A cunning plan
Alex Salmond has a cunning plan.
Not content with Holyrood power, he's now setting his sights on Westminster.
So what else is new, I hear you sigh. After all, Mr Salmond is presently an MP as well as an MSP as well as FM. All those initials, so confusing.
But this is rather different. The SNP leader is working out an alternative approach for his party to adopt at the next UK general election.
Like all parties, the SNP is constitutionally obliged to pretend that it's set to win every seat, in every election.
Next time round at Westminster, expect to hear Mr Salmond deliberately setting the bar rather lower.
Little obstacles
He'll argue a substantial cohort of Nationalist MPs could hold the balance of power in a hung parliament, potentially extracting concessions from the UK Government (including the Treasury) in the by-going.
By "substantial", Mr Salmond means 20.
The concessions he envisages would address such issues as the current disputes between Holyrood and Westminster over funding.
There's more. Treating Westminster as a source of leverage finally narrows down the party's self-declared route to independence.
No longer would they be forecasting that they could secure independence by winning a majority of Scottish seats in the Commons.
Rather, they would confine that objective to securing a positive vote in a referendum in Scotland, almost certainly called via Holyrood.
Seek solutions
There are, of course, one or two little obstacles in the path of this cunning plan. Firstly, the SNP has never obtained anything like 20 Westminster seats in its history.
The best to date was the football squad of eleven in the 1970s.
Secondly, it is at least arguable that, with the SNP in Scottish devolved power, the voters may look to alternatives when casting their Westminster vote.
Evidence suggests that the SNP polls better at Holyrood although the current travails of the UK Labour Government may help rival causes.
Thirdly, a UK Government, even in a hung Parliament, may be inclined to seek solutions other than a deal with the Nationalists.
Fourthly, the SNP's rivals at Holyrood are currently opposed to the notion of a Scottish referendum, either on independence alone or on a broader range of options.
Still and all, thought you should know what's in the mind of the FM/MP/MSP.
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~35~RS~)
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hello!
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I listened to Alex Salmond's interview today and was very impressed - I may well vote SNP at the next Westminster elections in the hope that he is right and they are able to influence decisions that would otherwise be negative for Scotland - I used to vote Labour but no longer think they represent fairness for all.
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Certainly I think it's important the SNP take the following seats:
Gordon Brown
Alistair (I'm not an economic patriot) Darling
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I don't think we need worry about a hung parliament, this Labour administration will be the last for at least twenty years.Hopefully as the last comment says Brown and his "Darling" will lose their seats in Scotland and fade into oblivion.Is Dundee United still playing Brian?
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I watched AS webcast, and I too was impressed . I sit on the fence and I see this man talking sense. He just seems like he is in control and I loved the way he handled the childish insults hurled at him. He has a humility that I never saw before and he is poking fun at himself.
I do see the SNP making huge gains at the next westminster elections and I think it will be good for Scotland to have a stronger voice and argue our case .
As for a referendum , it is democratic and the correct way to decide .
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I thought the FM was stupendous in the webcast (although I may be slightly biased being I an SNP supporter!!).
Loved to see Alex displaying his not-so-serious side; too often the media portray him as sour-faced; indeed, he was asked today if why he's so much of a "smug git" (quoth I the 'cast). To which the man answered "Well, I must say I wish my relatives wouldn't contribute so much!!". Too many politicians would have leared off that question, or put on a nervous titter, whereas Mr. Salmond just laughed it off with dignity.
At the same time though, it was nice to see a politician that can talk about the serious questions, even in the face of quite hostile questions (expertly posed btw Brian!), and yet still give dignified, strong answers, and not just spin things off like some lesser MSP's might.
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Ach Brian, A tad too much of your bias coming thru, Although I am enjoying your blind loyalty, dont forget to tell all at the BBC regional office in Glasgow, that theres no more license money going up there until you tow the New Numptie line.
ps : you couldnt lend me a couple of hundred billion, till friday could ya. There is a wee bit bother getting in to my piggy bank at the moment.
Come on Brian me and Alistair know that with you being from Dundee, you have your original farthling pocket money from many many years ago. Just send it direct to ma house in Kirkcaldy.
