Hold your nerve...

It's taken over a week for me to come to grips with what is going on with politics in the UK as well as Scotland.  I do apologise for this, however, here goes:

Let's get one thing straight right now; despite what many would have us believe, the SNP won the General Election in Scotland.  To win 35 seats after winning the most seats in the Holyrood elections and making gains in the Council elections too, I think it's a great achievement.  So to those who claim that indyref2 is should be taken from the table, I simply say, "get stuffed".  The SNP will never have a clearer mandate that they do right now.

However, I am absolutely furious with the likes of Tommy Sheppard, Kenny MacAskill and the rest who are claiming that Nicola Sturgeon should withdraw indyref2.  Sheppard also makes the ridiculous claim that the Party needs to move further Left, ehm, no Tommy it doesn't.  If he's not happy then he can leave.  Simple as that.  I've never had much time for him anyway.

I have been surprised at how quiet the leadership seems to be at the moment but I trust Nicola Sturgeon's judgement.  This is something I think the Party membership needs to do.

Hold your nerve. 

Let them have it...

I am sitting here on the other end of a computer staring at a screen and I feel angry, no, make  that...really angry.  Why?  Well, in all honesty, and I can't believe that I am going to be so blunt here, but just how f*****g stupid do people in Scotland need to be that they are happy to tactically vote for a Tory candidate in order to stop an SNP candidate being voted in?  Really!  Please someone tell me!  How stupid are they?

This Tory government are one of the most evil and incompetent government's we have ever had and yet...and yet there are quite a number of clowns out there who are happy to vote for them.  Their contempt for the administrations in Scotland, Ireland and Wales by not even discussing Brexit with them is breathtaking.  Even now,  they still have no idea what they are going to do.  Oh yes, they posture and gesticulate to Europe, and for what?  For May to openly admit that she will walk away with no deal if she has to.  Already there are companies moving their successful businesses to an EU-based country.  This is only going to increase.  We are all going to suffer for this.  But hey, let's vote for them as long as it isn't the SNP.  If you vote for a Tory candidate then you support:

• The Rape Clause
• Infants losing their free meal at school
• Old people having to use their houses as collateral for their care.

But...even more than that...you're a traitor to your own country.  Are you really happy to see Scotland being pulled out of the EU against her wishes in order to stay in the UK?  Are you ready for the job losses, the economic collapse that will happen?  Is the UK worth that much to you?  Your own children's, grand-children's and their children's futures will be very hard and for what?  An incompetent Tory government and a UK that doesn't care about you or your country.

Is it really so bad that the SNP are asking that once we have seen the Brexit deal that the people of Scotland should be able to decide if it's for them by having another referendum?  Is it really that bad?

The trouble is that the SNP have made it very easy for the other Parties to snipe at them because they have, by and large, been very good in not only Westminster, but Holyrood too.  Yes, they have made some mistakes and not everything goes to plan, but, and this is a very big point I have to make here:  they have protected the people of Scotland from the Bedroom Tax, Prescription charges, Uni fees and Winter Fuel Payments.  The NHS in Scotland is the best performing in the whole of the UK.  And still there are ungrateful gits out there moaning.  Even today, Nicola Sturgeon pledged to protect the care for the elderly.  So, I have an idea for the SNP (an idea which they'll rightly ignore) stop protecting Scotland from the worst of this useless government.  Introduce uni fees, prescription charges, means-test Winter-Fuel Payments and bring in the Bedroom Tax.  Let the Scots take the full hit.  Labour, Tories and LibDems won't be able to moan because those are the very policies they defend by wanting Scotland in the UK.  If those policies are good enough for the English and the Welsh then they're good enough for the Scots.

You don't know how good you have it in Scotland, you're spoiled and it's all thanks to successive SNP administrations.  If you want something to moan about come and live down in England, that'll shut you up.  Actually it probably won't, you'd still blame the SNP.

Let them have it Nicola, let them have it all.

The great unwashed...

Well it would seem that in Scotland, politically at least, the SNP have become the great unwashed. No-one wants to work with them.  Arguably, we could agree that along with the Greens, Labour and the Liberal Democrats, these parties have worked either on the Left or centre Left.  No any more. Labour and the LibDems seem to be rather happy working with the Tories.  Take Aberdeen for example.

