Letter to the Courier on Target Seats

My Letter to Inverness Courier, (published Friday 8th Feb 2013)

Dear Sir

David Stewart MSP makes the point in Tuesday’s Courier that Labour will be the main challenger to the LibDems in Inverness come the 2015 General Election. 

Labour supporters in the seat will be encouraged to know that far from “giving up” on the seat, we intend  to deliver the Highlands very  own “Portillo Moment”.

Target seat lists are based on standard electoral arithmetic, average swings etc.  What they don’t take account of is the plunging level of support for a sitting MP who has broken so many of the promises he made to his voters in 2010, joined enthusiastically with the Tories and is playing a leading role in driving a programme of savage cuts affecting family after family across the Highlands.

We know that’s what happening to Danny Alexander’s vote because Labour campaign teams are already out knocking on doors across the constituency (we’ll be in Drakies on Saturday if anyone wants to join us).   People are telling us first-hand about the impact of cuts to housing benefits, child allowances and working tax credits, which mainly affect the household budgets of working people on low wages.  And as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander has a heavy responsibility for the failure to grow the economy which means borrowing is higher than ever, despite the cuts. 

By 2015, we think Highland voters will have had enough of this Coalition and will not be prepared  to vote LibDem just to put the Tories back in power again.  We’ve already seen what happened to the LibDem vote in the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections.  Scottish Labour will be running strong campaigns in ALL the Highland seats.  Our newly established Highland Labour Campaign Forum is bringing together party activists from all across the Highlands in a coordinated campaign between now and 2015 to make sure we elect not just one but at least two Labour MPs to represent the Highlands.

Mike Robb

Chair

Highland Labour Campaign Forum