Dundee Liberal Democrats today (Friday 11th January) welcomed the fact that Nick Clegg, the new UK leader of the Liberal Democrats, visited Scotland this week, soon after his election as leader.
He firstly visited the Scottish Parliament to meet Nicol Stephen, Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland and the Liberal Democrat MSPs. Mr Clegg then met party members for a private question and answer session before moving on to a public session elsewhere in Edinburgh.
Mr Clegg lambasted the SNP First Minister for making promises that will be "impossible" for him to keep and outlined his vision for the future of devolution.
Nick Clegg said, "I think that he [Alex Salmond] has raised expectations which will be impossible for him to meet.
"I think if you look at the list, which grows almost longer by the day, of blandishments and promises he has made to the Scottish people which he is unlikely to deliver - from dumping student debt through to conjuring up more police officers, through to cutting class sizes. As each of these pledges are not delivered upon I think an increasing number of people in Scotland will say, 'the guy can talk the talk but he can't walk the walk'.
. . . "You can advocate further devolution on its own merits and also observe that setting your face against any further devolution and, doing what I fear Gordon Brown might do, pull up the drawbridge, slam the door against any moves towards further devolution, will act as a catalyst, in my view, for further support for independence. It will make it easier for those pushing the case for independence to wax and wail against obduracy from London."
Locally, here in Dundee, Liberal Democrat City Council Group Leader, Cllr Fraser Macpherson, said, "I am pleased to see Nick Clegg has Scotland extremely high on his list of priorities. His points about extending the role and responsibilities of the Scottish Parliament within the framework of the United Kingdom make perfect sense."
