Propaganda.

Mr Smith finds it hard to believe that some of our elected representatives would have the audacity to use publicly funded Parliamentary postage and materials to send out communications to their constituents in an attempt to win themselves more votes in the run up to an election. Then again ... perhaps he doesn't. But yet again the Holyrood authorities seem to have closed the stable door after the horses have already bolted ... and been re-elected.

"MSPS HAVE been banned from spending more than £5000 a year on office supplies following fears they were using the publicly-funded system to boost their re-election chances. Holyrood officials imposed the cap after MSPs racked up a record spend on postage and stationery last year. The £477,000 bill, up 75% from the previous year, was incurred while MSPs were trying to regain their places in the parliament."

And some of the worst offenders? Step forward ... "Christine Grahame, the SNP MSP for South of Scotland, who spent £26,465 on central office supplies ... Her bill was around seven times the average and almost 10 times the £2701 she spent in 2005-06. Another big spender was Labour's Cathy Craigie, who racked up £17,302 while defending a 520-vote majority in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth. Craigie's office spend was more than triple the £5358 she used from the central budget the previous year. Fellow Labour MSPs Wendy Alexander and Jackie Baillie were close to the top of the office supplies league table, spending £14,450 and £14,649 respectively."

Malawi Bound.

Courtesy of Drumlanrig, "A ripple went through the Scottish Parliament's media block last week when a press release from Jack McConnell arrived, suggesting that there be a free vote on the matter of Wendy Alexander's suspension. Labour were being whipped to vote against the plan, so what could the former First Minister have been wanting? Surely not to put the boot in one last time? We will never know, as McConnell found a convenient excuse to miss the 5pm vote on Thursday evening. What a surprise!"

When are you leaving us Jack?

The One That Got Away.

So, Members of the Scottish Parliament did it, or rather 72 of them did it.

"Former Labour leader in Scotland Wendy Alexander escaped a Holyrood ban today after MSPs voted against imposing the sanction. The Scottish Parliament's Standards Committee had recommended Ms Alexander be barred from Holyrood for a day after it decided she broke the rules by failing to register donations to her leadership campaign within the required 30 days. But MSPs rejected that by 49 votes to 70, with two abstentions."

What is exactly having the point of having rules, if you can break them without any sanction being imposed? And what kind of justice allows your party colleagues to get you off the hook when you have been found guilty by a process they are meant to uphold? Parliament has made itself look even more disreputable than it already did in relation to the whole Wendygate affair.

She is the one that got away, and in doing so proved that there is indeed one law for them and one law for us.

The 20,000.

And from Drumlanrig again, "Confusion reigns at the Boundary Commission, which is again looking at changes to Scotland's 73 constituencies. The muddle centres on Renfrewshire, home to five seats. The Labour Party has apparently estimated there are around 250,000 voters in the area – which would mean one of those seats gets the axe. But we hear Wendy Alexander (Paisley North), below, is insisting the figure is 270,000. This would ensure that the area kept hold of its five seats (including the deposed former leader of the Scottish people's party). Surely brainbox Wendy would never get her figures muddled up?"

Does Wendy know something we don't? A mass migration of punters into Ferguslie Park? Or an alien invasion ... of the extraterrestrial kind?

Us And Them.

Mr Smith is amazed that the Scottish Parliament is even considering reversing its earlier decision to suspend Wendy Alexander from the Scottish Parliament for breaking Holyrood's rules.

"A LIBERAL Democrat MSP who voted to suspend Wendy Alexander from Holyrood says he will resign his post if the Scottish Parliament does not back his committee's decision. Hugh O'Donnell, whose vote was crucial in delivering a fatal blow to Alexander's leadership, says MSPs will "undermine" the Standards Committee if they overturn the proposed ban after a debate scheduled for Thursday. MSPs could vote down the one-day suspension plan on the grounds that Alexander - described yesterday by Chancellor Alistair Darling as "not likeable at all" - has suffered enough by resigning."

Either Wendy Alexander broke the rules or she didn't. And if she did, she deserves to be punished. One law for them and another for us?

But the fact that Mr O'Donnell has already been "reshuffled" off the Standards Committee by his new leader seems to suggest that MSPs will probably let Wendy off the hook which will set a precedent leading to lighter punishments for MSPs that break the rules going forward.

Queue Here.

