SNP conference

Mr Salmond’s turn to woo new votes

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WITH the dust settling on the party conferences, one wonders what effect, if any, they had on the everyday lives of ordinary people. Not much, is probably the answer, until people really start to feel tangible benefits.

It was Alex Salmond’s turn, at the SNP conference, to woo new votes. While Gordon Brown is desperate to survive and David Cameron desperate not to mess up, all Mr Salmond has to do is keep things ticking over nicely after the SNP’s remarkable success. He does not rule the roost yet, with his minority administration always under threat of being outvoted, but he is enjoying keeping it warm.

His was a curious speech in parts; a mixture of the predictable, peppered with the odd surprise. You would think, after the worldwide furore over the Lockerbie bomber, they would move on quietly. That is not Mr Salmond’s style and he reopened this can of worms by not just defending it, but also likening the decision to the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. Could it be this tortuous spin of self-justification is not so much a sign of confidence, but of lingering self-doubt?

Most avenues opened up by the SNP lead back to one starting point: independence. Mr Salmond again accused the majority parties of denying Scotland’s right to an independence referendum, but if people really wanted that would he not have a thumping overall majority by now?

Mr Salmond says he wants London “to dance to a Scottish tune”. We shall discover after next year’s general election and the progress of his proposed referendum bill if he really is in tune with majority opinion in Scotland.