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Under false pretences 441

Posted on December 27, 2014 by

We’re still supposed to be on a skeleton service for the festive period, but we couldn’t just let this one slide. The cashflow problems at the Labour Party must be more severe than previously thought, because the entire organisation seems to be sharing a single email account. We got yet another begging letter today, from the same address previously named as “Iain McNicol” and “Ed Miliband”, but today’s one was credited to shadow women’s minister Gloria De Piero.

gloria

Alert readers will recognise the appeal as one we’ve been watching for 11 days now. It’s an attempt by the UK party to raise some cash to employ 10 campaign assistants specifically for Scottish Labour. The jobs are still openly listed as such on the Labour website’s situations-vacant page. Yet the party seems oddly reluctant to say so.

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Diversification strategy 137

Posted on December 26, 2014 by

Wait, what?

scottories1

We know there’s a lot of talk of the other Unionist parties stepping aside in order to give Scottish Labour a clear run in 2015, in a desperate attempt to stop the SNP from picking up too many seats, but this is surely taking it a bit far.

War, hide yourself 219

Posted on December 25, 2014 by

Merry Christmas, readers. Have a good one and we’ll see you soon.

ddp1

Granny’s at the gin again 220

Posted on December 24, 2014 by

We missed this on Sunday, because it was 17 minutes into on the short-lived and unlamented “Crossfire” (now binned for a Sunday edition of “Good Morning Scotland”) and therefore pretty much everyone in Scotland missed it. It’s former Labour minister Helen Liddell, or as we should properly address her, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke.

[audio http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/liddell-crossfire-21dec2014.mp3 ]

We’ve spared you her subsequent painful bleating about a general election 35 years ago that she doesn’t seem to have quite gotten over, but we couldn’t help raising an eyebrow at her curious assessment of the referendum result, which we suspect fellow guest Andrew “Lallands Peat Worrier” Tickell was simply too stunned to react to.

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Asymmetric warfare 68

Posted on December 24, 2014 by

From last night’s actually rather good “2014 – The Rory Review”:

BBC Scotland has 1,250 staff and an annual budget of just over £100 million. Yikes. We’re going to need a bigger fundraiser.

God loves an optimist 264

Posted on December 23, 2014 by

The Independent, 22 December 2014:

“Labour’s newly-elected Scottish leader, Jim Murphy, has told his party’s major donors and fundraisers that he needs to find £1m to combat the rising fortunes of the SNP.

The call to arms ahead of next year’s general election is Mr Murphy’s first acknowledgement that Labour will struggle to hold on to their former heartland unless they mount a forceful  campaign against the nationalists.

Although UK Labour can expect trade unions to underwrite any campaign funding gap, the majority of the affiliated unions in Scotland chose to back Mr Murphy’s left-leaning opponent, MSP Neil Findlay, in the leadership contest.”

We can only admire Mr Murphy’s ambition.

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The dangers of skimming 78

Posted on December 22, 2014 by

Libby Brooks in today’s Guardian:

“The recently elected leader of Scottish Labour, Jim Murphy, faces a daunting challenge to lift his party’s fortunes before next May’s general election as a poll shows support for Labour in Scotland is now half of that for the SNP.

A Survation poll for Monday’s Daily Record, the first to be released since Murphy’s election on 13 December, found that 48% of Scottish voters plan to support the SNP in May, and 24% Labour.

The swing implied by the figures suggests that as many 10 Labour seats [sic] could fall to the SNP.”

But that’s not what the figures suggest at all.

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The alpha ned 219

Posted on December 22, 2014 by

Fans of the bewildering in Scottish politics don’t look set to be disappointed in 2015.

murphyfootball

Jim Murphy’s only been the Scottish Labour “leader” for a week, but already he seems hell-bent on hurling the party’s North British branch into the padded walls of its cell with more vigour than ever before, heroically ignoring the open door.

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The Legacy 234

Posted on December 21, 2014 by

Iain Macwhirter in “Disunited Kingdom” (Cargo Publishing, 8 December 2014):

“It seems clear that the newspapers allowed their editorial agendas to get in the way of their communication with their readers. And this has had very serious consequences.

