United for a Fife victory? Sir Alex puts his red shirt on Mr Brown

Published on Wednesday 29 October 2008 21:10

LABOUR'S campaign for the Glenrothes by-election received a boost yesterday with the public endorsement of Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager.

Sir Alex has been a prominent Labour supporter for years, and yesterday he spoke out in favour of Lindsay Roy, the Labour candidate.

In a letter delivered to every home in the area, Sir Alex wrote: "I always tell players entering the game that being a footballer is the best job in the world. Yes, it's hard work to reach the top – but not as hard as bringing up a family or running a household on a tight budget.

"With all that is happening in the global economy, clearly there are some challenging times ahead. But the Labour government under Gordon Brown has handled the situation well, and deserves support at this difficult time."

Labour also turned on Alex Salmond for making his ninth visit to the constituency, claiming the First Minister should have been busy running the country, not playing partisan politics.

Lord George Foulkes, a senior Labour MSP, also said: "You just wonder how Mr Salmond finds the time to come up (to Glenrothes] so often. He is not being paid to campaign in Glenrothes but to run the Scottish Government. Yet he is fiddling in Glenrothes while Scotland burns.

"He may not have noticed but there is an economic crisis going on and every day we hear of councils not being able to run services. But Mr Salmond seems to think his priority is campaigning in a by-election rather than doing his job for the people of Scotland."

An SNP spokesman said that they were not sure if Mr Salmond had visited the constituency eight or nine times, although only eight appeared in the diary. He added that most of these visits took place on Saturdays and two were in the parliamentary recess.

He also argued that Mr Salmond was able to do both his job of running the government and campaign in the by-election.

Mr Salmond vowed at the campaign launch, his fifth visit, to break his record of ten visits made to Glasgow East during the by-election there.

The SNP yesterday focused on the rising energy bills families face, with Mr Salmond in the constituency to claim Labour had done little to help people facing soaring fuel charges. He said the vote on 6 November gave locals the opportunity to send a message to the British government.

The First Minister said yet again that the most powerful leaflets in the election campaign were people's energy bills, as they reminded voters "Labour has done little to help them with soaring bills this winter".

He said: "The thud of massive gas and electricity bills dropping through letterboxes will echo all the way to Downing Street.

"People here, and across Scotland, are crying out for help and support with soaring household bills, and on 6 November people in Fife will have the chance to speak for the whole of Scotland.

"People here know the SNP government is on their side, working hard to help put money back in their purses and pockets. People can send a message direct to Downing Street by voting SNP."

The First Minister's visit yesterday coincided with an internal Labour appeal to its MPs at Westminster to come north for the campaign's last few days, aware that the party has caught up with the SNP but needs an extra effort to secure the seat.

It is understood Labour strategists believe they have started winning the "airwaves" and the party is gaining momentum on the news agenda – but that it does not have enough activists on the ground to make sure the voters stay with Labour.

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