Bringers of Worst Policies,

The forthcoming Scottish Parliament elections could be disastrous for the country. People will revolt against Labour, perhaps rightly. Their tenure has not been a complete waste of time but much of their policy decisions seem to come from London, thus rendering devolution false.

It may be true to say that a stronger leader than Jack McConnell is required; a leader who is more concerned with Scotland. The lack of improvement of Scotland does not mean that independence is required. I don’t want to share Britain with some of the bandits around here; I don’t want to share an independent Scotland with them. In an independent Scotland, the work ethic of these people would be more important, the success of the nation would be reliant upon their effort and initiative; frankly, I’d trust them as far as I can throw them. I want to vote for a political party that asks and accuses the public, “Are you human slurry?”

The SNP won’t do this, they have no policies. Their only idea is independence, on which, they’re not even guaranteed to win a referendum over. What would they do then? We don’t know. I don’t feel proud of being Scottish, far less British. My main grievance is that I have to pay for the luxury of England’s royal family; the luxury of being downgraded to a lower-class; the luxury of being one of theirs “subjects”. I’m a better person them any of them. Why haven’t the SNP taken the action of highlighting this and rebelling from the union in this way? I guess that there is a chance of being charged with treason, but a true firebrand would charge ahead with the kind of temerity that wins votes.

If Labour and SNP politicians can’t get them to view themselves as they are and make them undergo self-improvement, the next best thing is to vote for the Green Party, who pledge to ensure that over 20% of Scotland is occupied by native woodland by 2010. I won’t be able to see them (or the woods) for the trees. The Greens are really important in the Scottish Parliament, they might be few but their contribution is significant. They make the other capitalists in the parliament stop and think about what they’re doing to the environment, their actions have been vital locally in warding off the immediate threat of ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth. The Greens are passionate and they have a conscience, they’re not taking orders from London. The only part of their policies that I don’t agree with is nuclear power, I’m a firm believer in nuclear power; surely, lessons have been learned and less damage will be caused by future projects.

The Liberal Democrats are nice, and sometimes that’s good enough.

However, a socialist voice is the only type of voice that won’t fade into obscurity after the election. The only problem is that there are two socialist parties, Solidarity and the Scottish Socialist Party. They have the same policies, the only difference is that one has Tommy Sheridan and one doesn’t. Tommy Sheridan needs to be elected; politics needs this type of character. The public needs socialists in the parliament; they are the only ones who say will not be swayed by business and the wants of the fat cats. Fairer taxation laws, state-controlled public services, free school meals, free prescriptions, benefits to encourage new farmers, continued implementation of renewable energy sources, more common sense measures to meet the demands of the public and a promise of a referendum on independence are amongst the things the SSP and Solidarity will endeavour to carry out – it’s just a matter of deciding which one to vote for, and making sure that we don’t split the votes between them in a useless manner.