Week 1 - Caveman campaigning

That's week one of the campaign over and so I thought it was time to update my blog.

My favourite endorsement of the week is definitely this morning's unexpected blog post by Alan Cumming endorsing the SNP. I love his intro - "who I'd vote for if I could". Take a look at what he has to say:

And my favourite pic so far is one taken by SNP's social media strategist Kirk Torrance during the leader's debate last night. It really captures the intensity of activity in the campaign room at SNP HQ. We had an excellent page up on the SNP website focused on the debate. It's well worth a look.

Although my own effort, before Alex Salmond recorded his budget response last week is a close second:

And now to the really important stuff. Managing the demands of the Caveman (paleo) diet during the 18 hour days of work during the campaign.

Well, it's taken a bit of an effort. With the long hours at HQ it means that I need to go in each day with three meals in my rucksack and enough nuts and fruit to keep up my energy. So mornings are a bit of a rush trying to get everything cooked and packed.

And there have been the more formal meals out and the campaign stop lunches and that has sometimes left me struggling through an unfeasibly large plate of smoked salmon and limp lettuce for my main course. But it served its purpose.

One of the things I like most about the caveman concept is that it is based on the physical and food habits that the human body is best designed to respond to. So alongside the diet that our bodies became attuned to over millions of years of evolution, it also encourages us to view exercise in a different way. Today gym going can often be focused on endless repetition of treadmills and bicep curls. But again that is not what our bodies are designed for. More common was short bursts of activity followed by ample rest. And that is where the partner to the caveman diet, crossfit, comes into its own.

If preparing my daily food has been a struggle, it has taken a supreme effort to fit in time at the gym. But because of crossfit, with its short, sharp, all body workouts I've been able to get what I believe is an even better fitness return from 10 or 15 minute workouts than 90 minutes of 'regular' gym work.

The best WOD of the week was a 9 minute blast of 10 rounds of 3 burpee bar jumps, 3 power cleans and 3 bar push ups. I was in an out of the gym in less than half an hour and, the following day, could feel I'd had a real workout.

And a final thought. I've been blogging less than usual here because I've been doing posts on the SNP website. You can keep up with the latest campaign news there - including, this morning, details of the most recent opinion poll showing the SNP in a narrow lead.

And if you like what you see, why not pledge your support - the more of us there are the more we can achieve. As the campaign slogan says, together we can make Scotland better.

A budget for what? Certainly not Scotland

Another year and another British budget. This year the budget comes in a sharp shade of blue, but regardless of the political colour the reality for Scotland is always pretty much the same.

We sit and watch as London decides what is right for the economy, but of course the economy they are focused on is never Scotland's.

Year after year we play a central role of sorts, as the provider of the extra money. The taps are turned and the flow of revenues from the North Sea increases. But so little of the benefit trickles north. This year in fact sees the highest ever revenues from North Sea Oil - an eye-watering £13.4 billion.

Today's budget wheeze was a new tax on Scottish oil. A move that will raise £2 billion of new revenues for the UK Treasury. And this windfall revenue will fund a halt in the planned 4p rise in fuel duty and allow a further reduction of just 1p. Welcome yes, in so far as it goes. Scotland pays £2 billion more but the benefit to Scotland's economy and Scottish families is just £200 million. That puts the so-called Union dividend in context.

I can't help thinking that if this was a Scottish Budget there is so much more we could do. We could use even just half the extra revenue - £1 billion - to fund a proper reduction in Scottish fuel bills worth not 5p but 25p a litre. Now wouldn't that be good news for family budgets and businesses across Scotland?

And with the £1 billion remaining? How about half of it on increased investment in Scotland's infrastructure to enable us to create thousands of construction jobs and drive forward recovery?

How about a quarter of it used to cut corporation tax further, making Scotland a key competitive location for business investment and growth.

And the final quarter? My vote would go to a £250 million transformational investment in childcare and early years. Giving Scottish parents the level of childcare enjoyed in other small, independent nations.

How would you spend a £2 billion revenue windfall to make Scotland better. Let me know by leaving a comment below.

Are we just engaged in a game of Fantasy Budget? Yes, at the moment. But fantasy can become reality. In a few short weeks the people of Scotland will have their say. We can choose a better way. We now know the numbers - the prize to be won is a £2 billion revenue bonanza. And with fiscal responsibility and independence that is a prize Scotland can claim.

Wouldn't it be great if next year it is John Swinney, not George Osborne, who stands up on Budget day? John Swinney who tells us how he intends to spend Scotland's revenue windfall. Then we would see a real Budget for Scotland with action to create jobs and action to make Scotland fairer.