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As the webcast interview showed beyond a shadow of any possible doubt, Alex Salmond is the ablest politician in Scotland. He may even be the ablest politician in Britain.
As for the "smug git" question, few people, I suspect, could turn that sort of thing to their advantage. Mr Salmond did so with ease.
He may or may not be humble. I really don't care. So long as he gets the job done. At least it cannot credibly be said of him that he has a great deal to be humble about.
As for the cunning plan referred to above, it seems a good deal more cunning to me than Ms Alexander's latest comical turn at FMQs.
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Well I have often joked on this blog about sending the SNP team down south when I heard all the rubbish about the English support the Scottish financially and the Scots are getting this and that and it is coming out of English pockets. Also when I heard of the complaints about what Mr Brown and Mr Darling were doing to the economy.
I truly did not mean it. we need them here.
Could it happen, I suppose it could. I doubt if Labour will be elected again if the mood of the country at the moment continues until the next election.
If the country elected a coalition it is possible, the SNP could gain quite a few seats in the next election. Confidence is growing in the SNP daily and no wonder they are doing a good job. Time will tell.
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Remember the quote at the start of the National Conversation from Charles Stewart Parnell?
'...no man has the right to fix the boundary of a nation.'
Now Salmond is trying to use the same tactic Parnell used at Westminster in the 1880s.
Nothing new under the sun.
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Is this the same Alex Salmond who has only found his way to Westminster 6 times in the last year, despite drawing a full MP's salary? In other words, £10,000 a visit, paid for by the UK taxpayer. Fill yer boots, Alex!
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"Where is the money coming from" is a phrase I hear from all sides. The current Scottish Government must show they are prudent.
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#13 Bingowings87
The only Alex Salmond I know of takes only one salary, while the other - which he is obliged to accept - goes directly into charitable causes.
This has been fully publicised.
But then, when was the truth ever allowed to get in the way of a typical uniionist rant?
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Almost 50% of the Scottish MPs through the ridiculously unbalanced First Past the Post system? Even as an SNP supporter I find that figure fanciful on Alex Salmond's part.
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As I understand it, one of Alex Salmonds salaries is held in the form of a charitble trust to aid young people in the North east...this was one of the first things he did when he came to power.
Bingowings87 , As I remember Gordon Jackson QC continued to work as a lawyer whilst sitting as a labour MSP......those in glass houses....and all that
I dont think the good people of Banff and Buchan have a problem with Alex salmond , the have voted him in for 20 odd years. I think they are best placed to judge him as an MP.
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Bingowings87
What about Wendy Alexander? she is drawing a salary from Holyrood, yet she is useless.
Should Scottish taxpayers be paying good money for this lack of competence?
Can she not live off donations? Go on Wendy hen, fill you boots.
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The only ones who can judge whether Salmond is competent to represent them at both parliaments are those who vote for him. They are the only ones who would know if they are getting a good service.
As for the 20 seats? The SNP already achieved a miracle by getting into power whats to say they won't get another miracle?
Stranger things have happened in this world.
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Brian:
It seems like a cunning plan that is being work on...
~Dennis Junior~
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From Scotland on Sunday
Lord Foulkes caught in £54,000 expenses row
Date: 28 December 2008
By Tom Peterkin
Scottish Political Editor
HE EARNS £52,000 a year in his 'day' job as a Member of the Scottish Parliament. But the demands of Holyrood haven't stopped George Foulkes claiming a further £54,527 in expenses over the past year as a member of the House of Lords.
The only other MSP with a seat at Westminster is Alex Salmond, MP for Banff and Buchan and MSP for Gordon. As an MP, Salmond receives an annual salary of £60,675, but takes only a third of his MSP's salary – this £17,697 a year is put into a trust fund to finance charity contributions in his constituency.
The figures also revealed that Lord Watson of Invergowrie, the former Labour minister who was convicted of fire-raising, claimed £42,805 for attending on 129 days.
Pete Wishart MP, the SNP's constitutional affairs spokesman, said: "It is scandalous that Lord Watson is allowed to continue grandstanding at the public expense in the Lords. It is time for the House of Lords reforms, banning anyone with a criminal conviction from sitting in the Lords, to be brought back."
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