Will they, won't they?
Will there be a UK General Election off the back of the Glasgow East "earthquake"? No. Next question?
If Gordon Brown felt unable to go to the country last autumn, he will scarcely be more encouraged as a consequence of defeat in Labour's hitherto third safest seat in Scotland.
It is, however, entertaining to ponder the prospect, posed by David Cameron, the Tory leader.
It is amusing, further, to note that Mr Cameron didn't, to my recollection, issue such an immediate challenge after his own party won in Crewe.
Then, he said that New Labour was over - but that the Tories still had to build support to prove they were worthy of replacing the UK government.
Why the difference? Two reasons. Firstly, the "me too" factor. Mr Cameron wants in on the show, presently dominated, entirely understandably, by the victorious SNP.
As Leader of the Opposition at Westminster, demanding an election is his instant news hit. Secondly, Mr Cameron knows that the PM is damaged yet further by this calamitous defeat - and wants to add to his grief by highlighting that plight.
Remember, though, that the Tories didn't do particularly well in Glasgow East. Yes, they took third place instead of fourth. But that was because the plateau of Liberal Democrat support in 2005 collapsed. The Tories still lost ground slightly in terms of voting share in this by-election.
Can we, however, draw lessons from this result for the general election? Extrapolating the swing, we find that Labour would be left with but a single seat at Westminster from Scotland.
I expect that Tom Clarke would perform personfully in that solitary role, Labour's answer to David Mundell.
Of course, this is nonsense. By-election swings are just that - they do not read through fully to general contests.
To be fair, the SNP are making no such claim - while, reasonably, delighting in a little mild sport at Labour's expense.
However, add Glasgow East to Crewe and to Henley, where Labour came fifth, and you produce a potent stew. Folk are plainly deeply discontented with the UK Labour government - and have deftly discerned the various ways to express that.
Is that solely down to Gordon Brown? No. It is a factor of the political cycle - they've been in power for more than a decade.
It is a factor of the news cycle - voters are collectively bored with them, just as they were with John Major's Tories.
It is a factor, above all, of economic difficulties. Folk are upset and looking for someone to kick.
Would changing the leader have made any difference? Don't think so. Do you seriously imagine that, in Shettleston, they were saying: "I won't vote for Gordon Brown. If only David Miliband were in charge.....where's that James Purnell....."
There is, however, an aspect where the leadership matters - and matters hugely.
If Gordon Brown isn't, solely, the problem, is he perhaps the solution? Does he have the answers, the qualities that matters to reverse this decline for his party?
If the party concludes that he does not, then there may be substantial pressure for him to step aside.
In which case, Britain would have the third Prime Minister from a single party within a single Westminster term. Which would not be credible. Which would mean a general election. Which Labour would not want. Which is why, further, it may well not happen, however grumpy individual Labour MPs may be.
Finally, for the avoidance of doubt, this blog should be read alongside my overnight contributions - which majored upon the SNP. More to come later.
PS: One or two of you may have been wondering why I wasn't on telly overnight, confining my musings to this blog and the wireless.
Snag is I sustained a few bumps and bruises from a minor accident towards the end of my holiday.
I stumbled on a stair and came into conflict with a tiled marble floor, losing narrowly after a recount.
Nothing too drastic. A slight fracture to the radius on my right arm (don't we all become medical experts with only the slightest provocation.) Plus a black eye, with five stitches above it.
Hand me that parrot and I could star in Treasure Island. But, for now at least, I am perhaps less than televisual. (What do you mean - so what else is new? Take that person's name.)
Actually, I have form in this regard. Prior to a previous General Election (think it was '97), I sustained a cut on the right side of my bonce following a clash on the football field with my late, great amigo Kenny Macintyre. (Yes, chums, I used to play football.)
I spent most of the campaign squinting sideways, but meaningfully, at the camera.
This time, I thought it best to spare the viewers. On Monday, I resembled the creature from the Black Lagoon.
As of today, the mood is Peter Lorre after an especially testing session with the gendarmerie.
For a few days at least, catch me on the wireless - and, of course, here Online.
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~28~RS~)
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Brian, is this discrimination? Self impossed or by others? A broadcaster or commentator is presumably not employed for his looks? Just because you beat yourself up surely does not mean you are any less of a person than you were before?
But I digress.
Labour now have a lot to answer for. They have made the biggest mistake in their entire history. Thinking Scotland was their safe territory they created a big local council: the scottish assembly. Jobs for the labour boys when they next lost Westminster.
