Wings Over Scotland

Its always about them.

“Scottish” Labour politicians make me sick. Red Tories, and arrogant with it.

Saw this, should have been surprised, but wasn’t. The arrogance is unchanged, the sense of entitlement undying.

The first part of Scotland Tonight last night shows what we will face in the next six months. This was in essence a PPB for Scottish Labour and their nebulous, never-defined concept of ‘social justice’, but, as the Rev says, it was also the official starting gun on the ‘vote for us to keep out the Tories’ mantra with which we will be battered by the ‘Scottish’ MSM until May 2015.

The question remains open – how do we stop Labour voters who voted Yes reverting to that party in the GE under the weight of the coming bombardment?

The only thing that matters to Labour politicians is the Labour Party. It’s their turn for government in Westminster so come on Scotland do your duty and ‘go to the back of the bus’ .

Katy, you and your treacherous all party friends in Scotland are about to get something starting with F….. and it is not SEX.

It is arrogant beyond belief, to view the GE in terms put forward by Katy Clark. To portray the election so narrowly through rose tinted specs is myopic to the current situation in Scottish politics and that change is required. The 2 horse race line NEVER stood up to scrutiny, but now pretty much EVERYONE knows it.

It says a lot about the quality of Labour parliamentarian, that NONE of them have faced the reality of their situation in Scotland. The people that are ‘serving’ us (in Labour) a truly inept and selfish.

I would be angry, if it did not entirely suit the nationalist cause for these MUPPETS to be in such continuos denial. It truly is stunning that these so called socialsts continually put party (in other words their own careers) before people, which is supposedly their actual job FFS.

Aye. “Scotland could let US down”. Not WE have let Scotland down.
Labour dont give a stuff about Scotland.
Lord Faulkner on the Andrew Marr Show last Sunday. “Listen to Ed. We are clear about….devolution to the cities”
link to bbc.co.uk
Scroll to 1hour 16minutes
Not a word about increased powers to Scotland

Katy Clark MP–British Labour Party— North Ayrshire and Arran.
Majority at last Westminster election–9,000.

I agree that Labour has much lower to go, before the real change required within the party happens. At present, it is being held back by 40 odd Labour MP’s from Scotland, who are riding the Westminster gravy train, and really couldn’t give a flying bleep about Scotland.

We saw this all too clearly during the referendum campaign, with Labour working hand in glove with the Tories, just to preserve the careers of those Labour MP’s at Westminster.

Only when they get booted out of office in 2015, will we finally see a chance for Labour to return to its roots in Scotland.

Right now, so far as Labour is concerned, it is somebody else’s fault, and NOTHING to do with their utter betrayal of peoples hopes and faustian pact with the Tories against the people of Scotland.

Scotland needs Labour like a hole in the head.

Poor “Scottish” Labour are so frustrated because they know that they CAN’T change even if they wanted to. They can’t offer Scotland the policies that we want because English Labour won’t let them, so all they have left is to try and con us into thinking prescriptions & student fees are good for the working class. Or else scream “SNP BAD!”

Luckily for the SNP there’s nothing they can do to change things and with Jim Murphy in charge they’ll be even more under the thumb of Westminster. Tee hee.

Kenny @ 11.45 chastised the Rev for using the expression “Old Firm”; going on to parrot the Celtic Family party-line about Rangers being “deid”.

Rangers as existed pre Craig Whyte was certainly liquidated. Yes, in my football writings I refer to the present “Rangers” as “the Tribute Act”, but, sadly – a team wearing royal blue shirts and under the name “Rangers” still plays out of Ibrox Park; the old tribal songs are still sung, the old tribal creed is still observed and, certainly, when “Rangers” and Celtic were drawn together recently in the Lerague Cup semi-final, the intellectual giants of the Scottish Football Writers Association positively wet themselves at the prospect of the rebirth of Old Firm matches.

And again, on the basis of: if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck – it is a duck.

Sadly, the Old Firm is still with us, and will probably prove harder to eradicate than Old, or New, Labour.

In any case, the Rev’s use of the term “Old Firm” made perfect sense.

No need to apologise, no need to examine and learn from our failings. Letting down good honest folk who did vote for Labour over decades.
It’s not our (Labour’s) fault. After all we are the only party people in Scotland should vote for. It’s our devine right to rule Scotland, The electorate of Scotland owe it to us.
And if they don’t we’ll get Ian Davidson to give them a right good ‘doing’.
The arrogance of it is mind blowing. I wonder if hard working folk are impressed as they trudge along to the food bank to help support their low earnings and feed their families ?.
Or the folks having to be assisted by the Scottish Government to elevate the drastic circumstances of the bedroom tax which Miliband needed a year to decide his policy on. How many Labour MPS turned up to vote against that scurge ?.
Aye as has been said before, ‘you’ve voted, now get to the back of the bus and shut up’. That’s what the North British Branch Office of New Labour is all about.

