Megaphones at the ready
Stand by, mes citoyens. They're coming to get you in Glasgow East - and this time it's electoral.
Look out the snake oil. Dust down the megaphones - those silent ones from the Tory stunt at Holyrood would do splendidly. It's by-election time.
Prepare for the customary blend of unctuousness, bogus indignation and enforced camaraderie that characterises an election campaign.
Ach, I don't mean it, really.
Best of luck to all the candidates. Hope your hustings are packed - and the first question is a patsy.
Hope it doesn't rain too much. Hope every voter tells every one of you that it's in the bag.
The first launch today was by the Conservatives. SNP next, then Labour, then the Liberal Democrats. Then such others as might enter the field.
So familiar ground. But there's also a rather different - and intriguing - element to this by-election.
It's a Westminster contest and so, primarily, Labour start on the defensive: facing questions about their record in government.
But Labour intend to return the favour to Scotland's domestic SNP government: spotlighting their record.
From the SNP, then, expect to hear talk of the 10p tax guddle, the changes to incapacity benefit, the cost of food, the cost of fuel.
My guess from touring the constituency is those issues will attract an attentive audience - from those who are prepared to listen to politicians at all, that is.
From Labour, expect a raft of complaints against the SNP government.
Expect them to field a concerned citizen grousing about police numbers. Expect a student complaining about debt. Expect a young couple seeking that promised assistance for first-time home buyers.
Government versus government. Now that is a little different.
On the face of it, the SNP would seem to have the advantage in that particular clash.
The problems associated with the UK Government are causing discontent and grief right now. The Scottish Government remains relatively popular - while the negatives are, so far, sins of omission.
That is, partly, a factor of time: the SNP has been in power for a year, Labour for a decade.
Labour will also counter with a narrative of efforts to improve the East End: featuring, substantially, the coming Commonwealth Games.
Other thoughts. Never forget that Labour starts here with a huge lead.
Secondly, this is not Govan: there is little history of substantive SNP support, except in pockets.
Thirdly, neither the Tories nor the Lib Dems are prepared to concede ground to the second-placed SNP. They will fight hard.
There's another factor at play here which is much more nebulous. There's unhappiness aplenty in this constituency: discontent with the lack of jobs, the prevalence of drugs, the influence of gangs.
But does that turn to anger - or resigned despair?
Anger could provoke voters to turn actively against Labour, even to the extent of generating the 22 per cent swing required for an SNP victory.
The alternative emotion could see Labour, perhaps grudgingly, returned.
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~29~RS~)
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Writ for an election on Tuesday, order for an aircraft carrier on Wednesday - accompanied by comments that Scotland wouldn't have got it if it was independent - pork barrelling the voters is pretty traditional stuff but does it have to be this blatant?
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Time has nothing to do with it Brian...
Labour is simply incompetent and both economically and industrially treacherous and they have to be expunged from Scotland.
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Oh dear, the SNP has picked the wrong candidate for Glasgow East.
As a Garrowhill resident, with experience of Cllr Mason I can only hope the other parties destroy each other and leave enough votes for the SNP to win.
By this comment, please read 'SNP voter, with no-vote for John Mason'.
Sadly, round one to Labour.
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Brian, as it's a Westminster by-election can we expect to see the UK party leaders in attendance?
Gordon: prudence would dictate he will lie lower than a snake's belly, hoping to escape association with any reduced Labour majority/SNP win ("it wisnae me, ah wisnae even there")
David: would be nice to see him out on the streets, "really understanding" the problems that the residents face every day and showing just how in touch he really is with the proles
Ming...erm, no, Charlie...er, no that's not it either, that other fella, you know...zzz...
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Excellent blog Brian. Glasgow East is not Govan. The by-election victories there in 73 and 88 were protest votes overturned at the next General Election. The SNP is a very different beast now. In government and proving that there is a real alternative to Labour.
