Friday 22 January 2016

YOU'VE HEARD OF THE TEA PARTY?

WELL THIS IS THE HAMILTON LABOUR TEA-CAKE PARTY

This, ladies and gentlemen, I am reliably informed, is a bunch of Labour canvassers in Hamilton, who have the notion that the best way to win votes in a local by-election is to go around with a box of Tunnock's tea cakes. (If this some sort of a bribe, then I think I'd want something more than a tea cake?)

When I saw it my first reaction was that it was a set up. But apparently not.

The Lady in the black coat and red scarf is a local councillor. Her name is Monica Lennon and she is a hopeful for a list seat in Holyrood in May. 

It didn't work, as Scot Goes Pop's post on the results shows:


SNP 42.9% (+2.5)
Labour 33.6% (-9.4)
Conservatives 18.5% (+8.4)
Greens 3.3% (+0.2)
Liberal Democrats 1.8% (n/a)


Some weeks ago there was a social media storm about Tunnocks marketing their product as "British" rather than the "Scottish" they had always been. Some people got bent out of shape at this, probably not so much because of the act itself, but the management's explanation behind it, which was (in my humble opinion) ill-advised.

"We could have said Scottish, but then you are promoting Scotland. We're British", said Boyd Tunnock, the 82 year old boss of the company who campaigned for a NO vote in the referendum. 

The marketing was intended to tie in with the Great British Bake-off theme, which was sweeping the country at the time, and from a business point of view might have been a reasonably good idea, although when I lived in England, "Scottish Produce" was a sure-fire way of selling your stuff.

Whatever. I claim no great knowledge in the matter of sales promotion, and I'm sure their people do, but Mr Tunnock's statement certainly sounded anti-Scottish and it got under the skin of some folk here who set up an online boycott campaign.

It was a storm in a tea cup, if you'll pardon the phrase. 

I say if Tunnocks offends you by marketing itself as British in England, then stop buying their products. There are many other brands of tea cake, just as good, and in some cases better and much cheaper.

The lesson though seems to be not to use tea cakes as a political stick with which you can beat your opponents. People really don't seem to care that much.

25 comments:

  1. Fruitcakes spring to mind.

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  2. Never mind the wee gooey bribes, try going back to your socialist roots and defending the workers, the poor, the disadvantaged. You know, the things Labour are meant to stand for.
    Put your country and countrymen (including women, obviously) before self and party, then mibbies people will vote for you.

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    1. It's so simple really Jim.

      If you want to win in Scotland, get yourself some reasonable MSPs who care not a whit about what people want or need in London and the affluent south, but who desperately care about how life is for the low paid the old, the unemployed and the sick.

      Get people who actually say it as it is instead of how London, or Edinburgh want to sell it adn who will fight tooth and nail for ordinary people.

      They you won't have to demean yourself with tea cakes.

      Your rallying cry should be... policies, not teacakes.

      Delete
  3. tris

    I'd probably vote for anyone iffen they offered me a tunnocks
    in fact I'd probably do almost anything for a tunnocks..

    See the Labour party had a presentation on our electoral prospects come may not a pretty sight.
    The blairite response is as ever we must get nearer to the people
    and their aspirations (yawn ) translation find out wot the English torys are doing copy it and promise more of the same,.
    why oh why dont they decamp to the tory party they would be much happier there but then they might find they may not get near to
    a preferment there being more competition better hijack the working class and then shite on them from a high up well paid position..

    saying wot oiks we is

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    Replies
    1. OK, I'll send round a box and you can vote for Munguin.

      He's not a member of any party, but he's a kindly wee soul and he kicks ass!!!

      I wish the Blairite, McTernan faction would join the Tories or the Republicans or Likud or whatever right wing organisation they feel most at home in.

      Then I wish the decent Labourites would be able to lay out a policy based on the needs of the people.

      That doesn't mean that the crucify business. We need business... just make like more bearable for the people at the bottom.

      Instead of them fighting all the time about how they need to appeal to the average stockbroker lets get rid of WMDs and foodbanks in one fell swoop.

      Delete
  4. the rush to power I calls it once out just do anything anything at all
    (you musnt think about it )to regain their treasured position wery principled. You wonder what exactly they do believe in and are they prepared to suffer and endure extreme hardship to go that extra mile for the people they err !care ??? about..............umm ! probably not
    its not the left cant win its they do not want the left to win
    blairite confirmation bias Corbyns glass is always and forever
    half empty.

    Tossers i hate them..............

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    1. I think some of them believe what the Press tells them.

