Scotland moves forward with new First Minister & Cabinet - Justice and Injustice now ripe for reform

After a few days of fretting among the defeated Labour & LibDem Coalition on what to do, Alex Salmond has been voted Scotland's first SNP First Minister, and today we finally have a Ministerial Cabinet to run the Executive - with no help from the opposition parties it seems !

Of course, while Scotland moves forward at last, the occasional hiccup crops up, as it certainly did in the Scottish Borders the other day, where the new coalition of Liberal, Tory & Independent councilors which 'run' Scottish Borders Council had their first fight - only a few hours into the deal, which saw the Tories accused of pushing an Independent Councillor off his chair !

Another fine example of stupidity from Scottish Borders Council, where only it seems the worst calibre of politicians get elected to run what has to be one of Scotland's most corrupt local authorities. Maybe this lot should be deposed and the new Executive could take over the running of the Borders - and bring in some decent people to run the Departments at SBC, rather than some of the spiteful vindictive figures which have graced the halls of SBC's Newtown StBoswells Headquarters for so long.

Anyway back to national issues, and within the Ministerial appointments, we see the excellent John Swinney as Finance & Suststainable Growth Minister - certainly a good appointment there, and from what I see of the rest of the team, no significant surprises or causes for worry.

Kenny MacAskill gets the Justice portfolio, of course, which isn't a surprise, but what now for reform of the judiciary and the remaining reforms to the legal system and the operation of the legal profession ?

Would a minority government be capable of taking on Scotland's Judiciary on the subject of much needed reform, given the ferocity of resistance we have seen in the past from the Judiciary when even mere talk of reforms came to the fore ?. There may be little chance if previous experience has anything to go by .. not forgetting the SNP chaired Justice 1 Committee inquiry "Regulation of the legal profession" in 2001, where the Sheriff's Association threatened the then J1 Committee with court action if they investigated the role of Sheriffs ... J1 of course, backing down immediately.

Personally, I don't think we will see much in the way of Judicial reform in this Executive ... not at least unless the other parties cooperate in any plans, and on such a strong issue as this, which at least, only the Labour party showed any willingness to pursue in the past .. I can't see that cooperation materialising.

Of course, that's not to say we should'nt be lobbying for reforms to the Judiciary even though the numbers at Holyrood may not add up because it has been quite obvious for many years the Judiciary in Scotland needs a few changes to it's hundreds of years old operation and accountability only to itself ... something which doesn't really fit in with transparency & modern day human rights when people seek to question or take issue with failings from the Judiciary itself.

Going back to the issue of reforming the legal profession, Mr MacAskill was recently reported by the Herald newspaper to be wavering on some policies such as raising the small claims limit and opening access to justice, something which there seems a reluctance to put into practice, despite growing calls for opening up the legal services market in Scotland. I covered this issue here : It's time for Injustice to end, but will the SNP end Injustice in Scotland ?

As far as reforming Justice and ending Injustice go, we must now expect the SNP to deliver on this, after eight long years of inactivity on the issue from the Scottish Parliament where victims of injustice have been left largely unaided by their msps, unless it suited party political means to do something about it.

There is now no excuse for sitting on the fence - no more excuses for just complaining about it now, the SNP are in Government so that's it - let's deliver and give Scotland a respectable justice system and an honest accountable legal profession - which we all need, use, and deserve, and lets not forget the victims of injustice of the past which require also to be put right without delay.

Following article from the Scotsman reporting on the new Ministerial team and Mr Salmond's speech as First Minister :

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=765702007

United we stand, Salmond tells his new parliament
HAMISH MACDONELL

ALEX Salmond invited his political opponents to forge a new consensual era of Scottish politics yesterday, using his maiden speech as First Minister to call for an end to the dogmatic party divisions which have characterised parliamentary business since devolution.

Aware that he will have to run Scotland with little more than a third of its MSPs, Mr Salmond appealed to all the MSPs in the chamber to work together in the country's best interests.

And, in a move that will infuriate Gordon Brown, the likely next Prime Minister, the SNP leader said he felt significant progress could be made if the parties united to call for more powers for the parliament.

Mr Salmond was elected as First Minister at precisely 11:11am yesterday morning. The outcome, although expected, was greeted with jubilation on the SNP benches and in the public gallery, from where his wife Moira, father Robert and sister Gail were all watching.

His victory, which came with the aid of votes from Scotland's two Green MSPs, will enable him to form a minority SNP administration.

The Nationalists are 18 seats short of a majority in the 129-member parliament.

In his speech, Mr Salmond stressed the ties and causes which united MSPs of many parties, not the divisions between them.

"We are not divided. We have a sense of ourselves. A sense of community. And above all, a sense of the 'common weal' of Scotland," Mr Salmond declared. "We are diverse, not divided," he said.

And he added: "There is a broad consensus on the need for this parliament to assume greater responsibility for the governance of Scotland, and there is an understanding that we are engaged in a process of self-government - and an awareness of the distance already travelled."

Jack McConnell picked up on Mr Salmond's theme, saying: "Voltaire once said that governments need both shepherds and butchers and I think Alex may need to be more of a shepherd than a butcher in his new role, looking around this flock here and trying to secure majorities for his policies."

He also gave a clear hint in his speech that he intended to stay on as Labour leader in Scotland, at least for the near future.

"I am very proud to lead the largest and most experienced opposition that this parliament has ever had and I look forward to that job," he said.

But the former First Minister also took the opportunity to warn Mr Salmond that he did not have an "unconditional" right to govern.

After leaving the chamber, Mr Salmond told his supporters:

"You think you can imagine what it's going to be like but, when you imagine, it's never quite the reality. It's a wonderful day."

Mr Salmond went on from the parliament, where his party were still celebrating his election as First Minister, to St Andrew's House, the home of the civil service in Scotland.

He met Sir John Elvidge, the Permanent Secretary, and then unveiled his slimmed-down ministerial team.

However, the new sense of consensual politics appeared to dissolve as soon as Mr Salmond announced that he was trimming the previous nine departments to just six.

Mr McConnell immediately criticised the plans as a "badly prepared rearrangement".

"This is change for change's sake, but the impact could be very damaging."

The new First Minister took a congratulatory telephone call from Douglas Alexander, the Scottish Secretary, but by last night he had still not heard from either the Prime Minister Tony Blair or Mr Brown.

Soon after Mr Salmond's election in the parliamentary chamber, the Queen signed the warrant appointing him as Scotland's First Minister.

The Queen will see Mr Salmond in person in Scotland next week.

Today, Mr Salmond will perform a ceremony in the Court of Session before the Great Seal of Scotland which will give him the legal power to run the Scottish Executive.

He will later undertake his first official engagement, an environmental announcement at Longannet Power Station.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, welcomed the SNP leader's appointment.

"I am sure that he will work for the good of all the people of this country," he said.

Matt Smith, the Scottish secretary of Unison, congratulated Mr Salmond and asked for an early meeting with representatives of the new administration.

Friends of the Earth Scotland welcomed the appointment of what they described as a "tough on climate change, anti-nuclear" First Minister and they urged all MSPs to support the new Executive's environmental plans.

Surprises spice up the expected rewards for loyalty in top team

THE new slimmed-down Cabinet for Scotland saw Alex Salmond award trusted lieutenants with senior posts but also a few surprise faces.

The new First Minister has reduced the number of departments from nine to six by merging certain portfolios.

But the breakdown of departments was already causing concern yesterday. Opposition politicians said twinning transport with climate change could cause a conflict of interest and de-coupling enterprise from higher education was a mistake.

However, Mr Salmond insisted the new government would be more focused.

"It sends a signal for the rest of the public administration in Scotland," he added.

OFFICE OF THE FIRST MINISTER

Mr Salmond has two deputies. BRUCE CRAWFORD will need all his diplomatic skills as minister for parliamentary business. As minister for Europe, external affairs and culture, LINDA FABIANI has a huge portfolio with responsibility for Gaelic, architecture and the arts.

HEALTH AND WELLBEING
NICOLA STURGEON will be deputy first minister as well as cabinet secretary. This means leaving Shona Robison, who was expected to get the role, out of the cabinet. Instead she will take on a junior post as public health minister. Stewart Maxwell,who first proposed the public smoking ban, is minister for communities and sport.

