Parties fire election starting gun

Published on Monday 24 January 2011 18:24

Labour leader Iain Gray held talks with Prince Charles yesterday as the party fired the starting gun on the campaign for the Holyrood election in 100 days' time.

First Minister Alex Salmond issued a rallying call to SNP members and supporters for the campaign ahead, while the other opposition parties said they are up for the fight.

The meeting with Prince Charles at Dumfries House in Ayrshire was a coup for Mr Gray on the day of his campaign launch.

A spokesman for the Labour leader said afterwards: "This was a very positive meeting between His Royal Highness and Iain Gray. They discussed matters of mutual interest."

Mr Gray had earlier appealed to voters who deserted Labour in 2007 to return to the party as he joined candidate Matt McLaughlin and local MP Cathy Jamieson to canvass in the key seat of Kilmarnock.

He said the SNP had not done enough for Scotland and that Labour's soon-to-be published plans for jobs and growth would see Scotland "walk tall" again.

"After four years, many people feel the SNP hasn't done enough for us and my message is that Scotland deserves better than broken promises from politicians," Mr Gray said.

The First Minister wrote to SNP members and supporters defending the government's achievements in office, including record police numbers, nurses and modern apprenticeships.

"Your vote in 2007 and support since is saving the average Scottish family over 300 as a result of the council tax freeze - vital help in tough times," he said. But Mr Salmond wrote there is a "more to do" in his letter to backers.

"With your support we can secure new job-creating powers for the Scottish Parliament. Powers that will enable us to create even more new jobs in the years ahead."

Liberal Democrat campaign manager George Lyon said the First Minister should instead send a letter of apology to his supporters.

"The SNP failed to dump student debt, they failed to scrap the council tax and they failed to cut class sizes - they don't even mention these to supporters," he said.

Tory leader Annabel Goldie said her party is now in the "mainstream" of Scottish politics after returning to office as part of the coalition government at Westminster.

"The Scottish Conservatives can now be judged on what we are doing, how we perform and what we have achieved, rather than by the false image and caricature of us painted by our detractors," she said.

"For the first time since 1997, we are central to how Scotland is run."

Green co-convener Patrick Harvie said it would be the "most important Holyrood vote" since devolution and pledged to oppose the UK coalition government's "ideological cuts agenda".