The only problem is that Nats have got it sussed. With what little Labour talent there is located in Westminster, Labour's C team left in Scotland don't look too good against Alex Salmond (the SNP don't have anyone else of note).
Do 5 million Scotts really need 3 tiers of Government? Who pays?
This mess will have to be sorted out and soon. And not by independence.
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Gad to hear there was a reason for your absence in the coverage of the by-election last night, Brian. Your insights were missed, I dont think much of that Glenn Campbell as a near unsupported host. Get well soon.
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"Of course, this is nonsense. By-election swings are just that - they do not read through fully to general contests."
Still stuck with their head in the sand, the BBC lumbers on refusing to acknowledge the reality in front of their face.
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Speaking of the BBC facing reality; a big piece on what Mr Cameron, the leader of the no.3 party had to say about all this, but where's the big interview with the winners
Once upon a time Labour could count on the workers either voting for them or at worst staying at home in protest during a by-election, but certainly not voting Tory.
Their problem which they still can't get to grips with (and neither it seems can the BBC) is that in Scotland there is an increasingly credible positive alternative to Labour which doesn't involve the unthinkable vote for the Tories
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The SNP cabal in here might not like to hear it, but the oft-repeated 'by-election swings don't always follow through to general elections' is correct, more often than not. Voters don't mind giving their usual party a bit of a fright in a by-election, but tend to return to the fold for the real thing. At this moment in time, I'm glad there's no general election on the horizon, but only because I despise all the parties equally, so I'd rather not vote for any of them. Which, being named for a Suffragette great-aunt, is something I never thought I'd say. What passes for a 'politician' in this country is a joke. And a bad one at that.
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#3
I suspect you#ll find that Brian has history on his side whe he made that statement. Mid-term by-election shock swings where the result cannot change the Government are, generally, not repeated at General Elections (You do remember Govan don't you?)
The real test will be to see if the SNP can actually hold on to and consolidate their grasp on this seat in 2010. Last night's result now means that, instead of being one of the safest seats in the country, come the next General Election, it will be one of those 'key marginals' that are so important.
Add to this the fact that Labour's collapse is being inversely matched by a Conservative resurgence meaning there is a fair chance that the Tories could be in power again after 2010, combined with the fact that, time and again, the voting patterns in Scotland for Holyrood and Westmisnter elections show widely differing results, I don't think anyone can take anything for granted.
In the end, we won't know until that particular poll has been conducted; everything that comes between now and then is nothing more than speculation.
In the meantime, I wish Mr Mason well in his new post (however long he has it for - although I do actually hope that he gets an extended run at it).
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#5 GlasgowGooner
Believe it or not, we are already capable of working out that by election results are not general election results. Who'd have thought that, eh!?
But the tell-tale phrase in what you wrote is "more often than not". By election voters don't all automatically go back to voting for a different party.
You're trying to give the impression this by election falls into the temporary category and you don't know that. And no doubt you don't like to hear that as the usual tired denial will no doubt prove.
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I tend to be a swing voter in my politics, if slightly centre-left. But even I am willing to admit that the result here, although fantastic for the SNP and a good decision by those in Glasgow East, is not a realistic measure of who Scots across the country will vote for come the next general/holyrood elections.
However, what I do think that it has shown is that the SNP are currently gaining ground as a Scottish government against a pretty incompetent Labour party and Government in Westminister.
I'm happy to announce that the SNP will have my vote next election, as they scrapped the graduate endowment fee.
Besides that I've generally been impressed with a lot of their enactments, apart from the local income tax which seems I don't think will do what it says on the tin.
If they continue to show such good governance perhaps I will be one of those tempted to vote for independence in 2010.
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It is a remarkable outcome, that a seat that was Labour for 84 years is now no longer so. Governing parties never do well in by elections but this was still a bad result for them!
It is never healthy for one party to hold a seat for so long, and in Scotland as a whole, the last time any party other than Labour won a majority was the Conservatives in 1955. This is bad for democracy and it is good that it is changing. However, the tragedy for me is that the party to benefit from this change is the SNP.
The SNP try to be all things to all men and jump on whatever short term populist policies they can to get votes. Will the lives of the people in Glasgow East improve under the SNP? I seriously doubt it. The SNP won more by apathy than anything else, the 42% turnout says it all.