FINANCE AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

As expected, the most important role goes to former leader JOHN SWINNEY. His deputies are the SNP's economic brains: Jim Mather as minister for enterprise, energy and tourism, and Stewart Stevenson as minister for transport, infrastructure and climate change.

EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING

As the former spokeswoman on education, FIONA HYSLOP was an obvious choice as cabinet secretary. Her deputies are more unexpected. Maureen Watt, the minister for schools and skills, has been in Holyrood for just over a year and Adam Ingram, minister for children and early years, is an unshowy character.

JUSTICE

After serving as justice spokesman, KENNY MACASKILL was rewarded with the job, fresh from winning the SNP's first seat in Edinburgh. His deputy, Fergus Ewing, was expected to get a senior role, although minister for community safety was an unusual move.

RURAL AFFAIRS

RICHARD LOCHHEAD, the Nationalists' former fisheries spokesman, has landed a senior role as cabinet secretary but his inexperience may tempt some opposition politicians to try to target him for attacks. Michael Russell, the author, commentator and former television producer, makes a comeback as minister for the environment.

ALEX SALMOND'S SPEECH IN FULL

THANK you, Presiding Officer, for your congratulations; and can I now turn to the party leaders to thank them. Firstly, Annabel Goldie. I toasted Annabel Goldie recently at the Scouts and Guides Burns Supper and such was the excellence of her replying to the toast to the lassies that I was sorely tempted to vote for her today.

Tempted Annabel, but not seduced.

My wife Moira and wee sister Gail are here today - it's a good job my big sister is not here, Annabel. But my dad is here today as well.

My father has never seen me in the chamber because he always refused to set foot in the Palace of Westminster; some people say I should have heeded his advice. But I thank my family for their support today.

I thank Nicol Stephen for his typically gracious speech. I listened carefully when you listed all your manifesto commitments. I am not sure the government can afford all of them but we will certainly try our best. Lastly, can I turn to Jack McConnell to thank him for his good wishes. Mr McConnell once said the job of First Minister was to leave Scotland better than how you found it, and I think in terms in particular of the ban on smoking and campaign to tackle sectarianism, Jack McConnell has certainly done that.

I applaud your continued efforts in that direction and wish you and Bridget all the best for the future. Thank you very much.

This parliament, as we should remember, is created by the people of Scotland in a referendum. It is bigger than any of its members or any one party.

I believe that Scotland is ready for change and for reform. This is a small nation with a big future. But it is also a small nation with big challenges.

It was said earlier on that Scotland is a divided nation. Given the closeness of the election result, I can understand that in some ways. However, it is not the case.

Certainly, the gap between rich and poor is far too great. We need to grow faster. We need to heal the scars of the past. We need to be greener. We need to be still smarter.

But we are not divided. We have a sense of ourselves. A sense of community. And above all, a sense of the "common weal" of Scotland.

In some ways we're not even a divided parliament. Of course, in this part of the chamber, we seek independence and equality for Scotland. I'm told not everyone agrees. But there is a broad consensus on the need for this parliament to assume greater responsibility for the governance of Scotland. And there is an understanding that we are engaged in a process of self-government - and an awareness of the distance already travelled.

In 1961, Bashir Ahmad came to Glasgow to drive buses. In 1961, the very idea of a Scottish Parliament was unimaginable. In 1961, the very idea of a Scots Asian sitting in a Scots parliament was doubly unimaginable.

But Bashir is here and we are here, and that part of the community of Scotland is now woven into the very tartan of our parliament. And we are stronger - so much stronger - as a result. We are diverse, not divided.

The nature and composition of this third Scottish Parliament makes it imperative that this government will rely on the strength of argument in parliament and not the argument of parliamentary strength.

Despite all the challenges we will face together, I welcome that as a chance to develop a new and fundamentally more reflective model of democracy.

The days since the election have been understandably dominated by questions over the structure of government - will there be a coalition or will there be a minority government?

Let me say to parliament that what matters more to the people we all represent is less the structure of government and more what we, all of us, achieve on the people's behalf.

Presiding Officer, all of us in this parliament have a responsibility to conduct ourselves in a way which respects the parliament the people have chosen to elect. That will take patience, maturity and leadership. My pledge today is that any Scottish government led by me will respect and include this parliament in the governance of Scotland over the next four years.

In this century, there are limits to what governments can achieve. But one thing any government I lead will never lack is ambition for Scotland. Today, I commit myself to leadership wholly and exclusively in the Scottish national interest. We will appeal for support policy by policy across this chamber.

That is the parliament the people of Scotland have elected, and that is the government that I will be proud to lead.

Scotland's election descends into injustice as Labour threatens legal challenge.

Even though the Scottish National Party won Last Thursday's election by one seat, Labour have, it seems, decided to mount a legal challenge against the SNP win by only 48 seats, of Cunninghame North - making this constituency the focal point for how we progress after the election.

The point of challenge, will have to include these spoiled papers of course, but probably, these ballot papers were tested on people before they were used .. with results similar to what we just got in the election - so some people knew we would be in for a bit of trouble, particularly since the system used by DRS, the company at the heart of all this, has caused problems before in elections - famously in the last Mayoral election of London which produced around 100,000 spoiled papers too ...

However, with the SNP putting "Alex Salmond for First Minister" on the ballot next to their party symbol, rather than just the name of their party, this move clearly caught the other parties off guard and may well have limited the outcome which some had hoped for - that being most of the spoiled ballots & voter confusion affecting the SNP & independent vote .. which is a plausible explanation, given the circumstances we now face.

It should also be noted that Labour peers are directors of DRS, the firm which handled the voting .. the coincidences are coming out thick and fast .. and I wonder how long it will be until we learn of the fate of all those 'spoiled ballots'. and whether they have been held securely since the date of the election

Losing gracefully doesn't seem to be in the vocabulary of politicians these days ... and we can only expect more fireworks and plotting as the lawyers become involved in now deciding who we vote for.

No doubt, if this challenge succeeds, the legal profession in Scotland will be demanding a few more favours from Labour if they get back in .. and when lawyers ask for favours - we already know they ask for big ones !

Of course, all this begs the question of what now of Kenny MacAskill and his appalling attitude towards members of the public who suffer injustice at the hands of his esteemed legal colleagues ? Will Mr MacAskill still be calling victims of the law "malcontents" or will he now, as a member of the SNP, have a bad experience of injustice to tell if lawyers overturn his party's victory at the polls ?

Feel the power of your legal colleagues, Mr MacAskill, the power to decide who runs Scotland and to determine who we vote for. Is that a reasonable power ? I think not.

Since there is too much to say, and many saying it, here are the links to articles in Scotland on Sunday, 'This is London', & the Sunday Herald - with interesting debates you can join in, to be followed on the newspapers own discussion boards.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=701072007

Labour to challenge poll result
EDDIE BARNES POLITICAL EDITOR

THE Labour party is planning to snatch electoral victory from the Nationalists by preparing a legal challenge over a Holyrood seat which the SNP won by a handful of votes.

Labour party lawyers are planning to contest the result in Cunninghame North, which the Nationalists won by just 48 votes, giving them a one-seat victory.

But with an estimated 1,000 spoiled ballot papers having been declared at the count, and amid allegations of missing ballot papers, the party has begun moves to have the entire election reviewed and, if necessary, taken to an Electoral Court.

Labour party managers in the constituency have also written to the count's returning officer to demand that all the spoiled ballot papers be made publicly available and re-examined.

They believe the errors disproportionately affected the party in the count, and led to their loss.

Any review of the result would throw last Thursday's dramatic election into chaos. If Labour managed to overturn the result in their favour, they would overtake the SNP as the biggest party, handing them four more years as the leading party at Holyrood.

The SNP branded Labour "sore losers" over the attempts last night, and insisted that there was no way that any legal challenge would be accepted.

But a senior Labour party source insisted: "Our lawyers are poring over this and aren't ruling out legal action. Last year, the Respect party took the results in three local government elections to the Electoral Court. There is established law in this area and we will look into it."

The action was confirmed by the agent of Allan Wilson, the defeated Labour candidate in the constituency.

Pat McGlynn said: "I have written to the returning officer asking that we can manually inspect the ballot papers. I expect to see that the vast number of them show that people made the mistake of voting for Labour but then not voting for the candidate." "There was total confusion about this," he added.

