Campaign Hits Aberdeen
The north east was the focus of the devolution campaign this afternoon. Alex Salmond, the leader of the SNP, took to the streets of Aberdeen to campaign for a Yes, Yes vote while the Conservative Constitutional Affairs spokesman, Michael Ancram, was in the city for a party rally.
Alex Salmond, MP for the north eastern constituency of Banff and Buchan, campaigned in Aberdeen city centre, telling voters that the north east would be one of the "powerhouse areas" of the new Scottish parliament. He argued that for as long as the region is represented at Westminster it would be on the periphery, with little influence, whereas in a new Scottish parliament it would command one-eighth of all the seats and thus have "a decisive influence on the new Scottish democracy."
Michael Ancram rubbished these claims saying that the regions would suffer at the hands of a Central Belt dominated Scottish assembly. He argued that if there was competition for discretionary spending in a new parliament of this sort, then "if it is Gordon or Glasgow that is going to get the discretionary spending, it'll go to Glasgow."