Also, sorry to correct you , but not a decade, 11 years of Labour failure! 11 years in which the gap between rich and poor has INCREASED. Labour, either though incompetence or self-serving ambition, have failed. Time for the people of Glasgow East to try another party, I think. I'm sure they'll be satisfied.
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Caledonian54 hits it right on the head.
This announcement, a day after a by-election has been called, of this hideously expensive naval project that benefits only Labour's interests in Glasgow is blatant pork barrel politics.
However there are human costs to this deal.
Soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq will now have to forgo having the latest armoured vehicles that will protect them from IEDs.
Ironically, this contract will not save Govan shipyard, not one shipyard job, there will be no more naval contracts after these carriers are built.
If Glasgow East return a Labour MP to Westminster, the rest of Scotland will know that this person will have been bought and paid for by us, the Scottish taxpayer.
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So who is the Labour candidate? Someone who has been a social worker ,council clerk or school teacher who reached the executive heights as a Glasgow city employee because he or she was a good party member? Would it not be possible for Labour to find a candidate who lived and worked in the real world.
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"So who is the Labour candidate? Someone who has been a social worker ,council clerk or school teacher who reached the executive heights as a Glasgow city employee because he or she was a good party member? Would it not be possible for Labour to find a candidate who lived and worked in the real world."
No don't be silly all of us living and working in the real world support the SNP now.
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Delbossco, I dont quite get your comment? Cllr Mason was one of the few councillors to win over 50% of the vote last year, won a council by-election in the area within the constituency already and has been re-elected for a number of elections ever since. He must be doing something right.
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Labour are so umpopular I expect the SNP to win.One thing is sure however,if Labour manage to scrape home even by one vote,the result will be heralded as a huge triumph rather than they unmitigated disaster it will be.Let us never forget,if Labour cannot hold this Seat by a large margin, they will have precious few in Scotland after the next Westminster Election.
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kaybraes
"lived and worked in the real world"
I always presume that this phrase actually means "people like me".
I was a schoolteacher, and was involved with the learning and development with around 7500 young people in my community (where I live and worked) before I retired. Anything "unreal" about my world?
Of course I could have worked in the private sector - been an estate agent, a journalist or one of the bankers whose greed and incompetence brought about the current economic crisis.
Are those worlds "real" enough for you?
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Today we had an SNP canvesser calling - a very polite chap. No inundation of the street though, like the other night with the Labour lot.
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When does resigned despair blend into apathy is another point,Brian.Jobs,drugs,gangs are all problems any party would be hard put to solve,so doing nothing may let Labour back in with a much smaller majority.Which I'm sure they'll be more than happy with just as long as the SNP don't win.
Besides I'm not too sure about this idea of SNP MP's at Westminster anyway.By their own admission they don't participate or vote in debates that don't have a Scottish or UK tinge to them so is their being there any more useful than Scottish Labour MP's?I appreciate that would give Labour a bloody nose,which might help them pick up their ideas,but I'm just not sure if the game is worth the candle.
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Maybe I'm naive but I don't believe the timing of the naval contract has anything to do with this by-election.
I doubt there are too many shipwrights living in Shettleston, Baillieston or parts of Easterhouse but then I have that nasty habit of not assuming eveything is a conspiracy.
On Minuend's points about no new naval contracts and cuts in vehicles - well that's just not true.
They are still questions over whether the rest of the Daring class will be built, (an additional 6 ships), designs for replacing the aging type 23 frigates are already being considered and a number of the RFA fleet ships - especially the Fort Rosalie and Fort Austin are coming to the end of their service.
And as for vehicle replacements, 159 Ridgebacks have been ordered to replace the Snatch Landrovers for use in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But you know, feel free to ignore the facts.