The Cunninghame North count is now mired in claim and counter-claim about further problems. It is said that 100 votes cast on Arran were not accounted for.

Independent candidate Campbell Martin said: "There were discrepancies of around 100 votes between those that were counted in Arran and those that were counted in Irvine [where the count was held]. But the returning officer said he would go ahead anyway."

There were also claims that some of the votes from Arran were soaked during the journey by ferry and may therefore have been unable to be counted.

Martin added: "A lot of people saw the Scottish Labour party on the regional list and thought to themselves that they were voting for Allan Wilson. People were so confused. So many of them voted on the regional list but left the constituency one blank."

The failure to mark the constituency vote is now being seen as the main reason for the staggering number of spoiled ballot papers which were recorded. As many as 100,000 votes were not recorded, out of the electorate of just over two million.

International observers yesterday condemned the Scottish election as "totally unacceptable" and compared it with the fiasco of the 'hanging chads' in the US elections of 2000.

However, the winner in Cunninghame North last night hit back at Labour's claims. Kenny Gibson, the SNP candidate, said: "This is sour grapes by the Labour party. If they want to waste their time on this then that is up to them. Everyone knew about these problems on the night and they accepted it then, so I don't know why they are going to legal action now."

The reason for the high number of spoiled papers is now to be the subject of an inquiry. The fiasco has been blamed on the fact that council elections using a new voting system were held on the same day as the Scottish Parliament elections. Also blamed is the design of the Scottish Parliament ballot paper, which critics claim was not clear enough for voters.

Professor John Curtice of Strathclyde University has calculated that if the Cunninghame North seat was handed to Labour, they would win the election, as the SNP does not have enough votes to be compensated with a regional list 'top-up' seat.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=701122007

Election chaos unacceptable, say observers
EDDIE BARNES AND MURDO MACLEOD

INTERNATIONAL observers last night labelled the Holyrood election voting chaos "totally unacceptable".

Robert Richie, executive director of US-based Fair Vote, was among more than 30 experts from North America who watched Scottish democracy in action. But he said the difficulties, which saw one in 10 votes rejected, amounted to Scotland's version of the "hanging chads" fiasco in Florida which marred the 2000 US presidential election.

Meanwhile, Scotland on Sunday can reveal that government chiefs pressed ahead with disastrous reforms to Holyrood's voting system despite dozens of warnings from councils, experts and citizen rights groups that the plans would throw the elections into chaos.

Richie said the difficulty arose from the design and instructions on the ballot papers and lack of consistency in judging which ballots were spoiled.

"The most fundamental flaw was the ballot design of the party and constituency votes in two columns on the same page, rather than on separate pages.

"Also, it seems confusion was caused by the change in the rules which allowed parties to use the names of leaders, rather than the party, in the first column. We saw this with the SNP's 'Alex Salmond for First Minister' and 'Tommy Sheridan Solidarity'. Some people may have thought they were voting for candidates."

The delegation of foreign observers was in Scotland at the invitation of the Electoral Reform Society, which has condemned the problems that engulfed the Holyrood polls.

Richie, from Washington, said he did not believe the problems were caused by holding two separate elections - for parliament and councils - on the same day. He also said the introduction of a new system of proportional representation voting in the local authority poll was not to blame.

He added: "There are undoubtedly lessons to be learned. It's totally unacceptable to have so many votes spoiled. There are parallels with the problems in the presidential election in Florida."

Richie also expressed concern about a lack of uniform standards in judging which votes were rejected and which were deemed to be valid. "It seemed that votes on one side of the room that were thought to be OK - on the other side of the room would have been rejected."

Scotland on Sunday has verified that more than 81,000 votes were spoiled following Thursday's vote - equivalent to the turnout of three entire constituencies.

Ministers in the Scottish Executive and the Scotland Office pressed on with reforming the ballot to have two Holyrood votes on one page and local government elections on the same day, claiming it would make the election fairer and increase turnout. But they are now facing allegations they did so in the full knowledge that they were risking catastrophe.

Sir John Arbuthnott, who led a commission into voting arrangements two years ago, issued a statement last night restating his opposition to the way both the Scottish Parliament election and Council elections were held on the same day.

Arbuthnott said: "We recommended, supporting previous views, that the Scottish Parliament and local government elections should not be held on the same day, partly to reduce voter confusion. However, this was not accepted by the Scottish Executive."

Mike Russell, elected as an SNP MSP on Thursday, and a member of the commission, said: "This decision alone proves to me is that at the very least they aren't fit to govern. They did this for party advantage, thinking that they could get the vote up in councils."

Experts say that the problems were then compounded when the election ballot paper was drawn up. A draft of the paper was circulated to experts who insisted that it was entirely unacceptable.

Aberdeen City Council warned that the paper "would lead to confusion".

Both Capability Scotland, which represents disabled people, and the Electoral Reform Society said the paper should be increased in size, to avoid confusion. South Ayrshire Council said the paper was "unnecessarily complex" and would "be confusing for voters".

Sources in the Scotland Office insisted last night that the paper had been much clearer when it was finally produced.

But one insider close to the negotiations said: "We put it to them that the paper should be bigger, to make the text easier to read. But they said they could not do it because it would be too expensive and that the papers would have to fit the machines they had already chosen. They had already selected the company and the machines and everything had to fit in around that. It was like talking to a brick wall."

The confusion was compounded in Edinburgh and Glasgow after the Scotland Office - which was in charge of the election - dropped a set of arrows telling people where to vote. The decision was taken because of the large number of parties on the regional list.

Party activists said many papers were spoiled because people did not realise they could mark two votes on their Holyrood sheet. Consequently, thousands of people left their constituency vote blank.

Professor of politics at Strathclyde University John Curtice said: "It seems that the biggest problem was with the design of the ballot paper, which at the top said that you had two votes and then said further down, mark one X in each column. It seems that a lot of people may have been putting two Xs in the same column, which would cause their ballot papers to be rejected."

Stephen Purcell, the Labour leader of Glasgow City Council, said: "It's surely not a coincidence there were so many spoilt papers at the same time as a new electoral system was introduced. This is unacceptable."

Labour sources said that none of the other political parties objected to the changes, apart from the Scottish Pensioner's party.

A spokesman said: "We went back to people time and time again and held focus groups all over the country to test this."

Ministers within the Scotland Office are known to be angered at the claims they are to blame for the problems because, they say, they were only following recommendations.

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.1379975.0.jack_waits_in_the_wings.php

Jack waits in the wings

JACK MCCONNELL is trying to cling on to his job in the hope that coalition talks between the SNP and the LibDems break down. The Scottish Labour leader believes he can still bere-electedasfirstminister, despite losing last week's Holyrood election to the Nationalists. He will try to engineer a third coalition deal with the LibDems if they walk away from a pact with the Scottish National Party.

McConnell's plan follows Labour's disastrous loss at the hands of the SNP, where the Nationalists defeated their ancient enemy for the first time.

However,despitelosingtheelection, McConnell is convinced he can still carry on as Labour leader and become first minister.

A source close to McConnell said the SNP victory is akin to nothing more than "winning the toss", while he himself is claiming the Nationalists have no "moral authority" to pursue their policies.

He has also flouted the well-established convention of congratulating the winner in the election, by failing to contact SNP leader Alex Salmond since Friday.

The Sunday Herald understands McConnell is banking on the SNP and the LibDems being unable to strike a coalition deal, which he believes could founder as a result of Salmond's independence policy.

The Scottish Labour leader is said to be "biding his time" and will contact LibDem counterpart Nicol Stephen in the event of talks breaking down.

Hisdeterminationnottoresignwas reinforced yesterday at a meeting of Labour MSPs, where several of his colleagues urged him to stand firm.

A statement released by the party noted: "Given the divided parliament and the uncertainty created, Scottish Labour recognises it would be wrong to make an immediate judgement about our stance on the next steps towards the formation of the next Scottish government.

"We have to do the best for Scotland, and it is Labour's responsibility not to let the people of Scotland down."

It went on to add that the SNP only won by the "narrowest possible margin", adding that an anti-independence majority existed in parliament.

McConnell'sdeputy,CathyJamieson, further reinforced this message by saying her party was "standing in the wings", waiting to govern. However, one Labour source told the Sunday Herald thatMcConnellclingingtohisjob was a reflection of Chancellor Gordon Brown's opposition to Salmond becoming first minister.

