax. Scottish Labour is bringing forward a package of measures which will offer 

assistance to all social tenants now, without having to wait until after a general election or until 2016.
 

Scottish Labour has previously supported the Govan Law Centre petition which called on the SNP Government to amend housing legislation to protect social tenants from eviction. As the SNP has resisted the petition, Scottish Labour is now bringing the proposal forward as a members' bill. 

As an integral part of the package of support required, Scottish Labour has also asked the SNP Government to provide additional funds to local government and housing associations to help plug the financial gap which is growing by the day as a result of increasing rent arrears. Both offers made by Scottish Labour to work together with the Government to find a consistent approach across Scotland for all social tenants have so far been refused by the SNP.
 

Labour's Jackie Baillie said:"With the impact of the Bedroom Tax becoming more apparentand every day, it is right that we bring forward a package of measures which will ensure that no tenant who is genuinely unable to pay the Bedroom Tax, loses their home. "With the SNP refusing to act for all of Scotland, I have decided to bring forward a Member's Bill with the assistance of Govan Law Centre, which will ensure that any social tenant who is genuinely unable to pay the Bedroom Tax will not be evicted."The Bill will help ensure that our most vulnerable are protected. It is for times like these that the Scottish Parliament was created and the Bedroom Tax is the perfect example of just how Parliament could act now to make a real difference to tenants across Scotland."This is bigger than party politics and bigger than constitutional arguments. Scots are looking to us for leadership on this issue. It is not too late for the SNP Government to work with parties who want to see action on the bedroom tax. They have the

Labour's Ian Gray said "The financial impact of the Bedroom Tax on Scottish tenants is £50 million. That is less than 0.18% of the Scottish Government budget, a fraction of last year's underspend. But the wider impact is huge. 80,000 households are affected, many with children, many of them including someone with a disability. There are no smaller houses for them to move to. Meanwhile councils and housing associations face the prospect of soaring rent arrears, threatening cuts to other council services and undermining Housing Associations ability to borrow and build."Yes, this is the Coalition government's fault but apportioning blame is not enough. Scots want politicians to work together to protect our poorest and most vulnerable."We can, and we must, act by working together to find the resources to protect councils, housing associations and above all, tenants."
Labour's Mark MacMillan; leader of COSLA and Renfrewshire Council said:"Despite the rhetoric, we know that councils of all political hues are facing growing financial pressures and our tenants and housing association tenants are growing increasingly concerned about what lies ahead as their rent arrears mount. "We've seen SNP councils threaten evictions to tenants who are falling behind as a result of the Bedroom Tax. It simply isn't good enough for individual councils to be left to try to plug the financial gap on their own. Housing associations can't simply be left on their own to try to cope with the financial impact of the loss of rental income."Scottish Labour councils commit that no tenants who fully engages with their local authority to minimise their debts and who make every effort to pay their rent will be evicted. This joint approach is needed as all of our requests for SNP Government action, made both individually and through COSLA, have fallen on deaf ears."So with this commitment from Scottish Labour councils and from Scottish Labour in Holyrood to bring forward the money and the legislation needed to ameliorate the impact of this much-reviled Bedroom Tax, there is a comprehensive approach to ensure action is taken now to help our poorest and most vulnerable. Scotland deserves nothing less.

THE HERALD JOURNALISTS? THEY COULDN’T WRITE THE WORD F**K ON A STEAMED UP WINDOW.

My struggles to get printed by The Glasgow Herald's comments site despite having improved are still giving me grief. I replied to a post by my old 'friend' Paisley's own snp/Tory hybrid iain Lawson (more old than a friend of course) about an article written by the Herald journalist Iain Macwhirter, a man who makes Chic Young look like a cross between James Cameron and Alistair Cooke. It is quite difficult for me sometimes to get printed being anti snp and almost impossible if you criticise either Mr. Macwhirter or the other Herald cure for insomnia Ian bell who is guess what? He's a distant relative of the Irish revolutionary Marxist James Connolly, honestly. So being 'binned' again by them was not really a surprise, I have therefore decided to reprint my comments here, to make me feel better. n.b. For the sake of clarity, Iain is Macwhirter and iain is Lawson, I've no idea why.  
The oil flowed south, Scots went on the dole ... no-one cared. Sunday 28 July 2013- iain Macwhirter.

