something-for-nothing country in the world." The speech was condemned by the SNP, which branded it as "Blairite", while deputy party leader Sturgeon called the strategy "disastrous". The approach was also questioned by Richard Seymour of The Guardian, who suggested it could damage Labour's electoral appeal: "Outside Scotland, this policy would merely be a gift to the Tories, by corroborating their arguments for welfare cuts. In Scotland, it reminds ex-Labour voters why they defected to the SNP: as a defensive shield against such policies." Owen Jones of The Independent suggested it was "a baffling political strategy to outflank the SNP from the right". Lamont returned to the issue of universal tuition fees again in a speech in Glasgow on 17 December 2012 to mark the first anniversary of her election as Labour leader. She suggested that the Graduate Endowment, a system abolished by the SNP Government, could be reinstated if Labour were re-elected at the next Scottish parliamentary election. Ian Grant, a retired college principal, welcomed her comments as "courageous", but Jamie Kinlochan, a member of the National Union of Students Scotland expressed concerns that students would be discouraged by extra financial costs on top of loans and other expenses. In January 2014, Lamont and Scottish Labour faced criticism after the party voted against an SNP motion that included the introduction of free school meals for pupils in their first three years of primary education, and a commitment to childcare for pre-school children. The motion also contained measures that would only be implemented in the event of Scottish independence, something Labour said it could not support. Recalling her experience of teaching underprivileged children, Lamont told the parliament that free school meals would not be her priority, and tabled an unsuccessful amendment calling for greater childcare provisions instead. The motion was later passed by a majority of 67–46. In The Daily Telegraph, Cochrane wrote that the strategy had allowed the SNP to claim Labour opposed the principle of free school meals because they "fell for a bit of skulduggery that Ms Lamont and her business managers should have seen coming a mile off". Falkirk candidate selection row and Grangemouth dispute In 2013, Labour and Police Scotland launched separate investigations into claims that officials of the Unite union had signed their members up to Labour to get their preferred candidate adopted to represent the party in the Falkirk constituency. The union officials were