There really isn’t very much of a news story in this morning’s Sun “exclusive” that some Labour MPs say they’d quit the party rather than work with the SNP should the electorate deliver such a result in May. One told the paper:
Those of us who remember the parade of furious Scottish Labour figures going on TV and openly threatening to scupper any “rainbow coalition” involving the Nats in 2010, thereby ensuring that David Cameron and George Osborne came to power, won’t be the least bit surprised at the sheer depth of hatred and jealous rage that consumes Labour’s branch office in North Britain when the SNP are mentioned.
And there’s nothing eyebrow-raisingly new in Scottish Labour’s spiteful determination that if Scots vote against the Conservatives – but not for Labour – they should be punished with Tory governments. It’s the standard policy of electoral blackmail that the party has deployed against the rise of rivals from the left for years, and which it’s now also turning against the Greens south of the border.
But there is a telling phrase in that short quote.
Independent website Political Compass has just released its 2015 graph charting the ideological positions of all the political parties of the UK. It’s a fairly predictable one.
On the image above, we’ve added, for parties active in Scotland only, striped circles indicating each party’s 2010 position. But what does it tell us about 2015?
It’s somehow fitting that the lead article on Labour Hame today is headed by a lie before it even starts – an offer to join the party for £1 that takes you to a page where it actually costs five times as much.
(We’d noticed days ago that the much-hyped £1 offer had been quietly dumped after just a month, but it appears that nobody in the Scottish branch office thought to keep poor hapless Labour Hame in the loop.)
The article below, though, is remarkably even more dishonest.
A number of readers last night sent us copies of the response to complaints they’d made to the Independent Press Standards Organisation about the Daily Record’s infamous “The Vow” front cover. We attach the full judgement at the bottom of this article, and as far as we’re concerned it’s fair and accurate. The Vow was a deliberate deception, but it didn’t break any rules – it merely relied on readers misinterpreting it.
The bit we’re still interested in is the paragraph above.
It gets clearer with every passing day that Scottish Labour’s chief election strategy is to assume that Scottish voters are goldfish. There’s no other explanation for a piece in yesterday’s Courier on the SNP’s Jamie Hepburn’s call for the implementation of a 2009 report into which sporting events should be protected from pay-TV broadcasters.
The article concluded with some comments from Labour.
You almost have to grudgingly admire the sheer bull-headed tenacity of their dogged determination to prove once and for all to the people of Scotland that Labour think they’re dribbling gullible morons.
So, an experiment. Here on Wings we don’t tend to deal very much in specific political issues, other than independence. We’re not aligned to any party, and our primary goal is to see Scotland become a national democracy in which all voices can be heard. We happen to be on the left of the political spectrum, but that’s neither here nor there while Scotland’s politics are at the mercy of the whims of voters elsewhere.
But just for a change of pace at the weekends, when there tends not to be much happening, we thought we might try having a space where broader ideas can be debated outwith the framework of the constitutional debate or party politics. If there’s something you’d like to talk about in front of a sizeable audience, drop us a line.
To give you an idea of what we mean, we’re going to start off by outlining a personal pet idea we’ve had for years, and which is an attempt to tackle one of Scotland’s most toxic problems – alcohol abuse. It’s a simple concept, it’s cheap to implement, it doesn’t punish the innocent and it seems like it’d work. See what you think.
