…to Richard Leonard
I really know nothing about him. In fact, I’d never heard of him before this year’s contest.
I read that he is genuinely in the Corbyn Camp (unlike Kezia and Anas, who just said they were when Corbyn was on the up, and said they weren’t when he was on the down). If he takes the party to the left, it will be a new experience for the SNP to have an ally on many of the social justice questions. It will also, of course, create competition for the left vote. That could damage the SNP and it might boost the Tory vote as Blairite voters melt away from a Leonard-led Labour Party.
It will be interesting to see what his view on Europe turns out to be, and how likely he is to want to work with Carwyn Jones and Nicola Sturgeon to stop Scotland and Wales being dragged into a disastrous hard Brexit.
The contest was apparently divisive and accusations of cheating and talking “pish” abounded. Of course, people always say that it is all behind them as the loser swears allegiance to the winner… but it never REALLY is behind them, so Leonard will have to watch his back. Jackie Baillie may be a figure of fun, but I suspect she could still be a dangerous enemy. One of his first jobs will be to unite a parliamentary party that may largely have voted for his opponent.
He takes power at a difficult time in any case. At the same time as learning his new job, he will have to manage the fall out from the Alex Rowley business ensuring above all that Mr Rowley gets a fair hearing. We must be mindful that lack of opportunity to clear his name may have contributed to the death of an AM in Wales.
And, it can’t help that one of his MSPs has decided to absent herself for a month or so to take part in reality tv in Australia. People might ask, which other public servants could simply decide to do that all by themselves… teachers, doctors, rent rebate clerks, social workers?
MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC 
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Richard spoke at my union branch’s AGM ahead of indyref 2014 on behalf of the UK side. He seemed like a nice enough guy. Just wrong. His arguments were the same tired and facile position as Bitter Together’s then.
He’s a British Nationalist through and through. He’s sharp enough and pragmatic enough to go with the Britnat flow and he’s been clear enough where he stands. He’s an obstacle.
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I had hoped for Anas, mainly because he is so absolutely awful.
It looks like Mr Leonard will be brighter, but as you say, a Britnat through and through.
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This tweet from the new leader. Bitter and sad.
Richard Leonard
@LabourRichard
I welcome the fact that the combined pressure of BiFab workers, their trade unions and the public have forced a deal from the Government.
As we await the details of the deal, we must ensure that it protects all the 1,400 jobs under threat now and in the future.
Then this from the people who were involved.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DO7-xICWAAExNWh.jpg:large
Didn’t take him long to be a pathetic wee dick.
I seem to know a lot more about him now than I did this morning!
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He has an interesting cv over at the MSP Register of Interests: http://www.parliament.scot/msps/currentmsps/99214.aspx It lists Friends of the Earth, CND, and the William Morris society and Unite. All of this sounds good but his view on Breixt is that it is a done deal, get over it, move on, will of the people, decision made by whole of UK etc. There is plenty of space for SNP to carve out a niche on the most important policy decisions we will likely face in our lifetimes.
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So, on this matter (pretty important), he is at odds with the youth vote that seemed to rescue Labour from oblivion.
I wonder how he will sell this to people denied EU citizenship rights, just when the world is getting smaller and smaller. and it becomes more and more important to be international.
Thanks for the link .
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It could be argued that I live in a Brexit bubble but I do think the next few years will be about nothing but Brexit. If Corbyn did become Prime Minister, he would be consumed by Brexit just like Theresa May is today. Labour’s reform manifesto will turn to dust as soon as they take power, unless they can find a position where Brexit becomes more of a solved problem. Their only attempt at that to date is to continually talk about a “jobs-first” Brexit. Leonard strikes me as someone who will go along with this very real idiocy. As you pointed out, if you’re young this is not attractive. He’s just too Brexity.
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The problem with Brexit, which may last till …well, who knows when, is that there really isn’t a possible good outcome.
UK wide about half the population that were interested enough to pop out and vote, voted against it.
So you can write them off for a start.
Then there are the ones who voted to leave. Many of them are waiting for the £350 million a week for their health service. Most of them never considered that their holidays would cost more; that the people who look after their parents in the old folks home would leave; that the local hospital would be understaffed, etc etc etc. I mean it’s all very well sending all the foreigners home, but frankly, who’s gonna do the hard work?
And that’s before the hard Brexit that will see prices sky rocket; make going abroad much more difficult and prohibitively expensive; blah blah blah… and all the very possible cliff edge scenarios.
I remember reading the first chapter of Ian Dunt’s book and thinking…well, OK, that’s the very worst that can happen… but it won’t be that bad. They will work something out.
Now I doubt it. His apocalyptic description would appear to be what’s coming at us.
You’re right of course, Labour has been a broken reed in all of this. With the comically bad government at the time when we need the best possible government, they haven’t even dented Johnson, Fox, Davis, May, Green, Patel and all the other incompetent morons that are playing at being in government.
In Britain Corbyn did well at the last election because of the youth vote.
