The radical alternative
Posted on
February 11, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Good news in this morning’s papers for faithful Labour left-wingers everywhere.
We’ve cheated a bit on that last one, which is from June 2013. But it just goes to show the “Labour” leader is nothing if not admirably consistent. Don’t bother with any of that silly independence business, readers! Just vote for Labour in Westminster elections! You can change everything!
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Surely to God real Labour socialists must see the writing on the wall now. Only a Yes vote can give them any chance of seeing the kind of social reforms they allegedly crave.
Notice the difference in the headlines used by the Scottish vs UK titles? The “Scottish” ones drop the use of Thatcher as it plays worse for Labour in Scotland than austerity does. Just the usual level of bias there from our wonderful media.
He’s just forfeited the 2015 election with that.
Is this really what Jenny Marra is all about?
The END of SLAB in Scotland, a new SLAB in a NEW Scotland, is truly the only option. Wake up voters!
Ding dong.
Real Labour socialists know this is just a ploy to fool the southern voters. If he gets their vote he is not going to do anything, about anything.
Possibly heave a sigh of relief; he and his cronies back at Westminster for a while longer. It’s the Holy Grail.
To be honest, I dont see why Milliband doesn’t just go with the old “make do and mend” mantra of thatcher rather than his current “do more with less”…
There really is NO POINT to the Labour party any more.
Ed’s seen the polls and kens Labour are fecked in Scotland for UKGEs whether it’s a aye or a narrow naw.
And in all probability, it’ll be the former.
What a wonderful question to ask in our next WoS crowd funded Poll.
” Given Ed Miliband has been quoted as saying that he ‘vows to govern like Margaret Thatcher’ should he become the next PM; how would this affect your voting intentions come September 18th ?
Maybe it sounded good in the strategy session?
Strategy Team: “Ed, we’ve got this idea to bring in the spirit of Margaret Thatcher.”
Ed: “Really? Won’t it make me sound like a Tory?”
Team (smiling): “Exactly! Voters of middle England and the squeezed middle will love you to bits.”
Ed: “But, er, what about the voters in the North and in, er, Scotland?”
Team (slightly patronising now): “Ed, Ed, we’ve talked about this. What about them? We all know their votes are in the bag. And as for Scotland, heh heh, it won’t even be voting, will it?”
Ed: “Well, if you’re sure..”
Team: “It’ll be awesome, trust us.”
Oh dear god!
Wakey wakey rise & shine Labour supporters!
‘Miliband risked ridicule last night…’
Risked?
Nah…try replacing it with ‘invited’, ‘guaranteed’, or ‘prompted’.
What a tit. His old man must be spinning like a dervish.
@faolie
For some reason I had Malcolm Tucker’s voice in my head reading that. Needs more expletives though.
So much for my previous attack on Scottish Eduacation. History ignored breeds ignorance and contempt. What does it matter anymore if Scots & English Education became one and the same.Scots will still mark their cross to Labour because its what they do best. If a leader of the Labour Party can come out and say this,with all the scurrying around trying to soften the real impact of his words,yet still maintain support from voters and the media…….then the UK as a whole deserve what they get. If people in Scotland can’t vote Yes in September,my sympathy to future generations.
Scott Minto (Aka Sneekyboy) says:
To be honest, I dont see why Milliband doesn’t just go with the old “make do and mend” mantra of thatcher rather than his current “do more with less”
There really is NO POINT to the Labour party any more.
They used to serve the purpose of making Britain seem a benign democracy. Looks like they have given up on that, as well.
Wonder if he’ll get his hair done and have a voice coach make him sound less shrill – it worked for his heroine.
And we’ll still be facing 1.6 trillion of debt by 2016 if we stick by the Union no matter who wins the British general election.
They’re trying to win that tiny slice of undecided middle England that seems to be have total control of what right wing Westminster government we get. Ironic considering British nationalist unionism rages on and on about the terrible injustice that a mere 4 million in Scotland decide the future of 60 million in England. Irony thy name is English politicking, in another country called Scotland.
