Wings Over Scotland

The best synopsis of SLAB I’ve read so for.

Your arcade analogy awakened a long forgotten ache in my soul ..I suddenly realised I miss wasted lunchtimes surrounded by class mates at Porty beach arcades playing ‘Defender’

Stephen Daisley comes across as a personable guy, but his articles on Labour, from his pre-election paean of praise for his Grandad’s Labour and how we shouldn’t throw that away, his defence of the increasingly ludicrous Jim Murphy, and this latest article shows that part of the problem, a large part, is the press.

They have not just given Labour an easy ride (up here), but they have substituted for activists and campaigners, so that the Party got.along, rotting, for a couple of decades before the hollow shell we see is all that is left

Mr Disley and others, if they want to help the Party they so obviously love, should park that love at the door and give Labour the sane hard time they give the SNP. Then it would have to work to get anywhere

Like Cara Hilton tried to pretend that the Labour party had abolished bridge tolls, the explanation however is very enlightening.

link to wingsoverscotland.com

This is the link I meant to use
link to independent.co.uk

Headline could do with more apostrophe: “The road o’ the dodo”!

I saw Iain Gray’s tweet yesterday and couldn’t believe they are still trying it on. The first thing Labour need to acquire, if they’re to have any hope of recovery, is a reputation for speaking truth. This won’t do it.

I blame BBC Scotland.

If only they had asked SLAB some difficult questions over the last ten years then things may have been different.

Get a free ride from the media and see what happens…

Result – a generation of useless numpties.

Firstly I should clarify I’m not a labour voter, green yes all the way for me.

My point though is that bickering about this masks a serious problem building up here. While no tuition fees is an admirable thing when the stats are analysed this has fundamentally protected the higher education system for the middle classes. As someone who works in tertiary education I can categorically assure you that this policy has been paid for by savagely cutting the FE sector. A sector which provides a second chance for many whether they be mothers re-skirling to return to the workplace or working class students failed by the education system fe can offer a better job or the opportunity of a place at uni which otherwise would not be available to them, numbers of places in Scotland have been drastically slashed closing the door on a place at uni for many as a direct result of hw the government have managed this over the last two terms at Holyrood.

As I said there is no point in bickering about who is worse than whom, but if our government is to campaign on a platform of left wing social justice then rather than indulge in whataboutery style squabbles we need to start holding them to account on their record and encourage them to start on some redistributive policies which are genuinely left wing and based in social justice do we not?

@Alistair Livingston

Good article, I enjoyed it and learned a little more from it.

R 4 Just discussing Gen Montgomerie and the idea that he had Aspergers Syndrom.

Could there be a version, as yet undiscovered, for the Labour Party?

There is a kernel of truth in those Labour wails that people simply don’t / won’t / can’t listen to them anymore. Even if they have something that could amount to a decent policy – e.g. taxing nom-doms – or a valid point on something like FE places with which to debate on the SNP, the simple fact is nobody wants to hear. I’ve heard Labour activists bemoan time and time again. Of course, when anyone tries to explain why THEY won’t listen. So it goes.

Partly it’s the style of relentless attack, attack, attack when there are little or no valid grounds, partly it’s the denial and distortions of their own record, partly it’s the general incompetence or attitudes of their leaders but, ultimately, it’s all down to one single thing: They’ve lost trust.

This loss of trust is so profound it’s really gone beyond policy or leaders or presentation or even claimed values. It’s like an abuser partner alternately threatening and pleading and warning his victim not to leave, scorning their capacity to survive without his power. Once you’ve opened that door and inhaled the fresh air, there’s no going back to the one you once loved for now you see him for what he is, a frightened little bully with nowhere to go.

Labour in England will have to move further to the right if they want to have a chance of winning in England. If Labour in Scotland doesn’t break completely free from Labour in England they will never win in Scotland again.

@Richie

While the middle classes do benefit from free higher education, this is what Universalism is about and why the NHS in particular was created to be free for everyone.

Your argument can apply not only to free higher education but also free primary and secondary education (all those middle class parents should pay for their children’s education so that it can improve the school education system for everyone).

It can also apply to the NHS – charge the middle classes and above and the NHS will have more money.

But what you forget is that the more you earn, the more tax you pay and it can be easily argued that the middle classes have already paid for higher education through their greater tax contribution, which can be significantly higher thanks to the 40% tax bracket.

Hate to be pedantic but only university tutition is free for students domiciled in Scotland. There’s still the student loan. Bring back the maintenance grant. The grant was good enough for the current generation of polititcians then it’s good enough for students today.
Apart from that Ian Gray displays the usual delusional waffle from labour. Is it in part a reaction to being the polititcans who’ll be remembered for destroying a once great party?

Like the arcades, SL will remain alive – but only in the hands of a few, die-hard enthusiasts.

Unfortunately I am one of those die-hard arcade enthusiasts who has just spent the last 30 mins getting an earful from my wife over the fact that I had a Taito Defender and Joust 2 dropped of in the garage last week that she only just found out about.

‘…a desperate evasion and twisting of reality by the use of linguistic pedantry, doggedly ignoring the fact that everyone long ago realised the emperor’s nudity.’

Thank you Wings. And there you have it in a wunner. That is the Slabbers to a tee. What a wonderful post.

A local Tory woman tried to spin me Gray’s line on tuition fees on the Saturday before the election when I was helping at an SNP street stall in Aberdeenshire West. The reality of the situation was explained to her. Our parting shot was to quote Obama. “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig”. Gray and Labour are kidding no-one on the subject of tuition fees.

Students from household of under £21K (national one person average income) get a £2500 non repayable Grant. Students in Scotland (res) still have loans and have student debt. It is just on average less debt. Students in Scotland still contribute to the cost of their education. Paying back the loan with accumulating interest. (UK sold off the loan Co.To their associates for profit) Originaloaners were interest free and everyone got one. Thatcher took in student loans to replace the (non repayable) support Grant, everyone got one.

Colleges have adequate funding. They do very well, many are having £Millions make overs. ‘Additional’ needs students do well at College/Uni with better support than at school to realise their full potential.

The Labour/Unionists means tested student loans on household incomes up to £42K. Many students of households of average earning did not get a full loan. So could not apply for University, without household support. Many students with straight ‘A’ could not apply for University. The lack of applications from working class students? No adequate funding. They could not get a full loan but could get £3K? Unemployment benefit. A colossal waste of taxpayer money.

Great piece of writing this and shows the way that Labour are almost being like a person on the phone to the party headquarters whilst talking to the electorate in a “Yeah, Yeah I hear you, we’ve got to understand what went wrong and look inwardly” without actually doing it.

