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A little bit of history, repeated

Posted on July 25, 2015 by

These pages from the 14 March 1998 issue of NME (just 10 months after the election of Tony Blair’s first Labour government) are a fascinating historical document.

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They needed saving. So we found them and we saved them.

[EDIT 26 July: PDF now available here.]

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106 to “A little bit of history, repeated”

  1. Weechid
    Ignored
    says:

    I still think the reason for all the Diana hysteriaa was actually people’s realisation that they had been duped by this shitehawk and that things most certainly wouldn’t get better.

  2. Morag
    Ignored
    says:

    That’s very easy to read, well done.

  3. Tony Little
    Ignored
    says:

    AH! Now I understand your delight on Twitter when you were given the ebay referral! Top Save Reverend!

  4. Morag
    Ignored
    says:

    “Snobbery with violence.” That’s very good.

  5. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    Not only have ordinary people been betrayed by this sh#$×hawk, but he has left a legacy of misery which is still being slavishly followed by todays Labourites desperate to follow the “masters ” route to power.
    Thank God for Corbyn.

  6. demonprincess
    Ignored
    says:

    Some of us realised before the wee tory shitebag got elected. I remember being buttonholed by a nulabour canvasser in the street in ’97. I told him that if I’d wanted tory policies I’d just vote for the tories. Nearly 20 years later and they still don’t get it…

  7. IvMoz
    Ignored
    says:

    Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?

  8. Dr Ew
    Ignored
    says:

    Ah, but of course what happened next is all the Britpop stars wrote songs of searing protest, uniting the country and instilling Blair with the confidence to become a REAL Labour Prime Minister, as depicted by Hugh Grant in ‘Love Actually’, popular and beloved as he took on the Capitalist system and led dear old Blighty to a new, golden age.

    And from there on in things, indeed, they only got better…

  9. heedtracker
    Ignored
    says:

    George Osborne is my greatest achievement. Bomber Blair.

    What a read. “The dole used to be called the John Major musical scholarship” for fcuks sake.

  10. Proud Cybernat
    Ignored
    says:

    And the Blair legacy today? It’s a N:Ightmare for Labour where “Things can only get bitter…”

  11. Croompenstein
    Ignored
    says:

    This line caught my eye..(my bold)

    Now, after 18 years of racism, homophobia, nationalism, xenophobia, arrogance, greed, sleaze and snobbery with violence..

    Ah some things never change, the true right wing nationalism on these islands is British nationalism…

  12. IvMoz
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T

    Scotland & England in same World Cup qualifying group!

  13. RobQos
    Ignored
    says:

    There are a couple of artists in those pictures who told us to vote No in the referendum.

  14. call me dave
    Ignored
    says:

    Scotland V England in same world cup footie draw 🙂

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/33556214

  15. call me dave
    Ignored
    says:

    Late with the post but never saw the others until I refreshed.

    Anyhoo! Will add a bit of interest in the lead up to Indy 2.

  16. schrodingers cat
    Ignored
    says:

    soz o/t
    Jeane Freeman to stand for snp in holyrood
    can anyone confirm?

  17. Macart
    Ignored
    says:

    Even before this shyster slithered into the post of PM I’d long since given up on politics in general. They had done their work on my psyche too well eighteen years earlier and I held and indeed still hold all of the establishment parties in contempt. They serve the establishment and their own self interest.

    That aside, you could see where the young Tone was coming from well in advance of his prominence. He reeked of career, naked ambition and insincerity, something that has become the hallmark of his foul offspring within parliamentary Labour.

    They remind me of sharks with their sleek suits, dead eyes and ready toothy smiles. No empathy, no courage, no loyalty, no ideology or heart, no willingness to live and work with or for the people they hope to represent. Care, duty, responsibilty are foreign concepts to these creatures. Simply schools of focus groups, brutal efficiency, an election machine bought and paid for by the corporate world they hold so dear. They became soulless predators just as willing to eat each other in feeding frenzy as any opposition which they may have encountered.

    Good riddance.

    In Scotland we’re bringing politics back where it belongs, in the street and in the hands of the electorate.

  18. schrodingers cat
    Ignored
    says:

    looks like she is snp ppc in cumnock

    im trying to imagine keza standing up against jean freeman….lol

    I hope ivan mackey finds somewhere to

  19. Lanarkist
    Ignored
    says:

    From the frying pan into the fire, 18 yrs of TOries followed by Labours most corrupted team since inception.

    Reading through the article nothing has changed since then apart from the names of various musicians that appear in articles these days.

    Torylite enablers. It is a wonder that we are here today arguing for greater change quicker even than in those halcion days after all the punishing policies that we had to and still do, endure.

    Just shows that right wing authoritarianism really works in Scotland.

    All together then… Tug together, fore lock attached to rope of independence!

