The poor confused Scottish media

The news that the SNP has published its plans for the first one hundred days of government (incidentally, this can be accessed at http://www.snp.org/policies/government-communities/the-first-100-days-of-an-snp-government) has provoked a number of interesting responses. The Daily Record came away with the all too predictable nonsense headline "SNP Plot 'Chaos and Turmoil' for the UK" (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=snp-plot--chaos-and-turmoil--for-the-uk--&method=full&objectid=18779565&siteid=66633-name_page.html). Indeed, much of the media seemed to concentrate on the idea that the SNP intends a head long collision with the London based Labour government should we win the election. The Scotsman even erroneously stated, "the document made it clear that an SNP-led administration would pick fights with Westminster from day one". (http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=430882007)

They have spun the priorities set out in the plan for the first 100 days as a deliberate attempt at creating tensions with the British state rather than focus on the merits of the proposals set out in the document. Instead the press have made out that they are nothing more than some form of nationalist trickery.

Incidentally these proposals would see an SNP led Scottish Executive demand control of Scotland's share of North Sea oil; would stand firm against the placing of a new generation of nuclear weapons in Scottish territory; stand against new generations of nuclear power stations; the transfer of powers over gun control to Scotland; taking a greater role in dealing with the EU; and the creation of a distinct Scottish Olympics team. That is just to mention a few of the policies set out by the SNP for the early days of government.

Brian Taylor bizarrely described this as a form of "Trotskyite impossibilism" on his new blog at the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/election07/). It seems Brian also thinks this is nothing more than a ploy to "make demands that the state can't possibly concede - then demand the overthrow of the state when it refuses".

What Brian Taylor and the massed ranks of the Scottish press corps seem to not realise is that the plans laid out in the document and spelt out above are actually what a real government of a real nation would do. They demand the best possible conditions for the people of their country.

In fairness to them we have never had this in the past in Scotland, instead having only politicians prepared to administer Scotland on the say so of their London "betters" and masters, so it is perhaps a little difficult for our media people to understand what a real Scottish government would look like. Hopefully after 3rd May they will get some experience of that under the SNP.