Career politics in Scotland and the old boys club in Westminster better wake up or none of these parties which are serving south of the border will ever win a seat again.

If they don’t want us they should have let us go last year.

The BBC as was posted earlier by Denise also has a part to play in this in Scotland, Ask the serious questions of the people in politics and although it’s not the answer you wanted you’ll at least get the answer that the people deserve. You didn’t and you’re now surprised that people are cancelling thier TV licence fees at 1000 people a day across the whole country not just in Scotland?

Final part of this (and it’s a long one, I’m sorry) I watched the election this time round like never before. Living across the border as I do I saw how the scaremongering was played full on to the electorate in England to scare them but they way that the party leaders of the Westminster Parties went around speaking to closed private electoral audiences did my nut in. Nicola was alone in going out and meeting the real people. Her human touch and her understanding of seeing people first hand was brilliant and I applaud her for this. She’s not afraid in debate because she’s seen the white of electorate’s eyes. The rest of them will do well to remember that!

Right, Thanks for that! 🙂

Guido Fawkes highlights the career ‘highs’of McTernan, one the contributing architects of SLAB’s demise.
link to order-order.com

I’ve just read an article in the Guardian – timeline:tuition fees Education the Guardian.

December 21 1999
The Cubie report recommends that tuition fees in Scotland should be replaced by a graduate endowment scheme, whereby the Scottish executive would pay the fees. Students would be required to pay £3,000 of it back when their earnings reached £25,000 a year.

December 21 1999
The Cubie report recommends that tuition fees in Scotland should be replace a graduate endowment scheme, whereby the Scottish executive would pay the fees. Students would be required to pay £3,000 of it back when their earnings reached £25,000 a year.

January 2000
Following the publication of the Cubie report, the Scottish executive decides to abolish up-front tuition fees, announcing a replacement graduate scheme similar to Cubie’s proposals.

Students in Scotland would now payback £2,000, not £3,000, but repayments would start once earnings reached just £10,000 – way below the £25,000 recommended in the Cubie report.

This is a wonderfully thoughtful piece by Dame Aline- Wendy, Emeritus Professor at Strathclyde Uni written just before the Indy vote for ‘Academics for Yes’ & who knows a bit about education…

Past, present and future: Thinking about reversing early educational and care inequalities in an Independent Scotland.
Aline-Wendy Dunlop

The 18th century is often described as Scotland’s ‘Golden Age’. Though famous for the Wealth of Nations, in his Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), Adam Smith’s main contention was that human morality depends on sympathy between the individual and other members of society: it shows that our moral ideas and actions are a product of our very nature as social creatures. It argues that this social psychology is a better guide to moral action than is reason. It identifies the basic rules of prudence and justice that are needed for society to survive, and explains the additional, beneficent, actions that enable it to flourish. In the middle of the twentieth century early childhood settings in Scotland identified space, appropriate play materials, skilled help and companionship as the foundations of professional effort with that being an extension of the function of the home and not a substitute for it. 14 years into the 21st Century we continue to see early education and care struggling to narrow the inequalities gap: educational outcomes in Scotland must be fairer.

Not unambitious for Scotland’s children, presently Scottish Government “wants to make Scotland the best place for children and young people to grow up, from giving them the best start in life to ensuring they have the opportunities to thrive and develop into healthy, confident individuals, ready to succeed” (Children and Young People Bill, 2013). In this short paper early childhood in Scotland is viewed through a lens of past, present and future: by taking account of trends in early years policies and practices; the values that withstand time and what makes for a distinctively Scottish approach that draws on our history and culture but is potentially dynamic, forward looking and puts children and their families first.

Looking at key findings of the Early Childhood Education and Care Provision: International Review of Policy, Delivery and Funding (Scottish Government, 2013a) sheds some light on what we need to achieve:
• ECEC is integrated in terms of overall ministerial responsibility, but with different sub-departments for education and for childcare services. Not all early years services follow the educational framework. Education and regulation of childcare is a devolved matter. ECEC is not integrated with parental and other leave.
• ECEC policy is split between the UK government and the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. While Scotland has responsibility for the provision of education and social services, including early education and childcare, and aspects of workforce qualifications and development, the Westminster Government retains responsibility for other ECEC-related areas such as leave policies and the tax system.
• Across the UK, public expenditure on social protection makes up 28% of
GDP. In 2007, 3.6% of GDP was directed towards family benefits. 0.7% of GDP was spent on preschool education and 0.4% on childcare, for a total of about 1.1% of GDP.
• With the transition to Universal Credit, the UK benefit system is currently
undergoing a period of reform. From 2013, the Universal Credit has replaced child tax credits and housing benefits previously available to families with children.
• Parental leave in Scotland is unpaid.
• Curriculum for Excellence is Scotland’s integrated curriculum for children and
young people age three to eighteen.
• 96.1% of three to four year olds receive some free early education.
• Early education and childcare in Scotland encompasses a wide range of
services. Formal provision includes nurseries (day nurseries, nursery schools,
nursery classes), playgroups, children or family centres and registered
childminding. Many children are also looked after informally by grandparents,
friends and neighbours, nannies or other home carers.
• Childcare costs in Scotland are among the highest in Britain for part-time places; parents pay nearly as much as parents in Southern England, but on lower incomes.
• Two separate agencies are responsible for the regulation and inspection of
ECEC services in Scotland – Education Scotland for education services and the Care Inspectorate for childcare services.
• ECEC is a mixed economy financed by the state (18%) and by private individuals (70%). Much childcare is provided informally.

Additionally this year Scotland’s educational Statistical Bulletin reports that:
• The percentage of preschool children with access to a qualified teacher drops year on year, as does the number of specialist preschool teachers.
• Class sizes in early primary cannot exceed 26, the aspiration to reduce primary 1 class size further is ongoing (90% are in classes of 25 or fewer (Scottish Government, 2014).

This reality highlights the gap between the discourse of policy and the day-to-day experiences of families: their reality. It is my belief that in an independent Scotland we must narrow and eradicate these inequalities, that in a newly strong democratic and egalitarian philosophy we could effect a continuity of systems and leave the existing two tier system behind. We need to act decisively and locally and build now on what has already been achieved in Scottish early education and childcare: the raising of standards, universal provision at some level, the improved qualifications of staff, and learn how to close the persistent attainment gap that flourishes in Scotland.
Can the past and the present give us any insight into what happens next?
A narrative of shifting policy directions in early childhood is not unique to Scotland, and the ambition and investment in early childhood as a tool to turn our country around is also reflected elsewhere, what is consistent in Scotland is the attention we have collectively been paying to these early years. Perceptions of what works best differ, talk of economic investment has been matched by economic constraint – often at a local level with closures of schools, arguments about hours, staffing and pay that do not always nor consistently put small children first. But a willingness to consider that ‘more of the same’ is not necessarily today’s answer.