It's the same bunch of words mixed up and recycled like so much fictitious refuse by Iain and iain again, they can't change them because they have nothing to change them with; hence their torpor and crushed demeanour. It was great fun for them when they could wind up the crazy Nat. rug chewers and grasp some counterfeit celebrity while doing so. Now it's gone too far, it's serious and they can't now prevent what they know is going to happen, this is where weakness leads. Hardly an article or a post from them now appears without bets being hedged and premature blame being apportioned; these two though will survive the carnage; don't worry about that; they will endure, they are not the type of fellows to go down with the ship. The people that they led to the top of the hill though? The expendables?. That will be another poignant story but Iain and iain will no doubt survive; with heavy hearts they will carry on. Iain will no doubt be taking notes right now, the better to assist with his best seller about the heroic defeat of the Scots. freedom fighters, his version of course.

 

HOT NEWS FROM HOLYROOD. BY A SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT REPORTER.

Nautical experts, scientists and my local barber who knows everything are backing a new revolutionary way for bonny Scotland to reclaim its seas around the country's coast, despite the Engurlish bastards claiming them as British. The plan is to excavate muckle big massive areas of the remote highlands (Grannies in "heilan hames" will be offered compulsory purchase by the local council heavies) to create giant underground caverns at huge deepnesses. An enormous pipe will then be inserted in to the sea off the Scottish coast and the other end of the pipe is to be located at the huge excavations where the gallant and dashingly handsome first minister Mr. Alex Salmond snp, resplendent in his genuine Harry Lauder tartan trews with the bottoms neatly tucked in to his fashionable green wellies, the whole ensemble rakishly topped off with hacking jacket and blue bonnet waits patiently to have this other end of the pipe or "outlet" as we engineers call it, inserted in to his mouth or 'gub' as he colloquially refers to it. He has of course been known to use the expression "facial orifice" when he wants to impress with his extensive vocabulary, he insisted on that bit going in.

The theory is according to the experts is that if wee Eck can suck as hard as he can blaw, the water will be shifted in jig time. Rumour has it that the lovable wee spiv has offered to sell the Americans Loch Lomond using the same method. First refusal they say will be offered to a flamboyant chap with hair like a lions mane in a blizzard called Mr. D Trump with options of Edinboro Castle and The Blarney Stone thrown in as a job lot. The pair have set a date to tour the sites chauffeured by a villainous little mountebank with a broken toothed smile like the tin plate on a coffin called wee holy Sooter, honestly! Mr, Alex wants it known that "he can't say fairer than that can he?" He might be on to something here; he's a right wee bugger for this enterprise culture so he is.

With thanks to my anonymous contributor.

I NOW ASK WITH TREPIDATION, WHAT NEXT MR. SALMOND, WHAT HELLISH EMBARRASSMENT HAVE YOU DREAMED UP FOR WE LONG SUFFERING SCOTS. NEXT?

Following his now disreputable imitation of a football hooligan at Wimbledon, our first minister; wee Eck (the spiv) has now forced himself on the Isle of Man to use it in the cause of Scotland's freedom from the wicked Engurlish. Drawing economic and financial comparisons between a tax dodging haven of 90,000 people and Scotland with 5,000,000 people seems to have been a good idea to him at the time, and so it goes. More derision has now descended upon him; does he have any advisers I wonder? Probably not, he is not the type to take advice is he?

