 | ''We were elected as new Labour, and we will govern as new Labour', said Mr Blair on 2 May. He has. England has cause to be grateful to him. But as we know, what turns middle England on tends to leave middle Scotland cold.' Ian MacWhirter in the Scotsman,, 30 th April 1998 |  |
The Chief Executive of the Scottish National Party Mr Michael Russell today [10 th July 1996] revealed that the Scottish Labour Party's Home Page on the Internet was no longer in existence - as discovered through the Constitutional Convention's Home Page - and said that this was part and parcel of New Labour's declining commitment to Scotland. Mr Russell explained:
'The Constitutional Convention's Home Page is easily accessed on the Internet (at http://www.almac.co.uk/business_park/scc/) and has links to its constituent political parties - the so-called Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
'But when the Scottish Labour Party's page is called up, an abrupt message reads: 'FILE NOT FOUND - the requested URL/labour-party/policy/scotland.html was not found on this server.' The same is true when you try to get information on the Labour Party in Scotland on Labour's own London-based pages.
'Labour in Scotland are the only party not to have their own presence on the Web. The only way to find out about Labour is to call up their London-based Home Page, which lists Labour's Scottish HQ as a 'regional office', and offers only a cut-and-paste re-write of the 'Road to the Manifesto' for Scotland.
'Following New Labour's U-turn on a devolution referendum and the sovereignty of the Scottish people, an aide 'close to Tony Blair' said that, 'his toughness on devolution will play well in the Home Counties' (The Guardian, 1 July 1996).
'Perhaps removing the Home Page of the Scottish Labour Party from the Web is intended to 'play well' among people surfing the Net in the Home Counties!
'At every level, Labour are exposed as a southern-focussed party with a southern-focussed agenda. Only the SNP can be trusted to put Scotland first.'
Return to home page