Griffin Questions were Commercial Suicide says Lanarkshire Radio Station

Derek McIntyre programme director of Lanarkshire Radio Station L107 based in Hamilton has admitted to 'commercial suicide' by arranging to interview Nick Griffin this morning. Fifty people emailed the local community station withdrawing support and a few advertisers have also backed out from Poultry farmers may have had a little bit more success as a number were thrown at the BNP leader.

The station must have known what they were facing as their website had advertised this morning's mid-morning James Russell show as:

"This Wednesday on the mid-morning show...probably the most controversial interview ever on Scottish radio."

Mr Russell also described the scenes outside the station as peaceful, yet 3 people were arrested for breach of the peace offences, one also for resisting arrest. the BNP leader had faced a total of eight calls in the hour.

It's been a mixed week for Griffin following his appearance on Question Time. His own supporters either want him to resign as leader for failing to press the attack on air or are flooding the BBC forum with comments. But whatever the outcome his party didn't appear to get any bounce in the opinion poll either out of sympathy from the protests or for his performance on the show.

One Foot in Brown's Grave

The lastest Ipsos Mori puts Labour in 3rd place in an opinion poll for the first time since Michael Foot was leader in 1982. With the Tories on 36% down 7% on last month, the Liberal Democrats on 25% up 8% and Labour on 24% down 2%.

Of course the media are going to put this down to a Lib Dem conference bounce, but don't forget this is the same media that said that the Lib Dem conference was a disaster for the leadership only last week. Maybe it is a conference bounce and if it is it shows that the people can see past the media spin and realise that the Lib Dems listen to people whether the party members for forming policy or as Katy Gordon proved the people (women) on the street.

Rumours tonight are also circulating that Gordon Brown is going to announce at last that he is prepared to take part in Prime Ministerial debates ahead of the next general election. However, there are also hints that he is seeking to exclude Nick Clegg from some of the series of debates he proposes. Here in lies a fault there are currently just 8% points between the three main parties in this latest opinion poll. Not as close as in 1982 when it was wafer thin between the three. Then the other two parties tried to exclude the Alliance to hinder the birth of three party politics, now 25 years on Labour are trying to do the same again from an even weaker position.

The only bright spot of the Labour conference so far it seem was Lord Mandlevort of Hartlepool and Foy's speech this afternoon. From what I saw yesterday it look like a wake. They truly are a party on the downward slide. Now the Prime Minister is worse off than they were in there darkest hour in opposition. Not only is he in third place but has less than a quarter of the support of those polled. He truly does have one (Michael) Foot in the Grave. Things can only get worse, one expects.

However, the hegmony of our current electoral system is once again shown when the opinion poll is put into Electoral Calculus. On this opinion poll the Tories would have 327 seats, Labour on 209 and the Lib Dems with 82. So even having overhauled a sick Labour Party in the opinion polls the Lib Dems would still have less than half the seats. How the apologists for First Past the Post can call this a clear, simple, easy-to-understand outcome is beyond me. Even when they are in third place Labour would still maintain a strong second place in the number of seats. Just how safe are some of those that wear a red rosette?

The answer sadly is that leaving the Tories as they are on 36% even if the Lib Dems reach 30% and Labour sink to 19% they will still have more seats than the second most popular Lib Dems. The split is 341, 141, 135. Surely that cannot be right?

Fe Fi Fo Fum Labour Feel the Breath of the Lib Dems Now

The latest opinions polls do not make good reading for Labour. The one in the Independent on Sunday in particular with the Conservatives on 38%, Labour 23% and the Lib Dems just behind them on 22%. So the Lib Dems are right behind Labour on share of the vote.

However, while the share may have us equal the seat share shows the ridiculous nature of our electoral system. According to Electoral Calculus returns for that vote share 358 Conservatives, 198 Labour and 68 Lib Dems. One percentage point should not equate to 130 MPs and almost three times as many. That clearly shows how Lib Dem votes are not fairly accounted for in the current First Past the Post Voting System.

Just as a little experiment I decided to keep the Tories in 38% an swap share from Labour to the Lib Dems find out the level of parity. The result is that it only happens at Lib Dems 28% (120 seats) Labour 17% (118) a full 12% swing still required to get parity in seats from being right behind Labour in share of vote. It would apparently give the Tories a 108 seat majority but with the vote shares reversed the Tories would have a 14 seat majority Con 332, Lab 242, Lib Dem 45.

Is it any wonder that have to work so much harder to get any vote than the other parties seem to have too. It's because that vote on the national scale is not quite the same value.

On a plus side for us North of the Border Electoral Calculus on the current figures gives Edinburgh South, Edinburgh North and Leith, Aberdeen South and Glasgow North to the Lib Dems. The Tories will on these figures make gains in Scotland just don't believe them south of the Meadows.