The first minister's moral fibre or lack of it has been examined again today and brought more mortification and downright queasiness among the population who are now afraid to switch on the news for fear of what he has been up to this time. The cry of "for f**k sake somebody get a grip of that clown" can now be heard across the country by affronted Scots.as we learn now that he has been sending many sycophantic letters seeking to 'sook' in with leading Scottish Sports stars and other prominent people. Like an obsequious little stalker he hunts down any Scot. who might be of use to him, any unsuspecting person that he can get his picture taken with is fair game and woe betide anyone useful to him who makes the mistake of communicating with him, they become trapped. Shiny faced fervent youths who sell replacement windows with the devotion of teenage brownshirts are not nearly as determined to coral you as wee Eck (the spiv).

To his chagrin wee Eck (the spiv) has been found this time writing unctuous letters to snp/separatist/cybernat hate figure Chris Hoy, Alex Ferguson (honestly), JK Rowling (again honestly) and on no fewer than 8 occasions Andy Murray who is also becoming a hate figure for the demented gnats. All attempts by Salmond to appear friendly and decent have been rebuffed by these people who clearly know exactly what he is, not one single letter in reply did he receive! He did in fact collect one reply, from that well known patriotic Scottish half wit and tax exile; ex racing driver Jackie Stewart. A Laurel and Hardy pair if ever there was one. Regrettably we Scots. will have to go on suffering this narcissistic moron in our midst until he suffers humiliation at his vanity project the laugharendum. Unless he does the respectable thing before then and jumps before being pushed.

A GREAT OCCASSION WITH A GREAT BIG HORRIBLE TARTAN FLY IN THE OINTMENT.

A wonderful day for Andy Murray and incredible drama, well done to him and all his team. Despite his best efforts to do so the (wee spiv) Salmond failed to ruin the occasion with his embarrassing antics. His imitation of the fat drunken uncle that everyone hopes will forget to turn up at the big occasion was excruciating. What a low life chancer.

THE FIRST MINISTER OF SCOTLAND ALEX SALMOND – AN UNDERHAND ARROGANT CHANCER.

Following the Dunblane mass murder the wee shyster Salmond struck with indecent haste to get himself on the TV to share his grief with the people, and of course he made sure that he was first to call for a ban on guns. Not all guns of course nor did he know what guns should be banned but he was first that was what mattered. He also latched on to the case of the 3 broken-hearted wives of the fishermen whose boat sank with them on board, he made it his personal crusade to raise that boat, he apparently was convinced against his better judgement that he should not claim that he would bring the men back to life but he took some convincing. The other sea graves, oh yes! there are hundreds in the same circumstances; were ignored, you see the others unfortunately did not have 3 distraught grieving widows who were running a high profile campaign to have the boat recovered, that's just tough luck for the others, strike while the iron is hot said wee Eck. When he was rumbled and embarrassed at taking a wage from Holyrood and Westminster at the same time he vowed to bestow one of the wages on good causes. Then; with rat like cunning he 'found an angle' and came up with an idea for a good causes foundation. It's name? Well; how about "The Mary Salmond Foundation" I kid you not; he made certain that if he was to do something good then the world would hear about it. Hence the idea to exploit his late mother's name, now every time the foundation does good he gets the credit, what a guy, what a super Scotsman, what a low life Del Boy Shyster. As Billy Connolly once said about that other Scottish thug, union buster and capitalist hero Andrew Carnegie "he gave money away as quietly as a waiter falling down a flight of stairs with a full tray of glasses"

Today we hear it trumpeted that he is to "boycott" the open golf at Muirfield in Ayrshire because it is a male only preserve. The most entrenched section of voters against independence it turns out are women; now, call me an old sceptic but could there be a link, would anyone honestly sink that low? Read the first paragraph again please. The story emerged that the snp Scottish Government led by wee Eck (the spiv) would not darken the doors of the offending Muirfield dinosaur park but, there's always a but isn't there. It turns out that they will send a representative in his place similar to a colonial governor if you will to be a symbol of "his eckness" so they will not in reality be boycotting anything, just kind of boycotting it, so as not to cause any offence to anyone ken?

