Blair cannot be trusted on Scotland, says Salmond
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Your support makes all the difference.Alec Salmond capitalised yesterday on Labour's embarrassing disarray over their devolution policy, warning in his speech at the Scottish National Party Conference that Labour under Tony Blair could not be trusted on the Scottish constitution.
Rehearsing a theme that has dominated debate at the conference in Inverness, Mr Salmond emphasised what he called "the lessons of the last three months".
Senior Labour politicians in Scotland are confident they will recover from the debacle which saw a full-circle change in devolution policy to a two-question referendum on whether a Scottish parliament should have tax-raising powers. The changes meant four policies in two months.
Mr Salmond said: "There are 88 shopping days to Christmas. A maximum of eight months until the general election. On my calculation that is opportunity for a further 16 policy shifts on devolution from Labour."
After the disappointment of the 1992 election result, Labour immediately demanded a multi-option referendum on constitutional change which included the status quo, devolved power and outright independence. Mr Salmond ridiculed Mr Blair's policy of a referendum that would only include the choice of taxation as "rigged".
He said: "The Islington Policy is designed to erect an obstacle in the way of constitutional change - and the people know it."
To increase their prospects of winning a substantial number of seats, the SNP knows it will have to increase its current standing in the polls of 29 per cent to 35-40 per cent.
With Scotland regarded as a traditional socialist hunting ground, the SNP now clearly belief that by positioning themselves as realistic socialist alternative to New Labour they can achieve some success.
Attacking Tony Blair, Mr Salmond said: "Labour in opposition are now more right wing than Margaret Thatcher ever was in opposition."
Labour, he said, was having an identity crisis - "they are not social democrats, nor democratic socialists, not even new Labour: they are just old Tories."
Mr Salmond told the conference that just as Mrs Thatcher had destroyed the Tory party in Scotland by forcing unwanted medicine down their throats, "Blair is now destroying Labour in Scotland with the same arrogance".
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