Iain Macwhirter
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David Laws: no sympathy, no excuse.
Let’s be absolutely clear: this has nothing to do with David Laws’ sexuality. It is about his failure to follow the rules on parliamentary expenses. These rules are very clear: “housing allowance must not be used to meet the cost of renting a property from a partner”. Mr Laws has no excuse for not … Continue reading
Queen’s Speech: why Scotland’s laughing.
Ok, someone has to say it: last week’s Queen’s Speech was really rather a good deal for Scotland. Even the SNP have been struggling to find things to complain about. And no – I’ve not become a spokesman for the ‘Condem’ coalition or been offered a gong in Cameron’s next honours list. We ‘re … Continue reading
The Great Lib Con
It’s called the Great Lib Con. You voted for an end to foreign wars, nuclear power, Trident and for a more positive attitude to immigration and Europe. You got a Tory government. On Tuesday, many liberal-left voters in Scotland were incoherent with rage when they discovered that they’d actually voted for David Cameron when … Continue reading
A Very Civil Partnership.
It was like a crazy dream, a comic fantasy. Nick and Dave hugging on the doorstep of Number Ten. Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the UK. As the day wore on my fingers were numb from pinching myself. There they stood among the foliage of the Downing St rose garden, joking … Continue reading
The election – what the hell do we do now?
It was a night of electoral chaos and high drama followed by a weekend of profound uncertainty and inconclusive horse-trading. Voters claimed they were disenfranchised and there were threats of legal challenges. As the election night wore on it became clear that no one party was the winner and the Liberal Democrats ended up … Continue reading
Don’t hold your nose on election day. Vote for fair votes.
When things go wrong in British politics they don’t half go wrong. The collision near the launch of Labour’s final poster campaign on Friday was a headline-writers gift: The Car Crash Election. The final mishap in the worst Labour election campaign since 1983, when the late Michael Foot – a man of great intellect but little … Continue reading
Iain Macwhirter 