The great leader emphasises his personal sacrifice by telling the world that his devotion to golf is such that he has attended every open championship in Scotland for 40 years and, wait for it, in another exhibition of the famous Salmond hubris he forgot that more than a few of those tournaments have been at Muirfield. Take 40 years away from my own 64 years and I am 24 and I remember at that age campaigning for female equality and women's rights including a 2 month strike which I was proud to help to lead so he can hardly claim that when he was there these things were not important.

In a final piece of delicious irony which completely buries any integrity he might have had Mr. Tom English of the Scotsman newspaper offers a column today headed up by a photo. of the dashing first minister driving out of the rough on a rather splendid golf course named The Royal St. George's Golf Course in the beautiful English County of Kent from where he wrote to "congratulate" the snp supporting Ayrshire couple who won £161 million on a lottery. That golf course he was playing only 2 years ago was guess what? I think you might be ahead of me by now; it was a famous fortress of the male only variety, a proud sexist establishment.

Would you Adam n Eve it? You could not make it up could you? Has any politician ever shown such arrogance? Has any politician ever shown such contempt for the electorate? Has any politician ever treated women with such patronising disdain? Ladies and gentlemen I give you wee Eck the first minister of Scotland and, catch this one; he wants to rule an independent Scotland where his word will be law. Be careful when you vote.

 

AS THE SNP CAMPAIGN STAGGERS AROUND LIKE A DRUNK TRYING TO DO THE HIGHLAND FLING – THE BOOKIES POUR PETROL ON THE FLAMES.

snp MSP and Scottish Government Minister for paper clips Richard Lochhead has been rumbled, (grassed up by his snp pals no doubt, one of whom insists on referring to him as a "wee heilan stoat") He is trying to cash in on his Holyrood housing expenses by selling his house at a huge profit. It was in the now time honoured fashion
largely paid for by the tax payer. 

Perfectly legal of course but, the snp have been accusing Labour and everyone else of this kind of dastardly thing, portraying it as a hanging offence and trying to lie about it happening in their own ranks, they have gone uncharacteristically quiet about this case, I wonder why? the word for this is hypocrisy, an snp trait for sure.
On another uplifting note from the snp, this time it's ex snp MSP Bill Walker who is contesting his heartless kicking out from the party and who presently sits as an independent has been charged with 24 crimes of assault on 4 women over a period of 28 years. A hugely impressive? average of almost one a year! one can't help but admire his diligence and vigour, some women can be downright dangerous you know, I've heard of other politicians who have gone toe to toe, eye for eye and tooth for tooth with the weaker sex and lived to regret it. He managed despite this charge of a catalogue of violence against women in his background for which he now stands trial to get selected by an snp panel for the job of snp MSP. The snp people responsible for interviewing him said they didn't know about it, and; by the way, these same snp politicians are now running Scotland! no honestly.

No doubt such events as these play their part in the following independence information. The odds set by your local Turf Accountant or (Bookie) on the issue of separation and the forthcoming "laugharendum" are as follows. 

For the NO to separation campaign 1/6 on.
For the YES campaign 7/2 against.

As we say here in Paisley "It's all over bar the shouting" 

 

 

 

 


 

IS SALMOND IN HIDING? WILL HE ABANDON THE SEPARATION REFERENDUM ?

Thursday night, saw an snp majority in the Aberdeen by election slashed by 5,000, and Labour took a council seat in Edinburgh from the snp as well as holding a Labour seat in Fife with an increased majority. Meanwhile the polls continue to record a large lead for the No campaign in the separation referendum, a lead which has been solid for approximately 2 years.