Doesn’t Katy Clark know that Scots are not genetically programmed to make political decisions.

Training Day: we have to get the message out that Labour aren’t interested in more powers for Scotland, as proven by their submission to the Smith Commission and that if we want more devolution we have to return SNP MPs.

I actually fear a labour govt at WM as much as a Tory one. Not only will they copy the Tory austerity plan, they want to devolve powers from the Scottish Parliament down to local authority level, thus increasing labour control and leaving Holyrood a powerless shell. They will do everything they can to ensure a indyref will never again happen in the future. People need to realise Labour are still working against Scotland’s best interests, putting the party before people. This is the message we need to take to the doorsteps.

Plus reminding people of the Labour Party 2 year love-in with the Tories during the referendum period.

There is a real lack of reality within society in general.

These politicians are merely a symptom of the underlying problem, they really are representatives of what is fundamentally an uninformed population.

Sorry, i know that im being offensive here but I cant see this any other way. My previous misgivings were somewhat put aside by the momentum of the independence campaign but now im back to where i once was.

Here is some points that back up my claim that ignorant politicians are the result of an ignorant society –

1 – with trillions of pounds worth of oil in the North Sea there are people that are actually surprised that Westminster didnt allow Scotland to walk away with it all simply by a referendum, and played every dirty trick they could to keep it. do we believe that the powers in the world will ever allow us 5 million Scots to manage this resource for our benefit? Are we really this unaware of the last 50 years of resource theft and genocide all over the planet?

2 – people were shocked at the BBC’s bias. I have to ask what planet these people have been living on for the last few decades? And id like to point out that the willful ignorance of these people has helped to enable westminster to lead the U.K to commit crimes against humanity in other parts of the world all while reality is spun and twisted by a compliant media – and a telly-zombie population.

3 – no one seems to be addressing the 2 elephants that are pretty much filling up the room, that are going to become ever more present an issue regardless of who is in power and under any terms whether Scotland is independent or not and both of these hypothetical elephants have ECONOMY written all over them.

The first (and least important) is the issue of debt and how money is used in the economy as a whole. The paper money we use now has a ‘sell-by-date’ on it, its losing value all the time and there is nothing that can be done to change that simply because of the way that the monetary system works – money is debt.
I was able to warn of the housing bubble collapse (and the subsequent ‘recession’) to the exact day 5 months before it happened, i s**t you not. Yet there was no economist, politician or ANYONE who gave a warning or even now talks about how it was easily predictable and indeed foreseen.
My point is that we have a series of further financial calamities coming ahead and nobody is talking about it. AT ALL. Instead everyone’s attention is wrapped in these worthless entities we call ‘politicians’ and some s**t called ‘The vow’ that an ignorant f**king rag of a newspaper that nobody with half a brain should have trusted anyway published in a manner and at a time that would have insulted a child’s intellect.

The second huge issue is so big that it dwarfs the first issue.
Yet there is not 1 political leader or even a political party that i am aware of on the planet that even mentions it. This issue has to do with what is termed ‘technological unemployment’. The trends are set – human labor is being replaced at an increasing rate by accelerating advancements in artificial intelligence in every single sector of the economy. What does this mean? On the face of it it means increasing unemployment across the board but the deeper issue is that there is only so much unemployment the economy can take before it enters a terminal state of collapse – the economy is driven by consumption and when a critical mass of people are unable to sell their labor on the open market and spend back into the economy then an inevitable depression ensues and the monetary/market system as we know it is at an end. The funny thing is that market forces will continue to replace human labor with automation wherever and whenever they can simply due to the need to maintain a competitive edge.

One can research this 2nd issue themselves, in fact i highly recommend that people do this. The question ultimately is – are our ‘leaders’ simply uninformed or are they simply reckless?

Our focus on what is important is currently arse-for-tit at the moment and people are not being given the relevant information to change that.

Our civilization is changing faster and more completely than anyone could have imagined and there is no going back. Our politicans and economists are utterly out of touch with reality, indeed they are part of a system that is now utterly out of date and failing us completely and yes, that does include the pro independence ones.

For those who want a thought exercise on this you should search for -Three Questions: What do you propose? On Youtube.

Im reminded of a scene from Brookside, when a wife in denial is ranting at her estranged husband of 25 years :

Wife: YOU’VE CHANGED!!

Husband: You havent!

“We’re Labour first, Scottish second.”

Another reason that Labour didn’t want to form a coalition with the SNP was that they had made a mess of the economy while in power and had no idea what to do about it. Apart from Gordon Brown, I think that they were quite happy to go into opposition. After all the money’s still good, and there’s no responsibility.

