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VIEW FROM THE HUSTINGS - European Movement
April 30, 2009 6:13 PM
Husting events give voters the opportunity to see candidates in their most basic form, not hidden behind or flanked by press officers or political aides. You are up on a stage alone, no idea what the questions will be - and that is why, to me, they are a wholly enjoyable experience.
It is just as well I like them - I have fourteen in my increasingly busy campaign diary between now and 4th June.
Last night it was the turn of the European Movement to host. Candidates from all the major parties were in attendance, and one from a party only in existence because of hatred and mistrust.
A BNP candidate although, rightly, not granted a place with the panel had made it into the audience. His question and views got the short shrift they deserved from all parties, but it is a shame that his question formed from that most unfortunate of phrases - "British jobs for British workers." An idiotic phrase which only serves to attract idiots.
To the issues. They were wide ranging and on the whole perceptive from a crowd of around 80. From climate change to education, the BBC to rail fares. One person wanted the names of the parties on the ballot paper to be changed to the Federal parties that sit in the European Parliament so that the issues discussed in the campaign would be more focused on Europe.
Not sure I agree with that one. Voters get to decide what elections are about and the European elections are, inevitably, going to be about the economy and the recession that Labour has dragged Scotland into.
Remember Gordon Brown saying that he had abolished boom and bust? Well, I suppose he was half right. He has certainly put paid to the UK's booming economy. But let us be in no doubt, his reputation and that of the Labour party is well and truly bust.
The Liberal Democrat campaign will have at its heart our plans for short term economic recovery and long term economic stability. We can help combat climate change and build a new economy at the same time by investing in 'Green Collar' jobs. The short sighted VAT cut that Labour pushed through with the help of the SNP missed an opportunity to create 95,000 jobs in the renewables sector, 10,000 of which would have come to Scotland.
As Tavish Scott said recently, Scotland must have three priorities right now - jobs, jobs, and jobs. More than three million jobs in the UK are dependent on trade with other EU countries. That is exactly why Scotland needs a strong liberal voice to work with Europe to protect jobs and move our economy forward. Those same jobs would be put at risk by Conservative isolationism, Labour's lack of courage and the SNP's ideological blind spot.
When it comes to the United Kingdom or Europe, Liberal Democrats think that we are stronger together and poorer apart. That is a message I am determined to get across to keep Scotland strong and safe.
George Lyon
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