SNP are Tory Enforcers!

The sigh of a scunnered man:

Tories feel coalition backlash in Scotland

So headlines The Herald here.

The narrative that The Herald would like you to believe is that the Tories are cutting public services because that's what they're like. Only yesterday it was about the Tories scrapping free school milk, raising the spectre of Thatcher.

Labour's mouthpiece The Herald is under no illusions about the public relations benefit to Labour in portraying the coalition government as Thatcherite. Thatcher's 'revolution' was brutal, uncaring and ideologically against ordinary people, especially Scots. Much of this is true but the whole point of raising the spectre of Thatcher now is to frame the debate. You see, what Labour and The Herald want you to believe is that the Labour governments under Blair and Brown had nothing to do with destroying the British economy. They definately don't want you to know that the rich got much richer than they could even dream of under Thatcher. In the process of enriching the most powerful corporations in the world, so they could get access to the most powerful people on earth, Labour bankrupted Britain.

Wars and weapons' systems are extremely expensive and Labour blew our wealth in making war-profiteers, international merchant bankers and oil company tycoons, their buddies. Brown wanted The City to rub off on him so badly he was talked into selling half of Britain's gold at the lowest possible price and at the bottom of the market. All to help out bankers. He legislated to allow banking fraud to go unregulated, he legislated to change accounting practices so banks could hide their fraud then he used the taxpayers money to bail them out and then he gave them free money through the Bank of England to keep the fraud going. That 'free money' diluted the wealth and spending power of every UK citizen. He took the debt from the banks and made it government debt i.e. yours and mine. To the tune of trillions of pounds and all because he needed their endorsement and approval.

Now, Britain is bankrupt.

For The Herald though, it's not about inheriting a bankrupt nation, it's just that the Tories are Thatcherite and they like cutting public services. There's no context. The recent Labour government is now conveniently, ancient history - so they would like us to believe.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't agree with the cuts but the Tories have a problem to deal with and it's Labour's legacy of bankruptcy. If cuts are the way they're going to try and fix the problem then they are going to be severe. In this context the battle lines will be drawn and in Scotland, for Labour and The Herald, the sooner the better.

You see, the next Holyrood election is going to be about defending Scotland against the Tories. Only Labour can defend Scots against Tory cuts and need to start in Scotland, will be the line. Labour are going to fight the cuts and stir up bitter resentment. Their buddies in local government and the unions will be singing from the same hymn sheet. It's going to be a huge battle and civil unrest will ensue. Labour will be off-the-hook for bankrupting the country and The Tories will be despised once again.

And in Scotland, who is going to be the Tories' enforcers? The SNP. How many times have you seen Swinney being associated with cutting public services in Herald stories? This is a slick and co-ordinated campaign strategy. Labour are going to paint themselves as the defenders of the workers. In Scotland, it'll be the Tartan Tories doing Cameron's dirty work.

For those of an independence bent this is a disaster. It is akin to the propaganda that the SNP brought down the Labour government in the 70s and let in Thatcher. Complete bull but effective bull. Labour is a cynical election machine - it has no values except for jobs-for-the-boys. They will do and say anything to get into power and they're pretty decent at it.

Which brings us to the SNP. It was entirely predictable that 'stimulus' wasn't going to work when the SNP was going along with it and indeed talking about needing more 'stimulus'. Well, we got 'stimulus' by borrowing money to spend. That debt is now so huge that to pay it back budgets are to be cut and the SNP is going along with that. All this started because of fraud in The City. Bankers robbed Britain blind and have Labour to thank for it. The SNP have had nothing to say about that either. This all begs the question that if the party is full of economists how are they walking into every economics trap set for them? Why have they no mind of their own?

There was no need for Labour's bail-outs which now have to be paid for apparently. There was no need for 'stimulus' and there's no need for 'austerity' - so why is the SNP collaborating with each London policy without a peep?

And so they're sleep-walking into being 'austerity' delivery boys. Swinney's axe will be famous. The Tartan Tories will be the enemy of the people just like Cameron, thier boss..