London Labour writing the suicide note for Labour in Scotland.
The rats will be abandoning ship very soon.
“Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.”
I trust this thought will be delivered by Ed Miliband with the same conviction as his political hero Mrs Thatcher.
The last sentence is particularly important. It is vital that Ed seeks to bring hope to the working class in the same way Mrs Thatcher did. It’s a very particular type of hope – hopelessness.
This is the vital ingredient to delivering austerity, permanent small government and privatising the remaining state services.
I was speaking with a local Labour councillor lately, one of the few good guys. I said I felt labour had more to offer in an independent Scotland. He disagreed. I wonder if he’l change his tune now…
My personal opinion was that Milliband is simply not a credible option, and that the Tories would easily win the next election. Could the weather do what Milliband couldn’t do on his own? Could he get elected by an electorate bitter at having lost their homes and possessions, and wishing to kick the governments arse?
And yet, Owen Jones will still stick by them, just like every other self-proclaimed socialist that tries to kid on that their unwavering support for Labour is based on something bigger than pure, unadulterated partisanship.
“Oh, the real Labour party are not like this, it’s just the current leadership, stick by them and somehow the party will get back to its roots, even though our unconditional backing means they have absolutely no reason to change tact whatsoever. Please may I have another punch in the face, sir? Thank you, kind sir.”
London Labour writing the suicide note for Labour in Scotland.
Aye. Been saying the like for a while. Scotland has been electorally useless to the Tories since 1997. The libs since 2010 and Labour since 2011.
Ed knows the score. Darling et al are on their own.
You know with a few changes that can be sum up Better Togethers philosophy for the campaign
“Where there is harmony, may we bring discord.
Where there is truth, may we bring error.
Where there is faith, may we bring doubt.
And where there is hope, may we bring despair.”
Hope Alex has fun with this at FMQ
last comment seems to have disappeared.
Hope Alex has some fun with this at FMQ
Hmm… Seems WoS has stopped remembering my details and I’m going into moderation?
Did I use an apostrophe incorrectly too many times?
I think a lot of Labour people will wait till the special Perth Conference to see what is on offer.
Once they finally confirm there will be no more signifigant Devolution and that Barnett is going ,the trickle of dissenters to YES will become a rushing torrent.
I think a lot of Labour people will wait till the special Perth Conference to see what is on offer.
Once they finally confirm there will be no more signifigant Devolution and that Barnett is going ,the trickle of dissenters to YES will become a rushing torrent.
Its such a weird government whoever gets in. They have no problem charging off to mind dumbingly dangerous, expensive, unwinnable, illegal wars in the Middle East yet they don’t want to invest in sea defences in the English Tory heartlands. Or dudes like “Scotsman” Alistair Darling desperate to shut down Scottish democracy but out UK electioneering and he’s desperate to pump more and more money into south east England road and rail network.
And the difference between Cameron/Osborne and Milliband/Balls is?
You’d need a micrometer to tell.
Come on you Labour voters, time to vote for a Scottish Labour party in an independent Scotland. Boot these rabid careerists who’ve hi-jacked your party into touch and get with the programme of overhauling our governance.
And they’ve been telling us New Labour has gone! This lad’s no better than the Blair/Brown twins. Such vision! What must ordinary Labour people think?
Looking forward to JoLa’s endorsement of this…and Baillie’s…and Gray’s…
Labour – Maggie’s bastard child.
Labour – Maggie’s bastard child
@Doug: That’s a scarily accurate comment.
If the leadership doesn’t represent the party, why are they still the public leadership?
The *really* sad thing is there’s decent evidence that strong socialist policies would actually *save* the government money. Shame that they prefer stuffing their own pockets and making everyone else homeless and destitute instead.
