Crucial duel
- 30 Oct 08, 07:23 PM
Glenrothes: The last ever duel in Scotland was fought a few miles from here in the aftermath of a financial crisis. A business man shot dead a banker after a row about a loan. One hundred and eighty two years later Glenrothes is the scene of a political duel between the leaders of Westminster and Scottish governments.
Not long ago no one doubted the outcome. Labour was expected to lose to the SNP like they did a couple of weeks ago in Glasgow East. What a difference an economic crisis has made.
Now some in Labour are daring to believe that they can retain this seat. Gordon Brown is now seen as an asset. The near collapse of Scotland's two major banks has raised real doubts about the capacity of this country to go it alone. Though the economic crisis is the backdrop against which this contest is being fought there is little evidence yet of its effect on this constituency.
The threat of job losses in the banks loom but unemployment for now remains low. The housing market is stagnant. But prices have fallen much less than in some other parts of the country. Thus the SNP's main focus is on the fuel bills which, it says, the London government should force energy companies to cut and the prescription charges and bridge tolls which the government in Edinburgh has cut.
Labour's response is to highlight the charges levied by an SNP controlled council which isn't to find money to freeze the council tax. The stakes of this contest can be shown by the fact that Alex Salmond has already made his ninth visit here and Gordon Brown who once insisted that prime ministers's don't do by-elections is about to make his third.
If Labour wins their victory will be hailed as evidence that Mr Brown has turned a political corner. If the SNP wins Mr Salmond will declare that he's proved wrong those who hailed the death of nationalism. It is a duel whose outcome will affect politics way beyond this part of Scotland.
PS. The facts about the last duel come from my colleague James Landale's book "The last duel".
(Note from BBC blog admin: an earlier version of this post was incompletely published owing to a technical error, this is the full version. Apologies for any confusion caused.)
