Surveying the land
ON TOP OF THE FORTH BRIDGE: I am 361ft high above the Firth of Forth with the man who's riding high in the opinion polls. Alex Salmond is surveying the land which he hopes and believes he is about to govern. His dream - on the eve of the 300th anniversary of the Union - is that he will be the last mere First Minister of a Scotland whose economic, foreign and defence policies are set in London.
From where we are standing we can see the house of the Scot who's just weeks away from becoming the prime minister who will wield that power.
As he looks out at the Firth of Forth, Gordon Brown will reflect that Salmond could spoil not just his first few weeks but much of his time at the top.
Salmond says that, like Ken Livingstone in London, they'll learn to get along.
The polls have barely budged during this campaign. The question being asked by we election watchers is whether Salmond is like Blair in '97 - nothing can shift the electorate's settled will to give him power - or is he like Kinnock in '92 - the frontrunner who the public will pull back from backing once they take seriously the prospect of his being in power. I suspect the result may well be closer than many of the predictions.
Now it's too cold and too windy to write more from here!
UPDATE 1350 BST I have shocking news. It is a myth that they are always painting the Forth bridge! Apparently they expect the coat they're painting now to last 25 years .
I'm 
Comments
And here I am with my feet firmly on the ground in the home counties, fretting that my country's economic, home office and defence policies are set by Scots from Scottish constituencies. Couldn't we come to some arrangement, Mr Salmond?
Why has there been a complete absence of postings on the NHS blog recently?I would have thought given the recent interviews with Patricia Hewitt over the weekend that there would have been a great deal of interest.
I hope that the support for Mr. Salmond is rather more like Mr. Kinnock's support than Mr. Blair's. In my opinion the policies which Mr. Salmond promotes are reckless and dangerous. I just hope that when the dust settles everything works out.
P.S. If it takes them 25 years to apply that coat of paint then the myth will hold true. Do your best to slow them down!
Ha! Looking good Nick.
Re: Painting the bridge
Nick , you've stumbled across one of the great failings of privatisation. In the old days, the bridge was painted continuously, and everything was fine.
Then came Railtrack and painting was stopped to save money.
Then bits started to fall off the bridge!
So Network Rail took up the paintbrush again, but with years of maintenance arrears to make good.
I wonder how much money was saved by Railtrack's shortsighted decision?
P.S. You can probably see my house from the bridge too, but I haven't decided who to vote for yet. I'm tempted to put up a Tory (Unionist) poster though to annoy my SNP neighbour. Not that Annabel's lot will get my vote!
This looks eerily remniscent of Jesus's temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4).
"Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."
The difference being, that Salmond seems to be giving way to temptation!
I still fail to see why Scotland is allowed to send representatives to Westminster, given they have their own Parliament. Perhaps Alex Salmond will oblige in helping those of us in England by rebuilding Hadrian's Wall? Any loss of MPs in Westminster as a result would be purely coincidental, of course...
As an Englishman I sincerely hope Alex Salmond manages to take Scotland out of the Union. It will save us the trouble of doing it in a few years.
Alex Salmond is very good at getting attention and swaying opinion but sound governance requires more than poking people with sticks and smooth words. At issue, here, is competition and competence. Being able to get in the door is one thing, being able to deliver is something else, as the SNP instigated cash for honours question and their own lack of probity suggests.
My take is that worrying about any of this is a waste of time, and that developing power in the regions of the United Kingdom would put peoples talk to the test and, if it delivered, would be useful. In that context, issues of independence become less a matter of order and one of desire. Everything changes, and nothing changes. Better, then, to do well in the now.
Anything at the top is at its strongest but, also, at its weakest. Alex Salmond, like Gordon Brown, are at their peak and unless they are skilful have nowhere to go but down. In theory, this leaves scope for Labour to deliver a crushing defeat in the future, and another candidate to win the leadership contest. Playing to win sounds glamorous but isn’t very useful.
Let go. Quit trying to win. Enjoy the ride.
Jeremy. 'I still fail to see why Scotland is allowed to send representatives to Westminster, given they have their own Parliament.'
Because Scotland isn't independent. Not all powers of government are devolved to the Scottish parliament: macroeconomic policy isn't; foreign affairs aren't; defence isn't; social security isn't, to name but four.
Of course, if Scotland does have independence, then Gordon Brown will either have to resign as PM of the UK or find a new constituency in England. If the former, will he then take personal control of the Scottish Labour party?
The worst of all worlds would be the SNP as the largest party, but the Lib Dems holding Gordon, but with a very high SNP vote in the North East. That would leave Alex Salmond without a seat at Holyrood, and Nicola Sturgeon in pole position to be FM. Four years of her screetching at us would lead to a drop in Scotland's population.
Well, I for one think Salmond has all the skills and experience necessary to lead Scotland. Do we honestly believe that our current government, whether in Scotland or Westminster, could do any better? Both Labour and the Torys have shown an inept ability to lead our country resulting in both the meltdown of the Tory party in 1997 and the Labour party in 2007 as a result of IRAQ, the Pensions Crisis, the gross mismanagement of the NHS and NHS investment, cash for honours scandal and much more.
It's ironic that on the eve of the UK appointing a Scottish Prime Minister, that on his watch, Scotland could be on the road to independence as a result of another Scotsman protecting and championing the rights of the Scottish people not from Westminster, but from the historical capital of Edinburgh.
