 | 'The First Minister was put in the firing line by Scots Secretary Alistair Darling who claimed a row over Forth road bridge tolls scuppered Labour's chances in Dunfermline and West Fife.' Brian Lironi, Political Editor in the Sunday Mail, 12 th February 2006. |  |
JACK McCONNELL yesterday dodged the flak flying over Labour's by-election defeat, saying: "It's not my fault."
The First Minister was put in the firing line by Scots Secretary Alistair Darling who claimed a row over Forth road bridge tolls scuppered Labour's chances in Dunfermline and West Fife.
But McConnell hit back, saying there was nothing more he could have done to clear up Labour's shambles over the tolls.
McConnell's spokesman said: "There is no way decisions about the Forth bridge could have been taken during the by-election.
"It's not that we were trying to avoid accusations of electioneering over the issue, it was just due process."
The row flared after Chancellor Gordon Brown - who lives in the constituency and represents neighbouring Kirkcaldy - entered the debate over the bridge.
He said that proposals for a £3 hike in toll charges at peak times to £4 had been abandoned - even though the decision wasn't his to take.
However, McConnell said that a decision would be made after he had received a report on the state of the bridge.
The Executive received that report on January 26, meaning McConnell and Lib Dem transport minister Tavish Scott had two weeks to reach a decision before polling day.
But then they stuck to their guns and said that a decision would not be made until the end of this month or early in March.
This resulted in rows over the bridge and "who runs Scotland".
Both dogged Labour's by-election campaign.
McConnell's spokesman said: "Before the election date was decided, we said that an announcement on tolls would be taken on February 17 - after polling day.
"Then that was put back, because we were waiting for a report on the bridge."
Darling said Labour had been on the wrong end of the biggest by-election swing since losing Govan to the SNP in 1988 after fighting a campaign with "one arm tied behind its back" - a reference to the tolls.
Dunfermline and West Fife's new Lib Dem MP Willie Rennie said: "The Labour Party always like to blame someone else and never accept responsibility for themselves.
"The issues in the by-election were local issues with national significance."
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