Outgoing Tory MSP Keith Harding has
defected to the Scottish People's Alliance:
Mr Harding will stand for the SPA on the Mid Scotland and Fife regional list and in the Stirling constituency, where he will go head to head with his former colleague, Brian Monteith, who is standing for the Tories in the city.
Freedom and Whisky contacted Brian Monteith who said:
It is deeply disappointing that Keith has chosen to leave the Party and
stand against me, especially after all the personal support I have given him
over the last four years. The SPA is not even on the radar screen, and yet,
at the risk of losing many personal friends, he has gambled that this
fledgling party will keep him in Parliament. I think it is a serious error
of judgement and I only hope on a personal note that he is not badly scarred
by the political rough and tumble that tends to follow political defections.
Although the
SPA has called for reductions in taxation they support the introduction of identity cards. They also place great emphasis on democratic "rights" rather than the rights of individuals against the state. The state is
not our friend and the state needs to be limited.