What a difference we could make with a Scottish Chancellor using Scotland's resources to invest in Scotland's economy and society. And it is within our grasp. If you, like me, want this future for Scotland, you can volunteer to help the SNP or simply sign up on the SNP website to pledge your vote.

Then we can have a truly Scottish budget, not one that is red, white and (or) blue.

Scotland's energy choices

Last weekend the SNP published a list of 100 achievements. And there, alongside the Council Tax freeze, the 1000 extra police and the Climate Change Act, was one that makes me particularly proud.

In 2007 the SNP said there would be no new nuclear power stations in Scotland on our watch. And, four years on, despite the efforts of the UK government and the pressure of the powerful nuclear lobby, new nuclear has been kept out of Scotland. Today, with Labour and Tories united in calls for new nuclear power stations, the only threat to this position is a change of government. That thought certainly makes me more determined to ensure the SNP is re-elected in Scotland's election in May.

The ongoing events in Japan have brought the issue of nuclear power to the forefront of political debate across the globe. And while we are still in the midst of the crisis our thoughts, of course, are with the people of Japan and those brave souls who are currently directly engaged in the efforts to bring events at the reactors under control. With the outcome at the four reactors still in the balance and with that nation struggling in the face of the overwhelming impact of the earthquake and tsunami, I don't feel any need to rehearse the arguments over nuclear safety. 

In part this is because my own opposition to nuclear power has never been primarily about safety issues. 

My starting point has always been the issue of nuclear waste. From my short time working in government I know the complexities and costs associated with managing the radioactive waste we already have never mind a whole new generation of radioactive material. Of course, there is no real solution that allows us to deal with nuclear waste: digging a deep hole and burying it is certainly not a solution. And it is certainly not safe to transport high-levels of extremely toxic nuclear waste through towns and villages in Scotland, or around our shores, as deep disposal requires.

At the last count, the decommissioning of current nuclear plants will cost at least £72 billion and that figure just keeps on rising. Just a year ago we discovered that the UK government would need to find £4 billion over and above existing budgets for the next four years. These insatiable demands from decommissioning come at a time when investment in job creation is being slashed and when many frontline services are facing unprecedented cuts. It is just not right.

Even more nuclear waste is not a legacy any of us should want to leave for our kids and their kids – for future Scots.

But more compelling in recent years has been the economic argument. Scotland has no natural or technological advantage in nuclear power. If a new nuclear station is ever built it will use someone else's know how. There will be no boost to Scottish research and innovation, no opportunity for follow on sales benefiting Scotland and far too many of the high-paid jobs will be delivered overseas. The money we spend will get us a new power plant but that is all.

The contrast with renewables is stark. Here, every pound we spend will have multiple benefits for Scotland's economy. It will draw in high-quality research investment and skilled manufacturing jobs. It will help us develop world-leading technology, particularly offshore, which can then generate sales and opportunities world-wide. And because we have the capacity to produce many times more than our own energy needs, it will also mean Scotland becoming a massive exporter of clean, green power.

Today, in Scotland, the case against new nuclear could be made simply and solely from the perspective of this economic advantage given the scale of the renewables opportunity we have here.   

This debate may have gained new momentum in recent days. However, the SNP's resolve is longstanding and remains the same. It is based on principles long held and often articulated. We enter the next five years with the same determination: there will be no new nuclear power plants here in Scotland. The people of Scotland will express their view in May, but I believe they will continue to choose a nuclear free future with the SNP.

The great fuel robbery

A week tomorrow UK Chancellor, George Osborne, will deliver his second Budget. And all eyes will be on the decisions he takes on fuel duty and soaring fuel prices.

Already, tax increases at the start of the year have added 3.5p a litre to fuel costs and another fuel duty hike is due in April. The pressure is on the Chancellor to act and there are signs that he is buckling - the smart money is on a decision to suspend or scrap plans for the April duty rise.

But halting next month's fuel duty increase is not enough. There are already indications that the soaring cost of fuel is impacting on the wider economy. Households have less to spend whether on food, leisure or clothing and that impacts on the bottom line for the corner shop, the local restaurant and the larger retailers. As we look for a period of strong economic recovery, there is little doubt that soaring fuel prices are putting a brake on growth. As the Scottish Government's Economic Recovery Plan suggests the rising price of fuel risks suppressing domestic demand. 

At the weekend, Alex Salmond revealed that at current oil price levels the UK government is likely to get a £4 billion a year revenue windfall. Even if we use just half of this windfall, we could reduce fuel duty in Scotland by 50p a litre or by 5p in the UK. There should certainly be a reduction of at least 10p a litre in fuel duty in Scotland.

