A few days ago, a constituency poll by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft found that the SNP were leading narrowly in Edinburgh South – a seat in which they secured a paltry 7.7% of the vote in the 2010 general election. Keep that fact in mind, readers.
Today the Edinburgh Evening News (EEN) published an article by David Maddox, a senior political journalist on the Scotsman, alleging that the SNP candidate for the seat, Neil Hay, had “liken[ed] anti-independence campaigners to Nazi collaborators” in a tweet over two and a half years ago (from a pseudonymous account under the name “Paco McSheepie”), and had also tweeted a series of attacks on pensioners.
Scottish Labour immediately leapt on the article and demanded Mr Hay be sacked as the candidate, less than two weeks before the election. It’s not possible to replace a candidate at such a late stage – some voters may already have voted by post – and such a move would thereby effectively have handed the seat to the Labour candidate and previous MP Ian Murray by default.
The story turned out to be an absurd, massive exaggeration and misrepresentation of the reality. But it also exposed a level of naked, shameless dishonesty and hypocrisy in Scottish Labour, and in particular its deputy leader Kezia Dugdale, that even this site hadn’t previously dared to imagine.
NOTE: This article was published earlier today on the CommonSpace website. Since that time, according to its webhosts, the site has come “under attack” and can no longer be accessed. We reproduce the article here at CommonSpace’s request.
A Yes campaigner reported as “defecting” to the Labour party by the Daily Record in a much-hyped front page splash has said he in fact remains a member of the SNP, a supporter of independence and favourable to a Labour-SNP deal at Westminster.
Hyping the story up, the tabloid title branded Shoaib an “SNP boss”, although it is unclear why. Shoaib is a former Labour councillor and organiser of Scots Asians for Independence. He joined the SNP in 2007.
However, Shoaib has told CommonSpace that while he does want to see a Labour government ahead of the Tories – he would like to see Labour and the SNP work together in a “loose” arrangement following May’s vote. “Basically, I’ve not joined Labour and I’m still officially a member of the SNP,” said Shoaib.
We’ve only just recently begun checking out the English edition of the Sun to see what appears in it that’s mysteriously excised from the Scottish one, readers.
When we tweeted a link to this Morning Star story about Scottish Labour chief of staff John McTernan speaking for the right-wing think-tank Policy Exchange at a fringe meeting of the Conservative Party conference last September, several readers found it quite difficult to believe.
After all, this was a senior Scottish Labour figure telling delegates that “It’s a good thing [Margaret Thatcher] did what she did” to the UK economy, and that “There’s a far wider range of assets that are currently owned by the government which I would privatise”, among other not-terribly-socialist views. It seemed implausible.
Fortunately, we can now bring you the proof. It’s very much worth a watch.
We’re sure Scottish Labour’s few remaining voters have no cause for alarm, though. We’re almost positive that there’s no significance in the fact that McTernan was pretty much the first person Jim Murphy rushed to hire when he became leader, just a few weeks after McTernan had given the Tories advice on winning elections.
After all, just because you’re in charge of all of a party’s staff doesn’t mean that you get to exert any kind of influence over its policy [SUB PLEASE CHECK].
We’ve known and documented for some time now that Scottish Labour’s attitude towards “foreigners” is, well, let’s be super-generous and say “ambiguous”. But this photo from nine days ago made even us take a sharp breath.
The woman on the left is the Labour MP for Aberdeen South, Dame Anne Begg. She received her DBE in 2011 “for services to disabled people and to equal opportunities”. But who’s her No-campaigning pal?
Right there, in just two sentences, the spirit of the Union: English people think they should have been allowed to force the Scots to remain in the UK against their will.
If 70% of English people voted against independence (or even in fact, if just 70% of the 56% who think they should have had a vote did), it would have vastly outweighed even 100% of Scots voting Yes. That, readers, is the respect the people of England have for Scottish self-determination and democracy. Every single Scot could have voted for independence, and England’s view is that they should have been able to, and would, force Scotland to stay in the UK.
We couldn’t help but notice Labour peer, Stalin-moustache enthusiast and celebrity Bobby Ball lookalike Lord/Baron Robert Winston standing at the front of the party’s boorish stag-party gathering of MPs and MSPs in Glasgow yesterday, as Ed Miliband railed against the dastardly SNP and insisted that the NHS wasn’t under threat.
(We didn’t see Andy Burnham among the MPs in the footage, so we assume he was still down in London telling anyone who’ll listen that the NHS is under threat.)
And we couldn’t help wondering whether the peer’s presence was a tacit endorsement by Miliband of his proposal to charge people £120 a year to visit their GP.
An extraordinary letter sent out to members by trade union USDAW this week:
It’s not extraordinary that the union should choose to take a No position. It’s perfectly entitled to do that, and to advise its members of its view. It’s the last paragraph that blows us away. Not just the ironic juxtaposition of “Don’t let others decide what is best for you” with a direct instruction as to which way to vote, but the suggestion that “if you don’t know – then you should vote NO”.
Call us old-fashioned, but our reaction to not knowing something important is to try to find out. USDAW could have said “If you don’t know, here are some sources of information from both sides that you might find helpful” and added a couple of links to, at the very least, the Scottish Government’s white paper and the UK government’s “Scotland Analysis” reports.
Instead, it tells its members to remain ignorant and just do what they’re told. We can’t be alone, surely, in finding that a truly tragic place for the proud and honourable trade union movement of these islands to have found itself in.