Young Lochinvar on The Final Robbery: “Chas @ 9.49 Bad enough that it may be so without you wishing it! You Scotchland hating cringing Unionists really…” May 26, 02:21
Lynne on The Final Robbery: “No public funds were lost Just the small matter of £2.7m Brachform has cost.” May 26, 01:37
Young Lochinvar on The Final Robbery: “Olster 2 “words”. – Boris Johnson -. They are ALL self serving scum.” May 26, 01:34
Young Lochinvar on The Final Robbery: “Reminiscent of Dugdales “yer too thick to know what ye were saying” judges summary in its case against the site…” May 26, 01:29
David Lindsay on The Final Robbery: “Tessa Jowell professed to have had no idea that David Mills had remortgaged their house. At least unless you believed…” May 26, 01:12
Olster on The Final Robbery: “I’m a unionist, unreservedly. However I have great respect for the Rev’s journalistic brilliance. I have always had a modicum…” May 26, 01:01
Ian Smith on The Final Robbery: “If the Murrell/Sturgeon junta couldn’t keep their sticky fingers off a mere 600k in the SNP’s accounts, what have they…” May 26, 00:27
Colin Dawson on The Final Robbery: “I asked Google AI: “If it transpires that Sturgeon was the benificiary of his embezzlement, can any of the assets…” May 26, 00:08
Mark Beggan on The Final Robbery: “There’s no need to rub Patrick Thistles nose in it. A Third world hick with lots of oil.” May 25, 23:57
Geri on The Final Robbery: “They’re the only two sticking to international law despite severe provocation that’d test the patience of saint. Just shows how…” May 25, 23:54
Grum on The Final Robbery: “Since I was young, Scotland was solidly Labour, and they were corrupt bastards. Unfortunately, it appears that the modern SNP…” May 25, 23:46
Confused on The Final Robbery: ““dont worry peter – that dot bain will get ya aff … ” did peter and nikki have a joint…” May 25, 23:46
James on The Final Robbery: “Two sneering, servile unionists there. Both paid by the post.” May 25, 23:32
James on The Final Robbery: “Got that, everyone? English-appointed civil servants and Vauxhall Cross are benign agents, and do nothing but good in Scotland and…” May 25, 23:29
James on The Final Robbery: “Your comment is correct. Almost. You pay f*ck all to Scotland in taxes. The ‘block grant’ as England patronisingly calls…” May 25, 23:22
Oneliner on The Final Robbery: “Agreed, Robin is on fire. The next Through A Scottish Prism should be interesting.” May 25, 23:11
Hatey McHateface on The Final Robbery: ““So where is it during the night ?” Erm. It’s the Earth that moves. It revolves on its axis. The…” May 25, 23:07
Onlooker on The Final Robbery: “https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/artist-paints-nicola-sturgeon-over-5002394” May 25, 23:02
Hatey McHateface on The Final Robbery: “That’s the size small. The size XL is £99.99.” May 25, 22:35
Skip_NC on The Final Robbery: “I’m curious why you’re including Calum Steele in that comment. He was the only one of those you mentioned who…” May 25, 22:23
robertkknight on The Final Robbery: “Anyone with an ounce of integrity should be angry as to what’s happened to the SNP over the past decade.…” May 25, 22:19
A2 on The Final Robbery: “Nope, the whole 600k is still missing. He’s nicked from the SNP but theres nothing that shows he just took…” May 25, 22:15
Hatey McHateface on The Final Robbery: ““The embezzlement amounts to an average of £35k per year, and for most of that period, him and Sturgeon would…” May 25, 22:08
GM on The Final Robbery: “True.. and we are kept in that state by the actions of self serving, conscienceless wankers. Sturgeon being the worst…” May 25, 22:02
Colin Alexander on The Final Robbery: “Well done Stuart Campbell and Sean Clerkin. If it weren’t for yous pesky kids, he would probably got away with…” May 25, 22:00
Hatey McHateface on The Final Robbery: “Hark to the tinkle of the royal wee. “We all know the media aren’t journalists these days either but government…” May 25, 21:55
Graham Fordyce on The Final Robbery: “This has always been about who controls the message. If you’re looking for justice, then take control yourself. Let’s raise…” May 25, 21:54
Graham Fordyce on The Final Robbery: “This has always been about who controls the message. If you’re looking for justice, then take control yourself. Let’s raise…” May 25, 21:54
GM on The Final Robbery: “Seats, places on quangos, assistance with setting up companies and funding for those companies, political preference, promotions, pay rises” May 25, 21:50
Chas on The Final Robbery: “Slight correction. ‘It is shite being Alf Baird’. It is always helpful to blame others other than ourselves. However there…” May 25, 21:49
