Conor Mckay - Wikipedia

Nice to see youngster's getting involved in Politics, particularly when you know them well. Conor is the son of one of my wife's good schoolfriends and his brother Aiden, is my wife's godson.

Conor Mckay - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Imperialism lives on!

Imperialism lives on!

Group claims EU imperial victory

Crap Coverage

Friday was a bit of a bad day for personal reasons I'm not going to mention, but a bit before that all happened the event mentioned happened, and I must admit I was a bit bemused at the time and wondered if I had really heard it right.

Anyway 12 hours later I remembered about it and thought it was worth mentioning as it was definitely the funniest moment I could recall in the election coverage, even surpassing watching our Jack stumble through his acceptance speech, the Arran boat saga, wondering why Ms Sturgeon should be called "Gnasher" and the debates on what Mr Eugenides should drink (A flaming anti-freeze, margarita and toilet duck cocktails with a brolly and a twist of lemon).

I thought Iain might ignore it, I would have, but he fessed up really well. As one of the comments on his blog says

I can't imagine any politician except Iain being honest enough to say 'had to answer a call of nature'.

That honesty is the main reason I look at your blog every day, Iain - though, admittedly, hearing you fart and so on was a little too much realism :)

If only these politicians had brain enough to learn that honesty is what the electorate long for. Spin and scripted presentation - even when designed to appear unscripted - are just massive turn electoral offs.

Politicians, burn your bloody scripts, forget the over-sculpted, apparatchick hair styles and personas and please, please, please speak from the heart - if you have hearts, that is.

Thanks for the moment Iain, I just don't want to dream about it again.

Iain Dale's Diary: Great Television Moments: No 94

Labour "Soor Plums"

According to the Telegraph and other sources Labour have taken the hump, a bit like their future Leader MaCavity Brown, and are apparently looking to challenge the result of the vote in Cunninghame North constituency which was won by just 49 votes by the SNP. This is the constituency which includes Arran and had a problem getting the votes delivered by boat. According to Labour

When the ballot boxes arrived they had been opened and some of the papers inside were wet.

Which is not surprising considering what they had gone through, anybody who has seen the boxes might understand why they might have been a bit battered, even if they hadn't been attacked by a golf club waving senior citizen.

Whilst this might appear to mean they would then be back in control of the Scottish Parliament, it is more likely that they would then drop one from the regional list which would go back to the SNP, which means no change in the number of MSP's for either party. The BBC has more on the story here.

If Labour does press for a review of this, they are more than likely going to open up a huge can of worms that they may prefer to leave closed, but as the columnist in the Telegraph says

... as I learnt from reporting on the murky world of Scottish politics, it pays never to underestimate the Scottish Labour party's arrogance and stupidity (a fatal combination in the affairs of a country) when it is backed into a corner. And so it is proving in Thursday's aftermath.

Continuing in the Telegraph is a litany of how the Labour Party in Scotland is having a severe sour grapes problem (should I have said soor plums). These include

• Jack McConnell stuttering and muttering about how he still wants to form a Government.
• Others saying it was just one seat so they are still within their rights to govern.

Nobody like a bad loser and this is what they are, granted that if after 50 years it is a bit of a shock to them, their supporters and their lackeys in the Scottish Media.

Any attempt to back-door a win in this election will inevitably create a huge backlash against them so let's hope they try and then fail.


Humility and guile: a plan to save the Union