Point. Scottish independence was never about what we were against, but what we were for. England will always be a close ally and partner. Some of my closest friends are from England, and some of my happiest days were spent in the west country. Independence will only bring benefits to both England and Scotland as independent, but allied nations. Proud to be English. Proud to be Scottish.
It would appear Jeremy wants to cede Northumberland to Scotland. To become perhaps the only country with a "north" region in the south and a "south" region in the north?
The newspapers here in Scotland certainly seem to be thinking more Kinnock '92 than Blair '97- not one supports Salmond, rather, they all vicously attack the Nationalists.
An interesting question to ask would be why Labour have failed to make any impression on the SNP lead in the polls? The answer certainly seems to be that Labour have been conducting a 100% negative campaign, comprised entirely of dire warnings about why they think independence wouldn't work and attacking SNP policies such as replacing the Council Tax with local income tax. Not once have I heard Labour actually talk about one of their own policies, and such negativity has merely confirmed voter suspicions that Labour have nothing to offer.
Interestingly, there are already rumblings coming out that the negative campaign is being controlled by Brown and Blair in Westminster, and that Scottish Labour have been prevented from running their own (preferred positive) campaign. This can only be motivated by the often quoted control freakery, as Scottish independence would certainly be against the interests of Labour down south: in one fell swoop it would remove Labour's Westminster majority (as well as many cabinet ministers). It's also ironic since one big perception problem that Jack McConnell has always had is that he's simply doing the bidding of London!
Now we know the election result, what do we reckon the distraction will be on Friday then? Eh? A big crime bust? A terror alert? Tanks at Heathrow to avert a missile attack? Another intervention in an armed conflict - Darfur perhaps? Are any Tories up for anything that could involve the law - a nice arrest or trial on a "bad news" day? What has the CPS got on its books that could be brought forward - or has even been delayed for this moment? We could always have a new campaign to save Royal Yatch Brittania (although I think that tactic is now really too late and was used to good effect before anyway)? How is Diana's inquest going? There MUST be something. Nick - what do you reckon it is? Any ideas?
Ah yes, but what with all those tea breaks its going to take them 25 years to paint the bridge!!!
For some strange reason Salmond thinks we will get along.History says otherwise.
If he thinks that England will keep on paying for things in Scotland,I think he should look at it from someone in the South of England.Why should we.OK he has his oil and gas revenues but what happens when that runs out.Scotland has a large public sector which it has to run.At the moment with high prices for oil it fine but when that declines who or what is to take up the shortfall.If he thinks that England will he is in cloud cuckoo land.You want independence,ok you can have it but do not expect to be bailed out when it goes wrong.
Is it too early to apply for shares in "The Carlisle to Newcastle Shipping & Canal Co."? About 50-feet deep & 2 miles wide should just about do it...
I hope so. I'd rather have Brown as First Minister than McConnell.
Because, as Nick says, our "economic, foreign and defence policies are set in London."
I envy Scotland because with their mixed system of first past the post and proportional representation they will have a better chance of saying what they want to say. The first past the post system in England is a travesti of democracy. The reality of the so called safe seats is no democracy at all and all we are left with is more and more frustration. With King John we had the Magna Carta. We need another change equivalent to the transformations introduced by the Magna Carta. We need a political system that truly reflects the will of the electorate, without political engineering.
Alex Salmond is dangerous. He is clever, having managed to unite probably the most diverse political party in the UK: the SNP consists of extremes to the point that there are communists and ultra-conservatives in the party. Any party that advertises itself as "Alex Salmond for First Minister" deserves a kicking at the ballot box. Political parties should never be about one personality. Look what has happened to Labour!
ps, could you not have given Alex a paintbrush while he was up there? He deserves a real job.
So maybe painting the Forth bridge is like Scottish public spending in general?
So long as it's paid for by the UK taxpayer, we'll keep on doing it.
When the locals have to pay for it, we'll make a coat last 25 years.
And if that encourages one job-for-life bridge painter to sell his wares on an international open market, then we should all vote for independence.
It saddens me to read some of the terribly racist and ill tohught out comments on some English media sites .
It is this terrible ignorance and lack of understanding of politics in Scotland that will be the undoing of the Union.
If Scots were being as racist in their postings there would be an unholy outcry .
The fact is the Labour party are as unpopular on both sides of the border ,illegal wars ,pension theft ,cash for honours ,scandals sleaze et al .
More importantly a bunch of third raters (the second raters are in Westminster)are sitting in Holyrood having done nothing for 8 years excepet what control freak Brown lets them do .
The Scots have said, enough, is enough time to move on ,unlike you Nick I think the humiliation of Labour this Thursday will be larger than anyone could have imagined .
Alex Salmond is a giant amongst pygmies Brown included.
Browns latest wheeze of scare tactics "I will not work with Salmond or anyone else that wants to break the Union ,does this include Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness if so we can look forward to the IRA coming back
The man Brown is undemocratic and should never run a town council let alone the UK .
He is a danger ,a meglomaniac he will be a disaster for UK.
He might even lose his seat at the next election he is that unpopular in Scotland
Good luck to Alex Salmond. Perhaps we English will be free of Scottish rule in the near future!
"Cry God for Harry, England and Saint George!". Yes, Alex Salmond and Scotland's voters, please do England a favour and remove the yoke of Scottish domination from our politics. Let's send Brown, Reid, Des Browne, Darling and all the other Labour Ministers from Scotland packing, so England can run its own affairs.