Is it just Mr Smith or is it very ironic that when Wendy Alexander decided to stand as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party last year the Peoples' Party couldn't even rustle up one Labour MSP with a pulse to oppose her, but that now she has resigned there are reportedly no fewer than five Labour MSPs in the frame to have a go at winning the top job?

"THE battle to replace Wendy Alexander as Labour leader in Scotland begins when nominations open today. The front-runners are public services spokesman Andy Kerr, finance spokesman Iain Gray and current deputy leader Cathy Jamieson. Ex-Glasgow council leader Charlie Gordon - responsible for the dodgy donation that dogged Alexander's time as leader - and back-bencher Ken Macintosh have also expressed an interest."

Just a pity one of them didn't have the get up an go to challenge her last year, it would have saved them a year of embarrassing headlines and total political distraction. They say that the Brits love a queue.

Labour's Luvvies Lost.

So the Scottish Labour Party can't seem to come up with anyone to fight the Glasgow East Westminster by-election which has probably got something to do with the normally rock solid majority of 13,000 in the seat looking about as shaky as one of those nodding dogs you see in the back seat of some cars.

We now have the latest possible candidate identified as Labour MSP Margaret Curran who as recently as last week was also being tipped as a possible successor to Wendy Alexander MSP as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, but how is it possible for Margaret to do two jobs, as an MSP and as MP, at the same time? Come to think of it maybe she should ask her Labour MSP colleagues Lord George Foulkes, who manages to do three of them, and Jack McConnell, who seems to manage two at the moment, one of which involves a lot of jet setting.

We knew that Labour were keen on creating jobs, but Mr Smith never appreciated before that it was so that they could have more than one of them for themselves.

But a friendly word of warning for Margaret. The last female candidate that was hand-picked to run in a by-election by PM Gordon Brown was Labour MEP Catherine Stihler ... who went on to loose the Dunfermline West by-election in what had also been a previously "rock solid" Labour seat. But never mind Margaret, even if you lose you will still be able to continue as a Labour MSP, just like Ms. Stihler continues as a Labour MEP.

Shrink Wrapped.

Mr Smith thinks this story smells of diversionary spin which seems to have worked in the case of the Scotsman to at least down grade Wendy Alexander's "guilty" verdict in Wendy Gate, at least for a day.

"Labour employs psychiatrist to beat Salmond ... Labour hopes that with a little expert help Wendy Alexander will finally get the upper hand on Alex Salmond ... WHEN it comes to winning political battles in the cauldron of the debating chamber, the mind games employed by the chief combatants are all- important. And most observers of the hurly-burly that is Question Time in the Scottish Parliament would agree that First Minister Alex Salmond tends to emerge victorious over his main adversary, Wendy Alexander ..."

Mr Smith has news for Scottish Labour. They are going to need more than a psychiatrist to help Wendy Alexander beat Alex Salmond in a straight forward Question Time challenge. They are going to need a new leader.

Goodbye Miss Wendy ... At Last.

Guilty.

So, straight from the school of "we knew it, we've known it for a while, but hey ho" comes the startling revelation that Scottish Labour Leader Wendy Axander MSP broke Scottish Parliament rules by not declaring campaign donations.

"Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander broke parliamentary rules by not declaring donations to her leadership campaign, a Holyrood committee ruled. The committee will now decide what action to take against the MSP. Ms Alexander said in a letter to the committee that she acted in good faith, and on the advice of officials."

Is ignorance of the law ever an excuse? Probably. But not if it means that our politicians get to have one standard of not "deliberately" breaking the law, when everyone else is held to the standard of simply breaking it.

Mr Smith is tired of the spin that surrounds Wendy Alexander on this issue. She won't resign, but in not resigning she does massive damage to the body politic in Scotland and to the standing of the Scottish Labour Party. Perhaps her fellow Labour MSPs need to take matters into their own hands on this and vote her out as their Leader. But it appears they don't have the courage to do that.

Bendy Wendy.

Since when was it news for a Scottish Labour MP to support his Scottish "Leader"? This story speaks a million words about the perilous position now occupied by Wendy Alexander in relation to the Westminster Branch of the Peoples' Party.