What did you do wrong?

You abandoned the working class and the poor! Reorganise yourselves, ditch all of the careerists, give us a policy programme including a wealth tax, abandonment of militarism, punitive reorganisation of the banks, a living wage, regulation of uncontrolled corporate interests etc etc,(you know the rest of the script, if not, read Owen Jones and Piketty)

And I will vote for you (although it will cost me financially, but my conscience will be easier)!

From labour hame website. Tells you all you need to know
“we’re labour first, Scottish second”

Prof Trevor Davies, chair of Edinburgh Northern & Leith CLP, says we should ask to be judged on how well we work together.

So – Scottish Labour has another corner to turn, another chapter to write, and, soon, a new voice to lead us and speak for us

Whose ever that voice might be, let us all now stop talking about “Scottishness”. That doesn’t define who we are and never has. We’re Labour first and Scottish second.

We’ve been trapped into that debilitating nationalist frame far too long. It’s a competition we can’t win and never should have joined. Let us leave it to the SNP to explore that political dead end, defining themselves as who they are against, blaming others. Scotland didn’t vote for nationalism – it voted for union.

@Nana Smith

.. defining themselves as who they are against, blaming others..

You owe me a new keyboard and a chicken sandwich! 😆

Just to go O/T a tiny bit, Wings twitter account has a little bit of a post from Labour Hame by a Professor Trevor Davies, I suggest a look, very interesting in that he sees that it should be Labour first and Scottish second. Now I see a few names I recognise in the comments section. It could be Labour’s suicide note if it became more widely known which I imagine is the reason for the tweet on Wings. What Labour failed to see was that they did not win, not the decisive win they needed. They won by promising something they have no intention of delivering and sooner or later even the Scots are going to see that.

For the first time in a long time I listened to a Labour politician, Katy Clark, and much of what she said was coherently argued and seemed based on principles one used to associate with Labour. (Kezia Dugdale, on the other hand,rattled off a set of aspirational policies with no attempt to explain how they may be achieved, and set in a context of instantly forgettable sound-bite soup.)

As Stu has pointed out, the sub text was the appeal to Scotland to vote Labour. Both politicians were banking on the unpopularity of the Tories in Scotland.

This reminded me of the attitude of many Palestinian friends in the 80’s who said they preferred the Likud party as with them they knew where they stood. While the Labour party made soothing noises much the same sort of degradation to living standards etc. continued.

I now feel in the same situation: the present Westminster government is utterly repugnant, but at least we know where we stand with them. With Labour we’ll get much the same only dressed in sleekit flannel.

Ironically, Tony Blair’s “third way” politics has now opened up – just not in a way he ever expected. We now do not need to agonise over an ‘either or’ choice of party – Holyrood has changed all that.

Kezia Dugdale had a swipe at the SNP claiming it had stolen Labour’s social democratic mantle. Well sorry, you and your ilk handed it over down to your underwear.

No doubt we’ll hear much more from all the SLAB candidates, but expect more of the same old song.

I went to school with Katy Clark and still have a chuckle every time I see her being described as being on the “left” of the party. She is a career politician of the champagne socialist variety who grew up in what would have to be described as an “Upper Middle Class” area. Anyone who thinks voting Labour is a show of working class solidarity should take a walk down Ronaldshaw Park in Ayr and muse on what really motivates these people into standing for Labour in Scotland…

I have no idea why so many ungrateful, whinging Jocks won’t vote for a party that’s just spent two years joining together with the Tories and right wing media to denigrate them as Cybernats, fascists and compare them to Nazis for the terrible sin of wanting to control their own affairs. No idea at all. It’s all so unfair!

Here is the link to the article from prof Davies…

link to labourhame.com

What Labour have in Scotland is a lust for power but not actually having any vision or ideas to sell to the Scottish people with ‘leader’ Miliband looking increasingly lost every day. It’s like the situation the old Liberal party found itself in after the First World War. They got used to having ‘their turn’ and when the new boy came along (Labour) they couldn’t handle fighting two parties at once. Now that the new boys (SNP) have established themselves as a parliamentary force Labour are scrabbling around with the notion that they are the righteous party in Scotland and the people should bow and scrape before them in their consituences because of historical tradition. Of course what happened to the old Liberals back then is happening to Scottish Labour now, a dead party populated by political zombies all trying to hold onto the gravy train like grim death.

These politicians are not Labour first, they are Unionists first, they are British nationalists, having a red rosette at election time means nothing if your policies and actions are the same as they guy with the blue rosette, for that Labour only have themselves to blame and that is the one thing they can’t bring themselves to do. Labour need absolution in Scotland but to achieve it they need to confess their sins to the Scottish people, ask for forgiveness and start again. But it will never happen when the real ongoing effort for the ‘One Nation’ Labour party is persuading the SE of England to vote for Ed.

