ONE of the contenders to become the next leader of Scottish Liberal Democrats yesterday accused the front-runner, Tavish Scott, of trying to steal his ideas.
Mike Rumbles, the MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine who was the first to declare his candidature when Nicol Stephen stepped down, has alleged that Mr Scott is trying to take up his policy proposals on home rule.
The accusation comes the da
y after Mr Scott launched his personal manifesto in which he called for sweeping new tax powers for Scotland.
Mr Rumbles has positioned himself as the "devolution max" candidate, wanting all powers outside foreign policy and defence devolved to Holyrood.
"It's interesting we heard nothing about this from Mr Scott before," he said. "I think it is a sign that what I am proposing chimes well with the membership of the party."
The two men are still divided on whether to discuss having a referendum on independence with the SNP, with Mr Scott adamantly against the idea. Mr Rumbles has also suggested the previous party leadership made mistakes in the recent past.
"I want us to stop being the party of abstention," he said. "We should have voted against the budget, not abstained, we should also have not been so meek in allowing Alex Salmond to become First Minister so easily."
But he added that he thought the party needs to be willing to talk to other parties more, with implied criticism of Mr Scott, who many of his supporters blame for closing the door on more meaningful discussions with the SNP after last year's election.
The full article contains 271 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