There is now a very large body of people in Scotland who are deeply disillusioned with the press, to such an extent that they simply no longer believe what is written there.

Look at any of the internet sites related to the Yes campaign and you will now find, not just criticism of mainstream media but a complete rejection of it, as if it were the propaganda arm of a foreign power.

This degree of alienation from the press, shared by hundreds of thousands of Scottish voters, is unprecedented and should be causing alarm, not just in editorial offices, but in the political parties which are also losing their ability to communicate. “

It’s a difficult assessment to dispute.

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Behind the magic 158

Posted on December 20, 2014 by

We thought you might like a wee glimpse into the machinery.

An economy with the truth 141

Posted on December 19, 2014 by

By now readers will probably be familiar with STV News reporter Stephen Daisley’s superbly withering review of Alan Cochrane’s referendum diaries. One quote from the book aroused particular interest:

“There are one or two interesting tidbits. He shares a story that Bank of England governor Mark Carney fired a warning shot at Alex Salmond when he came to Edinburgh for their landmark meeting. 

According to Cochrane, the Canadian economist told the First Minister: ‘I’m only here for one day, Alex, but don’t f— with me or I’ll be up here a lot more often.’

But did that really happen?

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Oilmageddon 116

Posted on December 19, 2014 by

Political etiquette is a funny thing. Should some of the more vocal supporters of a Yes vote dare to express any degree of satisfaction at a couple of dozen journalists’ jobs being lost on a Unionist newspaper, social media is suddenly aflame with pious, angry lectures about the poor taste of rejoicing in others’ unemployment – regardless of whether it might perhaps have been caused by the paper’s own unethical actions.

bdoil1

But when tens of thousands of blameless oil workers face unemployment just before Christmas, it’s proving all but impossible for Unionists to keep a lid on their glee.

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    • twathater on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Geri your demolition of the yoonionists on here is something to behold , so much so that Corporal Cave dweller…Mar 26, 03:41
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    • robertkknight on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “The words…”None are worthy of my vote” will appear on my ballot paper. F**k the lot of ’em!Mar 25, 21:16
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    • George Ferguson on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “@Fearghas Of course this false debate is coming to a conclusion. But meantime others have suffered Stu, Father Ted, A…Mar 25, 19:53
    • Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “And seeing as Confused mentioned Jim Rogers and the lady in red shiting herself the other day… It’s only a…Mar 25, 19:27
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “GIRLGUIDING WILL BE FEMALE-ONLY FROM SEPTEMBER Girlguiding has announced that any gender-confused boys who identify as girls will have to…Mar 25, 19:25
    • Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “C’mon tae fuck Chas. I hope you don’t play golf like you act on here. At least try to respond…Mar 25, 19:22
    • Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Breaking news for Chas who seems permanently in the dark to current world affairs happening outside of his basement. The…Mar 25, 19:22
    • James on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Wow. Just wow. Utter bollocks that was de-bunked years ago being sicked-up by English Yoon “Chas”. Is this really the…Mar 25, 18:35
    • Chas on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Dan I have seen your post with the various percentages several times previously. Where you gleaned them from and at…Mar 25, 18:33
    • George Ferguson on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Agreed Stu I am not voting for anyone on May 7th. Last year on this blog I said Scottish Labour…Mar 25, 18:33
    • Captain Caveman on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Well, “Geri”, I might well be Del Boy but at least he’s popular and British. Unlike some, eh pal. As…Mar 25, 18:26
    • Sven on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Sorry Geri, I just can’t accept any definition of anything involving Ms Sturgeon involving the descriptor “honest” as being applicable.…Mar 25, 18:22
    • Young Lochinvar on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “No Geri I don’t think so. I can’t put my finger on it but it’s got similarities to (here) Hateys…Mar 25, 18:17
    • Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Of course he isn’t anti immigration & of course he’ll do absolutely nothing to fix it. It’d upset his wealthy…Mar 25, 18:10
    • Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “And an apology and admittance from Main that coal actually was a resource worth mentioning. https://wingsoverscotland.com/never-learned-to-shovel/#comment-2778577 And more so now…Mar 25, 18:00
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