~~~ Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/politics/scottish-politics/murphy-clinging-on-by-his-fingertips-as-labour-msps-stage-coup.126137440 JIM Murphy is today clinging on to his job as Scottish Labour leader by his fingertips after the boss of Britain's most powerful trade union blamed him for the party's UK-wide defeat in the General Election and a third of his MSPs launched a coup in a dramatic bid to topple him. Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, laid the blame squarely at the feet of Mr Murphy for Ed Miliband's failure to become Prime Minister and called on the former MP to step down immediately following last week's catastrophic defeat, which saw Labour lose 40 of its 41 seats north of the border. Meanwhile, on a day of high drama at Holyrood, a large block of Mr Murphy's MSPs attempted to oust their leader, while his chief of staff John McTernan prompted outrage among party staffers when he praised Scottish Labour's election campaign and suggested everything would be fine at next year's Holyrood vote. The mutiny is understood to have begun at around 10am yesterday morning, when Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, called for a meeting of the parliamentary group to discuss the leadership. The request was blocked by John Pentland, the Labour group chairman and an ally of Mr Murphy, leading to Ms Grant calling an informal meeting which was attended by more than a dozen MSPs who want a change at the top. Significantly, the group is not solely made up of those on the left of the party, who had already been hostile to Mr Murphy taking charge. The summit went ahead despite Mr Murphy turning up at Holyrood and stalking the Labour corridor with whips Neil Bibby and James Kelly in an attempt to bolster his support. It is understood that at least two senior MSPs told Mr Murphy to his face that he should quit. Meanwhile, two members of the shadow cabinet are prepared to resign and publicly call for Mr Murphy's head should his deputy Kezia Dugdale indicate her willingness to become leader. It is understood that the position of Ms Dugdale, who has publicly backed the leader, is currently unclear. It is believed that the MSPs who attended the meeting are considering sending a letter to the party's Scottish Executive Committee, which will vote on a no confidence motion at the weekend, stating that Mr Murphy no longer has their support. His position was dealt a further blow when Mr McCluskey said last night: "I lay the blame for that very squarely at the feet of Scottish Labour. Not only have they lost Scotland but I think they've been responsible for making certain that the Tories were back in power in Westminster. "In Scotland my view is very, very strongly that we have to say to the Scottish people we're sorry for letting you down, for making you feel abandoned, and Scottish Labour is under new management. I think Jim and his colleagues should just leave the scene." Mr McTernan, who Mr Murphy appointed as his right hand man after he won the Scottish Labour leadership last year, has become hugely unpopular with Labour MSPs. One source described him as "beyond toxic" and there is a feeling that ditching his chief of staff may buy the former MP some time. However, there is an increasing suspicion that Mr Murphy has accepted that he will not lead Scottish Labour in to next year's Holyrood elections, and is instead focusing on managing his own exit. A source familiar with the plot to remove Murphy said: "He's gone into a bunker with McTernan. The number that have a direct interest in him staying on is small and the way things are going we will be reduced to one MSP per region next year. "Will he win the vote on Saturday? He might, but the question will be how many folk on his own executive voted against him. Grassroots members haven't met yet since the election, and a series of no confidence votes are planned in constituencies. "Jim is only thinking about his own career and has become a toxic brand. If he's still in place in 2016, recovery becomes a theoretical concept. If Kez is in place, we might get something and that could be presented as a success. "He can drag it out, but he's dead." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speckled tangerine Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 I'd like to think Malcolm Chisholm was one of those MSPs telling him to bolt. He's a genuine good guy. Hardworking, articulate and "proper" labour. He's also retiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crùbag Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Could Murphy and Farage just not swap parties? Farage must love those immigration mugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerwickMad Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Len McCluskey blamed him for the UK wide defeat? Haha. Idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scary Bear Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Beyond toxic. Say what you like about Labour but they come out with some very good soundbites. Defcon fucked and now beyond toxic. Both completely true. That McTernan (sp?) guy is a poisonous wee nyaff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boabinoban Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 BUT I WANT JIM TO STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H Wragg Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Len McCluskey blamed him for the UK wide defeat? Haha. Idiot.Couldn't quite work that one out myself. What is his logic on this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Couldn't quite work that one out myself. What is his logic on this one? He was a huge reason why UK labour went with Ed Milliband, so she's shifting the blame onto someone else. Another self interested labourite - who knew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invergowrie arab Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Kezia!! She seems like a