Braveheart ache

For the past couple of weeks, I've reported on the tensions inside the SNP's Glasgow Regional Association.

First Shona McAlpine quit as secretary, then Norman McLeod quit as vice-convenor, and then, two weeks ago, Ari Mack quit as convenor.

It's all been a bit stormy.

However even I was gobsmacked by Mack's resignation letter, which is reported in today's Sunday Herald.

Here's the whole jaw-dropping story:

EXCLUSIVE

Tom Gordon

Scottish Political Editor

THE former head of the SNP in Glasgow has launched an extraordinary attack on his local party members, accusing them of suffering from  “paranoia, conspiracy theories, mental illness and downright stupidity”.

Ari Mack also denounced SNP activists for “dancing on pub tables shouting Freedom”, the battle cry of the Nationalist hero William Wallace in Mel Gibson’s film Braveheart.

Mack made the comments in a statement to activists saying he was quitting as convenor of the SNP Glasgow Regional Association (GRA).

His exit follows a period of bitter feuding within the GRA over how to fight the council elecions in Glasgow next May.

One side, including Mack, wanted to field 40 candidates to maximise the SNP vote, while another group, linked to SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon, wanted to stand more candidates.

Mack and his allies felt this could split the SNP vote, and help Labour.

The 40-candidate ‘Voter Management Strategy’ (VMS) had been agreed last year, but Sturgeon’s allies forced it to be reopened over the summer.

The resulting infighting saw the resignation of GRA secretary Shona McAlpine, then vice-convener Normal MacLeod, and finally Mack.

The divisions were first revealed in the Sunday Herald.

In a resignation email on August 31, Mack said he had enjoyed his role, but went on: 

“However, I can no longer sustain my involvement both in GRA and Maryhill/Springburn [branch].

“An atmosphere of paranoia, conspiracy theories, mental illness and downright stupidity emanating from my local branch has made my membership of the branch unsustainable... 

“This paranoia, conspiracies and mental illness has been festering amongst members for some time now and I am no longer prepared to accept it.

“Dancing on pub tables and shouting ‘Freedom’ and all the other nonsense that is going on bears no relation to the excellent branch I joined 4 years ago.”

It is understood some branch members feel the party hierarchy looks down on them for being workingclass and left-wing, however another SNP activist said Mack was “talking a lot of crap”.

Labour said Mack’s outburst showed the SNP was unfit to run the city and its £2.5bn budget.

Glasgow East MP Margaret Curran said: “This humiliating letter shows the SNP have simply lost control of their Glasgow councillors.

“People who jump on tables and scream ‘Freedom!’ are not fit to run anything, let alone the great city of Glasgow.

“It seems the moderates in the Glasgow SNP have jumped a sinking ship and those left are hardcore agitators more interested in their political careers than our great city.”

Since winning its majority at Holyrood, the SNP has made ousting Labour from local government its top electoral priority, with Glasgow seen as the biggest prize.

SNP progress in the west of Scotland is also regarded as vital if Alex Salmond is to win a referendum on independence.

David Meikle, the sole Tory councillor in Glasgow, said: “This shocking letter shows the immature Braveheart tendency is still alive and well in the Glasgow SNP. They should be putting  forward ideas, not dancing on pub tables.”

The GRA picked new office bearers last week.

The new convener is former treasurer Natalie McGarry; the new vice-convener is former Holyrood candidate Sid Khan; while McAlpine withdrew her resignation and remains GRA secretary.

A SNP spokeswoman said: “The SNP in Glasgow delivered a record result across the city in May 2011. We are now preparing to end decades of Labour domination and move Glasgow forward with success at the local elections next year.

“While Labour look set to deselect over half their sitting councillors, the SNP are putting in place a confident team, campaigning on a record of delivery and a vision for the future.”

SNP meltdown in Glasgow continues

Just in case anyone thought it was only the Scottish Tories pulling themselves apart, the SNP in Glasgow are working hard on their own bizarre feud. 
Politics - it's showbiz for angry people.


