tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post5856835851015519219..comments2023-10-01T16:53:17.274+01:00Comments on Cicero's Songs: Just stepped out...Cicerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02090838836212624633noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15037609.post-34629629067809624862007-05-12T20:09:00.000+01:002007-05-12T20:09:00.000+01:00'Detestable'? Some perspective, please... and as f...'Detestable'? Some perspective, please... and as for being drowned in a wall of SNP money, I didn't notice too many Lib Dem complaints when the party was chucking c. £100,000 at both the Moray and Dunfermline & West Fife by-elections. <BR/><BR/>I'm sure that Nora Radcliffe has many estimable qualities, but would it hurt to concede that maybe, just maybe, on this occasion a better candidate won?<BR/><BR/>As for the referendum, the talks proposed by the SNP, had they gone ahead, would have started with a clean sheet of paper. Everyone in the SNP knows that there ain't going to be a referendum, at least this time round, so contrary to the Lib Dem spin, people were completely open-minded about where any talks might lead. If Nicol Stephen had deigned to accept the invitation to sit down and talk, he might have been pleasantly surprised at what he could have come away with.<BR/><BR/>Unlike independence, the Lib Dem goal of federalism is not something you can deliver with Scottish votes alone. With neither independence nor federalism an option in the short-term, there is a huge amount of scope for our parties to explore options for developing the parliament and building public support to that end. The opportunity of building that at government level is now good as dead, and with it the prospect of getting much shared policy implemented.<BR/><BR/>Assuming that this point is understood full well by the Lib Dem leadership, it seems that the SNP thoughtcrime of believing in independence is the real barrier to talks. Or is it that the Lib Dems really do want to be in opposition, but want to try and maintain a front of resigned regret to try and hide the fact?Richard Thomsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00380671811598211337noreply@blogger.com