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I don't believe either that the MoD contracts will have any bearing on this by-election. Similarly, even if shipbuilding had a presence in the Glasgow East constituency, I doubt it would make a great deal of difference either. These things tend to get lost in the melee of conducting a by-election campaign, outcomes of which derive more from the "streetfighting" nature of conducting such polls, rather than grand national announcements. Surely, if the announcement had been politically motivated, the timing could have been better? There would be better points to announce such a thing, rather than right at the start of the campaign, 3 weeks before the election?
On the theme of pork-barrel politics, in Scotland, and for the UK, there is a very strong consideration to take into account - the maintenance and integrity of the United Kingdom.
Public Spending is the central economic mantra of Unionism in Scotland. Every other economic policy, whether it be economic growth, taxation or foreign direct investment is secondary to public spending. It is the virility symbol of Labour, the LibDems and the Tories before them. Margaret Thatcher was allergic to public spending, but she regularly boasted about Scotland's supposed "high spending" and "generous settlements" courtesy of the "English Taxpayer" [sic], and how great that was - a theme Unionist Scots are only too happy to continue with little alteration.
I don't think it has done much good, do you? And certainly not for the voters of Glasgow East. Perhaps it is time for Scotland's political culture to move on from the public spending virility symbol, to sustainability, self-reliance and responsibility - and independence, personal as well as constitutional :-)
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#14 Don't expect people to look at the facts before making statements, especially not the SNP supporters on this blog. Everythings a conspiracy against them, except the things which are in their favour. Haven't you heard?
The idea that a Naval contract which has been in the planning for years, and which as a relative of someone who was involved in the BAE side of things I can tell you was carrying on at the rate it did regardless of any bye-election its laughable to listen to you lot claiming "its all a conspiracy". But even if it was, what exactly would be so terrible about informing the voters of one of the major benefits of remaining as part of the Union. I doubt the any new Scottish Government would be placing such large shipbuilding orders in the future.
The best thing about all of these discussions is that all of the SNP shouters on here are talking about how they're going to win because of how useless labour are, yet if they do win watch how fast that changes to, clearly the people support us and want independence. Either you're being elected as a protest vote against labour or you're being elected on your own merit. I suspect as in most analogous cases its a little bit of both, but don't claim whichever is most convenient to you at any given time, be honest!
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Ah yes, but surely the SNP can argue back that their "broken manefesto pledges" are a result of problems in the wider economy, ones caused by the current Brittish government.
Scot2010, comment #5 - sorry to correct you, but make that 29 years of Thatcherite government have made its negative mark's on Glasgow East, and other points in Central Scotland
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NCA999:
"But even if it was, what exactly would be so terrible about informing the voters of one of the major benefits of remaining as part of the Union. I doubt the any new Scottish Government would be placing such large shipbuilding orders in the future."
Receiving Government hand-outs occasionally is not a benefit for being apart of the Union. If Shipbuilding in Scotland or anywhere else within the United Kingdom can not survive without Government help then these Industries should be replaced over time.
To me it sounds like blackmail. If you leave the Union, then so do the contracts, is it?
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Globaltraveller:
"Public Spending is the central economic mantra of Unionism in Scotland. Every other economic policy, whether it be economic growth, taxation or foreign direct investment is secondary to public spending."
As if the SNP is going to be campaigning on a ticket of supporting private enterprise in this by-election. I bet it'll be the usual 'it's Glasgow's oil' stuff we hear repeatedly on this blog. You know, 'invest in the economy', spend ever more fantastical sums on Glasgow's healthcare, support the traditional industries, etc.
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This by-election is clearly so important for the Labour Party and indeed for the UK PM that there is, presumably, nothing it will not stoop to in order to win it. You know these guys and what they are capable of. The dirty-tricks department at Labour HQ will be burning the candle at both ends. Just try not to set fire to the curtains, chaps.
If all those people who have had to leave the constituency to find work and a decent life for themselves elsewhere could vote in this by-election, Labour would not stand a chance no matter what they get up to in their campaign.
Where's Tommy, by the way? I was counting on a celebrity socialist to stir things up a bit. Get up off that sun-bed and walk.
