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Today we see yet another attempt at a damage limitation exercise by Jack McConnell, for months this individual was in favour of taxes for businesses and tourists entering of passing through Fife; this tax on tourism and business is maintained in the form of bridge tolls on the Forth and Tay bridges.

An attempt to appear even handed in his dealings with all regions of Scotland is today鈥檚 theme by Jack McConnell in his campaign to secure the tenure of the next First Minister; this is a thinly veiled attempt to counter his five years and five months as a west coast first, First Minister.

How can we trust someone who a few short weeks ago was dogmatically informing us that these tolls had to stay, when today he rushes to placate the East coast voters who threaten his continuity of office; Jack McConnell鈥檚 new slogan should be 鈥楲osing in the Polls, Remove the Tolls鈥�

We need a First Minister who will listen to the views of all Scots and non Scots who are resident in our country, not one who receives his instructions from London and from within his family.

PS. A Dundee United Supporter, I did not know you Arab!

Your reference to a primate with the correct rosette takes me back to the first time I was about to exercise my vote in the election of an MP to the Westminster Parliament; during a discussion with my father he said 鈥渋t does not matter who you vote for a wally dug would win if it wore a Labour rosette.鈥�

That Conversation took place in October 1964, those words remained valid for forty one and a half years; the constituency, Dunfermline West.

I honestly would not like to call this Holyrood election in respect of Dunfermline West; I can only reflect that I have not heard a single individual, other than a politician or campaigner, reflect positively on this closing tenure of Office of the First Minister.

The list system has pluses and minuses when we compare the outcomes of a 鈥榝irst past the post鈥� system against a list system; on the positive side of the equation the views of the minority are permitted to be heard, on the negative side the obsessed and lunatic fringes have access to the oxygen of publicity.

Besides, the most important result will be on May 3:

SNP 1 v 0 Labour

;-)

Dundee football; Mr Spemce of the Telegraph- do you Brian sit near him and pick up any hints on a,football. b, cricket c,independance for the Tories Scotland?
PS Do votes really count? for the last few years it appears not,but then this is south Edinburgh,where vandals smash MP's windows,
( Uni course on early 18th Cent politics and some act or other)

An attempt to appear even handed in his dealings with all regions of Scotland is today鈥檚 theme by Jack McConnell in his campaign to secure the tenure of the next First Minister; this is a thinly veiled attempt to counter his five years and five months as a west coast first, First Minister.

How can we trust someone who a few short weeks ago was dogmatically informing us that the tolls on the Forth and the Tay bridges had to stay, these tolls which are effectively a tax on tourism and business were to be maintained for Fife and those operating North of the Tay; today he rushes to placate the East coast voters who threaten his continuity of office, Jack McConnell鈥檚 new slogan should be 鈥楲osing in the Polls, Remove the Tolls鈥�

Either Jack McConnell was misleading the Scottish people when he said the tolls had to stay and he is now prepared to compromise his beliefs and principles to the detriment of Scotland in order that he can continue his tenure of office or was he pursuing policies that were to the detriment of the East coast of Scotland and its residents; which one is it Jack?

I have noticed that election pronouncements seems to more frequent from the Labour party than any other of the three main parties; I have yet to determine whether that is because of limitations within my research, some form of media bias or merely the fact that the Labour Party make more pronouncements.

Today Jack McConnell is publishing his manifesto, with a promise to put education first; this will include a pledge to expand modern language lessons as part of a 20 year plan for education in Scotland.
Skills Academies, now where have I heard that phrase before?

The results of Labour鈥檚 previous education plan is available today, a report from the Prince鈥檚 Trust and the Royal Bank of Scotland which indicates that one in five young people were not in work education or training.
The advantage of choosing a 20 year plan is that it can be claimed that it is just that, a 20 year plan and it is 鈥榯oo early鈥� to assess its success or failure; what we can assess is the current First Minister鈥檚 report card.

The percentage of pupils gaining 5 or more Standard Grades at credit level (or equivalent) by the end of S6 increased from 38% in 1998/99 to 48% in 2005/06. However, there have only been modest improvements in S4 over the last 5 years.
Will we have to wait a further 5 years to see a further modest improvement only to be told we will have to wait as it is a 20 year plan?

While a programme of Modern Languages is commendable I would prefer see a programme to equip our school leavers with a command of our own language as a priority; many of our school leavers have limited or inappropriate language skills, using Short Message Service shorthand (mobile phone text shorthand) in letters and job applications, appalling spelling standards and most commonly cut and paste to provide an easy life and short circuit any creative processes.

I acknowledge it is an old adage, but schools should concentrate on the three R鈥檚; only once teachers and pupils have mastered these can we afford the luxury of introducing Modern Languages.

I believe Skills Academies have failed to impress teacher鈥檚 associations; teachers are employed to teach subjects that are deemed fitting to produce adequate skills for employment not to decide on which subjects should be taught.

Teachers of the sixties and the seventies crossed the educational Rubicon and befriended their pupils effectively lowering themselves into the pupils peer group, then they complain they cannot command the respect of their pupils and their parents.

I believe Skills Academies or a similar type of vocational education is essential to produce a balanced workforce; the system which offers equality of opportunity for all may well be an educationalist鈥檚 nirvana but we need a reality check.
Pupils who have limited abilities should not be forced into an educations system where they will become the obvious targets for bullies; all pupils should be treated as individuals subsequently should be educated at a level commensurate with their abilities.

Obviously wee Jack must fly to Inverness and the Highlands because even 1 trip by car would make him realise 拢400 million on linking the fastest growing city in Britain with the rest of the world is a far greater priority than building an unnecessary 5 miles of dual carriageway in the east end of Glasgow costing several billions!
Jack used to be a maths teacher but he's obviously as good at arithmetic as his deputy Nicol Who? Otherwise they would realise that Alex Salmond is already on such a roll, damage limitation is their best hope. Thank goodness we finally had a poll at the weekend confirming what I've thought all along, the LibDems are going to get as bloody a nose as their bedfellows in New Labour or Scottish Labour or Gordon's Labour, whatever the governing party is calling itself this week.