Scotland elects SNP. No to austerity, Yes to independence?

[suffragette]

Separatists win in Scotland, Lib Dems sink in UK

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014977001_apeubritainelections.html


The Scottish National Party won a majority of seats in Scotland's parliament and promised Friday to hold a vote on independence, while the Liberal Democrats suffered an enormous defeat in Britain, losing more than 600 local seats.

Voters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland elected national legislatures Thursday. Across Britain, voters also chose hundreds of local council seats and overwhelmingly rejected a plan to change the parliamentary election system in another blow to the Liberal Democrats.

The Scottish National Party became the first party since Scotland's regional government was formed in 1999 to win a majority of the Scottish Parliament's 129 seats. Final results showed it had won 69 seats, while Labour had 37, the Conservatives 15 and other parties eight.

Voters apparently approved of how the SNP has led a coalition government for the past four years and also backed programs to preserve free university tuition and to give the elderly free personal care.




That last part caught my attention. I have not been following this, so I searched a bit for more info. Turns out this was unprecedented.





http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/election/triumphant-salmond-s-vow-an-eye-to-the-future-but-a-heart-to-forgive-1.1100150

Triumphant Salmond’s vow: an eye to the future but a heart to forgive

BRIAN CURRIE POLITICAL EDITOR

7 May 2011
Alex Salmond has pledged to make Scotland proud, governing “fairly and wisely” after his stunning victory in the Scottish Parliament election.

After a presidential-style arrival by helicopter in the grounds of a luxury Edinburgh hotel, Mr Salmond said he believed the SNP had won because “Scotland wants to travel in hope and to aim high...

"Scotland has chosen to believe in itself, in a shared capacity to build a fair society. The nation can be better, it wants to be better. I’ll do all I can as First Minister to make it better.”

The scale of the SNP’s victory was unprecedented, as it became the first party to win an outright majority since devolution. The SNP have 69 seats, Labour 37, Conservatives 15, LibDems five, Greens two and there is one Independent, Margo MacDonald. Before all the results were in, but as the final outcome became obvious, Iain Gray announced that he would quit as Labour leader in the autumn and that there would be a “root and branch” review of his party’s performance.




And apparently, a part of this is the SNP rejecting the austerity cuts to and privatization of social programs such as health and education.





Which country is best for your health?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/05/countries-health-policy

For patients, and those in favour of healthcare broadly similar to that instituted under the post-1945 settlement, Scotland presents a more favourable climate than England.

