Thursday, October 30, 2014

Findlay's Casebook, Murphy's Law and the Boyacks of Summer

Just a very quick note to let you know that I have a new article at the International Business Times about the Scottish Labour "leadership" contest - you can read it HERE.

13 comments:

  1. James, how can I read that without an advert for Curry's/PC World playing in my ear while I'm doing it? I don't have the broadband allowance for that sort of intrusion.

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  2. And "Yohann" Lamont? Was that deliberate?

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  3. 'Isnt that right boys and girls' rofl

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  4. Dunno if anyone saw Sarah Boyack and Neil Findlay interviewed in parliament yesterday. He came across quite poorly: inarticulate and apparently unprepared. When he was asked what his policy priorities would be as leader, he flailed around for a while before alighting on some platitudes about youth unemployment.

    If he wasn't such a Blairite, and had a seat in Holyrood, I think Murphy would be the ideal candidate. But those are pretty major negatives. I still think Boyack is their best bet.

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    1. Findlay actually had a good line of attack last night. Which was to damn both Boyack and Murphy with faint praise by congratulating them on their "root and branch reform" (after the 2011 landslide) and then saying what a pity it was almost none of it was implemented.

      At a stroke he exposed that both of them had already been tested with reforming SLAB and that the London Labour leadership (very much contrary to the Eggman's laughable spin now) had simply ignored them. Proving they are all talk and no action as well as their obvious subservience to London Labour. Surprised Findlay hasn't kept that up TBH as it will resonate with a great many in SLAB who know perfectly well that the Eggman can say what he likes but the reality is little Ed will always overrule them and indeed pour a massive bucket of shit all over Murphy and SLAB come 2015 and 2016 to shift the blame away from himself. Just like he did with Iain Gray and just like he tried to do with Lamont.

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  5. ScotlandTonight ‏@ScotlandTonight 46m

    During Labour dinner in Glasgow Anas Sarwar steps down as Scottish Labour's deputy leader to allow 'focus on Holyrood'. #scotnight

    Ross McCafferty ‏@RossMcCaff 14m

    Good job Anas Sarwar wasn't on TV two days ago saying he wouldn't stand down or he'd look like a right idiot

    Ross Hawkins ‏@rosschawkins 51m

    Anas Sarwar standing down as deputy leader of Scottish Labour on December 13. Leader and deputy leadership contests will run concurrently.


    ROFL

    *orders more popcorn* :-D

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  6. They are stitching this up rather transparently for Murphy.

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  7. Sam Coates Times ‏@SamCoatesTimes

    Times / YouGov Scotland gen elec poll SNP: 43% (47 seats) Labour: 27% (10 seats) C: 15% (1 seat) LD: 4% (1 seat) 1,078 adults Oct 27-30

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  8. Check out murphys approval ratings.....9% more than red ed......rofl...5% more than cameron

    Ffs this is priceless

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  9. I wonder if they have running updates on the polls at the Labour gala dinner? Just to keep folks up to date like.

    Ed's broken a record tonight for example in terms of trust ratings. 15% trust vs 80% don't is surely a first?

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  10. They're certainly trying their hardest but as you say keaton it is laughably obvious this is all being controlled by London Labour and little Ed.

    Even the dimmest of 'scottish' labour (a dangerously low bar as we all know) will begin to wonder what on earth the point is after they saw the fate of Lamont and Gray.

    Little Ed is completely toxic in scotland yet this entire Murphy 'master plan' has been dreamed up and by him and a bunch of his most inept spads as a 'solution' to a problem they are simply making worse with every idiot move and arrogant assumption.

    The Eggman's 'tour' was a joke. We all know it was. We all saw it play out as Murphy shouted comically at 8 guys and a dug for weeks on end. Little Ed and the westminster bubble twits have fallen for their own spin and the spin in the Daily Mail and all the other unionist media. The Eggman was a million miles from being a decisive factor in the referendum but since all the rest of Labour simply couldn't be arsed to even go out on the streets and shout at 8 guys and a dug they have imbued the Eggman with the hilarious myth that he is a 'big beast' and can turn everything around by sheer dint of his right-wing Blairite personality. We are clearly dealing with complete and utter imbeciles who haven't a clue why the SNP now have a colossal 85,000 + membership and are polling the way they are.

    The most amusing thing is that Murphy will be fairly useless as a 'firewall' for little Ed in 2015 because little Ed will inevitably be the extremely unpopular face of Labour fro the GE. The Eggman could even try to turn the tables when little Ed pours the bucket of shit over the Eggman and SLAB's head. After all, if Murphy can't turn it all around fast what's to stop him 'doing a Lamont' but doing it with a great deal more ammunition, a great many more supporters in the Blairite wing in westminster , and the knowledge that little Ed is very far from 'safe' in his own job.

    Murphy is an incurable plotter and schemer. No matter what happens now it is bound to get extremely messy and there will be casualties. Could be mostly Brownites, could be mostly Blairites, but the knives are coming out since this is quite possibly the last chance 'scottish' Labour MPs and MSPs will ever have to finally take down their enemies and settle old scores.

    There is no god given right for Labour to hold onto their seats forever or hold back a political earthquake with an Eggman. If that poll doesn't hammer home that obvious truth to them, or if they still don't understand what 85,000 SNP members will mean on the ground, then they really are flirting with annihilation.

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  11. Rolfe : Alas, I have no control over the formatting (and more often than not they change the title) but I did like the chicken photo!

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