The source suggested that Brown, along with UK LibDem leader Sir Menzies Campbell, may be keen to engineer a third coalition deal between their parties.

Another suggestion was for Brown and Campbell to ensure the LibDems stayed out of an SNP-led Executive, thus givingHolyroodoppositionparties space to "kill" a minority Nationalist administration.

However, opposition to McConnell stayingonasleader,regardlessof the circumstances, is growing within the party. One senior party figure said he should "go immediately", while another source said McConnell's resignation was a "priority" for Labour.

An SNP spokesperson said: "Labour appear to be in denial about the results on Thursday. "Labour are out of touch with the mood of Scotland. What Scotland needs and wants is a new progressive coalition to take the country forward, and that is what the SNP will seek to deliver."

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23395179-details/Kinnock

Kinnock's £33,000 job with computer firm in poll fiasco
05.05.07

Neil Kinnock has been drawn into the Scottish election debacle as it emerged he had been paid £33,000 as a director of the firm responsible for the faulty vote-counting machines.

The former Labour leader faced embarrassment after the £8.9million system supplied by DRS Data Services was blamed for critical delays and errors in the ballot for the Holyrood parliament.

The Electoral Commission has launched a full-scale inquiry into the reasons why 100,000 ballot papers were recorded as 'spoiled' and seven counts had to be suspended.

Neil Kinnock caught up in poll fiasco

DRS, where Lord Kinnock is a non-executive director, has already admitted its system struggled in the later stages of vote counting.

The Labour peer and former European Commissioner was hired by the Milton Keynes-based company in 2005. A year later, DRS won the lucrative contract with the then Labour-run Scottish Executive to provide electronic counting machines for both Scottish parliament and local elections.

There were claims that the presence of a senior parliamentarian gave the company a crucial edge over rivals pitching for the contract.

Angus MacNeil, MP for the Scottish Nationalists, who narrowly beat Labour into second place last week, promised his party would hold a second separate inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the award of the contract.

He said: "This system was meant to speed up counting but it did nothing of the sort. Once we form a government, voters can be assured there will be the fullest possible investigation."

Problems with the DRS voting machines were compounded by the confusing nature of the new proportional representation voting systems. On ballot papers for the Scottish parliament, many voters failed to realise that they should vote twice - marking an "X' first for a local candidate and then for the regional top-up list.

Adding to the complexity, a different voting system had been adopted for Scottish local councils, where voters were required to number candidates in order of preference.

DRS, which last year had sales of £16million, has also been involved in elections for the Mayor of London and the European Parliament, which were hit by delays.

Lord Kinnock stepped down from his EU job in 2004 but his wife Glenys remains a member of the Brussels Parliament.

On Friday, shares in DRS tumbled in the wake of the chaos, falling around 12 per cent to 30p.

A spokesman for DRS Data Services said: "There was a blockage at the end of the counting process that stopped the consolidation of the data.

"The issue was not widespread and was resolved quickly. We will be holding our own inquires into what happened. We appreciate a review needs to be done of the system."

Scottish National Party wins the Scottish Election by one vote as inquiry begins into rejected vote papers

The results in the Scottish Election are in and show the SNP have WON the Holyrood election by one seat ! SNP : 47, Labour : 46

Now the negotiations will begin on forming the next Executive .. and as things currently stand, there aren't enough votes for Labour & the LibDems to form a majority coalition on their own ... so now the bargaining begins ...

It was certainly good to see Alex Salmond elected in Gordon. Holyrood will be all the better for his presence, but so far on the small party front, many have been squeezed out .. which isn't so good for democracy ... they gave the Parliament a different voice from the main parties, and their presence, will be missed.

I see the people of Roxburgh & Berwickshire managed to throw out Euan Robson at last .. giving a wee chuckle to the many constituents this LibDem failure threw to one side when they asked him for help .. me among them.

I will remember Euan Robson mostly, for insisting I drop all complaints against Scotland's most famous Crooked Lawyer - Andrew Penman of Stormonth Darling Solicitors, Kelso . For what motive Euan Robson did that, one can only speculate .. but it certainly wasn't of a motivation to help me, or other constituents whom Drew Penman had robbed while doing his duty as a crooked lawyer.

It would of course, have been good to see an SNP candidate in that constituency, but the people of Rox & Berwickshire don't seem ready for the SNP yet .. pity .. but as I see from some of the candidates they elected in Jedburgh - another two Tories pop up - a farmer I remember from his fox hunting days Sandy Scott (long history of unmentionables there, yet to be mentioned) and an ex Jedburgh Provost 'CD King' Len Wyse (still downloading, are you, Len ?) .. who I have the great displeasure of dealing with over his restrictions of discussing peoples problems with the Jedburgh Community Council he once served on as Provost, as well as on the side disgraceful comments against people in the town .. who may not have voted for him if they knew his opinions & more.

Jedburgh - nice town, shame about the people .. schools can't teach rabbits to catch mxymatosis but they do teach pupils to explode fireworks in classrooms .. and many of the die hard locals are invariably hostile towards anyone whose father isn't their mothers brother. The town amazingly has one of the biggest drugs & violence problems in the whole region, despite it's small size ... outsiders beware .. as I found to my cost when some of the town's rugby players decided to attack & burn our house down a few years ago.

Needless to say, Scottish Borders Council may yet be as corrupt again as it was before and has been since it existed .. no change there then unless the SNP shake things up a bit more and the good news is they did pick up some more seats in other parts of the region .. where sense prevails.

So, it's congratulations to the SNP .. and forward for Scotland !

Link to a couple of articles in the Scotsman and Herald on the news in the election Check the latest on the parties here : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/default.stm

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1375675.0.0.php

Chaos at the counts mars a night of success for the SNP
DOUGLAS FRASER, Scottish Political Editor May 04 2007

TENS of thousands of rejected ballot papers in the Holyrood election and computer breakdown threatened to throw the Holyrood and council results into chaos early this morning.

In the relatively few results that were announced through the night, the SNP vote surged, but without a collapse of Labour's support. Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon were among the SNP's most high-profile victors in Gordon and Govan.

Labour leader Jack McConnell was the first MSP to have his result declared last night, winning Motherwell and Wishaw despite a 7% swing to the SNP.

Rejected and spoiled ballot papers were running at around 1000 in most seats, and as high as 1850 ballot forms in Glasgow Baillieston. The problem could have rendered around 75,000 votes invalid, and that dragged down the official turnout figure.
advertisement

Concerns about the reliability of the count follow protests raised over recent days about delays in sending out postal votes. The controversy is linked to redesign of the Holyrood ballot form, and possible voter confusion with the radically changed voting system for councils.

Apart from those problems, the Western Isles count was delayed until 10am due to problems in flying ballot boxes from Barra to Stornoway.

Although the change in voting forms was disputed by the Scottish Executive, the decision on it lay in Whitehall, and Scotland Office minister David Cairns insisted on going ahead. Ministers also ignored widespread advice to split the day of the Holyrood voting from the new-look council elections.

Mr Cairns said last night the Electoral Commission will have to look into the problem, and Scotland Secretary Douglas Alexander said he had already asked the election watchdog to look into postal vote problems.

Mr Salmond, having gained the Gordon constituency from the LibDems on a swing of nearly 6%, said the decision to run two electoral systems on the same day was wrong.

He was heavily critical of the postal voting arrangements for the election, describing them as "totally inadequate".

He added that the decision to conduct a Single Transferable Vote (STV) election at the same time as a first past the post ballot for the Scottish Parliament was "deeply mistaken". "As a direct result tens of thousands of votes across Scotland have been discounted this evening," he said.

"That is totally unacceptable in a democratic society."

"With the SNP gaining seats, he went on to say: "There is a wind of change blowing through Scottish politics . . . a new politics is dawning in Scottish confidence."

SNP results were patchy, failing to take its top target of winning Galloway and Upper Nithsdale from Tory Alex Fergusson, or the number three target of Labour-held Cumbernauld and Kilsyth. The gains from Labour included Dundee West while holding Dundee East, making it the first all-Nationalist city. Deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon won Glasgow Govan from Labour's Gordon Jackson, its first general election win in the city. Willie Coffey won Kilmarnock and Loudoun from Labour's Margaret Jamieson.

