Monday 5 October 2015

KEZIA'S NEW CONSTITUENCY HAS MONEY PROBLEMS

We are expecting a massive coverage of this story, because, as you know, when there is a hint of impropriety in Scottish politics, proof or none, the papers are on it like a rash making it front page news for weeks...so I'm sure you'll all remember that you read it here first... (although Munguin found the story in the Edinburgh Evening News.

Briefly, it seems that around 18 months ago a sum of £10,000 went missing from a Labour Party constituency office in Edinburgh Eastern constituency, where Kezia Dugdale intends to stand in the General Election in 2016.
Kezia is pinning her hopes on winning Edinburgh Eastern
The local membership has been worried for some time about the lack of published audited accounts, and most recently because the branch office holders and the party have been investigating the disappearance of this money for some time with no result.

The branch treasurer has been suspended while they carry out an investigation into the money's disappearance, as would be normal in these circumstances. It must be of considerable worry to her that the problem has dragged on, and obviously the members are starting get concerned about money for the election campaign.

They have written to the party, but received a reply saying that there was a delay in getting reports from the bank and other organisations. Of course I can understand this, banks are busy places, but a delay of 18 months? Surely, you'd think, if the bank manager realised that there was a possibility that the money had gone missing, he could and would expedite the requisite paperwork pretty swiftly?

The party's reply went on to say that progress had been made in recent weeks and that a report would soon be ready with recommendations for the future conduct of local party finances. But still nothing about the £10,000.
Note to self: Irn Bru gives you yellow teeth. Avoid!
So, dismayed with the lack of serious progress into the disappearance of the cash, some of the local members have contacted the police.

Clearly £10,000 is a large sum for a local branch of a party. 

It is essential that the money be found as quickly as possible so that they can fund their campaign for Kezia's election.

As we said, it is likely that this will be the top story on 'Reporting Jackie' and in all the papers for the next few weeks, so we won't need to keep you updated.

26 comments:

  1. Who is that bloke with Dugdale in the second picture?

    Saor Alba

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    1. I think he used to be something somewhere. But he wasn't around long enough to make much of an impression.

      Fan of Tony Blair's though, so that says all you need to know about him..

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    2. Not entirely sure he dropped out, CH. I have the impression that in the end they said to him... 'Look son you've been here 9 years and you've not got past the first page of the course. Academe isn't for you. You might want to think about something for a career that doesn't require any qualifications. How about politician? Any arse can do that!

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    3. Has anyone considered the "Richard Grimsdyke" factor in being a perpetual student?

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    4. It's possible I suppose, but you'd need some wit to do that Conan (and some money). I think he just wasn't up to the rigours of university study, but was afraid that he'd fail in the real world too. So he hung around in his comfort zone till they told him ENUFF!

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    5. Didn't he used to sell, Irn Bru or snake oil, or some such?

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    6. Yeah, he stood on a crate .shouting at little old ladies... I guess he was probably selling the stuff. He wasn't any good at it though. The sales went through the floor. Par for the course. Pretty much failed at everything he's ever done.

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  2. That last sentence sums all of S******d's ills in a oner Jackanory storyteller SNP Baaaad.

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    1. True. Like many others I've no idea if Michelle is culpable in any way. The more I hear, the less I think that it's likely. The press are having fun though managing to imply that she is as guilty as sin. If she is we'll condemn her big time. In the meantime, there are other things happening in S******d and The Glorious and Wonderful Union of GREAT GREAT BRITAIN.

      I have to say that STV did a poor job with that interview. A very unsympathetic character I thought. She buried her argument with '' it was only a council house we bought for £25,000 (or thereby)''. She doubled her money for heaven's sake. I'd call that a deal.

      She was the kind of person you could take an instant dislike to, then coross continents to avoid if you saw them in the street.

      In the meantime they are giving the Tories a free pass.

      I'd not be surprised if we needed to do so searching for this story being followed up. Pretty certain it won;t be over the headlines every day although absolutely bnothing new has happened.

      Get the SNP. No matter how well they are doing, they stole our scone.

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  3. Well who knew that wee Kezia's new *ahem* placement has *cough* lost £10,000?

    Obviously this will be headline news any day now ... won't it?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4uivPpzCGo

    Never mind if this story fails to make the headlines then surely this one will.

    https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/2591/david-cameron-thinks-the-tories-can-win-2016-holyrood-election

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRK03q76GKU&feature=youtu.be

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    1. LOL... I love the donkey!

      I note in the article that David Cameron says that the Conservatives are the only party that want to maintain the status quo. So what was the vow? What were all the great changes? He doesn't support them? no wonder they haven't happened.

      He a;lso asks for support for Ruth Davidson to "make this a great government of our country" (whatever that garbled nonsense means)... whose country? He's English. Ruth Davidson would, in the unimaginable event of the Tories winning in Scotland, be the FM of Scotland. What's this about our country? It didn;t work for Mrs Thatcher when she talked about "we in Scotland".

