A special bunch of pals

I don’t usually have the telly on during the day, but I had it on in the background yesterday so that I could keep up to speed with the election results. Who would’ve thought that the SNP would win so emphatically?! I’m hopeless when it comes to politics, so there’s not much point in me saying too much more about it, other than I’m glad that Bruce Crawford, our constituency SNP candidate, was elected. 

He was the only local candidate that I saw campaigning in our village and he actually phoned me at home! In a fairly lengthy conversation we discussed an issue that caused a bit of an upset recently in our wee village. Basically, the council had pushed forward a proposal to build some houses in our community centre field. Most of the local residents, including me, weren’t opposed to houses being built, but many of us were unhappy with the proposed site for a variety of reasons; mostly in relation to road safety and the loss of a popular community playing field. There were other sites that seemed more suitable for new housing, but the council were reluctant to use them. Anyway, the SNP councillors were behind the proposal to use the site but at a recent planning meeting the Labour and Tory members, fortunately, voted against it. The week after the meeting there was a report in our local paper which included a quote from one of the SNP councillors stating that the opposition to the proposal had been a case of “middle class areas looking down their noses at social rented housing”.  I was absolutely beelin’ when I read that. If any of the SNP councillors had taken the time to come along to the meetings in the village, as the Tory and Labour guys had done, they’d have heard a whole load of our villagers speaking up in support of new social housing. It was the site that was opposed, not the proposal itself – and a variety of alternative sites were suggested. They’d also have seen the big truck parked in our driveway and the mucky working boots on our doorstep; hardly the signs of a “middle class” snobby household!

So, back to Bruce Crawford. During our conversation he apologised for not getting involved in the issue at an earlier date, and explained that the councillors didn’t represent his view. Easy to say that, I know, when the votes have been cast and the proposal’s not going ahead – but, I did appreciate the fact that he took the time to discuss the matter with me and that he apologised for any upset that the councillors had caused! Whether he meant it or not, it was nice to hear a politician make a personal apology! I had been swithering about who to vote for, but the effort made by Brucie swung it!

My friend Linda also had a visit from her local SNP candidate. As she explains in her blog, it was the only time she saw anyone canvassing in her area and, because of the interest shown in an issue very close to Linda’s heart, it made her more likely to vote for that party. I guess the old fashioned way of knocking on doors does work!

Speaking of Linda, I had such a lovely time with her and two of my other friends from my old course last night. I hadn’t seen Claire or Sharon since our very emotional last day in Dunblane, so it was just brilliant to catch up again. Special friendships like ours don’t come along all that often and I consider myself extremely lucky to have these lovely people in my life. We could’ve blethered all night, but all had things on today so didn’t stay up too late. I’ve been up since early morning trying to write the last fecking essay of this OU module – the blog’s been a welcome escape! I’m determined to get it finished before the weekend’s over, so back to it. I’m looking forward to feeling great when it’s done!