"WENDY Alexander received the support of one of Gordon Brown's Westminster allies yesterday over her call for a snap referendum on independence. The Scottish Labour leader's decision to back an immediate referendum is not supported by all in her party, but Nigel Griffiths, MP for Edinburgh South and a colleague of the Prime Minister, said yesterday a referendum should be held "as soon as possible", with a straight yes-no vote ..."

Deja Vu.

Mr Smith can't help but have a feeling of it.

"WENDY ALEXANDER has made yet another U-turn on a public vote on Scottish independence."

If you really want a referendum Wendy ... phone Gordon the PM. The UK Parliament could legislate for it tomorrow and with an inbuilt Labour majority at Westminster you shouldn't have any problems with getting it passed. Or would you?

Separated At Birth.

According to Drumlanrig (via Guido Fawkes), "WRONG, SO WRONG ... Further proof that you can't trust London-based papers to get Scottish stories right. The following comes from Andrew Alexander in last week's Daily Mail. "The head of the Scottish Labour party, Wendy Alexander, is married to cabinet minister Douglas Alexander."Not just wrong, but rather unsavoury too."

Branching Out.

From the Scotsman ... a cartoon tells ten thousand words.

Part of the Union.

Really worrying headline in today's Scotsman .... "Brown leaves the future of Union in Wendy's hands."

God help us. If we have to rely on Wendy, the 300 year old Union has already bitten the dust.

Call My Bluff.

Another surprise from Oor Wendy.

"LABOUR leader Wendy Alexander backed a referendum on Scottish independence, in a major U-turn intended to call Alex Salmond's "bluff"."

Albeit that the Labour people will only support a one question referendum with yes or no as the answer which they SNP don't want. A very risky strategy, and Mr Smith suspects that the longer we go until a referendum, the riskier Wendy's approach will become, especially with the SNP securing 45% support in the most recent opinion poll. But why did Labour and Wendy spend the best part of the last year, indeed forever, arguing against an independence referendum only to now agree to one when no-one really wanted them to? It looks a bit weak.

Not so much "Call My Bluff" as "Risk".

Whitewash?

"THE Scottish National party has accused Strathclyde police of failing to investigate fully allegations of fraud against Wendy Alexander, the Scottish Labour leader. Christine Grahame, the Nationalist MSP, has written to Stephen House, the force's chief constable, describing its six-week inquiry, in which key witnesses were not interviewed and financial records not examined, as a “whitewash”. She has also demanded an investigation by the police complaints commissioner. Police were asked to investigate claims that Alexander's supporters fraudulently raised £12,000 at two dinners, cash that was later spent on her 2003 election campaign."

Last word to the Police, "A spokeswoman for Strathclyde said it had concluded its investigations: “No evidence of fraudulent activity has been found and the matter is no longer under investigation by this force.”

Maybe we should get Trading Standards involved given that at the very least people were mis-sold tickets for the event? They would probably jump at the chance.

Wendy City.

So, "WENDY Alexander's recent conversion to pure socialism may have come as a surprise to many voters. Now it is revealed that she cut her political teeth in the loony-left world of student politics, banning sweets because they were “racist” and setting up a sexual harassment hotline that received no calls. Making a name for herself as a student activist in the early 1980s, Alexander denounced all products made by Rowntree Mackintosh, the confectioner, as symbols of apartheid. She managed to get Fruit Pastilles, Smarties, KitKats and Toffos banned from Glasgow University shops “to show support for those fighting for democracy in South Africa”.

Fruit Pastles and apartheid? It's all coming out of Wendy's closet now. Mr Smith quite likes Fruit Pastilles, but you can't get them on this side of The Pond.

Nice and sleazy.

So, Scottish Labour Leader Wendy Alexander's judgement of the people she chooses to surround herself with continues to show no signs of improving.

"A spin doctor who quit after he was caught with a hooker in his car has been brought back as an adviser to Wendy Alexander. Philip Chalmers plunged Donald Dewar's administration into crisis when he resigned over the scandal in 2000. But he now has a trusted role as an unofficial adviser to the Scottish Labour leader."

And she expects people to trust her to run the country ...

She's a "Perfect Ten."

"Wendy Alexander has given herself a perfect score in her performance as Scottish Labour leader. She awarded herself a "10 out of 10", while saying it was time to move on from the donation scandal which hit her leadership campaign."

Does Wendy really believe this? Does she expect anybody else to? She probably would have said "eleven out of ten" if she'd had time to think about it.