It shows how Milliband views further politics, he is positioning himself ever nearer the Tories, in the hope of stealing some votes. There is another aspect, which is, that he is positioning Labour to try and fill the gap in England,as he sees a YES vote coming.
Desperate times for Labour in England. Scottish labour, as far as voters are concerned are nearing a goodbye. So he pulls stunts like this, to try and make up his shortfall.
How much more of this can Scottish Labour stomach? I don’t mean the MPs and MSPs, who sold their souls long ago. I mean the rank and file, those battle-weary activists and loyal voters who continue, beyond common sense, to prop up the party. Unrequited love is not good for the health.
So Red Ed Milliband says he will govern like Maggie Thatcher does he?
If he is serious about this, and apparently he is does this mean that when he wins the 2015 General election that he will start appearing on the steps of number 10 in one of Maggie’s blue dresses, matching shoes, hat and handbag?
JoLa, JaBa, Gray etc, brainstorming right now with their best people:
‘Okay. We are where we are folks. Let’s fly some kites. Can we start with “What he meant to say was…”? Anyone?…Anyone…’
Lamont must be looking forward to FMQs – the word Thatcher is going to be inserted, sideways, to much hilarity.
Better Togethers’ Mission Statement :
Where there is harmony, may we bring discord.
Where there is truth, may we bring error.
Where there is faith, may we bring doubt.
And where there is hope, may we bring despair.
For some reason I had Malcolm Tucker’s voice in my head reading that.
Strategy Team: “Ed, listen up, if you’re going to have any fucking chance of winning this election you’ve got to be more Margaret Thatcher than Hugh fucking Gaitskill.”
Ed: “Who? But won’t it make me sound like a Tory?”
Team (grimacing): “For fuck’s sake, do you want to appeal to middle England and the squeezed fucking middle or not?”
Ed (pulling himself up): “Sure, it’s what I stand for. But, er, what about the voters in the North and in, er, Scotland?”
Team (about to blow a fuse): “Jeez, Ed, waken up and smell the fucking coffee. WHAT ABOUT THEM? Their votes are in the bag so forget about them. And as for Scotland, are you the only fucking person that doesn’t think the fucking Scots are going to fuck off just as quick as they fucking well can?”
Ed: “Well, if you’re sure..”
Team: “Shut the fuck up and just do it. We’ve already briefed the press.”
I note that she who must not be named is missing from the Scotsman and Herald. Is Thatcher mentioned in any Scottish editions of the other newspapers mentioned?
If so, SLAB are deep in the brown stuff. Are they going to continue wallowing in it, eventually drowning, or are they preparing to make a stand?
(I’m not holding my breath)
MajorBloodnok: For some reason I had Malcolm Tucker’s voice in my head reading that. Needs more expletives though.
Lol, I tried, but my comment was barred by the Swearing Prevention Module
“Where there is discord, may we blame the SNP.
Where there is error, may we promote within.
Where there is doubt, may we say ‘I dont agree with you’.
And where there is despair, may we bring Anas.”
Somewhere Johann is practising her best Vikki Pollard “Yeah but No but Yeah But” impersonations for Thursdays FMQs. Alex has got to bring this up at every opportunity.
And David Aaronovitch said there was no difference between Scots and English? This has to mark a significant shift in the relationship between ELAB and SLAB surely – or at least with Ed & co. and traditional Labour supporters .
Had an interesting discussion with two committed Labour members at the week-end. They acknowledge the political system needs a complete shake up, but are still hoping that it will happen across the UK rather than independence being the catalyst. (When pressed for signs that after a NO vote this might happen, they were only able to offer hope without any concrete evidence.)
I’m now curious as to what they think given that Ed has consigned hope to the bin.
“Where there is discord, may we blame the SNP
Where there is error, may we promote within.
Where there is doubt, may we say ‘I dont agree with you’
And where there is despair, may we bring Anas.”
Apols for resubmission…browsers didnt show any update, despite F5 RSI attempts
@ gerry parker No FMQs for two weeks – fortunately for JoLo.
