Tactical thinking
The sense of ambition, if not presumption, lies in the title.
Alistair Carmichael was introduced to the LibDem conference in Aviemore today as 鈥渢he Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland.鈥
Last time I checked, Commons nomenclature awarded that title to David Mundell, Conservative MP for a large swathe of southern Scotland. As a representative of HM Official Opposition, Mr Mundell rings the bell.
Snag is he toils alone, at least as far as Scotland is concerned. L鈥櫭﹖at, c鈥檈st moi, he is obliged to say when asked to line up the Scots Tory strength in the Commons.
So, the LibDems with a dozen Commons tribunes from Scotland 鈥 second behind Labour 鈥 say they鈥檙e more entitled to the title than the bold Mundell.
Doesn鈥檛 stop DM occupying the front bench at question time or during debates, but it adds to the fun of the place.
Hence the billing for in his speech today.
He opened incidentally by recalling his political beginnings quarter of a century ago.
Apparently, he was at Glasgow University with Wendy Alexander. In those days, he said, she was 鈥渁 socialist dynamo鈥 wont to quoting at length from Karl Marx and John Maclean.
But no matter. The substance of his argument was that the Holyrood result last May had opened great opportunities for the Liberal Democrats.
Hold on. Give me that again slowly. Didn鈥檛 the LibDems lose ground, come in fourth and end up ejected from power? You鈥檇 need to be the Scotland rugby coach to see that as an advance. (Apologies, Frank)
But wait. There is a more subtle argument here 鈥 and it has lurked in the background throughout this conference. (See earlier blogs)
It is that Scotland has been liberated from the presumption that politics will always be dominated by Labour.
Mr Carmichael put it thus: 鈥淔or the first time in my adult life, the Labour Party has lost its stranglehold.鈥
That applied, he said, not just at Holyrood but throughout Scottish local government.
And, he forecast, it would eventually turn out that way in the Commons too.
Hence, he argued, the LibDems could take Westminster seats from Labour. Scarcely a word about the Tories, note.
Like Nick Clegg yesterday, this was a speech positing the premise that Scotland/Britain was embarking on post-Labour politics.
, naturally dissents 鈥 and that somewhat strongly.
Thought, however, it was worth sharing LibDem tactical thinking with you.
I'm 
Comments
The libdems really are in cloud coocoo land, in the byelection in my council ward recently they fell from 13.5% of the vote to 7%.
They are disintigrating.
Well Scott you don't make nation-wide predictions based on one local by election. It's only a few months since they gained a seat in a by election in Helensburgh. People have been regularly predicting the demise of the Liberals/LibDems since the 1950s. Yet they're still here. You might not like it but clearly their message continues to resonate with some people. Seems to me they are talking this weekend about all the important issues - the housing policy they passed today is frankly excellent, and far better than the SNP's shameful policy in government.
On the one hand the Nicol Stephen is trying to snuggle up to the SNP to work with them on the income tax question whilst on the other hand throwing insults at the First Minister. Not a way to win friends and influence people I would have thought!
me thinks the spring conference came in the nick of time as the lib dems were sinking even lower than ever . after the election they managed to back the wrong horse in a 2 horse race but they may now be wakening up!!as we all know good government requires effective constructive opposition. we only need to look back at the past generations here in scotland to see that!having a 1 party state can lead to all sorts of problems when it finally comes to an end. doesn't it wendy?
Ambition and presumption also lay in the speech of Nicol Stephen. Having sat in government for so long without so much as a whimper to upset the labour camp, he is now courting the SNP in joining together under the guise of a local tax plan. There is an ambition and a presumption that Nicol Stephen and the Lib Dems should sit in the government benches, regardless of who they are in cahoots with, whatever it takes.
yes it would seem nicol has at long last woke up,he still gives the impresion of someone who is stuned,
but is definately better than he used to be,ofcource he's let his loss become bitter resulting in his
behaviour towards alex as personal,
and not too easy to overcome,
the ball is back in play, and in his
court.
Once again we have a Liberal party seeking some wee crumb of power by the back door .Ever since the pompous nearly politically successful David Steel kept an inept Labour government in power this has been all the Lib/Dems can aspire to. They have no policies that are relevant in the real world yet they promise the earth knowing they will never be called upon to deliver. They aspire to save the planet,save sand dunes and have us all shopping with cotton bags from overpriced corner shops and farmers' markets, then wending our way home either on foot or on a bike. I think the time has come for Nicol and his troops to get on their bikes and ride off into the sunset.
Once again we have a Liberal party seeking some wee crumb of power by the back door .Ever since the pompous nearly politically successful David Steel kept an inept Labour government in power this has been all the Lib/Dems can aspire to. They have no policies that are relevant in the real world yet they promise the earth knowing they will never be called upon to deliver. They aspire to save the planet,save sand dunes and have us all shopping with cotton bags from overpriced corner shops and farmers' markets, then wending our way home either on foot or on a bike. I think the time has come for Nicol and his troops to get on their bikes and ride off into the sunset.
''An empty taxi pulled up at Aviemore and Nicol Stephen got out''
A comment from another blog which tickled me.
Craig