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#19 Anaxim
I didn't even insinuate such a thing :-) In fact, where did I mention the SNP at all, or insinuate anything about them or what they will do? And goodness, I didn't even mention oil!
I notice for too many of the Unionist contributors on this blog they seem to be under the impression that there are lots of nationalist bogeymen lurking beneath manhole covers, where there is no such thing. Or that if you support independence you must be a "nat" or an SNP "activist".
Well, life ain't so straightforward, I'm afraid.
I stated that Public expenditure and the concomitant dependency on the "Union" that it has fostered (and Unionist politicians love to flag up c.f Margaret Thatcher, and more recently Ian Davidson (MP Glasgow South West) of "no union no carriers" and no subsidies fame) has been the central mantra of Unionism for donkey's years. That's pretty self-explanatory, I think. "Keep them poor, keep them dependent, keep them on welfare and they'll keep voting for us - the Unionists - and the United Kingdom can march onward!"
FWIW I don't see the SNP running a campaign hypothecating that the constituents of Glasgow East are dependent upon anyone or anything, or even insinuating such a thing :-)
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I for one don't think the sudden movement on aircraft carriers was a political manoeuvre to save Labour from by-election defeat - they have yet to play that card (whatever it is). Instead the aircraft carrier decision has all the usual marks of Labour incompetence: after all, the price tag has risen by a full billion since they first floated the idea (shortly before an election, I seem to remember). Crewe got £2.7 billion worth of additional National Debt thrown at it - in the partial 10p tax "fix". What is Glasgow East worth to Gordon?
Brian is correct on this one: if anger at the UK government's record is the response of voters in Glasgow East, then the SNP have a historic breakthrough in Glasgow - outside their normal range. If, however, the voter?s response to such failures in government is to shrug their shoulders and think "they're all b*st*rds anyway", then Labour could cling on.
Betting odds make interesting reading,
Ladbrokes: Labour 5/6, SNP 5/6.
Paddy Power: SNP 4/7, Labour 5/4
William Hill: Labour 8/11, SNP evens.
These will of course, be constantly changing.
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#4 Forfar Loon, as you're a man with his finger on the pulse can you explain why front runner, Councillor George Ryan has withdrawn from the Labour party's selection contest for Glasgow East leaving Labour with no candidate and a cancelled launch event tomorrow?
Strange world eh?
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Since we have drifted on to shipbuilding now: the Norwegian shipbuilding industry supports between 6 and 7 times as many workers as shipbuiling in Scotland. If Scotland is compared to the Scandanavian nations (Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark) collectively then, if Scotland could only match them in terms of average employment share, there would be 2,000 more individuals employed at shipyards like those at Rosyth and Govan.
Incidentally, why does anyone think shipbuilding will be a more important issue in Baillieston and parts of Easterhouse than it was in Govan in May?
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here never mind snake oil brian i hear the guy who was going to stand has decided not to?
what do you make of this from the herald.
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2380961.0.Labour_disarray_over_byelection_candidate.php
"Labour's plans for the Glasgow East by-election were thrown into turmoil last night when the party was left without a candidate for the crucial first weekend of campaigning"
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Brian why is there no mention of the fact that the labour part have failed to select a candidate on the main political pages. This is big political news surely?
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Globaltraveller:
"Keep them poor, keep them dependent, keep them on welfare and they'll keep voting for us - the Unionists - and the United Kingdom can march onward!"
That makes no sense at all, since there are three unionist parties in competition with each other, and poor people are quite likely to vote nationalist.
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As this constituency is in the East End of Glasgow I await the first 'morality' card to be played in this campaign; I do not predict which contender or party will be first to raise 'morality' related issues.
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"So who is the Labour candidate? Someone who has been a social worker ,council clerk or school teacher who reached the executive heights as a Glasgow city employee because he or she was a good party member? Would it not be possible for Labour to find a candidate who lived and worked in the real world."
