Apparently when asked by the Sunday Post if Johann Lamont would be Labour’s candidate for First Minister in 2016, Mr Sarwar refused to answer and would only say that Ms Lamont is currently leader of the party. Well, yes, I think at least 25% of the population of Scotland already knows that, Anas.
His refusal to back his leader comes amidst claims that he is being pushed out of the No campaign with one Labour MP saying “…it’s probably true to say he’s been sidelined” and mocking Mr Sarwar’s new role as amounting to little more than “looking after a big red bus.”
What does it all mean? Does Sarwar want to be leader himself? Could
he be leader from London? Or does he believe there will be no London and he
will be standing in an independent Scotland? Is he backing someone else for the job? Have they
resigned themselves to the fact that Johann is simply not leader material and
is an electoral liability? Does Johann realise herself that she isn't cutting the mustard? Who else is in the running? Jackie? Margrit?
Spud? Wee Doogie?
Labour was already split this week after Gordon Brown’s intervention demanding a Prime Minister to First Minister debate between David Cameron and Alex Salmond only days after Alistair Darling claimed he should be the person to debate with the First Minister. Brown, of course, is probably not best pleased at the idea that his sworn enemy from the Downing Street years is bigging himself up as the man to take David Cameron’s place in the Scotland debate, speaking for the United Kingdom.
Maybe Gordon feels that as an ex-Prime Minister and a
North Briton himself, HE should be the one to take David Cameron’s place. But
the truth is that unless Mr Cameron made a public declaration stating that he
would stand by whatever answer any of them gave in any live debate with the
First Minister, either of these people might as well stay at home.
It might make for an entertaining evening, but we couldn't trust anything they said... not, of course, that I'd say that you could trust Cameron. It's just much more difficult to go welch on deals when they have you on camera promising them.
You should also take a look at this from Paul Hutcheon personal blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://paulhutcheon.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/labour-movement.html?m=1
Thanks Adrian. Interesting analysis.
ReplyDeleteI wonder about Dugdale. She's awfully young, inexperienced. She seems a bit like Ruth... who, let's face it isn't much as a leader. I always just think of her as ffoulke's mouthpiece.
Added that to blogroll too ...thanks.
DeleteActually, it hasn't loaded ... and it won't load. Blogger is being awkward at the moment. Will keep trying.
DeleteTris
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot there isn't there when you think about the Labour Party. Sarwar is just not very good, I look at him as being of the Miliband mould. Son of a millionaire who has a sense of entitlement to rule over the poor people and where their actions speak louder than words given their total lack of understanding of how life is for most of us. The problem the Scottish branch of Labour also have is that even in the event of a no vote people will trust Salmond to represent Scotland within the UK than they will Lamont, Sarwar or any of the rest of them.
Brown just can't help himself. I don't doubt he dislikes Darling and all the rest. I think most people who follow politics and have a little bit of balance knew that Gordon Brown was just not all there. Rumours always went around on blogs etc that he was a control freak and not a very nice person at all to work for or be around, bigot gate made everyone else sit up and take notice. There is a part of me that thinks he is really trying to kill of BT or No Thanks, whatever the name is this week, he can then fly in and save the day. I actually think his mind works like that or it could be that he has decided on the fly that he wants to be the First Minister in an Independent Scotland and will do what he can to turn people to YES without losing perceived status within Labour. Either way the man is disturbed and long may it continue, everything is still to fight for and it's going to be close in my opinion, will come down to the day as it always does when the pressure is on. I have actually heard people say they want NO to have a huge lead so they don't get their votes out but that will not apply this time.
However, we still need certain things to happen, we need the Tories to be leading in the opinion polls which in effect they are. What I don't understand is why YES are not hammering home the fact that we are set for a Tory Government next year. Even if they are wrong at the end of the day they have nothing to lose. That could be part of the final push though as Salmond is not stupid
Back to Labour, one of my friends, who has just been elected for Labour in a by election down south, used to say that one of the big problems of Labour in Dundee in particular and Scotland is that they fight like tooth and nail to get the nominations for seats as they know that it is in the main a lifetime of luxury for themselves and their families if elected. He said there are factions within factions , cabals as he called them, and that it was amazing that Labour in Scotland actually did anything. There was a lot of in fighting and jealousy and that Labour in England actually bares little resemblance to Labour in Scotland with the only real shared problem being Miliband and his kind. All very interesting stuff. I could tell you some stories that he told myself about very well known Labour politicians.
Either way Labour are a shambles, we see it every week at FMQs and daily with people like Brown / Sarwar / Miliband (who is now more hated than Clegg down south among Labour voters. He cannot and will not win or be PM). I sometimes think something has to give, a perceived big hitter in their heartlands will come out for YES once they know that the Tories are destined for number 10, it might just happen that someone breaks ranks. Would be very funny.
Bruce (sorry for the long rant)
Yes Bruce. When the negotiations come there is no doubt that Salmond will fight for scotland. Lamont or whoever it is, would have to remember that they had to think about the effect that any fight would have on their boiss and his more important party in the UK.
