Welcome to our weekly weekend recap. Our team here at ScotlandVotes share their best stories from the weekend. It’s not just all Scottish politics. But please dip in and have a read…
Peter Kellner writes in the Sunday Times that both Labour and the Tories are struggling to steal a lead on the other. He said that a couple of polls last week that put Labour ahead were consistent with the usual margin of error and were not, in fact, indicative of a Labour lead. Kellner suggests that if both parties maintain current polling then neither will find it easy to form a viable Government in May. This new forecast takes into account Labour’s parlous prospects in Scotland and the Tory’s failure to make progress. AG
The Financial Times carries a fascinating profile of Lord Ashcroft by Elizabeth Rigby. The Tory Party grandee who is plunging his own money into constituency polling, causing mayhem and mischief for all. The profile charts Ashcroft’s business success and his subsequent involvement from Tory ‘inner circle’ to now sitting very much ‘out of the tent’. It also includes his personal animosity towards Conservative chief strategist, Lynton Crosby. DM
In the weekend before manifesto week both the main parties announced major policies. In an interview with the Independent Ed Miliband talks about his pledge to raise £7.5bn from a crack-down on tax avoidance. In an interview with the Sunday Times David Cameron announces a lift on the inheritance tax threshold giving a couple a shared tax break on properties worth up to £1 million. AG
Tom Peterkin in the Scotland on Sunday speculates about the possibility of a Labour/Lib Dem deal leaving the SNP out in the cold after the general election. This follow opinion poll analysis from John Curtice suggesting Labour is in line to win 302 seats with the Lib Dems heading for 20, putting them within spitting distance of the 323 required for a majority. NB
The Mail saw some Conservative MPs break rank on what they see as a “flat-footed” General Election campaign. Among these are Brian Binley who is standing down and former Defence Secretary Liam Fox who in his own article for the Mail on Sunday criticised the increasingly “Dickensian” tone of the austerity argument and called for a broader mission statement. AG
More public appearances means more scrutiny, which doesn’t prove all that helpful for David Coburn as he’s interviewing in the Sunday Herald by Tom Gordon. Euan McColm also does a superb job in the Scotland on Sunday of recognising that UKIP has an appeal that Scotland’s ‘liberal elite’ might not recognise. DM
And finally, to the surprise of no one, Hillary Clinton announced she was running to be President of the United States. She did so in this very slick video: