Tom Harris isn't a happy man. On Twitter he wrote earlier - 'Pathetic attempt by SNP to tartanise Smeargate' so of course I had to click the link. It took me to the Times where the headline reads 'Labour accused of setting up Red-Rag like website in Scotland.'
Curiosity propelled me to read further and discover who in the SNP has made such an accusation. Low and behold it's Iain Dale of Iain Dale's Diary. Now I read Iain's blog regularly and he's no more affiliated to the SNP than I am to the labour party so what made Tom Harris tweet what he did. Does he know something I don't?
The Leaky Chanter isn't a site I visit because I prefer to read blogs where bloggers write their thoughts on a subject(s) than a blog which has been set up purely to ridicule Alex Salmond and cast aspersions. It's obvious to any blogger like myself that this site is written by people with strong labour party connections and is often spurious in its content.
Thankfully to my knowledge, no other parties in Scotland are associated with blogs which stoop to this level and long may that continue. Applause to Iain Dale for being brave enough to speak out because he surely knew he'd upset his blogging pal Tom.
Note: I haven't linked to the Leaky Chanter because I've no wish to see their hits increase through any efforts of mine.
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24 comments:
Didn't I hear that Leaky Chanty was professional Labour spindoctor Simon Pia?
WV jamfu(of what I wonder lol)
Aye I think you're on the right lines, but there are a few of them write it Conan. Somewhere I heard it was done by insiders of the parliament aided and abetted by Pia. I should say allegedly.
The Times quotes Dale's blog, but he has not posted about this or have I missed a trick here?
I must confess I quite like Leaky Channter - for two reasons. It does occassionally come upo with some funny stuff - I defy anyone not to laugh at 30 somehing Eck's attempts at a duet with Anne Lorce Gilles in bygone days. And even Chateres "expose" this week of the snps suppsedly knicking its new slogan off MCDonalds had a certain amusement value.
But Chamnter is at its most amusing when it seriously tries to do anymore of a mild lampooning of ouf First Minister - and what are First Miniters there for? The stuff really is so weak it is laughable. Pathetic.
I think Iain Dale's attempt to link it with smeargate though is way off - it is too funny and engaging for Brown or any of his sidekicks to have a hand in it.
Tom Harris? - his off the wall reaction does not suprise me. Like so mant labourites - left right, old, new - whilst they can offer a degree of civility to other parties, the SNP, the hated nats is another story. If Tom read in the April 1st edition of the Beano, that Eck was behind a pornograhy racket, he'd be phoning up Jacqui Smith to demand his immediate incarciration, no questiones asked. Problem would be Jacqui's husband would want to check the porn first.
Smears sites or no smear site don't expect it to get any better. Power is untimately the business Tom and all his comrades are in, and in Scotland the only party that really threatens this, and fundamentally, is the SNP
AWC, I don't mind satire in the least, in fact I'm quite a fan but LC isn't satire it's not that clever. I doubt if Dale's too short of the mark. He wouldn't put up an article without reasonable proof, he's not that silly. Anyway we all know it's done by staunch labour folk. Pity they're not satirists then they'd get a superb following.
Howard he just mentioned this site when the RedRag story broke but I could find it to link to last night. I don't understand how Iain's archive works.
He's obviously done more research since then.
Dale's post on this was back on Manday 13th. The addition of Angus MacNeil's take on this whole thing now is a little like trying to jump on the bangwagon after the flames are dying out. As Harris Tweets it does look like an attept to tartanise smeargate especially as Leaky Chanter does not follow typical Labour attack blog modus operandi, ie it's on Blogspot not some purchased domain.
Morning Stephen. I have to admit the article wasn't well written but I was more interested with Tom Harris' tweet which implied the SNP were the cause of the article. They weren't of course, it's Iain Dale. Oh such is life in the media.
Smears and lies, spin it out, muddy the waters and confuse the people.
True to type. The fuckers cannot get their collective head around the fact that they have been rumbled.
We know what they are up to and way ahead of them know. They are caught and their squalid, vacuous, strategy of deceit is dead.
Simon Pia and his manipulative self serving ilk are dead men walking. They don't know it and continue doing what comes naturally to them. Long ay it continue.
Another lie made, another lie exposed.
Keep it up Broon et al, even Sun is against you. You are toast!
Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the GE and especially after the succession, no I don't think so. These people is genetically disconnected to reality and the truth.
Now let me think, what other behaviour is believed to be untreatable?
Subrosa,
If there's any justice in the world then this utter fool will be out of a job at the next GE.
