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Jack Straw, temporarily posing in what should be his home for life
And so the unravelling continues. In a paean of praise to the voting public that kept the Labour Party in money and pensions for the last 13 years, this senior Labour politician said:
We lost the election in England, not elsewhere, amongst so-called decent hard-working families who felt, especially working-class people, disconnected from the Labour Party.
In other words, ‘when we talked about “decent hard-working families”, we just meant “the people we were counting on to keep us in duck ponds and John Lewis kitchens”.’
But he does make a valid point: the Scots (population 5.1m) and Welsh (population 2.9m) voted for anyone but the Conservatives. It’s only in England (pop 51m) that there was an enormous swing to the Tories. Does this mean that the Celtic fringes have a completely different perspective on how the nation should work? And does this perhaps mean that it’s time to cut them loose to live their own political lives in the way they see fit?
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1
May 17, 2010 at 08:53 -
Yes yes please, and while we are about it, rebuild Hadrians Wall, and no more Jocks in government
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2
May 17, 2010 at 09:14 -
“decent hard-working families”
Interesting turn of phrase. What he actually means is Labour ignored them and supported criminal benefit scrounging single mothers instead.
Seems to sum up the Jocks and the Taffs perfectly
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3
May 17, 2010 at 09:21 -
Toll Gates in Hadrians Wall are the answer .
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4
May 17, 2010 at 10:13 -
More than time. Let all four parts of the Union run their own political and financial affairs and we’ll see what happens to Scotland, Wales and NI without the huge subsidies from the English taxpayer.
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5
May 17, 2010 at 10:30 -
Let the porridge wogs and the sheep molesters have independence if they so wish.
In the meantime, we’ll stuff wax in our ears so we can’t hear them whining when the reality of life hits home.
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6
May 17, 2010 at 10:56 -
Jon and Bill! Scotland starts at the Tweed, not the Tyne.
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7
May 17, 2010 at 11:05 -
Aww, there, there – would you like a pint of bitter, to go with all those sour grapes? Twll dyn pob saes.
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8
May 17, 2010 at 11:11 -
Being a Taffy you wont mind if I feel more than a bit resentful at your remarks. A large proportion of the Welsh are not Labourites or of the leftist persuasion or a drain on the English. The same pattern of Labour voting is the same as that of the English in the large urban conurbations and areas where there were once large parts of the population engaged in heavy industry or mining and who no longer are. Apart from which the Welsh were never invited unlike the Scots to join England voluntarily into a union with them in fact 500 years ago the English just rode in and annexed us. So after 500 years of exploitation you now want to discard us because some of the Welsh happen to disagree with you English. Shame on you.
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9
May 17, 2010 at 11:18 -
I thought that is why they had their own Assemblies and Parliaments ??
And so should the Aegelisc !
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10
May 17, 2010 at 12:12 -
As a Scot I can say this: Many Scots have allowed themselves to believe that the Tories eat babies and have subsequently given the Labour party the belief that Scotland is their own personal fiefdom. The Scots are basically playing with S.N.P. at the moment. I don’t detect any real appetite for independence. Labour created a dangerous fault line in U.K. politics when they introduced devolution which only a vociferous majority were pushing for. Long live The Union!!!!!!!!!!!
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11
May 17, 2010 at 12:14 -
It’s a poor excuse, but they can’t help blaming the electorate for making the wrong decision.
Nationally though, there was quite a swing towards ‘anything but Labour’, except in the areas where there is a large client population and, maybe, lots of postal votes.
Interesting spat between Cheryl Gillan and Peter Hain! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8682987.stm
Did anybody outside Wales know there was to be a referendum?@ Vimes
Oi! ‘dwi wedi anghofio lawer o Gymraeg, ond dwy’n deall at! (forgive spelling) -
12
May 17, 2010 at 12:23 -
13
May 17, 2010 at 13:31 -
I have no objection to the Scots or the Welsh governing their own affairs to fulfil their dreams of independence from the savage hordes in England. But it should be a settled matter of principle that they govern themselves without any representatives in the Houses of Parliament and without any ‘British’ government money to help them maintain their fantasy. And that means no more Lloyd Georges, Browns, Darlings..
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14
May 17, 2010 at 17:33 -
I live in North Wales, and I don’t want South Wales running Wales.
A lot of the people in North Wales get a bad deal from the politicians in South Wales.
We have more in common with the North West of England than with South Wales.
Take a look at how many constituencies there are in South Wales and how many are in the North and you will see why people in North Wales feel badly done by.
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15
May 17, 2010 at 21:23 -
Dear Oh dear. It’s knickers in a twist time again. is it? The Scots have every right to have their National Assembly, as have the Welsh. So too do the Cornish, as all three countries (please don’t even attempt to say that Cornwall is a county) were the indiginous population of mainland Britain. The English are the descendants of the Angles and Saxons who came along very much later (and demonstrated why mass immigration is a thoroughly bad idea!). The English are also entitled to have their assembly and I would like to see them have it. There is no bar to any of the parties to think of themselves as British ( followed by English, Scots or whatever) working together. I served a full career in the British Forces and hold a British passport but I am not English. I can get on perfectly well with just about anyone, but the ‘Little Englanders’ moan far too much at those of the ‘First Nation’ natives. Incidentally, South West ‘England’ which is about the area of the historic Kernow voted 65% Tory, 27% Lib Dem and 7% Lab.
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