SNP 'irrelevant' at Westminster

Published on Saturday 12 December 2009 19:15

LABOUR and the Conservatives have drawn the battlelines for their Scottish general election campaigns, with both parties planning a fierce assault on an "irrelevant" and "ineffective" Scottish National Party at Westminster.

Today Labour kicks off its election campaign in Scotland on Sunday with an article by Douglas Alexander, the party's general election co-ordinator, outlining a strategy dismissing the SNP's challenge as an "irrelevance".

"Scottish voters understand that for all Salmond's boasts and blusters, the SNP are now struggling to be the fourth horse in a two-horse race," Alexander said amid speculation that Gordon Brown is about to call a snap election.

Last night it was reported that Labour staff were getting ready to go any time after New Year.

Meanwhile, polling conducted for the Conservatives has given David Cameron's party cause for optimism after so long in the wilderness north of the Border.

The survey, conducted by ORB, showed that 67 per cent of Scots believe the Tories will win the general election next year. Almost three-quarters (73 per cent) agreed Labour looked tired.

Tory party strategists have targeted 11 Scottish seats they believe they can win, a figure that assumes the party's only MP, David Mundell, will hold his Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale seat. Internal Tory research, seen by Scotland on Sunday, reveals that three-quarters of Scots believe the SNP is "ineffective" at Westminster. The poll of 1,000 voters across Scotland showed that 74 per cent of the sample agreed that the SNP stood up for Scotland but was not effective when it came to Westminster.

Even allowing for the fact that the questions were posed by the Conservatives, they would appear to signal a revival for the party that was banished from Scotland in the wipeout of 1997. Former Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie has been appointed campaign manager by current leader Annabel Goldie and Scottish party leader Andrew Fulton.

Salmond's claim that his party would punch above its weight in a hung parliament was yesterday attacked by McLetchie. "If we get a confused election result it is going to be that much more difficult to pull the economy out of recession," he said. "Scots are voting to elect a British government and the only party that can provide an alternative to five more years of Labour government are the Conservatives."

The 11 target seats identified by the Tories are: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale; West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine; Angus; Argyll and Bute; Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk; Dumfries and Galloway; Edinburgh South; Edinburgh South West; Perth and North Perthshire; East Renfrewshire; and Stirling.

An SNP spokesman said: "Even twisted Tory research shows that three-quarters of Scots believe the SNP stands up for Scotland. Our preference is for a hung Westminster parliament, with a block of SNP MPs holding the balance, so we can deliver real gains for Scotland."

Last night two polls offered a mixed picture. One for YouGov saw Labour rise four points leaving them nine points behind the Tories. The other by ComRes saw the Tories extend their lead to 17 points.