  20. Murray McCallum
    Ignored
    says:

    You read an article on Labour’s shortcomings and disappointments and there’s that name again; Jack Straw.

  21. mike cassidy
    Ignored
    says:

    Don’t Look Back In Anger!

  22. MARY VASEY
    Ignored
    says:

    Well done Stu, mind this brings back horrible memories of a highjacked labour party.
    Aye Macart your spot on, especially those ‘dead eyes’ description, I always hated Blair who could never look anyone in the eye! None of them ever showed a scintilla of passion, unlike the real labour grandees of so long ago.

  23. call me dave
    Ignored
    says:

    @schrodingers cat

    Here she is at her best. 🙂
    Note the three well known Scottish stooges behind Miliband.

    What a shock they were in for!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23m6CukRUGM

    I hope I have the you-tube thing correct this time 🙂

  24. Carol Jardine
    Ignored
    says:

    @schrodingers cat

    Ivan McKee, (if that’s the same man), is standing in Edinburgh Northern and Leith.

  25. Democracy Reborn
    Ignored
    says:

    At the time, Blair described his project as “Labour values in a modern setting”.

    Hothersall used almost the same words this week when discussing Labour’s abstention on the welfare bill. It’s a handy euphemism for selling out your core principles.

  26. Croompenstein
    Ignored
    says:

    @SC – looks like it’s right enough, this is Jeanes facebook

    http://www.facebook.com/jeane4holyrood

    I take it Adam Ingram is stepping down…

  27. louis.b.argyll
    Ignored
    says:

    Eh, is my posting a-working?

  28. heedtracker
    Ignored
    says:

    call me dave says:
    25 July, 2015 at 7:14 pm
    @schrodingers cat

    Jeane Freeman wipes the floor with Andrew Neil on NHS and Indy. Wow! Doesn’t she just. Surprised none of the BBC shills didn’t trip over her mike lead etc.

  29. Clootie
    Ignored
    says:

    A man who engineered a war which led to the deaths of several hundred thousand people. He did so in order to build a contact network in America which would later earn him several million pounds every year.

    He is a war criminal, a neo liberal and a liar. If this is what the Labour Party considers being “electable” then I pity them. However I pity more those betrayed by Blair & co who believed that the Labour Party would protect them from the worst excesses of a right wing militarstic state.

    To those in the labour Party who continue to support and permit the direction of travel initiated by the Blairites – you are as guilty as those who lead when you give them your vote to lead the Party.

  30. Croompenstein
    Ignored
    says:

    I did notice investigative journalism hasn’t really changed in the intervening years..

    The Beatles returned their OBEs and publicly denounced Wilson for his support of America’s genocidal war in Vietnam

    Utter pish, only John Lennon returned his MBE and it was in protest at British involvement in Biafra, fuck all to do with Vietnam..

  31. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Fascinating look back at cultural values. Thanks.

  32. Rock
    Ignored
    says:

    Ramsay McDonald was a saint compared to this Tractor and war criminal.

  33. G
    Ignored
    says:

    Macart @ 6.16

    Well said.

  34. call me dave
    Ignored
    says:

    Do you think there’s an agenda here?

    Corbyn turned me into a Tory!

    https://archive.is/TZUk0

  35. John from Fife
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that the Scotland Bill is a poisoned chalice. As I have said before I hope the Scottish Government decline to accept the new partial powers and insist on FFA. I do agree with other posters that the SNP should start challenging the lies that the MSM / BBC keep pumping out.

  36. Ken500
    Ignored
    says:

    Plastic surgery? Frankenstein

  37. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    Fascinating stuff – seems so long ago now, but it wasn’t really, eh?

    You can’t beat a wee bit of footage to enliven it all, so here’s a snippet of TB’s virtuoso performance in his Sedgefield constituency, on the morning after the news of Princess Diana’s death.

    How many of the NME readers and/or interviewees were taken-in by this pish?

    Were you?

    No – the people who fell for this tripe are the same brainwashed fuds who voted ‘No’ last September, and will do so again if their buttons are pressed in the correct order.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX8nuyI9WJY

  38. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood
    Ouch. Don’t get down Ian, there will be other get together-s. 🙂

  39. Croompenstein
    Ignored
    says:

    @Ian – The guy is as plastic as Palitoy..

    I remember they turned George Square in to a shrine that week and when you walked through it you felt like you had to bow and scrape or you would have hell to pay, it felt like invasion of the body snatchers and if you didn’t fit in you were fucked.. still can’t believe how weird it all was and that clip of Bliar brings it all back.. industrialized group mourning 🙁

  40. Chitterinlicht
    Ignored
    says:

    Christ feel old

  41. Croompenstein
    Ignored
    says:

    @Ian @9:59 –
    I put something on earlier but it seems to have gone..
    The gist was that how they turned George Square in to a mourning centre and that if you didn’t fit in it was somehow bad. Watching Blair just brings it back, it was weird at the time how the MSM tried to make you conform to the grieving..