You may find these tweets by Guy Ingerson very helpful:

They have 4 Cllrs so could have supported SNP admin (19 Cllrs, 23 if Lib Dems had supported them)

SNP reach out to Labour (9 Cllrs)

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

This new admin would have a Co-Leadership to soften the pill (legality still in question). However, Scottish Lab HQ ruled out ANY deal.

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

While Labour implode internally, their Tory allies decide to 'help' by electing Lab leader as the Council leader (de facto their leader)

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

Labour claim to have 'won' & that their manifesto will be implemented in full

Tories support as they have no manifesto... (No #IndyRef2 )

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

Meanwhile the Lib Dems sit on their hands -1 Cllr, the SNP cry foul, Labour in chaos, Tories rubbing hands with glee & we Greens despair...

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

Up-date. The Labour Cllrs are now, temporarily, not Labour Cllrs (Lab now -9 Cllrs, Ind Cllr +12).

Shambles.https://t.co/hnJZwU0TzK

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

 

All eyes are on Kezia Dugdale.  What will she do.  To her credit she did say no deals with any Party that supported austerity.  If it were me I’d sack the lot of them. They’ll continue as independents or maybe even join the Tory Party.  I don’t really care, I’m more interested in seeing if she has any moral backbone as a leader.

As for the people of Aberdeen, and really this is a country-wide issue.  If you are stupid enough to vote for Tories and Labour then you’ll get what you deserve.  You were all warned before the Local Elections. Unfortunately, the people in Aberdeen may pay a heavy price.

The Tory cesspit runs deep...

If you don’t already know who this is, please let me introduce you to James Heappey.  Mr Heappey is the Tory candidate for Wells in Somerset.

This ball of charm was talking to a group at an all-girls school, when one of them, who was Scottish, said that she supported independence (wise girl). Did Mr Heappey just have a laugh with her about this? Oh no, not him, this guy decided to tell her to, “f**k off back to Scotland then”.  That’s right, he actually told a school girl to f**k off.  When talking to the Sunday Mirror he said it was meant as a joke and that no offence was intended.

You’d think an ex Army major would have more sense and be a bit more courteous to a young lady. Putting aside the misogynistic attitude of what he said, there lies the more serious problem that the Tories just cannot hide their contempt for Scotland or indeed the Scottish, which begs the question, why would any self-respecting person in Scotland vote for the Conservatives?

I know that the Unionist vote up there seems to be gathering under their banner, but, and again, I have to ask, why would they?  I know that I couldn’t vote for a Party that holds my country in contempt. Indeed just look at the Tory talent-free that is their list MSP’s.  Murdo Fraser and Adam Tomkins. They have never hidden their disdain for Holyrood, yet they don’t seem to  mind taking a very good salary for being members of it.   Yet, and yet, incredibly they are given air time to spout their nonsense.

We have had almost a week of various Tory Councillors either being suspended or getting embroiled in one scandal or another; usually around the topics of racism or sexism.   We have rape-clause Ruth trying to politicise   Irish politics for her own opportunistic gains (she failed rather spectacularly).

I’ve tried to think of reasons why people in Scotland would vote Tory or against independence and I have come to some rather stark conclusions (all of which could be wrong…it does happen from time-to-time). You’ll vote Tory because:

• You don’t really care about what happens to Scotland at all as long as it stays in the UK.
• You don’t care that the Tories despise you.
• You’re British – not Scottish regardless of how ugly being British looks like right now.

If, like me, you wouldn’t vote Tory, even if it was the only option on the ballot, then please, any Unionists who vote Labour, do not, DO NOT, vote for a Party that hates you.

In truth we fought each other mair...

That title is a line from one of my dad's songs called Scotland Yet.  If you have an interest in Scottish folk music my dad is Davy Steele, and he wrote Scotland Yet just before the vote for devolution.  However, that song seems more relevant today than it did then.

One look at my Twitter feed from last night and this one line came to mind.  Unionists and Independence supporters at each other, and now unfortunately, we see that Unionist or British Nationalists will now vote Tory instead of Labour and LibDem in order to beat the SNP.  I wouldn't, couldn't vote for another Party if it went against my politics.  So shame on those Labour/LibDem supporters who will sell their souls to keep Scotland shackled to the UK.

When I suggested that free uni fees, free prescriptions and the best performing NHS in the UK were good results I was met with:

'Cutting grants means fewer students from poor backgrounds going into University' and 'Nobody who couldn't afford it paid for prescription and now well off folk are getting free toothpaste etc which is wrong'.