In twenty years the state will be that small their will only be 20,000 employees all members of parliment and the lords, everything else will be privatized and cost 5x as much.
Is there a problem on the Herald as some articles are not enabling comments?
According to the BBC, some 400 homes have been flooded. That’s probably 800 votes, at a rough estimate. Spread over a few constituencies. Actually, these are constituencies I can’t see going Labour even if the coalition initiated the apocalypse.
The way the last week or so has gone I’d be expecting honest polling to be tipping to yes right about now. Even the slightly disengaged and consumers of the MSM must be starting to catch on now.
My details aren’t being preserved in the browser window, and my posts are vanishing too. Some sort of gremlin in the machine, I think.
Should we be surprised by this “revelation” even if spun by the Right Wing press ? He is part of the London Establishment, full of movers and shakers in finance, media, military etc most of whom know of one another, after all they’ve been to the right schools and universities.
Speaking of media, Laura Bicker this morning really did sound like someone who had just gone down the rabbit hole, pronouncing this Referendum was big news up here ! I hope as a reporter she’ll have more impact than the likes of Jim Naughtie who’s, it seems to me, only qualification to be up here two days a week is because his faither was an Aberdeenshire dominie. He’s now Establishment too, just as the likes of Paxman and Clarkson, in that they’ve been allowed to go so far beyond presenting that they ARE the news ( remember our reaction when Paxman described Burns’ work as doggerel ).
The way the last week or so has gone I’d expect the polls to be tipping to yes any time now. Even the disengaged and consumers of the MSM must be starting to see the way things are going.
Seems to be a problem posting ?
All to try and head UKIP off at the pass…it aint gonna work Ed all you are dong is alienating those who remember what the true Labour party was for to give the people an alternative to these economic rapists and give a voice to the working folk and yes the trade unions(bad word now Ed?)
Did I just imagine it or did a post about a DDOS attack appear then disappear within the last wee while?
Every SNP,MSP should have copies of those paper,s& displaying the Headline, when they stand up to talk,
rub it in at every opertunity, ( make it the English edition )
He and wee Jo Lo have basically been saying this for the last couple of years. What is the Daily Record saying though? Time for what remains of the Socialists left in the LP to leave this bankrupt organisation now and campaign hard for an independent Scotland.
@FreddieThreepwood says:
Wonder if he’ll get his hair done and have a voice coach make him sound less shrill – it worked for his heroine.
You mean Margaret Curran?
Rev, whats happening with the site, my post 12.40, has disappeared,
A! renewing labours policy for the rich, elite, of London (and Westminster politicians). I’m sure he has got Johan’s and his Scottish MPs agreement.
That will derail the Scottish problem in its tracks. Johan, Magrit, Kezia, and cherchube have hair appointments and elocution lessons before being relaunched as Thatchers Labour Party in Scotland on newsnight Scotland (coming soon). Watch this space.
This is what you get when the party elects the wrong brother. Doesn’t matter anyway,every government for decades has served more than one term,and so will this condem one.
YES
Would any of these headlines change the way voters
in Dunfermline & Cowdenbeath voted?
No, because they vote Labour.
Labour could have turning Fife into one big
nuclear power plant and people here would still
vote Labour. Of course, it wouldn’t help that the
Labour leaflets would say something completely
different anyway.
New thread Oh, those Russians. Explanation for comments mess.
WoS still DDOS Rev? Its all over the place when you try to submit comment. Call the cops
for those of you who are interested in fact rather than spin, here is the speech, note that he didnt say any of what is quoted above link to labourlist.org
@faolie
Brilliant. Now that’s what I call dialogue!
Doesn’t even make any sense, it’s not going to gain any votes, anybody who wants tory policies is going to vote tory, it’s just complete utter stupidity.
Oh the irony! I had an email from my MP Katy Clark this morning claiming that the Bedroom Tax will no longer apply in Scotland after April 1st – this as a consequence of a Labour amendment.
