At today’s First Minister’s Questions, the Scottish Labour deputy leader Kezia Dugdale launched into an ill-advised attack over an SNP candidate who’d made some foolish (but not especially outrageous) comments on Twitter in 2012. Rather than simply issuing the standard generic condemnation of abusive remarks, Nicola Sturgeon did so but also drew Dugdale’s attention to the beam in her own eye.
Labour activist, blogger, lawyer and regular BBC pundit Ian Smart (he hasn’t been seen on STV since accusing them repeatedly, without any evidence, of letting the SNP pre-approve all interview questions some time ago) is well known to readers of this blog. Bizarrely, however, Dugdale feigned ignorance of his activity.
To help her, we’ve compiled some of Mr Smart’s greatest hits.
We’re going to have to check what the CBI’s position on electoral reform was before First Past The Post threatened to elect a load of SNP MPs and became a democratic outrage in the process. We’ll get back to you on that one.
Alert readers were startled yesterday when a former UK Prime Minister who WASN’T Gordon Brown suddenly took it upon himself to lumber out of his crypt and unleash an unsolicited intervention in the general election campaign.
As apparently that’s now the requirement for anyone attempting to influence a vote in Britain, we’re sure Sir John – a man best remembered in the world of politics for cheating on his wife with one of his ministers and instituting the Cones Hotline – will remind us which constituency he’s standing for any minute now.
If you thought the right-wing press was having paroxysms at the weekend, readers, you’re going to love what they had lined up for the day of the SNP manifesto launch.
Let’s have a little tour of the London newsrooms, shall we?
The splendid video below is a short clip from one of a Scottish Labour “campaign rally” held on Saturday morning. (And we do mean Saturday morning – the gathering seen in the distance at the very beginning as Murphy walks up through a deserted Buchanan Street appear to be waiting outside the Sainsbury’s Local, which opens at 7am.)
One can only admire Anas Sarwar’s upbeat view of his audience. But from the broader perspective, readers might be forgiven for wondering what on Earth was going on.
Our alert readers will probably be aware of the psychological phenomenon commonly known as the five stages of grief. If not, there’s a rather good piece by Andrew Nicoll in today’s Scottish Sun about it in the context of Scottish Labour.
But while perceptive, Nicoll is a little behind the times, because it appears that the party’s branch office manager Jim Murphy has invented a sixth.
Welcome, viewers, to the new final stage of grief: delusion.
The Sunday Times front page today reports (although in fact we can’t find the story anywhere on its website or in its iPad app) the 8,745th “intervention” by Gordon Brown in Scottish politics, the thing which is at least notionally still his actual day job.
We’re going to need someone to explain to us why even the punch-drunk inhabitants of Scottish Labour HQ could possibly imagine that to be a good idea.
A variant on the story below appears in most of the right-wing press today.
That’s the Daily Mail version, which is the most detailed. The Express’s reporting was similar. But in order to manufacture a grievance on behalf of UKIP and the Tories, every paper which covers the story is required to torture the data beyond all reason.
In the wake of the latest Ashcroft polls, the only line being deployed by Scottish Labour is that the projected outcome of an SNP landslide would be great news for the Conservatives and lead to David Cameron returning in triumph to Downing Street. One would presume, then, that the Tory press is delighted by the prospect.
So let’s check out some stories from today’s Daily Mail and Scottish Daily Mail.
Anthem on A matter of class: “I’m also very familiar with the area. And you’re talking crap.” Dec 28, 01:03
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “Q. What do you call a socialist without a home? A. The Green party.” Dec 27, 23:54
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “Job 14:5 Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed…” Dec 27, 22:25
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: ““We can evaluate socialism by it’s bitter fruits”” Dec 27, 22:13
Northcode on A matter of class: “Three innocuous posts… all sent to moderation. I’m beginning to wonder if Ellis is a WoS alter-ego. Or maybe I’m…” Dec 27, 22:13
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “As a youth Alfie came across the fat slug of a word “colonised” and hungarily sank his woke teeth into…” Dec 27, 22:02
Alf Baird on A matter of class: “Always so many questions on this and that, all of which avoid the most important matter; that is, for the…” Dec 27, 21:41
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “I see Reform gained 28.9% of 1st preference votes in the Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss by election back in November.…” Dec 27, 21:14
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “Tell us Alf, how do you know how many of the 50,000 incomers support Reform? How many of them are…” Dec 27, 21:00
Alf Baird on A matter of class: ““Reform Scotland membership now at twenty one thousand and rising.” Surprising its not a lot more considering at least 50,000…” Dec 27, 20:05
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “Reform Scotland membership now at twenty one thousand and rising. How’s the colonized discussion going?” Dec 27, 19:30
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “….whilst conveniently completely overlooking that what the majority of Scots think is highly influenced by the UK MSM and what…” Dec 27, 19:25
Dan on A matter of class: “@ AiDan says: at 6.25 pm Above the belt? And jist what “rules” are we playing with here. Your rules…” Dec 27, 19:20
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “@ Northcode 6.15 pm An outright lie easily disproved… your rhetoric is truly abysmal. The figures aren’t hard to find…” Dec 27, 19:19
agentx on A matter of class: “How many people on here felt colonised as they ate their Christmas dinner and went for a walk on Boxing…” Dec 27, 19:03
Dan on A matter of class: “Captain Caveman says: at 4:43 pm “Nah. I don’t care what yours or anyone else’s views are…” Yawn, then why…” Dec 27, 18:59
Aidan on A matter of class: ““These arseholes will pick up on and try to make hay out of the slightest thing” Bringing someone’s daughter up…” Dec 27, 18:25
Dan on A matter of class: “And newby AiDan enters the chat… Get your programmers to read a bit further back, and you will see plenty…” Dec 27, 18:23
Northcode on A matter of class: ““Alert readers might be interested to know that the number of Scots claiming French as their mother tongue is the…” Dec 27, 18:15
Dan on A matter of class: “Keep ripping into this shite Northcode. 2 min vid on Bloomberg of Jim Rogers stating how Scotland’s oil props up…” Dec 27, 18:11
Aidan on A matter of class: ““But no CC, FF is bonkers, and just continues on with his relentless efforts (with obvious support from unionists like…” Dec 27, 18:05
Dan on A matter of class: “Aye Alf, it’s so obvious what is going on. These arseholes will pick up on and try to make hay…” Dec 27, 17:53
Northcode on A matter of class: ““Britain doesn’t need to become great again – it already is” What utter nonsense from Piotr Wilczek… whoever he is.…” Dec 27, 17:50
Northcode on A matter of class: ““It always triggers the moonhowlers when I point out that the most influential voice in Scottish political blogging thinks their…” Dec 27, 17:49
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “@ Alf 5.16pm Au contraire (that’s French that is…) Alf, I feel sure enough of my identity not to have…” Dec 27, 17:46
Alf Baird on A matter of class: “As demonstrated in the btl attacks here, the assimilated natives “place themselves in a considerably superior position to the average…” Dec 27, 17:16
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “@ Dan 4.20pm For the benefit of the minimally self aware or those who read with their lips moving like…” Dec 27, 16:47
Captain Caveman on A matter of class: “Nah. I don’t care what yours or anyone else’s views are – some things just aren’t done, and that’s one…” Dec 27, 16:43
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “@ Northcode 4.14pm In the unlikely event of the English deciding they wanted to dissolve the union I doubt they’d…” Dec 27, 16:34
Dan on A matter of class: “Ach, awa an dinae talk pish, ya pair o tag team fannies. My point was that folk, whether related* or…” Dec 27, 16:20
