Iain Macwhirter
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In the name of Gord, Go. Open Letter to Gordon Brown
In the name of Gord, go! It’s over. It’s not just the Crewe by-election, though that’s bad enough, but the weight of evidence from focus groups, opinion polls, the English local government results – the electorate just don’t want Gordon Brown as prime minister. It’s not going to change either, with the economy going down … Continue reading
The English are coming! London liberals seeking asylum
Prepare for an invasion. Following the victory of Boris Johnson in the London Mayoral election, liberal minded Scots in London are packing their bags and preparing to scarper. Leading the rush north is Ian Jack, the celebrated Guardian journalists and former editor of the literary magazine Granta. Jack recently wrote that he might find it … Continue reading
Bendy Wendy’s Wendyrendum. Labour discovers independence and says the people must decide.
It has been, by common consent, Wendy Alexander’s worst week since she became leader – worse even than the row over her dodgy donations. She began it defying Gordon Brown by calling for an early referendum on independence, making it look as if the prime minister had lost control of Scotland; she ended it with … Continue reading
So,what would Junior PM look like?
Hello and welcome to Junior PM, the show where you, the people, choose the leaders of tomorrow and learn to love Gordon Brown. Premium phone lines are open so you can start losing your money even before we introduce tonight’s contestants. First up, all the way from bonnie Scotland is our couthy chum, Alex “Wee … Continue reading
Gordon Brown’s banking friends desert as UK economy redlines.
Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make finance ministers. Last week, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, announced that the latest cunning plan for the economy was to bung £120 to basic rate tax payers. The purpose, he said, was to boost the economy by putting our money, £2.7 bn of it, back in … Continue reading
Labour calls for a referendum on independence.
There are times when political events read like a modern history exam question: Discuss the circumstances that led to the rise of Scottish independence, with particular reference to the SNP’s narrow victory in the 2007 election; the collapse of Gordon Brown’s authority after the aborted UK general election; and the collapse of Wendy Alexander’s call … Continue reading
How the BBC fails Scotland – and its own staff
It’s the little things about BBC Scotland that tell you all you need to know. The way that Jeremy Paxman repeatedly crashes the junction between the UK Newsnight and its Scottish ‘opt out’ forcing Newsnight Scotland to stagger uncertainly onto the air as if it didn’t know what time it was. Hitting junctions is largely … Continue reading
Summer of Discontent – Is it back to the 70s?
“Here we go, here we go, here we go!”. It’s back to the Seventies, with key energy workers on strike, a Labour government collapsing, an oil price crisis, growing inflation and a banking crisis. For the miners in the 70s, read oil workers at Grangemouth, who have a stranglehold on the nation’s power supplies. For … Continue reading
Nepotism -keep it in the family. MPs hiring their relations
There was widespread shock and outrage in Westminster last week at reports that some Members of Parliament are employing people who are not family members. Instead of hiring wives, children and girlfriends as researchers and secretaries, these rogue MPs have been advertising posts in the press and inviting qualified people to apply for them. The … Continue reading
Burma – and where is Gordon Brown?
In his recent book, “Courage: Eight Portraits” Gordon Brown praised the Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi as a fearless prisoner of conscience battling a state with one of the worst human rights records in the world.. So, where is Gordon Brown now that Burma has been devastated, and the generals discredited, by Cyclone Nargis? … Continue reading
Iain Macwhirter 