In Scotland Mr Leonard starts off with the whole population being far more European; then he has the youth problem on top of that. When people find out that he/they are fine with the terrible Brexit, I think he’s in trouble.
Despite being in an effectively minority government May has nothing to worry about. I seriously doubt that Nicola, also running a minority government does either.
I note tonight that although Leonard has said that Dugdale should be suspended, Corbyn has said she shouldn’t.
What a shambles.
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It’s bad government that got us into this in the first place Tris. Half witted Stooges being manipulated by billionaires looking to clean up after their hard Brexit when we’re on our uppers.
As for Corbyn well he’s sympathetic to Kezias appearance in I’m a Celebrity because he’s hedging his bets. We’ll see him in the Big Brother house shortly after he’s got his tatties and is no longer leader.
What a fcuking farce!
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Nicely summed up.
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He might like to get a haircut, Niko. At least you could have said Sarwar saw sartorially and tonsorially elegant. That’s probably all: ‘rich man chic’, I guess.
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Thanks Niko, I’ve been looking for a label to attach to Labour Party supporters.
Orcs it is.
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seen on twitter
“Alex Salmond only doing it for the roubles, Kezia only doing it for the roo balls”.
Well I though it was funny. This leadership contest has been very exciting, don’t know how they’ll top it next year.
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Brilliant!
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LOL LOL.
Hmmm. They’ll have to get in a juggling act next year. Nothing else for it.
Just can’t think of anything else. Unless they get Prince William to stand and he could be the King and leader of the Labour party at the same time?
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The SNP won’t have an ally in Leonard, he has publicly stated no cooperation. He is a Trident supporting CND member, in other words a hypocrite, he is part of GMB and supported by them, GMB supports fracking, so in other words he is a hypocrite, women members of GMB criticised hime heavily for as political officer he didn’t give them support for equal pay, in other words he is a hypocrite.
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Should add, he is a hard line unionist who believes the Labour party own Scotland and Wales and devolution so he will have no interest in supporting Scotland having a voice in the Brexit discussions, if Labour is not in charge. In other words, he is a hypocrite.
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Yep, I beginning to get that, Brian 🙂
Just as well they are the third party then.
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Seems he might be a bit of a hypocrite then, Brian… eh?
🙂
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Ah Tris, your belief in the intrinsic “goodness” of people is touching. He is a hardcore yoon. He will just be another pain in the arse demanding the SNP do stuff that his party don’t do in Wales and without the means to finance them – because his party rigged the taxation system in the Smith Commission.
I would have preferred Anus, but Dick will be just as much of a gift to us. Their party is no longer relevant to Scotland. Its remaining voters cling to an ingrained historical folk memory that they play for all its worth. They have been incompetent and pretty poor administrators for years. If it wasn’t for positive PR from the meeja they would be as electable as Rennies brigade of colonic polyps.
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Well, yes, I’d have preferred Anas too, but hopefully you are right.
He’s going to have a job squaring the circles of the hypocrisy you and Brian point out.
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So, no change. Jings, whit a surprise… I know absolutely NOTHING about this month’s Slab leader, except that he got himself helicoptered in to show how he’d saved BiFab. Oh well, BBC Shortbread will broadcast it. His Master’s Voice.
These are the last days of the Labour Party. I’d have been sorry to say that once, just like some random East German might once have half-heartedly lamented the decline of the SED in 1974.
Not sure what your name is, Mr SuperSlab, but have a nice December.
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When someone else gets it write, you just have to be big enough to congratulate them, even if they are your opponents.
He fell at the first hurdle.
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Tris,
Get ready with the popcorns 😛
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Oh … I am… It promises to be quite a show, Abu.
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I have an image in my mind now of Leonard sitting on a branch as he saws away. Corbyn may well be sitting on the same branch encouraging Leonard to saw more vigorously.
Labour’s stance on Brexit is as unrealistic as that of the Tories with even less detail than the Tories have provided.
If there was any evidence to support the idea that leaving the EU would result in increased well-being for the majority of people, it would be in the public domain.
Those who will experience the worst effects of not being part of Europe are the young. As pointed out, this is the group that gave Corbyn their support in the leadership elections and the general election. Sooner or later, there is likely to be a backlash from the same people when the reality of leaving the EU sinks in.
Jingoism will only get both Labour and Tories so far. The EU negotiators are already fed up with being presented with catchphrases and simplistic slogans in place of anything remotely credible as a negotiating position. Corbyn’s ‘Jobs first Brexit’ slogan simply insults intelligence.
Leonard needs to start putting something a little more substantial together than just slogans. I can’t see what he can do that will be any different to Dugdale’s shot as ‘leader’. Scotland is significantly more uniformly pro-European than England and Wales. Just like the other British Nationalist parties, Labour in Scotland is seen, correctly, as subordinate to the London leadership. That’s the reality Leonard is faced with. He’s going to need his magician’s kit to pull anything remotely worthwhile out of leaving the EU from a Scottish perspective.
I reckon he’ll be a back bencher again this time next year.
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True. Labour has been abysmal over Brexit.
Maybe we should run a book on how long Leonard will last.
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