Jim Murphy is new Scottish Labour leader.

[Pickman's model]

someone needs to do one of them Downfall parodies about slab

yeh but slab murphy good jim murphy bad

 

[Pickman's model]

I know a couple of SSPers who were at university with him and fucking hate him.

i did not go to university with him and i fucking hate him

 

[danny la rouge]

@Margaret_Curran: .@scottishlabour needs to rebuild and have an honest discussion about the future. Jim Murphy is best person to lead our party through that.

 

[Idris2002]

@Margaret_Curran: .@scottishlabour needs to rebuild and have an honest discussion about the future. Jim Murphy is best person to lead our party through that.

Suffering Christ, I've seen it all now.

 

[campanula]

They never fucking learn.

 

[equationgirl]

There are just not enough faceplams. Curran lost her seat too, that should have told her something.

 

[Celyn]

How did Murphy contrive to remain at university for 9 years? Did he keep changing courses, and how did he pay for it?

.

Get sabbatical years in student union then in NUS, I think. Plus, as has been said, grants and no tuition fees to worry about. Then straight into a job with the Labour Party, and there you pretty much have his entire CV.

 

[Celyn]

He's feert. Nine years and no degree and fuck all useful skills to show. He is as they say unemployable.

I suppose his dodgy friends in the Henry Jackson Society might find him a job.

 

[19sixtysix]

I suppose his dodgy friends in the Henry Jackson Society might find him a job.

Just looked at their web site. Reminded of Jonathan Bishop in their self important title & posts

 

[redsquirrel]

@Margaret_Curran: .@scottishlabour needs to rebuild and have an honest discussion about the future. Jim Murphy is best person to lead our party through that.

Amazing, a bloke that has just led a party to an utter disaster, who's turnout in his own seat must have been amongst the highest in Britain because people dislike him so much and want to ensure he's kicked out - he's the best bloke to lead. Fucking insane. The fact is that despite this loss the SLP should be able to rebuild, it's still got a bedrock in a lot of communities, the SNP will have to manage the expectations people have of it. There are opportunities there for Labour to start to rebuild even if it will take time.

But the way it's going on it's not just not going to rebuild it's actually digging it's own grave even deeper. It's not just this idiocy it's the stuff in that Harris video you posted, When Harris made the argument that to that Labour member that the party would have to work with the SNP to oppose the Tories he empathically denied that they would. Just absolutely crazy.

 

[weepiper]

Excellent article from Paul Hutcheon here.

 

[Pickman's model]

Just looked at their web site. Reminded of Jonathan Bishop in their self important title & posts

they're probably more like harold bishop

 

[co-op]

Excellent article from Paul Hutcheon here.

On Jim Murphy

"He snatched catastrophe from the jaws of defeat"



weepiper do you have any interesting links on the political splits within the SNP? Or maybe danny la rouge does?

 

[weepiper]

 

[weepiper]

On Jim Murphy

"He snatched catastrophe from the jaws of defeat"



weepiper do you have any interesting links on the political splits within the SNP? Or maybe danny la rouge does?

Can't think of anything detailed offhand I'm afraid, danny might know better than me. The only particularly public thing that's going on atm is Salmond and Sturgeon disagreeing on whether 56 SNP MPs makes a difference to when the next indyref should be

 

[co-op]

I love it that he hasn't resigned. Wonder if he thinks maybe he did quite well.

 

[danny la rouge]

On Jim Murphy

"He snatched catastrophe from the jaws of defeat"



weepiper do you have any interesting links on the political splits within the SNP? Or maybe danny la rouge does?

I can't read the Paul Hutcheon because I've exceeded the Herald quota. But he's generally incisive enough to be hated by Labour and Nats alike.

As for SNP splits, the fault line is going to be over managing expectations. Not just of whether it brings Indy closer, but what anti austerity measures are actually achievable.

Salmond's is correct, though: independence is closer now that it appeared on Sept 19th last year. Whether that's because of the SNP MPs directly or because of the attitudes we're seeing now from both London based commentators and those English electors who resent the Scots for voting SNP, I'd say actually the latter. The Union can't survive if the attitude remains that Scotland should only vote for "acceptable" parties. If it really is the case that some people voted Tory, against their best judgement, because of fear of SNP influence on a Labour government (often shortened to "the Scots"), then how long can the Union survive now? That's surely the start of a messy, bad tempered crumble into dust?

 

[frogwoman]

A woman i vaguely know started going on last night when i was out about how she feels 'really pissed off with scottish people for not voting labour'

 

[co-op]

Salmond's is correct, though: independence is closer now that it appeared on Sept 19th last year. Whether that's because of the SNP MPs directly or because of the attitudes we're seeing now from both London based commentators and those English electors who resent the Scots for voting SNP, I'd say actually the latter. The Union can't survive if the attitude remains that Scotland should only vote for "acceptable" parties. If it really is the case that some people voted Tory, against their best judgement, because of fear of SNP influence on a Labour government (often shortened to "the Scots"), then how long can the Union survive now? That's surely the start of a messy, bad tempered crumble into dust?

Another reason maybe is that if Labour had staggered over the line with some kind of confidence and supply support from the SNP then (paradoxically) that might have been quite a good reason for not leaving the Union since it actually would have given the SNP a huge influence over Westminster for the next 5 years, the only things they would not have had a de facto veto over would be issues like (admittedly important things like) Trident where the tories and Labour would join sides and vote it through.

But now, they have not one iota of influence on central govt policy and they have clearly been elected on an economic manifesto which is fundamentally at odds with Westminster - why stay now? It's surely win-win for the SNP here - if they don't get independence they can (completely legitimately) blame everything on the English and Welsh. Or they get independence and hoorah.

 

[danny la rouge]

A woman i vaguely know started going on last night when i was out about how she feels 'really pissed off with scottish people for not voting labour'

And old school friend of Mrs la rouge - Labour voter, lifelong socialist - harangued her on the phone yesterday saying "the Scots" should "just fuck off".

 

[Belushi]

And old school friend of Mrs la rouge - Labour voter, lifelong socialist - harangued her on the phone yesterday saying "the Scots" should "just fuck off".

Jesus

 

[Pickman's model]

And old school friend of Mrs la rouge - Labour voter, lifelong socialist - harangued her on the phone yesterday saying "the Scots" should "just fuck off".

and so it begins

 

[Belushi]

And they're going to

 

[frogwoman]

But even if labour had won ever seat in scotland including the lib dem and tory seats the tories would still have won!,

 

[Pickman's model]

if they had their way it would doubtless be the massacre of glencoe all over again

 

[Pickman's model]

But even if labour had won ever seat in scotland including the lib dem and tory seats the tories would still have won!,

yeh it's down to the utter inadequacy of labour who now wish to distance themselves from their abject failure.

 

[danny la rouge]

I should point out, for those unaware of my family history, that Mrs la rouge is English.

 

[Pickman's model]

south - to do battle in london!

the one thing i am disappointed about in the snp's stance is the lack of support for the jacobite cause.

 

[butchersapron]

And old school friend of Mrs la rouge - Labour voter, lifelong socialist - harangued her on the phone yesterday saying "the Scots" should "just fuck off".

She rang up just to say fuck off?

 

[frogwoman]

And old school friend of Mrs la rouge - Labour voter, lifelong socialist - harangued her on the phone yesterday saying "the Scots" should "just fuck off".

One thing that the election campaign has created seems to be a really quite nasty anti scottish sentiment here in england. I might be naive but i never remember this sort of racism being common place in england at any time in my life.