Monday 26 September 2016

Guest Post: Kezia Dugdale - a Clarification

Gordon i get up in the morning to fight for Labour values it's very simple Gordon the SNP is destroying Scotland crushing the poor under its nazi jackboot targeting the most vulnerable in our society that's why i will always fight for a Labour government at Westminster to give hope to all those struggling families all those young people struggling on zero hour contracts by raising taxes and renewing Trident it's what gets me out of bed in the morning Gordon and that's never going to change

it's not confusing i stand by what i said Gordon my position hasn't changed i'm determined to fight for a Labour government and to do that we must have unity and a leader who can unite us that's what all of us want Jeremy has been elected leader he has to be the leader that leads and unites us if we want to see a Labour government the party has made its choice now it's up to him to convince the voters i said i didn't think Jeremy could achieve that and i stand by that it's written down but now we have to unite and move forward to get a Labour government and i will support Jeremy yes i do think he can unite us and lead us to victory Gordon so we can fight for all the Labour values all of us so desperately want to see to help all the struggling young people on SNP zero hours contracts by raising taxes and renewing Trident but we can't do that in Opposition

of course i want to see a Labour government and we won't get that unless we unite behind Jeremy even if he isn't the man to unite us it's what we need to do to get out of bed in the morning Gordon i'm tired of all the misery the SNP is bringing to the people of Scotland banging on about indyref2 at a time like this and swingeing cuts and this horrible tory government we need to get behind Jeremy and take the fight to the SNP Gordon yes I do think Jeremy is the man for the job even though i supported Owen Smith it's what gets me out of bed in the morning

Thursday 8 September 2016

Play Indyref2 Bingo!

Cut out and keep this handy bingo card so from now on you will be ready to play during First Minister's Questions (or any political debate including the SNP).



Indyref 2   
                         
          Get on with 
          the day job

            Oil prices
GERS figures
   
          Indyref 2
             Get on with
              the day job

Get on with 
the day job

         GERS figures
             Get on with 
              the day job
Indyref 2
        Get on with 
         the day job
             GERS figures



Star prize - this delightful "Getting on with the Day Job" tee shirt. 


Runner up wins a night on the town with Professor Adam Tomkins.

Losers win two nights on the town with Professor Adam Tomkins.

Monday 5 September 2016

Guest Post: Owen Smith

Look, I want to clear this up once and for all. Because there have been some pretty scurrilous accusations flying around about me on the interweb. Lies mostly. Can I just say here and now I am not nor ever have been a sexist. I'm just a normal 'wife and two kids' kind of bloke, and like all blokes I've a tendency to put my foot in my mouth where the ladies are concerned.  Let's face it, they take offence at practically anything, don't they? Even someone as sensitive as I am. The comment about Nicola Sturgeon stuffing her mouth with enormous gobstoppers was meant to be a bit of harmless banter. I mean, I don't even know the woman, but she seems alright in a mouthy kind of way. They seem to go for that in Scotland, don't they? But it was certainly not meant to imply she should shut up. I doubt if anything a bloke like me said would ever make her shut up, to be honest. But I am in no way shape or form a sexist. No way. I'm a radical feminist since way back.

Look, it's not that I don't like Jeremy. He's a decent sort of bloke and I respect that. He might not be the type I'd want to socialise with, I mainly hang out with Pfizer executives, but I can see his heart's in the right place. But this is politics and as Tony once said, if your heart's in the right place you should get a transplant. And there's a lot of sense in that.

My vision for Labour is a strong party of government. I didn't come into politics to be in opposition. Shame I couldn't get selected for the Tory party since they seem to be a shoo-in these days, despite all their awful policies. But as Labour leader I would make the party as good as the Tories.  Because there's no point in having principles if no one ever votes for you. Not that nobody votes for us, but the right of kind of people aren't voting for us and under Jeremy's leadership they never will.  So it's all well and good Jeremy standing by his principles, they're just the wrong principles. That should be obvious.

I resigned from Jeremy's cabinet because I could see he was unelectable. If a party wants to be electable it must have a leader who is electable. And Jeremy just isn't. It doesn't matter how many hundreds of thousands rally to his public meetings, that's just a fact and I've never been one to shirk an unpleasant truth.

Sunday 4 September 2016

Ed Balls and the Perilous State of British Politics

So Ed Balls was on Strictly last night.

I'd add a picture, but it's probably better if you try and imagine it.
Lots of unreal showbiz glitter and into the middle steps a podgy middle aged man with a bad hair cut and a suit he didn't choose for himself.  He bears the uneasy grin of one not accustomed to being the centre of such manufactured hype. You wonder what he can be thinking as his scantily clad partner guides him across the floor.  Is he thinking back to his days as a left wing firebrand Labour activist, knocking on doors and standing on street corners to bring hope to his party's working class voters? Or is he thinking how proud Tony would be now he has joined the ranks of the self serving political hasbeens in selling himself to the highest bidder?

And however pathetic it is to see someone like Balls, who still manages to pop up on the Andrew Marr show espousing serious political opinions the day after he has prostituted himself on a tacky celeb fest like Strictly, that's not the most depressing part of this story. It's the fact that no one seems to see any harm in this blurring of the line between serious and trivial.  Politics has crossed over into just another harmless branch of mind numbing entertainment, it would seem.

Not that this is new. Boris Johnson's been getting himself invited onto comedy shows since time immemorial. But go back far enough and it's hard to imagine our politicians conducting themselves like this. Would Harold Wilson have gone on 'What's My Line' or Harold McMillan on 'Juke Box Jury'? Maybe if the price had been right. And if the BBC is paying that much, maybe the license payers should be informed.

Personally I think it's all part of an overarching plot to dumb down politics. It's hard to take someone's opinion on monetary policy seriously when you've just watched them tango to the whooping appreciation of a studio audience. But with Balls, it's questionable how seriously anyone took him before this. The electorate did after all kick him out in last year's general election. And we all have to make a living, I suppose.