Don’t get fooled again, Springburn – look at Labour’s record and weep…

I wrote this in 2009 after Michael Martin, Labour MP for Glasgow North East and the Speaker of the House of Commons had announced his decision on the 19th of May to resign, to forestall the imminent historic humiliation of being the first Speaker in history to be forced out by a vote of no confidence. I really believed that the electors of Springburn, a district I had known well all my life, would awaken from their fantasy that Labour was on their side.

Not only was I wrong in November 2009 at the by-election, but wrong again at the 2010 General election in May 2010.

Despite all that has since happened, including the ignominious defeat of the hapless Gordon Brown Government, leaving us with the nightmare of the Coalition, the Ashcroft poll shows that Springburn is still set to do it again, lemming-like.

But the SNP has a strong candidate in Anne McLaughlin this time, and perhaps the electors will finally learn the lesson that the rest  of Glasgow has – Labour is no longer the people’s party.

Don't get fooled again, Springburn!

 

The 2009  Moridura blog

FRIDAY, 22 MAY 2009 

I wondered just how long it would take for Alf Young of the Herald to decide that a general election would be a bad thing right now, and here he is on cue today saying just that.

For those of you unfamiliar with Alf's deeply coded messages, let me translate - if a general election was announced swiftly, Labour would be wiped out at the polls, the Tories would win  in England, and the rickety United Kingdom would have a Tory government, making it completely unrepresentative of the will of the Scottish people.

The new Westminster government could not then deny the Scottish people a referendum on independence, which would happen around the time of the Scottish Parliamentary election in 2011, with the SNP being returned with a decisive working majority. The likely outcome would be a decisive vote for the freedom of Scotland.

This must not be allowed to happen. In the fantasy world of the Herald, the Scotsman and the Scottish Unionist, the general election must be deferred as long as possible, giving Gordon Brown's corrupt, incompetent, indecisive and rotten administration time - time to recover credibility over the next few months, aided by the full weight of the Scottish unionist press, more defence jobs bribery, more judicious patronage, as many distorted scare stories as can be mustered, and ideally a nice popular, winnable war against some far off country - the Falklands Factor.

But there's a worm in Alf and Labour's apple - it's called Glasgow North East, better known as Springburn, and a by-election is imminent. How imminent?

Well, it could be July, but if Alf's logic is applied, it could be deferred till September or October, and this would sit well with Gordon Brown's electoral cowardice and reflex procrastination instincts.

A recent Channel Four News report covered Springburn and Labour, gained great moral force by being presented by Sarah Smith, the daughter of Labour's lost Leader, John Smith.

Here are a few facts.

Under Labour for generations, and in recent times while its Labour MP, Michael Martin was one of the most powerful politicians in the land, Springburn has

about two and a half times the national rate of unemployment.

life expectancy 12 years lower than more prosperous parts of Scotland.

almost 12% more smokers, and 5% more deaths from smoking than the Scottish average

widespread deprivation and urban decline

The Channel Four documentary quoted an old Springburn joke - "You can't join the Labour Party in Springburn - it's already full!"

But most of the Labour voters questioned said bluntly that that old reflex loyalty could no longer be relied upon.

What Sarah Smith devastatingly stated as "the breach of trust between the party that is supposed to fight for the underprivileged and the people who need it the most" will be in the forefront of Springburn voters minds when they go to the polling stations.

Professor John Curtice of Strathclyde University caught the echoes of the questions from last year's Glasgow East campaign - "What has the Labour Party ever done for this constituency? It's still as impoverished as it ever was ..." Glasgow North East is even more impoverished.

What was Michael Martin doing? He was living in a palatial palace as Speaker, and he was implicated in an expenses system where MPs were making claims related to luxury items of home furnishing when people in Glasgow North East were struggling to get basic, essential items, such as cookers and fridges.

Don't get fooled again, Springburn.

Don't be fooled by politicians who make snap appearances at old ladies's lunch clubs, smile and twinkle, then disappear in a chauffeur-driven hired limousine to grand civic functions and expensive dinners.

