YOUR front-page report on August 14 regarding Scottish Labour's ''battle plan'' for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary elections, and in particular the comments made relating to Ochil constituency, state that the 1997 election saw a fall in Labour's majority from 7350 to 4652, which is fundamentally misleading.
Ochil is a new constituency which had never been contested prior to 1997 and therefore majorities cannot be compared. What your report failed to highlight, however, was that the Nationalist candidate for the Scottish Parliamentary elections, George Reid, has been defeated on two previous occasions and that his selection as the Nationalist candidate for May 1999 is likely to make it three in a row.
Furthermore, your report questions the condition of Labour Party organisation in Ochil and I cannot accept this unjust degree of criticism. Our constituency party in Ochil and its preceding constituencies has a history of delivering Labour election victories which are the envy of many constituency parties.
The area has returned a Labour MP since 1979 and since local government reorganisation has had a Labour-controlled local authority. The 1997 election campaign saw the Nationalists employ every possible tactic in an attempt to wrest the seat from Labour and this quite obviously failed.
Significant sums of money were invested from Nationalist headquarters in an attempt to bolster support for their candidate who was defeated by the Labour Party and voters in Ochil without additional support from Scottish Labour's campaign centre.
Additionally, the Scotland Forward campaign saw the Labour Party in Ochil acting as the guiding light in the process of delivering a substantial Yes-Yes vote.
The comments relating to Martin O'Neill further require addressing. As Chair of the Trade and Industry Select Committee he has been responsible for a significant volume of quality work while at the same time retaining the ability to provide a high level of service to constituents from his local Alloa office.
I welcome the statement in your report that Ochil is to be one of our party's ''priority seats'' and I would like to take this opportunity to put the record straight.
Ochil CLP is fully prepared and ready to face the challenge posed by the Nationalists, with branch parties and individuals in a high state of readiness and anxious to work in co-operation with a centrally based co-ordinator to ensure that May 1999 delivers the people of Scotland three main objectives: a Labour victory in Ochil, a Labour majority in Holyrood, and a continuing role for Scotland at the forefront of the United Kingdom.
Gordon Banks,
Secretary,
Ochil Constituency Labour Party,
29 Glenwinnel Road, Alva. August 17.
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