As Pete Wishart pointed out the other day, the ground-breaking "three Ms" comedy trio (McDougall, Murphy & McTernan) have been outdoing themselves lately with their side-splitting 'Reasons to Vote Labour' series. So far we've had...
* Vote Labour Because Football
* Vote Labour Because Patriotism
* Vote Labour To Get Exactly 1000 More Of Everything Than The Other Guy Promises You
* Vote Yes To The Party Of No
* Vote Labour Because We're Unionists In A Non-Unionist Sort Of Way
* Vote Labour Because We've Just Dreamed Up An Imaginary "Rule" Stating That The Largest Single Party Gets To Form A Government
The next one, I must assume, will be 'Vote Labour Because If We're Not The Largest Single Party, Ed Miliband Will Only Get To Be David Cameron's Deputy In The Tory-Labour Coalition Government We Keep Refusing To Rule Out'.
Go on, Jim. That one's a sure-fire winner!
Sadly next will be the formal ruling out of a Labour SNP coalition, thus trying to blackmail the lectorate into a 2 party system. Let's see how that one goes down
ReplyDeleteIf so, that'll be their Osborne currency moment. Not a happy precedent - for them.
DeleteIf they rule out a Lab/SNP coalition, then they likely rule out any coalition excepting one with the Tories. Leaving the choice between a ConLab coalition, which cedes the leadership of the opposition to the SNP, or going back to the electorate with another few months and another election on their record since last elected majority secured.
Delete'92 is the last Tory majority secured.... 5 elections and 23 years ago.
'05 is the last Lab majority secured.... 2 elections and 10 years ago.
I'm pretty sure when it comes down to it that they'd rather have power for (what is likely to be) their last five years than face the electorate again.
Labour would look a bit stupid to try that (what's new about that?) as FM has already said Confidence & Supply NOT Coalition.
DeleteIf they want a coalition they will need to come up with some pretty serious offers and that's unlikely to happen even if they have the guts or the imagination.
-SqueuedPerspective
Vote Yes Labour because we are the underdog
ReplyDeleteVote Labour Because in Coalition with the Tories Ex-SAS Hero Ed Miliband Might Surprise Everybody and Stand Up to Cameron/Boris a Bit More Than You Might Think.
ReplyDeleteVote Labour Because Think of All Those Thousands of Labour Astroturfers Who've Gone Ballistic Online Since a Tory-Labour Coalition Was First Mooted, Or Even If They Haven't They've Certainly Thought About Doing So. Or If They Haven't Thought About It, At Least They Haven't Gone Online and Actively Posted in SUPPORT of the Idea. Who Says the Labour Party Has Lost Its Soul and Moral Compass?
Vote Labour Because Ex-SAS Hero Ed Can Hold a Fake Grin in a Force 10 Hurricane.
Vote Labour, so you can be a Tory without having to feel bad about it!
ReplyDeleteVote Labour Because My Expenses
ReplyDeleteIn other news my FoI request made Guido
ReplyDeletehttp://order-order.com/2015/02/09/mcxlusive-jim-murphy-claims-for-irn-bru-on-expenses/
Was that you, Alasdair? Congratulations, that has the genuine potential to damage Labour if it goes viral. Paradoxically, it's the triviality of a £1 expenses claim that will really anger people.
DeleteYes it was me, I'm surprised to an extent, perhaps because I don't think like a journalist.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got the request back I was disappointed, if you read it you can see I tried to distuguish between before the 100 towns campaign and after it. But as there were only the two purchased before it started, I realised it was too soon to see any claims from the 100 towns timespan (and also that claims might have been made to Better Together).
I never publicised it anywhere, intending to wait till the end of 2015 to make another request and see if he had increased his claims significantly. Now with it going public, I suspect if he did have claims to make that they won't happen now.
But at least it's hurting him.
I see that Murphy is again trying to rewrite history. His many statements about Labour holding all of their seats (and gaining one or two of the Lib Dems) appear to have gone down the memory hole.
ReplyDelete'Holding all the seats' in the Sunday Herald, 1st February.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/scottish-politics/murphy-says-late-swing-to-labour-will-avert-cull-of-scottish-mps-in-may.117423937
"But while their mood is low, it has been buoyed by the new leader, whom activists describe as refreshingly blunt about the scale of the challenge, privately admitting that Labour is highly unlikely to hold all its Scottish seats come May" - The Guardian, 9 February.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/09/has-labour-lost-glasgow-jim-murphy-snp-election
Ashcroft sub-sample, for what it's worth (not very much, as the size is <100): SNP 46, Lab 23, Con 20.
ReplyDeletehttp://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ANP-150209X-Full-data-tables1.pdf
I've just been telephoned by Ipsos Mori, and I think this must be the first time a pollster has contacted me. I have a hair-trigger "get off my line" to nuisance calls, and this guy managed not to trigger it. He had a very pleasant Scottish voice, and his preamble was cleverly designed to induce me to hear what he wanted to say.