      The Press say Corbyn can never win, so they say Corbyn can never win. They will have to stay with the Blairites to get into government. Corbyn isn't prime ministerial (what???). Presumably this is becasue he wears off the peg, ill fitting suits, instead of something cost £2,500.

      Well, I tell you. If they do manage to get back into power with teh Blairites, they won't actually be in power, becasue while they have been fighting with themselves, Cameron introduced EVEL which will make it pretty impossible for them to have a majority in the House on English matters... which is most of what goes on. And he took a lot of their money away both union money and Short money.

      Tossers is right.

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  5. Drat. I cannot avoid buying Tunnocks products, since I have actively boycotted them ( and Baxters ) since the first referendum. I love their caramel logs too. Indeed I have on at least 2 occasions refused free teacakes and explained my stance to the proferring parties each time.

    S A

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    Replies
    1. LOL damned annoying when you want to boycott something you've already boycotted!!

      Delete
  6. you have even got commentators in the guardian etc comparing Corbyn
    to soviet russia and how the people rejected communism ffs.
    and how Marxism failed and anyone who went to Marx night school
    knows we aint had Marxism...YET

    Marx predictions seem spot on so far unlike Milton Friedman et al



    Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

    martin luther king

    http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm

    #rant for today over

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    1. It annoys me that the Press call him left wing. He's not really that left wing. By normal European standards he'#s pretty central.

      Many of his policies (except on the constitution) are pretty much the same as the SNPs. And people still call them the Tartan Tories.

      The truth is that the Blairites are right wing, and clearly more at home with Tory policies than with anything that could be called Labour.

      They said that Communism had failed, back in 1990 when the wall came down. It had, but there are many now who are nostalgic for the old days. Id say capitalism failed in 2008. And I have a feeling that it may be on teh way to failing again.

      America has a martin Luther King day. So should we.

      Rant on son.

      Delete
  7. " You wonder what exactly they do believe in and are they prepared to suffer and endure extreme hardship to go that extra mile for the people they err !care ??? about."

    Well Niko, in my humblest of most humble opinions (I have been know to be so humble that even the humble bumble bee looks down on me!), I think I have the answer to your query.

    Labour in Scotland believe in four things and FOUR things only:

    1) what is in it for themselves

    2) how much money they can rack up through their expenses for themselves

    3) what is in it for their millionaire backers and best mates

    4) SNP BAAAAD

    I hope this answers your query.

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    Replies
    1. They certainly gave caring for the lower end of society a long long time ago.

      Delete
  8. I can't abide tunnocks teacakes and have been boycotting them since I first ate one. The logs as SA says are no bad but I wouldn't buy any of their stuff. Though I've been known to have one if offered.

    But good to see that Labour are getting to the heart of what's important in the country! It's not like there are any bigger problems...

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    1. Yes, that is what I thought.

      Never mind child poverty; never mind unemployment; never mind foodbanks; never mind the lack of council houses; never mind that the A9 still isn't dual carriageway. Concentrate on the great British teacake...

      They moan about the SNP being bad...well hold them to account. Come up with some costed schemes, don't have a go about bloody tea cakes.

      As Niko said. Tossers.

      Delete
  9. Labour are crapping Caramel Logs. Coconuts, the lot of them. Scotland's political scene is fast becoming a straight pro-indy versus anti-indy affair.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah Dan, someone said the other day that it is no longer left and right, it's Scots v Brits.

      To be honest I think it's much the same thing.

      Delete
  10. This smacks of the high fives outside Asda when they promised to put up prices in the event of a Yes vote. Seems they are quite happy to promote any ant-Scottish propaganda.

    Your reCaptcha requires me to prove I'm not a robot. I thought we were all robots:)

    Finnmacollie

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    1. Actually Tesco did themselves a favour there, because they were very quick to say that they had no idea how it would affect their prices. That that would depend on what regulations and taxation teh Scots brought in.

      Interestingly, at that time I was in Ireland, in Dublin, where you would expect things to be more expensive than a provincial city like Dundee.

      I compared supermarket prices and found them to be either around the same or slightly lower than Tesco here.

      There are no Asdas in the Republic.

      Delete
  11. I like teacakes and the logs. I ain't going to start boycotting them. My dentist needs the money.......

    zog

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    Replies
    1. I'm really lucky. Although I quite like tea cakes, I can't stand their log things. Yuk.

      We should all support our local dentists. I have a dentist friend, he desperately needs more money. Like I need more rain!!!

      Delete
  12. Industrialised over-sweetened synthetic foodstuffs. Never touch a cake unless home-made.

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    Replies
    1. Brilliant idea.

      Would you make some for Munguin?

      He's fond of cake!!

      Delete