Heaven help us but the opposition in Scotland is useless... and this time I include Ms Goldie too.
What’s all this about? OK. Let me explain.
The Herald is running a story by Brian Currie, their political editor no less (although you’d think he’d have something a bit more akin to politics to deal with, given that we are approaching a Westminster election). This piece of amazing journalism echos Gray and Goldie's calls for Alex Salmond to apologise for some half witted SNP supporter.
The person concerned is Mr Clayton, 74, a party contact in the Argyll and Bute constituency and, in my humble opinion either age has rendered him soft in the head or he was born tasteless, thoughtless and unlikeable. Whatever the reason the unlovely Mr Clayton sent out an email newsletter to some SNP activists and ministers in which he claimed that poor wee Danus McKinlay, who collapsed and died outside Glasgow City Chambers last week, may have (note: may have) died as a result of drug addiction.
Right. Let’s get this straight from the getgo. I deplore this. I think that people who defame the recently dead are pretty low; I think that when they do it for possible political gain they are even lower, and when the death is that of a young lad just beginning his adult life, I’d happily give the guy a good hard smack on the nose. It is, if this is possible, even lower because he says that Danus “may have” died as a result of drug addiction. So he doesn’t know an
d he didn’t bother to find out before he started spreading this low-life muck around the place.
So that’s pretty much how I feel about it... You maybe guessed that I’m not one of this Clayton’s fans, and I’m willing to bet that most decent people of most parties feel the same way.
But why, oh why are wee Willie Winkie Gray and Auntie Annabel calling for the First Minister to get involved? What on earth is that about? The person responsible isn’t a minister, or an MSP or MP or councillor. Neither is he some kind of a candidate for any parliament, nor any council... He’s a bloke that is some sort of contact for an Argyle branch of the SNP. Alex Salmond will probably never have heard of him as he hasn't heard of me. He really can’t possibly take personal responsibility for him or for every other person in the SNP. No more indeed than Iain Gray or Annabel Goldie can take responsibility for every tasteless blogger or member of their respective parties who madeout of order remarks about the death of a certain cancer victim, and installed count downs to his death on their blogs.
Yes, what the blogger did was shoddy in the extreme. So he has been referred to the party’s disciplinary committee and I hope he gets a good hard kicking... but an apology from the First Minister? Clearly neither Gray nor Goldie has any idea ... nor will they ever... of what being the First Minister involves. Mr Salmond has a country to run. I have no doubt that he is very angry with Clayton; it may even be that he will say something about it, but it is really not his business to run local SNP branches.
Now if neither of you "opposition leaders" can find any opposing to do over the policies of the Scottish government, or if you have no suggestions to make as to how we can better the lives of our citizens, I suggest you resign and find other employment. You’re certainly wasting your time and our money if this is the best you can do.
Pictured: Annabel Goldie and Iain Gray
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What’s all this about? OK. Let me explain.
The Herald is running a story by Brian Currie, their political editor no less (although you’d think he’d have something a bit more akin to politics to deal with, given that we are approaching a Westminster election). This piece of amazing journalism echos Gray and Goldie's calls for Alex Salmond to apologise for some half witted SNP supporter.
The person concerned is Mr Clayton, 74, a party contact in the Argyll and Bute constituency and, in my humble opinion either age has rendered him soft in the head or he was born tasteless, thoughtless and unlikeable. Whatever the reason the unlovely Mr Clayton sent out an email newsletter to some SNP activists and ministers in which he claimed that poor wee Danus McKinlay, who collapsed and died outside Glasgow City Chambers last week, may have (note: may have) died as a result of drug addiction.
Right. Let’s get this straight from the getgo. I deplore this. I think that people who defame the recently dead are pretty low; I think that when they do it for possible political gain they are even lower, and when the death is that of a young lad just beginning his adult life, I’d happily give the guy a good hard smack on the nose. It is, if this is possible, even lower because he says that Danus “may have” died as a result of drug addiction. So he doesn’t know an
d he didn’t bother to find out before he started spreading this low-life muck around the place.So that’s pretty much how I feel about it... You maybe guessed that I’m not one of this Clayton’s fans, and I’m willing to bet that most decent people of most parties feel the same way.