What we need is a creditable alternative to Labour that can offer real solutions and actually get people interested in politics.
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Well, I think this shows Gordon Brown that really, things are looking none too rosy. This is apparently the safest Labour seat in Scotland and they've lost it. The margin was narrow, yes, but what in a not-as-safe seat? There could have been a total landslide away from Labour.
I'll certainly be very interested to see what happens in the Autumn once Parliament reconvenes and the Labour Party Conference kicks off. Gordon Brown quite clearly has a lot of explaining to do and I think there may be more backlash from his own ranks than he thinks; remember that his leadership also has relevance to the local Labour MPs and MSPs and if he is perceived to be running the country badly (which he is) then the local M(S)Ps will also be the ones that suffer when the votes start getting counted.
Don't get me wrong, I dislike Alex Salmond and the SNP but at least in Scotland we enjoy some kind of freedom from all the NuLab rubbish that we see in English media. Labour's policies have started to backfire, especially those involving immigration and taxation, issues which directly affect the British public yet are brushed off with contempt by Gordon Brown. The British economy is also broken. Sure, there's a global economic downturn, but the UK could have weathered the storm much better had GB managed the UK's finances properly during the Blair era and continue to do so now... he hasn't and as a result we're watching the housing market collapse and unemployment rising.
I get the feeling that Gordon Brown's new policies of dropping fuel duty, punishing knife criminals harder, pledging to lower taxes etc... well, he's had a whole year to do that but he only does it now because it seriously looks, for the first time in eleven years, that Labour are on the knife-edge of defeat. Too little, too late. I hope nobody is fooled by this.
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Given the increasing likelihood of a Tory win at the next general election Labour might face the nightmare scenario that a vote for Labour will let the Tories control Scotland (via Westminster, as usual) again.
Imagine that as an SNP campaign slogan - a vote for Labour is a vote for the Tories.
Complicated business all round.
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I am touched and comforted to learn this morning that my many fans were thinking of me while I was fast asleep. Difficult to smoke a cigar - which I have never done in my life - under the bedclothes. But not difficult to work out who is sensitive, to the point of childish complaint, to impersonal comments.
But first, congratulations to Mr Mason and the SNP on a stunning victory. I suspect it won't alter the big picture, whatever that is now, but still worthy of much admiration. What may happen at a General Election is irrelevant.
I think #1 summed it all up pretty well. In the Scottish context Labour are useless, the SNP untested. But what happens when/if the Tories take Westminster?
Didn't the response to Brian's previous three blogs give a wonderful insight into the minds of the chattering classes? So that's where comedy scriptwriters get their ideas.
Lighten up, folks. You've won!
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Brian I am truly sorry for your injuries and hope you are well soon.
I am disappointed to hear so little about the SNP victory and the candidate himself. This was a stunning victory and although their may be an element of Labour discontent in the win, I note that did not transfer to any other party.
SNP had the best candidate and the win shows just as much confidence in the SNP as it does a revolt against Labour.
What will the BBC do in 18 months when Labour go, what will you do when eventually Alex Salmond is in a majority government in Scotland will you still ignore every positive thing about them.
I just do not think it unreasonable to want to hear about our own Scottish issues in this. I am sure the people in Glasgow east must be thinking that too.
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The differences between Glasgow East and previous SNP spectacular by-elections are legion.
1. Now the SNP have the most effective election machine in Scotland by some way, on Wednesday evening they said they had 42% of the vote, what did they get? - 42.5%.
2. Then labour had the numbers and the organisation, now the boot is on the other foot, with every constituency with significant numbers of SNP members, and even more importantly a high percentage of active members.
3. The SNP have over six hundred of councillors.
4. The SNP are in Government, and despite being in a minority have been very successful, getting many of their commitments realised.
5.The SNP have the aspirational high ground and this is welcomed by the wider population.
6. The SNP have a highly effective ministerial team in Salmond, Sturgeon, Swinney, Macaskill, Lochhead et al that make the UK Cabinet and Tory opposition look amateur.
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To digress slightly:
Could someone explain to my why Alex Salmond refereed to Labour (in his speech about the by-election results) as London Labour? Surely they are UK Labour, and as this was a UK election, rightly so. Does the SNP not like London or does Salmond use the term to make it sound as though it is a "Them vs. Us" issue? Someone in Manchester doesn't sit there thinking "Hmm do I vote for London Labour or London Conservatives?? In a Holyrood election calling them Scottish Labour is fine, but referring to them as London Labour at other times just seems petty to me.