Achievements should be acknowledged – the drive for access for all 3 and 4 year olds to early childhood education, the debate about a fully qualified workforce, registration (though perpetuating the school and social care divide), improved offer in terms of hours of attendance, access to a teacher (whatever that means), some attention to all under threes for whom we have excellent guidance (Pre-Birth to Three, Education Scotland, 2010) but for whom we need greater equity of provision. The relationship between ‘universal’ and ‘targeted’ remains contentious, but with all the effort of GIRFEC (2012) and the passing of a Children and Young People Act (2014) a key part of achieving that ambition is to offer a fairer future for all children, measures include:

• Increasing the amount of flexible early learning and childcare to a minimum of 600 hours annually for three and four year olds and looked-after two-year olds – the best package in the UK
• Taking forward the Getting it Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) approach to provide children and young people with access to a ‘Named Person’ from birth to 18 years old who would act as the key, central point of contact; and to a single ‘Child’s Plan’ for those who need one to ensure services are coordinated where necessary to help and support a child or young person
• Ensuring children’s rights are considered across the whole of the public sector – in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
• Extending the powers of Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young so they can launch investigations on behalf of individual children or young people
• Introducing a new kinship care order as an additional option to help provide children with a long-term, stable, care environment

System reform aimed at the exercise of civil and political rights for all requires an educated society, across all sectors of that society and from an early age. Support for the kindergarten in liberal and radical circles a century ago influenced the development of inner city nursery schools in all major cities of Scotland from 1901 forward.

Since qualifying as a teacher 45 years ago I have been closely involved in the process of children’s education. Despite the comings and goings of policy the provision of education of our 5 to 18 year olds has always been secure. For those under-five and over school leaving age this is less certain and opportunities often few. As a young college lecturer I saw the raising of the school leaving age to 16 and worked with a group of young people who had expected to walk out of school in the summer, only to find they were obliged to stay in the statutory education system. As always educational reform had an immediate effect on some and this particular set of guinea pigs were sent to college rather than kept in school. In the main they attended, but participation was another matter until the most vocal and least captivated of ROSLA students found out I had worked with her wee cousin who had special needs. Deemed to have made a difference for one child in these most vulnerable of children the rest of the group soon fell into line and treated me with the courtesy of listening – the rest was up to me. It is this disaffection that seems to me to be at the heart of our need for change in social policies – of a move to small, local and connected approaches, beginning with the very youngest children. And why? So that each of us has some sense of being able to make decisions that will affect our lives instead of being roller-coastered along by policies and systems that are generated by people that do not know us, don’t plan to know us and yet suffer from a belief that they know best.

Much more recently – and for the first time in my career, national discussions in my field of ECEC have felt much closer and more accessible: this since the inception of our Scottish Parliament.

However the current Scottish Secretary writes of a need to ensure UK politics and policies have more presence in Scotland and it will be thus that independence will finally be dealt with – rejected (Reported in The Herald 28th July 2014). My mind is already made up to vote for a more colourful, more debated, more interested and interesting politic – one which I now believe can only be achieved in ways that will genuinely make a positive difference for Scottish voters in the future through a vote for Independence. In the absence of guaranteed further devolution – clearly a million miles off Alistair Carmichael’s radar – then this is the only way forward for Scotland to secure a fairer future for all of its citizens based on their interested and committed involvement in decision making about our shared future. What an opportunity! Had I not already made up my mind this call for further control from a far away and too distant Government– in miles yes but more significantly in culture, in philosophy and in social values – in order to silence the Scots that would like more part in determining their own future – would make me think, if I were a NO voter, why I was making no choice but digging in with the status quo. It is the arrogance, nay condescension of ‘she/he-who-knows-best’ that makes me want to try to make a difference.

For whom and for what?– there are so many issues to espouse – higher education, employment, people’s happiness, self-determination, old age, poverty, a closer relationship with decision makers, anti-nuclear, health, families, vulnerability, renewables, the economy, foreign affairs, industry, the arts, children. At the heart of all endeavor is the importance of the child – the United Kingdom is one of the world’s 25 richest nations – but in this privileged group in 2007 a UNICEF report alerted us its children’s health and well being is one of the poorest (UNICEF, 2007). Although the data was collected separately for England, Scotland and Wales it was the data for England (the largest sample) that was used (Currie in UNICEF, 2007).

Since 2007 – since a change in Government in Scotland we have seen change for young children gallop forward, but still we have a gap in school outcomes, work opportunities and health outcomes at a later stage.

Parental involvement, the quality of the home learning environment, the degree of stress or happiness in a household, being unconditionally loved by at least one primary caregiver, family health, housing quality, maternal well-being: maternal and child mental health: all contribute to a good start in life. Therefore as a small country we must attend to the health and well-being of families so they are well placed to do what families can do best – bring up their children. Successive Governments have introduced policy, guidance, reforms: children’s levels of attainment, their educational outcomes, have improved across the board, but what we have failed to do is narrow the gap that exists between the majority and the minority – a fifth to a quarter of all Scottish children live in poverty – policy rhetoric focuses on such figures, but what this means is that a fifth to a quarter of families live in poverty.

Such inequalities have a greater impact the younger or more vulnerable the individual or the more insecure or unpredictable their circumstances are. The Scottish Household Survey of 2012 (Scottish Government, 2013b) showed that –

• 24,000 families experience severe, multiple disadvantage, including overcrowding, worklessness and poor health
• Glasgow is the worst affected area with 1 in 10 families severely disadvantaged
• Unmarried households with children are six times more likely to be severely disadvantaged than married households.

(Scottish Household Survey (SHS), a large-scale survey of the characteristics, attitudes and behaviour of Scottish households and individuals on a range of issues, including social justice, housing and transport)

An income based approach isn’t enough. The humanist concern with widening education was shared historically by reformers and as early as 1560 there was a plan for a school in every parish in Scotland, but at that time proved financially impossible. However In 1616 an act in Privy Council commanded every parish to establish a school “where convenient means may be had”, and when the Parliament of Scotland ratified this with the Education Act of 1633 Education is often cited as children’s best chance and has been seen as instrumental in social change since Scotland promoted education for all.