Tricia Marwick gained Central Fife from Labour's Christine May, and Bruce Crawford came from third position to take Stirling from Sylvia Jackson of Labour on a 9% swing.

Tory Deputy Presiding Officer Murray Tosh failed to win his party's top target of Dumfries, which remained with Labour's Elaine Murray.

The LibDems had a disappointing night of results. Although they gained Dunfermline West from Labour, they lost Gordon to Alex Salmond and both their Borders seats were in doubt.

Labour faced SNP swings ranging from 4% to 15%, in the case of the Airdrie and Shotts seat where Labour faced pressure over changes to Monklands hospital services but still won.

Labour's majority in Glasgow Kelvin was slashed to 1207, and in Glasgow Anniesland, held by the late Donald Dewar, there was a 4% swing from Labour to SNP.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=693382007

The Election: What went wrong?
Focus
PAUL RIDDELL

IT WAS a night that will be remembered less for the eventual winner than for the fiasco surrounding what ought to have been a simple process: counting the votes.

The introduction of a new electronic counting system combined with a new single ballot paper for both the constituency and top-up list votes for the Scottish Parliament resulted in delays to scores of counts and thousands of spoiled votes.

Why did it go so badly wrong?

SNP leader Alex Salmond blamed the decision to hold the council elections on the same day as the Holyrood elections under a new single transferable vote (STV) system of proportional representation. He is right. The complexity of the STV system requires electronic counting equipment. Ministers decided to go the whole hog and introduce electronic counting for the Holyrood elections at the same time.

Returning officers who warned that the counts should not begin until Friday morning because the system, although tested, was untried on an election night, were over-ruled.

Two major things went wrong:

* Counting machines operated by the firm DRS failed, resulting in counts being suspended in the early hours in Aberdeen, Argyll & Bute, some Edinburgh seats, Eastwood, Linlithgow, Livingtson, Perth and Tayside North and Strathkelvin & Bearsden until later today.

* Voters appeared confused about the new ballot papers, which carried on the left-hand side a list of those standing for list seats and on the right candidates for constituency seats. Instead of putting one cross in a box on each side, many voters put two crosses in separate boxes on the left, invalidating their ballot. There are estimates of at least 100,000 spoiled papers - which means 5 per cent of voters were disenfranchised.

In one seat, Airdrie and Shotts, 1,536 papers were rejected - more than Labour's margin of victory in the seat.

The Scotland Office, which was responsible for administering the election, ordered an investigation by the independent Electoral Commission.
Alan Campbell, returning officer for Aberdeenshire, said ministers in the Scottish Executive had ignored advice to delay the count.

"All the returning officers in Scotland did recommend to Scottish ministers that we, in fact, start this whole count process on Friday morning rather than on Thursday evening," Mr Campbell said.

"Our advice was rejected. We went along with it. People have done their best, but clearly this is a new system and there will be occasional glitches. Staff have not worked on this before," he added.

Ken Ritchie, chief executive of The Electoral Reform Society, said: "It is clear that the fault is not a consequence of the voting system. When the system was first used in 1999, the number of spoilt ballots was less than 1 per cent. We need to understand what has gone so wrong as to increase this number more than tenfold.

"Neither is the fault in the electronic counting technology. While the counting equipment has experienced teething problems in some areas, it is not the equipment that has caused people to make mistakes in the completion of their ballot papers."

In his speech after winning the Gordon constituency, Mr Salmond said: "It is also the case that the decision to conduct an STV election at the same time as a first-past-the-post ballot for the Scottish Parliament was deeply mistaken.

"As a direct result, tens of thousands of votes across Scotland have been discounted. That is totally unacceptable in a democratic society."

It's time for Injustice to end, but will the SNP end Injustice in Scotland ?

This week, may well see a change of Government in Scotland, with the polls showing a significant lead by the Scottish National Party over Labour. However, what would an SNP victory mean for the many victims of injustice throughout Scotland ?

Well, most politicians say much and do little, when it comes to issues involving justice & law .. and as a reflection of that, these issues only really entered the media spotlight in the last two weeks of the election.

Well, for the issues I write about - injustice, and Law - it seems there is a significant conflict within the SNP over what to do and what not to do, potentially giving justice to some, and injustice to others.

There are politicians within the ranks of the SNP who will fight tenaciously for constituents on issues of injustice - and one of those people is Mr John Swinney, who famously skirmished with Douglas Mill - the Chief Executive of the Law Society of Scotland, last May before the Justice 2 Committee, revealing secret memos written by Douglas Mill himself, showing the legal profession were engaged in a campaign of discrimination, prejudice and lies against client claims of negligence against firms of solicitors in Scotland.

John Swinney then went on to fight on for the aims of the Legal Profession & Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007, which I have campaigned for since 1994 .. and as you all know, the LPLA Bill was indeed passed in late December 2006, albeit with some amendments rushed in from mouthpieces of the legal profession.

Here is John Swinney fighting for the rights of his constituents and speaking before the Scottish Parliament during the passage of the LPLA Bill on candid issues of corruption within the Scottish legal profession.

John Swinney has certainly been admirable in his determination to see through the case of his constituent Stewart Mackenzie, who has suffered interminably at the hands of the Law Society of Scotland and their henchmen ... but surely, since every single MSP has received letters documenting injustices by members of the legal profession against their clients, they should all do the same as Mr Swinney and campaign for resolution to their constituents cases ? - well .. no !, they don't.

I know myself, from asking Christine Grahame (SNP) to take on my case, that not everyone in the SNP wants to do anything for people who have suffered at the hands of the legal profession. Christine Grahame refused to assist me, and as the then Justice 1 Committee Convener, she played havoc with the Justice 1 2002 inquiry into "Regulation of the Legal Profession" .. not allowing members of the public to testify to their problems with lawyers, but allowing the legal profession unfettered access to the Justice 1 Committee hearings, and hearing all manner of lies from those officials of the Law Society of Scotland and their supporters .. without even bothering to check the validity of their claims.

However, it seems there is another within the SNP who may not favour the victims of injustice .. and would it be a surprise to you if I said that individual is also, a member of the Law Society of Scotland, and (at least for now) former solicitor ?

Kenny MacAskill, the SNP's current Justice spokesman, who may become the next Justice Minister after this week's election, is quoted in an article written by himself in the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland, as describing victims of injustice as "malcontents".

Mr MacAskill goes on in the "Journal' article, to demonstrate a significant lack of understanding of how people feel with regard to the way the Scottish legal system has been failing us for all these years .. and he certainly doesn't seem to understand how victims of the legal profession have had their lives ruined, and been tortured over the years by the likes of the Law Society of Scotland, just for making a complaint about how they were ripped off by their crooked lawyer or for that, by making a complaint against any crooked professional whose self regulatory body carries a lot of political influence and friends & colleagues within political circles ....

The article from the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland is reprinted here :

http://www.journalonline.co.uk/article/1001242.aspx

View from Holyrood
by Kenny MacAskill
Issues currently before the Scottish Parliament, including whether to raise the small claims limit

It’s strange being a contributor rather than a reader of this Journal. However, having retired from practice as a solicitor shortly after election I now find myself covering the Justice portfolio for the SNP. Rather than responding to what has happened in the legislature I am in the position of commenting on what is happening there.

Moving from lawyer to politician was like shifting from the frying pan into the fire; from a derided profession to a despised business. Absence makes the heart grow fonder but I see no reason why lawyers should apologise for the work they do. Whether court, conveyancing or commercial, the overwhelming majority do an excellent job for their clients, ensuring that important matters whether financial or personal are addressed and rights and obligations met. If lawyers didn’t exist then society would need to invent them. Politicians are lobbied incessantly by an organisation attacking crooked lawyers. As both a lawyer before and a politician now, I am yet to meet a member of the profession who does not seek or insist on action being taken against those that bring all into disrepute. Whatever a few malcontents may say, lawyers need not hang their heads in shame but can hold them high.