From today's Sunday Herald

EXCLUSIVE

Tom Gordon

Scottish Political Editor

SNP hopes of winning Glasgow in next year’s council elections have suffered a further setback with the resignation of a third party official amid bitter infighting over strategy.

Ari Mack quit as convener of the SNP’s Glasgow Regional Association (GRA) last week.

His departure follows that of GRA Secretary Shona McAlpine and GRA vice-convenor Norman MacLeod in recent weeks, after a series of internal rows about how many candidates to field next May.

The Tories claimed the SNP was in meltdown.

The GRA agreed last year to stand 40 candidates - the minimum needed to get an overall majority on Glasgow City Council - but McAlpine and other allies of SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon have tried to reopen the issue, arguing for up to 50.

Supporters of 40 candidates, who included Mack and MacLeod, argued that standing more people risked a split in the SNP vote, and could help Labour return more councillors by default.

However those backing 50 said it would be safer to stand more candidates in order to win a majority of the 79 places on the council.

The issue led to an ugly shouting match at the GRA’s quarterly meeting in June, after which McAlpine and MacLeod resigned their positions.

Mack stayed on, but ran into problems during vetting for council candidates last month.

Last Monday, a special meeting of the GRA decided to revisit the issue and examine whether to stand more candidates in three of the city’s 21 wards, meaning up to 43 candidates in total.

Mack resigned two days later.

It is understood he was particularly aggrieved about events in his local Maryhill & Springburn ward, which was one of the three asked to consider an extra candidate.

The loss of so many key personnel in such a short period is expected to be discussed at the GRA’s next meeting this Thursday.

Since its majority win at Holyrood, the SNP has made defeating Labour in councils in 2012 a top priority, with Glasgow the main prize.

SNP progress across the West of Scotland would also key to winning an independence referendum.

The GRA splits, first revealed in the Sunday Herald last month, have made both aims more difficult, and have also delayed the selection of council candidates in the city.

One SNP source claimed the fighting was being driven by supporters of Nicola Sturgeon, many from the Asian community, who had joined the party in the expectation of getting the chance to stand as candidates.

Another said: “The GRA is not a happy ship. We still have a Treasurer, but that’s about it.”

David Meikle, the sole Tory councillor in Glasgow, said: “This latest setback shows the SNP election campaign in Glasgow is in meltdown. Voters will remember the mess they’re in.”

A Labour source added: “The long-running feud between Nicola Sturgeon’s faction and the rest of the Glasgow SNP is bubbling up yet again.

“The SNP are clearly more interested in putting party interests before the people of Glasgow.”

Mack did not return calls.

An SNP spokeswoman said: “The SNP is preparing to fight next year’s council elections from a strong base after winning record support across the city in May. We are working hard to move Glasgow forward in 2012 after years of Labour neglect.”

House of Fraser or House of Cards?

Well, he's done it now.
Murdo Fraser has pulled out the pin and lobbed a live grenade into the Scottish Conservative leadership race.
His pitch: Vote for me and I'll scrap the party and start a new one, the Tories are simply too toxic to recover in Scotland.
It's daring, all right, but it could also blow up in his face.
Whether it happens or not, Fraser has given ammo to the enemy and embarrassed David Cameron by saying the Conservatives are no longer a national party.
Today, it's Scotland that's an electoral no-go area for them, but where next?

Here's the story from today's Sunday Herald:

---

Tom Gordon

Scottish Political Editor

THE frontrunner to be the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives has promised to abolish the party and start a completely new one if members elect him later this year.

In a daring pitch to activists fed up with successive failures at the polls, Murdo Fraser says the Scottish Conservative brand has become so unpopular with voters it cannot be revived, and should be scrapped and replaced by a new independent party of the centre-right instead.

Fraser, deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives for almost six years, will put the radical plan at the heart of his leadership campaign, which is launched tomorrow.

If activists back him, and he replaces Annabel Goldie as leader in November, Fraser would use his win as a mandate to dissolve the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (SCUP).

Tory activists would then be asked to migrate to the successor party “en masse”.

Fraser likens the new party to the Unionist Party which existed in Scotland from 1912 to 1965, before merger with the Tories created the SCUP.

