I was positive Jeff Breslin was referring to a spoof website when he first uttered the words Labour Hame a few months ago, and I would have been even more sure that Tory Hoose was the figment of some wicked Cybernat's imagination if I hadn't read about it yesterday in a deadly serious Evening Times article about Ruth Davidson's leadership bid. Apparently it's been going for some time now, I must have been living down a hole.
So Rennie's mob are now in serious danger of having no Scots word for 'primary residence' left if they want to join in the fun with a site of their own. But perhaps, to reflect the prevailing political situation, they should simply set up a small annex to Tory Hoose, and call it Lib Dem Bidie-in.
How about The Lib-Dem Annex(ed)?
ReplyDeleteOr, to reflect their ever diminishing representation at Holyrood, Lib-Dem Tent? (with Charlie Kennedy outside pissing in?)
I also feel that 'howff' and 'gaff' have the requisite tang of cosy dilapidation.
Davie Park.
On Twitter a little while back I suggested "LibDem But n' Ben" and I stick with that!
ReplyDeleteI suppose they say don't judge a book by its cover James. I thought Labour Hame was positively garish, in name and design, when I first saw it but the content has been consistently excellent for much of the time since (with a few blips admittedly, as all blogs will inevitably have).
ReplyDeleteIt's run out of puff a bit recently but I think Tory Hoose isn't of the same calibre. It seems a bit amateurish but, still, nice to finally have a bit of Scottish Tory online presence.
The Lib Dems do have WiLD Women but maybe something bigger will be on its way, who knows.
The big one of course is the SNP and whether they'll find a way to harness the sympathetic online 'energy' in their favour.
Jeff, from the little I've seen of it, Tory Hoose seems to be a completely different animal to Labour Hame - it's predominantly a news and punditry site, as opposed to genuine 'discussion of the way forward'. I agree that a lot of the actual articles on Labour Hame have been of an extremely high standard, but unfortunately our old friend "Admin for First Minister" seems to be hellbent on undermining the reputation of his own site with some of his antics!
ReplyDeleteI doubt if the SNP hierarchy really sees any urgent need for an 'SNP List'-type site at the moment, so if it happens any time soon it would probably have to be someone's private project - and it would also have to be someone of sufficient stature within the party to attract high-calibre writers. (Someone like Joan McAlpine springs to mind given that she's a blogger herself, but I'm sure she's got quite enough on her plate at the moment!)
Oh, and of course if it does happen, I trust we won't be following the dubious example of our unionist friends by calling it "Och Aye The Nats"!
ReplyDeleteYeah, good point, probably not comparing like for like there with Tory Hoose and Labour Hame.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think Joan McA is writing Salmond's memoirs so maybe a bit busy. Would probably have to be a non-MSP for arms length purposes.
Lib Dem Cludgie?
ReplyDeleteThe Liberal Loabby...? (The don't need a whole "hame" or "hoose"; there aren't that many of them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the SNP needs to do this kind of thing at the moment. It has a band of enthusiastic, intelligent and insightful bloggers who do what they do from a safe distance, so that when they make a gaffe it doesn't reflect on the party itself.
The trouble with "Labour Hame" is that it is so closely associated to the party that gaffes (and they happen to everyone) are more likely to do damage to the party.
Moreover, when someone like you, James, takes one of the posts or admin's replies to pieces, showing their argument to be founded on shaky ground, it just has to be damaging to the party.
Talking of the Great Administrator did you see this:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/politics/we-re-rubbish-but-all-the-other-parties-are-even-worse-1.1125757
"It is also an 'absolute disaster' that the party is synonymous with the public sector. Someone could contribute to society by becoming wealthy and paying taxes, not just by becoming a social worker or a teacher, he said."
That's risky stuff for a Labour leadership candidate in Scotland.
Tris, essentially Admin is saying that the answer for Labour in Scotland is yet more Blairism. If so, then - to quote David Cameron - it must have been a bloody silly question.
ReplyDelete