Maybe I am wrong, but it seems that if it's a good, working SNP policy then Unionists will still moan, no-matter-what, because people are having no difficulty in voting for a party that wants women to prove that they were raped, has taken mobility cars from the disabled and has implemented policies that has seen a sharp increase in the number of people using food banks, and the list goes on.  Their priorities are completely screwed up.  I don't know what's happening to Scotland, I thought the people there were better than that, evidently I was wrong.

We really do fight each other mair.

Independence or not...

I’m intrigued by this suggestion from Lesley Riddoch.  Is it possible?  Can the SNP and Scottish Green Party have some kind of joint manifesto?

Personally, I remain unconvinced, not out of spite or hatred for either party, far from it.  No, my doubt is there because I wonder what reaction this would get from the supporters of both.

The only question that both sets of supporters need to ask, in my opinion, is this: Do we really want independence?  If the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’, then there really is only one choice and this is for both sets to vote for the SNP.  In a WM general election the Green vote can only succeed in splitting the votes for pro-independence candidates.

Now, this may not serve democracy, in that choice is being limited, but should the Scottish Green Party sit this one out and urge their supporters to vote for the SNP?  There are calls from Unionists for a Labour/LibDem/Tory attack on the SNP.  To me, every single supporter of independence needs to support the SNP at this one general election.  The ends will justify the means.

So, do they want independence?  Yes or no?

The gloves are off...

Bloody hell, I take a few days off for Easter, and missed being able to comment on the great Holyrood boycott from Ruth and her mates.  Ruth Davidson supporting the absolutely ghastly and inhumane rape clause.  Then today, St Theresa of May, she of the 'we are all as one' Party has gone and called a General Election in June.

Down here, in the office, they reckon that May has pulled a blinder and that this will neutralise the SNP in Scotland.  Naturally...I disagree.

In a very short space of time, the people of Scotland need to answer just one question:  what kind of country do I want Scotland to be?

If you are happy to be isolated in the world and tied like some third-rate appendage to England, then vote to stay in the UK.

If however, you want to live in: a forward looking, inclusive, progressive and modern country that makes its own decisions, then it has to be the SNP or the Green Party.

That's it, it's that simple.

Under-estimate...

During this last week I have learnt the value in not under-estimating people, on this particular occasion it happens to be my sever year old son.

Our eldest son is thirteen and is very bright, academically.  However, recently we had a parents evening at the school of our youngest and had a really good talk with his teacher.  We couldn't have been happier at what we were told; he works hard, is really polite, but he is doing really well at his subjects.

He has a bit of a speech impediment and is left-handed, so at times he has found writing awkward.  The quality of his hand-writing though has really improved and he loves English, both written and reading work.  He is, we were told, a bright boy.  

Maybe because he is our youngest, that we've treated him, at times, as if he is still a baby.  Perhaps we've even unconsciously allowed his speech impediment influence the way we look at him?  I don't know.  What I do know is that he is giving it his all at school and is a bright young man.

I won't make the mistake of under-estimating him again.

These excellent videos are worth watching:



Mant thanks to Phantom Power for making these.

A good bit of intolerance...

Yesterday, I lost some followers on Twitter because I had dared to suggest that the Scottish parliament should not be suspended for the rest of the day but to carry on as usual.

"How dare you, show some respect for the dead" I was told.  The comment that made me really angry was the inference that I was saying it because I wanted the Indy vote to still go ahead, which is utter rubbish.  I live in England and it doesn't affect me one way or the other if that vote had taken place.  I would have said the same thing regardless of what the business of the day was.  How dare someone try and state that about me!

I had every sympathy for what was taking place, and I felt sorry for those that were killed or injured, but, it was not Holyrood that was under attack.  I believe, that in the face of terrorism the best thing to do is carry on our daily business as usual.  If we don't, then terrorism wins - plain and simple.

By all means, disagree with me, but unfollow?  Really?  At a time when the so-called supporters for a new referendum talk about being inclusive and respect those that voted 'No' last time, they unfollow you because they disagree with something one says or thinks.  They don't sound very inclusive to me.  If this is what an independent Scotland would look like, then you know what, I don't want any part of it.

There is no place for intolerance, especially where freedom of speech is concerned.

Here we go...

