| After months of harrying the
Scottish Executive over cod quotas, the SNP is expected this week to tone down opposition
to the proposed SE tie up deal. It is anticipated that party leader John Swinney will
advise fishermen that the compensation deal is the best on offer. Mr
Swinney told the JT: "It is really the a dream come true and I advise fishermen to
get back to work and banish from their minds any thought of running candidates in the
up-coming SP elections."
The volte-face is no way connected with the fact that the SNP traditionally do
well in towns that smell of dead fish and a Fishermen’s Party might damage the
SNP’s electoral chances.
"Only a cynic could possibly construe such an interpretation" Mr
Swinney insisted, "There comes a time to put aside making political capital out of
the parlous state of the industry - especially when it's apparent that those treacherous
trawlermen are about to fuck the SNP up big time." |
It is expected that senior SNP
figures will visit the affected areas within the next few weeks to offer their continued,
albeit conditional, support to the cod-killing community. It is
understood that all-purpose party spokesfish, Nicola Sturgeon will tour the local fish
markets while staying well clear of men with sharp knives and an even sharper
understanding of just how much caviar fetches on the open market.
Elsewhere in the bitter cynicism-free world of Scottish politics, FM Jack
McConnell announced this week that Aberdeen would benefit from the building of a new ring
road. Dismissing claims that the project amounted to a pre-election bribe, Mr McConnell
insisted that the launch was "just a matter of timing."
The same timing presumably which will see Finance Minister Andy Kerr dressing up
as Santa and delivering (ahem) "late" Xmas presents to kids in deserving
circumstances.* |