nice person and as a fellow Harris Academy FP I know her education will have been second to none. Unfortunately she is horrendously out of her depth and worse doesn't seem to have the mental strength a role like this requires. I genuinely feel a bit sorry for her and think she should defect to the snp and serve some time as a back bench MSP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny Danger Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Kezia!! She seems like a nice person and as a fellow Harris Academy FP I know her education will have been second to none. Unfortunately she is horrendously out of her depth and worse doesn't seem to have the mental strength a role like this requires. I genuinely feel a bit sorry for her and think she should defect to the snp and serve some time as a back bench MSP. She was educated at Harris! Christ standards haven't half dropped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth_Glasgow Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/politics/scottish-politics/murphy-clinging-on-by-his-fingertips-as-labour-msps-stage-coup.126137440 JIM Murphy is today clinging on to his job as Scottish Labour leader by his fingertips after the boss of Britain's most powerful trade union blamed him for the party's UK-wide defeat in the General Election and a third of his MSPs launched a coup in a dramatic bid to topple him. Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, laid the blame squarely at the feet of Mr Murphy for Ed Miliband's failure to become Prime Minister and called on the former MP to step down immediately following last week's catastrophic defeat, which saw Labour lose 40 of its 41 seats north of the border. Meanwhile, on a day of high drama at Holyrood, a large block of Mr Murphy's MSPs attempted to oust their leader, while his chief of staff John McTernan prompted outrage among party staffers when he praised Scottish Labour's election campaign and suggested everything would be fine at next year's Holyrood vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrmad Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Kezia!! She seems like a nice person and as a fellow Harris Academy FP I know her education will have been second to none. Unfortunately she is horrendously out of her depth and worse doesn't seem to have the mental strength a role like this requires. I genuinely feel a bit sorry for her and think she should defect to the snp and serve some time as a back bench MSP. Nah, she's too thick for my liking, if you keep the zoomers out invariably the zoomers will weaken your opponents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williemillersmoustache Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Couldn't quite work that one out myself. What is his logic on this one? Seen this advanced by quite a few labour commentators. If it wasn't for Scotland there would be no 'nationalist-fear' stick for the Tories to beat the UK Labour party with. Very much of the "if my granny had baws she'd be my grandpa" school of debate. It really is terribly inconvenient for the New-Labourites to have to appeal to the left in Scotland rather than just trot out "aspiration" to all the flat-capped proles who deliver bread on their shoogly bicycles and live on the set of Coronation Street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williemillersmoustache Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Nah, she's too thick for my liking, if you keep the zoomers out invariably the zoomers will weaken your opponents. Probably unfair but I can't help but think that the "fridge magnets tell me to vote no" lady is based on her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invergowrie arab Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 She was educated at Harris! Christ standards haven't half dropped. She's no Gorgeous George or Donald Findlay ill give you that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny Danger Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 She's no Gorgeous George or Donald Findlay ill give you that. Findlay went there too! The things you learn! The class of '71 was a better breed despite the aforementioned GG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim McLean's Ghost Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Seen this advanced by quite a few labour commentators. If it wasn't for Scotland there would be no 'nationalist-fear' stick for the Tories to beat the UK Labour party with. Very much of the "if my granny had baws she'd be my grandpa" school of debate. It really is terribly inconvenient for the New-Labourites to have to appeal to the left in Scotland rather than just trot out "aspiration" to all the flat-capped proles who deliver bread on their shoogly bicycles and live on the set of Coronation Street. There would be less nationalists if Labour hadn't treated Scotland like shite for years. If they had bothered to try and engage people, recruit them into the party, promote the ones who work hard in the constituency rather than the constituency office. The whole party just atrophied as the inner circle refused to look beyond itself. Labour talk about the SNP costing them this election like they had no role in the rise the party at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scary Bear Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 That GIF is brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baxter Parp Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 CWU calls for Jim Murphy to resign http://www.cwu.org/news/archive/cwu-calls-for-jim-murphy-to-resign.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'm Brian Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Please let him hang on in this vote and then lets see the real bloodletting begin. If he can hang on in until party conference that would be even better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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