Sunday 20 July 2008

Carbon Footprints - Tales from the East End III

As I alluded to earlier I spend the greater part of yesterday being serenaded by the various tannoy equipped cars of other parties. Sometimes these were even in part of a convoy of 2 or three vehicles. It got me to wondering just what sort of carbon footprint the other campaigns are having as a result of the campaign.

From about 10am to at least 7pm I was getting a more or less a continuous intermittent or distant sound of one, or on occasion two such convoys going past somewhere nearby. It is also the second weekend I've managed to get over and the same parties are doing it both times. Therefore I'm guessing that all four parties (SNP, Tories, SSP, Solidarity) were running them pretty much non-stop. So just how much fuel are all of these parties using to run these electioneering tools. Also how much are they adding to Glasgow's carbon foot print in doing this a result, and is such activity actually productive if you have to be outdoors to hear "lo I'm Alex Salm" at all while it passes you by for example.

More to the point will the SNP, Conservatives, Solidarity and Scottish Socialist Party be declaring the fuel costs for running this mobile visual and audible displays. Fuel in cars being used to move campaigners to parts of the constituency would not count under election expenses but these surely are a public display and therefore should be fully recorded in expenses even if the car and fuel were gifted to the parties for this use, such gift in kinds have to be declared.

On a similar car related note I was actually taking a little break in the early evening when the Scottish Socialists came down Shettleston Road past the Lib Dem HQ in the longest convoy of the day with 3 cars including this one to the right. Not a bad car to able to afford on a average workers wage wouldn't you say? Ironic that the SSP tannoy was talking about the average workers wage when be tailed by a supporter in a car far more ostentatious than could be afforded by such means and running three cars in convoy at 118.9p per litre is also a little above the average worker.

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