You can’t move for Michelle Mone in the media today, which is just the way she likes it. Almost every newspaper and broadcaster has been running lengthy stories and interviews about the publicity-craving ex-Labour supporter being commissioned by Iain Duncan Smith to produce a report on starting up businesses in disadvantaged areas.
(So excited was Mone – who now backs the Conservatives and is widely expected to be given a peerage in the next honours list by David Cameron for campaigning against Scottish independence – to be working for IDS that she just couldn’t keep the news in until the midnight embargo on the press release, tweeting it at 11pm last night.)
Nationalists have in the main reacted to Mone’s apparent imminent ennoblement as an unelected lawmaker in the manner you’d expect, but they’re not the only people to question her credentials as an expert business adviser and employment guru. So we thought we’d do a little digging and compiling.
There’s much noisy chat at the moment about Jeremy Corbyn being 20 points ahead of his Labour leadership rivals on first-preference votes. His rivals seem to agree; they’ve turned their main efforts to competing amongst themselves for second and third preference “stop Corbyn” votes.
But could any of them really close such a huge gap? And what if they don’t?
Alert readers will recall that this site has expended some energy on debunking the lazy myth – which suits the media and Labour alike – that a significant factor in the unexpected Conservative majority in May’s general election was voters being scared back to the Tories by a fear campaign about the prospect of the SNP influencing a minority Labour government.
Alert readers may recall a few weeks ago, when this was a thing:
The SNP standing for seats in England, of course, is an idea that’s been put forward before by some of the nation’s sharper and more insightful political commentators, but the party has for obvious and understandable reasons shown no inclination thus far to undertake the experiment.
But as we realised after chatting to a left-wing English chum this week (a successful creative and businessman), such a party actually already exists, and has dozens of MPs. It’s just that it’s currently trapped inside a corpse.
These pages from the 14 March 1998 issue of NME (just 10 months after the election of Tony Blair’s first Labour government) are a fascinating historical document.
They needed saving. So we found them and we saved them.
Alert readers may have noticed something of a glut of articles in the press recently by right-wing commentators angrily challenging the SNP to prove its left-wing credentials if and when the new Scotland Bill ever becomes law and grants Holyrood more powers over taxation, some minor aspects of welfare and – of course – road signs.
The zenith of the phenomenon must surely be today’s eye-rubbingly bizarre Scotsman story in which the Scottish Tories urge the SNP to increase tax in order to reverse, er, Tory cuts. But there’s method behind the seeming madness.
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “Civil servants in Scotland comprise two groups, those working for the devolved government, and those working on reserved function, I.e…” Aug 15, 18:10
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “Any evidence that TA is the paedo stronghold? It’s quite a claim really, although perfectly aligned with the historical tropes…” Aug 15, 17:44
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “A resonance chamber collapse is greatly preferable to a chamber pot fracture. If I were to be serious, I’d say…” Aug 15, 17:38
sam on Believers In The Ruins: “@ alurker Thanks for the link further up the thread.” Aug 15, 17:34
Hatey McHateface on Anatomy Of A Grift: “Arday is dead. But as Northy’s post shows, pseudo-intellectual, pretentious gobbledegook lives on. I’m confident my claim will resonate with…” Aug 15, 17:29
aLurker on Believers In The Ruins: ““Who says what and Why? “…Scotland is a nation and voluntarily entered union with England as a partner and not…” Aug 15, 16:44
Aidan on Anatomy Of A Grift: “I doubt it, they’ll probably make you drink “James’” bath water.” Aug 15, 15:12
Northcode on Believers In The Ruins: “Here’s another observation following on from my last comment that folk might find interesting… or not. A resonance-chamber collapse is…” Aug 15, 12:12
Captain Caveman on Anatomy Of A Grift: “@Northy Well, if the “chamber has collapsed” as you put it, maybe look to your own personal culpability in that,…” Aug 15, 12:10
Confused on Believers In The Ruins: “question on all our lips : did black einstein FAKE his own death? – he faked everything else … NB…” Aug 15, 11:56
Captain Caveman on Anatomy Of A Grift: ““That’s it, off to the gulag for you CC, reckon you’ll get 5 years hard labour” Ooh, well, I’m quaking…” Aug 15, 11:54
robertkknight on Believers In The Ruins: “Much wringing of hands shall follow. Any death by suicide is tragic – to feel that you’ve no option other…” Aug 15, 11:29
Northcode on Anatomy Of A Grift: “This comment trail is mildly interesting in terms of online space behavioural patterns. Here’s my analysis. Dan’s reply: the mature…” Aug 15, 11:13
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “Aye, Sam, hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists prop up Scotland’s economy every year as they flock to visit our…” Aug 15, 11:03
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “The new Floyd? £20 says that’s where this will go next.” Aug 15, 10:37
Hatey McHateface on Believers In The Ruins: “FOFA as the yoof say. Spend years and every available billion in foreign aid on raining down rockets on the…” Aug 15, 10:33
Aidan on Anatomy Of A Grift: “That’s it, off to the gulag for you CC, reckon you’ll get 5 years hard labour for: – sewing discord…” Aug 15, 10:27
Captain Caveman on Anatomy Of A Grift: “Dan’s still grizzling into his coffee, I see. Good grief, it’s so pathetic.” Aug 15, 09:28
TURABDIN on Believers In The Ruins: “TRAGIC….but a guy «leader of the free west», even more delusional, dangerously delusional, occupies the White House in a veil…” Aug 15, 09:12
Aidan on Anatomy Of A Grift: ““It gets absolutely nowhere because the same obvious disingenuous disruptors just jump in and shite all over it. That’s mostly…” Aug 15, 09:01
Dan on Anatomy Of A Grift: “As Aidan states, the genderwoowoo is one of the most important issues in Scottish politics. I’ve never denied that and…” Aug 15, 08:33
Grace Green on Believers In The Ruins: “You have not read the whole report. The mother reported that on awaking she found the baby purple, and she…” Aug 15, 07:44
Young Lochinvar on Believers In The Ruins: “HMcH @ 2.11 Sorry, but that is as disingenuous an argument as it was when first put about by Unionists.…” Aug 15, 00:59
Oneliner on Believers In The Ruins: “At least 1 of the 56,675 was schooled in covert surveillance.” Aug 14, 23:26
aLurker on Believers In The Ruins: “@sam “Royal Commission on Scottish Affairs 1952-1954 Report.” https://openlibrary.org/books/OL21768224M/Royal_Commission_on_Scottish_Affairs_1952-1954_Report.” Aug 14, 21:56
Chas on Believers In The Ruins: “I will ask again Alf, who would you replace the dozen or so hapless SNP minosters with following Independence. Some…” Aug 14, 21:36
Confused on Believers In The Ruins: “every nite is bonfire night in the g4z4 strip; why oh why did those people build their houses within the…” Aug 14, 21:03
Confused on Believers In The Ruins: “main will one day have to admit to the undeniable logic of every ANGLO subhuman removed en-masse from the blessed…” Aug 14, 21:02