ReplyDeleteHe asked me if I was over 35 and I said yes. He then said was there anyone in the house between 18 and (I think) 25. I said no. He then said that he had already filled his quota for my age group, but politely asked my actual age. I told him, and he equally politely said that he might call back later, but not now thanks.
I'm not sure how he did it, but he's living proof it is possible to get past the "get off my line" reflex if you're clever and not actually selling something. He mentioned Ipsos Mori quite early in the spiel, and that was a good move.
Oh come on James. You know fine well that a Tory-Lab deal of any kind is absolutely out of the question in any circumstances short of war.
ReplyDeleteI don't really get the genuine dislike that some of you guys have for Labour. I know we're political opponents, but that heartfelt dislike is not reciprocated by many of us. I personally hold no ill will towards the SNP, like and admire them, could conceivably see myself supporting them.
The real enemy are the Right. The brutal, rapacious, regressive Tories who have and still are inflicting so much damage on our country. The Far Right racists of UKIP who want to turn back the clock to the 1950s and beyond. The corrupt Rightwing media moguls, the bankers and hedge fund millionaires who wrecked the global economy, made taxpayers clean up the mess then re-wrote history to blame it all on "overspending" on public services. The list goes on.
For me, both my Party and the SNP are progressive counterweights to all this.
Labour are evil. A party of scum. A party who would murder millions on a lie and laugh about it afterwards. A party who would bury the McCrone report and spend every single election for 40 years telling us that oil is worthless and about to run out. A party who campaigns alongside the OO,BNP,UKIP,Britannica and their Holocaust deniers. A party who lie about pensions, organ transplants and blood transfusions to scare people into voting No.
DeleteIf there was any justice every labour politician , party member and voter would be struck dead in by some sort of Biblical plague.
Fuck labour, Fuck anybody who still supports them and fuck you!
I agree a Tory-Lab deal is unlikely but 'absolutely out of the question'? I'm not so sure. After May 8 we could move into totally uncharted waters. Let's assume that Labour and the Tories have roughly equal numbers of seats and the SNP plus allies (Plaid, etc.) effectively hold the balance of power - not likely, but not impossible either. This scenario has two consequences: there is no possible majority for an in-out referendum on the EU, and many English voters will be seriously unhappy about the influence wielded by the Scots. UKIP will be fuming and so will the Europhobic wing of the Tories. In these circumstances I wouldn't rule out a split between pro- and anti-EU Tories, and pro-EU Tories could find a lot of common ground with Labour.
DeleteHi Hugh,
DeleteAs much as I appreciate your bridge building and apparent sincerity I have to back up the aggressive response below. The Labour party since Blair has been the death of hope and decency for British politics leaving us in a hellish situation devoid of choice. I have more respect (and that is zero) for the Tories; they revel in fucking over the common man while Labour do it with a pretendy sad face.
I have nothing but virulent contempt for them in general and Murphy in particular. I hope they die a short and painful political death.
Hugh, I don't know if you saw the Independence Live thing I did a couple of weeks ago, but I was asked about the possibility of a grand coalition, and my reaction was basically : "Would Labour be crazy enough to do that? On recent form, who knows." That remains my view. It's possible that Labour will go into the election ruling out coalition with the SNP but not with the Tories, and in those circumstances people are entitled to draw the obvious conclusion. Peacetime grand coalitions are scarcely uncommon in other countries.
DeleteOn your other point, Labour are part of the Right. If you look at the views of people like McTernan, Murphy or Tom Harris, thise are not left-wing views or even centrist. They're also quite authoritarian, which obviously poses a particular problem for those of us on the liberal left. And then there's the insufferable smugness and phonyness of Blairites like Murphy, who believe in their careers above all else.
Hi Hugh
DeleteAnother thing. You write
"The corrupt Rightwing media moguls, the bankers and hedge fund millionaires who wrecked the global economy, made taxpayers clean up the mess then re-wrote history to blame it all on "overspending" on public services. The list goes on."
It was Labour that sanctioned the massive bailout from the UK taxpayer to the rich that we will never pay off. Not to mention that it was their mismanagement of regulation that enabled the 'bankers and hedge funds' to get into such a mess.
Ahoy. I'm hearing of a Scottish TNS poll coming out (Possibly overnight).
ReplyDeleteRumoured to be showing "good news" for Labour. We shall see.
DeleteIain
"Good news for Labour" could have a lot of different meanings right now.
DeleteSNP: 41% Labour: 31% Conservtives: 16% Lib Dem: 4%
DeleteIt's the first poll of theirs so we have nothing to compare it against.
Although it is interesting that TNS are by far the friendliest pollster for Labour in GB polls. They regularly show 5+ leads and a poll a few weeks ago shown an 11 point one.
DeleteI'd still put that down as good news for the SNP, just not mind-bogglingly stupendous news like most of the previous polls were.
DeleteYeah. Anything over 40% is past the tipping point. Some say 38% is the magic number.
Delete