Scottish Labour- seethe, backstabbing and blame

[Crùbag]

Pretty good.

The two things that struck me from that was:

1. The point about Labour not pointing out that the National Debt had more than doubled under five years of Con/LibDem government. That should have been at the head of every announcement that Labour made and every piece of publicity material that Labour produced.

2. Miliband's announcement that he would rather let Cameron back into Downing Street than work with SNP MPs. I don't know the impact in England and Wales but in Scotland it was the final nail in Labour's coffin.

Both very good points. The thing is, Labour seem to have had their collective head so far up their rear, they don't know what's going on 'out here'.

That and their infighting and lack of identity.

Would like to see Murphy challenged more on his Henry Jackson Society links. Something that should be a serious embarrassment for a Labour leader.

They're getting it tight from many angles. So deserved. I'm sure Gordon Matheson is reading with interest...

http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9528312/inside-the-milibunker-the-last-days-of-ed-did-ed-miliband-sacrifice-ed-balls/

http://www.scottishleftreview.org/article/six-problems-no-solutions/

http://tocasaid.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/labour-missing.html

An internal one here:

http://www.revitalisescottishlabour.org/2015/05/10/some-post-election-thoughts/

Iain Macwhirter summed up what a lot of Labour activists were saying privately in his Herald column during the campaign; “But the good that Mr Murphy is doing for Labour is being undermined by the air of contrived frenzy and by an unavoidable scepticism about his sincerity. Maybe Labour is now – as the party claims – more left wing and socialist than the SNP, willing to contemplate renationalisation of rail. But it is hard to see Mr Murphy as Scotland’s answer to Alexis Tsipras – it just doesn’t add up.

”When you have as much political baggage as Jim Murphy, it is difficult to persuade people of a Damascene conversion. The Iraq War, Trident, tuition fees, Henry Jackson Society etc were all trooped out. Hiring John McTernan was a further gift. His ‘Thatcher’s economic reforms were a good thing’ and similar was a gift to the SNP – even if Alex Salmond once said something very similar.

http://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/labours-love-lost-the-problems-for-the-scottish-labour-party/

http://autonomyscotland.org/the-problem-with-vote-snp-get-tories/

http://wingsoverscotland.com/how-the-north-was-lost/

[Crùbag]

And, McWhirter also hits many nails in today's Herald:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/the-sooner-scottish-labour-detach-themselves-from-the-partys-sinking-english-sink.126025544

He calls the immigration scare for what it is:

Against his better judgment, Mr Miliband was advised to make "controls on immigration" one of his pledge mugs, which just confirmed that trying to fight on Ukip territory is a mug's game. Just as you cannot combat racism by appeasing it, nor can you persuade people of the merits of immigration by failing to defend it.

There are a lot of people in Scotland who are unhappy about immigration, as the opinion pollsters never stop reminding us. But during the TV debates, Ms Sturgeon made the most positive defence of the economic benefits of immigration of all the leaders. And she still won a landslide.

[Thumper]

http://www.scottishleftreview.org/article/six-problems-no-solutions/

It's extremely telling that this one is over four years old.

[Crùbag]

Donohoe...

http://www.irvinetimes.com/news/kilwinning/articles/2015/05/14/531890-donohoes-fourletter-farewell/

[Granny Danger]

Donohoe...

http://www.irvinetimes.com/news/kilwinning/articles/2015/05/14/531890-donohoes-fourletter-farewell/

Thank goodness he's acting in a dignified and gracious manner and accepting the democratic right of the electorate. I was worried that he'd get a bit upset.

[FuzzyAffro]

This bit really gets me

"the people will have to live with what they’ve done."

I mean holy f**k. Holy shit. Who does he think he is?

I'm so glad Labour got chased.

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

Donohoe...

http://www.irvinetimes.com/news/kilwinning/articles/2015/05/14/531890-donohoes-fourletter-farewell/

Getting page not found.

However

IRVINE'S former MP says he's glad he can now tell his ex-constituents to "f*** off" - after they booted him out.

Brian Donohoe made the shocking statement after he lost his Central Ayrshire seat by a 13,589 majority to Philippa Whitford of the SNP.

And the ex-Labour MP made sure he ended his 23-year stint in the House of Commons with a bang, revealing he's glad he can now tell people to "f*** off" that he's no longer an MP.

The 66-year-old also warned his former constituents that they "will have to live with what they've done".

He said: “Obviously I’m disappointed and the fact is that having served for 23 years I’m disappointed for the people who have depended on getting a reasonable service.

“But I’ve passed the baton on and it’s for others to then take it up and run with it and make damn sure that the constituency is well dealt with.

“I had a fantastic team, I’m sorry it’s going to be broken up but the people will have to live with what they’ve done.

“That’s the nature of the beast as far as politics is concerned, it’s a rough game and not many people outside it realise just how rough it is."

Mr Donohoe added: “We live to fight another day, not me, but others will come in and I’m sure they’ll carry our baton for us.