Well she did it.  Stealing thunder from Theresa Mayhem’s expected announcement on triggering Article 50, Nicola Sturgeon has announced that she will be seeking Holyrood’s permission to hold a second referendum for Scottish independence.

So what now?

The first thing that I hope to see is that people, regardless of who they vote for, realise that this referendum is not about a vote for the SNP but it is a vote for a democratic Scotland.

Secondly, I hope that the Yes movement encompasses those who believe in independence but vote; Tory, Labour and LibDems.  Can you imagine a movement that boasts voters and members from all the main parties in Scotland?  I can, and it’s an awesome thought.

Thirdly, I want to see a much better co-ordinated campaign that is inclusive of not only Bella Caledonia and the likes, but also Stu Campbell of WingsOverScotland.  Like him or loathe him, he can produce some brilliant journalistic pieces that shreds the arguments of those who back the Union.

Lastly, let’s not get involved in any mud-slinging.  Let us focus instead, on uniting and ultimately winning the democratic right to govern ourselves…and yes, get out of this rotten-to-the-core political union.

We can’t scream and shout and call people names when they still, for reasons known only to themselves, cling to the UK.  We all need to show them that there really is a better way.

I don’t think the BBC, Sky or most of the media have learnt anything since 2014, and certainly going by last night’s evidence I would say it might be even worse.  So folks, we need to hold fast, rise above it and win, but win with a smile.

Alba gu bràth!

The state of this...

Dear @NicolaSturgeon

We had an #indyref in 2014.
Scotland said No.
Accept it.
Move on.
Get back to the day job.
— Maurice Golden MSP (@mgoldenmsp) 13 February 2017

The Scottish Tories are full of no marks, this one is no exception to the rule.  I just have one question for Mr Golden; "What promises did Westminster keep exactly?"

Remember when Cameron spoke about EVEL minutes after the referendum result.?  Or how about the so-called vow that never happened?

The UK Gov thought that Scotland would go back into her little box.  I hope that Scotland is about to prove them wrong...and finally...finally, turn her back on this wretched union.

A valid point...

I'll just leave this here:

I think Scottish politicians should use terms like "fake news" or "alternative facts" sparingly. We diminishing the reality of Trumpism. https://t.co/yZ0xW4QFbu

— David Leask (@LeaskyHT) 25 January 2017

It's Official...

So…Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are not really all that important when it comes to matters of the UK.  Thank you Supreme Court for clearing that up.

Just what is the UK?  We were told that we were a family, a collective, a better type of togetherness.  Well, I think we can safely say that the cat is out the bag and we really aren’t anything at all.   We can do what we’re told, we can go where we’re told to go, but make our own political decisions?  Hell no!

If today’s decision is not enough to sway any Unionists in Scotland to finally see that they are thought of as nothing more than a subject by the British State and they’d be better off in an independent Scotland, then nothing will, and I will always feel sorry for them.

What now though for the SNP, Greens and the broader Yes movement?

The SNP need to really consider their word carefully and make their next move decisive.  Do they or don’t they push for a second referendum?  Sooner or later (preferably sooner) they are going to have make that decision.

The Greens need to keep doing what they are doing: support where necessary and criticise where it’s warranted.

The Yes movement…hmmm well that’s a completely different puzzle altogether.  It can’t be seen to be centred around the SNP, but at the same time I don’t want to see it hijacked by the vacuous mouth-pieces that are Cat Boyd or Angela Haggerty and their ilk.  Who should head it up?  Finance it?  Give it direction?  When some made the battle cry of ‘get the old band back together’ my initial reaction was ‘No! Let’s not”.  They failed the last time.  They didn’t resonate enough with the public.

The Labour Party in Scotland are in terminal decline, The Conservatives in Scotland are very arrogant considering they have 1 MP and a bunch of list MSP’s, as for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, well, one word sums them up – woeful.  We need to look to the SNP, Greens and any independents to look after the best interests for Scotland.

This really is a crucial time for Scotland.  She’s being pulled out of the EU against her will, she’s been slapped down and told that her voice, where Brexit is concerned, is not important.

What happens here, today, will determine the type of country that Scotland will be in the future.

Well...

BBC Question Time…what can I say?

I could go on for hours about the shambles that was last night’s show from Stirling but there are just a few things that I want to highlight.