  42. The Man in the Jar
    Ignored
    says:

    I used to buy the NME every week. Now I had to Google to see if it still existed. Shame I cant say the same for Labour.

  43. Grouse Beater
    Ignored
    says:

    As I tuck into a scone and jam, and think of following it with a slice of apple smoked cheese, here area few thoughts on the hungry: https://grousebeater.wordpress.com/2015/07/25/the-obcenity-of-food-banks/

  44. gold standard
    Ignored
    says:

    @schrodingers cat

    Yep! Jeanne Freeman has been parachuted in agaìnst two competent local women who would give Kezia a run for her money.
    The locals are duly awed.

  45. HandandShrimp
    Ignored
    says:

    My God Blair has aged in those 18 years

  46. BJ
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood a 9:59

    I was surrounded by people mourning for Diana. I was working in a shop and the owner refused to close although a number of the shops round about shut for the day. Our street was like the Western Isles on a Sunday.

    It was all so false. Being shocked at the event itself was understandable but the outpouring of grief for someone they didn’t know was ridiculous.

  47. call me dave
    Ignored
    says:

    Hunt reneges on Tory manifesto pledge to cap care fees!

    Who would have thought! 🙂 Well me for a start.

    https://archive.is/iRy4K

  48. Greouse Beater
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian: I was surrounded by people mourning for Diana.

    And to all the joggers, gymnasium fee payers, obsessive weight lifters, and the foodies, Diana visited her gym every morning and most certainly died without a single grey hair on her body.

  49. call me dave
    Ignored
    says:

    Opportunity knocks says Dave.

    https://archive.is/nymQW

  50. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    And who’s to say Jeremy Corbyn wont turn out to be an old,dour,bearded version of Tony Blair.

    I can just see the headlines writ large on Wings Over Scotland in February 2020 ‘Ever Had The Feeling You’ve Been Cheated’ 🙂

    The Labour Party and their members are British Nationalists,do any of them even have any vision for Scotland,or radical constitutional decentralisation in UK?Thought not,no use to my country then.

  51. Dal Riata
    Ignored
    says:

    The following is from today, Saturday’s (We hate everything that is) Scottish Daily Mail. They’re talking about Mundell’s meet-and-greet with the good folk of Dumfries and district yesterday. It’s the UK’s right-wing media at its anti-Scottish best/worst.

    It’s comedy gold of the purest kind!

    Menace of mob rule

    Has it really come to this? A Cabinet minister attends an event in his constituency and needs a police escort through a baying mob who scream insults and menacingly pound the windows of his car.

    In a democracy such as ours, no one can deny people’s right to protest. But how far have we fallen in Scotland that instead of reasoned argument and measured discourse, we are subject to mob rule?

    The independence referendum was divisive. No matter who won, there was always going to be a huge rump of disappointed Scots. But instead of the healing and conciliation the country needs, we have agitators on the defeated Yes side continuing to foment discord and seeking as many re-runs as it takes to get the result they want.

    That creates a febrile atmosphere in which mobs, such as the one we saw yesterday in Dumfries, thrive.

    By all means we should be debating the issues surrounding food banks – but not while thumping on vehicle windows and roaring vile insults.

    See what I mean? I was going to take it apart sentence by sentence but then I just couldn’t be arsed. I’ll just let it speak for itself. But, hey, feel the love, better together and all that… ROFL!

  52. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    Make that February 2021

  53. call me dave
    Ignored
    says:

    Pooling and sharing in the NHS which is good. Swings and roundabouts.

    https://archive.is/yyFDu

  54. heedtracker
    Ignored
    says:

    Last week it was Scottish NHS is a load of crap from rancid

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/19/snp-cure-for-scotland-health-crisis

    This week

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/26/my-heart-attack-mortality

    “Yet the only aspect of St Vincent’s hospital to which I struggled to become accustomed was the unremitting kindness, compassion and good cheer of the nursing and medical staff. I had seen this phenomenon on many Scottish NHS wards while visiting stricken friends and relations; to encounter it at first hand, though, is a truly humbling experience.”

    There’s UKOK attack propaganda universes that outfits like rancid Graun and the BBC create, then there’s world we actually live in.

  55. SNPsoosie
    Ignored
    says:

    Jeane Freeman standing for nomination in my constituency,Carrick Cumnock & Doon Valley Adam Ingram is indeed standing down after something like 16 years in office. Hustings are in Auchinleck on Tuesday evening with all candidates, SNP members only naturally

    If all goes well, Kezia versus Jeane should be a knockout in round 1, bring the smelling salts nurse, taxi for Dugdale ????