"I’m of an age where I can now turn round with the greatest delight and tell people to ‘f*** off!’ which I haven’t been able to do for a hell of a long time in both my trade union life and also in this one.

“You have to take all sorts coming through the door and be kind, considerate and generous with your time and sometimes you wonder why.

"But at the end of it you’re there and I’ve always made the pledge as an MP that I wasn’t just there to represent the people who voted for me, I was there to help."

- See more at: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.irvinetimes.com/news/kilwinning/articles/2015/05/14/531890-donohoes-fourletter-farewell/#sthash.T6Ab2DfB.dpuf

[Granny Danger]

I know the phrase "they don't get it" is overused; but they really don't. From a democratic perspective it's actually frightening that these folk who have been our elected representatives for years and have had the incredibly important task of vetting and voting on legislation are so fucking thick that they don't understand why they've been tossed out on their ears.

[MarkoRaj]

Both very good points. The thing is, Labour seem to have had their collective head so far up their rear, they don't know what's going on 'out here'.

That and their infighting and lack of identity.

Would like to see Murphy challenged more on his Henry Jackson Society links. Something that should be a serious embarrassment for a Labour leader.

They're getting it tight from many angles. So deserved. I'm sure Gordon Matheson is reading with interest...

http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9528312/inside-the-milibunker-the-last-days-of-ed-did-ed-miliband-sacrifice-ed-balls/

http://www.scottishleftreview.org/article/six-problems-no-solutions/

http://tocasaid.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/labour-missing.html

An internal one here:

http://www.revitalisescottishlabour.org/2015/05/10/some-post-election-thoughts/

http://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/labours-love-lost-the-problems-for-the-scottish-labour-party/

http://autonomyscotland.org/the-problem-with-vote-snp-get-tories/

http://wingsoverscotland.com/how-the-north-was-lost/

From the spectator article:

"Another Labour insider told of the scene in the press office when Miliband posed with the notorious Ed stone, the 8ft 6in slab of limestone upon which his six key election pledges were inscribed. When it appeared on TV, a press officer ‘started screaming. He stood in the office, just screaming over and over again at the screen. It was so bad they thought he was having a breakdown.’"

glorious

[Poet of the Macabre]

Communications Workers Union now calling for Murphy to walk as well.

[Kyle]

So is that now Unite, Unison and CWU all calling for his head? He's absolutely rooked.

[Fide]

So is that now Unite, Unison and CWU all calling for his head? He's absolutely rooked.

Except that he's the Comical Ali of Giffnock.

"There are no unhappy Unions at the end of the street!"

[Colkitto]

Murphy is just is not liked within his party. He may have been able to cling on had he been genuinely popular - he may well still do that - but his party will be a total mess, which actually sounds better come to think of it.

[John Lambies Doos]

From the spectator article:

"Another Labour insider told of the scene in the press office when Miliband posed with the notorious Ed stone, the 8ft 6in slab of limestone upon which his six key election pledges were inscribed. When it appeared on TV, a press officer ‘started screaming. He stood in the office, just screaming over and over again at the screen. It was so bad they thought he was having a breakdown.’"

glorious

That stone slab was the ultimate cringe of the campaign. The person who came up with the idea of the stone was obviously taking the piss and laughing their ass off at Milliband running with it.

[invergowrie arab]

So is that now Unite, Unison and CWU all calling for his head? He's absolutely rooked.

Not really, well not for that reason, they didn't want him in the first place.

TBH im throughly pissed off my union even has a view.

[Fide]

After the utter despair of the referendum last year, who knew that politics could provide the level of mirth it's given over the past week.

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

From the spectator article:

"Another Labour insider told of the scene in the press office when Miliband posed with the notorious Ed stone, the 8ft 6in slab of limestone upon which his six key election pledges were inscribed. When it appeared on TV, a press officer ‘started screaming. He stood in the office, just screaming over and over again at the screen. It was so bad they thought he was having a breakdown.’"

glorious

It sounds like Labour managed to produce a funnier The Thick of It storyline than Armando Iannucci could ever imagine.

[Granny Danger]

That stone slab was the ultimate cringe of the campaign. The person who came up with the idea of the stone was obviously taking the piss and laughing their ass off at Milliband running with it.

The Edstone is an indication of just how poor quality Labour's advisers were yet they were being paid very well.

Not really, well not for that reason, they didn't want him in the first place.TBH im throughly pissed off my union even has a view.

You're unaware of the links between Trade Unions and the Labour Party?

[Fide]

The Edstone is an indication of just how poor quality Labour's advisers were yet they were being paid very well.

You're unaware of the links between Trade Unions and the Labour Party?

And how about the continued tactic of getting Gordon Brown to shout at a closed room full of Labour activists again and again. Everyone in Scotland saw those "events" for exactly what they were.

[invergowrie arab]

The Edstone is an indication of just how poor quality Labour's advisers were yet they were being paid very well. You're unaware of the links between Trade Unions and the Labour Party?

I think the time has come to end it.