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Response to grossly misleading leaflet by Tory MSP John Lamont and
the Tories' Westminster Candidate, C. Walker.
Submitted in good time to the Berwickshire News, Southern Reporter and Hawick News
w/c 31st March 2008 - sadly, only printed in the Berwickshire
News.......
Sir/Madam,
The latest leaflet from the area’s Tory MSP and his Westminster
candidate portrays them as being a duo who are tough on crime.
Perhaps, given their latest spin-sheet is concerned with peddling
un-truths, they are becoming more Del Boy and Rodney than Batman and
Robin.
They claim the SNP Government has only funded 500
“equivalent” officers. In reality, the SNP Government’s budget
allows for 1,000 new officers, while a further 500 experienced
officers will be reassigned to serve in communities, giving a total
of 1,500 additional front-line officers by 2011. It takes 15 weeks
basic training to train a new recruit, so training 1,000 can’t
happen overnight. The first intake of 150 extra officers is
completing training at Tulliallan Police College. A further 450
posts are funded for the coming financial year, 200 in 2009-10, and
200 in 2010-11 giving a total of 1,000 additional officers. The
Tories backed the SNP budget and phasing of recruitment. Either they
wish to mislead the public or Mr Lamont has a poor grasp of his
brief.
The Tory Westminster candidate falsely claims, if elected, he can
deliver more local policing, and also claims he will protect farming
and our local environment. Policing, environmental protection and
farming are actually the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament
and Scottish Government, not Westminster. When he refers to
involvement with a “local tourist board” he forgets to add it was
local to Dumfries and Galloway.
They claim pensions are in crisis, and they are right. However,
it was the Tories that broke the link between the state pension and
earnings. They also created the FSA regulatory framework that
allowed the collapse of Equitable Life, and raids on occupational
pensions.
Whenever they only quote UK opinion polls they become Basil
Fawlty and Manuel. I can almost see the Tory Basil shouting “don’t
mention the Scottish Polls!” Three recent Scottish opinion polls
show SNP Westminster support growing from under 18% in 2005 to
between 34% and 37% now. The Tories are stuck on 18%, i.e. nowhere
near the 40% they claim in their “In Touch”. The Lib Dems
have just 9%. More and more Borderers are realising they can trust
the SNP to stand up for Scotland, whenever Tory MPs indulge in
“jock-bashing” or Lib Dem MPs sit on the fence.
Their newsletter is not so much a Marvel, but would verge on the
comic if it weren’t so misleading. It is not “In Touch”, but rather
“out of touch” with reality. I do agree with them on their headline.
It is indeed “time for a change” in the Borders, but not the change
that they seek.
Yours faithfully
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP Prospective Parliamentary
Candidate
Berwickshire, Roxburgh
and Selkirk |
