Monday 8 July 2013

But Facts are Sacred ... Predator vs Godzilla

The Guardian posts this old saying, of an ancient editor, of the Manchester Guardian at a time when they probably were. In the modern Gruniad facts are only sacred if they fit the political spin of the day and do not point up the hypocrisy of the Nu Blu Labour Party and its faux attack on Unite over the train crash which is Falkirk.

I do not know my crime for having my CiF account shut down because the Gruniad will not tell me and even if I asked it would be a Kafka style response along the lines of I have broken some 'unwritten law' in suggesting Labour Blairites are just as guilty of the farce that is CLP selection in the Nu Blu Labour Party as Unite or any of the Unions. It is the on line equivalent of me accepting them nailing my head to a table.

So what did I write that deserved my exclusion?

In the first instance I pointed out that the Murphy protege, Mr Poyton, had been buying in friendly votes just like Unite but not as successfully and that this was most likely the reason for Murphy throwing his toys out of the pram. I also pointed out that Mr Poyton was working for the 'Better Together' campaign supplying data and other IT services even though his mentor, Mr Murphy, has made it clear he can not share the Better Together' platform with the Tories and suggested that just maybe Mr Murphy either did not know about Mr Poyton's employment or chose to turn a blind eye. 'Don't Know', is a non starter as Mr Poyton's company provides the same services for the Labour Party and the latter suggests Mr Murphy is being economical with the truth for his own percieved political advantage.

It is clear from the 'expose' in the Sunday Herald that Murphy and the Scottish Blairites have been briefing against Unite since Joyce stood down in February, in an attempt to tell McCluskey to get his tanks off Murphy's lawn. Unite stepped up activity at these threats and then we had the next tactic of Murphy and the Blairite Scots to imply Unite had breeched the Data Protection Act - a final warning to Unite, if you will. McCluskey then points out at the Spring Meeting of Labour's 'Scottish' wing that Unite will not give a penny to 'Better Together' supporting Murphy's line about sharing a platform with the Tories. Further the STUC tell Labour the same - not a penny to Labour for 'Better Together' for the same reasons (plus the STUC already has Union branches which have democratically elected to support the 'Yes Campaign', so to go ahead and fund 'Better Together' would be to invite civil war amongst the Scottish Union branches). By the end of April Murphy and the Scottish Blairites plans are in tatters -Murphy can not now come out in support of 'Better Together', on the back of Union funding, and he has a number of Unite sponsored Labour councillors, MSPs and MPs openly rejecting the shared platform in 'Better Together'. The big plan for 'United with Labour' dies the same weekend it was launched as again there is no Union backing in Scotland for an internal Labour 'No campaign'. ' Better Together' has a leak which talks about its campaign as 'Project Fear' and all Murphy's plans are going to pot, if Unite win the Falkirk CLP selection then Murphy's position as defacto leader of Labour's Scottish wing, will be weakened further.

Falkirk CLP, the last place Murphy wants a contest, now becomes vital if Murphy is to keep his baleful eye on Ed Milliband and orchestrate Milliband's string pulling. The Blairites in Scotland have a plan, it is the same plan that wrecked the Falkirk CLP over Cavanagh's original removal and Joyce being parachuted in. It is a ploy the Blairite faction in Scotland have used frequently, most recently to get Poyton's missus parachuted into West Dumbarton and the Unite candidate kicked out of East Lothian CLP selection in the run up to the 2010 election - special measures, cause enough strife within the Falkirk CLP to enable London HQ (which just happens to be run by the Blairites) to suspend the CLP and take control of selection of candidates. 

Usually this does not attract much press attention but this time McCluskey and Unite make a stand and start briefing against Poyton (and Murphy). The usual 'independent report' does not shut McCluskey and Unite up it just raises the stakes. Even then Nu Blu Labour might have got away with it until Cameron makes it an issue of Ed's leadership, over Unite, at PMQ's and on the same day a Tory MP writes to the Chief Constable of Scotland requesting a criminal investigation into possible fraudulent activities within the Falkirk CLP. The cat is out the bag and flaying the Nu Blu Labour Party across the UK.

The Tory Press is having a field day, as are the leftwing of Labour support as they point out why should a Union not campaign to get a MP favourable to it elected. There is a palpable sense of glee across the UK that the Blairites are getting a bit of their own, back - at last. So some six months after the Battle of Falkirk began Ed Milliband's response is to send the 'independent report' to the Chief Constable of Scotland who is now responsible to the Scottish Parliament and not Labour run Police Authorities. The old days where the Chief Constable of Strathclyde could be leaned on for a 'wee favour' are no longer pertinent. Yet another criminal investigation into Labour's Scottish region is not what Murphy wants as their last 'jewel' Glasgow Council is increasingly in tatters and the outcome of Matheson's attempt to fix the George Square revamp is not looking too good for Murphy's faction in Scotland with council officers actively briefing against Matheson. A criminal investigation that highlights how both sides were 'at it' in the Falkirk CLP  is not going to help Murphy and his Blairites in Scotland and, just maybe, that is what Ed Milliband is hoping for.

In the meantime Labour's supposed all powerful leaderine in Scotland has been sidelined, emphathising the 'toom tabard' she actually is, but in terms of Labour's internal civil war in Scotland she also has much to gain politically from Murphy and his Blairites being humiliated by a police criminal investigation. All the while, in the background the incident is highlighting just how unfit for purpose Nu Blu Labour is in Scotland, a party more interested in its internal power struggles than representing the people of Scotland.

The 'Yes Campaign' has wisely stayed silent on the issue, Salmond had a pop at Lamont but it was simply shooting fish in a barrel and to some extent a bit cruel to a woman who already has been seriously humiliated by her own party - just more salt on her already wide open wounds.

Murphy's pals in the Scottish media are going to try and will this away, it is up to the online blogs to keep Labour's civil war front and centre and in the public eye whether it is Matheson, the Glasgow councillor running Hotels without a proper license or Murphy's attempts to slide back into the dark where he usually lurks.

I would like to be very clear I neither support Unite nor the Blairites in their attempts to fix the Falkirk CLP for their candidate, I simply want both sides seen for what they are, rather than the current partial media coverage, to me this is an internal Labour matter, but its impact reveals just how poorly served we Scots are by Westminster, by Labour and the plutocracy which seeks to run the UK for its own benefit.

Let us make sure Labour's Predator vs Godzilla, 'Battle of Falkirk' is not allowed to be disappeared, our future as Scots is too important for that to be allowed.

 14:30 8/7/13 -  It is strange but my empty, cancelled Gruniad account, has now been reinstated, in full, along with all the deleted posts from the blogs .... I wonder if I am now on a GCHQ/ NSA watch list or maybe some LAB HQ wonk tried to hack my account ... in which case I unreservedly apologise to the Gruniad for my previous comments about censorship unless they were party to the illegal hacking .... or the actions were the result of a Blairite, Labour supporting mod.

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