Of course, she added that the only way to abolish the tax was to elect a Labour government at the next general election. I wonder if she would have worded things differently had she seen this morning’s headlines?
I do not understand the thinking of left-wingers like her.
Can we crowd fund a BillBoard outside the Perth Concert Hall for the Labour Party conference?
It should echo the Sun’s headline ‘Miliband vows to govern like Thatcher’ with pictures of the two.
Can we crowd fund a Bill Board outside the Perth Concert hall for the Labour Party conference?
It should echo the Sun’s headline “Miliban vows to govern like Thatcher” … with photos of both of course.
Labour are confident in using the Thatcher line.
a) The media are very compliant in Scotland so it won’t be seen.
b) Even if the evidence of being Tories and maintaining Tory cuts was nailed up in 50 letters in every high street the Labour voters in Scotland will still march into the polling station in the belief that the still have a socialist party.
I cannot understand why they don’t vote YES and get a Scottish Labour party based on the original values – you don’t have to vote SNP.
Vote for Scotland FIRST and party second.
The type of Scotland and direction of travel could actually be the one you want in 2016. However you would have to question the commitment of all politicians to that vision if they had opposed the will of the people. Proven by a majority YES vote delivered in 2014
Ed Miliband adviser not taking the blame.
link to tom-watson.co.uk
@Clootie – no one understands the Scottish electorate, it’s a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma!
I still find it funny though that the Daily Express still calls him Red Ed after that.
link to theguardian.com
More London Vampire Squid… This is how much London takes
“Londoners enjoyed public investment of £2,731 per head, far outstripping any other region. The north-east received a measly £5 per head.”
This is coming home to roost now… The regions of England are slowly awakening to the power hoarding, change resistant London establishment.
@Jim Monaghan
Ed on Public services…all I read was ‘Lets copy Americas “super” injustice model’ and “Hey, can we hire more big foreign IT Outsource Service companies to drain us dry?”;
The use of Thatcher by any Labour man is political stupidity. He really should have known better. Out of Context comes before Content in these spin-fuelled days.
@msean
“This is what you get when the party elects the wrong brother.”
David Miliband would probably have been much worse. He is unapologetically New Labour. More importantly, as a former Foreign Secretary, he is tainted by all the things we don’t yet know about extraordinary rendition flights and the torture of British citizens abroad.
link to theguardian.com
Fack all in the Daily Retard, that I can find.
Labour voters generally don’t read English versions of their favourite “news”papers. Most won’t see those headline comments.
These people cling to the idea that Labour cares – well, the party doesn’t and they would be better served creating new political alliances, independent of anything offered by the UK. You don’t even need a party to help make things better, just commonsense and a heart.
Radweesis
I hope you told Katy Clark, the bedroom tax will not be abolished, but paid for from our other funding, and Westminster still needs to give permission to raise the limit on spending for it.
Yep, seems The Daily Record have avoided reporting anything on Miliband-Thatcher’s speech. Sister paper, The Daily Mirror carries a piece on it, though…
link to archive.is
@Brian Powell
Email pinged off to Katy Clark putting all these points.
She also claimed that the bedroom tax mitigation was proof of the value of the Scottish Parliament – its ability to provide Scottish solutions to Scottish problems! That bit stuck in my craw, I must confess.
I await her response!
If he has not done so already, we can expect a press release from Miliband stating he thinks banks should not be broken up because they are too big to be allowed to fail, daily banking should not be separated from risk investment, and neither should we return to regulation of banks or investment houses for the way to Utopian prosperity is an unregulated free market.
Surely if you are trying to take your party forward from a desperate situation you select a forward gear not Flat out in reverse. What a massive boost to the Yes Campaign. Worse than an own Goal.
If I vote Labour,I get Thatcher? Get real,nae chance
Any Scot continuing to vote Labour now must be deaf, dumb, and blind, and deserves our sympathy.