I’m going to start with Cat Boyd…what can I say about a political activist who couldn’t even be bothered to vote during the Brexit referendum?  Her flimsy excuse about being abroad at the time just made her look even more stupid that she did.  Has she not heard of postal votes?  Her banality and lack of substance during the whole show last night just confirmed what I thought of her since 2014, which is not very much to be honest.  She’s one of those creatures from the Independence Referendum who thinks that her opinion is greater than others.  Well, it isn’t and she is nowhere near as smart as she thinks she is.  I grew tired of her and others like her, Loki being another one, who seemed to think that they were the real voice of Scotland.  They aren’t.  Before the show I was not one of her fans and that has not changed at all.

Secondly, Unionists.  Not only were they rude, shouty and just downright nasty, but their hatred of Scotland just leaves me gob-smacked.  One woman has the audacity to scream that the Brexit vote was a UK as a country vote, not a regional vote.  Regional?!  Regional?!  I wouldn’t care but she was Scottish.  Let that sink in…she was Scottish!  What makes a person hate their own country so much that they’ll sell it down the river for the sake of a corrupt political union?  A union that should have been put to rest many years ago.  Who let the UKIP / SDL morons in?  They were the shoutiest of the shouties.

I don’t care what your voting allegiances are when it comes to Party politics but, and I can’t stress this enough, if you are a believer in Scottish Independence then you are going to have to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with each other, because the moment Indy Ref 2 is called, and it will be called, the Union is going to bite hard and their lap-dogs from the MSM will come out snarling at anything and anyone that votes Yes.

Scotland can’t afford to lose Indy Ref2, if it does a whole generation or more will be lost to the seemingly unstoppable march of Right Wing Fascism that seems to be stamping all over democracy throughout the Western World right now.

Stand strong.  This is not about holding a referendum because we didn’t like the result of the first one, it’s about Scotland and her democratic right to be what she wants to be…a country in the EU.  The UK is not a country, anyone who claims it is spouting nothing more than jingoistic nonsense.

Stand tall, stand proud and most of all stand together.  Scotland’s future is at stake.

Good Friday...

I enjoy Easter, but I used to think of Good Friday as a very solemn day, as it is the day where we reflect on the suffering of Jesus ending with his death on the cross.

That all changed this year...

I went to the service at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral and expected it to be a solemn occasion, I couldn't have been more wrong.  The service was very moving; the choice of music from the choir throughout was simply beautiful and their singing was stunning, but, throughout the service we celebrated the cross and all that took place there.

I came away from the service feeling renewed in my faith, a faith that has taken a bit of a battering over the last few years.  I had a new sense of hope, hope in a God that I know loves us.

2016...

This post is really one big long rant at all the personal annoyances from 2015:

Scotland voted overwhelmingly for the SNP in the General Election and that support seems to be increasing, which is a great thing, however, told you his is a rant, there are a few things that have annoyed me about all this.  The first one is that the Labour Party in Scotland seem to have nothing more to offer Scotland now other than an SNP Bad mentality.  The recent closure of the Forth Road Bridge, which was totally justifiable, was used by Labour to try and make the SNP look incompetent.  If Labour have nothing positive to add to the political landscape in Scotland then they should just shut up shop and leave.  The second aspect of the General Election result was the ridiculous swearing in of the SNP MP's that we had to endure.  I am an SNP supporter but I found the whole thing to be a complete joke and a total embarrassment.  Was it really necessary for them to make such a pig's ear of it all?

On the plus side, they have been a very good Party in opposition maintaining their discipline and Party unity where others have failed.  This is where I have to mention Labour.

Labour don't seem to really know who they are any more.  Their membership overwhelmingly voted for Jeremy Corbyn as leader and yet their Parliamentary membership don't seem to be able to grasp this.  The fiasco over the bombing of Syria was the lowest point this year for them as a Party.  Those MP's that refuse to get behind Corbyn need to be removed.  It's a simple as that.  Labour needs to get its act together and pretty soon, because, their current weakness, if maintained, could condemn the rest of us to another Tory government after 2020.

The Conservatives have shown themselves to be arrogant and ant-democratic.  Their changing of boundaries (to suit them) and their attempts to curb to the House of Lords after the HoL gave them a bloody nose recently angers me.  No one Party should have the power to make such drastic changes for their own political advantage.