    Jeane has my vote already 🙂

  56. Grouse Beater
    Ignored
    says:

    SNPSoosie: Jeane has my vote

    And mine!

    Presidential material.

    I remember a relative expressing disappointment in the quality of MSPs in our reinstated parliament’s first year.

    I counselled “We’ve had 300 years of no parliament; give it time and it will inspire first class talent to arise.”

    And so it’s come to pass, n’est-ce pas?

  57. Fiona
    Ignored
    says:

    Interesting to see the perceptions at the time. How very different from the story of Blair’s success and popularity we are now being asked to believe. He was always only out for himself and those who did not realise that before his preferment very soon recognised it once he was leader. And they voted with their feet. It took a long time for me to accept the SNP, for familiar and wrong headed notions of “internationalism”: and during that period I was just plain disenfranchised. I think that is where many english voters are now, and that constituency is desperate for representation: hence Corbyn’s apparent support.

    It is funny that the commentariat cannot see that: and that the labour party will not

  58. SNPsoosie
    Ignored
    says:

    Grousebeater : And mine !

    Indyref brought so much talent out in Scotland, it has made persuading people to vote a lot easier in so many ways – canvassing for SNP for GE15 was so different, people actually wanting to come and talk, discuss & engage.

    And SNP candidates are known to voters, they come and speak to people – unlike other parties who don’t want to be soiled by public contact.

    I was gutted by result of Indyref but we are building on it now !

  59. Scunterbunnet
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T (kind of)

    I’ve been thinking about currency today. I’ve always believed that an independent, sovereign, government-issued currency is the best route for Scotland.

    At the time of the referendum, I guessed that Big Eck had chosen the sterling currency union as ‘Plan A’, just because it would be the least scary option to the UK Establishment, and the City of London. It was the path of least resistance. I believed that what all the “what’s your plan B?” agitation from flipper Darling actually meant, was that his paymasters were shit-scared that ‘Plan B’ was secretly Plan A, and that Scotland would adopt her own currency tout de suite after independence. That would have made Sterling drop like a lead balloon – while Scotland became an economic powerhouse with full employment. From a finance-centric London perspective, nothing could be scarier.

    Now, Mr Salmond is a man of his word, and currency union it would have been. But UK plc didn’t trust him. Currency wasn’t a big issue for the Scottish electorate, but it was a massive fear factor for the British State – causing it to redouble its efforts to secure a NO vote.

    ….

    Here’s the thing. What’s occurred to me is that Scottish (monetary) Independence is not only the best option for Scotland, but it’s also the best (only?) hope for the English/rUK real economy as well (not to mention the best hope for parliamentary democracy as a real thing in England).

    England’s economy is heavily ‘financialised’ – over 20% of GDP is ‘financial services’ or ‘real estate’ (which is basically financial funny money too). And ever since Thatcher decimated industry, UK is reliant on keeping the pound high against other currencies: so that it can buy foreign goods cheaply and keep the semblance of a functioning society; and so UKgov can sell ever more debt to domestic and foreign banks at low interest rates.

    Some side-effects of that situation: 1) UKgov (whichever party) has to show the banks that it’s willing to privatise each and every national asset to pay its debts. 2) UKgov also has to show that it’s willing to do permanent austerity, and to turn its population into tradeable, foodbank-dependent serfs. 3) UKgov can’t allow the real economy to grow much, because then inflation would lower the pound (you don’t hear the tories talking about entrepreneurship any more, do you?)

    It’s not a sustainable situation: eventually the markets will see that there are no assets left to strip, government borrowing costs will skyrocket, and sterling will collapse. At that point UKgov is hamstrung: it can’t borrow its way out, and it can’t issue debt free notes to get the real economy moving – because who’s going to trust IOUs from a state with no assets? On its current trajectory, England is royally screwed (and so are its appendages, i.e. us).

    HOWEVER… if Scotland goes fully independent soon, England has an excuse to let sterling drop, and thereby write down its debts massively. In that situation, it can pour money into industry, and rebuild a proper economy. Because it’s an ’emergency’, the City and the Daily Mail will allow the government to deficit spend, without limit, and the government of the day can stay in power by blaming the sweaty socks for the upheaval. Sterling will bubble back up after a while, and England will be able to manage its economy in a competitive way, no longer beholden to the international markets for its survival.

    If the UK government, and its media cronies, and its security services, had any sense, they’d be doing everything in their power to push for Scottish Independence tomorrow. They don’t have any sense though – sadly.

    [and just to get back on-topic: Bliar is war criminal c***]

  60. Ken500
    Ignored
    says:

    Diana was anorexic. The marriage was a farce. An establishment farce.