Don't be fooled by little successful interventions into small grievances when the main structural decline of your community and your life is accelerating unchecked.

This is not the Labour you knew for so many years, in opposition, fighting against the evil Tories, who could be blamed for everything - this is Labour who have been in government for 12 years, yet have frittered away the resources of the nation and the lives of Scottish servicemen and women in foreign wars, the party that is cutting the Scottish budget for essential services by £500 million pounds while spending fifty times that - £25 billion pounds - on outmoded. irrelevant weapons of mass destruction.

Don't get fooled again Springburn!

Vote for the party of your ain folk, the Scottish National Party.

An appeal from a unionist comedian - Eddie Izzard - and my reply …

Hi Peter,

I'm Eddie Izzard, and I'm writing to you as a fellow Yes to Fairer Votes campaigner.

I probably don't need to tell you that this is a once-in-a-generation chance to change our electoral system. You are already helping us ditch our regressive and unfair first past the post voting system.
But I do need to ask you to make a donation to the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign, so that they can provide all the resources we need to campaign for better politics, loud and clear.

It's time for change. It's time for a better voting system. Make a donation today to make this happen.

My reply to Eddie Izzard -

I want nothing to do with Eddie Izzard or his campaigns. He campaigned for Labour in the Springburn by-election, ensuring the perpetuation of Labour venality, greed and neglect of the one of the most deprived areas of Glasgow. He used the UK and his celebrity to interfere in a political situation in an area he knows nothing about, Scotland and Glasgow.

Until Scotland is independent, get the hell out of our politics, Eddie. Your comic genius is always welcome, and if you want to to live, work and make your base in Scotland, you will be equally welcome to express your political views and campaign for Labour.

Until then, as a Glaswegian born and bred - I ask you to please stay away.

Saor Alba!

Peter Curran

The Herald - the fearless, objective voice of Scotland. Aye, right ---

What's the big story today? The Independent gives the answer in its headline and lead story - MPs and expenses: the final damning verdict - 'Culture of dishonesty at Westminster allowed politicians to line their pockets

The figures tell the sorry tale - a majority of MPs (52%) are named by Legg as making excessive claims, and a total of £1.16m must be repaid. In other words, most of our elected representatives in this corrupt Parliament and decaying democracy are guilty of ripping off the people who elected them. This cesspit was presided over and defended by one Michael Martin, a Labour MP who held the office of Speaker, who resigned in disgrace, and who is now a Lord.

The highest dodgy claim was made by a Labour Baroness, Barbara Follett. A number of Labour MPs, including notable Scottish examples, are in disgrace over their claims, and will not contest their seats at the general election. Some may face criminal prosecution.

Is this the big story in the Herald? Of course not - something had to be found to obscure the evidence of the rotten political system in this United Kingdom; the Scottish people had to be focused on something else and quickly, and the Herald rose to the challenge, closely followed as always by STV.

The STV newsreader quaintly described the number of MPs on the fiddle as "over 300". Well, yes - if you regard 390 as simply being "over 300". Perhaps "almost 400" might have been closer to the truth.

The First Minister and the Deputy First Minister had been fund raising for the SNP through a method used by political parties everywhere throughout political history - fund raising lunches and dinners with senior party figures. I was going to say time-honoured - or hallowed by time - but frankly these practices are neither honourable nor hallowed. I wish my party wouldn't use them, especially when they involve the use of Parliamentary premises. However honourable the intent or the implementation, they smack of favours for cash.

But this example must be placed in context. The SNP is faced with hostile media, biased to the Union. The kind of donors eagerly and profitably solicited by the major parties would not support the SNP, nor would the SNP accept their tarnished support. But the Tories have a long record of this, indeed one might almost say it is what Tories are all about. Labour is up to its neck in it, through its noble Lords and its MPs and Cabinet Ministers, often getting into bed with the very people that are profiting from the UK's lunatic and suicidal wars. The LibDems recently accepted a massive donation from a convicted criminal and refused point blank to give the money back.

Nonetheless, this kind of thing is a bit of an own goal. Gonnae no dae that again, Alex and Nicola?