Nov/09
14:43 3
Kamikaze independent candidates (episode one)
It’s probably quicker and easier to burn that £500, but many with more money than sense prefer to blow the money on a deposit in order to humiliate themselves as hopeless independent candidates.* In the run up to the general election Scrapbook will be paying tribute to these kamikaze politicos with this irregular feature.
The man below is standing against Jack Straw in Blackburn. It all looks a bit Screaming Lord Sutch but Scrapbook isn’t convinced that this is for show!
I’m sure the Justice Secretary must be terrified.
*Don’t even start with “typical Labour arrogance” etc. We’re talking John Smeaton and Sir James Goldsmith here, not Martin Bell or Peter Law.
Oct/09
10:40 4
Yet more lies? Did Nick Griffin’s father really serve in WWII?
One of the only punches Nick Griffin managed to land on the other Question Time panellists was something of a low blow. While his father saw service as a Spitfire engineer in World War II, Jack Straw’s old man was a conscientious objector.
The Suffolk Evening Star carried an interview with Edgar Griffin yesterday, detailing his two years “National Service” in India. Suspicions arise as conscription (and National Service) didn’t start until 1948 – three years after the war finished.
It’s a bit complicated but Unity has more over at Liberal Conspiracy.
Oct/09
18:06 15
Jack Straw, Sayeeda Warsi, Chris Huhne and Bonnie Greer to face BNP leader on Question Time
The addition of Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi to BBC Question Time on 22 October completes a lineup of Chris Huhne, Jack Straw and Bonnie Greer to appear alongside BNP leader Nick Griffin.
Reaction on the blogs has been mute, with Sunny Hundal questioning the appropriateness of a softly spoken, middle class American playwright (flanked by two white, middle class frontbenchers) to take on Nick Griffin:
“Middle class people generally hate cheap populism and the use of emotion to make political points. They prefer ‘rational argument’. Fuck that. The way to destroy the BNP is through emotional narratives and populism.” – Sunny Hundal
Further reaction available from Nothing British and ConservativeHome [will update this later this with more as it comes in]. The Times also has something from earlier today mooting Warsi as a possibility while arguing that William Hague would have been the better choice.
Scrapbook can’t promise not to shout at the TV.
Sep/09
12:41 1
Fighting talk from Jack Straw
“The Tories will cut because they want to. It’s in their DNA.”
Jack Straw has just wooed the conference hall with by far and away the most strident speech delivery of any Labour minister.
No grey suits here!
Sep/09
13:33 10
Brown backs Straw to tackle BNP on Question Time?
Following the announcement this week that Labour is to drop its policy on sharing a platform with the BNP, Justice Secretary Jack Straw is the latest name touted to appear on Question Time alongside BNP leader Nick Griffin.
According to Lancaster Unity, Gordon Brown is taking a “personal interest” in the issue and favours Jack Straw, whose Blackburn constituency has one of the highest levels of immigration in the country, as the man to take on the BNP.
“We have to put up a heavyweight, otherwise we will be accused of giving Griffin too easy a time of it.” – Labour Party source
“Street smart and funny” Home Secretary Alan Johnson has signalled he is willing to appear, while Labour blogger Chris Paul has suggested Billy Bragg, Meera Syal or someone else with the “means to ridicule his nastiness”.
For fear of sparking unrest in areas of racial tension, BBC sources have confirmed that the edition featuring the BNP will be filmed in London.
Palin-O-Meter
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