Is this what we still perpetuate in our zeal to make a difference? I have huge faith in children, I’m less confident about the rest of us to do the job they need from us. We have the potential, together with children and their families to develop a new Scottish Enlightenment in which every one of us is loved and valued by at least another in a common and companionable culture. Scottish early years policy across health, social care and education emphasises the shift in the balance from intervention to prevention in order to promote positive infant mental health. Infant mental health is seen primarily as relational with the mother-infant dyad at the centre. Understandings of the role of the practitioner are derived from policy, research and practice. To be effective in creating equality in educational opportunity as a nation we need to foster infant and therefore maternal mental health by adopting an holistic view and recognising the many influences upon the mother and child (Dunlop et al, 2014). An ecological model in which all levels of the system are taken into account, where families and communities are supported to self-support, where local interacts with national and where people have a voice that interrelates with family, community, practitioner and policy maker: that is the hope of working together productively and in a constituency where the provision is tailored to local aspiration. That belief in the innate capacity of children; the curiosity, motivation and drive of nearly all children to find out, experience and learn so driving their development forward, combined with understanding the importance of home culture give abiding principles for any society, but tailored to our Scottish culture give the maximum opportunity for success.

In their “Closing the attainment gap in Scottish Education” Report, Sosu & Ellis (2014) summarise what can be done to make Scottish education more equitable from the early years onwards. They identify agents of change and mechanisms that are potential levers to effect positive change. They specify what can be done to make these levers more effective. They argue that “establishing and maintaining the focus on equity for pupils from economically disadvantaged backgrounds will require persistent and focused political and professional effort.” (page 43) and that robust evidence is needed to inform effective change.

The fight for independence is a fight against ignorance (Stephen Maxwell, 2012) – there is much wisdom in Scotland about what works for young children and their families – in an Independent Scotland we will stop demonizing the poorer members of our society, we will be able to bring together policy affecting children’s education, health and care with policy affecting parental income, housing, urban regeneration, the position of women, employability, mental health, physical life chances – in other words a socially just society, taking responsibility for itself and its own decisions and adopting new and enlightened approaches to closing the persistent gap between better off and poorer families, the persistent health inequalities affecting the lifecourse, and the persistent educational inequalities that mean the attainment gap simply does not go away. Policy is “the authoritative allocation of values” (Press, 2006, 2013). UK wide policy discourse has not been sufficiently mediated by country context: significant policy areas remain under separate jurisdictions. There may be a common language but this can hide deep differences. It is my hope that we can move forward through an independent Scotland to a future that recaptures an enlightened and fairer democracy.

References
Dunlop, A-W, Carwood-Edwards, J, Delafield-Butt, J & Ludke, K (2014) Best Possible Start, Infant Mental Health Workforce Development Report for NHS Lanarkshire. Unpublished.
Education Scotland (2010) (then LTS) Pre-birth to Three: Positive Outcomes for Scotland’s Children and Families. National Guidance. Glasgow: Learning & Teaching Scotland.
Maxwell, S (2012) Evidence, Risk and the Wicked Issues: Arguing for Independence. Edinburgh: Luath Press.
Press, F. (2006). What about the kids? Policy directions for improving the experiences of infants and young children in a changing world. Commission for Children and Young People, NSW; Commission for Children and Young People, Queensland, National Investment for the Early Years.
Press, F (2013) Presentation at POET, CSU, Albury, April 2013
Scottish Government Getting it right for every child [www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People/gettingitright]
Scottish Government (2012) link to scotland.gov.uk
Scottish Government (2013a) Early Childhood Education and Care Provision: International Review of Policy, Delivery and Funding, Final Report- Dr Ingela Naumann, Ms Caitlin McLean, Dr Alison Koslowski,Prof Kay Tisdall (CRFR, University of Edinburgh), and Ms Eva Lloyd (ICMEC, University of East London). Centre for Research on Families and Relationships. The University of Edinburgh, Accessed 20th October, 2013 [http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/03/4564/0]
Scottish Government (2013b) Scotland’s People. Annual Report: Results from 2012 Scottish Household Survey. A National Statistics Publication for Scotland
Scottish Government (December 2013, amended February 2014) Statistical Bulletin, Education Series. [www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/Datasets;www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/PubPreSchoolEdChildcare]
Smith, A (1759) Theory of Moral Sentiments.
Sosu, E & Ellis, S (2014) Closing the Attainment Gap in Scottish Education. Joseph Rowntree Report [www.JRF.ORG.UK] Accessed July 2014
UNICEF (2007) Innocenti Report Card 7, 2007 Child poverty in perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries. UNICEF

I stopped reading My Daisley’s article when he used the word “sesquipedalian”.

Kez Dugdale to run for NB branch manager leader!! Pairty time! This just gets better.

Came for the Scottish Labour insight. Stayed for the discussion on arcades.

Education has been weaponised by SLabour alrightee.

In other news, our imperial master’s keep control of Scotland by making Andrew Dunlop a Lord and a minister of their Scottish office too. Dunlop didnt even have to stand for teamGB election to become a teamGB minister.

Its a funny way to run their Scotland region without the plebs acting up but at least we can vote them out next time though, oh wait.

The more things change…

link to thenational.scot

Yet another excellent piece Stu. Well done!

Anyone who uses the words sesquipedalian and refulgently in an article about reforming the Labour Party is asking a bit much. The Labour Party has enough trouble listening to the punters – Stephen Daisley has no chance with words like that!

He also thinks Kezia Dugdale shows real promise, though he doesn’t say as what. Personally, I think she’s missed her calling, but to be fair to Stephen Daisley, I don’t know what her calling is either.

With Kez and Stephen on board, Labour’s got less chance of a comeback than a slack tooth.

It really is curious. Labour appear to have noticed that nobody is prepared to listen to them: but they do not appear to think about why that is. Their only response seems to be “that is not fair”.

The fact is that on such issues people are seldom wrong. When the numbers who vote began to decline it was because they made a realistic judgement that it made no difference. Or so I think. That thought did not seem to occur to the mainstream parties, who talked of apathy and wrung their hands about how to re-engage people by making voting easier: as if it was all about laziness.

In circumstances where a major change in behaviour is observed there are always several possible explanations, and it is perhaps natural to choose the one which does not require accepting responsibility. But this has been going on a long time, and they have grasped all such explanations for each isolated instance, and none work

What worked was offering an alternative: and that was the SNP. It solved the lack of participation and the related problem of youth disengagement. It showed that people will listen to political parties if the parties have something to say and there is some evidence they will do what they promise.

That observation should give all the mainstream parties a clue: because it is not just labour. Scotland stopped listening to the tories decades ago. The media is not powerful enough to overcome that realism, though it thinks it is and has persuaded the parties that it is.