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Excellent result, great for the SNP and great for Glasgow East; an SNP MP will actually try and help the area, not just swan off down to London and return to their South-side palace once a month.
Think Brown is a bit dead in the water. The only question now is when will a general election come? Will Labour hold it sooner, hoping to get in before the coming recession really makes things bad? Or will they "weather the storm", hoping to come out ahead in 2010?
Difficult to say.
I'm gonna take a guess that they'll try to "weather the storm", and as usual cock it up, falling sometime next year, possibly calling an election for May, more likely an October Revolution.
Oh, and No. 5 (GlasgowGooner):
I personally feel we have some very talented and charismatic politicians here in Scotland. Alex Salmond comes to mind, along with a lot of other SNP MSP's. But, as the old adage goes, either put up, or shut up. If you think you can do better, join the party of your choice, make a new one or become an "independent", and put your name on the ballot. Let the people decide if you're right, and you're the sole voice of care in an ocean of self-serving viperous politicians, or if they think you're just one more fruit for the cake.
I would rather someone voted BNP than not voted at all. Obviously I'd rather they voted for a real party instead of the British Nazi Party. But expressing a vote is better than not. People died for your right to vote. So even if it's for yourself, or the Monster Raving delegate, vote. It's the right thing to do.
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Get well soon, Brian You were missed.
Your colleague Glen Campbell's approach is distinctly weird. badgering Mason and Salmond last night about "Is this a victory for Mason or Salmond" as if that was an issue. Well actually Glen it was a victory for the SNP. That's how our political works.
Then today he repeats "If Labour had persuaded just 183 people to vote for them rather than SNP, it would be a very different result!" Duh?? It would still have been a disaster for Labour.
Labour lost a 13,507 majority!!! Trying to dress that up that as some kind of minor 183 vote blip should be left to whining political losers rather us paying Glen Campbell. to perform that service for them.
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The Scottish National Party has managed to prove that, even against all the Polls they are capable of coming out on top.
I hope that once the general election is announced that the Scottish National Party can remain and gain more seats. They have to continue to convince the Scottish population that there are alternatives to Labour who are perfectly capable of taking on the Tories and they are that Party.
Labour are on the verge of their biggest defeat in history.
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Brian
What the BBC and some of your bloggers forget when talking about past by-election results is the new dynamics in Scottish politics.
Polls are now showing that the SNP would take a higher % of the vote in a Westminster general election than the Labour party. That has never been the case before, so every gain for the SNP has a far better chance of being consolidated at a general election than ever before.
More specifically in Glasgow East John Mason will have a track record of his work for his constituents that will far exceed his predecessor, not that that would be hard by all accounts.
The choice for Labour surely is go for a general election this autumn and loose by about 150 seats, or cling on for the next two years and risk the same fate as the conservatives in Canada in 1995.
Either way for Brown and Labour the games a bogey as they say in the wonderful Kingdom.
P.S. Can you tell Glen Campbell to get his head out of the sand. His pain is so obvious. He must have missed the BBC,s impartiality induction course.
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#9 edinchris - "Will the lives of the people in Glasgow East improve under the SNP?"
Yes, undoubtedly, the Labour Westminster Government (and City Council) will invest in the East End in a way not seen before to try and win the seat back from the SNP. Even if Labour win it back in 2010, then the seat will continue to enjoy additional funding from Labour politicians in government at all levels. If you doubt this, look at what Govan has received over the years in comparison to the East End!
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Incidentally, the SNP don't have 600 councillors, that would be half of the total in Scotland! They have 363 out if the 1214 in Scotland, they are the biggest party in local government but not by that much.
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Re - 13
"The SNP had the best candidate..." Don't think so. What should be more worrying for Labour is that they won despite having a poor candidate. The Lib Dem guy came over best and lost his deposit.
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I wouldnt normally join in your Scottish blogs i have enough sport with the English Labour supporters.
What the Beeb and the reds seem to have missed is that this by-election swing is unprecedented.