#7 hits the nail on the head. No wonder so many Scottish politicians are uselss. Labour is the major player and their MPs and MSPs are all former teachers, social workers, councillors, etc. Is it any wonder people are turned off voting? It's not like these captains of industry are going to become the leaders that turn things round.
It will be interesting to see what manner of beast Labour wheel out to win this safe seat.
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oh dear so the fav lab candidate didnt turn up for a selection meeting??
first the have no leader in scots parly, then no mp in gla east now no candidate?? very strange indeed.
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George Ryan - OUT (family reasons again, expect Brian Taylor to extend his sympathies)
Steven Purcell - IN (shoed-in by London Labour)
Other local Labour candidates have been frightened off.
That's how things are done Glasgow.
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When are we going to learn the real reason for David Marshall's resignation?
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WANTED URGENTLY!
Labour seeks candidate for Glasgow east- you must
1- be loyal to Mr broon,
2- be able to say Wendy was innocent,
3- be able to duck and dive the media,
4-to able to say "i don't need a constituency office"
5-to be able to admire lady Thatcher and believe in what she done was right for Scotland
6- must importantly turn up to a selection meeting.
Apply now to labour HQ.
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Re #25 from karinm,
#30 from glasgow_fed_up and
#22 from pattymkirkwood:
Agreed. I posted that info on Nick Robinson's blog late last night but auntie seems only just to have woken up to it and it is finally there on the News Front Page but without much detail.
I must admit, though, that being the Labour candidate is going to be no picnic. If he/she loses Labour's vast majority you can be sure who'll be blamed by the politburo and even if Labour rises from the ashes after the next 2010/2011 elections they likely be out of the running for good.
Of course, if someone manages to hold the seat they'll become Labour heroes, but it seems they're not queuing up for that honour.
Interesting times we're living in. What's the latest betting after this revelation, pattymkirkwood?
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George Who? would have presented less of a problem for the SNP than Steven Purcell on the face of it, however, as leader of Glasgow Council Steven will face the rath of everyone who has any grievance against any part of the council.
But it's more good news for the SNP because apart from losing one of the four precious weekends in the campaign without a candidate, this stunt also shows that Labour's private polling tells them that George has little chance of holding the seat, thus the need for someone with a much bigger profile.
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Hi there. It's me again. I'm back from the planet Pimple, having had to beam down again to retrieve my copies of the Beano and the Daily Record, which I picked up in Glasgow East on my last visit, as I gathered that they are publications much admired and indeed revered by the local populace. Although I have subjected these curious items to minute analysis, I fear that I haven't come to the interesting bits yet, but possibly something is being lost in translation.
Anyway, as I'm here, it seemed like a fair to middling idea to take a dekko at this by-election thing, which appears to be some primitive form of occasional aestival festival, in which numerous Earthlings, who seem to have come from far and wide for the purpose, parade up and down the thoroughfares of the city, annoying the local residents by knocking on their doors as they go.
I gather that it is some kind of competition fundamentally and in this case one which is sort of expected to be won by that Labour thing that I heard mention of before. What I don't understand, however, is the complete absence of any Labour candidate! How could they expect to win without one? Are they getting a special dispensation or has the Earthling who was to have been the candidate by all accounts concluded that Labour is not going to win this one after all?
Still perplexed and in the spirit of inquiry which brought me to this neck of the woods in the first place, I knocked on the door of the Labour control centre in search of enlightenment. So what does "**** off" mean exactly? We have a similar expression on the planet Pimple, but it cannot mean that, surely. As I fear on reflection that it might, I'll just **** off then. Toodloo.
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#23 wrote:
"#4 Forfar Loon, as you're a man with his finger on the pulse can you explain why front runner, Councillor George Ryan has withdrawn from the Labour party's selection contest for Glasgow East leaving Labour with no candidate and a cancelled launch event tomorrow?
Strange world eh?"
---
No idea Ewan, but thanks for the entirely unjustified flattery (I think?!). Glasgow Labour is a strange world indeed.
