Tories Back Jim Murphy 133


During the course of this campaign, a quarter of Tories in East Renfrewshire have switched to voting Labour to back Jim Murphy against the SNP.

Polls by Ashcroft of the constituency at the beginning and end of April shows the Tory vote dropping by 25 to 20%, and the Murphy vote increasing from 31 to 36% – a direct transfer of Tory tactical votes to Labour.

The Tories willingness to back the leader of the Scottish Labour accounting unit is the starkest possible illustration of the collusion of Red Tories and Blue Tories. It comes on top of Miliband’s preference for a Tory government rather than a deal with the SNP. As I have been saying for almost a year, I view a Tory-Labour “grand coalition” as perfectly possible.


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133 thoughts on “Tories Back Jim Murphy

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  • John Goss

    Tony_0pmoc 2 May, 2015 – 4:38 am

    That’s what we should do, tell the Yanks to go home. The trouble is if you try to oppose the Yanks by, for example, talking of setting up your own currency, like Saddam Hussein and Muamur Gaddafi did, NATO bombs the shit out of you, and you end up with a failed state and perpetual war. But I agree Tony. That’s two of us.

  • Habbabkuk (la vita è bella)

    “Well at least Libya has. It has gone from being the most prosperous socialist regime..”

    _________________________

    A most revealing post from Mr Goss, perhaps the most revealing so far.

    So Big Ears thinks that the characteristics and features of Khaddafi’s Libya were those of a socialist state, eh?

    A most interesting idea of socialism! 🙂

  • Enoch

    Craig, the poll shows no such thing. This is your interpretation of it. The poll doesn’t indicate what caused the changes, and it’s simplistic (and extemely unrealistic) to assume what you’ve assumed.

  • John Goss

    “A most interesting idea of socialism! 🙂 ”

    Denigrating Libya was the kind of lie we were told to take us into another pitiful war. Nobody believes you and yours any more Noddy. 🙂

  • Anon1

    ““Ugly scenes outside Ed Miliband speech in Glasgow as pro-independence crowd shout ‘traitors’ and brandish banners declaring ‘Red Tory scum’””
    ____________________

    Yes, I’ve just seen that on BBC television. The demonstrators looked ugly and vicious. Are these the tactics the SNP has to resort to?”

    Scowling, hate-filled faces are always on display at these Nat Scot outings. It is quite disturbing, really, the lack of respect for the democratic process. Whatever one thinks of Nigel Farage, he is effectively verboten from entering Scotland.

  • Kempe

    ” the most prosperous socialist regime ”

    That could almost be funny.

  • Black hole of Calcutta

    No its not porn Villager, just the topic of krishnamurty’s 17th lecture at Pune about this.

  • Haganah Heroes

    If Craig’s inhouse cooters have ALL awoken from their sofa overlooking Gaza, to root for a grand coalition there may be some truth in it. The Board of Deputies works in strange and mysterious ways !! We can then have an FOI majority across all parties in the house. Be on guard assad/khamenei, Scottish cannon fodder coming your way in 2016 !!

  • Clark

    BrianFujisan, 2:06 am; yes, quite by coincidence I ended up at a party of theirs. I spotted one of the Doune the Rabbit Hole volunteers in George Square in Glasgow on the Wednesday before the referendum vote and we exchanged ‘phone numbers. Some weeks later some frantic ‘phoning, texting, Google-Mapping and getting lost led me and my very patient navigator (another commenter from this blog) to Clachan of Campsie, where we parked the car, climbed the hill to The Car-Park in the Sky on Crow Road just to the north, and finally met up with the volunteer and several of his friends:

    https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.993462,-4.225373,3a,75y,255.58h,81.33t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sy1sVgDdIiMCRWzas8qfTpg!2e0

    We visited Aldessan Burn and then walked back down to the cars as dusk was falling. The volunteer then invited me and my navigator to a party, somewhere just out of Glasgow. There we were given delicious food, I set Phil’s telescope up for people to see the Moon and the Pleiades, we talked politics and I spilled red wine on the carpet. It wasn’t until the next day that the volunteer told me whose party we’d been at.

  • Clark

    Anon1, 9:18 am:

    “Scowling, hate-filled faces are always on display at these Nat Scot outings”

    That is honestly not what I encountered in Scotland, even after the No result. I saw a lot of peaceful demonstration, banner and flag waving, singing, pipe-playing and good humour, a lot of political awareness, intelligent discussion and good speeches, in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Perth and thereabouts. I count my months of experience as more significant than any short video clips.

  • Habbabkuk (la vita è bella)

    Haganah’s Heroes

    “If Craig’s inhouse cooters have ALL awoken from their sofa overlooking Gaza, to root for a grand coalition there may be some truth in it. The Board of Deputies works in strange and mysterious ways !! We can then have an FOI majority across all parties in the house. Be on guard assad/khamenei, Scottish cannon fodder coming your way in 2016 !!”
    __________________

    You forgot to mention the Wurlitzer Rifkinds leading the goyim cattle down to the well for some Leon Brittan paedophile drinking under the impunity of the grand masters!