But why, oh why are wee Willie Winkie Gray and Auntie Annabel calling for the First Minister to get involved? What on earth is that about? The person responsible isn’t a minister, or an MSP or MP or councillor. Neither is he some kind of a candidate for any parliament, nor any council... He’s a bloke that is some sort of contact for an Argyle branch of the SNP. Alex Salmond will probably never have heard of him as he hasn't heard of me. He really can’t possibly take personal responsibility for him or for every other person in the SNP. No more indeed than Iain Gray or Annabel Goldie can take responsibility for every tasteless blogger or member of their respective parties who madeout of order remarks about the death of a certain cancer victim, and installed count downs to his death on their blogs.
Yes, what the blogger did was shoddy in the extreme. So he has been referred to the party’s disciplinary committee and I hope he gets a good hard kicking... but an apology from the First Minister? Clearly neither Gray nor Goldie has any idea ... nor will they ever... of what being the First Minister involves. Mr Salmond has a country to run. I have no doubt that he is very angry with Clayton; it may even be that he will say something about it, but it is really not his business to run local SNP branches.
Now if neither of you "opposition leaders" can find any opposing to do over the policies of the Scottish government, or if you have no suggestions to make as to how we can better the lives of our citizens, I suggest you resign and find other employment. You’re certainly wasting your time and our money if this is the best you can do.
Pictured: Annabel Goldie and Iain Gray
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Tris, as far as I know Alan Clayton has never been a blogger. He publishes an online newsletter which is sent out to those who subscribe to it but I have no knowledge of him blogging.
ReplyDeleteIf the MSM are referring to him being a blogger then that is against all of us - again.
To be fair, there are some right shabby, narrow minded, hate filled blogs out there. But there are many more amusing, enlightening, warm hearted ones. They kinda reflect the world of which they're part.
ReplyDeleteI can only agree, it's truly pathetic that so called politicians waste their time and, as you piont out, our taxes, gettin het up about what has been written on a blog or online newsletter. The most animated i've ever heard Iain Gray was when he ripped into Monty Burton during FM's questions, over his Universality of Cheese blog. Truly pathetic when one thinks Gray used to consider himself to be a socialist.
These cats wanna get real and stop makin erses o themselves.
I stand corrected Subrosa. I have made the changes to my article and apologise for my mistake. I am indebted to you for pointing it out. It was sloppy of me.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed Naldo. I read some of them with a sick taste in my mouth. But that's what blogs are for and we don't have to read them I guess.
ReplyDeleteAs for the politicians, if they can't find fault with policies and way that the SNp is conducting the government of the country then I suppose they have to find something to bellyache about.... Otherwise we'd be paying them for nothing at all.
Salmond knows who Clayton is, alright. He seconded the motion to expel the 79 Group!
ReplyDeleteAnon: That's a bit before my time....so you need to excuse me.
ReplyDeleteBut why, oh why are wee Willie Winkie Gray and Auntie Annabel calling for the First Minister to get involved?
ReplyDeleteDid you read the Daily Record today? It was wall to wall Danus McKinlay and the evil cybernat which kept Steven Purcell out of the public eye and the longer they can keep the Alan Clayton comments as headlines the easier it is to bury the Purcell story.
Neither Iain Gray nor Annabel Goldie want the real Purcell scandal highlighted in case it shifts voters from Labour to the SNP in Glasgow or beyond.
No, I didnn't see it Doug, but I'm it sounds a fairly standard tactic. Unfortunately it was handed to them on a plate by Clayton.
ReplyDeleteI can certainly see why Annabel and wee whatsit might feel equally worried about the SNP gaining anything from the Purcell story... although wide of Glasgow, I would have thought that the Tories might hope to make up some ground....
Unfortunately it was handed to them on a plate by Clayton.
ReplyDeleteHe was not only insensitive towards the feelings of the boy's parents with baseless speculation about the cause of his death but also stupid.
The media in Scotland got a story which not only allowed them to bury the real Purcell story but to drag the SNP into the frame.
...although wide of Glasgow, I would have thought that the Tories might hope to make up some ground...
Annabel knows that any Labour voters will probably go to the SNP rather than the Tories and she's much more comfortable in a Labour run Scotland than a Scotland which is moving towards the SNP and independence.
Yes I agree about that Doug. If we want to criticise Labour, especially going into an English election well... where do we start.... there are so many things we can rip them apart for.
ReplyDeleteI could list a few hundred off the top of my head....
