Terry Responds...

My recent exchange with Terry Keely has provided the following answers from Terry, interspersed with the original questions.

These aren't the actual words used by Salmond in the Ian Dale Interview ?

"We didn't mind the economic side so much. But we didn't like the social side at all."

I don’t understand what you are getting at with the ref. to Salmond (the spiv’s) words.

You don't own a former council-house?

I don’t own a former council house,

The economy was not in need of an overhaul when Thatcher came to power?

The economy was not in need of an overhaul.

The Tories weren't wiped out in Scotland during the Thatcher years, whilst they remained the dominant party in the UK?

The Tories were not wiped out.

Iain Gray did not raise the prospect of pact with the Tories, as reported in the Scotsman

Iain Gray did not raise the prospect of a pact with the Tories.

So, there you have it, humble apologies to the good councillor.

The Union Dividend

Is it my imagination or do the Labour party still hold an absolute abhorrence for Margaret Thatcher? The wailing & gnashing of teeth (teeth will be provided!!!) over the comments Alex Salmond made to Ian Dale got me thinking... (you have to imagine a slow passage of time here, perhaps the whistling of the wind and the distant tone of a church bell).

If they really hate Baroness Thatcher with such unreserved vitriol, and they know that the Tories were utterly wiped out in Scotland over the course of her reign as Britain's longest serving post-war Prime minister, and the only woman ever to hold that post.



How did she manage to stay in the top job for all that time?
Why do the Tories still fawn over her and hark for her return?
Why did Tony Blair wish to be seen as the natural successor to her?
Why does Gordon Brown express such unstinting admiration for her?

Who are middle England? and why does what they want cause such consternation?

Calum Cashley

I like Calum Cashley's Blog. We're all treated like adults. It kind of goes like this "Here is an issue. Here are some important points. You make your own mind up." Sometimes the posts are over long - maybe I've got an over short attention span... - maybe I'm just as guilty of rambling - but they're jam packed with actual facts that you can go and check out or you can just take his word for it. Never seem him publish a lie. What I really like about it though is that for almost all of his posts I can imagine him chortling away as he rips the pish out of his next target with quiet sincerity yet again.

Liar Liar pants on Fire...

Following his recent slating of Alex Salmond for the unpardonable folly of uttering these two sentences.

"We didn't mind the economic side so much. But we didn't like the social side at all."

I left a comment with home-owning, class warrior Terry Kelly:

I'm surprised that as one of the many thousands of Scots who has taken advantage of the right to buy your council house at a vastly reduced cost, you are not in agreement with Salmond.

The economy needed an overhaul, but the way Thatcher went about it was abhorrent to Scots - hence the Tory party was wiped out entirely in Scotland, but remained the dominant force in England.

The social aspect of Thatcherism was what really set Scotland against her. No reasonable person could honestly take umbrage at that view point, particularly not someone when Labour are considering entering a pact with the Tories for political expediency, whilst the Tories still worship Thatcher, Gordon Brown has expressed his unstinting admiration for her (over tea at downing street) and Blair declared himself the natural heir to Thatcher.

Terry's response has been:

There is nothing here absolutely nothing which is true, not a single thing.

Well, if that's the case I'll withdraw the points which aren't true. I await with baited breath an update on the following response:

Really? Which bits have I got wrong?

These aren't the actual words used by Salmond in the Ian Dale Interview ?

"We didn't mind the economic side so much. But we didn't like the social side at all."

You don't own a former council-house?

The economy was not in need of an overhaul when Thatcher came to power?

The Tories weren't wiped out in Scotland during the Thatcher years, whilst they remained the dominant party in the UK?

Iain Gray did not raise the prospect of pact with the Tories, as reported in the Scotsman ?