DeleteI don;t think Brown is actually "mad". But he has an incredibly short fuse and he's reputedly very moody if he doesn't get his own way. He and Blair seemed to have a constant battle going on and he and Darling do too. I think the pill popping was down to the fact that he wasn't able fro the job of PM. He knew it, as did everyone else, but there was no contest when Blair made his get away, because everyone was terrified of Brown. He'd been promised it by Blair all these years before. No one had the nerve to stand against him.
I've never really understood the Scottish public's fascination with the 2015 election coming up Tory. If we get Labour they have already promised to stick to the spending cuts, renew the nuclear deterrent, and be harsher on the unemployed and foreigners. Frankly I really see little difference. Burt even if they were moderately better, they would only be in for one term and we'd have the Tories back.
Unless you are getting on for 100, you'll have another Tory government.
I'd love to hear the stuff on Labour, but I guess you'd be breaking confidences.
I noticed the figures somewhere that showed Miliband as being even less popular than Clegg.
I seriously don't see them making it to government.
He would be even more inept than Cameron. His carry on with the Sun is pathetic. Why did they not just come out and say that he had to go along with it because he wants Murdoch to back him for the next election.
So does Clegg (huh) and so does Cameron.
I suspect they may well back Nigel.
long rants are fine here!
Bruce, I certainly agree with what you said about Brown, he doesn't dislike Darling, but he is not a team player. I said on Grouse Beater yesterday it would come as no surprise to me to find he has a touch of Asperger Syndrome, he has no social skills in a crowd though I am led to believe he is very charming to the ladies, not unfortunately when speaking behind their backs though. I too am waiting till someone really big breaks ranks, they know the true situation. David Cameron has not been on his hands and knees for nothing recently asking everyone who turns up at his door for a proper opinion on Scots Referendum, his.
ReplyDeleteWe shall see, I would council those voting No, that they will get the opprobrium from the English, those of us voting YES are not the ones with our hands in their pocket as perceived by those in the south. As for the tribe of Scots Labour/Tory/Lib Dems, the wilderness beckons for more than one generation, that will be their pay off for their work here.
I'm sure they will all reinvent themselves as Scottish parties rather than Scottish branches of the British party. I doubt it will take long.
DeleteI'm looking forward to some actual socialists. We are NEVER again going to get them in the UK as they all go further right.
You know, I think we need a pick-me-up to counter all the negativity coming along recently:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eolh0NJ5q2o
Bravo :)
DeleteIts always a good sign, when you're enemies are arguing amongst themselves, the Labour in Scotland are in disarray, as their lie filled campaign against independence begins to fall apart. I'm rather optimistic, that many disillusioned labour voters, will decide to vote yes, in the hope that a new Scottish Labour can be born, in an independent Scotland.
ReplyDeleteIt's our best hope, I think.
DeleteA Scottish Labour Party with people who believe in the theories of Old Labour, but brought up to date.
I'd hesitate to use the word new anywhere near the world Labour :)
I can't find a labour mp i would vote for. My trust is with anyone else but them. The party has downed Scotland and Scots since day one. Party of the people my arse.
ReplyDeleteLabour should be looking at LFI for leadership but even then they would have to prove themselves capable .
Gordon Brown lives in a world of his own. He's a "big (s)hitter with a big mouth and trying to gain support here cos it's the only way he can have a voice. Someone should tell him to bugger off and we should be looking to the future not the past . These relics are so out of touch .
Sadly Richy I cannot even trust those who are voting YES. My worries are that should they get in they revert to type. I would happily take the SSP and I fell out over their treatment of Tommy Sheridan, only Ian Brotherhood makes me comfortable and I do not think he holds any position. I like some of the Greens Policies but Patrick Harvie has voted against things like roads which we seriously need.
DeleteGordon Brown, well something says to me he is living in his own wee world and whilst he may have some of the people in his constituency in his pocket, and lets face it so many vote for Labour against their own interests, many more have fallen out of love with him.
Yeah, the SSP really need to lose the image of being a party in constant schism, if they can do that, then they'd probably be a good bet for the left party in Scotland, with the SNP in the middle, and Labour on the right.
DeleteI'm not sure where the Greens fall in all that though, I'd pay more attention to them if they were using "sustainable/renewable" as their main rhetoric, rather than "environmentally friendly", since it's far more honest (and actually achievable). But that's probably just semantics.
It's a good idea to reject what has gone before. Brown was a failure as a chancellor and a disaster as a PM.
DeleteHe ruined one of the best company pensions countries in the world and did nothing to improve the provision of a state pension.
His own pension, on the other hand, is massive.
He ruined the economy and he made himself a laughing stock with his begging of Obama, his refusal to admit that he was Scottish, his temper tantrums... etc etc etc... All capped off with him telling us that he had saved the world
The SSP disappointed me with their stupidity over Sheridan, and a few other things they did. They didn't seem to be a serious party, although when I heard one of their representatives talk at a by-election, she was, without doubt the most sensible and the most in tune with my views.
