SOPPY SUNDAY

SEEN ON TWITTER...*

Question 1:

Why, if Scottish Labour is so independent from English Labour, does the letter expelling a Scottish Labour member come on a letterhead indicating an address in either London or Newcastle, or both? I thought Jim had sorted that out. He and he alone, ran Scottish Labour.

Question 2:

Why, on the same basis, does a person have to re-apply (always assuming that they want to) to a London address? Is no one in Scotland entitled to make a decision on such an important matter as readmitting a person who has been expelled?

From Labour's Rules

Point 1:

If I were a member of a party and had breached rules and then received a letter like this, I would most assuredly not want to rejoin. There is no inquiry as to why the now ex-member decided to vote for the SNP. No one seems interesting in knowing what the problem with Labour policy was that drove this person to leave a party he had previously supported? If I were Labour in their current position I'd want to know that more than anything else.

Point 2:

The name of the party that the person said they were going to support is the Scottish National Party, ie the party of the Scottish Nation. Not the Scottish Nationalist Party.

It may be fun to insult the SNP by calling it by a name you think sounds unsavoury, but the truth is that it's not the actual name of the party, and makes the writer look either ignorant (I appreciate that they are not Scottish, but surely a complaints officer, even in England, knows the correct name of the party), or just plain petty.

* As the title says, this was seen on Twitter. Thanks to Jamie Ross. I cannot guarantee its authenticity. However, this rule does appear in Labour's Rule Book and Jane Shaw is indeed their compliance officer.

THIS IS TOMMY SHEPPARD'S MAIDEN SPEECH

DOESN'T HE MAKE YOU PROUD?

It's also good to note that Mr Bercow accepted the apology with great grace. I'm also delighted to see so many Scottish MPs there for the Trident debate.
This video has been made private but Maiden Speeches can be seen here. Thanks to Red Tories Out and Helen Ross on Twitter for the heads up.

The Dear Peregrin Letters...

You may remember that some time ago Munguin signed up, under a nom de guerre (Peregrin), for information about what was going on with the Tories, on a "know thine enemy" basis.

Here's the latest epistle from Munguin's pen pal, the wildly delusional, David Cameron, who clearly now sees himself as some latter day working man's hero. How different everything must look from the window of Downing Street or a government chauffeur-driven limo, for a man born to Eton, Oxford and best of everything.

Always good for a laugh, Dave takes us on a fantasy journey here, through his policies to return Britain to Dickensian times, when the sun never set on the rich and never rose for the poor.

Enjoy.

Dear Peregrin,

When we came to office in 2010, Britain was on the brink. Our task was urgent: to rescue our economy from the mire. With that economy now going in the right direction, we are once again on the brink - but this time, on the brink of something special. We have a golden opportunity to renew the idea that working people are backed in this country; to renew the promise to those least fortunate that they will have the opportunity for a brighter future; and to renew the ties that bind every part of our United Kingdom. We now have the mandate to deliver that renewal. And it starts with today's Queen's Speech: a clear programme for working people, social justice, and bringing our country together - put simply, a One Nation Queen's Speech from a One Nation Government.

The first task of a One Nation Government is to help all working people have security. 

And nothing is more crucial to that than a job. A new Bill will help to create two million more jobs this Parliament. That means there should be a job for everyone who wants one - in other words, full employment. To help people get those jobs, we'll train them up; three million more will start apprenticeships over the next five years. We will also reward work by letting people keep even more of the money they earn - for the first time putting it into law that the Minimum Wage is and always will be tax free. That will be alongside a five-year tax lock which means there will be no income tax, VAT or National Insurance rate rises in this Parliament.

The second big focus of this Queen's Speech is championing social justice. 

That starts with education: a decent schooling for every child, no matter where they're from. Our school reforms in the last Parliament were bold; one million more children are now learning in good or outstanding schools. In this Parliament they will be bolder still: taking over and turning into Academies not just failing schools but coasting ones too, as part of our new Education and Adoption Bill; opening not just a few more Free Schools, but 500 more. Of course, there is nothing that embodies the spirit of One Nation and the cause of social justice more than our NHS, which is there for everyone, whoever they are, regardless of their ability to pay. So we will continue increasing spending on our health service, by at least £8 billion a year by 2020, and make it a truly 7-day NHS.

We will also continue our welfare reforms that help people into jobs, reducing the benefit cap further, to £23,000. Our reforms will incentivise work - so people are always better off after a day at the office or factory than they would have been sitting at home. That's true social justice - not handing people benefit cheque after benefit cheque with no end in sight, but turning workless households into working households; the misery of unemployment into the purpose and dignity of employment; and the welfare system into a lifeline, not a way of life.

Third, this Queen's Speech will bring every part of our United Kingdom together. 

Our legislation will make sure this recovery reaches everyone, from the oldest industrial towns to the remotest rural villages. Our High Speed 2 Bill will help bring our great northern cities together in a Northern Powerhouse that rivals the biggest cities in the world.