    Do I get the flavour, you pile of cattle dung? 🙂

  • Habbabkuk (la vita è bella)

    Mr Goss

    “Denigrating Libya was the kind of lie we were told to take us into another pitiful war.”

    ________________________

    My post did no denigrating, and you are just trying to divert (as usual!) attention from your egregious belief that socialism could be seen at its best in Khaddafi’s Libya.

    Good try, Mr Goss but, as so often, a total flop!

  • Pykrete

    ” the most prosperous socialist regime ”

    That could almost be funny.

    Here are some Funny Facts about Libya under Gaddafi:

    • There was no electricity bills in Libya; electricity is free … for all its citizens.
    • There was no interest on loans, banks in Libya are state-owned and loans given to all its citizens at 0% interest by law.
    • If a Libyan is unable to find employment after graduation, the state would pay the average salary of the profession as if he or she is employed until employment is found.
    • Should Libyans want to take up a farming career, they receive farm land, a house, equipment, seed and livestock to kick start their farms –this was all for free.
    • Gaddafi carried out the world’s largest irrigation project, known as the Great Man-Made River project, to make water readily available throughout the desert country.
    • A home was considered a human right in Libya. (In Qaddafi’s Green Book it states: “The house is a basic need of both the individual and the family, therefore it should not be owned by others.”)
    • All newlyweds in Libya would receive 60,000 Dinar (US$ 50,000 ) by the government to buy their first apartment so to help start a family.
    • A portion of Libyan oil sales is or was credited directly to the bank accounts of all Libyan citizens.
    • A mother who gives birth to a child would receive US $5,000.
    • When a Libyan buys a car, the government would subsidizes 50% of the price.
    • The price of petrol in Libya was $0.14 per liter.
    • For $ 0.15, a Libyan local could purchase 40 loaves of bread.
    • Education and medical treatments was all free in Libya. Libya can boast one of the finest health care systems in the Arab and African World. All people have access to doctors, hospitals, clinics and medicines, completely free of charge.
    • If Libyans cannot find the education or medical facilities they need in Libya, the government would fund them to go abroad for it – not only free but they get US $2,300/month accommodation and car allowance.
    • 25% of Libyans have a university degree. Before Gaddafi only 25% of Libyans were literate. Today the figure is 87%.
    • Libya had no external debt and its reserves amount to $150 billion – though much of this is now frozen globally.

    http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-884508

  • Mary

    E Mail in from 38 Degrees

    ‘I thought you might find this email inspiring so I’m forwarding it on. Jen from the 38 Degrees office in Glasgow sent it to Scottish 38 Degrees members earlier today.

    38 Degrees members in Scotland are having some big successes, and making a big contribution to the campaign against the dodgy TTIP trade deal. This week they helped push the Scottish National Party to take a much a stronger stance on TTIP. They also had a huge impact on a crucial debate in the Scottish parliament.

    It just shows what people power can achieve. Let’s hope it can serve as inspiration for the rest of the UK!

    Have a great weekend,

    David Executive Director, 38 Degrees’

    ——— Forwarded message ———-
    From: Jen Stout – 38 Degrees action at 38degrees.org.uk

    ‘Dear David,

    This week in Scotland we saw proof that the campaign against the dangerous TTIP trade deal is starting to work.

    “We couldn’t support a trade agreement with ISDS in it.” – Stewart Hosie, SNP deputy leader

    38 Degrees members quizzed Stewart Hosie directly about the dangerous deal on Tuesday in Dundee. ISDS is the part of TTIP that would allow corporations to sue our government in secret courts.

    Getting the SNP to officially oppose this sinister power grab by big business is a big step forward. And it comes just days after thousands of us emailed our local SNP candidates asking them to do exactly this!

    You can see a video of Stewart Hosie confirming to 38 Degrees members that the SNP would vote against ISDS here:
    https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/video-SNP-TTIP-Dundee

    And yesterday in the Scottish parliament we saw more proof that the campaign against TTIP is gathering momentum. MSPs were debating the impact of TTIP on Scotland. MSP after MSP referred to the thousands of emails we’d sent them as a reason why they were there.

    Introducing the debate Christina McKelvie MSP said: “The strength of public feeling on TTIP is clear from all our inboxes”. Another, Jean Urquhart MSP, said: “Only the determined work of campaigners have revealed the true nature of TTIP and the threat it poses to democracy.” [1]

    At 5pm, there was a vote. MSPs voted overwhelmingly to back a critical report which condemns ISDS. We’re turning Holyrood against TTIP!

    These breakthroughs are yet more proof that a huge, people powered Scottish campaign can stop TTIP in its tracks. [2] Our pressure is helping push politicians to speak out against handing dangerous new powers to multinational corporations.