The "front runner" as you put it does seem to have pulled up lame in the warm up. Who will be the sacrificial lamb for Labour now?
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Re 33 from glasgow_fed_up:
Priceless!
You might add "employment not guaranteed after 24 July"
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It seems to me that this is the first real chance for a while for Scottish voters to send a direct message to the Labour Government.
Do we want this Government to continue:
It has lied us into an illegal war despite the biggest antiwar protest ever.
It has decided to renew Trident at huge cost when there is no longer any geopolitical logic for it.
It is about to start foisting ID cards on us that every expert (including MI5) says are a vast waste of money.
It is morally corrupt, cash for peerages, proxy loans, John lewis expenses.
It runs grossly incompetent depts eg Home Office, MOD.
It hounds defenseless refugees at dawn.....
need I go on, Glasgow lose them their deposit again please.
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Urgent vacancy-
London labour seeks candidate!
Please apply now...
Applicants must be able to name the prime minister, able to count to 10 and find Glasgow east on a map.
Applicants will be invited to a selection meeting (well maybe if your face fits that is or if other candidates can be bothered turning up).
Anyone interested in the applications must be:
1 -able to praise Mr brown as the best pm ever ,
2 - deny there is any problems with fuel increases,
3- agree with tom Harris by saying "you have never had it so good"
4- be willing to share a platform with ms Curran and bulldog Baillie.
5- be willing to end any political carer after 24 July.
Please apply now Britain needs you!
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The Labour candidate, A.N. Other, seems to be exercising many Nationalist minds. I looked up the website to discover the SNP candidate is A. Nonymous. In the sense of who's ever heard of him?
A lawyer, apparently. Politics is full of them, people who can argue a case for the most desperate of criminals. Usually, it's the criminals who choose the lawyer.
So I'm sure wotsisname will argue convincingly that he's a committed Nat. But maybe it's the cynic within me, I can't help thinking lawyers could represent any party that offered them a fast track to a fast buck.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I appear for the SNP.... and if you find them guilty, I'll still be well off."
Nothing personal - I don't care much about the verdict. But in the interests of justice, and a bit of balance here, it's fair to point out that in Glasgow East the SNP man is a privileged public schoolboy.
M'Lud, that concludes the case for the impartial.
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Cringeing, embarrassed, red-faced apology. I got it totally wrong, read the wrong biog. Wrong man altogether. Please accept this humble withdrawal of the foregoing. Sorry everyone.
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Good of you to admit your mistake brigadierjohn - an example certain politicians would do well to learn from. I look forward to your next posting...may I suggest a change in rank to privatejohn perhaps? ;o)
Schadenfreude aside, and to pick up your original point, surely it would be a little strange if the farcical goings on in Labour attracted no comment. If the shoe was on the other foot...
To reply to my own posting (or is that like laughing at your own jokes in blogland?), I believe the edict has issued forth from Labour's London HQ that as many MPs and ministers as possible are to descend on Glasgow East. Also David Cameron is to put in an appearance, apparently accompanied by IDS (cough). Any Glasgow East constituents reading this? What do you feel about suddenly having all of these new best friends?
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Brian,
Just what is going on with your non-appearance on the blog this morning?? Just because the Labour Party is posted absent for the weekend is that any reason for you to follow suit??
Especially when there's a major story to report on - that being the potential emergence of Stephen Purcell as the NuLabour candidate. Just can't see it myself!
Why on earth would a NuLabour careerist risk his future in taking on this seat which will, at best, result in a slashed NuLabour majority and, at worst, the utter humiliation of losing the seat (to whomever)??
Just can't see Purcell giving up all the glory of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in return for being a non-entity in the increasingly anti-Scottish Labour environment of the English Parliament of Westminster, only to face further humiliation when they are swept from power by D Cameron et al.