However, we need more than a one off decision to reduce fuel duty or halt this particular fuel duty increase. It's time for a longer term solution and for specific action for those regions where fuel costs are punitively higher than the norm.

When oil prices go up the Treasury gets a double windfall. It is not only higher oil revenues from the North Sea but also increased VAT receipts as a result of the higher pump prices. The SNP has long argued for a road fuel regulator. This would see these higher revenues from VAT used to reduce fuel duty. It would create an automatic price stabiliser, cushioning households from the worst impact of price increases at the pump. If we are serious about protecting family budgets in the long term, a road fuel regulator is the right solution.

Scotland is an oil rich nation. We should be enjoying benefits from higher oil prices, not facing a recovery-threatening spike in fuel costs. It is a scandal that despite having the second largest oil reserves in Europe we have among the very highest petrol and diesel prices.

As part of the UK the benefit for Scotland from our oil wealth will always be diluted. We should be free to act in the best interests of Scotland's economy and Scottish households without having to wait for a decision from afar. Yes, we can pressure the UK government into action next week. But why lobby and campaign, why hope that someone else will act, when we should just get on and do it ourselves?

Blogging from SNP Conference

I've been blogging today from SNP conference and have enjoyed sitting through all the debates in the conference hall so far. This is the first time for many years I've had the opportunity to sit in on the debates and I've been hugely impressed by the quality of the speeches.

I am tweeting regularly from inside the hall, so you can catch up on those via my Twitter account. Check out the hashtags #SNPconf and #SNP for other conference comment.

I also managed to catch up with Bruce Crawford at the start of conference. Here's Bruce talking about his hopes for conference. I'll upload some more short interviews later today. I'm hoping, in particular to get John Swinney's views on the new Party Conference Broadcast.

What's the Scottish Government ever done for us?

UPDATE: You can now see the SNP broadcast here.

It's not often a party political broadcast raises a laugh (at least for the right reasons). But tonight's SNP broadcast promises to be different. Based on the famous Monty Python 'what have the Romans ever done for us' sketch it is a party broadcast, but not as we know it.

Building on our last broadcast, which was as much music video as political message, tonight's film opens up a new genre. It is not only very watchable but also very compelling. In my view it is the best party political broadcast we have produced, certainly in my memory.

And in case you have forgotten the original sketch, here it is on YouTube:

You will be able to see the SNP broadcast for the first time tonight at 5pm on the SNP website - or I should say, the new SNP website. There are some big improvements being made to our site which will make it the most interactive in UK politics. It will be 100% integrated with Facebook and twitter allowing us to connect with Scots in a groundbreaking way. In 2007 the SNP led the way in doorstep technology with our Activate system. Our new site takes our advantage on the doorsteps and brings it right into the digital age.

Over this weekend's conference, and right up to election day on May 5th, I will be blogging on the new SNP site. That means fewer posts here, but you will be able to get an insight into what is going on in the SNP campaign by visiting and signing up to the site.

And if you want to know what the Scottish Government has done for us - watch at www.snp.org from 5pm tonight or see it on STV at 6.25 or BBC 1 at 6.55.

Looking back on the first four years

We are fast approaching the end of the SNP's first term in government. Looking back to May 2007 and our first few weeks, I can remember wondering whether we would be able to stay in office until Christmas, never mind lasting 4 years. And yet 4 Budgets and 34 Acts (so far) later, we have not only survived as a minority government, but in many ways flourished. Around three-quarters of votes have been won.

And thinking back four years ago, few could have foreseen the credit crunch and global economic downturn or the change in direction in public spending. After years of increases in Scotland's budget we are the first government that has had to deal with year on year reductions in the block grant.

It is against this backdrop that we have delivered 84 out of 94 of our headline manifesto commitments. That's a pretty good scorecard for any government, never mind a minority government during a period of financial crisis.

Scotland's recession was shorter and shallower than the UK and the decisions taken by John Swinney in his budgets - his social contract - mean that more is being directed to the frontline than many thought possible.

A big part of this is the action already taken to reduce costs and generate savings. Many of these steps have not been highlighted but I think are worth repeating now. Efficiency savings targets were exceeded by £300 million in 2008-09 and by £400 million in 2009-10. Our target should, again, be exceeded in the most recent year. Procurement savings of over £450 million were achieved between 2008 and 2010, including some real innovations, for example the combined public sector energy contract (saving £10 million per annum). And innovative 'reverse auctions' have, on the three occasions they've been used, saved £27 million on IT contracts.