It is a simple strategy and will be very effective. There is one issue though that I think is a serious miscalculation. As Labour, The Herald and the rest of Labour's machine take advantage of the mess they made, they, mostly, have no idea just how bad things are going to get.

This is no Thatcher revolution. Thatcher was a pussy cat compared to what's coming. Labour bankrupted Britain and 'austerity' is going to check-mate the British state. You can see manufacturing collapsing in Greece as 'austerity' beds in well. The same is happening in Ireland. Indeed, every country that the IMF imposed 'austerity' on saw a collapse that set the country back a generation. Britain is going down the tubes and will probably never come out looking anything like what it did. Soon, the debt payments will be so expensive that roads, schools, hospitals, public buildings and so on will be sold off to balance budgets which will by then reduced by half anyway. Goodbye libraries hello road tolls. Britain will be owned by corporations. Instead of paying the council for services you'll be paying JP Morgan. That will impoverish Britain even more. The pound will be next to go. Then you won't be able to afford most foreign products. Emigration will skyrocket. Higher education will be a fraction of what it is today so there'll be no jobs and no uni places for the kids. Crime will go up just as police numbers drop. WIll the army be called in to quell civil disobediance? Probably.

I really don't think many in the Labour party realise how bad things are going to get. Government will be a poisoned chalice for a generation. Government will be trapped by international bankers. Standards of living are going to nose-dive. The government will not be able to borrow money for 'stimulus' and so Labour will be able to do nothing in power.

As the Holyrood elections race towards us and with Labour in pole position by a significant margin, nationalists have to ask themselves whether we would prefer Labour to win. Let them enforce the Tory cuts. So goes the argument by Ian Hamilton who us accusing the SNP of being 'collaborators'. That maybe a little strong but that is exactly what many Scots will think - 'Tartan Tories'. The word is that some MSPs, many councillors and activists would prefer Labour to win the Holyrood election next May. Activists are losing belief in the party at an alarming rate. The SNP are heading for defeat.

Many, including myself, are wondering what difference it would make if the SNP or Labour won the next election. Both want to manage devolution and both seem to be interested only in the trappings of power.

In 2007, Scotland was ready for something different. However, just like Obama in the US won on 'Hope' and 'Change' his popularity is plummeting as the reality sets in that he actually stood for more of the same. 'It's Time' now means 'It's Time To Hit The Road'.

We know that the SNP was limited in scope by devolution about what it could do. However, Scotland needed leadership not just management. Instead of collaboration with London, Scotland needed to ask hard questions. Why is Britain bankrupt? Why do we need 'stimulus', why do we need 'austerity' in a surplus nation? These messages need to be hammered home time and time again. They haven't been.

After bankrupting Britain and losing the London elections Labour are extremely popular in Scotland and heading for power in Holyrood. Why? The SNP have lost the plot.

In every debate and in every tv appearance the SNP should be talking about how Labour bankrupted Britain. They should be demanding to know why there are to be budget cuts in a country where there is a surplus. Cuts will destroy the healthy economy. Under independence none of this would be necessary.

The situation we are in has been predictable for a long time now. The party should have positioned itself to take advantage of it. It didn't. Naivity is forgiveable up to a point. Continuing to make the same mistake over and over is worse - that's political incompetence.

We should be in a position where Labour is on its knees and the debate about 'Cuts or Independence'. The logic of that campaign should have been planted in the minds of the electorate more than a year ago. It wasn't.

Instead of commanding the agenda in the best circumstances the SNP have had for achieving its core objective it now faces losing power and ignominy as Thatcherite henchmen. The narrative is now Labour to defend Scotland against the Tories. It should be about independence or cuts.

If the SNP does not change course now and adopt a politically adept campaign strategy then perhaps it is better that they lose Holyrood. In the absense of a leadership with acumen perhaps it is better to let Labour be the Tory enforcers, saving the SNP's reputation and then the party can get on with deposing the leadership and bringing in one that knows what it's doing.

What a sad state of affairs!