So, Cameron has finally carried Clegg over the threshold and the shotgun marriage is on….
So, Cameron has finally carried Clegg over the threshold and the shotgun marriage is on.
Jim Murphy’s fifteen minutes of fame is over as the new man to argue Scotland’s case in cabinet (or is it to argue with the Scottish cabinet?) is revealed – step forward Mr Danny Alexander – from zero to er … zero. David Mundell must have breathed a huge sigh of relief as the Lib Dem man was presented with the worst position in cabinet, although he did get the other ‘booby’ prize by being appointed Junior Minister to Mr Zero.
Has Mr Alexander any idea the reception that awaits when he crosses the border into Mad Jock Land? If the Lib Dem fall guy thinks for one moment that the Scottish media will don the same kid gloves it did as it caressed the hapless Jim Murphy then he is in for a rude awakening; he will be viewed as Igor to the Tory Frankenstein.
What of the Scottish media?
Well Scottish Labour’s refusal to accept SNP offers to prevent the Tories entering Downing Street will disappear faster than Stephen Purcell. The same applies to the statements by Scottish Labour politicians who openly admitted that they wanted the Conservatives to form the government.
Labour peer Lord Falconer defended Labour’s capitulation by saying that the alternative to a Tory government would have meant dealing with Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish politicians and that the English would not have stood for such an arrangement.
Read that paragraph again, it’s breathtaking.
Last night’s Newsnight Scotland ensured that no-one would discuss Scottish Labour holding open the door of number ten for the Tories. The BBC simply adopted their campaign strategy of sidelining the SNP. Yep, on the day that Cameron took office the state broadcaster apparently forgot to invite the Scottish government to comment.
Glenn Campbell though felt the need to state that SNP claims that the new Tory government had no mandate in Scotland were now in tatters as the alliance meant they had a combined total of 12 seats. Hmm, 47 seats versus 12 – nope still no mandate, 62% of the vote versus 37% nope still no mandate. As Julian Clary might say, does wee Glenn know what a mandate is? (answers on a postcard).
Don’t worry though, you can see the programme yourself to confirm this by visiting iPlayer – well you can when the BBC get around to addressing a ‘technical difficulty’ that means you cannot view this particular edition (At the time of writing a message informs the viewer that the content is not working, try later).
So, the word has gone out and the Scottish media are frantically circulating the Scottish Labour line that the new alliance is a ‘deal with the devil’; who it was that stood back and let the devil govern Scotland will be airbrushed out of the Scottish news.
Labour down South are said to be furious at the apparent sabotage that saw the party throw away an eleventh hour deal with the Lib Dems. Their opinions of those Scottish Labour colleagues who were openly endorsing the new Tory government whilst negotiations were ongoing is yet to be made public. There was also anger that Labour held no meetings with the Parliamentary Labour group and some MPs are furious at what they see as a stitch up.
The Lib Dems have now acknowledged that the intemperate outbursts of Labour MPs North and South of the border made a stable alliance unlikely, the Tory’s new partners also claimed that Labour did not appear enthusiastic about an alliance during their negotiations.
So, Labour in Scotland have acted in the best interests of …. Labour in Scotland, and the Scottish Lib Dems are henceforth to be known as the ‘New Tartan Tories’.
Bizarrely, in this supposed new era of consensus politics Scottish Labour are fast acquiring an ever increasing hate list. They now officially hate the SNP, the Tories are ‘the devil’ and the Lib Dems are ‘devil worshippers’ – it can’t be long before they target The Greens.
Finally we ask, is there anything worse than a Tory government? Well, next year Scottish Labour will be trying to persuade the Scottish electorate to vote for Iain Gray as First Minister.
Be afraid, be very afraid!!