Is it worth berating him for his incredible lack of ability and the fact that he's barely adequate as a man rather than a politician?
He even admits to liking the X Factor - hmmmmmm highbrow chap no less, eeeejit!
CD
I read about this attack-blog in (I think) one of Guido's threads last week and there also seems to be a Welsh equivalent. Tom Harris occasionally shows flashes of being a decent MP, but this isn't one of them. There will be no come-back for the Labour Party on this one; no rehabilitation.
I must admit CD he does little for Scotland on his blog. In fact he seems to have a lot of spare time to blog, I thought MPs worked 24/7.
Have you been reading the Sun FC? I must have a look. You're right of course as always.
GV Tom Harris is a Scottish MP with far too much time on his hands. He's only interested in his Westminster pals. He's one who absolutely detests the SNP. I don't know any other party which has such hatred for another.
"I thought MPs worked 24/7"
Hmmmmmmmmmm. Morning Subrosa. I suspect that the only ones who work 24/7 are the ones with 10 jobs.
BTW.. did you notice that the Leaky Chanter blog has very very few comments on it, and those that it does have tend to be fairly dimissive of the content?
In short.... it's not working.
Morning Tris. No MP works say as hard as our troops when they're in these war zones although you'd think they did by the way they speak, wouldn't you.
I don't think many people want to be associated with the LC so they don't leave comments. I commented a couple of times when it set up but got no feedback so stopped visiting.
I'm unable to find a link to the April 1st edition of the Beano ...If Alex been up to no good the people should know about it..
Subrosa
Must admit Tom Harris should reserve his Highest level of hatred for the Conservatives..and then the snp/conservatives....as for any left wing snp Um? well?
Then the lib dems and finally Wardog...
You know Niko, you can be nearly amusing at times and this is one of them :) Tom Harris wouldn't have time for the likes of Wardog, he's not in the Westminster bubble but of course you know that.
You have it there Subrosa. The MPs that sent the troops there are not fit to lace their boots, and yet you have that moron Hoon living in multiple houses at our expense, while the kids of these soldiers are living in sub-standard housing, and the troops themsleves have useless equipment and foul rations.
Disgusting.
Lots of posts Subrosa!! ( But try getting rid of this pre moderation as soon as)
My final say on Tom Harris - and it is a bit of a repetition of what I said earlier - I've know him for years as a youngish Labour actvist and then as a journalist when he worked as a PRO for Stathclyde Pasenger Transport Executive. He is a "nice guy", and a genune christan , Ive no reason to doubt he tries to live by the good book.
And politically ecumenical....BUT get him onto the SNP he becomes almost a Jeckle and Hyde character. I genuinly doubt if he's as hard on the BNP, UKIP etc- or even Trot groups.
I have often wondered why, because Tom is kind of typical of loads of otherwise ok folks I could mention with labour party cards. And I speak as one who was in the party for 20 years, grew upon it. A few tories, libs, leftist would come round our house to see my politcally active labour dad from time to time, sometimes even socially. But a nat? Just never - like political apartheid. Nats werte "trouble" - nasty types. worth avoiding where possible
I can only strategically explain any of this by my earlier suggeston that it is becuse the SNP is such a fundamental threat, labour fear them so - NEED to belive they are "evil", closet racists, porgromists.
Yet, putting aside the constitutional issue, fundamnentally both labour and SNP are soft left social democratic parties. It's this simlarity, plus the real threat to labour's power base the SNP poses that it all comes down to.
Tom will most probably still win his South Glasgow seat next time round. But I am sure in his heart of hearts he knows much of what the SNP says is true and, if well expressed, given a fair hearing potentially hugely appealing to his core vote. He will I guess lie awake at night worrying about a big nat electoral tsunami sweeping him and all he stands for aside. Something DC, Vince Cabel, Nigel Farange or Tommy Sheridan could never ever ever conceivably do.
It is easy being "nice", fair, to local irrelevancies
I had a look at Leaky Chanter way back. Don't know if it's improved, but at that time it was barely literate - content irrelevant. If it's anti-SNP, then good: it shows what muppets our opponents are.
Aye tris you're right. I may just do a wee post about military housing soon.
AWC I don't doubt Tom Harris is a 'nice' man. I know many nice men but few would make good MPs.
You're right about labour, every one of them has this visceral hatred of the SNP. Perhaps it's because the SNP have taken fundamental labour principles and actually stick to them.
I do doubt if Tom Harris lies awake worrying about the SNP, he'll be more worried about his own seat. Time labour woke up and realised how irrelevant they're becoming in Scotland.
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