I think that once it gets to this stage there really is no way back. I think that labour is finished in Scotland, though no doubt there will be a dead cat bounce at some point. I think that labour is finished in England too, and for exactly the same reason: an alternative will emerge there, though the basis of that alternative is not yet obvious. But the english labour vote can see what has happened in Scotland, and the lesson will not be lost on them.

I believe we may be seeing a complete reconstruction of the politics of the UK: the only people standing will be the tories: for they are ever with us

It’s all very well complaining about not funding a variety of “initiatives” but, where will the money come from? Block Grant.

If ANY political party wants to complain about the current Scottish Government’s performance, I am, and have been for some time, of the opinion that they shouldn’t be allowed to challenge any aspect of performance until they have submitted their own budget for scrutiny.

The way SLab, STories and SLibDems constantly complain about underfunding (regardless of area) is quite wearing. If they have the answer, maybe they’d like to show it in the context of a BALANCED budget.

I won’t hold my breath.

I think Labour’s problems are just about insurmountable: they have to be quite centre-left-to-left (think Tony Benn), to get anywhere in Scotland, and to hold their positions in the North of England and Wales; and Wales makes the West of Scotland look positively prosperous. But to secure Middle England (the Midlands and especially the south-east) they have to be seen to be in tune with the aspirational working class vote … and *not* in tune with the voters you would expect to see on Benefits St.

Frankly, this is like trying to square the circle.

Sinky
Reminds me of the statement that Scottish football fans were only behaving themselves to make the English fans look bad. There must be a name for this argument.
Does any one else think that Ian Gray looks like Quagmire out of family guy. Giggely, Giggely, Giggely. Or some thing like that.

Brilliant article Stu.

The thing about Kezia Ian Gray, Duncan Hothersal, is they are all good or promising Labour people, because they are able to twist words and lie without stopping for a breath and if they are found out, they are able to continue without shame.

While most of us plebs would go red and pray for the ground to swallow us up, if we were caught telling lies on national TV, people like Kezia just keep on going without so much as a nod or a wink and they never ever apologise.

These are all the things that make for ‘good Labour’ people, but are at the same time, all the things that people hate in politicians.

During the referendum I started tweeting to Labour MP’s MSP’s to ‘stop lying to us’ whenever they would tweet another lie, and I’ll tell you it was almost impossible to keep up with them all.

Labours problem is they have to keep the lies going and so need to elect people like Kezia to positions of power, because if they were to elect honest people they would soon find themselves having to tell Scots just how much they knew about the McCrone Report, the Scottish Parliament negotiations, the dumping of dangerous waste products in Dalgety Bay, how dangerous the nuclear subs are, etc etc.

These truths would finish Labour, so having a leader who’s selling point is telling Scots the truth would destroy Labour in Scotland, but continuing to lie to us and elect soundbite fodder like Kezia to leadership positions will destroy Labour in Scotland, so…

Labour is finished in Scotland.

I am banned from Duncans twitter feed but I know he reads wings every day so my message to you Dunc is simple:

Before the election I told you Labours campaign had painted them into a corner, and that the result would be they would be toxic in both Scotland and the rest of the UK after the result, no matter what happened.

You mocked me for this prediction, which is fine, but my prediction is that what has happened to Labour in Scotland in the G Election isn’t the end of a terrible story for Labour, it’s just the first page.

It’s gona get worse, far worse!

Painting the white lines on the road of the Dodo:

In the Herald:
————————————————————
KEZIA Dugdale has confirmed she will stand to become leader of the Scottish Labour Party.

The Lothians MSP, who is currently deputy leader, will launch her campaign next month following when Jim Murphy steps down.

Announcing the move, she said improving Scotland’s education would be her top priority.

She said in a statement: “I am standing to be Scottish Labour Leader and I intend to transform my party for the good of my country.

“I will formally launch my campaign next month when the Scottish Executive Committee sets out the rules and timetable for the leadership contest. At that point there will be much more to say on how we must meet the challenge ahead.

“This is a moment when Scottish Labour must and will change. It’s time for a new generation with a vision for the future of Scotland.

“Labour lost badly in the General Election. Nothing we can say or do will disguise that fact. The job of our next leader isn’t to explain away that loss or find excuses – it’s to understand why people were so reluctant to vote for us and find a way of regaining the trust of the people of Scotland.

“I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge Scottish Labour faces. But we’ve been the insurgent force before, pushing back against the political establishment and winning great victories and profound social change. We will be that force again. Our values are what we will carry forward with us – all the rest is baggage.

“We have a mountain to climb, but I believe I offer a fresh start for Scottish Labour. The great social change we fight for is not a partisan cause. I can be a unifying figure across our party and our country.

“As the daughter of two teachers I know the value of education. At its best it can transform the life chances of young people, no matter their background.

The only way we can secure a fairer, brighter tomorrow for Scotland is by giving our young people a better start in life today. As Scottish Labour Leader that’s what I would work for every single day.”
——————————————————–

She can abolish education fees…Oh wait! 🙂

@ Hobbit

I do not see the evidence for this all too familiar tale. It was striking how quickly the “Blairites” came forward with this analysis after the election. It is not a surprise, for that was part of their managerial style when in power, and getting your story out first is an advantage which does give benefits. We have seen that a lot.

Labour cannot win in England if it moves right, IMO. They will never get enough tory votes, even if they are called “aspirational working class votes”, to counter the loss of their core vote. That has already happened in Scotland but the loss of votes in England over the Blair years is not insignificant, and it will gather pace. When the tories are deeply unpopular, as in 1997, they will get those votes: they would have won in 1997 no matter what stance they took, there was no need to move right to achieve that victory, though the neoliberals capitalised on that narrative. The neoliberals promoted Blair and his tory pals because their aim was to destroy labour: and they have very largely succeeded. But not by converting the core vote: rather by persuading it that despair is the rational position to take due to TINA. TINA is a lie, as the situation in Scotland shows: and the same will happen in England, I believe. We are not so different, as populations, on the whole.

It seems to me that the labour party can’t count. That is a pretty basic problem, leaving aside their lack of political analysis; values; principles; and any idea they need to represent the people who vote for them

Great piece of writing.

It’s obvious that ‘Scottish’ Labour has to adapt to the times.
But they need a strong leader to face that fact. I just don”t see Kezia as that leader. She seems happier going along with tbe crowd, spouting ‘SNP-bad’ soundbites.

Who knows, perhaps she will turn out to have a mind of her own, and actively push through a pro-Scottish approach.
But we are talking about someone brought up under Lord Foulkes union jack wing.

