There is an interesting article in today's Independent which includes an interview with a GE lifelong resident to get his viewpoint. It appears that Westminster is very rattled by what may happen there. The first quote is from the author of the article.
What obsesses Westminster at the moment is the future of Gordon Brown. So it has projected its obsession on to the constituency. The election is being viewed as some sort of referendum on Brown's leadership, and of course the result will have its implications for the Prime Minister. But Glasgow East's residents will be voting, instead, on the way they've been governed for the past 30 years, which is something that the Scottish National Party understands only too well.
The second quote is from the GE resident.
McLaughlin holds no great torch for the SNP. But over the years that have passed, this Glaswegian socialist, a success himself, and comfortably retired, has reached the implacable conclusion that it is Labour that is the enemy of the people. The great wonder, in Glasgow East, is that there s still so many people who have not yet come round to his way of thinking.
http://tinyurl.com/6xmtqv
Does anyone have a different viewpoint from his?

eh no, born and bred

From the Sunday Herald comments today, courtesy of Wardog, Buckie:

VOTE SNP

• Prescription Charges - The SNP Government has cut the cost of prescription charges by a QUARTER – the first step to making them FREE by 2010. And people who suffer from chronic or long-term conditions and cancer will benefit from an immediate cut of 50% in the cost of prescription pre-payment certificates (PPCs)

• Council Tax Frozen: Under Labour, between 1996-97 and 2007-08 Council Tax in Glasgow rose by 51% and the city now has the second highest Council Tax in Scotland. The SNP Government secured a deal with Local Authorities, including Glasgow, to freeze Council Tax for 2008/09 and is moving to scrap the Council tax – benefiting 72% of Glasgow residents.

• Businesses Helped Local Business is at the heart of regeneration in the East End. To help improve the local economy, the SNP Government is reducing or abolishing business rates for almost 16,000 businesses in Glasgow through the Small Business Bonus.

• Commonwealth Games Legacy: The SNP Government is funding 80% of the costs of the Commonwealth Games and is ensuring a lasting legacy for the games with investment in youth sports facilities and following pressure from the SNP Government, the Big Lottery Fund have announced a '2014 Communities' fund to ensure a lasting legacy from the Commonwealth Games – starting with half a million in 2008/09.

• Regeneration: The Fairer Scotland Fund will invest over £150m in Glasgow alone over the next 3 years. Also, the Clyde Gateway regeneration scheme, which spans Glasgow and South Lanarkshire, has been awarded £62 million by the SNP Government.

• Central Heating Programme - The SNP Government has increased installations of central heating systems from 13,500 a year under the previous administration to nearly 15,000 a year – the highest number ever.

• Increase in police numbers: Thanks to the SNP's commitment to delivering 1000 extra police, Strathclyde Police has the funds to increase their number of officers by 750 over the next three years. The first 150 of the SNP's 1000 extra police have just graduated from the Police Training College at Tulliallan.

• Crime Cut in East Glasgow under the SNP: The Enhanced Policing Plan (EPP), a Strathclyde Police led initiative funded by the SNP Government's Community Regeneration Fund, has seen crime drop significantly since its launch in October 2007. Within six months crime levels have dropped significantly in Sprinboig, Barlanark and Greenfield (24%); Parkhead (22%); Shettleston/Tollcros
s (10%) and Wellhouse (10%).

• Tackling Gangs: In Government the SNP has invested an additional £200,000 to tackle gang violence and territorialism with over £16,000 going into support Strathclyde police's anti-gang work in Easterhouse.

• Cash back for Communities: This SNP Government scheme uses money taken from organised criminals and reinvests it in youth projects in deprived areas. Projects in and around Glasgow East are already benefiting from the scheme: Cranhill Arts Project has received £4,730 in funding; The Sound Lab has received £11,827; and Reidvale Adventure Play Association has been awarded £4,812.

• Hospitals: The SNP Government has provided £842 million of public money to replace the Southern General Hospital, which previous Labour Government's had neglected. Also, one of the very first actions of the SNP upon becoming the Government was to save the Accident and Emergency department at nearby Monklands.

• Free Personal Care: The SNP initiated the first increase in Free Personal Care Payments in line with inflation, and invested an extra £40m to meet shortfalls in the service. In contrast Labour in Westminster refused to return attendance allowance to Scotland.

