In the run-up to the General Election, Labour’s rally call, ‘vote SNP, let Cameron into Westminster’ is frankly pathetic.

I read the ‘Wings’ account of actual General election statistics and a number of us have also spotted that in reality, ‘vote Labour in Scotland’ to let the Tories in at Westminster is closer to the truth.

As ever, I try to find another perspective.  One that is not based on facts and figures and statistics.  Most people feel that stats can be manipulated to prove anything.  Figures are extremely subjective and ‘facts’ are rarely qualified.  In a sense, facts can often be pretty meaningless.

I prefer to rely on common sense.  If common sense is indeed common it is probably more reliable than the usual bullshit that is served up to us.

First of all, I believe that voters at the General Election are voting for an outcome that is best for Scotland, their community, their family, themselves or a combination of these.  Although, after the Referendum, I often wonder if there are darker forces in play??

Politically, Scotland has returned Labour MPs since, well, forever.  So how has that worked out?

I have published scores of blogs recounting memories of the Scotland, the Glasgow I came to in 1951 as a toddler.  I have seen a fabulous country with vast resources and some of the finest minds and best workers in the world.  A country that commands more respect worldwide than any other country (that I can think of – OK maybe Ireland as well) .  In my lifetime I have seen a country stripped of its assets; leaving nothing.  Our industries, the finest shipbuilding in the world, ever, our steelworks and heavy engineering, our car plants, our sewing machines, our railway stock all closed down.  I have seen the demise of our coal industry and the withdrawal of investment in our renewable energy programmes.  Everywhere you look you see examples of lack of investment in our basic infrastructure.  I could go on about this almost as long as Jim Murphy can go on lying to the Scottish people.

But let’s take a look at some other travesties that are all too familiar to us all; then we can ask ourselves, ‘how well has Scotland been served by the Labour Party in Scotland?’

First of all, Trident.  In the early 50’s I traveled  with my father to the beautiful seaside town and holiday destination of Helensburgh.  This was, and to some extent remains, a town trapped in time.  If someone had said to me that the neighbouring area would shortly become the center of the Western World’s nuclear defenses I would be thinking, science fiction.  The CND Peace Camp was set up in the 60’s and remains to this day.  Local residents to the base are continually aware of radioactive waste incidents – and that’s just the ones they admit to.  We discovered we were strategically important; according to Enoch Powell, because the US have the trigger but they are so far away from the barrel – Scotland.  I suppose you might call us the ‘decoy’.  Over the years, CND, other peace or disarmament lobbyist and eventually the Greens and the SNP made their sworn policy to remove those weapons from our shores.  No Scot can doubt the majority of our people want them away.  The argument that they are a deterrent is puerile and stupid.  The ‘Baillie-esque’ argument that it brings wealth and jobs to the surrounding area is not a measure of the local economy but a testimony to her deception and cunning.  Putting all that aside, the key questions have to be:

WHERE WAS LABOUR IN SCOTLAND WHEN WE BECAME A NUCLEAR DECOY STATE?

WHERE IS LABOUR NOW THAT THERE IS CLEAR EVIDENCE THE PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND WANT TRIDENT REMOVED?

There are 2 answers: NOWHERE and NOWHERE

Let’s now look at this beleaguered country of ours.  Poverty, slum housing, unemployment, poor health, The Glasgow Effect, no prospects for the future.   In many places the epitome of Urban Deprivation.  We must be good for something? surely?  How about a nation of guinea pigs.  We are still human, if they beat us, some will squeal.  But nobody hears us, because nobody is listening.  What a great place for human experiments.  Let’s see, what about the Poll Tax.  We don’t want to inflict this nonsense on the ordinary English folk – but the Scots will do.  Again, we must ask ourselves a key question:

WHERE WAS LABOUR IN SCOTLAND WHEN WE WERE SELECTED AS A SOCIO-ECONOMIC  EXPERIMENTAL SITE?

Again the answer is the same:  NOWHERE.

The great thing about mother nature is she like to re-balance our societies every now and again.  She gave us a gift to make up for all the hurt we had suffered:  North Sea Oil and Gas.  Wealth beyond our wildest dreams.  In real terms something of the order of £2 – £3 trillion with the prospect of even more.  All we had to do was bring it under control – our control.  Engage and develop the industry, again under our control and ensure that we put the surplus aside for a ‘rainy day’ – probably a hell of a lot of rainy days.  We even had a great model of how it should be done – our neighbour; Norway, now the richest country in the world based on similar reserves as Scotland.  All we needed was the political will to ensure that Scotland’s windfall would benefit Scotland’s people.  In terms of the political will we had a long standing political party already in place to fight our corner; the Labour Party in Scotland.

WHERE WAS LABOUR IN SCOTLAND WHEN NORTH SEA OIL AND GAS BECAME A VIABLE RESOURCE?

Yes, you guessed – NOWHERE.  Actually, worse than that, they were up to their armpits in squandering it.

When North Sea Oil and Gas was first realised, the man at the helm was Labour’s PM Harold Wilson.  Harold did some good stuff, but managed to kill the economy with his 14% devaluation of the pound.  But it was his successor, Labour PM Jim Callaghan who did the most damage.  Negotiate a great deal for Scotland? set up an oil fund? take the lions share of the revenues when it began to flow ashore in 1975?  NOT A BIT OF IT.  Jim Callaghan as Labour PM had the country in such an economic basket case he gave it all away to the oil Moguls and took a few pence a barrel.  There was so much of the stuff that he still managed to take a hell of a lot.  Not enough to avoid the ‘Winter of Discontent’ that saw him kicked out and replaced by our beloved champion of Scot; Margaret Thatcher – CHEERS LABOUR!

I could continue with example after example but the answer keeps coming back the same.

WHERE WAS LABOUR IN SCOTLAND AT THE HOURS OF SCOTLAND’S GREATEST NEEDS? – BLOODY NOWHERE TO BE SEEN!

So, when Labour in Scotland ask the Scots to vote LABOUR to keep the TORIES out , I say to you:

HISTORY TELLS US THAT WE NEED PROTECTION – FROM LABOUR.

… and if we have a Tory Government in Westminster, the best protection we can get is to make sure we elect as many NON-WESTMINSTER MPs in Scotland as we can.  If that means the SNP, then so be it.  We all hope and pray that soon we will have independence and that will bring alternative political opportunities.

For now, the SNP represent the people of Scotland and certainly in terms of the NHS, education and their resistance to Trident they are doing a pretty good job.

I am not SNP but I can guarantee I will vote SNP and I would encourage everybody with an interest in the future of Scotland to do the same – even if this is just our first step to a better future.

PS:  I suppose I should thank the Labour Party of Scotland for being so awful as to make this blog possible!!