The Daily Record have continued to run Kezia Dugdale’s weekly column despite her resignation as Scottish Labour branch office manager (North British division), and this week we were interested to note her assessment of the devolution years, which could be summarised neatly as “Labour devolution good, SNP devolution bad”.
We raised an especially quizzical eyebrow at the claim that the 1999-2007 Labour/Lib Dem administrations had apparently ended homelessness. So we thought we’d do that thing we do when Kezia Dugdale claims something.
We hadn’t been planning to talk any more about the curious case of Claire Austin, the suddenly publicity-shy Edinburgh nurse who – how can we put this? – seemed a rather ill-chosen figurehead for the good cause of getting more pay for a group of people who are rightly well-regarded by the public.
But yesterday, the release of a letter from Scottish Labour branch manager Kezia Dugdale re-opened political hostilities after last week’s hiatus for the Manchester terror attack by shoving the now-reticent Ms Austin right back into the spotlight.
It’s the holidays, so the papers are desperate to fill space and the political parties are all trying to help out by sending them helpful press releases which can be slotted directly onto pages, titled “PARTY X CONTINUES TO SUPPORT POLICY Z WHICH IT HAS ALWAYS SUPPORTED. ALSO, THE OTHER PARTIES ARE BAD”.
Scottish Labour’s contribution is a piece in most papers today reiterating their demand for the Scottish Government to hike the top rate of income tax – a policy on which Labour stood at the last Westminster and Holyrood elections and which was quite stupendously comprehensively rejected by voters, but which Labour inexplicably feel the SNP should implement anyway.
And that’s all very well and good, because Kezia Dugdale gets paid the best part of £80,000 a year by taxpayers and she’s got to say something all day to justify it. The trouble, as we’ve noted at great length on this site, is that so many of the things she says aren’t actually true.
It reveals that the party’s income from donations plunged from £600,000 in 2015 to £100,000 last year, which in the article is blamed on Jeremy Corbyn’s UK leadership (even though Dugdale opposed him in the leadership election).
But there were a few comments in the piece that we thought needed scrutiny.
Kezia Dugdale talking to Gordon Brewer on BBC Scotland today:
“I’m astonished that you’ve spent 10 minutes in this interview talking about independence and Trident when almost 50% of the poorest kids in the country can’t read […] I’m sure you’d be shocked to know that 50% of the poorest kids leave our schools unable to read.”
We suspect he would too. Because it’s total cobblers.
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: “It’s 1:15 am, YL. Aren’t you usually on the canal bank at this time? I hope you didn’t catch something!…” Feb 13, 07:58
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: “A self-identifying extra-terrestrial, millennia-old Pict writes, folks. Heed wisely his words. That aside, guid tae see ye back, Northy. Mind…” Feb 13, 07:42
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: ““denying the very existence of the female sex” That’s what you claimed, Marie. Feel free to provide some examples (or…” Feb 13, 07:35
Northcode on The Modern Politician: “Warning! This is a public safety announcement. Unwary readers risk serious psychological damage if they treat the comments posted in…” Feb 13, 06:32
Young Lochinvar on The Modern Politician: “HMcH & 1.26 But then again, you aren’t a normal Scot are you. Aff yer (f8scist) knees Mosley and consider…” Feb 13, 01:15
Young Lochinvar on The Modern Politician: “Thing is, we aren’t likely to find out as MSM such as ITN have dropped reporting on the issue in…” Feb 13, 00:59
Young Lochinvar on The Modern Politician: “I rest my case.. You get upset by certain posters but abstain from adding “whanging oan” 24/7 contrarians like HMcH…” Feb 13, 00:50
Iain More on The Modern Politician: “I see our resident Yoon Troll NAZI Child Rapist Protector is back.” Feb 12, 22:17
sam on The Modern Politician: “Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 44, Issue 2, March 2020, Pages 319–342, https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bez037 “1979 and all that: a 40-year reassessment…” Feb 12, 21:54
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: ““a fully liberated people will need to remove its colonial collaborators” You’ve got some balls, Alf. Respect. You’ve made it…” Feb 12, 21:00
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: “Looks like you’ve got SFA practical, plausible or sensible that could make a start on righting the troubles Scotland is…” Feb 12, 20:51
David Holden on The Modern Politician: “Looks like the troll collective has got some overtime pay. Oh deep joy.” Feb 12, 20:21
Lorna Campbell on The Modern Politician: “Alf: ditching England is not going to be the final answer because there are other kinds of colonisers just waiting…” Feb 12, 19:39
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: ““We adhere to national guidance set by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in relation to custody searches involving transgender suspects”…” Feb 12, 19:16
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: “Well now, willie, why didn’t you say earlier? If Prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson are for selling off the SNHS…” Feb 12, 19:05
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: “The point is that it’s 35 years since Thatcher exited stage right, and despite some of the opportunities I list,…” Feb 12, 18:59
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Modern Politician: “NORFOLK POLICE CRITICISED OVER INACCURATE RECORDING OF SUSPECTS’ SEX Norfolk Constabulary has faced strong criticism for recording suspects’ preferred gender…” Feb 12, 18:30
willie on The Modern Politician: “Nigel Farage’s policy is to privatise the health service in the style of the corporate market supplied healthcare in the…” Feb 12, 18:28
sam on The Modern Politician: “You are such a fucking idiot I usually ignore what you say. UK life expectancy has been improving ever since…” Feb 12, 18:20
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: ““one in four Scots is intending to vote Reform, a party with a leader who supports USA style privatisation, the…” Feb 12, 17:27
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: “Aye, sam, ye’re a grand auld fossil so ye are. We should slap a protection order oan ye. You can’t…” Feb 12, 17:15
Willie on The Modern Politician: “To be fair Sam the Scottish Government under Alex Salmond did much to try to minimise the Thatcher type policies…” Feb 12, 17:01
sam on The Modern Politician: “Just a little bit of the effect of Thatcher on the NHS https://www.pilc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/PILC_OS_Sum_PRESS.pdf A survey last year of 9000 Unison…” Feb 12, 15:47
Alf Baird on The Modern Politician: ““we need to cleanse the Augean Stables first” By implication, a fully liberated people will need to remove its colonial…” Feb 12, 15:23
PC Foster on The Modern Politician: “@andrew scott Aye- a woman in a dress actually means- a man in a frock (MIAF).” Feb 12, 15:09
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: “Lorna, thanks for your reply. “most SNP voters who want independence, and they are not the only ones who vote…” Feb 12, 15:07
Lorna Campbell on The Modern Politician: “H McH: if you believe that politicians get voted in because they are doing nothing wrong in the public’s perception,…” Feb 12, 14:43
Hatey McHateface on The Modern Politician: “Sure, Bilbo. You’re gonna slag off Ratcliffe, not because he’s wrong, but because he’s got more money than you. I’m…” Feb 12, 14:30
Lorna Campbell on The Modern Politician: “Willie: I think the fundamental problem is that adherence to this ordure is a mental ill-health issue, not a physical…” Feb 12, 14:25