    The currency issue was to continue the £, (no other option) until the people in Scotland decided. The SNP were not going to assume what the majority wanted but to give the electorate the option. Alex Salmond gave the Press/MSM more respect than the Press ever gave him. The Press/MSM tax evade. The high earners will not pay £20 a week to stop children starving. Westminster MP’s and their associates would rather tax evade. Westminster harms children. Unionist Parties are funded by Tory bankers. The SNP is funded by it’s members.

    Alex, Nicola and Co have the major support of the people in Scotland. The get mobbed wherever they go by well wishers. They can’t walk down the street without people coming up to give them a hug, shake their hand of take photos. It takes hours to get anywhere. When word spreads they are about, more and more well wishers congregate. That is never reported in the MSM. That is were they get there confidence and strength from the people. Even those who do not support Independence.

  61. Ken500
    Ignored
    says:

    John Smith changed the Rules of the Parliamentary Labour Party, to give the Leader increased power. He thought he would be leader. That is why Blair could act as a dictator, secretly and without consultation. The majority of the Cabinet did nothing to stop him, even when they knew he was lying. Their perks and privileges were more important. Miliband changed the Rules back.

    Where’s the Chilcot verdict to finish Blair off?

  62. caz-m
    Ignored
    says:

    Wishing Jeanne Freeman all the best in her decision to stand as an MSP next year.

    Jeanne would have been my choice to lead the next YES campaign. She is a very talented woman and we are lucky to have her on our side.

    Will need to come up with somebody else to head the next YES battle charge.

  63. caz-m
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T

    Went for a drive in the car yesterday over the Rest and Be Thankful to Dunoon.

    Called into the YES/SNP shop that is run by our very own Dave McEwan Hill. It is called the “Forward” shop and is situated on Dunoon’s Argyle St.

    Dave’s hub has everything you would want to run a successful campaign, even a radio communications office. He is an extremely nice guy and made me feel very welcome.

    Dave and his team have worked hard to get were they are and if anyone was thinking of opening up a similar shop/central command, then have a chat with Dave.

    A wee plug for Dunoon is that the Cowal Games are on at the end of August, where all the top Pipe Bands in the world will be on display.

    If you are in the area, call into the Forward shop and say hello to Dave and the rest of the team.

  64. scottieDog
    Ignored
    says:

    @scunterbunnet
    Yes the only real independence is monetary independence.
    Our monetary system is debt based and is driven by the interests of private bankers.

    I strongly recommend folk watch the documentary 97% owned. Once you watch it you realise how much we are being conned.

  65. scottieDog
    Ignored
    says:

    Have I just heard right?
    Listening to the news report on classicfm. Consideration being given to suspending the labour leadership contest due to ‘infiltration’ by left wing activists…
    Wtf!

  66. One_Scot
    Ignored
    says:

    I can’t work out if Iain Macwhirter is an asset or a liability, or what it is he actually wants. Does anyone else know.

  67. Tam Jardine
    Ignored
    says:

    caz-m

    Aye- good luck Jeanne. We’re lucky to have Ivan McKee standing as a candidate for Ed North & Leith. He is up against some great candidates but as soon as I saw Ivan’s name the decision was made.

    The depth of talent the SNP can draw from is now staggering but not so surprising given they represent such a vast swathe of the population, and such a diverse range of backgrounds and demographics.

    It feels like the juggernaut just moved up a gear. Imagine the poor labour sap going up against Jeanne Freeman if she’s nominated.

    As for the next Yes campaign, I would imagine the resources we have with 56 MRS, a swathe of MSPs from the indy parties will give us a much better platform.

    I would like to see a broader group, maybe 3 from the parties and maybe 3 others from business, representing younger and older folk running it collectively so we can try and speak to all groups.

    Jeanne would have been great but there are many others coming through and there is no reason or barrier to her being involved.

  68. Famous15
    Ignored
    says:

    Marr Show : Alex Salmond brilliantly commenting on subject after subject with intelligence ,awareness and statesmanlike tact.

    He rightly declined to comment on the merits of Trump’s bid for presidency and would not interfere in another countries’ politics unlike Trump with Scotland. However Trump should not confuse name recognition with political support. Ouch!

  69. BJ
    Ignored
    says:

    A. Salmond coming across very credible as usual. Now listening to Corbyn on Marr show

  70. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    Tam Jardine says:

    “we can try and speak to all groups.”

    I don’t necessarily think we need excessive central coordination for IndyRef2. Previously groups like RIC and Women for Independence made a lot of progress operating largely independently, each targeting specific sections of voters.

    What was clearly missing was a group targeting pensioners. Older people talking to older people, and converting them. A quick Google shows groups did exist but they never (as far as I remember) achieved particularly high profile.

    Such a group would need to focus on traditional media, and that might be why nothing took off in a big way.

    Next time, we need specialist groups again … and specifically we need a high profile group targeting the elderly.