    Every petition we sign, email we send, protest we organise, meeting we attend, donation we make – it’s adding up to something very special and very important.

    Sometimes, when faced with something a huge as TTIP, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. Corporate lobbyists and big business interests are all lined up in support of this deal. This fight is a big one, but we’re standing up to this corporate power-grab and showing our strength.

    So let’s keep going.’

    NOTES
    [1] Jean Urquhart MSP praised TTIP campaigners in her speech. You can see what 38 Degrees members thought of the debate in our blog post:
    https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/Holyrood-TTIP-Blog
    [2] Lots of organisations are coming together to fight TTIP. Global Justice Now have been working hard to make sure MSPs have the facts before they attend the debate – see their useful fact sheet:
    http://www.globaljustice.org.uk/resources/msp-briefing-transatlantic-trade-and-investment-partnership

  • J Galt

    Fred “SNP in denial over NO vote”

    70% of over 55s voted NO, 70% of under 35s voted YES

    The clocks are ticking – every day the Hearses collect a few more NO voters.

  • John Goss

    “Good try, Mr Goss but, as so often, a total flop!”

    I will say no more than to refer you to Pykrete’s comment directly beneath this usual Noddy nonsense.

  • fred

    “The clocks are ticking – every day the Hearses collect a few more NO voters.”

    I wouldn’t hold out much hope for a society which teaches their young to hate their elderly.

  • Mark Golding

    Craig has put on view the ‘grand coalition’ or the ‘great game’ of Tory/Labour deception I call the ‘identity scam’ in that both political parties cowardly ‘sit on their hands’ with respect to many public aware resentments, outrage and injustices like -sexual exploitation of children, endemic in a Westminster noble society that ‘turns the other cheek’ with excuses and delays, having no respect for the victims; like both parties endorse the Official Secrets Act preventing crucial whistle-blower evidence of murder and treachery; like both parties are prepared to squeeze the life out of the poorest people in society on the pretext that a ‘deficit’ exists, a veneer that Britain owes money, to whom? Like both parties allow private bankers to control and distribute the money supply; central bankers who can produce money out of thin air.

    Like both parties consist of career politicians in receipt of donations by corporate companies and wealthy private individuals who are paid £100,000 pounds a year to pretend to work with ordinary folk.

    And like both parties who celebrated the end of apartheid in South Africa and refuse to sanction Israel and criticise the slaughter of thousands of men, women and children in Gaza, when Israhell feels like bombing the sh*t out of people in that part of the world.

    These words are the rotten meat in our society that Craig exposes here, that Craig risks his life to deliver. These words must burn our eyes. Isn’t it time we, the people acted accordingly, properly, as a consequence?

  • Mary

    Here go the snake oil salesmen –

    MIRROR

    ‘Mr Cameron tweeted: “My best wishes to the Duchess of Cambridge, who is having her second child today. The whole country will wish her well.”‘

    Lots of larfs on aocial media about his avoidance of the word ‘labour’.

    PS How does he know that it will be born today?

    ~~~
    ITV

    ‘Ed Miliband has send his “best wishes” to the Duchess of Cambridge after the announcement that she is in hospital in labour.

    I want to pass on my best wishes to the Duchess of Cambridge. My thoughts are with her and the Duke of Cambridge today. I wish them well.’

  • Abe Rene

    According to the BBC the Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to the private Lindo wing of St Mary’s Hospital at 6 am today and is in early labour, so it’s quite possible that before the end of the day the Royal Family will have a new member. The parents-to-be won’t know its gender till the time.
    Question: how will this influence the election? My answer: probably won’t make Scottish independence more likely. 🙂

  • Haganah Heroes

    habba-perhaps you have also had the flavour of savile’s infrequent lectures to the israeli cabinet, poor janner did not reach such heights not having had enough “orphanages” under his belt.

  • Mary

    Your words are most wise Mark. Your summary on the current condition of this country’s affairs is accurate. My father and mother are turning in their graves.

  • Giyane

    A friend of mine has a small shop. He complained to me that his friend who has a shop in the same street told him he was charging too little for the cheap under the counter fags, so he duly put them up. Then he sent his mate down to check the prices of them down the road. The other brother was selling them at the cheap price and taking all the customers.

    UK politicians would obviously be more devious than small shopkeepers, except Maggie who was one. That’s why I say, ‘Watch your back Jim’.

  • J Galt

    Not hatred Fred – many older people are prisoners of their upbringing – just an observation of facts.

  • Clark

    Habbabkuk, 2:08 am:

    “Moreover, a Grand Coalition would be representative of well over 60% of those bothering to vote – that’s real democracy!”

    Utterly wrong. I was talking to some English voters yesterday in Writtle near Chelmsford. Each intended to vote for one of the Big Three Paedophile Parties. Each voter’s choice was based upon keeping one of the other Big Three parties out of power. In other words, they were all intending to vote tactically. So reality is the opposite of your statement; a grand coalition would represent what 60% of people voted against.

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