Something to read with the coffee.

Pre-election, but only found it this morning, and it’s a slow news day, with Kezia cereal Brek an all that…. 🙂

link to archive.is

PS:
Apologies to AS for my comment last night…turns out the trident thing is within his new portfolio and he wasn’t stealing Mr Robertson’s thunder.

Until Labour in Scotland recognise the enemy is not the SNP it is doomed to failure.

Westminster austerity cuts is the problem and come July it’s going to get worse. Labour really needs to focus its anger on the Tories. Instead we can expect more of the same, it’s all the fault of the SNP for cuts. The public aren’t daft, they know it’s Westminster policies that are damaging their communities.

If they continue with “SNP is bad” they will fail. They need to understand the reasons why voters moved in droves away from the Red Tories.

The Blue Tories are the problem, end of. Labour need to break all links with them, even if it means losing control of some Councils. Will it happen, no, because it means giving up power.

The problem SLAB have with ‘breaking’ from rUK Labour is obvious. To be meaningful, i.e. to be able to honestly move to the left while rUK Labour moves further to the right, would require separate manifestos and become a separate party.

Electorially problematic regarding UK Government.

Because Scottish Labour MPs would not then count on UK Labour’s total for winning a GE nor could they serve in government.

Unless of course there were some kind of permanent rUK/Scottish Labour formal alliance formed.

Akin, technically, to the unionist/Tory alliance in Scotland in the 40s and 50s.

But the problem with that is that unlike the unionist/Tory case, rUK/Scottish Labour would be divided along right/left domestic policy lines, the very thing which would test any such alliance on a daily basis.

Stephen Daisley sounds like a Labour party member

Thanks again Stu .

Great article and bang on. Two faced skitzo party have no idea where they are going wrong.

” people just won’t listen to us ” hahahahah

T R U S T . That’s LIEBOURS problem.

Everything else is secondry. We no longer trust the bastards.

Everyone should now on sight of a LIEBOUR goon talking .

PUT HANDS OVER EARS AND CRY OUT ” pish pish pish etc ” till it goes away.

Just my point of view mind. 😀

Dugdale will be the next leader. They need someone to stay to turn the light out!

This is an excellent piece of writing Stu. Nice one.

Hobbit says:
22 May, 2015 at 12:18 pm
@Fiona – thanx for your feedback at 1142. One thing, if you look just at the results between Conservative and Labour within England proper, there was no change – I think Labour picked up two seats net (lost ten, gained 12). So, whatever the unions were trying to achieve, it didn’t work.

The profound change is in the steady loss of voters for all parties.

link to politicsresources.net

We know from the referendum experience that it is not laziness or apathy or even (as I have heard claimed) that it is because the voters are broadly content. People engage when there is a chance of making a difference. That is quite separate from the outcome in terms of seats.

But certainly the electoral failure of Labour in this general election is not because they lost a lot of seats in england, though if the neoliberal Blairite narrative is correct that is what one would expect to see. They seem to me to be obviously wrong, but they have got their story out quickly and effectively with the help of the press.

What is not often mentioned is that tories are losing voters too. I consider that is because most people over the whole UK still wish to see the kind of landscape embodied in the post war consensus: and they do not have that option from either mainstream party. Both parties abandoned that in favour of a neoliberalism which opposes that compromise root and branch. To that extent many tory voters see that their party has left them behind. just as (more) labour voters see the same thing. This is obvious in Scotland: less so in England, and I am not able to say whether that difference is a difference in the aims of the voters between the two countries; or just another feature of the lack of any meaningful alternative in England. I suspect the latter, and the fact that both parties continue to use the language of the post war consensus: the conservatives rather more successfully. Curiously that is because they are not torn, having got rid of the “wets” during Thatcher’s tenure.

I do not know what you mean by “what the unions were trying to do”. Can you explain, please

The Tories have nothing to lose by giving more freedom to their Scottish branch – and I think Ruth Davidson presents quite well – but Labour have everything to lose

So far as I know both tory and lib dems actually do have more freedom than labour, and that is not a scottish phenomenon: it is UK wide and reflected in their respective constitutions.

I do agree with Chris McGregor, above, that if Scottish Labour parts from UK Labour in meaningful terms, and changes in the way it needs to to reinstate itself in Scotland then it cannot work with UK Labour unless UK Labour changes in the same direction. At present the Blairite fairy story is dominant, so that seems unlikely. Therefore the two parties would have nothing in common.

But I do not see that Labour have anything to lose by doing that: for they have lost it all already

Slow news day just perked up!

—————————————————–
SNP secures control of two key Westminster committees

THE SNP has secured the chairmanships of two important House of Commons Committees – Scottish Affairs and Energy and Climate Change, the party has said.

It is thought Pete Wishart, the MP for Perth and North Perthshire, who is the party’s Shadow Commons Leader, will become the new chairman of the Scottish Affairs Committee.

While the membership of all committees reflects the size of each party, thus meaning that David Cameron’s Conservatives will have a majority on all of them, The Herald understands that the

Nationalists are confident they can get an “anti-Tory majority” on the Scottish Affairs Committee.

The SNP revealed its committee chairmanships – secured because of its increased strength at Westminster as the new third party – as well as the securing of a Commons debate next Thursday on Trident before any apparent official announcements by the Commons authorities.

Commenting on its committee chairmanships, SNP Chief Whip Mike Weir MP said: “I’m delighted that the SNP has secured the convener-ships of these two very important committees following our record-win of 56 seats in the general election.

“Both the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee and Scottish Affairs Select Committee are especially important to Scotland in this parliament.

“We will be seeing one of the major bills coming forward in the Scotland Bill on more powers for Scotland and, of course, the Energy and Climate Change Committee is of particular importance with our oil and gas sector and renewables industry.”

The MP for Angus added: “The SNP chairing these committees will allow us to make progress on these important issues and will help us get the best deal for Scotland.”
———————————————————-

London Labour has no intention of becoming a left wing party anytime soon. Many in their ranks believe they lost by being too left!

London Labour are highly unlike to regain a strong position in Scotland as a UK wide, unionist, centre leaning right, party.

(Does make you wonder who will speak for the millions in rUK who want left wing representatives.)

Some say a Scottish Labour (as in, the real thing) should be formed independent of London Labour. It should have a more leftist, pro Scottish agenda. It would still have to be linked to Labour rUK, perhaps pre-planning a coalition. But how can that work if rUK and Scottish Labours have positioned themselves in different parts of the political spectrum? They would probably be incompatible and disagree on more than they agree!