  71. Grouse Beater
    Ignored
    says:

    One Scot: I can’t work out if Iain Macwhirter is an asset or a liability, or what it is he actually wants

    Unless he’s altered his vision, he’s an avowed federalist, one who’s always believed Scotland is treated as a second-class province and is long overdue real democratic rights … but he’s wary of independence though he voted Yes.

    His fairness is attractive, often prepared to argue with unionists, and hates the demonization of cybernats, but like all journalists his commitment to truth has limits.

    If the SNP turned unionist overnight he’d be surprised, but, in my opinion, revert to writing about other topics quite happily.

  72. Joemcg
    Ignored
    says:

    Salmond says 2nd vote “inevitable” That will get the Brit Nats beelin’!

  73. Brian Powell
    Ignored
    says:

    On weasels and weasally words, just read in the Sunday Hearald, the Scottish Network manager for the Trussell Trust, explain why he invited Mundell to open the food bank in the Borders.

    There was, ‘we should engage both sides” and “it gave me a chance to speak the only UK Minister in Scotland” about poverty and food banks.

    It just gave me a feeling of churning anger. The slimy, wormy Mundell isn’t someone anyone can engage with. He isn’t someone who wasn’t aware and could somehow be ‘argued’ into doing the right thing.

    He is fully embedded in the root cause of food poverty. He is not interested in welfare. his job is to do the Tory Government’s bidding.

    This attempt at engagement from the Trust manager i slither a Tory helping out his ‘pals’ or a cynical attempt by Mundell to give himself credibility.

    It’s a gross insult to the people who need to use the food banks. It’s hard to imagine how people going there must have felt about one of the perpetrators of their plight handing out ‘largesse’.

  74. gus1940
    Ignored
    says:

    According to Corbyn on Marr and other sources in the last few days The Labour Party can muster a massive 250,000 members in the whole of the UK while The SNP has 110,000 and counting members just in Scotland – makes one think.

    Apparently this Labour figure includes those signed up specifically for the Leadership Vote so the actual UK Membership must have been considerably less prior to the GE.

    How about The SNP offering the equivalent of Country or Associate Membership to those outwith Scotland.

    Such people could become the grassroots of a new Progressive Party in England.

  75. Socrates MacSporran
    Ignored
    says:

    One_Scot says he cannot work Iain Macwhirter out.

    Iain is a Federalist – home rule for Scotland within a federal UK. All we send to London is our share of defence and foreign affairs spending, plus UK MPs – hopefully to a reformed HoL acting as the UK Federal Parliament, while the HoC becomes the English Parliament.

    So, as things stand, in the world of realpolitiks, UK-style, Ian is o “our” side.

    In an independent Scotland, however, Iain might be an uncomfortable critic of government.

    I’d still cut him a lot of slack, however.

    Interesting take by Trevor Royle on Lillibet Windsor’s Nazi salute. This includes a devastating quote from CM Grieve (Hugh McDiarmid):

    [MacDiarmid put forward the idea that while “the Germans are appalling enough and in the short-term view more murderously destructive, they cannot win – but the British and French bourgeoisie can, and is a far greater enemy”.]

    Good old “Middle England” – don’t ya just love ’em.

  76. Grouse Beater
    Ignored
    says:

    Brian: the Scottish Network manager for the Trussell Trust, explain why he invited Mundell to open the food bank in the Borders.

    Could it have something to do with government grants? And Trussell executives on wages and expenses, all cleaned up with their uniform bibs and tuckers?

    https://grousebeater.wordpress.com/2015/07/25/the-obcenity-of-food-banks/

  77. Nana Smith
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T links

    Mhairi Black criticises MPs who ‘bray like donkeys’ and calls for Westminster ‘guff’ to be modernised

    https://archive.is/kzFFu

    http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/07/fluffy-mundell-flees-the-food-bank/

  78. Chic McGregor
    Ignored
    says:

    @Brian Powell

    “It’s a gross insult to the people who need to use the food banks. It’s hard to imagine how people going there must have felt about one of the perpetrators of their plight handing out ‘largesse’.”

    Noblesse Oblige? Or should that come with a K?

  79. David Lee
    Ignored
    says:

    The musicians interviewed come across as entitled arseholes. I don’t think they have a divine right to be on the dole for years because they’re “artists”. The sheer arrogance and contempt shown for people who do manual work is pretty shoddy.

  80. Colin Church
    Ignored
    says:

    A 1996 piece full of ringing bells.

    http://www.pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr203/mcdonald.htm

    Government complicit with bankers, let the poor pay for crisis, Labour = Tory…

  81. Nana Smith
    Ignored
    says:

    How the other half live – at our expense

    Dolphin Square seems to be a den of vice.