The beeb bloggers themselves were saying just yesterday they expected a 15% swing but couldnt see where the other 7% was coming from. A 7% margin of error is huge I think I am right in saying that a margin of error swing alone would put paid to labour in Wesminster
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The possibility of the seat returning to Labour isn't the question here. What this result needs to be looked at is within the context of past SNP by election victories. In 67, Winnie Ewing's victory established the SNP as a real political party in Scotland. In 74, Margo's victory in Govan was the pre-cursor of the SNP 'surge' that saw the party gain 11 MP's that year and ultimately lead to the 79 referendum. Jim Sillars' Govan victory drove Labour back onto the devolution highway which they had been trying to avoid for years. That victory eventually led to the referendum of 97 and the Scottish Parliament. Roseanna Cunninghame's victory in Perth began the end of the Tories as a Westminster party in Scotland. Look at Glasgow East in that context and ask to where it may lead. With the prospect of a generation of Tory power looming on the not too distant horizon, many leftward leaning people in Scotland may now start to regard independence as a real option. The tectonic plates are moving out there!
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If the Lib Dem guy has any sense he will join the SNP today.
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Brian are you sure you didn't have one bottle of Buckfast too many in anticipation of the SNP's victory?
You young rascal (bit of flattery never goes amiss).....come out from behind your unionist skirt and show us your nationalist credentials.....but not before the 9 0'clock watershed of course.....we don't want to frighten the horses etc.
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Re #19 dubbieside
While agreeing with you about BBC partiality, STV in general and Bernard Ponsonby in particular were little better in that respect in their election coverage.
Where they were streets ahead of the BBC is in the fact that they streamed their coverage live for us expats. I'd actually hoped to listen to the coverage on BBC Radio Scotland (the iPlayer only allows radio outside the UK) but just as the action was about to hot up they switched from the advertised election special to the MW jazz programme.
At least the BBC's night mods were very kind, allowing all of my inconsequential posts re the STV coverage, for the benefit of an expat in New Zealand, on the "Do you feel lucky?" thread.
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I hope you recover soon from your injuries Brian,and I look forward to seeing you on the BBC special that covers the Motherwell by election result,if Jack McConnel ever has the guts to resign his seat.Or is the mere prospect of another by election enough to fill Labour MPs minds with thoughts of mutiny I wonder..?
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@Number 15:
Mr Salmond's point is that 'Scottish' Labour are simply the Scottish branch of a UK party whose politicians take their orders from party HQ in London, in comparison to the SNP who are an entirely Scottish party. Essentially Labour have to worry about pleasing middle-class voters in the south east of England (see for example their recent benefits policy announcement straight from the Daily Mail) while the SNP don't.
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John Mason may not have come across as an impressive candidate on television, but I can assure you, as a Garrowhill resident, that as our local councillor, he has done more for our part of the East End than any Labour politician in decades. He wasn't afraid to stand up to the Labour group in the City Chambers when he was the only SNP councillor in Glasgow, and I don't think he'll shirk the challenge of standing up to the government to get a better deal for the people of the East End. And as far as Margaret curran is concerned, I feel that she got what she deserved in this election. she has been a non-existant force in our local political scene, and she has paid the price. I was dying for one of the interviewers or questioners in any of the television debates to ask her to name one solitary thing that either she or David Marshall had done in their combined 38 years of office that had improved the life of her constituents. The answer of course would be nothing. Unless you count David Marshall pocketing expenses from the commons. At least he lives in the constituency. I thought the Lib Dems and the Tories fought a strong campaign. I suspect if the Lib Dem guy had stood for the SNP he would have wiped the floor with Curran. When John Mason won the council by-election in 98, people thought he would lose the seat right away at the next election, but through his good work, he consolidated his position, and I hope that he gets time to do the same thing in this seat. My fellow East Enders deserve nothing less than proper representation, and not to be taken for granted, for once.
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#22 Personally i dont know John Mason or saw any of the debates on tv, so you saying he wasnt the best candidate is something i cant argue with. But i know one thing....he is in the best party.
#15 Sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe others would join him !!
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I'd point out another difference in this "shock" by-election result to some previous examples, referred to in other posts, that make this less of a one-off protest vote that is unlikely to be repeated or built upon.
The difference in some past cases was that the SNP were obviously a protest vote. Electing an SNP member was a slap in the face for the government. The SNP was 100 anti-establishment, with no real prospect of power themselves.
Now the SNP are a government. In recent Scottish terms, a Government that is just as high profile in terms of media coverage as the Labour government in Westminster. That Glasgow East, chose a party of Government as a "protest vote" is an entirely new ball game.
Obviously, in part, it was a protest vote, but it also, inherently, was a vote of approval for the SNP Government in Scotland.