      Finally, If OUR United Kingdom puts forward 3 teams in a rugby tournament, should not the prime minister be supporting all three teams equally, and not decide to follow one of them after his preferred team was ejected early on?

      He really is an incredibly stupid man. I bet he's off purring to the queen about him and his pig.

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  4. I see that the allegations against Mrs Thompson gives "'J'accuse Baillie" the opportunity to ride again. Surely she should have learned a lesson from being slapped down over previous accusations?

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    1. Is the argument from England's rabid right wing press that it is immoral for business people to make a profit,or are they insinuating that something illegal may have taken place?
      If it is the former then they might as well shut up shop now because most of their readership in England fall into the make a profit camp.
      If it is the latter then they better have their facts right or MT will be within her rights to pursue the matter in the courts.
      I thought that England's press had reformed and turned over a new leaf but with the return of Murdoch and people like Piers Morgan returning from their safe haven in the USA,perhaps not.

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    2. The notion that Baillie will ever learn a lesson is, John, a bit far fetched. You can't teach and old dog new tricks.

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    3. I don't think the press has thought this through.

      They have jumped on the first bandwagon which could discredit the SNP. They haven't thought how it may turn out.

      None of us know how it will turn out, but usually you wait for some evidence of 'wrong doing'... Rifkind, Straw on tv, for example... or Carmichael in a letter of apology. before you make accusations.

      I hope that it will come back and bite them on the bum, and that they will be sued.

      The visceral hatred of the SNP in palpable.

      They don;t need to do anything more than breathe to be hated.


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  5. Hmmm, I've just realised that my comment could generate an unedifying and mind-boggling image....

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    1. OK... so until you said that, my mind had steered itself away from any image of that sort.

      Now I'm going to have to wash my head out with soap and carbolic acid to rid myself of that image.

      I sometimes wonder about what goes on inside your head...

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    2. Uh-huh, inside my head? It's you that is conjuring up lurid images whereas my mind simply boggled!

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    3. You think the workings of your mind are lurid then?

      OK. Fair enough.... (Munguin nods his head).

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    4. Only thing for it!!!

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  6. I suppose Jackie Baillie, Willy Rennie, Mr Mundell and the mass media will call for an Immediate inquiry regarding the missing £10,000 and insist that Fifi be suspended/de-frocked until she is sent to Cornton Vale?

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    1. I was expecting that this morning... but silly old me, I can;t seem to find anything about it.

      Oh well...

      I'm sure there is a logical explanation somewhere.

      I dare say we might find it in the depths of your lurid mind. (Munguin nods enthusiastically.)

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  7. Discarding images conjurned up by John's comments.......... (imagine IDS was involved as well).

    I'm going to try and be balanced as possible here:

    The missing £10K won't be all over the media. Two reasons possibly:
    1. It's not the SNP.
    2. It's not public money (as far as I can see).
    That doesn't give any excuse to cover up missing money. Someone has provided that funding for specific purposes and now it has disappeared.

    T-in-the-Park is a serious issue, since it was public money, and Hyslop's reasons for the grant simply aren't acceptable. Smacks of cronyism at worst, poor judgement at best.

    The media probably don't consider getting Hyslop's scalp a major coup anyway. But Michelle Thomson is the one they want. But if there is no legal case to answer, then the whole thing will blow over. But they should be giving the £10K story as much attention, as again there are possible legal implications.

    But I wonder if there is a hatchet job here. If I remember rightly, Wendy Alexander got stuffed over a donation? But I think it was an insider job to remove her. Wouldn't surprise me. But then, the job of Scottish Labour Leader is as desirable as the manager of Sunderland FC.

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    1. The most interesting thing about this missing £10,000 is that it went missing, and was known to have gone missing 18 months ago.

      It's not a small amount of money, even for a political party. It's certainly not a small amount for a local branch.

      As it goes, I don;t give a stuff what they have done with the money. Whether it fell down the back of the settee or off a lorry and into someone's bank account, I simply couldn;t care less.

      But for 18 months the management has been telling them that people are looking into it, and now the members have gone to the police.

      I don;t really care if they get it back or not. Somehow they will find the money to run Dugdale's campaign even if Blair has to fork it out himself. They really can't afford to have another leadership election.

      What bothers me is that Michelle Thomson is all over the papers and so far all based on a farrago of half truths, mixed up fact and contradictions. none of which seem to be being retracted and so far the police haven't been anywhere near her. It's patently obvious that the media is out to get Michelle no matter what she has or has not done.

      So really all I was doing with this post was, in my own little (very little) way, trying to redress the balance.

      As for T in the Park. I personally don't think we should be handing them public money. That said I've done no research into it at all. It's a gut reaction. You wanna bring pop music to Fife, great... You're going to make a lot of money out of it. Help to pay the police out of your profit! Do not look for incentives.

      However, I think before Labour makes much of it, they really need to look at how much they have subsidised similar sorts of thing in Glasgow.

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