The Parliament has now convened in its new home. Irrespective of arguments over costs, there is an acceptance that it offers a second chance to deliver what the people of Scotland wanted when they voted for it. What it does need not be earth-shattering, but it must be an improvement and add tangible value to our lives. Such as, perhaps, the Tenements Act so recently approved. In itself it is hardly the legislation that turns the nation, never mind the earth, on its axis. However, it is of significant importance to many who reside in such accommodation. It is action that the profession has highlighted the need for over many years. In the absence of the Parliament, doubtless change would have required to await some Law Reform Act in decades to come. It isn’t big in the grand scheme of things but it does make a discernible difference. The profession needs the change and the politicians need to be seen to be effecting change.

Another piece of legislation that is meandering its way through the legislative procedure is the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Bill. This is a piece of legislation with worthy intent. After all who can possibly object to the protection of paramedics or firemen going about their business? That said, these matters can already be libelled as aggravated offences and sheriffs and procurators fiscal advised of the serious view taken of such incidents. The Executive has decided though to proceed with a specific offence, as it is entitled to. In that I will seek to support, not hinder. However, if such legislation continues unabated then consideration sooner rather than later needs to be given to codification. Legislators bring in many well intentioned laws but it’s the implementation that is the problem. Time will tell.

Finally, there appears to be something brewing on the financial limits for small claims and summary cause actions. Motions are now being lodged by individual MSPs calling for the threshold to be raised or personal injury excluded. I doubt that they are doing so without some hint or suggestion from the Executive that change is in the offing. Clearly, there has to be change. The limits are dated and eroded by inflation.

The warnings of the dangers of increasing them without considering the ramifications for personal injury cases in particular are correct. This should not simply be rushed through with a statutory instrument uprating the limits. There must be a proper debate on the nature of justice and access to it for smaller financial claims. Given that the cost of a sheriff, according to a parliamentary answer I received, now amounts to £159,000 per annum, do we want them deciding on whether someone’s plumbing work was poor, or whether I signalled or not as your car ran into the back of mine causing £200 worth of damage?

There must be access to justice but also at an affordable level – especially for minor claims. How courts are run, staffed and operated at that level needs to be decided. It must not be foisted on either politicians or the profession with a take it or leave it increase in thresholds through a statutory instrument. This is a debate that must take place not just in the chamber but in the profession.

Kenny MacAskill

However, by coincidence, Kenny MacAskill appears in the Herald newspaper today, and while it is reported he has no plans to alter any of the reforms as proposed in the LPLA Bill as passed, he does indicate the SNP, curiously, will be taking 'cautious line on the vexed issue of Scotland's shockingly low threshold for small claims'.

Why is that now ?

We all know the issue of the small claims limit has been held back by lobbying from the legal profession, particularly the firm of noted friends to the Labour Party - Solicitors Messrs Digby Brown, which has been covered before in the Herald and on my blog ...
Small claims limits in Scotland restricted to £750 for the last 18 years by the legal profession for their own interests.

We also all know the legal profession has tried to gag the media over revelations of serious corruption by the most senior officials of the Law Society of Scotland attempting to fiddle complaints against lawyer colleagues Law Society of Scotland claims success in gagging the press over Herald newspaper revelations of secret case memos

We also all know the legal profession - well, the Law Society of Scotland itself, threatened the Parliament & Executive with court action if the LPLA Bill was passed : Law Society of Scotland threatens Court challenge against Scottish Executive over LPLA legal reform Bill

We also all know the 'tesco law' which some (lawyers) don't want in Scotland, goes much further back than Clementi - and we have Sections 25-29 of the Law Reform Misc Provisions Act 1990 which were to open up the legal services market - but which were never implemented due to intense lobbying from the legal profession - and resistance from at least one serving Lord Advocate who in 1997 floated the idea of delay, and even repeal - which left lawyers & advocates retaining their monopoly over legal representation - and also - their power over saying who gets access to justice or the courts, and who does not.

Why should we then give these people any extra favours ? They, the legal profession, have threatened our very independence & democratically elected Parliament & Government, just to keep their right to cover up for their own colleagues in case of injustice after injustice .. for money, profit, power and influence.

So, members of the SNP if you win this week, why not just raise the small claims limit, and introduce some competition into the area of legal representation, so we can have justice for all, and not just justice for some.

As we all say, IT'S TIME ... so, IT'S TIME FOR INJUSTICE TO END, and if the SNP are true to their word, INJUSTICE IN SCOTLAND MUST END.

I ask you, Alex Salmond, if you become the next First Minister, to ensure that injustice in Scotland ends. You will have the power to do it, please use it.

After all, its our Scotland - all of us, and we all deserve and have the right to justice, and proper resolutions to those cases of injustice we have suffered for years, because of the constant 'oh lets not do anything for those people because the legal profession don't want us to'attitude of politicians at both Holyrood and Westminster ..

IT'S TIME

Herald article of today, with link :

http://www.theherald.co.uk/business/news/display.var.1363192.0.0.php

SNP says ‘Tesco Law’ is not suited to Scottish society
PAUL ROGERSON, City Editor April 30 2007

SNP justice spokesman Kenny MacAskill has said the party will not seek to introduce so-called "Tesco Law" north of the border, should it take power at Holyrood.

He was commenting on the party's policies towards the legal profession, which are broadly outlined in its election manifesto.

South of the border, of course, external investors such as supermarkets and banks are being allowed to own and run law firms for the first time. Practices will also be able to float and appoint non-lawyer partners, and English barristers and solicitors will be able to form partnerships.

"MacClementi", a working party report on Scotland's legal services market commissioned by the Scottish Executive and published early last year, was widely viewed as a damp squib in respect of opening up the market to greater competition. This has split the profession, with some eminent lawyers in favour of the new freedoms and others hostile.

Asked if he would seek to legislate to allow any or all of the freedoms enshrined under the general term "Tesco Law", MacAskill responded: "Further investigation is needed. Tesco Law is to be avoided as it would not suit Scottish society. However, some opportunity for successful Scottish firms to compete globally is appropriate."
Protection of those pursuing personal injury claims must be assured

MacAskill did give a commitment to implement fully reforms scrapping self-regulation enshrined in the recently passed Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill, including the creation of an independent Scottish Legal Complaints Commission to address complaints of poor service by lawyers.

Some consumers have expressed concern about his commitment to that cause, since he himself is a qualified solicitor and was a partner in an Edinburgh law firm until 2000.

Asked if the SNP was committed to the full implementation of the bill as recently passed by parliament, however, MacAskill answered with a simple "yes". He said he has no plans to alter any aspect of the reforms. The SNP is taking a cautious line on the vexed issue of Scotland's shockingly low threshold for small claims. It is now nine years since it was recommended that the limit be lifted to £1500 from £750, but nothing has been done.

Scottish consumer groups continue to despair that for people wanting compensation from a supplier of shoddy goods or services without the expense of hiring a lawyer, the effective maximum is £750 - less than the cost of a plasma TV. That limit has been frozen for 19 years, whereas in England and Wales the small claims ceiling is £5000 and has been since 1999.

According to consumer organisation Which?, some despairing Scots who can do so, choose to pursue their cases in the English courts. Julia Clarke, public affairs officer for Which? in Scotland, has described the Executive's failure to act as a "charter for cowboys".

Personal injury claims are to be excluded from increases in the small claims threshold if and when the Executive does act. That much is clear.

Opponents of higher limits, however, which include trade unions, allege that more radical action would deny legal redress to thousands of Scots by taking them out of the legal aid net.

Others make dark allegations of protectionism, stressing that a rise would enable more people to go to court without having to pay a solicitor. Asked if the SNP will be increasing the small claims limit and, if so, to what level and when, MacAskill responded: "A root-and-branch reform is needed for a system unfit for 21st century society.

"The protection of those pursuing personal injury claims must be assured.

However, a faster and more streamlined system must be available for minor consumer and other small claims."

Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers campaign for the Scottish Parliament Elections on Thursday 3rd May 2007

With the approaching elections for the Scottish Parliament coming on Thursday May 3rd 2007, we can be sure of only one political party which will listen to those people who have experienced injustice at the hands of Scotland's legal profession, and other self-regulating professions & public bodies who refuse to tackle incidences of corruption within their membership .. and of course, that party & well known campaign group I refer to must be - Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers

Love them (as many who have fallen at the hands of their crooked lawyers do) .. or loathe then (as many members of the legal profession do), SACL have scored numerous successes over the years against the legal profession, and brought the issue of crooked lawyers and corrupt practices of self regulation into the public eye. Indeed, the very phrase, crooked lawyers, has certainly been more widely used since SACL came into being !