Both the Tories and Labour are travelling the road of devolution of some powers to cities. So what’s to choose between them! Looks like that might be what’s on offer from the Smith Commission. A ‘compromise’ that undermines the Scottish Parliament.

Silly wummin, words fail me.

I hear the Aberdeen fans took a roasting at the weekend, not only did their team lose but they were outsung by the smallish Celtic contingent hammering home the, tories in disguise message, we know you voted no, sheep shagging tories, etc’. Just saying ken 🙂

Labour, BBC, Westminster have only ever talked Scotland down during the referendum.
It wasnt the silent majority that won the vote, it was feared pensioners and BBC labServative lies;
Something for nothing people.
Oil is too volatile for Scots.
Not genetically capable to run a country.
Not your £.
No shipbuilding.
All of the World is against you, you stupid people.
NATO doesnt want you, ie Nuclear Alliance Treaty Organisation.
UEFA doesnt want you.
Europe doesnt want you.
Pope says No, Obama says No, the £10 pom says No
etc
All lies, all Labour, never forgotten!

saw that programme last nite and wat about the other lieing halfwit sitting next to her just not being able to stop her self far haein a wee dig at the snp same shit different toilet

Perhaps the good Professor’s article would have been more accurately headlined: “Britain First, Labour Second… and Scotland a complete write-off.”

Remember the old saying? The more things change, the more they stay the same. That’s Labour to a T.

labour have changed from a party that embraced socialism to one that is little better than a ponzi scheme. A ponzi scheme were membership is defined along the lines of the Dilbert Principle, where the “top” members ensure the lower ones are selected because of their incompetence. The rotten house of cards is then propped up by people voting labour to keep the tories out.

They’ve dined out on that slogan for so long, they have gotten fat & lazy. That’s where the sense of entitlement comes from. As voters leave, the whole scheme faces collapse. The whole gravy train is in danger of derailing. Since these fine upstanding troughers have lost sight of what they stood for, its easy to see why they seem incapable of dealing with it rationally. So there only instinct is to attack the things they stood for, and then defend the very things they once stood against. For example, Labour’s attack on universalism, while trying to normalise food banks. This is the sort of thing the tories did. But you expect that from them. You feel vindicated by not voting tory, because you know were you stand in relation to them. Labour now talk like tories but expect you to vote for them because of what they once stood for.

The soundbites are old labour, the reality is conservative.

Change for the better – Could have, Should have. That is labours epitaph.

Katy Clark is actually one of the less wretched of her party’s current Scottish elected representatives

Yet even this (less) wretched individual was totally and utterly useless when it came to voting for more powers to be devolved to Scotland:

link to wildernessofpeace.wordpress.com

She’s in good company, of course – she joins Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown as one of only three Scottish New Labour MPs who did not turn up to a single vote on what would later become the Scotland Act 2012. Clearly great deputy leadership material right there!

OT

News Flash

RBS is advising the City of London Police on financial corruption. You couldn’t make this one up.

link to youtube.com

From the BBC, tumbleweed.

It’s just another case of Labour not being able to see through their Red Tinted Glasses, and the end of the nose they sit on.

Everything I hear form them is all about protect the party, save the party, get the party back in power by all means and lies.

I have yet to hear any coherent policies that relate to the people they say they represent. It’s funny, cause all through the Referendum debate, people were commenting that the result what ever way it went might reinvigorate the party (I don’t have any links/clips sorry), but it has has the complete reverse effect (gladly). They are imploding, and I am happy to sit back and watch it all unfold. Well read it about on here cause as far as the MSM is concerned everything is Rosy Red, and so by my reckoning are complicit in the Labour deceit.

The Labour Branch office in Scotland’s actions speak volumes. Yet they sit there with confused looks on their faces as to why the electorate are turning away from them in droves. But rather than actually doing something about it internally. taking a good hard look at themselves, they turn on the very electorate and blame them.

Astounding. Absolutely astounding way to run a political movement.

Jo-La blames London, Katy’s blaming us.. Margaret’s got a knife.. He said this, she said that.. We’re not in power and we should be..

Oh, Boo-hoo..

“I hear the Aberdeen fans took a roasting at the weekend, not only did their team lose but they were outsung by the smallish Celtic contingent hammering home the, tories in disguise message, we know you voted no, sheep shagging tories, etc’”

Aye we did…gallingly (as almost every Red I know voted YES)…we had no comeback

Will be more of the same and even worse for Scotland fans vs Ireland on Friday and England next week

@David:
Yet there is not 1 political leader or even a political party that i am aware of on the planet that even mentions it. This issue has to do with what is termed ‘technological unemployment’. The trends are set – human labor is being replaced at an increasing rate by accelerating advancements in artificial intelligence in every single sector of the economy.