Petulance and Excrement

I was listening to the radio and heard the BBC interview with Stewart Maxwell - the SNP minister for sport, who much to the chagrine of Labour, has declareed that he thinks that Scotland should have its own Olympic team. Given that he also thinks Scotland and Scots are grown up enough to look after their own affairs and make the right decisions regarding the nurturing of our assett-rich little corner of the globe, this really shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. In answering the obvious question about what he would say to those athletes who prefer to represent Britain, he reasonably opinined that Scotland was an appropriate level of representation for international competition, as anyone who regularly attends Hampden or Murrayfield will testify (unless we're playing the All Blacks of course - population of NZ anyone? Should NZ join Australia to form a trans-tasman federation?)

Mr Maxwell replied: "What I would say to them, do Irish athletes want to rejoin the UK and be part of the UK team?

"Do we want to get rid of the GB team and have a European team because a European team would sweep the board?

"So I think you have to think about whether or not it's appropriate in the level you represent your own country in. I think it's quite right you represent your own country."

I make the point though that in his interview Stewart Maxwell was the model of diplomacy. Courteous and reasoned.

Kezia Dugdale describes it as : in one petulant, beligerent outburst,the Nats have lost the rag and demanded a separate Olympic team once again.

Hardly!

Meanwhile over in Paisley, home-owner (** removed **) Terry Kelly tells us that Alex Salmond's interview with Ian Dale,

The SNP has a strong social conscience, which is very Scottish in itself. One of the reasons Scotland didn't take to Lady Thatcher was because of that. We didn't mind the economic side so much. But we didn't like the social side at all.

in which he opines that Scots found the Social aspect of Thatcherism much more distasteful than her economic policies directly, was unpardonable folly.

Execrable indeed, Terence!

They do seem a very excitable bunch don't they...

** Terry informs me that he did not buy a former council house

Oh dear...

Kezia's taking a hammering on this, but JuanKerr has cracked me up with this.

You base your assumption on miss quoted articles which go onto deride Thatcher in the next paragraph.

With obfuscating tactics like this it is no wonder people trust Labour about as much as Gary Glitter in a creche.

"ID: Ten years ago, the Conservatives were seen as a terrible enemy by the SNP, and they saw you as very left-wing. It seems to me that you have tried to change that, and create a big tent for the SNP.
AS: I suppose I have tried to bring the SNP into the mainstream of Scotland. We have a very competitive economic agenda. Many business people have warmed towards the SNP. We need a competitive edge, a competitive advantage - get on with it, get things done, speed up decision making, reduce bureaucracy. The SNP has a strong social conscience, which is very Scottish in itself. One of the reasons Scotland didn't take to Lady Thatcher was because of that. We didn't mind the economic side so much. But we didn't like the social side at all.
ID: Doesn't that illustrate the problem, that Scotland is seen as having quite a big public sector and, as the country of Adam Smith, it is no longer seen as the country of enterprise?
AS: I think that betrays Adam Smith. He was not just a friend of economics. He was a moral philosopher. Margaret Thatcher could have only ever read the Penguin edition of Wealth of Nations and she missed out the moral sentiments. I would absolutely defend the reputation of Adam Smith against the Adam Smith Institute. I said to Eamonn Butler [Deputy Director of the ASI], if Adam Smith could sue, you'd be in real trouble."

How can that be support for thatcher?

All you have done on your party is show Scotland how devious, 2 faced and double speaked your blinkered party are.

Alex Salmond is right on 1 thing. The Tories ARE proving themselves more grown up on issues affecting the people of Scotland. Whereas your party wishes to use anything to do it down.

Ouch!

Labour's slavering dogs of war...

I was going to write about Labour's faux outrage over Alex Salmond's comment in the Ian Dale interview . The usual suspects have bitten and gone for it, presumably forgetting that Gordon Brown had invited the Iron Lady round for tea and expressed his unstinting admiration for her.

As far as I can tell, all the venting of spleens, gnashing of teeth and wailing has done is convince me further of what a basket case the current crop of Labourites are. Even Ian Dale himself is astonished at the reponse!