Glasgow East had 2 governments it could have chosen to protest against if it wanted to. It speaks volumes that it chose to give one a kicking, while giving the other a round of applause.
I doubt we'll see a 22% swing to the SNP in the next general election. I do not doubt that we will see a significant swing in their direction however, and a significant increase in the number of SNP MPs returned.
How big that swing is depends on the performance of Labour and the SNP over the next 2 years (Bleeding obvious I know!). Current polls already have the SNP ahead of Labour, and with all the momentum. Very interesting times.
Bring it on!
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Off topic I know, but is it not time that one of the many circulation-falling "national" newspapers in Scotland adopted the SNP as their cause. With so much of the print medium going down the pan you would think at least one of them would give it a try.
I haven't bought a newspaper regularly for years as I am sick of their anti-SNP political coverage. Would buy a pro-SNP one though.
Just a thought.
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# 12
"I am touched and comforted to learn this morning that my many fans were thinking of me while I was fast asleep."
Well, touched, that's for sure.
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Brian I was delighted you weren't around actually. Your devotion to Labour is vomit-inducing and it also offends people like me who pay a licence fee to the BBC and hope for impartial reporting not Party-Political claptrap. Brewer and Campbell are in the same category and BBC Scotland is a disgrace when it comes to breaking rules governing impartiality in Politics. Michael Crick was the only one with the guts to confront Curran about David Marshall. The rest of you have given her an easy ride for weeks, even to the extent of opening the first public debate between the candidates with a non-story from Mike Dailly of the Govan Law Centre in order to get Mason off to a bad start. In fact the non-story including an ending which proved the Scottish Government had not victimised Dailly in the least. But then why let the facts get in the way of an attempt to smear the SNP and of course the fact that Dailly is a Labour Party Member was just a coincidence. So don't take yourself seriously as a political commentator Brian, no one else does.
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Rab I don't want newspapers who are pro-any particular political party. I want a responsible press who will hold politicians to account and print political news in a spin in order to make it look good for their favoured Party.
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@29
Then why does Salmond not refer to SNP MPs as London SNP, they are based in London afer all. If Salmond needed to make the distinction then he should refer to Labour as UK Labour, to say London Labour suggests an anti-London bias (not that that bothers me as a northerner).
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Guess that puts the final stop on Jack jetting off to Malawi then - NuLab won't want to risk another voluntary by-election between now and the asteroid strike. Any thoughts that Wendy may have had of slipping quietly off stage right into a comfy professorship have gone as well....Sorry Guys, you're stuck in Holyrood until after Broon Goes Doon in 2010
Davena Rankin and Ian Robertson - Your Country Needs You ! Why not try to get into oor pretendy wee parly up here rather than trying to pick up your John Lewis Catalogues - it would be rather nice if the SNP had some decent, sensible "opposition" for a change rather than the faceless and talentless ranks of Northern Britain NuLab. Work for Scotland and not for a Dying Union !
Incidentally, did anyone see any "Big" Labour names around ? Broon ? Darling ? Des-Nice-But-Dim ? Maybe even Harriet ? Dr John , Chairman of some club that have their stadium in the centre of Glasgow East ? Or even some of our local worthies ? Any reports of Mr Purcell on the streets of the east ? Cathy J ? Ian Grey ? His Lordship G. Foulkes ?
Or maybe they knew something that they weren't prepared to admit ?
It's Comin' yet, for a' that ! Start queuing for your Scottish Passports Now. That is, if we manage to become Independent before the Passport Agency closes the Glasgow Passport Office !
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Congratulations to the SNP. I would like to address the criticism of Alex Salmond in referring to London Labour. His reference is correct. New Labour is about courting the English (largely southern) Middle Classes.
They have taken, and continue to take, for granted their core voters who (used to) vote for them unquestioningly and en masse whether they were in Glasgow or Rhondda (or even Rotherham).
The SNP is right for Scotland in delivering what its people need. In an ideal world they'll bring those in Labour who still care about their people to their senses and work for the greater good. But in the meantime they are driving Scotland on just as Plaid have kicked Labour in coalition into line and back to delivering for the people of Wales in line with good old fashioned socialist values.
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#37 andfreedom
Because, as MrCynical (#29) has already explained to you, it's not where they're based, it's where they take their orders from that Salmond is putting the spotlight on by using the term "London Labour".
Scottish Labour MPs take their orders from London. Is that clear enough for you now?