IMO the bottom line is that there is little scope for any party to have majority, or even widespread, popular appeal in both England and Scotland!

Good New Labour, Listened to Nothing, Learned Nothing and going against the acknowledged advice that repeatedly doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting a different outcome, Is a sign of insanity!

The Biased BBC and Daily Rancid headlined Labour’s claim that if elected, there would be no tuition fees in Scotland? I was fortunate enough to confront Labour’s Tom Greatrex on Gordon Brewer’s Radio Debate, that Labour had introduced tuition fees, saw them double and counter claimed to have abolished them by simply applying the new fees to the back end of term.

They offered Nothing that the SNP has not already delivered, and they can claim no credit other than for introducing the fees and being devious enough to increase costs under an alternative name.
Greatrex had no intelligible answer!

For those unaware of it, Deputy Dug tried to claim shock and horror at Scottish Student’s levels of Debt doubling over SNP’s 7-8 term in office.

A better measurement might have been to look at Scottish Student Debts now averaging £7,000, while England has £20,000, and Wales, were a Devolved Labour Government control education, average depts. of £17,000. N Ireland came second at Circa £16,000 of dept.

Where would you like to study, If you could save £10,000 ?

How can people like Grey and Deputy Dug claim to be socialists with the best interests of the people at heart, when their only function seems to be distortion of the facts and misguide the public to keep their noses in the
trough?

Westminster Labour and the BBC should clear out their representatives and replace them with a parrot!
SNP Bad, SNP Bad, SNP Bad! to repeat SNP!

Well there would be a cost for the Bird Ladder, Bell, Mirror and Cuttle Fish bone,but definitely better value for money than a Dim Jim or a Duck House!

ir

Hoss M..
Yes, correct to lay blame at BBC..
Dumbing down at a time when the population was becoming more engaged is UNFORGIVABLE.

STILL LOOKING FOR EXPLANATION OF….

CHAOS ON THE STREETS OF GLASGOW… IS IT SAFE NOW Mr Cook

@Call me Dave
“”While the membership of all committees reflects the size of each party, thus meaning that David Cameron’s Conservatives will have a majority on all of them, The Herald understands that the””

That is typically misleading of the Herald.

The last Scottish Affairs committee of the Last Government had:

11 members which consisted of:
5 SLAB (chaired by you know who)
3 Tory (all English constituencies)
2 Libdems (Scottish constituencies)]
and 1 SNP

@Murray McCallum

Daisley also wrote that nationalism is “the politics of feeling”, so basically we’re all unthinking morons. Unlike unionism of course which is based on sound logic and rational thought.

Glum Campbell BBC damping down the expectations of a new labour branch manager in Scotland.

Suggesting that, perhaps, no contest is necessary and the aspiration of having a labour FM is secondary to building up the party for the 2020 Scottish Elections.

Have they fled the field for 2016 because they are ‘listening to and learning from’ public opinion?

Even the BBC can’t breathe life into the carcass for much longer try this!

link to amazon.com

heedtracker says:
“Nice BBC r4 news lady still reporting SNP as the Scottish Nationalist Party, which is an odd mistake for the greatest public broadcaster in the world.”

Not a mistake, a tactic. Incorrectly naming a person or organisation is a standard put down.

It has resonances of some posh boy addressing a commoner called Mr Green, “I say there, Grease, or whatever you name is. Come here and be quick about it!”

Sort of behaviour you could imagine from Boris Jobsworth 😉

@G H Graham

Ha! Ha! Like this you mean.

You can see how it turned out if you want to see loads of entertaining episodes on you tube. Personally I love these programmes and remember in the day when I got into the oily bits.

Much to enjoy : Bubblegum for the brain but I like them.

link to youtube.com

@call me dave
“Even the BBC can’t breathe life into the carcass for much longer try this!”

Heh heh! Reminds me of my own modest attempt at purple prose back in 2011 (apologies to the master Taranaich)

(updated)

Behold the carcass of a once proud and noble animal in its ruin on the Plain of Retribution!

But as the Sun sets in the West, so it rises in the East and the Land will fill with the good light and will renew and all will prosper and attain fulfilment.

Mmm, how to save the Labour party.

I doubt there are that many that give a damn about the labour party anymore.

How about they stop delving into the past, stop telling fucking lies and deliver on their manifesto rather than making promises they have no intention of keeping.

Good luck with that; the dodo was hunted to extinction but Labour are the authors of their own demise!

It has resonances of some posh boy addressing a commoner called Mr Green, “I say there, Grease, or whatever you name is. Come here and be quick about it!”

Well it was a lousy BBC style BBC sez vote SLab bleh Vote interview with Kez. Christ they are so corrupt in that UKOK outfit. Two things stuck out from Kez thing, she says she’s bringing “good humour to the table” and “SLabour values” with all the old school red tory empty waffle.

What’s interesting listening to BBC unionist propaganda machine in action is how they never mention their own political power in Scotland, all be it on the wane but even so.

Once your whole attack kicks off with a giant fraud on Scotland, all the rest of it’s ridiculous. Their man in Scotland droned on about why SLabour are on their way out but he’s never once explained just how badly BBC Scotland flopped May 8. They’ll be trying to work out how to fix that no doubt.

Savings not Cuts..the modern fee-speak example!

Iain Gray is Qbert..now can we get a jetpack for Wullie Rennie

@galamcennalath
Yeah! I realise that, it was just FYI.

The dodo died out because it had no natural predators for such a long time that it got complacent and then when a new entity came along…it was found to deliver quite a succulent feast!

Sound familiar Kez!

The Labour Party.Yesterdays party for yesterday’s people.They think Scotland should be run from London,England.How mental is that?

This is obvious, but what the hell I’ll say it anyway.

Surely I am not alone in thinking that irrespective of content, Kezia Dugdale doesn’t understand the first principles of communication. That in order to communicate effectively with someone i.e. we the lumpen proles she will have to:

1. put the brakes on, so that any listener has sufficient time to digest whatever she is spewing forth.
2. Build up and develop a specific thesis or argument rather than illustrate Brownian motion verbally.

FFS. I can’t even listen to it.

@Charles Edward
Brill! Enjoyed that.

This article pulls no punches

““Labour in the last election played on public fears for the National Health Service but said nothing positive about how it would actually tackle the service’s manifold problems on a tight budget. It complained about poverty and inequality but presented no credible prospectus for their solution apart from a couple of patently, indeed risibly, inadequate tax changes. Let’s be frank, the public is uninterested and therefore fairly ignorant but it is not stupid. Show them a façade with nothing behind it but hope and do not be surprised if they don’t buy it. Labour is like a company entirely dominated by its marketing department. The public hears the slogans but senses the void behind them.”
link to walesonline.co.uk

There’s a big difference between the white rhino and SLab; the White Rhino deserves to be saved.

