Now the SNP is even lying to itself
This is a real press release from the Scottish National Party:
“The SNP has today challenged Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy on whether he agrees with Labour Lord Lewis Moonie, who has said that he would prefer a coalition with the Tories to a deal with the SNP.
“Baron Moonie, a Labour MP between 1987 and 2005, and a former Defence Minister, tweeted that a coalition with the Tories ‘would be better than one with the SNP’.
“This follows Robert James McNeill, who at the time of posting was a member of Labour’s Scottish Policy Forum and Vice-Chair of East Lothian Constituency Labour Party, promoting on Twitter that Labour voters in 16 Scottish constituencies should vote for the Tories or Lib Dems.
Commenting, SNP MP Pete Wishart said: ‘This pro-Tory attitude seems to be pervasive throughout the Labour Party in Scotland – having been hand in glove with the Tories for two-and-a-half years in No campaign.'”
What a lot of (to use the SNP-adherent’s favourite word) pish!
McNeill was clearly a loose cannon making unwise use of his personal Twitter account. There is no indication anywhere in what he said that he was acting on behalf of Labour and Labour has certainly not endorsed what he said.
As for Lord Moonie, well, the first thing this writer thought on seeing the claim, was “He might just as easily have said, ‘The moon is more likely to crash into Venus than Labour have a coalition with the SNP!'” He was clearly discussing the impossibility of such a decision, in his opinion.
How does Lord Moonie describe the circumstances behind his comment and what happened afterwards? Here he is:
The SNP looks very silly now, for suggesting that this should be taken seriously.
Of course, that party and its supporters will never accept that they were wrong – they have a narrative to uphold – that Labour and the Conservatives are all cosy since they were flung into each other’s arms during the ‘Better Together’ campaign.
“Both at Westminster and in Scotland, senior Labour figures are cuddling up to the Tories and suggesting working with them,” states Mr Wishart, without a trace of irony, further down the SNP press release.
It’s hogwash, of course. Everybody knows it is – apart, it seems, from the SNP.
Jim Murphy doesn’t have much opportunity for mirth these days – as leader of Scottish Labour he has to fight an uphill struggle to convince Scottish voters that the SNP isn’t the panacea it claims to be.
That job will be much easier if the SNP finds more ways – like this – to turn itself into a laughing stock.
Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike
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Starting to look like SNP are suffering from multiple self-inflicted gunshot wounds to both feet!
Maybe Labour Scotland have no feet left they have told so much lies during the there NO vote campaign i doubt if they will recover in the next 15 years now with Tricky Jack Straw and his moonlight show emerging from the quagmire of westminster i doubt your trivial attack on the SNP authenticity and honesty will have little effect in fact such journalism is only a reflection of the inadequacies of both Labor party and the Conservative in Scotland there counter parts in England have very little or no understanding of the Scottish political arena .
Pish.
(That’s becoming my favourite word, you know.)
What about the lies the SNP is telling now?
Scotland deserves better.
Should we say ‘Pish’ in a Scottish accent I wonder?
You’re starting to sound more like Labour in Scotland every day, Mike. A true Nat-basher for any reason. If the SNP didn’t recognise a joke (if that was what it was) it is only because the statement fitted in so beautifully with other comments from Murphy’s camp.
You refer to any Labour person who makes a gaffe as a loose canon yet this one reply by the SNP sends you off on another of your hate-fests.
Recent such gaffes have been made, not just by McNeill but by Margaret Curran, Jackie Bailly and Murphy himself, to name but a few, in the last couple of weeks. Are they all loose canons?
Joan, the SNP press release was an official statement; that cannot be said of either of the messages it quotes from Labour sources.
Of course McNeill was a loose cannon – everyone can see him for what he is as he had to resign because of it. It wasn’t a comment “from Jim Murphy’s camp” at all – Murphy had nothing to do with it.
Please don’t refer to Margaret Curran as having made similar comments, if you’re referring to her tweet about fracking or her vote in favour of the Charter for Budget Responsibility, as SNP claims about both have been debunked quite thoroughly. Are your references to Jackie Bailly and Jim Murphy similarly poor?
My SNP articles aren’t “hate-fests” either – they’re just attempts to point out the facts. Your reaction – and those of your fellows – are where the hate comes in, I’m sorry to say.