Read the key points here:

Morhamburn Calman Report Summary

Following the Independent Budget Review of Scottish public expenditure chaired by Crawford Beveridge, the 2011 Scottish Elections could as well be branded as the ‘elections no-one would want to win’.

I’m sure come the 5^th of May the ballot papers will not be empty, yet those willing to take office next term are going to have be prepared to run the gauntlet.

The cuts forecast by the Review may or may not be as apocalyptic as some scare-mongering headline-breeders might have us believe, but one thing is for certain is that their consequences are not going to be popular.

From my brief escape from the dreich West coast, to the temperate climes of Auld-Reekie and the world of public affairs, one thing I have truly learnt is that it’s not about the thing that you do, it’s the way that you do it. Therein lies the danger for politicians.

Every action they take must be done in a manner aimed at the unfeasible goal of receiving the boundless love of their electorate, or at least a cross on a ballot. In reality the role of a politician is to be able to walk the line between what ought to be done, and what the people want to be done.

Queue politicians choosing policies, which can be bizarre, to say the least, if not senseless, in order to crowd please and minimise their burgeoning piles of hate-mail. The result being an electorate quite accustomed to being politically pampered.

I very much doubt that there is any divinely-granted vision as to how to proceed through the budget cuts which face Scotland, yet I’m fairly certain that teams of policy advisers lurking around Holyrood can and will deftly set out the most efficient route by which to navigate a minefield of spending cuts. However I’m also certain that such a path will be strayed from due to politicians on their relentless popularity-pursuit.

One would assume that politicians, with the (ostensible) aim of bettering the country would pursue such policies as to facilitate this, with this being largely true, unless of course they wish to be elected.

Nothing more can be said to hinder the successful running of a country than elections. We horrors who make up the electorate are naturally selfish beasts, and we want everything we can grasp; who cares if the country’s economy is as good as gone as a result?

Having been molly-coddled by overly protective politicians, we are all the more precocious, and can be sure to take advantage of their insecurities around election time to ensure that we really have wheedled all we can out of them.

At the danger of advocating the retraction of democracy in Scotland and the British Isles, and the establishment of a totalitarian-state, I do feel that in instances like this, few are bound to be pleased and so for politicians to carve out policies attempting to pander to the moaning-masses in a quest for their adoration is dangerous, with no long term benefits to anyone. The kindly MSP may be re-elected, but somewhere down the line, as a result of their soft-handed approach, the proverbial will indeed hit the fan.

My advice is entirely unfeasible; no one wants to be Billy-no-mates and no MSP wants to be out of a job come next May, but politicians really ought to stop being so nice – tough-love is the only solution.

[The views expressed by Morhamburn people in their blogs are theirs and theirs alone. they do not represent the thoughts of the company as a whole or our clients. If you have a comment to make on any blog, please email info@morhamburn.com and we’ll put the printable ones up on the website]

If Cameron accepts his invite he would be the first Conservative leader to speak at their annual conference, a spot normally reserved for a Labour heavyweight. The Transport Union RMT has confirmed that it is initiating organised opposition to this invitation, applying pressure on the TUC to withdraw the invite and threatening a walkout of its members from the conference if ‘Dave’ does take to the stage.

The prospect of Dave endowing his pearls of wisdom and ‘fiscal fascism’ is not your average Trade Unionist’s cup of tea. Especially with rumours adrift of plans to extend upon the union-limiting laws of the Thatcher-era, with transport Secretary Philip Hammond reportedly having met with Boris Johnson with the sole purpose of gaining advice for new rules to govern industrial action.

The RMT have already won support from the North West Region of the TUC who have issued a motion demanding the withdrawal on the grounds that the invitation sent the ‘wrong message to its members’; this statement is not without merit. As Bob Crow was quick to point out the TUC should be about protecting ‘jobs, pensions, public services and living standards’ and it cannot be queried that all of these are under imminent threat from ‘Cameron’s-cuts’.

However, Bob Crow’s boys may have jumped the gun. The invite from the TUC for Cameron to speak is not quite heralding in a new TUC-Tory love-in era, where the Westminster coalition is ushered in to trample over the Unions as they please. Rather the RMT should see Cameron’s potential address as an opportunity in their favour. Instead of running for the hills, in an attempt to gain heroic kudos amongst their peers, the situation should be utilised wisely by the likes of Crow, and time be made preceeding Cameron’s speech for questions, which would allow the Union’s perceived flaws in his administration be exposed.

Given that the conference will command sizeable media attention, coverage of Cameron being given a thorough grilling will dent his airbrushed armour far more so than if Bob Crow, the RMT’s leader, has his way and Cameron’s words left unchallenged ’echoing around an empty hall.’

To follow Crow’s wishes will only serve to reinforce and perpetuate the view from the right of the ranks of Trade Unions being populated by pig-headed old-timers, so work-shy and walk-out prone that they would even abscond from their own key event.

Like it, or-almost certainly in this case- not, Cameron and his policies are not going anywhere too distant in the near future.  As such Unionists should perhaps keep their enemies closer than their friends. If Unions want to retain a strong voice, able to represent their members’ needs and command respect, they must be seen to be willing and able to engage with their age-old enemies of the right in an effective manner. It is understandable that the reflex reaction to news of Cameron’s proposed speech is of disgust, but they cannot sustain this approach. In order to avoid being overlooked as anachronistic, stagnant force Unions must show themselves to be capable of intelligent manoeuvres to challenge issues affecting its membership: the TUC’s invite to Cameron being the first of these.

An address by Cameron to the TUC should not be seen as Unionists selling out to the flavour of the week, instead a well considered initiative, acknowledging the powers at be who will continue to influence the values they represent, creating a forum for interaction with them.

[The views expressed by Morhamburn people in their blogs are theirs and theirs alone. they do not represent the thoughts of the company as a whole or our clients. If you have a comment to make on any blog, please email info@morhamburn.com and we’ll put the printable ones up on the website]