• Bus Travel Concessionary Fares: The SNP Government has increased support for bus travel with extra funding of £12m over the next three years. Funding for bus transport is 31% higher per capita in Scotland under the SNP than in England and Wales under Labour and the SNP Government has announced plans to extend the scheme for injured veterans in recognition of their service.

• Free Education: The SNP has reintroduced grants for part – time students, helping those in areas like Glasgow East who are working hard for a better future.

• John Wheatley College: The SNP Government acted to ensure the long term viability of John Wheatley College in Glasgow, which has campuses in Shettleston and Easterhouse, by protecting its charitable status.

• Housing: Since the SNP came to power 16 local housing associations have been given approval by GHA to proceed to Second Stage Transfer, with another 17 in discussions to do the same. In Glasgow East, Parkhead Housing Association is aiming to ballot tenants on SST on the 17th of November.

• Nursery Education: Free nursery education has been increased to 475 hours per year for 3-4 year olds.

Now hang on a minute Darkside. Someone has gone a bit daft with this list you've posted here. A few adjustments are needed. Some get a wee bit hysterical when it comes to the SNP and often spoil contributions by refusing to admit when something isn't quite right. Within hours of Swinney's LIT ideas Wardog was providing figures all over the place many of which were wrong. So be careful. It is a fact that Swinney's LIT figures have been challenged right, left and centre and that even some who back SNP aren't entirely happy with them.

I recall quite clearly when the LIT proposals came out and the poster you are quoting stated the administration of LIT was straightforward as it simply meant the Inland Revenue adjusting tax codes to collect it. Absolute dross incidentally. Even when those, who know how the Income Tax system in this country works tried to point out the flaws we were trounced off the threads under attack from nationalists, fellow nationalists I would add. I back the SNP too but because I was spoiling someone's well written post by introducing some basic facts I wasn't to be listened to. Sorry Darkside SNP people like that we can do without. They are a menace.

The Scottish Government has no authority over Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, it is under the jurisdiction of Westminster as a UK Government department so Swinney could not simply announce HMRC would administer the new tax off his own back. It is not simply about adjusting a tax code either! The records of all Scottish PAYE taxpayers are not kept only in Centre 1 but are scattered throughout offices in the UK depending on who they work for. Records for Self Employed taxpayers are not within the PAYE system and do not involve tax codes. And what of the proceeds when collected? Were employers meant to send one lot of deductions to the UK Treasury and the rest to whatever Scottish Council a person lives in and do people actually realise the administration costs involved in such an exercise? You would be making a UK Government Department responsible for calculating individual LIT charges for every Scottish taxpayer and then expecting them to send the relevant amounts to Local Councils. All on top of their existing duties. The answer was, and Swinney must have known this, his LIT proposals were flawed. The SNP began a consultation exercise which I believe has just concluded. I think it is already clear to Swinney that more thought is needed, a great deal more and that his original proposals created a lot of issues for the SNP because they were so badly thought out.

On the rest of the list below there are a number of items I am very sceptical about. "The SNP government" funding 80% of the Commonwealth Games is one in particular. A lot of the funding questions have still to be answered on that one.

The replacement of the Southern General was a decision made - an extremely unpopular one - by the previous Executive. My view remains that it is a terrible decision and the location is insane given the geographic area to be covered. Transport links are appalling. Previously a Glasgow-wide campaign opposed the whole scheme over a very long period. To claim this as an SNP achievement is a wee bit silly I would say.

On concessionary travel the Scottish Government almost caused an almighty stushie by initially hinting that the free travel element was being withdrawn.

On "Free Education" there were challenges made on the extent to which the Scottish Government had sold out on their original promises. Part-time grants (as referred to here are one incredibly tiny area).

The split in GHA had already begun long before the Scottish Government came into power. Many think it was an insane idea incidentally and it has cost us millions so far. It will bring a return to "local" decisions on who gets houses in the area and in the view of some that has implications which aren't good news if one hoped to see fair housing policy. "Local people" were to be involved in the process. Again, for Glasgow, that is not a good idea but ultimately the costs involved in setting up smaller bodies responsible for housing are massive. The transfer intitially to GHA was in my view a sound idea but the reasons for the SST procedure are anything but sound and will cost the Scottish taxpayer an absolute fortune.

It is nice to see lists of achievements under the Scottish Government but lists like this leave the SNP open to a lot of ridicule too. Its good to be enthusiastic about the Party you vote for but for Heaven's sake people should be more careful about the items they list when so many of the items can be challenged immediately. Sometimes enthusiasm can blind people and make it a dangerous thing.