Although I'm not really sure how you differentiate between the economic side and the social side, I'm pretty comfortable with what Alex Salmond has said. I remember the country being something of a basket case, and the history books would appear to back up those who claim she brought about an economic recovery. Economics isn't my thing though and I wasn't really old enough to understand the stories as they were happening. A search on Thatcher reveals that the Tories generally still have a simpering affection for her and that Labour consider her something akin to Mephistopheles in heels. I just remember the milk being taken away ;-(

Anyway, all this aside, I was laughing at the comments on Kezia's rant and about to heap further ridicule on her - if you've come to the same conclusion as Terry Kelly on a subject, you're really f*cked up! - when one Chris Jones covered all my ire in one go. Seeing as I'm the Incorrigible plagiarist, I'm just going to copy his post here for posterity.

Errr.. isn't it your good pal Iain Gray that has proposed hooking up with his Tory mates for the sake of political expediency - see here.
Tell me what do you actually stand for these days in the Labour Party? Apart from just being viscerally against the SNP? What personally makes you loyal to them? Social justice, left of centre politics, doing the right things by Scotland? I believe in those things and that's why I left the Labour Party - which in Scotland is now fully of career policy wonks looking for safe seats, "paranoid baffoons" such as Foulkes, or those that still think the Labour Party has an automatic right to govern Scotland, such as Kerr.

It obviously still hasn't sunk into the Labour Holyrood set that your're losing voters because ex-voters and ex-members like me despise everything that the Labour Party has become - under people like Brown, Blair, Alexander and the god-awful Foulkes and Cairns. Nor will we ever believe you with the SNP scare stories. The persistent negative campaigning and crude spin just doesn't work - and the ex-members/voters are turned right off by it. You'll need to change or enjoy playing politics with an ever smaller little "club" of activists....

I'm looking forward to seeing a few more posts from Mr. Jones.

Scottish Tory Boy

On my quick scan of the political blogs I like to to look in on Scottish Tory boy. Given the name, I did hope that it might be a bit of a spoof, but no, fair play to the boy. He genuinely believes in the tory party and takes a fairly moderate view to most things - you don't have to look for on the internet to find the lunatic fringe who insist that Margaret Thatcher is the greatest living Briton. Despite the fact that Annabel Goldie is just about the most grown up member of the Scottish parliament, I still reckon the tories are too far out of the Scottish political psyche for them ever to be a force North of the border again - certainly not before Independence.

Anyway, Scottish tory boy provided a link to what he described as the most ridiculous censorship ever.

My mind boggled as I read the story, I snorted derision, I shook my head in disbelief. I thought this Chief Superintendent Julian Kirby sounds like some sort of poofter, nancy boy who could do with a bit of a thrashing with a birch to bring him to his senses along with that bloody Pete Doherty anyway, just for good measure... hmmm! Maybe not so far from my psyche after all ;-)



Anyway, it reminded me of what I'd always thought was political correctness gone mad, and I'm pleased to say that I managed to find a link to the story of the hospital doctor who failed to get funding due to his IT department banning the word spastic.

This and many more like it on the campaign against political correctness web page - which I have nothing to do with, but I thought that seeing as I nicked the scan from their page, the least I could do was tell you where I got it from.

Labour needs to get honest with itself

I regularly read 2 Labour bloggers. One is Kezia Dugdale, who seems to have won the hearts of many of her fellow political bloggers, though I find it all a bit too much head-girl like for my tastes. The other shouldn't really be described as a political blogger, as I generally read it for comedy value, but Terry Kelly is the proverbial monkey behind a red rossette that Paisley could well do without.

Neither of them seems willing to concede that the SNP are making a decent fist of the administration of Scotland, so bog themselves down in utter bollocks. Terry Kelly's lies that the National Unison strike against the proposed COSLA pay settlement, is down to the Renfrew SNP led administration approving an excessively large pay-rise for senior officers, illustrates all you need to know about his petty partisan outlook.

Over in the East though, Kezia tries to pick apart the news that up to £100 million is to be brought forward from the 2010-11 budget for housing projects in order to "promote growth and support business confidence".

