Labour press conference

'It is an oxymoron to talk about bringing me back to the real world in a debate in this place. Nothing could be further from the real word than our debates.' John McAllion, Labour MP for Dundee East, Hansard, 23 rd February 1998.

Sandra Osbone's Press Release

Although we have not been able to get hold of a copy of the press release, a reply by Ian Blackford (SNP candidate for Ayr and later for Paisley South in the by-election) is available on the web site of Ayr SNP.

Osborne a laughing stock after Internet gaffe
"Back to School, Sandra" Says SNP's Ian Blackford

Commenting on the news release made by Labour's Sandra Osborne in the Leader (23/8/96) regarding the claim by Labour that they had "found" a document on the Internet that was "deeply embarrassing" to the SNP, Local prospective candidate Ian Blackford said:

Sandra clearly does not understand the Internet, on the basis of her comments, it is time she went back to college to try to understand it a bit better. Her lack of knowledge revealed in her response to our local web pages launch will make her a laughing stock.

The pages that Sandra is referring to belong to an independent academic based in France and have no formal or informal connection with the SNP. They feature a database of Scottish electoral results from all parties, and have links built into them to all parties - including New Labour.

Sandra clearly does not understand the first thing about the Internet and how it works. All pages build in links to other pages, however no site takes responsibility for such links in any way, if Sandra had taken more than a cursory glance she would have discovered links from the Ayr SNP local information to the main SNP information pages and on to Parliament (for which we are not responsible), the Scottish Office (for which we are not responsible), the British Politics server at Warwick University (for which we are not responsible) and many others (for which we are not responsible. Such links are provided so that the thousands who access a page can get additional information related to the main subject, this is why the Internet is called the World Wide Web.

It is interesting that Labour in order to reveal this "gaffe" had to take the press to a local Internet café, unlike SNP headquarters where half a dozen staff use the Internet from their desks linking to other SNP offices and locations throughout the World..

I can only assume that Mrs. Osborne is trying to divert attention from the fact that she has still not answered the questions I have repeatedly asked her:-

Is Labour still committed to the removal of Trident from the Clyde?

Is Labour going to re-instate benefits to sixteen and seventeen year olds?

Does she support a multi option referendum including independence, or the second question on the proposed Labour referendum regarding tax raising powers or does she stand by George Robertson's February statement that it is not necessary?