    Lord Coke: Peer hoovers up coke with £200-a-night hookers

    https://archive.is/Iu0ro

  82. Giving Goose
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T apologies;

    Check out the Sun on Sunday, where Lord Sewel, Deputy Speaker of the Lords, and ex Labour leader of Aberdeen Council has been caught in cocaine fuelled romp with x2 hookers in his Dolphin Square flat.

    Another of a long list of Scottish Labour gangsters living, or in his case, snorting and shagging the good life at the public’s expense.

    Are we surprised?

    Nope.

    Is he a Scottish Labour professional politician?

    Of course

    Is my dog’s last crap in the garden the biggest pile of shite?

    Nope; Scottish Labour are, by a whiff and a nose.

  83. Nana Smith
    Ignored
    says:

    Meant to add this link to my last post

    http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/blog/theres-only-one-option-our-bloated-upper-house

    I believe Ian Lang is to head the devolution commission. Good grief yet another insult.

    Pete Wishart ?@PeteWishart · 18h18 hours ago
    What do you do with an unelected Tory Lord booted out 18 years ago who opposed devolution? Put him in charge of a devo commission, of course

  84. One_Scot
    Ignored
    says:

    Thanks for the replies. The fact he voted Yes, which I did not know, is a positive.

  85. Chic McGregor
    Ignored
    says:

    Many years ago the missus and I were watching one of those outdoor stand up TV interviews outside Westminster. It was with a youngish MP we had never seen before.

    He was banging on about single mother families and how they just got pregnant so they could live off the state.

    I remarked to my better half how sleekit those Tories were, using a junior MP to leak their more outrageous bile, but if a row ensued, the leadership could claim inexperience and personal opinion for the interviewed MP.

    Towards the end of the interview the caption came up reading ‘Labour MP’. I pointed this out to my wife and said that there would be hell to pay for them getting that wrong.

    Well it wasn’t wrong, the MP was, of course, Tony Blair and a couple of years later he was leader of the Labour Party.

    Tony Blair PM – I’m Tory Plan B

  86. Macart
    Ignored
    says:

    I see Alex was on Marr this morning and was on good form from comments up thread. Need to catch up on Iplayer later on. Should be entertaining as usual. The great thing I’ve noticed from Alex recently is that he’s far less inclined to take crap from interviewers and more inclined to let the mischievous humour come through. Breaks off as it were.

    Whilst I’m sure the post of FM was regarded as a great honour by Alex Salmond, I reckon he was always at his best and most comfortable down in the trenches. Maybe just me but I see a lot of his style over the way the 56 use the chamber to make a point these days. A mixture of mischief and procedural knowledge, knowing just what buttons to push to achieve a result, be it the odd climb down, delaying tactics, extra time allowed on a given debate. No doubt about it, our new MPs are showing remarkably well given the direction of the 7 older heads amongst their number. 🙂

  87. Grouse Beater
    Ignored
    says:

    Chic: The politician was banging on about single mother families and how they just got pregnant so they could live off the state.

    In which case he should have been sterilized – forcibly! 🙂

  88. Grouse Beater
    Ignored
    says:

    Nana: Lord Coke: Peer hoovers up coke with £200-a-night hookers

    Lord Sewel has resigned from the House to spend more time with his hookers. He’ll miss £300 a day for his powders.

  89. GallusEffie
    Ignored
    says:

    @galamcennalath

    I think this is a very good point.

    During the lead up to Indyref we put a Yes saltire flag over our house. Personally I was amazed as I’m the person who wears their heart on their sleeve, my husband generally plays things close to his chest.

    His friend and I were a good wee team chatting Indy politics to peers who were undecided, mostly due to lack of knowledge about the issues. We were glad to help get Yes votes from quite a few of them, one a postie who went on to get Yes votes from his colleagues, and so it goes on.

    Sadly last year my mum had cancer and died a month before Indyref. Politics just never came up in topic so I have no idea how my dad voted, or my sister and bro in law. I suspect no on them all, all solid Labour voters. As I was myself up till Tony Blairses.

    My husband’s folks were highly amused by our flag, my father in law in particular a staunch no, because of the pension scares…traditional labour voter, MSM reader and viewer, although he uses a computer, he’s not a natural “surfer” so was completely unaware of the 1000’s of great links he could have been reading.

    My mother in law, unsurprisingly to me, said, I don’t know anything about politics, I’ll vote what he ( my father in law ) votes. ( oh, my blood pressure )

    But my husband surprised me, that every time his dad said something no-related when they visited, he went on a soapbox rant countering it. I was so proud at his passion and knowledge. His dad would humph as if *we* were the brainwashed ones.

    One visit, my mother in law said something moving. She said I’m always sure of voting no when I’m at home but when I come here, I want to vote Yes.

    Then my mum died and we were all at sea at home.

    A week before the Indyref, we sent my inlaws a copy of the Wee Blue Book and a print out of Jim Sillars’ pension letter.