I'd be looking to LfI for some sort of lead in iScotland.
I'm going to cross-post this from Wings, because I think it will get a few smiles when people remember who the characters I'm quoting are, and who they're talking to.
ReplyDeleteHere's a TV series quote, and I think it sums up what's happening rather well:
: I've had a lot of people talking at me the last few days. Everyone just lining up to tell me how unimportant I am. And I've finally figured out why. Power. I have it. They don't. This bothers them.
Cookie if you get it :-)
Just as well I am on a diet, so no cookie for me.
DeleteEnergy in energy out. Eat slower chew more, 32 chews to every bite, the word hungry is a media consumer soundbite to get one to eat something you don't need.
DeleteOf Hearts and Minds
cynicalHighlander: You've lost me there.
DeleteSorry it was Helena I was replying to and forgot that the reply button only replies to original post, the documentary is still worth watching as an insight into how our body thinks unconsciously and we have to start re-listening.
DeleteWas it Alan B'astard?
DeleteIn the years when Scotland was a one party Labour fiefdom all the political battles in Scotland were internal ones within Labour.
ReplyDeleteIf a Labour politician wanted to succeed then there was no point in fighting the other parties because they didn't count. What they had to do was fight their way through the Labour ranks because only Labour counted. Infighting became endemic.
Even now with the SNP in power, old habits die hard.
Probably Doug.
DeleteI think that they have lost their way. A leadership pulled but the necessities of winning votes in Southern England. They have nothing to keep them together now except that they all want to make more money, get higher up, be more important and be seen with Mr Obama.
Once, their principles might have kept at least some of them in line.
The sooner Labour in Scotland implodes the better for all of mankind and the we can get these war criminals into the Hague to answer for their despicable behaviour.
DeleteWell lets get Blair the demented loonie murderer there first.
DeleteThen we can look at the other Scots who backed his lies to the hilt... resulting in so many deaths disablements and ...eventually... the utter chaos that is Iraq.
To all the nats
ReplyDeleteSeeing as you all hate the Labour partyand its supporters how ????
after the referendum whatever the result.....do the Scots come together
as one happy family..cant see it what with the bilious outflowing of hatred
you lot hold...
Northern Ireland here we come the past is out future...a bloody one as well
Niko there is a vast difference in hatred because of what someone wears as those who deliberately do there country purely for personal gain as I can never forgive them as they are the lowest of the low.
DeleteThere is a rising anger across a wider section of society against the Labour party in general across all political spectrum's and none Niko because of their past and present actions on coning voters into believing something that they weren't, trust once lost will never be regained.
UK approval ratings Cameron -2 Clegg -37 Milliband-39 so the main opposition leader is trailing abysmally under the Torys showing peoples lack of trust they have in that party and he will never become PM.
Niko. If the Labour party was a Labour party I'd vote for them, never mind not hate them.
DeleteBut they are a bunch of money grubbing right wing nutters.
Same economic policies as the Tories; same welfare policies as the Tories and the only thing they will do different is put a price freeze on electricity and gas, which means that no investment will happen ... and in England that is utterly vital. They are at blackout stages very soon, and if they couldn't import electricity from Scotland and France, the lights would go out.
Nope. Bring me a labour party that believes in the working man, a decent wage and no need for benefits when you're working because you are well enough paid.. a party that believes that it's wrong that British pensioners get the worst deal in the western world while we spend billions on a means of killing enemies we don't have, and not enough on protecting us from enemies we do have; one that doesn't believe in privatising everything and takes the principles of universalism on which the party was founded as a given.
I'll be voting for them.
Tris,
ReplyDeleteIf you want any of these things post independence then you'd probably be as well voting SNP. It will take the Labour Party a decade, at least, to become electable. By which time the current crop of losers will be a thing of the past and Labour selection processes will be based on something other than a capacity to lie, or fabricate or dissemble.
Then their ideas might be electable.
Meanwhile the SNP government will do the job they were supposed to do. Y'know, run a left wing government within global constraints. It is what they do, and have done for a while now.
But, what the frankly horrible would have to surrender is their contempt of the electorate. They'd have to eat craw 'till the cows came home over that one.
After that public humiliation, sorry truth and reconciliation commission, we'll maybe the left could rise again. But it would have to be a party of principle and, frankly all I see right now is a party of carpet baggers.
Within the current spectrum of both the possible and UK politics, it is the SNP and fellow travellers in the referendum campaign that are 'left wing', not the Labour Party nor any of it's partners at Westminster.
That's a fair comment Douglas and you may well be right.
DeleteI just don;t like the idea that there is no opposition.
The SNP have governed well, and I'd never try to take that away from them. I don;t agree with everything they have done, but overall they are competent and professional.
But I'd like to think there would be a choice. At the moment there isn't one.