Let's not be churlish about deciding at the last minute to back what looks increasingly like a safe bet. Fairness, not favours - that's all the SNP has ever asked for from the Scottish media!
Sunday Herald Editorial
Scotland on Sunday Editorial
UPDATE: The Sunday Times and even the Sunday Express (!) are getting in on the act as well:
SUNDAY TIMES
Time for a change
“The Sunday Times has always been a Unionist paper. It may seem strange therefore that we should now come out for an SNP-led coalition. Yet that is our position . . . The choice now is not between the Union and independence, but between a Labour party that has run out of ideas and the SNP which promises more vigorous and imaginative government. We need a change of government, and only the SNP can provide this. Within the confines of devolution, and in the awareness that there will be another opportunity to vote for the Union, we have concluded that an SNP-led coalition is the best option for voters.”
SUNDAY EXPRESS
It’s Time
"Thursday’s poll is all about change, not independence. In his party’s manifesto, Alex Salmond offers ‘fresh thinking’ and there are few who would disagree that this is exactly what the country needs.”
5 comments:
The Scotland on Sunday leader is pretty grudging: it seems to be accepting that there will be a new administration, rather than particularly endorsing it.
The Sunday Herald's editorial is a different kettle of fish altogether - a real gold-plated "go out and vote SNP" epistle. Nearly brought a tear to my eye.
Still not voting for you, mind ;-)
Oh, go on... you'll be able to complain about us with so much more moral force in the future if you can pose as a disillusioned former voter :-)
I'd be inclined to agree with you re SoS, though.
I have a sneaking suspicion that we'll see a late run from Labour, a further dip in the Lib Dems, good results from the Conservatives and the Greens going nowhere. SSP and Solidarity, hopefully a split vote and we'll be left with maybe Mr.S and one other.
Yes, you'll win, but your troubles will just be beginning. As I've posted regularly on my own blog, I get the emotional independence argument absolutely. It's just the devil in the detail that will come back to haunt you.
I still enjoy your blog!
Thanks Richard.
The SNP's challenge over the last few years has been to win a series of small victories, such as helping drive forward the debate on devolution; to overturning the received wisdom that no party other than Labour could ever be in power in Scotland; to making a strong pitch for the business vote; to winning an election for Holyrood etc etc. A win next Thursday would be a significant milestone, but only a milestone none the less.
Even simply being 10% better than Labour this time round wouldn't have been enough. The bar is always set higher for the SNP, and in government that bar will be set higher still for us. Making the transition from being a party of serial oppositionalists hasn't always been easy, and it's going to take a while for a lot of Nats to get used to the idea that all of a sudden, things will be our fault and that in the minds of a lot of people, we're going to be on something of an extended probationary period.
It won't be easy, but getting into power and showing what the SNP can do is a necessary step if people are ever going to vote for independence. I'm sure there will be a lot of devillish details along the way, but we've got some good minds addressing themselves to these issues. As Sir Humphrey might have put it, in the fullness of time and when the moment is ripe, with all things being equal, and with the appropriate give and take on all sides, a mutually satisfactory conclusion should be within reach :-)
Regards,
Richard
Richard, that's a well argued piece.
I argue with Aileen Orr, who I would love to see as an MSP, about all this. I'm prepared to give the SNP a go and we'll see what happens, as you say. I suspect the goalposts will move,the sands will shift, the mists may clear, the hymn sheet might get muddled, but most important of all the sun will rise in the morning.
Whatever happens it will be more fun than Labour.
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