Gosh, I am glad to know I am not the only one to hold this as a truth. I could add that our woes began the day some eejit declared that ‘By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground’ (Gen. 3:19) and some related havers. Because of that non-sense, people have been locked in poverty and we are desperately pushing against that trend which should, on the contrary, be welcomed as the most beneficial thing that ever happened to man. Nowadays, if we had embraced this revolution rather than resisted it because of that antiquated hooey, three hours per week of voluntary work would largely suffice to cover the needs of any countries. The rest could be done by machines.

But this is not new. This is how Bertrand Russell concluded his essay In praise of idleness: ‘Above all, there will be happiness and joy of life, instead of frayed nerves, weariness, and dyspepsia. The work exacted will be enough to make leisure delightful, but not enough to produce exhaustion. Since men will not be tired in their spare time, they will not demand only such amusements as are passive and vapid. At least one per cent will probably devote the time not spent in professional work to pursuits of some public importance, and, since they will not depend upon these pursuits for their livelihood, their originality will be unhampered, and there will be no need to conform to the standards set by elderly pundits. But it is not only in these exceptional cases that the advantages of leisure will appear. Ordinary men and women, having the opportunity of a happy life, will become more kindly and less persecuting and less inclined to view others with suspicion. The taste for war will die out, partly for this reason, and partly because it will involve long and severe work for all. Good nature is, of all moral qualities, the one that the world needs most, and good nature is the result of ease and security, not of a life of arduous struggle. Modern methods of production have given us the possibility of ease and security for all; we have chosen, instead, to have overwork for some and starvation for others. Hitherto we have continued to be as energetic as we were before there were machines; in this we have been foolish, but there is no reason to go on being foolish forever.’

Just checked out Scotland Tonight program from last night – 10th Nov 2014 re Kezia Dugdale and why some people voted No and yup its true … Surely one of the most ridiculous statements made by a Scottish Labour MSP – Kezia Dugdale … wait for it … many people voted No in the Scottish Independence referendum to keep the Tories out next May! Staggering, just incredible eh. (see video around 6 mins 44 secs). Although there are possible more ridiculous statements out there from the Scotland branch of the UK Labour Party

It has been obvious for quite a considerable period that SLAB’s elected representatives are mostly populated by careerists. They have effectively stopped arguing for change, and are very much part of the status quo with the Tories and Liberal Democrats. They are part of the British establishment; even when they have been defeated by the Tories in general elections, they still send their grandees to the House of Lords. Darling will no doubt be in the Lords shortly. This process of co-option has been going on for decades upon decades, and it eventually has completely blunted any remaining radical impulses in Labour, north and south of the border.

For Scottish Labour to have chance of a future they will have to support either Devo max or full independence for Scotland. If they do not return to being an ILP type party, reworked and retuned to the modern political era, then their decline cannot be halted. They cannot keep merely existing to protect their careerist MPs, MSPs and local government base. Keir Hardie supported what in effect today is Devo max. Yet, SLAB are bitterly hostile to even this…

@Training Day says:11 November, 2014 at 11:24 am:

“The question remains open – how do we stop Labour voters who voted Yes reverting to that party in the GE under the weight of the coming bombardment?”

TWO pointS seem to have flown over most people’s heads, (Including many independance supporters), The first is that there is no such party as, “Scottish Labour”. There is only the Westminster/London Labour Party. The second being that the Labour Party is just a segment of, “The Establishment”, and the Establishment is composed of all the Unionist Parties and also includes the royalty, aristocracy, financial sector, English legal sector, English education sector, armed forces, police force, Law, et al.

“The Establishment”, is composed of powerful, disparate elitist groups who, together, strive to protect their elevated positions in a larger democracy that has the right to vote. It is their collective efforts to, “manage”, that democracy that is, “The Establishment”. It assures democracy is no threat to their interests or finances. Much like a, “Firewall”, the aim is to insulate, “The Establishment”, from the voting population. In short, “The Establishment”, is elitist groups of people, with power and financial capital, finding ways to protect itself and its money from us, the voters.

In this instance the Labour Party in Scotland is aiming to keep the Scottish, Non-Establishment parties out of office to protect, “The Establishment”. Labour in Scotland doesn’t care which of, “The Establishment”, parties actually gain power at Westminster, just as long as it is not either the SNP ot any other Scottish independence party.

I’m a bit of a newbie to politics, so please excuse me if I’m being a bit thick… but I thought politicians were supposed to represent their electorate, not the other way round?

AuldA
see demand for european basic citizens income.
+ link to orkneyjar.com the good life!

