Good Lord!

Okay, I’ll admit it. I didn’t want to do it. But I feel I’ve been living a lie too long. I can’t take the pressure any more. I want you to know.

I disagree with Calum Cashley.

There. It’s out. It’s been tearing me up inside. Although I’ve given light-hearted support to Calum’s campaign to back Helen Eadie for Labour leader, I feel I can no longer do that. Despite her excellent credentials, her first class ranting skills and the socialist propaganda in her office windows, I cannot back her for leader.

I cannot back her because there is a better candidate. Someone who has the experience and the political savvy to roll back the years and bury the current controversy. Someone who has first hand experience of being dictated to from lands afar. Someone who puts the “heavyweight” back into Labour politics. Someone who even went to the same (comprehensive) school as I did, that wonderful seat of education at Keith Grammar School.

Waddle forward, Lord Foulkes, saviour of the Labour Party in Scotland, man of the people, bench boy to Vlad the mad. You know it makes sense.

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A rocking horse?

Rumblings around Holyrood about the next leader of the Labour Party in Scotland - despite claims by the incumbent that she will not stand down.

North to Leith claims to be in the know about internal Labour politics, suggesting that 6 MSPs are required to nominate a candidate to challenge the leader. That blog - with its ear suspiciously low to the ground - suggests a stalking horse candidate in the form of Malcolm Chisholm. North to Leith suggests he'd be nominated to do the dirty job of getting rid of Wendy before bowing out - and being rewarded handsomely by the preferred candidate who NtL believes to be Cathy Jamieson.

I have no problem seeing that course of action, and it would be a smart move on Labour's part - Cathy Jamieson is a safe pair of hands, tough and experienced in the area of Justice, and performed well at FMQs prior to Wendy's arrival.

A couple of problems with this though. Malcolm Chisholm - notwithstanding his outstanding first name - is too nice a guy, and has too much in the way of morals to be a oust Wendy. Look at his stance on nuclear - it led to him resigning a front bench role (something Labour are notoriously reluctant to do). And for this he is despised by parliamentary colleagues - all of which shun him in the canteen. So the question is: would they trust him to pull this off?

A bigger problem arises if they can't. Namely - who else is there to take over? Andy Kerr & Tom McCabe are tainted by Wendy-gate. Iain Gray - who was promised a ministerial position if he returned to parliament - is the quiet man, and hasn't been back long enough. Lord Foulkes would be interesting - but also controversial. Margaret Curran is an option, as are Jackie Baillie (please no!) or Karen Whitefield (who I understand is powerful behind the scenes). Or as Calum Cashley points out, there's always Helen Eadie...

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Time to fall on your sword Wendy

“I am confident that I will be exonerated of any intentional wrong-doing when we finally get the Electoral Commission's report."
- W. Alexander, 3 February 2008.

In addition to the Electoral Commission’s investigation into an illegal donation (which, it should be said, came to light in November), the Scottish Parliament’s Standards Commissioner Dr Jim Dyer has reported the leader of the Labour Party in Scotland to the Procurator Fiscal for not publicly declaring donations in her register of interests as a Member of Scottish Parliament.

So, under investigation for breaking the law once, and having been referred to prosecutors for a second breach of the law, what course of action has the esteemed leader of the largest opposition party in Scotland followed? Amazingly, Ms Alexander has managed to break the law, admit doing so, blame others, claim its only a distraction, claim it was "unintentional" and deny that she will resign.

Now, I’m not a lawyer or a judge (and for sure not as sober as one) but there are a couple of things which strike me as odd here.

1) If you admit that you’ve broken the law – intentional or not – you must still face the consequences of that. “Aye sir, I did sir, but I didnae mean tae m'laud” is not a defence.

2) If you are going to blame someone else for it – and I agree that Charlie Gordon is culpable to a great degree for the Jersey donation – then make sure that the person you blame is going to accept the blame and resign.

3) To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to deal with one dodgy donation is unfortunate. To get into a bigger mess about declaring donations might be considered careless. It might also be considered criminal.

It’s time to accept responsibility for your actions. It’s time to show that you know you’ve done wrong, that you are sorry for your actions – however intentioned they were. It’s time, Ms Alexander, to resign.

Scottish politics will not be ill-served by your resignation. It has been ill-served by your leadership of the Labour Party.

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Speaker to sit?

Sources at the Palace of Westminster have hinted to me that current Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin may be considering his position.

Although known to stubbornly deny any leaning towards his former party colleagues on the Labour benches, he has been seen to be favouring the Government in recent weeks, most notably on the European treaty when he would not accept a cross-party amendment to the government line that would have seen the bill fall. Pressure is said to have come from Downing Street to avoid any more pressure for a referendum on the treaty.

The Speaker has not been the most popular figure in the Commons since replacing Betty Boothroyd as in 2000 and while unlikely to stand down voluntarily from his position, may consider not contesting his Glasgow North East seat at the next election.

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