And these savings aren't just about the past - they are having benefits for spending plans into the future. The steps taken to reduce the number of quangos will save around £125 million up to 2013 and almost £40 million a year, each year, thereafter. That's money released to spend on the frontline - it's enough to pay the wages of numerous teachers, nurses and police officers.

We entered the election in 2007 untested and untried. But can any but the most partisan now doubt the competence, credibility and experience of the SNP leadership team?

Over these past few weeks I've been looking through some of our achievements in government. Many are well rehearsed and well remembered - the council tax freeze, shorter waiting times, smaller primary classes, the extra police and 32 year low crime, the abolition of the bridge tolls to name just a few. But it is worth recalling some of the others - just a few of those that don't often get flagged up.

• We've provided extra funding for Scotland's veteran charities and ensured our ex-servicemen and women receive priority treatment in the NHS.
• One million more Scots are registered with an NHS dentist.
• We've raised the legal age for buying tobacco to 18
• We've helped 5,351 people buy their first home with our shared equity scheme
• We've helped 10,000 pensioners and families secure £1.6 million through our benefits health checks
• 100,000 pre-school Scots are now getting almost 20% more free nursery education
• 55,000 school kids from less well off families are now getting free school meals
• We've ensured that 4 out of 5 public sector contracts go to small businesses
• We've invested £2 million in small post offices, allowing 49 of these important community hubs to stay open
• Sales of Scottish food and drink have increased by 30%
• Violent crime is down by over a fifth since we came to office, and
• We've made it easier to prosecute people for serious sexual offences

Over these four years progress has been made. We have touched the lives of many and I believe improved the lives of many, often in small but important ways. There is of course more to do, and that is why we go into this election determined to secure victory once again. We know the job of making Scotland more successful has only just begun.

Home Rule or Tory Rule, that is the question

I am now fast approaching my 40th birthday and one of the consequences has been some serial bouts of reminiscing. And so, late last week, when catching up with an old friend, we got talking about what it was that made us support independence.

For me, it was the 1992 election. I remember my sense of outrage at a result that could see Scotland lumbered with a government it had so roundly rejected. I went along to the post-election George Square rally and became involved in Scotland United and from that point on it was a fairly short journey into the SNP. It was exposure to the SNP's economic arguments and in particular being talked through the numbers on Scotland's budget surplus that clinched it for me. What had begun as a 'small n' nationalist outrage at the democratic deficit developed into a 'big N' Nationalist conviction that Scotland would be better off as an independent state.

And for my friend, the stand out event was the 1995 'Great Debate' and in particular the famous Lorraine Mann question. What he remembered was first the glorious sense of occasion as a nation's future was debated in front of a passionate and informed audience, and second the rather inglorious attempts by George Robertson, the then 'leader' of the Labour Party in Scotland, to avoid telling us whether he would prefer independence over continued Tory rule.

And as we begin a week when the new Scotland Bill is being debated in the House of Commons, I can't help but think again about the Lorraine Mann question. Already we have Labour MPs saying they would rather see Scotland lose an hour in the morning, with a clock change voted on in London, than have that issue decided in the Scottish Parliament. That they would rather have our coastguard stations shut down than have responsibility devolved to Holyrood. And over the next few days they will be voting to make sure George Osborne continues to decide economic policy for Scotland rather than giving that responsibility to the Scottish Government and Scotland's MSPs.

If the Lorraine Mann question was asked again today, I have little doubt Labour MPs (and very probably the vast majority of MSPs) would not hesitate. They would rather have Tory rule from London than Home Rule with independence or greater fiscal autonomy. By their deeds we know them.

I began by saying it was the economics of independence that persuaded me. That I knew independence was the way to deliver a more successful nation. And now, after almost two decades of support for independence my focus has moved beyond just the numbers on a balance sheet. What makes me even more passionate today about achieving independence for our nation is the knowledge that it will make our society stronger. Not only will we stand taller as an independent country; not only will we speak with our own voice and our own accent in the world - more importantly we will be able to build a society based upon the priorities and the values that we decide are important to us as a nation.

In another conversation, I was asked on Saturday night what my first independence legislation would be. And the answer was immediate: a ban on nuclear weapons on Scottish soil and in Scottish waters. Instead of wasting billions on nuclear bombs lets choose to invest instead in better childcare and higher and fairer pensions. That is the sort of Scotland I want to live in. It is my goal, and the goal of hundreds of thousands of fellow Scots. And it is a goal I know we will achieve. After all, how can the new Scotland Bill with its depressingly limited ambition ever hope to compete?

Nobody does it better?

We've been doing a bit of an experiment over the past couple of weeks. Over and above our usual doorstep canvassing work we've had a dedicated team going round the country engaging 'don't knows' or Labour/Lib Dem/Tory leaners in longer conversations about their political views.