Self styled Mild Mannered The Graun really really like Kez too!

So that’s BBC gits and THE Graun in one hour, lovely unionist puffery, even lovelier happy smiley photos.

Kez unites everyone and it does look like education is what next year Holyrood election SLab attack is all about to get everyone united behind sort of stuff. Start now, slow heat, end with youre all doomed Scotland without Kez Project Fear style blast next year.

link to archive.is

“This reference to unity tallies with endorsements she has already received across the party. She already has the support of Ian Murray, Labour’s sole remaining MP in Scotland, as well as former Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray and Alex Rowley, a former general secretary of the party who resigned from Murphy’s shadow cabinet soon after the election in protest against his refusal to stand down.

I’ve heard it said that if you get some Scottish Labour and crush it into a powder that it’s very good for impotence and hair loss. .

Alistair Carmichael conceded he was guilty of ” Frenchgate ”

He is apologising. He should resign!

Dal Riata @ 2:22
Amazing how the anti-Scottish everything and anything UKOK MSM and devotees of the same agenda manage to coordinate their attacks on whatever it is that they concoct to be the smear/scare/lie de jour.

My thoughts exactly, hearing education bad, blah blah on Radio Scotland this morning followed by later in the day, Kezia’s leadership bid, education bad, blah blah. They are a team.

heedtracker, 11.05

Michael Gray has provided further background information on Lord Andrew Dunlop

link to commonspace.scot

For the three rounds of PISA testing which Scotland has had since the SNP took over education we can take some comfort from the fact that the marked fall in scores during Labour years seems to have been halted for Maths and Science and markedly improved for reading.

But the UK as a whole has been sliding down the PISA league table rapidly over that period, although in large part due to improving scores elsewhere particularly in the Far East.

Scotland still performed best of the 4 UK countries overall in the last round of PISA tests but it is elsewhere we should be looking to compare ourselves to and seeking out improvements.

@YESGUY says: 22 May, 2015 at 12:19 pm:

“Everyone should now on sight of a LIEBOUR goon talking. PUT HANDS OVER EARS AND CRY OUT ” pish pish pish etc ” till it goes away.”

May I suggest a better method, YESGUY?

Have the information ready to refute his/her/its point and do so in the hope there are others within hearing distance who may take in your better POV.

Now I grant you it is most unlikely the better POV will in any way penetrate the single brain-cell of the offender. However, there are usually present a few of that other species of semi-sentient beings we refer to as, “Hingersoan”, who sometimes are not yet too far gone and can often be recycled and revitalised.

Meanwhile in a meeting room somewhere in darkest Labour Northern Branch HQ…Kezia Dugdale steps forward, takes the paddles in her hands and tells all the SLab Con-fab in attendance…

“Give me 3 million voters”

And with hope in her eyes, she affixes the paddles to the motionless carcass that was once the Labouring Beast.

“Stand clear…CHARGE!!”

A few jerks can be seen moving from the once hulking body, but alas, the beastie has lost its soul…it is dead.

Step forward Mystic Gray, a spirited medium of the politico class. With great vigour he claws his way through manifesto’s & policies of the past.

“Ah, the clowns are clearing; I can see many a previous eh, success before me…

The SLabbering beastie wanted 5000 apprenticeships, that’s oh, 20,000 fewer than the SNP are delivering?…but yes, I can see more…

There are 6 council houses before me, that’s an eh, uh, astounding achievement from the SLabbering monstrosity in all the time it ruled the Scottish Parliament. This is a whopping 3294 houses…less than…funded by the SNP?…

With a muttering of “it’s all cataclysmic”, something that Madam Gray picked up from a screeching banshee, he takes his leave and returns to the back bench shadows.

Wow what we saw recently was SNP MPs trying to push dennis skinner out of his seat. Funny that, giving that he is one of the most anti austerity MPs…now they’ve enemies with him.

You’d have though the SNP would want to work constructively with him, after all weren’t they going to be a constructive force at westminster?

I suppose they’d much rather be divisive, petty and destructive.

Yes Yoda, your last sentence sums up your contribution to this site quite well!

Apologies if this has already been posted.

WE all knew who released the FrenchGate memo at the time. The MSM, specifically the Daily Telegraph if memory serves me right knew better, apparently. 😉

Well folks the TRUTH has finally come out.

link to news.sky.com

This man is an embarrassment to politics and Scotland. He can NOT be allowed to stay in his position as M.P. for Orkney and Shetland. He MUST stand down immediately.

He LIED at the time of the *ahem* incident about not knowing about the leaking of the alleged memo. He now admits that it was HIM who leaked the FALSE memo.

Carmichael is a DISGRACE!

So Carmichael is happy to present himself to his electorate for high office in Public service as an MP while being an underhanded cheating liar. His constituents must feel cheated. I hope there is a movement to seek his resignation. He should do the honerable thing, Mr Solicitor, and go.
Nicola should reject his apology and seek legal advise to sue. Will the Law Society of Scotland also take an interest. Do Police Scotland also now take an interest.

That makes all three of the seats the SNP failed to win stink.

I wonder why Kezia Dugdale is being talked up so fervently. Could it be that her inexperience makes her easily manipulated as we’ve seen in recent months of working with JM.

They talked about Milliband’s strings being pulled by Nicola but in Slab’s case we are being promised hilarity from day one. Who will be the puppetmaster?

Regards Carmichael’s confession that he leaked the memo prior to the election.

If Carmichael had any shred of decency, he would resign as an MP and allow a by-election

But then again, Carmichael does not have a shred of decency, so will brass it out to collect his money.

Being that there are only eight Libdem MP’s in the whole of the UK, will only add pressure on him to stay put and be part of a minority interest group

Shocked & stunned, the sleazeball must resign toot-sweet.

If there is anyone to blame for the appalling state of the Education system in Scotland it is Labour with their forty-odd years of tampering with it, changing it, re-organising it, which has led, eventually, to its destruction.
What was one regarded as the best Education System in the world now produces pupils who can’t read, spell or count, and who, for some reason unknown to me, are now called ‘students.’
All those pundits who assert that we couldn’t run the Health Service without people from abroad, should ask themselves why and try and feel a bit of shame that our young people have been so short changed that they can’t undertake nursing training in the way so many used to. We need serious changes in the classroom methods now in use: back to reality I think I mean.

Carmichael?
RESIGN!