THINGS CAN ONLY GET...WORSE

Oh dear.

Best get it over before Niko does a power of gloating... It was a hellish night. I'm eating crow Niko!

Oh yes, the share of SNP votes in some seats many have gone up, but under the system of voting that the London parliament uses that doesn’t mean diddly.

In Dundee East I was gratified to see Stewart Hosie returned with an increased majority, but in Dundee West they re-elected Jim McGovern for Labour: almost unbelievable when you consider the man’s track record.

All over Scotland they re-elected Labour, and in the seats they lost in by-elections, they elected Labour and overturned SNP and Liberal by-election gains. The result in effect looks like it is unchanged from 2005 except that Labour will have the seat that was Michael Martin’s as Speaker.
So, all the expenses fiddles, all the do-nothing MPs, secure in the seat for life; all the incompetence in London that resulted in the financial mess that we are in... it all means nothing. The Scottish public went out and voted in 41 Labour MPs. Oh well. That’s what they wanted; that’s what they have got. Red rosettes and cabbages come to mind.

What happened to the Liberals? The Clegg bounce? Clearly it evaporated in the last week as Brown and Cameron scare mongered that British politicians were either too stupid or too lazy to cope with a balanced parliament (I venture both), and in Scotland that largely meant reverting to Labour. The economy is in safe hands with Labour. We must have strong government. If we had a hung parliament the markets might not like it. We might have a recession. ...... sheeeesh! That seems to have worked in the UK too, with a reduced number of Libdems seats on approximately the same vote as 2005.

Overall in the London parliament, at time of writing (8 am), there appears to be a majority of Tories and the prediction is there will be more. But where are the Tories in Scotland? Same one seat. David Mundell will be delighted. After his massive TV coverage he has increased his majority. I thought he was appalling in the debates, but there is no accounting for taste.

Who will form the London government? Well Brown says that under the constitution he has the right to stay and try to cobble together some sad acts that will support him. Cameron says that Brown has lost the moral right to form a government (I wonder if he ever had it, being there on Buggin’s turn).

The only parties who can join a formal coalition are the Liberals and the one Green MP. The Celtic parties have no mandate to coalesce on matters that do not affect their countries. I wouldn’t want to be Nick Clegg this morning. Whomever he does a deal with is going to have to do horrific things, and in a few months or a couple of years at the most, a new election will have to be called. The public will be mindful of who supported whom at that point.

One thing is clear either Scotland or England is going to be unhappy with this outcome. In England they have pretty solidly voted Conservative. In Scotland, whether I like it or not, we have voted overwhelmingly for Labour. Whichever party emerges victorious one country will blame the other for inflicting government on them. What does that tell you?

I imagine that in the end it will be the Tories who form the government. So the slogan for Scotland would be: Vote Labour, Get Tory.

When will we learn?

Brown Heckler Manhandled from Hall: Is This What They Have Done to Free Speech?

I seem to remember hearing about days when politicians addressed public meetings in town halls and market squares and members of the audience heckled them. Going to a political meeting, especially at election time wasn’t like going to a concert of the Scottish National Orchestra where you sat still and clapped at the end. It was an interactive deal... the politicians and the public alike expected it.

I guess it was the 'ordinary' man’s opportunity to show his approval or disgust in front of his MP, whom he probably had little other opportunity to speak to during the parliament.

So it worried me a little, or maybe even a lot, when I read today that a heckler at Mr Brown’s campaign was dragged from the audience and taken away by the police.

The incident occurred when Brown was making a speech in Sunderland. A member of the audience which largely comprised Labour Party members, shouted out (not unreasonably) “What about that bigoted woman?”

OK, you may say that the prime minister apologized for that. We’ve all done that kind of thing. It is now over and done with. But it’s not really.

He has been telling us he was going up and down the country listening to people, and we caught him out. He’s not listening at all, unless it’s what he wants to hear. Anyone who has tried to get their concerns over to him is worse than ignored; they are denigrated by him behind their backs. So please note constituents of Gordon Brown. When you go along to the surgery and tell him your problems, he calls you names the minute you go out the door.

But I digress. The heckler said: “It’s been such a controlled campaign. Mr Brown needs to see real electors, not just hand-picked people.”

He’s right. Everything in Brown’s programme has been stage managed; photo opportunities, meetings with hand-picked members, and the first time he meets an ordinary person... and not a Tory or a nationalist, not a Liberal or a Ukipper, but a lifelong Labour supporter, they whole thing goes pear shaped.

So, we are not going to just forget it happened.

The guy had every right to heckle Brown about it. The fact that it is not a huge issue in Scotland doesn’t take away from the fact that in some English towns immigration is a problem. He needs to address that fact.

The worrying thing is that the man who said this.... not in a rude or threatening way was dragged from the room by Labour activists.... Why? Were they worried Brown would lose it completely and bury Labour for 2 generations?

Not too long ago an elderly Labour supporter was dragged from the room at the Labour Party conference when Jack Straw was making a speech because he called Jack the Lad a liar. Lord knows it’s one of the mildest things you could say about Straw. He should have been thanking the old man.

What kind of place has the UK become when you are dragged from the room for criticizing a cabinet minister? Not one I feel safe in. The sooner we are no part of it the better I’ll like it.