For our different nations and regions to coexist as One Nation, people must have more direct power over the areas in which they live. So our Cities Devolution Bill will allow them to bid for an elected mayor, with far more sway over planning, transport, policing and health. We will have a Scotland Bill, a Wales Bill and a Northern Ireland Bill, and will put into practice our promises on devolution - making Holyrood the most powerful devolved Parliament in the world. Governing with respect means respecting the wishes of the English too. That's why we will address the fundamental unfairness devolution causes in England, by introducing English votes for English laws. And the UK will have more control over its affairs, as we bring forward proposals for a British Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act. We will also legislate to have an EU Referendum before the end of 2017, putting the question to the British people for the first time in 40 years: the European Union - in or out. Underpinning all of this is security. With an Extremism Bill, an Investigatory Powers Bill and a Policing and Criminal Justice Bill, we will keep our people safe.

That's our legislative programme. It's challenging but doable; optimistic but realistic. It's the bold first step of a One Nation Government - a Government for working people.

 And this is the Britain we're setting out to create: a Britain where you can get a decent job, have a good education, buy a home of your own, have dignity when you retire, and feel safe and secure throughout your life. In the last Parliament we laid the foundations for that; in this Parliament we will use them to build something special. We've now got the majority we need. With this Queen's Speech we're going to get on and do it - for every single person in this great nation.

So - if you haven't already - please join the Conservative Party today, and play your part in everything we'll achieve together in the next five years.

Thank you,

 

David Cameron

IT WOULD SEEM THAT YOU CAN CLAP IN THE COMMONS...

...AS LONG AS YOU ARE AN ESTABLISHMENT LONDON PARTY

(Of course it helps if you are clapping in support of the Speaker)

OH DEAR DONALD...

You may very well say that Donald, I wouldn't want to comment.

Maybe your incompetent leader should ban you from making your clothes in China?
How would that be for competence?

THE WAY AHEAD FOR LABOUR

Duncan McNeil MSP has called upon Jim Murphy to stand down from the task of reviewing the Scottish branch of the Labour Party and its electoral system.

Despite the old adage “Never interrupt your opponent while he is doing something stupid”, I cannot help but agree with him.

Murphy, as we have now said on several occasions, was the wrong person to lead a party whose membership had shown that they were begging it to move to the left.  

In their droves, Labour’s heartlands voted against the Labour, Tory, Liberal Democrat and UKIP (not to mention the Orange order and George Galloway) coalition in the referendum campaign and voted with Labour for Indy, the Greens, Scottish Socialists, Radical Independence and of course the SNP, for a more socially conscious, decent, independent Scotland and an end to Tory rule and austerity for the sake of it, from London forever… that’s Blue Tory or Red Tory rule, by the way.

Murphy made some attempts to be that kind of Labour person, but the years of slavish right wing politics, wars, Blair and Henry Jackson were hard to shake off, and maybe Glasgow man wasn't quite a stupid as he had thought, or hoped. 

Glasgow man didn't buy Jim's pally footie patter. Glasgow man was largely insulted that Jim, in his right wing metropolitan ignorance, thought that if you allowed the working man to get drunk at football and sing sectarian songs, everything would be just fine again.

He was wrong. Glasgow man it seems really doesn't want nuclear weapons (and dangerously neglected ones at that) only a stone’s throw from his multi. 

He doesn't like that he has to claim benefits even when he’s working full time, just to pay the rent. He’s not too keen on Rachel Reeves' declaration that they don’t represent unemployed or sick people (echoing what Harris has been saying for years), and he didn't care for Darling and Murphy being seen to be all matey with the Tories and their Liberal Democrat friends.

Murphy is also the wrong person to write a paper on reform of the voting system.  Labour needs new blood, untainted by the failures of the past. And, as Mr McNeil points out, that only concerns itself with Labour internal systems. It's the voters that cont. All of them, not just the Labour membership.

What the party must do in the next few months while Kezia is caretaker branch manager, is work out where the future lies for them. This is deep philosophical stuff. Above Murphy's pay band.

Do they want to stay a branch office of London Labour tied to Labour's English based policies, or do they want to be free to espouse their own policies. 

Even Murphy, a dyed in the wool London MP, could see that, after Johann Lamont’s declaration that her hands were always tied by London, he had to show that HE and not anyone was in charge of Scottish Labour am its policies.

Unfortunately when he did that, Chukka Ummuna and Ed Balls slapped him down within hours, telling the broadcasters that THEY made the rules.

Mostly it is about getting in touch with ordinary people. That is people who aren't in a political bubble. People who might be inclined to vote for a left of centre Labour Party not bound and gagged by London for fear of frightening off the stockbroker belt and its money. People like me and the folks that I know.

What do they want from a party in Scotland that has to be distinctly Scottish and yet must necessarily be able to chime with the policies of their big brother in London if they are to take the same whip in Westminster? 

How can it be made to work? How can you be distinctly Scottish and yet British too? Is it, today, even possible?

Mr McNeil indicated that Labour activists must get out on the streets and talk to people… find out what they want. That makes sense.

The amazing thing is that with all these MSPs, councillors, MPs and MEPs, none of them have thought to do this already.

I thought that was their bloody job!

SUNDAY IS NATURE DAY (OR JOHN'S SOPPY SUNDAY)