Kezia's main gripe seems to be that the people who are applauding the intiative are all saying that although it's a good initiative it won't solve all their problems and they'd like more money thrown at them... FFS!!!!!

In support of this, she then goes on to quote the people who you would quite reasonably expect to be asking for as much money as possible, complaining that they weren't actually given Canute's riches to deal with their myopic view of the problems of the universe. Brilliant! She may as well add my name to the list - I want more money to make my house more affordable too! Better still though, Kezia tells us that the 6% cut in last years budget will effectively be a much bigger cut now because of inflation... INFLATION??? So, who's been running the UK economy for the last 11 years? Despite rocketing International oil prices (the apparent cause of all this inflation) and Scotland being a net exporter of oil, who should be addressing the problem of budget deficit's due to inflation?

Who is standing at number 11 Downing Street, telling us all to show some pay restraint? Is it the Labour chancellor telling the unions to accept a 2% pay settlement? Whilst his colleagues trough out on inflation busting improvements for their own settlements?

Hospitals

Like those rubberneckers passing a motorway pile up, I find myself compelled to visit the carnage that is, Paisley town councillor, Terry Kelly's blog site. Unashamed to spout his drivel on any subject, he's one of the reasons I've grown to loathe the Labour party in Scotland, and probably one of the reasons why, what should be a thriving town on the outskirts of Glasgow with it's own International airport, seems to have descended into the depressingly run-down state that you'll find it in these days.

Anyway, like a dog returning to it's vomit Terry often returns to the subjects of hospitals and how they should all be centralised, in Paisley apparently! Well, fair enough, that's one view, not shared by the BMA or the people of Scotland, but it's a view. Before the last election the SNP told us that it wasn't their view and they would not be closing the Monklands or Ayr A&E units Labour had earmarked for closure - and so it came to pass, neither unit has closed.

Here's how I see it. We need local hospitals.

In the case of A&E, it is well recognised that there is a golden hour in which seriously injured patients must be treated. If we're serious about looking after seriously injured accident victims then we can't be centralising A&E resources, requiring people to make unnecessarily long ambulance trips before receiving the expert care they need. Never mind the fact that our intemperate climate often causes bridges to be closed and the lack of infrastructure makes getting anywhere quickly in rush hour or bad weather, almost impossible. Don't even think about the weakness this presents to the terrorist...

In the case of maternity care, we shouldn't be asking mothers late in term to undertake longer journeys than are necessary and to be further from their families than need be. The BMA well understand the minimum requirements for a maternity unit and as we generally have more than a few months notice of impending births, there's absolutely no reason why we can't maintain efficient maternity units strategically round the country. I find that I agree with these mums, who might know a thing or too about it.

For these reasons I applaud Nicola Sturgeon's stance in asking the health boards to think again and for maintaining existing facilities. Let's see them all brought up to 21st Century standards and maintained, rather than allowed to run-down for political expediency (yes, I'm blaming 50 years of Labour rule for the state of our hospitals, just in case you were wondering - I do suspect that much of it is down to Labour's fear of asking Unions to actually do their job well, so allowing a building to decay with the prospect of that justifying a new investment is the path of least resistance for them.)

SNP tactical voting

I'm kind of jealous of Jeff from SNP tactical voting. He's managed to find a blog name and to pretty well articulate my own feelings towards the SNP and Scottish politics in general. I should be glad of all that, but the bounder does it with so much more panache than I'm able to muster. I like the way that he's able to straddle the line between supporting a party and still make constructive criticism of that party and anyone else who comes within range. This non-partisan debate / airing of views is the way it should be, so a wee tip of the hat in the general direction of SNPtacticalvoting.

What's the word for this?

An anonymous contributor to Terry Kelly's hilarious home of Labour ranting, makes the point


You just cannot hide your sexism, can you."Lady curator" indeed!
What a waste of space you are.


To which the laughing stock of Labour responds:

(Anonymous) 13/08/08
And you can’t hide your bile and stupidity can you.

To an anonymous contributor. Brilliant!