You'll be suggesting next that Salmond refer to his Westiminster MPs as "Edinburgh SNP" because Edinburgh is where they take their orders from. But that, of course, would be as ridiculous as the point your trying to make.
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Brian,just heard on the radio from some Labour chap saying he hopes Mr Mason enjoys his trip to London and his seat on the green bench because it won't last long till they get back in at the general election(the only true test,according to this guy).However I'm not so sure.
He seemed particularly ticked off at all the wasted votes for the SNP,who really don't want or need to be there,letting in the Tories at the next general election,when they should be voting Labour to keep up the big majority.He further seemed put out that the SNP calls itself social democratic but seems to ally itself at Holyrood with non-socialist parties rather than their natural ally in Labour(a left of centre party,at one time,apparently!).
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Brian, for God's sake put some slap on your black eye and get yourself back where you belong...I have just listened to Glen Campbell telling us that if only Labour had managed to persuade another 300-odd Labour voters out they'd have won! What a rediculous thing to say. He forgets or perhaps willfully omits the fact that Labour LOST 13,000 votes!!!
I watch BBC News for proper, unbiased political analysis, not to hear an obviously partisan reporter. Mind you, he looks rather young, perhaps he has yet to achieve the age of reason.
Oh and please, please let Margaret Curran become the Labour Leader at Holyrood. I can't wait to see Wee Eck, Aunty Annabel and Ross Finnie playing Punch to her Judy
Now I have to be off to a darkened room coz all this happy news has me weak at the knees!
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I realise that for years the Scottish media has colluded with the Labour establishment to paint a picture of SNP supporters/activists/MPs etc as slightly deranged fantasists with no grasp of the prevailing 'realpolitik'. We do not, however, need reminding in every blog and comment that by-election results rarely transfer directly to General Election results (Westminster or Holyrood variety). Most of us, I assure you, are perfectly aware of this.
That said, I think some Labour supporters are now the ones in danger of becoming deluded dreamers. I have watched a procession of party apparatchiks wheeled out throughout today to spout the party line that "Yes, we are listening." "It's a global problem." "Gordon Brown is the best man for the job." etc...
How long before these people realise that their own Iron Curtain is threatening to corrode completely (from the inside out I may add) and that there truly is a new political reality north of Hadrian's Wall.
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We really did miss your commentary last night, fully agree that Glenn Campbell was totally out of his depth and thought he was very rude while interviewing John Mason and Alex Salmond. Will listen out for you on radio til your bruises fade. Best wishes.
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As an SNP supporter I bear you no personal ill will and trust your body mends quickly. I thank you als for taking the heat off me, How? My wife thinks you would not have slipped if you had lost a few stones! OUCH.
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#43 crazyislander
What's happening is that with each new SNP success the biased comments are becoming more obvious and more outrageous.
Where the bias was previously somewhat covert and subtle they are now being forced by more damaging SNP successes into more blatant and ridiculous "omissions" like the one you have just pointed out. Naturally this means the bias is becoming obvious to more and more people.
Panicked that the SNP might actually win this seat they were forced to break cover with a totally fabricated anti-SNP propaganda story just prior to the first televised "debate" between the candidates that was so ridiculously biased that other posters are still commenting on it today (see #35 above).
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#39
Your post is quite disappointing.
The Scottish National Party are united with their goal of achieving Scottish Independence. However, I would not suggest that Independence would be the Scottish National Parties main priority. I would suggest the Scottish National Party are attempting to build a better future for Scotland, to build confidence in ourselves to one day we are comfortable to become Independent.
Labour tend to claim that the Scottish National Party would put Independence before everything. The Scottish public have to realise that the Scottish National Party will always put Scotland first before Independence because at the end of the day we are the people who will decide to leave the Union or not...not the Scottish National Party.
The Commonwealth Games is quite an unusual case. Could you share information with the rest of the bloggers here that show, who exactly is funding the Commonwealth Games?
Also, by claiming that the SNP and BNP should stick together is where you lost my respect. You are either clueless to Scottish Politics and what the SNP are about or are scaremongering to show the SNP as radical racists like what the BNP are.
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#48 Thomas_Porter -
We learned all we need to know about masingo when he used the phrase: "massive chips on their shoulders".
As a Scot you'll know exactly what I mean.
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Brian:
By the looks of things; in 2008, there was no general elections in the United Kingdom....
~Dennis Junior~
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