The results have now been processed and they reveal some fascinating information about the underlying opinions of ordinary Scots voters.

First, and perhaps not surprising, there is an increasing awareness of the Scottish election and the emerging issues of the campaign. Before Christmas our canvassers were reporting back that people's minds were still firmly in Westminster mode, but in recent weeks that has definitely changed. And the more in-depth engagement confirms that.

Second, and again confirming recent polls and received wisdom, Alex Salmond is by far the best known of the potential FMs with a significant number of those spoken to not being able to identify the main contender on the Labour side. And not just the best known, but also the one thought most capable of doing the job.

And here our team began to dig a little deeper. There were two prongs to their questioning. First, they asked why people thought Alex Salmond was the best choice for First Minister? There were various reasons given, but the most common response was that he didn't report to anyone else. He had no boss above him - the people he had to answer to were the people of Scotland. Not David or Ed or Nick. Sitting here now there is a certain logic to this answer, but it would not have been in my top five if you had asked me, a month ago, what I thought people's reasons would be.

And next, moving on from leadership, they asked about people's perceptions of the last four years. Not in the usual way, but through a new question: do you think any of the other parties could have done a better job than the SNP since 2007? And the surprising thing, for me anyway, was the overwhelming nature of the response. Over 90% of those spoken to said no. Knowing what they knew, the assessment of this group of ordinary Scots was that no other party could have done a better job than Alex Salmond and the SNP. This response was shared as much by Labour leaners or Lib Dem leaners or Tory leaners as don't knows.

And in answering the question, it was as though a light had been switched on for many of the folk - this gave them a different perspective and one that had a significant impact on moving their likely or potential vote towards the SNP. In the words of some, they had never thought about it that way.

So what are the lessons of this exercise? For Labour, it would certainly make me think again about the direction of my campaign. As I have written previously there is a distinct Westminster flavour to much of the material they are putting out. The chat in 2007 was that Labour hated our description of them as 'London Labour' because they knew it hit one of their weak spots with the voters: in 2011 they seem to be hitting that weak spot themselves.

And second, for the SNP, it has provided some interesting new information. I can't help but think of the infamous Hilary Clinton ad in the US - the phone rings in the President's bedroom at 3am in the morning, a new crisis has emerged: so who would you want to answer it? The answer for the past four years in Scotland, it seems, is a resounding one: Alex Salmond. And, for the next four years? Well, of course, that is for the voters to decide on 5th May.

1036 extra police

UPDATE - I managed to catch up with Kenny MacAskill today. Here's what he had to say about the police numbers announcement.


This morning's announcement showing the SNP government will meet its commitment to deliver 1000 extra police is good news on a number of levels.

First, there is little doubt in my mind that these extra police have been a significant factor - perhaps the most significant factor - in the lowest crime rates in a generation and the big falls in violent crime we have seen in Scotland over these past four years. They have also played a big part in the reduction in people's fear of crime. Fear of crime has always appeared to be one of those statistics that, no matter what was happening on the ground, would just relentlessly rise. It is remarkable that we have now seen a turn around.

The second important point for me is that it tells us a great deal about successive approaches to justice policy. After years of gimmicks and 'get tough' or more appropriately 'look tough' policies from government after government, Kenny MacAskill went for the obvious approach: deliver a big increase in police numbers and you would see a big fall in crime. And it has worked. The lesson is simple, tough words are exactly that, they are just words. It is the quality of the action that matters. We are poised to enter an election campaign with the main opposition offering too good to be true proposals on justice: proposals that have been rejected by some of the most senior and respected people in law enforcement. Today confirms for me that the era of gimmicks is over.

Finally, I find some of the rhetoric in the justice debate amusing. Labour and the Tories united in their claim of a soft touch SNP, a call echoed and reinforced by some of the press. The Daily Mail lambasts SNP justice policy despite the record low crime rate, the falls in violent crime. It perpetuates its line of attack despite the reality that those who commit the most serious offences are going to jail for longer, more cases are being solved (the clear up rate has also increased since 2006-07) and criminals are moving more swiftly through the justice system and into jail.

Is there more work to do? Yes, undoubtedly. Is the SNP approach delivering the best results of any government in Scotland in recent memory? Equally, yes, without doubt.

The statistics on fear of crime, therefore, tell us two things. First that SNP justice policy is working. And second, that the opposition/media attacks are not. They have tried to whip up fear but they have failed. And as we enter the short campaign for Scotland's election I know the extra police, lower crime and tougher punishments will be a winning combination.