We don't need to resort to slapping some poor people who've just lost their lad 70 years early. Specially as none of us has a clue how the lad died. As you say it has given the Labour papers and the BBC an excuse not to report the emabrrassment of Unite and the Labour party being on opposite sides of a strike.... and then their being the small matter of the £11,000,000 that the Labour Party nee dot have from Unite.... ouch or the EU telling Brown his figures stink and Britain is much worse off that we thought. Talk about Greece... ha ha ha bloody ha.
Besides as we agree, somethings are kinda out of the bounds of good taste.
I suppose you're right about poor old Annabel. The likelihood is that the SNP will take Labour's seats....
I'll be honest: when Thatcher kicks the bucket, i shall speak/write evil of her.
ReplyDeleteShe was a once in a lifetime, badass nasty one and, while i do not wish to hasten her death nor exacerbate the sense of loss her true friends and family will feel, i will undoubtedly be happy to see the back of her.
I knew that if i thought hard enough, i'd take issue with this blog at some point.
Keep on being decent though, gadgies, it suits yiz and someone's gotta tickle the conscience once in a while.
To be fair, there are some right shabby, narrow minded, hate filled newspapers and unionists out there.!!
ReplyDeleteinteresting that the unionist parties are willing to help deflect and bury the stories of corruption, drug dealing, and dogy contractual arrangments coming out of west central Scotland
their hatred for the Scots and all thing Scottish knows no bounds, there is no level to which they will not stoop.
one can only presume they have much to hide, when Scotland goes its own way, and their English masters throw them to the dogs, I can only wonder that what comes out will be much worse than we are hearing today.
I despair sometimes at the idiocy of some SNP activists. But I agree it is for Clayton to apologise his crass bad taste and it is appropriate that this should be dealt with by an inter-part disciplinary procedure. Alex cannot be held responsible for the actions of every SNP member or supporter and he can’t possibly have the time to apologise for them and all their minor peccadilloes. Lets face it if Gordon Brown and David Cameron had to apologise for every individual foible and fault of only their MPs and peers they would be apologising into the next geological era.
ReplyDeleteThis is yet another storm in a tea cup flagged up by Labour and in this case the Tories (although unusually this time not the Lib Dems). We have seen so many of the lately, and strangely enough the Unionists seem to open their mouths and cry foul before checking that they themselves have not done something similar or worse in the past. They have so many skeletons in their own closets and so much muck on their own front lawns it would be a good idea not to point them out in others without a little checking. That is no way to run an opposition and that is why FMQs gets so little attention of late in the media, we all know what is going to happen before it does. Elmer brings up this weeks mountain out of a molehill Alex points out when Labour did something worse in the past. Elmer sticks to the crib sheet and looks like a total fool.
LOL @ Naldo. I wish I knew what I thought Naldo.
ReplyDeleteI don't though. I started to write there that it would be fair to write about Thatcher, or Brown, or Blair because they had been elected officials, but I'm not certain that there wouldn’t be a reasonable argument against that argument. I guess they will all be old when they die, because they are hardly young now... but I think it is probably that they are indeed responsible for some terrible things wished upon us and we have a right to criticise them.... alive or dead.
This wee guy was not elected. He was an apprentice, he was 18, and he was sick. He had asthma and he was diabetic. On top of that the plonker does know for a fact that he was taking drugs; it's a rumour.
That's rather different from taking Thatcher to pieces for killing our country, throwing people on the dole and wasting oil money keeping them on sick benefit to make her figures look good, rather than investing the money in modernising the industries. No bloody rumours there. She is a stupid cow, and if she's died this morning without my noticing, she WAS a stupid cow.
I don’t know if any of that made sense to you.
I think that last bit of your post was a compliment? If so..... thanks mate. :¬)
Yes. You have a point Anon. As Munguin points out, there's an awful lot of muck that they are happy to hide whilst having a go at any little thing that the SNP does...
ReplyDeleteOne day it may come back and bite them on the bum....
LOL Munguin... the next geological era.... what a wag you are.
ReplyDeleteI guess their policy is, if you can't find something intelligent to say about the mess your own people are in, then find something, anything that the SNP has said and use the supine press and the BBC to blow it out of all proportion.
That said... we know that they do this sort of thing, so why do our members throw them their ammunition?
And as I said in the post... politics apart what a shitty thing to do to the parents of this lad, when all he has to go on is a rumour...
I hope he's happy with himself. He's handed the Labour and Tories a stick to beat us with, when we have the policies and they don't. And he's behaved like a pratt too.