Earlier today we highlighted some of the social-media charm of Labour blogger and BBC pundit Ian Smart, after the Scottish branch office deputy leader Kezia Dugdale demanded that the First Minister should take a more pro-active role in policing the comments of party members on Twitter and Facebook.
Mr Smart’s history of incredibly abusive and offensive comments stretches back many years. But of course, it wouldn’t be reasonable to berate Scottish Labour for its failure to act if it wasn’t aware of them. So we had a trawl through his Twitter followers list just to see if there was anyone who might have noticed and brought it to the leadership’s attention so they could have a quiet word.
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.
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Vibecoding A Better World: “NHS SQUANDERING MILLIONS ON SEX-SWAP SURGERIES NHS England has spent over £5 million this past year on mastectomies for gender-confused…” Nov 6, 00:00
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “There’s plenty of speculation that Harris intends to stand for nomination as presidential candidate for 2028. So if you’re opening…” Nov 5, 23:49
100%Yes on Vibecoding A Better World: “Sarah the colonizer portrays its self to be a pillar of law and order, the people of these Island know…” Nov 5, 23:47
Frank Gillougley on Vibecoding A Better World: “Meanwhile in news elsewhere, a fifteen thousand pound ‘pay rise’ for holyrood committee conveners (to chair a meeting of useless…” Nov 5, 23:02
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Scottish bank notes? Most Londoners won’t touch the things.” Nov 5, 22:24
sarah on Vibecoding A Better World: “Further dubious shenanigans against Craig Murray. He is staying in London in order to attend the Supreme court hearings about…” Nov 5, 21:46
100%Yes on Vibecoding A Better World: “Well done Professor Alf Baird joined by Editor Laura Webster, Robin McAlpine was a complete waste of time and came…” Nov 5, 21:23
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Listened to the news today, sam? UK economy mysteriously doing better than many in the EU, especially France. Best not…” Nov 5, 20:27
Aidan on Vibecoding A Better World: “Yes look at this whole slavery reparations debate. All completely made in Beijing,” Nov 5, 19:47
Aidan on Vibecoding A Better World: “For once Sarah is right – it is ridiculously and obviously illegal for a crowdfunding website to simply seize donations,…” Nov 5, 19:38
sam on Vibecoding A Better World: “I don’t know what you mean when you say a deliberately bungled Brexit deal. Clarify, please? The loss to Scotland’s…” Nov 5, 19:17
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Ah c’moan noo, Spartan. Surely you’re not in a pet because I had the temerity to correct the mistake in…” Nov 5, 18:47
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “No it didn’t Alf, I don’t want the M25 omniclusterfuckpermashambles ruling over us either, as I’ve repeatedly said (despite some…” Nov 5, 17:34
Alf Baird on Vibecoding A Better World: ““I have zero desire to be ruled by a foreign despotic power” Whit aboot bein ruled by imperial England-as-UK these…” Nov 5, 15:06
Captain Caveman on Vibecoding A Better World: ““The west decided to virtue signal by leaving ours in the ground so that even as we buy every gram…” Nov 5, 15:00
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: ““those lusting after violence and death” I assume that’s what an AI would have corrected your post to if you’d…” Nov 5, 14:52
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: ““Maybe the Chinese have it right after all” I was recently reading about the Chinese colonisation of Africa. They ply…” Nov 5, 14:31
Holymacmoses on Vibecoding A Better World: “I love Claude – it and I are doing a criticism of The Master of Ballantrae – it’s very good…” Nov 5, 13:19
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “I’ll also add, before the inevitable howls of outrage, I will not cheer against the government, I have zero desire…” Nov 5, 13:09
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “Anyone thinking conscription will be successfully implemented across the UK is completely delusional, never mind just with new mums. If…” Nov 5, 13:01
willie on Vibecoding A Better World: “Here is an extract in a report about the possibility of future conscription. “Should gender equality conscription be introduced in…” Nov 5, 12:33
Captain Caveman on Vibecoding A Better World: “Umm, you do realise the whole “beardy bloke” thing is a product of the Left and in Scotland’s specific case,…” Nov 5, 12:33
Bilbo on Vibecoding A Better World: “Sounds like the deranged rantings of a beardy bloke in a dress. Okay, Unionist mugs, who’s bird is it?” Nov 5, 12:12
Captain Caveman on Vibecoding A Better World: ““The consequences are far more serious for a colonized people” Well, it was always a dead cert that you would…” Nov 5, 11:55
Aidan on Vibecoding A Better World: “Once you realise how much time government machinery spends: – entertaining legacy media organisations; versus – making effective long term…” Nov 5, 11:44
Alf Baird on Vibecoding A Better World: ““So what’s your excuse” Only once you get with the colonial vibe can you begin to decolonize the mind, Hatey;…” Nov 5, 11:14
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “It’s what happens when politics becomes an industry and a career in itself rather than a service. Qualifications are meaningless…” Nov 5, 10:39
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: ““so long as a people remain subject to territorial alienation there is no ‘democracy’” So true, Alf. I mind fine,…” Nov 5, 10:38
Alf Baird on Vibecoding A Better World: ““Our democracy has produced this rotten “inverse meritocracy” system, at least as far as the Left is concerned. It’s all…” Nov 5, 10:07
Captain Caveman on Vibecoding A Better World: “” I’d also question – loudly – why on earth a Liberian with a philosophy degree is trusted with dictating…” Nov 5, 09:30
