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.
Lorncal on Pandora’s Campervan: “Indeed, to my mind, there never was any intention from 2014 onwards to do anything about a referendum or independence…” Jun 2, 21:49
Patrick Roden on Pandora’s Campervan: “The thing that really makes my piss boil, is that We now know for 100% certain that the people who…” Jun 2, 21:16
Morgatron on Pandora’s Campervan: “I am as excited, can’t wait Stu.” Jun 2, 20:50
Andrew Morton on Pandora’s Campervan: “Re Frank Waring’s comment, it certainly is a criminal offence to raise money for a specific purpose only to use…” Jun 2, 20:44
Captain Caveman on Pandora’s Campervan: ““The unionist media have been wanking themselves blind in excitement over this. And why shouldn’t they?” Well, yes. Why indeed.” Jun 2, 20:20
Onlooker on Pandora’s Campervan: “If you’re part-head honcho of a party, and don’t like being so, with your wife being the main (s)limelight-dweller…and if…” Jun 2, 19:49
Onlooker on Pandora’s Campervan: “The unionist media have been wanking themselves blind in excitement over this. And why shouldn’t they? That bastard Murrell handed…” Jun 2, 19:45
Bilbo on Pandora’s Campervan: “Whose thinking that this whole sordid episode is going to be made into a TV show by Channel 5 next…” Jun 2, 19:39
Ian Murray on Pandora’s Campervan: “A 24′ campervan parked along the side of a house somehow never came up in the conversation when Nicola and…” Jun 2, 19:35
Skip_NC on Pandora’s Campervan: “There are two reasons I can see. The first is that he planned to use it but people started asking…” Jun 2, 19:08
Lorncal on Pandora’s Campervan: “Anyone who buys three very expensive coffee machines and other sundry luxury goods as multiples has something wrong with him…” Jun 2, 19:08
agentx on Pandora’s Campervan: “I have no interest in your colonialism rubbish. Swinney is in charge of Scotland – a Country.” Jun 2, 19:05
Cynicus on Pandora’s Campervan: ““What an absolute fucking idiot – for God’s sake this stupid guy is in charge of a’Country!” ================== Please don’t…” Jun 2, 19:01
katielass42 on Pandora’s Campervan: “If you could help me out here – do I recall something being said along the lines of ‘we’re standing…” Jun 2, 18:49
sarah on Pandora’s Campervan: “I hope the Rev will post it for us all to see – I can’t find it yet. All I’m…” Jun 2, 18:48
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Pandora’s Campervan: “Ebok: « It’s difficult to put into words the appreciation for, and admiration of, the sheer volume and depth of…” Jun 2, 18:22
Bob Johnston on Pandora’s Campervan: “I thought Grace Mugabe, sorry Peter Murrell, look quite untroubled in court. Then I remembered the missing quarter of a…” Jun 2, 18:13
Terry on Pandora’s Campervan: “Woo hoo! Just seen you on stv news. Fantastic! If ever there was an embodiment of the saying “the truth…” Jun 2, 18:10
Dan on Pandora’s Campervan: “Well, I can recall with interest Craig Murray stating there may have been something bigger in the mix when the…” Jun 2, 18:07
Alf Baird on Pandora’s Campervan: ““this stupid guy is in charge of a Country!” Correction, he is heading up a colonial administration which by its…” Jun 2, 17:47
Bilbo on Pandora’s Campervan: “More important than all of this. PayPal Kavanagh is off sick again. Dig deep and click on that donate button…” Jun 2, 17:38
agentx on Pandora’s Campervan: “He told reporters that there had been a “colossal breach of trust”. Swinney said that while the party’s systems were…” Jun 2, 17:16
Tenruh on Pandora’s Campervan: “Heard today that Murrell and Swinney have been friends since childhood,any truth in that?” Jun 2, 17:08
AdamH on Pandora’s Campervan: “That Tommy Sheppard article He (now) knows exactly what went wrong yet seems to have no recognition of being 1…” Jun 2, 16:48
Anne on Pandora’s Campervan: “Is it not more likely that this excess of pointless bling purchasing and overspend on office refurbishment is a way…” Jun 2, 16:34
Ebok on Pandora’s Campervan: “It’s difficult to put into words the appreciation for, and admiration of, the sheer volume and depth of work being…” Jun 2, 16:16
agentx on Pandora’s Campervan: “Why embezzle a camper van and never use it?” Jun 2, 15:34
Ian on Pandora’s Campervan: “Incidentally, when those figures for ‘audio visual’ came out, I remember trying to compile a realistic invoice for a conference…” Jun 2, 15:30
agentx on Pandora’s Campervan: “Murrell was CEO of SNP from 2001. Murrell married Sturgeon in July 2010 The offences started 12 August 2010. ———————————————–…” Jun 2, 15:25
