There’s a remarkable story on the BBC News website today about the latest findings of the British Election Study, last seen destroying the myth that fear of the SNP damaged Labour in England. The piece focuses on the discovery that being seen as “too left-wing” does NOT, in fact, cost Labour votes, despite the hysterical warnings of supposedly leftist pundits.
But there’s a more startling fact buried right at the end.
I’m writing on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Labour Party members; some new, and some, like me, who have been loyal party members throughout our adult lives. I’m not writing to any one of you in particular.
Here’s Atul Hatwal, editor of the influential Labour website Labour Uncut, speaking first in July and then reviewing his position with the benefit of hindsight in August.
Corbyn just won the leadership election in the first round with 60% of the vote. Don’t give up the day job, Atul. Well, actually, maybe you should.
Social media is alive today with tales of people being refused a vote in the Labour leadership election on the grounds that they don’t support Labour values (if anyone even knows what those are any more). We suspect you’ll be hearing quite a bit about it in the press over the coming days.
The prevailing reaction seems to be slack-jawed astonishment at the planetary-scale car-crash the party has allowed to develop around the issue, with another “coup” story thrown in for good measure in the Telegraph.
We can only think of one way the farce could become even worse.
An update, then: as we write, our anti-poverty fundraiser (which set out to gather just £500 for a young woman in Kidderminster fined almost £330 for stealing a 75p pack of Mars bars out of desperate hunger after her benefits were sanctioned) stands at a phenomenal £14,395.
Earlier today Gordon Brown gave a speech in London, on a subject and for reasons which are unclear. It was widely trailed in the press, however, as an intervention in the Labour leadership campaign, with the particular goal of stopping Jeremy Corbyn from winning. It was – naturally – broadcast live and in full by the BBC News channel.
Corbyn wasn’t mentioned by name so far as we noticed, but to tell the truth we drifted in and out of the rambling, 49-minute, 30-page monologue full of celebrity namedrops and unconnected anecdotes, hypnotised as we were by Brown’s relentless pacing up and down the room like a caged animal.
Nobody who isn’t getting paid should have to endure the entire grimness of it, so using the magic of technology we’ve compressed it all down to a mere fraction of its length (just 20%) for you, but without losing any of the tone, content or intellectual nuance.
We offer it to you as an elegy. It marks the day that Labour reanimated the walking corpse of the only person left in the party that it considers to have any gravitas – not to win an election, but to try to crush the first man in living memory to enthuse tens of thousands of new members to join a political party in the hope of restoring the values it was created to uphold.
It is the day the soul of the Labour Party finally died.
There’s another rather bizarre Kenny Farquharson column in today’s Times. Under the headline “Holyrood wasn’t built for a one-party state”, it asserts that “the Scottish Parliament is no longer fit for purpose” on the grounds that the opposition parties are useless, as if that were the fault of the electoral system rather than their leaders.
After that, though, it just gets flat-out insulting.
This debate between John “Mental Mad” McTernan and Owen Jones from the BBC News channel this morning doesn’t need a lot of commentary from us, to be honest.
It’s like watching someone try to reason with voicemail.
