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Monday 2 May 2011

A year on, remember the man who let the ConLib Coalition have power - John Reid

With the Scottish Parliamentary election imminent, let’s remember the senior Scottish Labour figure - John Reid - who wrecked Gordon Brown’s attempt to negotiate a Rainbow coalition with the LibDems and the nationalist parties, effectively acting as midwife to the birth of of a monstrous thing - the Tory/LibDem Coalition - the thing that Ed Miliband’s Labour claims to be fighting against.


 Here’s what I said just under a year ago -

May 10th 2010 - Moridura’s comment

I listened with increasing incredulity to John Reid, former Labour Home Secretary and Cabinet Minister, as he calmly rubbished the prospect of a LibLab pact and a rainbow coalition just after Gordon Brown, the Labour Prime Minister had already fallen on two of his swords his premiership and his leadership of the Labour Party to permit negotiations to go ahead with Nick Clegg and his team to try and stop a Cameron-led Tory Government.

David Dimbleby's loaded question was - Did John Reid think there was a danger of a coalition of the losers ?

Since Reid is too old a hand at responding to BBC inquisitors - however exalted - to be gulled into an ill-considered expression of views, we must assume that every word was uttered with a purpose.

Reid opened with a token remark that Gordon Brown was wise and dignified in saying that he would step down, but this was immediately followed with a " but I'm afraid that I think it is a very bad mistake to contemplate and to propose and I suppose, to entice a LibLab coalition."

Don’t hide your feelings John - say what you mean …

"I think it is bad for the country. I think it will prove pretty disastrous for both parties in it in fact, I think its bad for Gordon as well."

He went on to say that such a coalition would be inherently unstable, since Labour and the LibDems have no overall majority and ‘would be dependent on the votes of assorted Scot nationalists’ (sic) and the parties in Northern Ireland.

Reid went on in similar vein, coldly ignoring the fact that his fellow Scots - especially his fellow Labour voters - had just delivered a massive Niet to the Tories and to a Cameron government, having been specifically and repeatedly enjoined to do so in the Labour campaign by virtually every member of the Labour Cabinet.

Scotland has just delivered a resounding No to a Tory government, and after Gordon Brown’s dual sacrifice of his political career and premiership, with a finely judged negotiating strategy and the support of fellow Scots, that outcome could just be achieved.

But John Reid has his eye fixed on the national interest. By this he means, of course, the UK, not the nation of his birth, and in this definition of the national interest at least, he is squarely in the camp of his fellow Unionist and Scot, Sir Menzies Campbell.

But why not? After all, both of them have had glittering careers courtesy of the high road to England and the British Establishment.

Both Votes SNP

on May 5th

5 comments:

  1. John Reid : The Complete B*****d Guide to Being a Brit Nat

    This will be the title of his biography one day.

    Everything you said is so true and interestingly David Steel was all up for a deal with the Labourites.

    Notice how he didn't want the smaller parties getting special treatment for Scotland and wales etc.

    He got his wish.

    Ed Milliband has the nerve to say Labour would be the best defence of Scotland.

    His future biography : The Complete B*****d's Guide to Stabbing Your Siblings in the Back

    I don't know Labour party history well enough to know if Milli Ed doing that to his brother is a one-off (knowing Labour's apparently endless desire to knife anyone in their way I doubt it). The Gray munchkins managed to do Wendy Alexander.

    The biography for Gray : How to Make the Most out of Machiavellian Mediocrity to Become Leader of the Mediocre.

    A rather long title I grant you but he is so instantly forgettable he needs a big title to be even noticed.

    Dear Lord, imagine the endless anecdotal stories of his heroism on the 'killing fields' of Glasgow Central; the flight for his life to Subway sandwich sanctury; the Asda chronicles; the angry munchkin moments during leaders' debates...

    phew, exciting stuff, I'll have to take a rest now.

    Scottish republic signing off.
    I know it says natha but the whole identity thing here is conspiring against me.

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  2. Perhaps it would be better to reflect that Labour, in no way, wanted to continue in government with the mess they had created.

    Methinks there is no political regeneration unit working inside the Labour Party; something, which is abundantly clear in Scotland and to hear Ed Milliband's recent utterances concerning Scotland, there is no reliable feedback getting to him either.

    Alex Salmond is right to say we need ambition to go forward and one party only offering that - the SNP.

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  3. Peter,

    Spot on with your analysis of Reid, but I'm surprised you make no mention of his being the front man, with Cameron, of the No2AV campaign, with yet more lies.

    What I don't understand is why so many in Scotland seem determined to spoil their AV ballots by leaving them blank and writing INDEPENDENCE on them.

    That may just hurt the L-Ds a little more than they're already due to be hurt on Thursday, but it will bring comfort to Reid and Cameron.

    OTOH, voting YES and writing INDEPENDENCE on the ballot will hurt both Reid and Cameron, since the vote will still be valid provided it doesn't identify you personally.

    With the turnout in England likely to be very low, it might even be enough to grant overall victory for YES despite England voting NO.

    Alternatively Scotland may vote YES but be overwhelmed by English NOes.

    Either way would emphasise the fault lines in UK politics.

    The only thing not to like is if Scotland votes NO thanks to the spoilt ballots.

    With the FM on record as saying he will vote YES and the SNP - whilst justifiably deploring the date of the referendum - formally recommending a YES vote, I cannot for the life of me understand why some SNP supporters want to throw away this opportunity.

    Granted, AV is a tiny step forward but it is slightly less awful than FPTP.

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  4. Thanks, Barbazenzero.

    I agree with you on the UK AV ballot paper. While I understand the impulse to spoil the ballot paper (I had it myself) it would be the wrong decision. The UK and Westminster will regrettably be with us for some years yet, and it makes as much sense to spoil the AV ballot paper as it would to spoil a UK ballot paper in a general election.

    A vote for AV by most Scots might just tip the balance away from the unscrupulous and blatantly lying NO campaigners.

    One small step ... etc.

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