If Purcell has a future in politics beyond Glasgow City Council, it surely resides at Holyrood and has anyone yet discounted him being drafted in to replace the weebendybringiton one??
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Re #40 glasgow_fed_up:
Perfect! Thanks for the update.
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#14 Blackivar
Your defence is seriously flawed.
Ridgebacks ordered? We have known for years the snatch landrovers were inappropriate, and yet only last month, it was a snatch landrover Sara Bryant died in with those TA SAS.
The aircraft carriers have had crucial labour saving technology taken out in order that the price tag goes no higher, to the point where the designed for crew will be unable to run the ship - another nimrodesque botch by our wonderful MOD.
There is real doubt in the RN whether enough money will be available to build the ships needed to form the battle group protection that would allow the carriers to deploy.
And do you really think that big ticket items do not curb spending on the minutiae that keeps body and soul together in Afghanistan?
Of course they do.
Don't believe me believe any number of Coroner and Parliamentary committee reports.
Just a few more reasons to consign Labour to the scrap heap ASAP.
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Post # 44:
"Just can't see Purcell giving up all the glory of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in return for being a non-entity in the increasingly anti-Scottish Labour environment of the English Parliament of Westminster, only to face further humiliation when they are swept from power by D Cameron et al."
I think you meant to say 'of the UK Parliament of Westminster' [not the English Parliament of Wetminster].
England, at present, doesn't have a say over its own own affairs. Scots, mostly, are deciding what happens in England.
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No 47,
No, I did not!
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#47 Jim_Thompson
UK parliament:
England:
over 280 Labour/labour like
190 Conservative/conservative like
48 LD
Scotland:
41 Labour
11 LD
6 SNP
1 Conservative
Wales:
30 Labour
4 LD
3 Plaid C
3 Conservative
NI:
18 various other parties
You do the arithmetic:
1. The Parliament is overwhelmingly English
2. The ruling party is overwhelmingly English
If the executive has a preponderance of Scots then it is English Labour MP's who put them there.
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Labour has not been able to find its megaphones yet - they were seized by the creditors to get back outstanding debts - oops sory they are going to be installed in those new Aircraft carriers which will no doubt be deployed to rescue ditched Nimrod crews.
Well you cant expect air - sea rescue to do it as I had been informed by the biased BBC that there is a shortage of helipcopters?
But then I heard that on a radio staion and not BBC TV!
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#49 impeachblair:
Population of the UK
England 51 Million = 83.6%
Scotland 5 Million = 8.2%
Wales 3 Million = 5.1%
N.I. 2 Million = 3.1%
The top jobs now and for the past 11 years have all been held by Scots
Tony Blair
Gordon Brown
John Reid
Des Browne
Alistair Darling
Douglas Alexander
.....
Even the speaker of the House of Commons is a Scot - even though it was the turn of the Conservatives, but Tony insisted on his pal getting the job.
The minor ministers have very little say (if they want to keep their jobs).
Like I said, it is the Scots who have deciding on England's affairs for the past 11 years; and also the affairs of the rest of the UK which are not devolved.
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Jim_Thompson
from 49 above
I repeat "You do the arithmetic:
1. The Parliament is overwhelmingly English
2. The ruling party is overwhelmingly English
If the executive has a preponderance of Scots then it is English Labour MP's who put them there."
The Government was put there by the voters, and English voters voted in 280 English Labour MP's, take it up with them, not us.
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Jim_Thompson:
If you do support the Union then what Nationality held important Cabinet positions would not be an issue. (We are all equal, we are all one Nation) You are showing prejudice feelings against those born in Scotland.
"Like I said, it is the Scots who have deciding on England's affairs for the past 11 years; and also the affairs of the rest of the UK which are not devolved."
You are wrong. The English MP's apart of Labour and the Conservatives have been deciding on Englands affairs for the past 11 years.
Tony Blair represented an English Constinuency as well.
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Brian:
That is true; the megaphones are at the ready for a big story...
~Dennis Junior~
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