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on There May Be Justice: “Transcription of part of Q&A exchange translated into English by app… QUESTION FROM AUDIENCE: You’ve spoken again about the Lieutenant…” Oct 7, 01:48
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on There May Be Justice: “PAUL ST-PIERRE PLAMANDON du PARTI QUÉBÉCOIS (PQ) présente ses priorités | Élections Québec 2026 « Le Parti québécois (PQ) a…” Oct 6, 23:58
willie on There May Be Justice: “Ah so this will be why the Standards Commission destroyed all the case records. In the light of Lord Sandison’s…” Oct 6, 21:44
James on The Love Of Big Brother: ““Humiliated and defeated”. LOLZ, aye that’s right, Adrian ya clown. And here’s your wee ubiquitous pal arrived, Adrian. All day,…” Oct 6, 21:32
Hatey McHateface on There May Be Justice: “You make it sound like you’re gonna be depriving “them” of some invincible, merciless, super-fit, highly efficient, killing machine. Somehoo…” Oct 6, 20:12
Hatey McHateface on The Love Of Big Brother: “Ye cannae whack a guid wang oan an oan aboot some cant who’s never coming back (Thatcher) and some dosh…” Oct 6, 20:06
Aidan on The Love Of Big Brother: “A common tactic of people like yourself, get totally humiliated and defeated on one subject and rather than admit your…” Oct 6, 19:47
James on The Love Of Big Brother: “So, “naw it disnae” then. LOL. Here’s yin for you and yer Tory bedfellows. “After £100 billion has finally been…” Oct 6, 19:17
Aidan on The Love Of Big Brother: “lol 2/10 – managed to copy and paste some relevant material, so let’s look closer: “Scotland appears to fall into…” Oct 6, 18:20
James on The Love Of Big Brother: “That would make you clowns repetetive, abusive Unionist trolls then, aye? Unsurprising then,that an eminent Scottish KC, and others much…” Oct 6, 17:37
Aidan on The Love Of Big Brother: “Now this is really gets hard because we have two opposing views, the first which I’ve copied below is written…” Oct 6, 16:37
James on The Love Of Big Brother: “Soubds good but it’s not right….. In fact it doesn’t even sound good. Must try harder, “troops”.” Oct 6, 15:50
Marie on There May Be Justice: “Correct. I’ve not long finished reading Dr Jim Swire’s book on Lockerbie and his efforts to seek justice for the…” Oct 6, 15:27
Hatey McHateface on The Love Of Big Brother: ““having hoovered up our votes” Zat so, James? More fool you then.” Oct 6, 15:04
Aidan on The Love Of Big Brother: “@Alf – even if we took your somewhat suspect view of a foreign military occupation in the 1700’s (rather than,…” Oct 6, 14:55
Hatey McHateface on There May Be Justice: “Professor Baird demonstrating correct use of the royal “we” there. I’ve noticed its increasing use by many, these days. Always…” Oct 6, 14:31
James on The Love Of Big Brother: “Adrian wouldn’t know a fact if it punched him in the face, chum. Who are you anyway, his carer? “Their…” Oct 6, 14:27
Alf Baird on The Love Of Big Brother: ““outside of a military occupation or colonialism (neither of which apply in Scotland)” Who told you this, colonial history books?…” Oct 6, 14:25
Captain Caveman on The Love Of Big Brother: “Let’s put it this way, if he was any thicker he’d need watering twice a week.” Oct 6, 14:23
Insider on The Love Of Big Brother: “James @12:41 James, Are you REALLY that thick you can’t understand understand what Aidan explained quite clearly ?” Oct 6, 14:09
James on The Love Of Big Brother: “So, Adrian; “The right to self-determination is indeed universal and inalienable…” Except for Scotland. Need the crossword clue again, brains?” Oct 6, 12:41
Alf Baird on There May Be Justice: ““No judiciary or legal establishment has ever been about justice for the plebs” Valid point, Angus. However the reality might…” Oct 6, 11:58
Hatey McHateface on There May Be Justice: “Good point, MH, and approximately 43.8% true. Have a word with one of the New Scots who arrived last week…” Oct 6, 10:40
Minceheid on There May Be Justice: “Hatey McHateface says: 6 October, 2026 at 9:20 am The rest of us have been enjoying free health care Eh?…” Oct 6, 09:55
Hatey McHateface on There May Be Justice: “If it’s true that Scotland’s judiciary and legal establishment were world renowned, it can only have been during Scotland’s most…” Oct 6, 09:31
Hatey McHateface on There May Be Justice: ““Have the plebs ever benefited from fighting and dying for the elites?” I guess not you, Angus. Shame. The rest…” Oct 6, 09:20
McDuff on There May Be Justice: “How does it go ………..”When good men do nothing”. Well good men and women are doing something. Respect and thanks…” Oct 6, 09:05
Spartan 117 on There May Be Justice: “Great to see this issue transcending politics and uniting people, just goes to show people do still care for integrity…” Oct 6, 07:57
Angus on There May Be Justice: ““the credibility and respect that Scotland’s judiciary and legal establishment were world renowned for” No judiciary or legal establishment has…” Oct 6, 04:23