As a 19 year old voting in my first GE, I was warned sternly by my staunchly Labour parents that a vote for anyone else would let the Tories in, so I like most of Scotland, duly voted Labour….and got John Major. There and then, and to the disgust of my family, I realised that only an SNP vote would save Scotland.

If we maintain the Red Tory vote, they will continue to take us for granted and the Blue Tories will continue to ignore us.

Good comparison with the Old Firm, although I will say that there are at least some good people on either side, albeit in the minority. Can we say the same about the unionist parties? (I have to say I don’t like either of the old firm either, despite being raised in the traditions of one half, though not the half you may think by my psuedonym).

As has been said, this programme, not that I watched it, will just have been a P.P.B for the Labour Party. Haven’t we learned anything from the referendum campaign? The elephant in the room is, and always will be, the media, led by the B.B.C. In the run up to next year’s G.E, that will, as always, be our biggest obstacle to returning as many S.N.P M.Ps as possible to Westminster. And yes, I know some people might like to have a broader spectrum of independence supporting M.Ps, but I feel, for the present at least, it has to be the S.N.P, as they are the people with the necessary infrastructure to compete with the unionist parties. So anyone who thinks that the Labour Party in Scotland, despite it’s present troubles, are finished, are deluding themselves, and that’s not counting the tories and lib-dems, and all their friends in the media. We are going to have a real battle on our hands, and despite what the polls are predicting at the moment, any increase in the number of independence supporting M.Ps will be difficult to achive.

Katy Clark

Sounds a lightweight, a bit of an embryonic Maggzz?

O/T but interesting. Apparently, Cameron received an icy welcome at the CBI congress. It seems Michael Rake has slashed the PM’s European stance, clearly stating that the UK had to choose between selfish withdrawal and optimistic openness, and that the bosses would always favour openness.

This tends to bolster the hypothesis that, in case Scotland would secede to remain in Europe after a UK-no in the in/out referendum, many English companies would probably cross the new border and leave England for Scotland.

“Scotland lets US down…….undermines the (our) case in the whole of the UK.”

Arrogant, delusional, and glib in the same breath.

Regretfully, I don’t think there’s any way back for Scottish Labour. It’s contaminated. More toxic than the Tories. Flush it away and start again.

@Jack Murphy says: 11 November, 2014 at 11:36 am:

“Katy Clark MP–British Labour Party … “</i

Britain includes four non-UK administrations – The Republic of Ireland, The Isle of Man, The Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey are all British but they are NOT part of the United Kingdom, (in spite of what the Westminster Establishment propaganda keeps telling you).

They don’t even try to hide the arrogance.
Labour OWN Scotland!

O/T Saltire discovered on Glenn Campbell’s desk at BBC.

link to imgur.com

During Daily Politics interview with Brian Taylor the camera panned right to a confused Glenn Campbell.

Will he be sacked now?

Revolution not devolution!

Talk about Labour only lowers morale and lessens energy.

Applying our brains to develop means and method to defeat Labour & Unionism – raises morale and improves energy levels.

Q. With 90,000 party members in the Yes Alliance, are we AFRAID of Labour who are one TENTH of that?
A. Yes we are.

Because:-
1. They are Unionist Establishment which controls the
Press, Radio and the most powerful election tool – TV.
2. They use Fear, Smear and Bribery without limit.
3. They are above the Law.
4. They control the Voting Process from start to finish.
5. Their financial resources are without limit due to
Tory money as well as UK Gov money.
6. They know every dirty trick in the book.
7. Large numbers of Scots are politically illiterate
with many not voting.
8. 1 Million elderly can be easily manipulated,
because they scare very easily
and because they love TV and watch it all the time.

GE15 is going to see a repeat by Labour of the Fear Smear IndyRef Campaign – with only one change, viz. voter memory of Labour sleeping with the Tories
and Labour working directly for Tory HQ to secure Scotland’s wealth for the super rich.
But what impact will that have and will it be enough.

The SNP IMO simply MUST MUST MUST secure the elderly vote by means of an attractive electoral contract over pensions and Winter Fuel Allowance.
The FEAR of losing their pensions was a HUGE factor for many elderly No voters in Indy.
The SNP made a massive mistake by not protecting the pensioners from the threats by the No Campaign. Cannot afford to make the same mistake twice.

We need to make the running from the front instead of trailing behind McTernan’s strategic pace setting.

We need all the solid Indy ideas in a fresh campaign which is a little less naieve and a little more savvy.
We need less wishy washy, airy fairy, political phrases talk
and more plain English about direct action which is going to affect peoples everyday lives.
We need to be on our toes and alert to Labour’s moves as they happen and then to counter them immediately.

(To all the girners who jump at any chance of attacking positive ideas of how to get things done – don’t bother.
Do something that actually helps Scotland. If you can’t think of anything, then just keep quiet.)