Myself, having been a long time campaigner on these same issues of a dishonest legal system & legal profession in Scotland, since the early 1990s, kindled by my own experience at the hands of Scotland's most famous crooked lawyer - Andrew Penman of Stormonth Darling Solicitors, Kelso ... I can sympathise with anyone or any group which seeks to end the domination of our legal fraternity over issues such as access to justice & legal representation, and interference in our political system ...

While the other parties barter with some of the most hated & most crooked members of the legal profession for donations & agreements of cooperation after the elections are over ...SACL have certainly maintained their stance on issues which sooner or later, affect everyone in the land, as we all need to use legal services at some point in our lives, or have access to legal representation - which currently, many are not getting because the Law Society of Scotland's membership either can't get enough legal aid to fill their pockets for your cases - or simply don't want your case to proceed through the courts out of some professional or personal interest.

So, next Thursday, decide for yourselves where to place your vote, but remember those who campaign for issues such as accountability, transparency, honesty, and use your vote wisely as you decide yourself - after all, it's your right, it's your vote !

.. and a reminder for you all .... If you have experienced poor treatment from the Law Society of Scotland in a complaint or lost money to a crooked lawyer and nothing was done about it, Please sign Petition PE1033 and begin the campaign for redress and resolution to the way clients have been discriminated against by crooked lawyers & the Law Society of Scotland under their decades old prejudiced self regulatory complaints system .

Scottish electorate finally hears of Justice priorities from political parties - Justice for some, Injustice for others

It took long enough for the issue of Justice to come into the election campaign, and finally the various political parties have come forth with their policies on issues of Law & Order.

Predictably, the issue of Injustice has skipped the mind & PR spin doctors of the major parties in the coming election, but there are tell tale signs of what we can expect.

Labour - would certainly seem to be wishing to tackle issues of injustice, with their track record of introducing & passing the LPLA (Scotland) Act 2007.

SNP - they certainly want to tackle some issues of injustice - Alex Salmond has claimed he wants a public inquiry into the Shirley McKie case .. but of course, whether there ever will be, is another matter - as one inquiry into an injustice may give rise for calls for many more.

LibDems - Injustice is a low / non existent priority in their policies - and we can expect bargains between the criminally funded LibDems to sweep away any talk of consumer reforms to the likes of dealings with the legal profession etc ...

Conservatives - fancy dealing with the devil now do we ? ... well, many would say the Conservatives have a strong Justice policy - but that only relates to Law & Order in the area of Criminal Law ... nothing to do much with injustice or correcting the past wrongs of the likes of professionals ripping off their clients in all walks of life .. so nothing doing here either I'm afraid.

The rest ... well, the following Scotsman article makes for good reading and a good summary of what we can expect .. so here it is, with the link :

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=620302007

Laying down the law and order priorities

CRIME, and the fear of it, always figures highly in the priorities of voters and political parties. On one level, the debate over law and order in the forthcoming election can be boiled down to one question - which party will make Scotland a safer place?

On that front, the Labour-Lib Dem pact claims already to have provided some answers. After all, crime, or at least crime recorded by the police, is falling.
Advert for scotsman.com's football briefing

But while the numbers may be heading in the right direction, there were still more than a million crimes committed in 2005-6 and many communities remain plagued by drugs, violence and disorder. And latest figures show the number of killings has risen.

So there are myriad law-and-order issues over which the main parties are competing fiercely for your vote.

What to do, for example, about Scotland's high reoffending rate? Nearly half of all convicted criminals commit more offences within two years of receiving their punishment, leading Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, to admit that the system, for some, is little more than a "revolving door".

The parties agree that prisons, for many, do not rehabilitate and that chronic overcrowding only makes the problem worse, which is why sentencing policy - while not necessarily a headline grabber - figures large in many of the manifestos.

Then there is the problem of youth crime. The last administration failed to reach its own targets on cutting the number of hardcore young offenders. In fact, the numbers have risen.

Labour will reform the overworked children's hearing system and the SNP has pledged to clamp down on underage drinking and reinstate the Airborne "boot camp" initiative. The Lib Dems believe early intervention is needed while the Tories want to expand youth courts.

Antisocial behaviour remains one of the biggest, and most controversial, issues, with Labour's proposal for "instant ASBOs" and naming and shaming the worst offenders attracting plenty of comment. The threat posed by sex offenders also features prominently in several party manifestos.

The smaller parties' proposals address a number of controversial issues. The Scottish Socialist Party, for example, is pledging to allow free heroin on prescription to registered addicts and give prisoners the vote, while the Greens have promised steps to address Scotland's low conviction rate in rape cases.

POLICING

LABOUR
Establish a community police team in every area in Scotland. Introduce new police powers to tackle gangland criminals by allowing more cross- Border sharing of intelligence. Build Crime Campus to bring law enforcement agencies under one roof.

SNP
Recruit 1,000 extra community police officers, with at least two community officers in every council ward. Increase links between neighbourhood watch schemes and local police.

LIB DEMS
Recruit 1,500 more police officers. Work with chief constables to cut police red tape. Increase accountability by making police publish community crime statistics.

TORIES
Recruit 1,000 more police officers and encourage chief constables to focus extra resources on community policing. Create Serious Crime Taskforce, with police investigations supported by dedicated prosecutors and specialists.

GREENS
Place more emphasis on community policing and integration between police and social services.

SSP
Replace “ toothless” joint police boards with new community, regional and national boards, to improve the accountability of police.

ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

LABOUR
Double the number of community wardens to more than 1,000. Name and shame people who cause chaos in their neighbourhoods. Invest more from the proceeds of crime in community activities and CCTV. Introduce instant ASBOs, allowing police officers to take immediate action.

SNP
Roll out community reparation orders across the country. Make more use of restorative- justice panels.

LIB DEMS
More accountable police will encourage zero tolerance towards vandalism, graffiti and other forms of antisocial behaviour.

TORIES
Review and improve the working of the ASBO system, including consulting on giving revamped community councils a greater role in the process of applying for antisocial behaviour orders.

GREENS
End the “ obsession” with ASBOs – such orders should be used only as a last resort. Encourage police to focus resources on areas with high levels of antisocial behaviour.

SSP

YOUTH JUSTICE

LABOUR
Build culture of early intervention among teachers, health workers and social workers, to identify problem behaviour early. Establish youth panels, allowing peers to help change bad behaviour. Put more resources into diverting young people from crime.

SNP
Create community youth forums across Scotland to identify what amenities are needed in each local area. Ensure local youth facilities are run by young people.

LIB DEMS
Reform the children’s hearing system to deal more effectively with persistent offenders. Expand the use of electronic tagging for the most serious cases. Build three new youth courts in Kilmarnock, Paisley and Dundee.

TORIES
Ensure that persistent offenders aged 14 and 15 go to dedicated youth courts. Give children’s hearings the power to issue drug treatment and testing orders.

GREENS
Clamp down on under- age alcohol sales: culprits will lose their licences and buying alcohol for under- 18s will lead to prosecution. Extend crackdown on irresponsible drinks promotions in clubs and pubs to the off- licence trade. Reinstate the Airborne Initiative.

SSP
Provide more resources for the children’s hearing system. Invest in facilities for young people and revive youth work.

PRISONS AND SENTENCING

LABOUR
Ensure prisons are used appropriately by utilising supervised attendance orders for fine defaulters. Examine what further steps are needed to tackle drugs in prison and reoffending. Create Sentencing Guidelines Council to set out clear guidelines for judges and courts to bring more consistency to sentencing.

SNP
Replace Scottish Prison Service with new Scottish Custody and Rehabilitation Service. Replace prison sentences of three months or less with community sentences. Pilot new dual sentences, where judge sets community part of sentence at end of jail term.

LIB DEMS
Build an extra prison, allowing prison staff to spend more time on rehabilitation of inmates. Scrap early release. Introduce “ three strikes” system, with threat of longer jail sentence for repeat offenders.

TORIES
Create Scottish Sentencing Council to provide guidelines for judiciary. Have a presumption against custodial sentences of less than six months in favour of community- based punishment. Retain Peterhead jail.

GREENS
Replace “ very short” prison sentences with community disposals. Use prison only for offenders who pose genuine risk to public. Give courts power to force those convicted of environmental crime to pay for restoration.

