Day 15

All day my stomach was tight. I was on edge and felt very wound up. We do some photos for leaflets in the ward and then I dash back for a meeting that doesn’t happen which is a real pain. My tension, of course, is because of the hustings this evening. Promoted by the federation of small businesses (www.fsb.org.uk) I was pretty sure it is going to be a less than friendly crowd. I rehearse my opening speech a couple of times and then try to prepare for potential questions but its hard to know what is before me.The hustings itself is a bit boisterous. One man asked, in all seriousness, if we planned the road works and central Edinburgh traffic management scheme (CCTM) as a punishment for folk voting against the congestion charge. We do not control road works (of the 27000 road opening in the city, 85% are the utilities who do not work to our timeline). Tram was the big issue. I defend them against a number of attacks, most of which are ill informed. The SNP, who would cancel trams, or so they claim, argue that it will “only mean a 2% drop in congestion”. What they fail to point out is that is a 2% drop in present levels as opposed to a 60% increase if we do nothing. It would take 120 buses an hour to carry the number of passengers a tram can. They are playing to a gallery that is becoming smaller and smaller, thankfully. In the end I enjoy the event and my worries are for nothing although I have always said that the day you stop being nervous before a public event is the day you should give up.