It would support the Tories at Westminster, but be a wholly separate Scottish organisation.

While defending the Union, it would also advocate transferring more powers to Holyrood.

But the idea risks splitting the Scottish Tories and leading to a period of bloody infighting.

Jackson Carlaw, the only other MSP to have entered the leadership race, last week said the Scottish Tories should not separate themselves “from the UK party any more than Scotland should separate from the rest of the UK”.

He could now act as a rallying point for those opposed to Fraser’s ‘year zero’ approach.

Fraser admits his plan will lead to some members walking away, rather than join the new party.

However his supporters insist that after a series of poor elections, activists know the status quo is untenable, and dramatic change is needed if they are to make progress at the ballot box.

“We don’t need a new captain for the Titanic,” said one. “What we need is a new ship.”

The radical plan is understood to have the support of around half the 15 Tory MSPs at Holyrood, including former Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson, Finance spokesman Gavin Brown, Rural Affairs spokesman Alex Johnstone, and Education spokeswoman Liz Smith.

Fraser is also being backed by Scotland’s only Tory MEP, Struan Stevenson.

However as of last week, Fraser had not discussed the plan with Prime Minister David Cameron or David Mundell, the only Scottish Tory MP.

The idea offers huge ammunition to Labour, who could taunt Cameron about the Conservatives ceasing to a national UK party and parts of the country being no-go zones.

The SNP could also claim the end of the Scottish Tories was a sign of a weakening Union, and argue Fraser and colleagues were setting up a new party in anticipation of independence.

Fraser admitted in the wake of last year’s general election that the Tories were so “toxic” they drove voters toward other parties.

Despite reviving in England, the Tories have failed to recover in Scotland since Labour’s landslide election victory of 1997.

Since devolution, their MSPs have gone from 18 to 15, and they have had only one MP since 2001.

At the 2010 general election, the Tory share of the vote went up a neglible 0.9% in Scotland compared to 3.9% in the rest of the UK.

The new party is designed to break with that past and attract new members, money and votes.

Its key features would be a distinct Scottish identity, a core belief in passing power down to the people, and new faces at the top.

In his speech tomorrow, Fraser will say: “If I am elected as leader of the party, I will turn it into a new and stronger party for Scotland.

“A new party. A winning party with new supporters from all walks of life. A new belief in devolution. A new approach to policy-making.

A new name. But, most importantly, a new positive message about the benefits of staying in and strengthening our United Kingdom.”

Fraser argues a comparable political model already exists in Germany, where Bavaria’s Christian Social Union co-operates with the Christian Democractic Union at a federal level.

Under his plan, next May’s council elections would be the last contested by the SCUP.

There would then be a special conference to vote to dissolve the party and create a new one.

In practice, the change would need the blessing of the UK Conservatives, as they would need to agree not to field rival candidates in Scotland.

Fraser has not suggested a name for the new party, but says it could include the word Conservative, if the UK party gave permission.

Fraser, 46 tomorrow, is the leading contender in the Tory leadership race, and has been an MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife since 2001.

Carlaw, 52, a list MSP for the West of Scotland since 2007, launched his campaign on Friday with a promise to strengthen the Union, but could not produce a single MSP backer.

Ruth Davidson, 32, a former BBC reporter who was elected a Glasgow list MSP just four months ago, is expected to enter the race later this week.

She is the choice of Goldie and Cameron.

A Labour spokesman said: “This is a brutal admission that the Tories are still a toxic brand in Scotland.

“People haven’t forgotten what they did the last time - and they’re furious with what they are doing now. What Murdo Fraser doesn’t seem to get is that it is his policies that alienate people, not his party’s internal workings.”

Graeme Dey, SNP MSP for Angus South, said if Fraser was so keen on independence for his party, he should back it for the country as well.

“The problem for him and the Tories is not just the damage Tory governments did to Scotland in the past but the economic harm they are doing now. As long as the Tories continue with plans to charge Scottish students fees, re-instate prescription charges and privatise our public services they will struggle to win any more support in Scotland.”