GORDON HAS TO BE REMINDED WHAT HIS JOB IS

Gordon Brown was back after missing last week's drama in Grangemouth (just up the road from his constituency) because he was sunning himself in Mexico but hastened tout de suite to Dubai to take part in a summit on Education.

While taking part in a panel discussion, Mr Brown was asked his views "as a politician", at which point he interjected "ex-politician".

He was reminded by the host, BBC presenter Mishal Husain, that he was still an MP, which he acknowledged.

Brown seems to treat his job as member of parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, and the attendant salary of more than £65,000 a year, as a bit of a sideline while he jets around the world reminding people who he is and pretending to be important.

In fact he was prime minister for a very short period. One which saw Britain fall into depression at the tail end of a Labour government of 13 years. And he was only allowed that because Blair saw what was coming and got the hell out before the s*** hit the fan above his desk.

Now Brown seems to have forgotten that whilst he lost the election, he retained his seat. 

You'd have thought that someone in his household might have noticed the sizable deposit in his bank balance every month.
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At the Prison Officer's Association Scotland conference in Peebles, delegates voted to support an independent Scotland, voicing their "frustration and dismay" at the Westminster government's pension arrangements and refusal to recognise prison officers as a key operational service like the police or fire brigade. 

Welcome aboard, yet another trades union!

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Oh no, it's definitely not a treat....
More like an evil old terrorist witch with kinky shoes
(Thanks to Bugger the Panda)

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Dear Ms Lamont...

It's me again...

Have you read this? Would you like to comment, and possibly apologise for your distasteful behaviour in parliament when you accused Scotland of shortchanging cancer patients?

Oh, and by the way, did you see this article from Wings... ?

You should you know.

Hugs

Tris

x

PS Munguin says can you send Maggie Curren round. The stairs at Munguin Towers are in need of a good sweeping and mopping.

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RANDOM THOUGHTS

Obviously not in need of a Red Cross food parcel, Tubby Osborne...

Mr Osborne, that (economic) giant of a chancellor, has welcomed the 0.8% growth over three months as an indication that Britain is now on the road to prosperity.

Oh how lovely it must be to live in a bubble like George does.

Looked at from the point of view of "ordinary" people who are not bankers, lords, royals or members of the house of commons, the reality is somewhat different. 

Wages are falling, prices are rising at an alarming rate, food banks are opening at the rate of two a week to feed the starving and the Red Cross is distributing food in the UK as it does after earthquakes and monsoon floods in countries like Bangladesh. We had no need of a natural disaster. Osborne on his own is worth two floods and a hurricane.

Before he treats himself to a bottle or two of the best vintage champagne at our expense to celebrate, Osborne should keep in mind that this is the slowest recovery from  recession ever recorded in the UK, and many economists doubt if it can be sustained in to 2014.

Another downside of it is that it may be necessary to raise interest rates up to a year sooner than had previously been anticipated by the new genius of a governor of the Bank of Britain, or England as it is largely known.

This may mean that along with the poor and dispossessed on the streets as a result of the coalition's disastrous policies on social security, those who can no longer afford to pay their mortgages may be struggling for a place under railway bridges.
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Promises, promises

Congratulations to Cara Hilton on her win in Dunfermline. Clearly this is a disappointing result for the SNP, but hardly surprising given that it was a solid Labour seat and the MSP who eventually resigned, screaming, was a serial wife beater and is now in prison. It is unfortunate that to win Ms Hilton had to claim that Labour had abolished bridge tolls and frozen the council tax, but hey, everyone exaggerates a little sometimes.

Hilton has made some interesting promises. She says that she will be a fresh voice for Dunfermline, and, given that she doesn't have the same voice as the wife beater, I guess you could say that was a fairly safe promise. 

She will also oppose the SNP's alleged 'obsession for independence', with presumably her own obsession for dependence. 

Interestingly she, all on her own, is going to reduce the cost of living. Of course she now has a very generous salary as an MSP, but hardly enough to subsidise all of Dunfermline's population by say, paying the increase in their gas and electricity bills, or taking care of half of their weekly shop?

She can demand improved bus services all she likes, but she will find that Maggie Thatcher deregulated the buses everywhere in the UK (except London) and it's pretty difficult to get these private companies to do anything much that doesn't make them a big fat profit. But good luck to her with that, because in all the years of Labour government north and south of the border, all that ever happened to buses was that they got worse and worse and worse... 

And finally she's is going to stand up for Dunfermline town centre, whatever that means. 

It will be interesting to watch her progress and see how Scotland changes now that she is in parliament. If the cost of living in Dunfermline drops by a sustained amount then possibly I'll go live there.

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And finally, I've heard that, with the cooperation of management, unions, the workforce and both governments, the Grangemouth plant is to stay open.

Both the First minister and Mr Carmichael have welcomed the decision. The devil will be in the detail.