Yeah the voters let the labour party down.

Words fail me.

Or, how come every Labour says vote No campaign meeting before 18th Sept was a closed and vetted event and Sturgeon now talks to packed halls across Scotland? Crash Gordon in particular never spoke to anyone other than the carefully picked.

Jack Murphy said:
11 November, 2014 at 1:44 pm

Thinking of voting British Labour in May’s General Election? After 80 years of Labour and Tory governments THIS is the reality.

Iraq life expectancy is 67 years. Glasgow Calton is 54 years!! A disgrace in 2014 Scotland.

THE ONE STATE PROPOSAL IS NOT SO MUCH UNFEASIBLE AS IMPLAUSIBLE. IT IS A SOLUTION MAYBE TO A DIFFERENT PROBLEM, BUT NOT THIS ONE. OR AT LEAST NOT NOW.- Margaret Curran.

Statehood is GOOD for Israel but BAD for Scotland. – British Labour. However, there seems to be some disagreement within Labour’s senior ranks, as to whether statehood would be good for the Palestine. I despair at the influence this DEAD PARTY WALKING has on our lives.

This is old but I still love it –

Alex Massie on the Labour Party-
“What you see is the intellectual incoherence and bankruptcy of the Scottish Labour Party. A party that hasn’t had a meaningful idea in at least a dozen years. …Labour haven’t really recovered from losing in 2007 let alone 2011. Yi know this is a party that had the sort of arrogance and complacency that swanked around the place speaking as the voice of the people, it turns out that the people don’t think that the Labour Party represents them”

Alex you had me at “intellectual incoherence”
What I loved and love aboot this is that he said it right to her puss. And after she picked her ja aff the flare her comeback was “Well I don’t agree with that.” ‘course yi dinna Johann. ‘course yi dinna.

Ladbrokes are now 1/5 Murphy, Hills were 1/7 but now oddschecker has no odds showing for any candidate from Hills. Perhaps the “professional” city banker type has put a lot of money on Murphy. That means Dugdale as the other half of the pair, so Clark has probably made the sacrifice in vain.

I’m beginning to think that Murphy is the best bet for Labour long-term, but only if he genuinely does embrace Holyroood and put his own politics to one side.

@yesindyref2

In what possible way could Jim Murphy( remember ITS Jim Murphy!) be good for Labour? Quickening their demise to ensure a quick death rather a drawn out descent into oblivion?

The more time goes on, the more Labours appeal and fan base diminishes while the disrespect and anger at them grows.

This blue parrot is dead. It is no more.

They, Slab, let us down; by siding with the other Tories against Scotlands interests and a better future. F*”‘k them.

AuldA says:
11 November, 2014 at 2:56 pm
@fred blogger:

Thanks for the pointer on Skara Brae. I have always been fond of prehistory, and didn’t know about this place.

Worth a visit plus Maes Howe, Eagles Nest, etc
The various standing stones is a key part of any trip.

Alex Beveridge @ 1.47pm

“The elephant in the room is, and always will be, the media, led by the B.B.C. In the run up to next year’s G.E, that will, as always, be our biggest obstacle to returning as many S.N.P M.Ps as possible to Westminster.”

This is so true and doesn’t seem to be being addressed properly.

It’s perfectly feasible that grassroots campaigning/awareness enabling between now and May 15 could take a couple more percentage points away from the red tory vote, but if we want to see the kind of overwhelming support for Independence (i.e. 65%+) and also ensure the destruction of ScotchLab then we are going to need a new Scottish TV channel and a newspaper which would be unbiased in their presentation of the case for Scottish Independence. We need to get into the media mainstream without becoming what “mainstream” currently means.

There are pots of money (advertising revenue) out there just waiting for some Scots pro indy, media savvy entreprenuers to get their act together and make it happen.

Without it how long would it take for demographics to catch up? Doesn’t bear thinking about.

What does Glasgow Uni get out of this report.

link to rt.com

@Martin Wood

The Unions chose Ed Miliband and Johann Lamont

Hardly the High Priests of Good Judgement

@Clootie:
Thanks for the further pointer. Prehistory carries you from the temples of Malta to the tombs of the Orkneys!

Now we know why Labour keep accusing Scots of wanting something for nothing. They want us to give them something, our votes, and in return they give us nothing. Labour are truly the something for nothing party.

A Wings supporter, who lives in Chelsea, has just emailed my workplace trying to get my employer to take action against me for posting to Wings. Nice.

There is a great piece on link to anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk
under “Why do we keep voting for “more of the same”?

Really wonderful to shove through the doors as a postcard or leaflet- any time from now till the GE in May.

