THE cat's out the bag, the ba's on the slates, the gemme's a bogey...there's no hiding place for not only the three leadership candidates, but for every Labour Party member eligible to vote in the misnamed election, from the fall-out of Tom McCabe's bombshell.
Not only did the former Finance Minister blow the gaff on the resentment, petty jealousies and lack of co-operation that MSPs suffered, in silence, at the hands of their supposed colleagues in Westminster, but he pointed out the person elected by La
bour's electoral college, comprising everyone who's anybody in the Scottish section of the party, won't be the Labour Party's Leader in Scotland.
Confused? You're not alone. Even Labour voters assume that Donald Dewar, Henry McLeish and Jack McConnell, Labour's three First Ministers in Holyrood, like the current incumbent, Alex Salmond, headed their party in Scotland. Because of his standing in the party, nobody ever questioned Donald Dewar's status, and Henry McLeish wasn't in the job long enough for the question of his exact place in the Labour hierarchy to loom large, although there was a certain clearing of throats in Westminster when his policy initiatives, like free personal care for the elderly, were mentioned.
But the signs were all there during Jack McConnell's tenure at Bute House. Take the MSP group's support for the Iraq war. It was obvious there wasn't a majority in favour, until the big lie from Tony Blair about the "40 minutes' notice of missiles" frightened and confused most people, including the more trusting MSPs. Even then, MSPs had to be whipped into voting against their conscience, common sense and the anti-war consensus in Scotland.
Westminster's behaviour over the G8 summit in Gleneagles justifies Tom MacCabe's accusation of contempt shown towards his MSP colleagues, and the status of Holyrood itself, by Westminster MPs, and other Labour members. Jack McConnell did his best to walk the tightrope between his loyalty to the Labour Party and his responsibility to represent and reflect opinion and interests in Scotland.
Decisions were taken in London, including costs of such an event, who would meet them, and how local communities would be affected by the security arrangements etc, without as much as a by-your-leave to the First Minister and Scottish Government, or Scottish Executive as it was cajoled into calling itself by the same people who'd never taken devolution as anything other than a wheeze to diss the SNP.
Perhaps the most obvious demonstration of the impotence of the so-called Scottish Labour leader was at the Dunfermline by-election. Regardless of the Scottish Parliament's right to decide the policy on Firth of Forth crossings Westminster Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown rode roughshod over such political and legal niceties, and made policy without even pretending to consult Jack McConnell.
Tom McCabe has done his party a favour by telling it how it is. Maybe the party's members will now question Cathy Jamieson, Andy Kerr and Iain Gray on their plans from a more realistic basis. Maybe they'll reach the conclusion reached by Tom McCabe – the Scottish Labour Leader should be in control of policy, as it applies to Holyrood's responsibilities, and organisation as it applies to getting Labour candidates elected.
If they do, they'll be edging closer to the sort of status enjoyed by the Scottish Lib Dems. They're free to pursue their own vision, yet they still enjoy a good working relationship with their Lib Dem colleagues in England, and in Wales.
Wendy Alexander grasped this, and was prepared to act on it. Because of sloppy administration of her leadership campaign, totally divorced from the policy and structural challenges facing Labour, most party members are now anxious to move on, and away from Wendy's woes. But they'll throw the baby out with the bathwater if they don't start from where Wendy, and Tom McCabe, left off.
Hackles up over clonesMY blood ran cold at the news of the success achieved by Korean scientists at cloning five pit bull terriers from Burger, the beloved, if fierce, pet of an American owner.
In the way of these things, it's probably only a matter of time before the science is available to people who'll see a nice little earner in ensuring pet owners never have to part with much-loved pets. And the temptation could be strengthened to investigate whether the same science can jump species.
Browned off for Sarah IN all the coverage of Gordon Brown's travails, the most pernicious stories were the bitchy opinions of Sarah Brown's style. I wonder how many partners have been told to choose between a political career and their lady?
The full article contains 785 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
