Corbyn’s star is rising but he still doesn’t understand Scotland
AS this weird election campaign spools out to the final reel, everyone seems to be losing it. Sincerity, touted as Jeremy Corbyn’s biggest asset, is his biggest weakness, in Scotland at least. Stability, the byword for a steady Brexit under Theresa May, has collapsed under the worst Conservative election campaign I can remember. Strength, Nicola Sturgeon’s dominating quality, is rubbed away like a charcoal pencil whenever the SNP leader engages in political combat. Corbyn’s devil-maycare virtue of being open and frank on TV has taken him far with viewers. His general sloppiness – he and Diane Abbott share the same calculator when it comes to figures – might be forgiven by some. But it doesn’t seem to matter what briefings Corbyn is given, he just can’t get Scotland right. Corbyn has been totally unprepared for the Scottish battlefield where an emphasis on syllables, never mind words, can turn the constitutional debate. So, when Kezia Dugdale says a second referendum is “unwanted and unnecessary” and Corbyn says he would open talks with the SNP Government, it is not so much a gaffe as a gulf in understanding. Perhaps there A BHARRACHD air cogadh a thòiseachadh, agus dh’fhaodadh e sin a dhèanamh fhathast, ‘s e an sgrios as motha a nì Dòmhnall Trump na Stàitean Aonaichte a shlaodadh à Aonta Pharis airson an àrainneachd a dhìon. Tha e a’ coimhead coltach gur e sin a nì e, ged tha e cho bagartach ‘s gum faodadh e a bheachd atharrachadh. Tha Aonta Pharis a’ cur uallach laghail air gach dùthaich casg a chur is something in the sincere democratic soul of Corbyn which cannot resist the notion that a demand from the Scottish Parliament must be met.
But that is a failure to understand the nature of the debate. The challenge of keeping the UK together has been to find a form of words that are a denial but not antidemocratic.
May achieved it with “now is not the time”, and the sky did not fall in. Dugdale got there with “unwanted and unnecessary”. Corbyn struggles to find the words. I suspect long before he takes advice from Dugdale, Corbyn hears counsel from his inner court. Some are ex-pat Scots who now regard home as lost territory.
Some of Labour’s metro lefty advisers are still blinkered enough to
Sùil Eile
air truailleadh carboin bho bhith a’ losgadh connadh-fosail mar ola agus gual.
Tha Trump air gealltainn gum fosgail Aimeireaga mèinnean guail a-rithist, a’ dol air ais dà fhichead bliadhna, aig àm nuair a tha stoirmean agus tuiltean mar dhearbhadh air a’ mhilleadh a tha sinn air dèanamh.
Tha cruaidh fheum aig an view nationalism as a “progressive” force and an independent Scotland as a potential MacVenezuela of socialism.
They don’t know Scotland and they certainly don’t know the SNP, but they’ve given up on the place and that has seeped into Corbyn’s thinking.
The irony is that this strange election is likely to accelerate the slide of the SNP from its 2015 peak.
The SNP will still be the dominant force but Sturgeon’s approval ratings are plummeting and the referendum timetable is slipping.
Corbyn and the SNP are fortunate to be up against Theresa May.
She will probably win but if the campaign went on much longer the damage the Prime Minister could do to herself might be irreparable.
Her woeful performances might save some SNP seats, which will give Nationalists cause for cheer.
But cheering victories on the way down is what Labour used to do in Scotland. That didn’t end well. t-saoghal air adhartas agus chan e a-mhàin am milleadh a tha Trump a’ dèanamh aig ìre na h-àrainneachd a tha na chunnart dha.
Air àrd-ùrlar poileataigs bidh e a’ géilleadh ceannas air a’ chùis. Tha na h-Eòrpaich a-nis a’ tionndadh gu Sìona airson caidreachas a chur air bhonn airson an àrainneachd a dhìon. Gun gunna a losgadh, dh’fhaodadh Trump an cogadh airson àrd-cheannas a chall.
DID anyone see the SNP party political broadcast on TV on Tuesday night?
It was children playing all the way through.
There was no commentary and nothing about what they’re going to do for the Scottish people.
Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t care about anyone but herself and getting independence.
The woman is living in the past and needs to realise that we need a proper manifesto of what she’s going to do for Scotland, not take us for uneducated fools. No Pushover I WATCHED the Nuremberg, sorry, Perth rally and heard the abuse Colin McKay from STV got when he dared question the SNP manifesto.
Even Nicola Sturgeon tried to silence them. They are an embarrassment to this country.
John T, Glasgow IN REPLY to Clark Cross regarding a cyclist stopping at traffic lights.
I recently had a car overtake me while I was cycling and they gave me a full car-width clearance.
Would this be a suitable entry for the Guinness Book of Records?
Robert Russell THERESA May says Jeremy Corbyn is not up to negotiating Brexit.
But with Corbyn, we are more likely to end up with an extra £350million a week for the NHS – and a Brexit which actually protects jobs. Phil Tate, Edinburgh