There is less inclination to promote spurious notions of 'choice' and there is a broader and deeper commitment to a publicly-funded service than south of the border. It is certainly the case that the relatively consensual nature of Scottish politics and society has led, on occasions, to complacency, and Scottish health services have not been exempt from this. Nonetheless, the general commitment to public service and equality of access works in broad terms in the patient's favour.

~~~

Political differences between Scotland and England emerged first when the SNP formed a minority administration in 2007 and then, much more seriously, when the Conservatives won the UK election of 2010. Given that both the SNP and Scottish Labour brand themselves as left of centre parties, the present proposals for reform in England are viewed with hostility by the two main parties.
So, for instance, the present SNP manifesto commits to 'Rejecting the Tory and Lib Dem privatisation agenda down south – we'll maintain equal access for all'. Scottish Labour, meanwhile, argues that 'The NHS is the embodiment of Scottish Labour's values of fairness. We are committed to a patient-centred NHS, where the weakest and most vulnerable people can find care and compassion and where treatment is provided on the basis of need, not the ability to pay'.


Very interesting development.


edited to clarify

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I am hoping for 2 things out of this

1. that the idea spreads
2. that the election promises are carried out

[suffragette]

5. I share those hopes

:hi:

[Drale]

2. Are "liberal democrats" actually left wingers or are they right wingers like in Japan?

If the Scottish people want independence, I think they should defiantly have it.

[suffragette]

8. They talked that way before they formed the coalition with the Tories

but haven't been acting on it much since then from what I can see.

Maybe when they were in opposition, they walked the talk more.

British UK'ers can speak to that more than I could.

Here's an an Op-ED that has some good points to it:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/06/andrew-rawnsley-lib-dems-byelection
Then there is the unwinding of support for the Lib Dems among those who once saw the party as a leftish alternative to Labour. From Tony Blair's second term onwards, the Lib Dems successfully attracted voters who had become alienated from New Labour because of its authoritarianism and the Iraq war, among other things. Those voters were always likely to head home to Labour once it was in opposition. The process was accelerated by the Lib Dems' decision to go into coalition with the Tories.

A third group of voters backed the Lib Dems at the last election because they posed as a saintly alternative to the grubby compromises of power. It is arguable that disillusionment among this group might not have been so swift and severe had the Lib Dems made some different decisions. If they knew then what they know now, if they had anticipated that Nick Clegg would be burnt in effigy on the streets, the senior Lib Dems would surely have thought harder about the consequences of breaking their promise on tuition fees. Even so, they would still be a disappointment to many of those voters once they had made the big and redefining choice to go into coalition with the Tories.

So the protest voters are off to find different vehicles to express their discontent. Many of the change voters are cross that the coalition is not the change they wanted or expected. The leftish support for the Lib Dems has largely fallen back into the arms of Labour. Who does that leave? The Lib Dems still have some residual backing among voters who continue to prefer them to Labour or Tory. Then there are the hardcore Lib Dems, the sort of people who will stick with the party through thick, thin and thinner. There are not huge ranks of them. The number of voters who tribally identify with the Lib Dems has never been that large. Their core vote could be as low as 5%.

Nick Clegg has privately warned colleagues that they should be braced for a "remorseless battering" over the next 12 to 18 months as the government becomes more unpopular and forces from left, right and within their own party attempt to pull the coalition apart. He will be spending a lot of his time urging Lib Dems to keep a cool head and insisting, as he did after the Barnsley result, that people would be wrong to "write us off". For it will be increasingly fashionable to declare that they are doomed. From within his own ranks, there will be more restlessness that the Lib Dems aren't being assertive enough within the government and more fear that their identity is being emasculated by coalition. Some Lib Dem ministers are nervous that there will be outbreaks of open mutiny at their party's spring conference this week. The Lib Dem candidate in Barnsley offered ammunition to the dissenters by reporting that his party was seen "as one" with the Tories. According to Mr Carman: "In the minds of many voters, if you wear a yellow badge you might as well wear a blue one."

[xchrom]

3. I am hoping for some genuine good things to come of this. Nt

[suffragette]

9. Me, too.

It sure looks like a more positive direction.
Hope it points the way.

[girl gone mad]

4. This is good.

[suffragette]

10. I think so, too.

Looks like many people there agree more with the values of Old Labour the SNP represent than the New Labour/ lib Dem-Tory amalgam.

And I say, well done!

[reggie the dog]

6. SNP is far left

their free universities, up to phd an all, show that they have one of the best education systems in the world and they are much farther to the left than the rest of the UK there in Scotland.

The SNP Scotish National Party, became popular when labor moved right and became New Labour. you can see that scotland is way on the left as the far left SNP is the majority, the opposition party is Labour, but in scotland labour candidates are old labour, on the left, and the right wing party has hardly any popularity.

[suffragette]

7. Thanks for the info on this, Reggie

Bonjour, mon ami.

Most of what I read described them as centre-left, but I guess with the line tugged more to the right in so many places, that would place them further left by relation. First with New Labour tossing aside "Old" Labour values and ideals, then with the Lib Dems forming that odd coalition with the Tories, I feel for the people there in terms of choosing who to vote for. Looks like at least the Scots had an option to pick a party, as you note, still true to the Old Labour views and did so.

How is life going in la belle France?

[DeSwiss]

11. K&R n/t

[suffragette]

12. Thanks for the kick

Appreciate it.

[leftstreet]

13. K&R

Thanks for these links

[suffragette]

14. You're welcome!