    I knew my father in law would look at the links, he’s savvy enough to do that. The endorsement of an older, well known person with the pension issue, I think was crucial in cementing the deal. I certainly don’t discount the spadework put in my my husband, and WBB was showing what he said was true.

    The both voted Yes, they both voted SNP in the GE.

    So I think older people can be persuaded to Yes if the message is in a form they feel comfortable with, and be sympatico with the messengers also.

  90. Nana Smith
    Ignored
    says:

    Aye Grouse Beater, but I’m sure he’ll be given a wee role on some company letterheads somewhere so he can carry on powdering himself or his ‘ladies’

    These lordies won’t be stuck for their jollies but it may deter others from getting caught. Mind you it’s only been a few weeks since Rifkind was caught out in a cash for access scam so perhaps they are just too thick after all.

    https://www.politicshome.com/party-politics/articles/story/lord-sewel-resigns-after-cocaine-allegations

  91. Fred
    Ignored
    says:

    Lord Sewell, good grief Nana? at least he hasn’t been fined for allegedly soliciting in a public toilet, like the subject of this thread.

  92. Tam Jardine
    Ignored
    says:

    galamcennalath 9.56am

    I don’t disagree – I suppose the question is how you decentralise control of the next yes campaign and keep it cohesive. Say what you like about the formal yes campaign but there were aspects that worked (branding, artwork and some of the TV advertising).

    The greatest strength was the grassroots campaign of course which was largely independent of Blair Jenkins team. My concern with having zero central organisation is that there is a risk of division or conflict between different groupings being exploited but there is a great strength there as well.

    It is one thing to criticise Alex Salmond but another to take on organised groups of ordinary members of the public.

    I don’t have a set vision of the best way to organise the whole thing but I know it needs to build on the strengths of the last campaign whilst taking a long hard look at the weaknesses. And for that we need those involved from the various groupings to come together and work on a strategy in readiness.

  93. msean
    Ignored
    says:

    There was a lot to get through,but got there in the end. Knew oasis didn’t like the way it was going,didn’t know about the others though. Intersesting to look back and see that it was all falling apart pre Iraq, and shows how slow moving politics is as it took years to get rid.

    At the same time,it should be noted that at speeds like that,these Tories today will take at least another ten years to move out. Indyref 2 please!

  94. msean
    Ignored
    says:

    * interesting

  95. crazycat
    Ignored
    says:

    @ Tam Jardine at 9.27

    The “poor Labour sap” who will be up against Jeane Freeman should she win the nomination (unlike gold standard I don’t think the other women on the shortlist would be anywhere near as good, but since I’m not a party member, I have no influence in the selection process) is Carol Mochan.

    She achieved (very minor) notoriety during the last Scottish Labour leadership farce, when she was one of two women who stated that unless Katy Clark were elected deputy, the party was finished. Since then, she has appeared in my now-ex MP’s election propaganda as an “ordinary member of the public” voicing support, and more recently still I encountered her for the first time at a non-political meeting. I didn’t ask her why she was standing for a party which had not followed her earlier advice and was now doomed.

  96. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    This ties-in with above references to Diana etc, but it’s about so much more, and was, allegedly, ‘banned’ by the royal family and never broadcast.

    It’s a documentary by Keith Allen. The whole thing is worth watching, but from the 1hr mark to approx. 1.05 is just jaw-dropping stuff, especially in the light of the recent ‘Sun’ front-page about Liz giving Nazi salutes as a wean.

    ‘Unlawful Killing’:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-c1ouaehwg

  97. Rock
    Ignored
    says:

    One_Scot,

    “I can’t work out if Iain Macwhirter is an asset or a liability, or what it is he actually wants. Does anyone else know.”

    Apologists like Iain Macwhirter and Derek Bateman are like enemies within.

    If you are on the side of independence it has to be no ifs no buts.

  98. Rock
    Ignored
    says:

    Nana Smith,

    “Mhairi Black criticises MPs who ‘bray like donkeys’ and calls for Westminster ‘guff’ to be modernised”

    Clapping (SNP) bad.

    Braying like donkeys (multi coloured Tories) good.

    The planet’s last remaining dinosaurs are alive and well in Westminster.

  99. ben madigan
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood – great minds think alike – I was just searching out this old post of mine when I saw you had put up the link to the film, which was banned in the UK (and may still be, I’m not sure).

    Anyway anyone who’s interested will find a little more background info here, together with a couple more relevant links https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/unlawful-killing/

  100. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    @ben madigan –

    It’s all just another wee bit of the jigsaw, right?

    But all the bits count.

    🙂

  101. GallusEffie
    Ignored
    says:

    @Ian Brotherhood and Ben Madigan

    Wow. Just wow.

  102. Brian Doonthetoon
    Ignored
    says:

    Thanks for that, Oscar Taime!



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