England's recent lurch to the right also angers and concerns me.  Whether Tory or UKIP, the English seem to think it's ok to be selfish and xenophobic at the same time.  There is an increase in the support for the UK to leave the EU.  Do the English really believe that leaving the EU will sort out their problems?  Personally, maybe we should concentrate on ensuring that the big companies such as; Google, Apple and Amazon should pay their proper share of taxes.

I'm hoping that 2016 will be better and we'll see a credible Labour Party in West Minster and that they'll start to hold this government to task.

A painful night...

I really do need to get into the habit of blogging more (even if I do type a load of rubbish).

It has been a few weeks since the General Election was decided, but I have had to take my time in posting anything about it. 

My first reaction was "what the hell have you done England?" but that's far too simplistic.  In all honesty it was a low night with a few silver linings.  My ward is Wirral West, and Esther McVey was defeated - brilliant.  The second was that incredible set of results from Scotland - well done to the SNP.  Other than those though, it was a really bad night for me and for the whole of the UK as a whole (I'll elaborate later).

The campaigns from the so-called main parties were negative: The Tories frightened enough people in England with an image of the SNP dictating to Labour in government (something that I am convinced Cameron will regret). Miliband tried to pander to 'middle England' far too much.  The LibDems?  Well, their campaign was pointless as everyone except them seemed to think they'd be back in coalition government.

The most worrying trend that came out of the General Election was the four million people that voted for UKIP.  I have no time for UKIP or their policies, but I am really shocked/saddened/disappointed that so many people voted for them.  Owen Jones, the Left-wing commentator seems to think that these people need to be engaged by a positive message, but I think that it's too late for that.

I am not very optimistic about the next five years, and I worry for the state of; education, the NHS and for the community spirit within the UK.  The last time the Tories ran government themselves they almost destroyed the country - now Cameron can let his wrecking ball loose on us.

God help us.

Two more weeks to go...

Despite living in England for the past 18 years, I was really hoping that my home country, Scotland, would vote yes in the referendum.  Unfortunately, it was not to be.  Project Fear won the vote…just.

Or did it?

Since that result, the SNP has seen its membership rocket from around twenty thousand to one hundred and five thousand. I am not ashamed to admit that I am one of those new members.  I was numb after the vote and wanted to join the SNP, despite the fact that I live in England.

Now, here we are just over 7 months later and Project Fear II has been launched.

Why?

There are a number of reasons:

Nicola Sturgeon, since becoming leader of the SNP has won many admirers.  She was one of, if not thee top performers in the televised leaders debates.  She has received a lot of support on Twitter from people living in England.

All polls seem to suggest that Labour’s Northern British branch (I refuse to call them Scottish Labour) is facing a whitewash with the SNP predicted to take 50 seats and perhaps leaving Labour with or five seats at best.

The so-called big parties of Westminster are in panic mode and are slinging everything they can at Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP. If I was to be completely honest, they are, in truth running Scotland down too. The Tories have; made noises about Westminster holding the Scottish Parliament to account, put up huge posters in England depicting Ed Miliband in Alex Salmond’s pocket (oh how they must have laughed at that one).

They have been so petty that David Cameron would not even share the sofa with Nicola Sturgeon on a recent episode of the Marr Show.

The Right wing press have portrayed Nicola Sturgeon as ‘The most evil woman in Britain’, and so on. Labour and the Tories both claim that a vote for the SNP is a vote for the other Party. I’m sorry, but they can’t both be correct.

All things considered, the SNP have bounced back and in some style.

It really has been exhausting, and there’s still two more weeks to go.

Oh dear...

This rather strange tweet appeared from Kezia Dugdale:

Dear SNP activists moaning about labour leaflets being printed in England, you're building a Scottish bridge with Chinese steel. Love Kez
— Kezia Dugdale (@kdugdalemsp) February 27, 2015

Now, Kezia Dugdale is the Deputy Leader of Scottish Labour and is an MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians.  Still with me? Good.  Now, up until 1992 Scotland had her very own steelworks based at Ravenscraig.  Unfortunately it was closed when the Tories were in government.  Who were the main political party in Scotland at the time though?  Labour!

I find it very strange that she should be gloating about the Scottish government having to use Chinese steel, when she should know that there is no Scottish steel industry left.  I also find it peculiar to say the least that she even seems to be gloating about it.  Recent polls have indicated that Scottish Labour face a complete wipe-out this coming general election.

To be honest, if Kezia Dugdale is an example of what they have to offer, then I’m not surprised.