Why should I have a problem then? Well I do; and it takes the form of a battle against complacency. The snp and the separatist campaign are so rudderless and dreary that enthusiasm for attacking them is hard to sustain. The urge to stand back and watch them unravel and suffer the certain humiliation which is coming to them is almost irresistible. I mustn't do that though and neither must any No campaigner, these people (snp) would take Scotland backwards and it would not be long before we were in the midst of parochialism and despair. With the snp nutters no longer able to blame the English and if the country voted for separation our minority communities would soon feel the lash of the snp patriotic gauleiters who would blame them for every failure, problem or insult; real or imagined.

That is only one of the dangers of separation but it is one which should fill every decent Scot. with dread, If you want to live with your head held high, do not let it happen, VOTE NO TO INDEPENDENCE.

YOUNG SCOTS. REFUSE TO BUY THE SALMOND SNAKE OIL.

A recent poll by Edinburgh University of 14-17 year olds, shows overwhelming support for Scotland remaining a part of the UK. It is the future of young Scots that we are voting for. Their choice is clear.

61% AGAINST INDEPENDENCE!!! -- 21% FOR!!!
Another spectacular own goal for Salmond (the spiv) who was banking on support from teenagers who are turning out to be smarter than he insultingly gave them credit for. Will (Del boy) Salmond manufacture a reason for cancelling the referendum rather than face humiliation? That is now a valid question.

“THE SNP GOVERNMENT PLANNING MINISTER WHO KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT PLANNING” MEET DEREK MACKAY; SNP MSP AND THE SNP SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT’S PLANNING MINISTER, HONESTLY HE IS.

Derek Mackay snp msp, does not seem to be aware of how decisions are taken at a Council planning meeting which is quite a gap in his knowledge; since he is what is laughably called the snp Scottish Govt. Minister for Planning. Here is what he had to say, not just about Renfrewshire Council's special planning meeting on Tuesday June 18 2013 but about me personally.

 "Renfrewshire Council Labour Planning Convenor ignores hundreds of local views on Local Development Plan submissions at meeting today" I am the Planning Convener he refers to. 

 The Local Plan is a document which outlines the council's planning framework for the next 5 years and as such is very significant, hence the large public attendance at the meeting. Visitors to the meeting were there to see what would be decided with regard to mainly green belt land in their area, which they had been campaigning to have retained as green belt. 

This was the third meeting held to discuss the proposals in public and it came at the end of a meticulous consultative process which drew correspondence from nearly 2,000 different groups. These contributions were reduced to 46 distinctive separate subjects which covered all the areas of interest as well as providing a substantial document which dealt with each individual contribution. Despite the consultation period closing some months ago Renfrewshire Council continued to accept communications on the proposals up until Tuesday. 

 Planning Minister Mackay regards this as a case of local people's views being ignored by me. 

 It might aid your understanding of his rather muddle headed comment if I tell you that Mackay and me have "previous" When he rose without trace to become the leader of Renfrewshire Council with the aid of the wretched Libdem Cllrs. led by the most disingenuous and thoroughly nasty Libdem Cllr. Eileen McCartin in a coalition I had a few laughs at his expense and roughed him up a bit. I quite enjoyed for instance telling him that the snp had never in history won a majority in Renfrewshire and had formed the council administration twice, once with the help of the Tories and once again with the help of the LIbdems. Nothing too serious but he is obviously a sensitive and vindictive soul as his reaction here shows. Unfortunately for him though it also displays behaviour which is petty and unbecoming a government minister. I wonder if the people at the meeting he gave his support to along with the snp Cllrs. and the single Tory really buy their story. I think not, I suspect if they haven't already done so they will read the record and find out that this Local Plan Document was passed unanimously and without demur by the same councillors on the same Planning Board some time ago, that might just leave a bad taste in their mouths. 

Mackay's actions do not shock me however; he has always displayed a lot of ambition and rat like cunning. I refer to him as the snp Government "Planned Minister" rather "Planning Minister" as I suspect that Mr. Salmond having spotted his willingness to be a yes man promoted him in the same way as he has "planned" the progress of other obsequious nonentities whom he has deliberately surrounded himself with, all of them malleable and none of them a danger to him.