Earlier today we showed you a clip from a press conference in which Alex Salmond schooled the BBC’s Nick Robinson in some basic financial facts about Corporation Tax, and went on to make a serious allegation about wrongdoing between the BBC and the UK Treasury, in which he claimed that the latter had broken Parliamentary rules by leaking market-sensitive information about RBS.
The BBC dutifully reported the story later in the day.
And as far as we can gather, the First Minister has everyone bang to rights.
Who’s this? A bunch of lairy, pissed-up neds on a stag weekend?
Nope. Labour members of the Scottish and UK Parliaments, out “campaigning” in Glasgow today. This is their job. You’re paying them to do this. Be proud, Scotland.
GM on When the law breaks the law: “What an absolute waste of your old man’s effort you are. Turd.” Feb 21, 17:42
TURABDIN on When the law breaks the law: “THE BRITISH STATE is experiencing a major existential crisis, Scotland’s «elect» are asleep. Sadly, the electorate is dozing too. The…” Feb 21, 17:32
agentx on When the law breaks the law: “Don’t forget Men’s curling team going for Gold (or at least Silver) at 18.00.” Feb 21, 17:10
Bobo bunny on When the law breaks the law: “MacEleny a unionist plant? He seems to have destroyed the party from the inside. Where’s the money, Chris?” Feb 21, 15:53
Anne on When the law breaks the law: “Kennys account is the truth of events and it is a tragedy ,for us and for Scotland .” Feb 21, 15:41
ScotsRenewables on When the law breaks the law: “Well, that’s that fucked then. Looking forward to hearing the inside scoop from Stu on this particular pile of wombat…” Feb 21, 15:24
Garavelli Princip on When the law breaks the law: ““Perhaps you could inform us which “senior Whitehall-appointed civil servants” just got rid of Scotland’s Not Proven verdict”. That’s not…” Feb 21, 14:26
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on When the law breaks the law: “ALBA PARTY LEADER’S UPDATE Dear friend Let me, firstly, thank you for your support for our Party over these past…” Feb 21, 14:19
Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: ““A much better version than the original” Sorry, Northy, but naw. As the most recent research indicates that Shakespeare was…” Feb 21, 13:42
Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: ““rape and pillage, sell out your country” My, willie, either you subscribe to a much more sensationalist publication than I…” Feb 21, 13:36
Northcode on When the law breaks the law: “Here’s a better version of Hamlet, the play scribbled doun by Shakespeare, scrieven by the same lass who wrote WIDDERSHIN.…” Feb 21, 13:16
Northcode on When the law breaks the law: “Since bugger aw is happening in this place here’s some poetry scrieven in Scots and quilled by a Scot fir…” Feb 21, 12:49
Marie on When the law breaks the law: “It’s the concept of the UK that people on here have a problem with – not the reality that the…” Feb 21, 11:25
Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: “Hope ye were wearing a guid pair o tackety boots, Marie. An nae standin oan a tiled flair!” Feb 21, 11:06
Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: “Ah, c’moan noo, x, hoo mony years ye bin oan here an ye’ve learnit naething? Nae sic a thing as…” Feb 21, 11:04
agentx on When the law breaks the law: “The Isle of Islay is now in British waters having steamed past Lands End and heading for Greenock at 15.6kn.…” Feb 21, 10:50
Northcode on When the law breaks the law: “Guid mornin’ tae aw yous folk fannyin aboot oan here. Hae a guid weekend the lot o ye, aye. Thon…” Feb 21, 10:32
Marie on When the law breaks the law: “It was easy to hoodwink people in the olden days. In the olden days could incur the wrath of a…” Feb 21, 10:26
Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: “@Onlooker Not my fault that you lack the smarts to follow my posts. You’re online, obviously. Most of human knowledge…” Feb 21, 10:23
willie on When the law breaks the law: “Absolutely interesting points about allegiance and fighting for who. One thing that has come out into the public domain is…” Feb 21, 10:20
Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: “Loving the idea that there are such things as legal and illegal wars, Marie, and that once the shooting starts,…” Feb 21, 10:12
TURABDIN on When the law breaks the law: “«This one has a way to run and run, and the stench which surrounds both politics and the Palace will…” Feb 21, 09:36
Marie on When the law breaks the law: “@McHate 11.14pm (20/2/26). When you are sent to illegal wars and see obscene acts of violence against civilians you return…” Feb 21, 09:27
Dan on When the law breaks the law: “@ Onlooker https://grousebeater.wordpress.com/2021/05/21/sturgeons-skeleton/ https://petercherbi.wordpress.com/2021/03/10/first-interests-judge-recommended-for-judicial-role-by-nicola-sturgeon-found-first-minister-committed-three-counts-of-professional-misconduct-in-law-society-probe-of-ms-sturgeons-failure-to-pro/” Feb 21, 09:04
Young Lochinvar on When the law breaks the law: “Any truth in the rumour Keir Starmer is going to appoint Gary Glitter as Ambassador to the USA?” Feb 21, 02:07
Young Lochinvar on When the law breaks the law: “HMcH Well Oi Vey Y’all!! FYI: Mumbling was permitted when swearing-in in divided Glasgow back then.. AI not tell you…” Feb 21, 00:01
Onlooker on When the law breaks the law: “Reply reply reply reply reply reply reply sneer fart waffle baffle babble…if you are a paid bot, you must have…” Feb 20, 23:22
Onlooker on When the law breaks the law: “Forgive my lack of exact recollection of details, but didn’t Nicola Sturgeon recommend Dorothy Bain for the Lord Advocate job…” Feb 20, 23:20