SSP
Reduce prison population by expanding alternatives for low- level offenders. Introduce system of accountability for judges and sheriffs. Allow prisoners to vote in elections. Expand prison rehabilitation. Reverse privatisation.

SEX OFFENDERS

LABOUR
Improve process of offender release to “ rebalance” interests of public safety and rehabilitation. Introduce new arrangements for publicising identities of predatory sex offenders. Act on recommendations of Scottish Law Commission to tackle “ unacceptable” low levels of rape convictions.

SNP
Release the names and photographs of dangerous sex offenders who go underground to the community. Introduce traffic- light system to alert people when sex offender’s behaviour causes concern.

LIB DEMS

TORIES
Require sex offenders to undergo polygraph tests to check behaviour. Monitor their movements through satellite tracking.

GREENS
Will “ address” the low conviction rates for rape, sexual violence and sexual abuse.

SSP
Require every convicted sex offender to undergo a treatment programme either in the community or in prison. Provide more police resources to monitor and supervise sex offenders. Create secure units for the most dangerous offenders.

ACCESS TO JUSTICE

LABOUR
Expand the public defender scheme to cover the whole of Scotland by 2011. Improve criminal and civil legal aid so that it provides equal access to the law.

SNP
Improve access to legal advice in rural areas. Provide more grant assistance to help people access advice through Citizens’ Advice Bureaux.

LIB DEMS
Carry out root- and- branch review of legal aid system to ensure people across the country have access to representation.

TORIES

GREENS

SSP
Extend legal aid to cover workplace and consumer disputes.

MISUSE OF DRUGS

LABOUR
Provide free heroin on prescription to registered addicts. Expand rehabilitation and detox facilities.

SNP
Spend £ 100 million a year on drug rehabilitation. Ensure suspected drug dealers are tried at indictment level. Suspend visitation rights for prisoners found with drugs. Reintroduce random drug testing in jails.

LIB DEMS
Set up National Drug- Free Lives Unit to drive policy. Improve drugs education, including the use of former drug users in schools. Provide rehabilitation places specifically for mothers with children so they can be cared for during treatment.

TORIES
Extend drug treatment and testing orders to district courts. Double funding for drug treatment. Create national register of drug services.

GREENS
Increase spending on drug rehabilitation by 20 per cent.

SSP
Create more specialist secure rehabilitation facilities for prisoners who want to end drug use.

MISCELLANIOUS

LABOUR
Introduce corporate homicide legislation to place duties on individual directors.

SNP
Retain DNA samples and the fingerprints of all crime suspects.

LIB DEMS
Ensure victims of crime are regularly briefed by police and the Crown Office.

TORIES
Introduce new restrictions on the sale of firearms, with an attempt to transfer powers from Westminster.

GREENS
Bring in a fast- track appeals system to deal with suspected miscarriages of justice.

SSP
Bring in maximum s e v e n - y e a r combined custody and community sentence for possession of a knife.

Talk of Judicial Reforms enters Scottish Election as Labour claim the high ground on Justice system

One area of rather noticeable neglect in the recent spate of election articles all over the Scottish media - is that of which party will do what with our failing legal system.

An unimportant issue then perhaps ? Certainly not. If we don't have an effective and honest legal system in our own country, then we don't have much, do we ...

The first party to jump on this issue, has been Labour, with announcements from Cathy Jamieson, the Justice Minister, and First Minister Jack McConnell that recent ideas such as the "Judicial Appointments Board" actually turn into reality .. although from what we saw last year, the opposition from the Judiciary itself will be considerable to any perceived interference in it's current 'old boys club' operation.

Well, while we are waiting to hear from the other political parties on this issue, I'd have to say one thing - Labour do have a track record in this area - we did, after all, get the Legal Profession & Legal Aid Act (2007) Legal Profession & Legal Aid Act (2007) ... which I have a feeling no other political party would have given us.

Download a full copy of the Legal Profession & Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 in pdf format HERE

Yes of course, we didn't get everything we wanted with the LPLA (Scotland) Act ... and there are still a few loose ends where the legal profession have more control over matters than they really should - but it was a start, and that is definitely to be built on, as the new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission takes shape and begins operation.

I would like to say the SNP would also have given us such legislation, but my attention has been drawn to various outbursts from Kenny MacKaskill (the future SNP Justice Minister) who regards victims of the legal profession in rather worrying derogatory terms .. to the point I would hope Alex Salmond would take note of and appoint someone with more neutrality to the post of Justice Minister, if the SNP do win in May.

Would the LibDems do anything positive for the Scottish legal system ? I think not.

Actually, LibDem peers from the House of Lords were brought in by the Law Society of Scotland to defeat the LPLA (Scotland) Act, threatening court action against the Scottish Parliament itself if legislation was passed making complaints against lawyers an independently scrutinised process ...

LibDem peer Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC was intent on arguing it was against the Human Rights of crooked Scottish lawyers to be independently investigated ! .. so I don't think we can expect anything positive from the LibDem party .. who after all, took funding from a convicted criminal and didn't hand it back ...

The Conservatives may do something positive for the Scottish legal system them ? .. well perhaps they may, but the tories don't stand a chance of power, and with the likes of David McLetchie still in the party, I think the tories would be more intent on repealing the LPLA (Scotland) Bill, like the LibDems .. than helping the victims of injustice ...

As for the rest of the parties in the election, well, we can certainly trust Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers to do something about the Judicial system .. and you can find out more about their policies and candidates here Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers

Following article reporting on pledges on reforming Judges comes from the Daily Record, links in the headlines... and before anyone accuses me of being a Labour supporter - remember my politics are neutral - I'm reporting on the facts and events, not here to promote anyone over the other. If you want me to run stories on the other parties and their plans for tackling injustice or legal reform - send them in please.

WE'LL BOOT OUT THE DUD JUDGES

McConnell in election pledge
Exclusive by Magnus Gardham

LABOUR will today unveil plans to sack out-of-touch judges.

Jack McConnell will promise tough powers to discipline and dismiss judges if he is still First Minister after May 3.

The move follows public outrage over lenient sentences.

McConnell will pledge to beef up the Judicial Appointments Board, set up to end secrecy surrounding judicial appointments.

The independent board, who include lay people, will be given statutory powers to discipline and sack badly performing High Court judges, sheriffs principal, sheriffs and part-time sheriffs.

At present, judges can be sacked by the head of the judiciary in Scotland, the Lord President - but the process can take years.

The proposed powers would be set out in a Bill within the first year of a new Labour government.

The move will be controversial - the legal establishment has hit out before at what it sees as attempts to undermine judges' independence. But a source close to McConnell said: "The public can lose faith in the legal system when they see decisions that are not credible, mainly because judges have been too lenient."

In one of the most infamous cases of recent years, sex beast James Taylor, of Grangemouth, was jailed for just five years for raping a baby and taking pictures of the attack.

The source added: "We want a system where judges can be held to account and disciplined for poor performance.

"Judges will still be free to be independent but the wider public interest has to be taken into account too."

The move will be announced by McConnell and Cathy Jamieson as they highlight Labour's commitment to fighting crime.

It comes after a poll showed Labour had overtaken the SNP. The Scottish Opinion poll for a Sunday paper said 35 per cent of voters backed Labour compared with 32 per cent for the Nats.

But a poll a week ago gave the SNP a 12-point lead and reaction to the latest findings was cautious.

JUDGES SHOULD ALSO BE JUDGED

TOUGH powers to sack out-of-touch judges are on the cards if Labour win on May 3.

The move is designed to make them more accountable and put the power to dispense with them back in the hands of politicans and public opinion.

To be fair, Scotland's judges are more in tune than their colleagues down south.

There have been outcries over lenient sentences in recent times.

And there is no reason why judges should not face the same scrutiny as senior civil servants, head teachers and others with highly responsible public sector jobs.

The move will no doubt be seen by the legal establishment as an attack on the independence of the judiciary.

But under the existing format, it can take years to get rid of a poorly performing judge.

The recently created Judicial Appointments Board, who will exercise the new powers, were greeted with suspicion when they were set up.

But they work well and have now been accepted. They ensure the legal old boys' network can no longer hire judges over a G&T at the golf club.

If Labour get their way, the board will bring the same spirit of openness to ensuring judges continue to be up to scratch.