What Fiona said.
Except that voters in England have no alternative. George Monbiot :
“But there is another party, which seems to have discovered the fire and passion that moved Labour so long ago: the Greens. Last week they revealed that their manifesto for the general election will propose a living wage, the renationalisation of the railways, a maximum pay ratio (no executive should receive more than 10 times the salary of the lowest paid worker), and, at the heart of their reforms, a wealth tax of the kind Piketty recommends
…You wanted a progressive alternative? You’ve got it.”
link to monbiot.com
Of course, the media will not allow them direct access to airwaves to promote their policies.

Plod

Stop bleating and get on with your work.

The decision as to which Tory party (Red or Blue) gets in to Westminster at the GE, should be left to the English. They will take that decision, with or without our vote.

Scotland needs to concentrate on one thing… Which party is best at looking after Scotland?

North Labour – Trying to disguise their North and South policy differences, and the unsuitability of London Labour policy to working class Scotland.

SNP – Just listening to the electorate and doing their level best. Don’t get everything right, but a damn sight more than ANY other political party.

Let the millions of people in England wrestle with the Westminster problems… At the moment with UKIP and Greens on ascendency and people genuinely disenfranchised and frustrated by the choice, the current Bullingdon Berties or Millionaire Milliband. lets face it neither is a good choice.

It’s very simple in Scotland. Vote for the people who are going to fight for the extra powers that the majority of people want as evidenced in recent polls. The majority want DEVO max – North Labour don’t. What does that tell you? Labour don’t care what the electorate want. Labour care about holding onto power.

If Curran et al have to ask what they are doing wrong… it informs us that they are narrow minded, blinkered and out of their depth. In other worse, they got in on the the basis of ‘Red Rosette on a Monkey or Donkey.’

it shouldnt bother me in the slightest what any labour mp or msp says anymore because i will never vote for them again but it makes me angry that they think they have the god given right to scottish votes..whats wrong with these people surely it isnt that hard to see they have made a total arse of themselves..FFS

A wee idea: it might be worth thinking about for canvassers to go to folks’ doors equipped with such short, snappy clips as the above on their mobile devices so the electorate can readily see what they think of them.

“Good evening, here’s your local MP and this is what she had to say…”

AuldA

A theory exists that the people of Skarra Brae moved to Ireland then stonhenge before Egypt or at least communicated.
They certainly new astronomy.

link to discoveringireland.com

Valerie
That’s not very nice. I’ll admit not having paid particular close attention, but why would you want to close down Will’s point off view?

I have added Carol Craig and her husband Alf Young to the post. An interesting couple with many networking links in Scotland and further afield. Very firmly in the Labour camp .

Carol, one time girlfriend of Gordon Brown confirmed Labour lovie and her, “crisis of confidence”. Carol closely identifies with the West Coast Labourite and is part of the Willie Ross / Donald Dewar clique She published an erudite study into why there was a ‘Scots – crisis of confidence’.

For our part We like the SNP standing up to the establishment bullies, we feel better about ourselves, the Scottish nation moves on to better things and proves what the academic Carol Craig’s book stated was in fact holding us back but tramples over Ms Craig’s, ‘New Labour’ political sureties because part of her (and many of us) ‘knows’ she is siding with the perceived ‘bullies’ and her identified cause as the basis of the Scots – crisis of confidence.

link to caltonjock.com

O/T

Skype conversation with John Drummond

Tuesday, November 11th, 2014 at 3:00 PM EST on IndependenceLive

John Drummond is chairman of the Constitutional Commission we will be talking about what they are up to and disscussing their Fringe meeting at the forthcoming SNP conference in Perth with a very impressive panel. It takes place on 15th Nov in the Salutation Hotel, South Street, Perth, starting at 12.30. The meeting will be chaired by Linda Fabiani MSP and the panelists are Craig Murray, Mary Lockhart, Mhairi Black and John Drummond.

two demented parrots and there are more where thy come from. I would vote for a family of mearcats first. on the other hand close wastemonster farm.

I think the Scottish Government should listen to the majority No voters and give them what they want.
IE remove the following so that they become more comparable with their follow UK citizens
Free uni tuition
Free bus pass
Free elderly care
Free eye checks
Remove the council tax freeze
etc etc anything else you can think of.
After all its what they as a majority voted for

@Will Podmore: Well it looks hardly believable.

@Capella: Thanks for pointing this out. Nice move by English greens.

Thanks A N Surgent, I’m on that site, and part of the local FB groups. Standing by to deliver leaflets soon hopefully.

Dr Rob Westaway and Prof Paul Younger, of the University of Glasgow’s School of Engineering are advocating lowering the controls preventing fracking.

thanks for the heads-up (4.02pm), liz. JHC, can money compensate for il-health, poisoned water and polluted air?