Alert readers will have noticed that for the last week or so we’ve been challenging some of the conventional wisdom about Labour’s election victories from 1997-2005. While the right wing of the party and commentariat regularly insists that Tony Blair was its most successful leader ever, we demonstrated that over the course of his leadership he lost Labour over two million votes, whereas Neil Kinnock’s reign had resulted in a GAIN of three million.
In short, New Labour’s victories were primarily the result of the Conservatives being in a catastrophic state during Blair’s rule, exhausted by almost 20 years of power and scandal and infighting about Europe. With William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard at the head of a shattered opposition, Labour could have won those elections with Piers Morgan or a Teletubby in charge.
What our research also found was that the most striking thing about the period since Blair became Labour leader in 1994 was a staggering and almost overnight increase in the number of British voters turned off politics altogether.
In 1992 just eight million people entitled to vote stayed at home. By 2001 that number had rocketed to EIGHTEEN million, a 125% increase in nine years, and in May it was still at almost 16 million.
Since Blair, eight million UK citizens who used to vote have simply walked away and washed their hands of the entire political process. That’s quite a legacy, but it’s also an opportunity, because it’s a lot of people waiting for a reason to vote for someone. (Most of them young and/or poor, two traditionally Labour-friendly demographics.)
Bizarrely, it’s an opportunity Labour and its allies seem utterly determined to shun.
Last night we ran a piece about a story in last week’s Daily Record in which a Scottish Labour official was given free rein to make an extended political attack on the SNP in the guise of a “business student” from the University of the West of Scotland, without his Labour identity being revealed, on the flimsy basis of a petition about college cuts with a few hundred signatures.
As it happens, another UWS student also has a petition doing the rounds at the moment. But it got treated rather differently by the Scottish press.
For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, the document at the heart of this insanity has been leaked, so you can now see it for yourself. We’ll have more on it later.
So first of all there’s this (click pic for full story):
…in which the figures appear to show that Iceland’s policy of imposing justice and imprisoning the greedy bankers who caused the world financial crash – rather than just shovelling money at them and letting them carry on robbing everyone – actually saw its economy recover at least as well as anywhere else’s.
Many of you won’t have seen this quite extraordinary performance from the Guardian’s assistant editor Michael White on last night’s Scotland Tonight, and you really should.
This morning we noted the weird double standards of the media when it comes to reporting politics-related violence (and/or the absence thereof) in Scotland. We weren’t expecting such a good illustration of it to come along within two hours.
We’re sure we’re not the only people for whom the hours are dragging and we wish the election would just hurry up and get here, but all the same we’re pretty sure that if there were 11 days left to save the UK on Sunday morning, then by Tuesday morning there should be fewer than 10 still to go.
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?
100%Yes on Before Action: “James, its below. https://www.thenational.scot/news/26483678.wings-blogger-threatens-police-legal-action-snp-600k-fund/” Aug 22, 10:50
Northcode on Before Action: “COPFS and Police Scotland might well have identified the individual responsible for the illegal diversion of SNP ringfenced funds, but…” Aug 22, 10:32
Northcode on Before Action: “That’s actually a polite, intelligent and respectful response to James Che’s comment. And the gentle humour at the end perfectly…” Aug 22, 10:29
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “That should have read; Don’t rape women, men, children or animals. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. Editor” Aug 22, 10:09
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “Billy Bus Ticket is having a hard time as boss. He has aged incredibly in such a short time. By…” Aug 22, 10:04
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “I still think my Time Machine plan is the only feasible way to solve this conundrum.” Aug 22, 09:59
Hatey McHateface on Before Action: “So it’s open season on the 50% who aren’t women? Or is Burnham in the grip of the trannies, trying…” Aug 22, 09:50
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “Neither would I. As long as they don’t shit in parks.” Aug 22, 09:47
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “Andy Burnham s pamphlet; Don’t rape women. Don’t try to swim with your clothes on. Welcome to Britain!” Aug 22, 09:37
Hatey McHateface on Before Action: “Sorry, James, but I don’t think you and I share a common definition of “officially”. More generally, I think you…” Aug 22, 09:31
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “They really get in the way of a good fantasy. With their bloody referendums and democratic processes. Stalin never had…” Aug 22, 09:28
Aidan on Before Action: “How incredibly boring” Aug 22, 09:26
James Che on Before Action: “Mark, I would never suggest any other nation of these Island are parasites, that want parts of England to become…” Aug 22, 09:25
Hatey McHateface on Before Action: “And yet it’s an easily verifiable fact there are more Scots living in England than English living in Scotland. Given…” Aug 22, 09:22
James Che on Before Action: “Retaining the SNP in a pretendy Scottish parliament and a supposed treaty that was never concluded whilst not being adhered…” Aug 22, 09:15
James Che on Before Action: “100% yes, Is there a link anywhere for everyone as this old techno I use is extremely basic. and maybe…” Aug 22, 09:08
James Che on Before Action: “As you stated Hatey, to quote yourself, the 1707 treaty of union is old guff, and nobody pays attention to…” Aug 22, 08:58
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “They are here because the cannot afford the same property in England. Purely selfish James. They are not here to…” Aug 22, 08:54
100%Yes on Before Action: “Today Wings has a wee mention in The Rag about the topic above.” Aug 22, 08:48
Robert on Before Action: “The charity has done wrong, obvioulsy. The consequeces for the individuals in the charity would depend on whether they had…” Aug 22, 08:42
James Che on Before Action: “It sounds bold, In what sense? If “we ” Scotland are not in a treaty. And treaty articles is not…” Aug 22, 08:42
James Che on Before Action: “Aye, an there english people living in Scotland that chose to live in Scotland, not England. There were people in…” Aug 22, 08:33
Rob on Before Action: “It seems to me that DCC Houston is doing his level and diplomatic best to direct our attention to COPFS.…” Aug 22, 08:31
Hatey McHateface on Before Action: “That’s all very well, GM, but if you want to be taken seriously on here, learn to drop quotes from…” Aug 22, 08:22
Hatey McHateface on Before Action: “Seems a trifle harsh, Auld Lochnagar, given that there’s in excess of 200,000 Scots living in London. You should apologise…” Aug 22, 08:00
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Ah c’moan noo, Confused. Shooting’s fer gurlies. Dust aff yer moby gas chambers. Ye hivnae fantasised aboot them for a…” Aug 22, 07:50
Hatey McHateface on Before Action: “Zat a fact, Alf? Must only be a fact you can maintain by resolutely refusing to ever look at maps…” Aug 22, 07:42
Young Lochinvar on Before Action: “Meant to add; for the best impression of The Wallace see the excellent wall mural on Castlegate in Lanark.” Aug 22, 03:28
Young Lochinvar on Before Action: “One to sadly note tomorrow; Disgusting anniversary of the 1305 judicial show-trial and judicial show-murder mob spectacle of William Wallace…” Aug 22, 01:31
Old John on Before Action: “One hopes that, as the “Turbulent Priest” of the 21st century, you will not suffer the same fate as Thomas…” Aug 22, 01:29
