Why is Scottish Labour giving Farage free publicity?
If the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is sincere in wishing to deprive Nigel Farage of the 'oxygen of publicity', he's got a funny way about it. In a vituperative interview on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland today, he gave the Reform leader another blast of oxygen by offering a public debate on the eve of his visit to next week's Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. This is publicity Reform couldn't buy with any of the money it has so far devoted to a blitz on social media.
Sarwar is incensed at a mischievous attack ad last week in which Reform doctored a quote to suggest that the Scottish Labour leader intended to 'prioritise' the Pakistani community. What Sarwar actually said in a 2022 speech was that 'the days where the South Asian community gets to lead political parties and gets to lead countries is now upon us'. The former SNP leader Humza Yousaf was the first Muslim to lead a government in Western Europe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
27 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Virtue signalling from Bearsden Bolsheviks won't beat curse of racism
Calling everyone scum and horrible people might evoke cheers and feet-stamping from the Bearsden Bolsheviks, but it merely deflects our gaze from how complicit the political elites of Scotland and the UK have been in driving working-class people into the arms of Reform. 'All parties in Scotland and the UK have massively let down working class people,' Mr Kerr tells a full-house of 250. 'You see it every day when you walk the streets of this city and see the state it's in. You see it in my constituency where people can't get houses and in the state of the houses of the people who can.' The event was aimed at tackling the rise of right wing politics (Image: Gordon Terris)He cites the scourge of private landlordism 'who are taking the absolute piss out of our economy. And not only wrecking our economy but soaking up investment capital and wrecking lives in the process. That's the root. That economic need and neglect has always been fertile ground for the far right. 'But I'm not going to say that everyone who votes for Reform is a fascist. There's a vacuum which Reform fill.' He reminds us of how many working-class people recently voted for Reform in Clydebank and Easterhouse. 'We have a job to go into these communities and fill that gap which Reform are seeking to fill.' He dismantles First Minister John Swinney's fatuous £10k summit which recently brought together the troughers and frauds of the Scottish civic elite under the pretence of opposing extremism. 'That was manna from heaven for Reform,' Said Mr Kerr. 'It was entirely the wrong tactic. That looked like the Scottish establishment all sitting down together: it was a gift to Reform.' As the others vied with each other to express horror at the prospect of Reform rising, this Glasgow councillor was telling them what voters in Larkhall were telling me the previous day: they're sick of being gas-lit by a class of superannuated professionals telling them how to behave; how to speak; how to eat; how to raise their children and then cancelling them if they fail to comply. Even so, it's good to be here at the Boardwalk events venue in Brunswick Street in the heart of Glasgow's Merchant City. The previous day, I'd walked a while with Reform's candidate in the Hamilton, Stonehouse and Larkhall by-election. I'd needed to understand why many of Scotland's everyday working people feel drawn to Nigel Farage and a party which preys on their fears and their exasperation and channels them towards something ugly. Read more But I also needed to be confirmed in my own core beliefs that the scourge of racism erodes this country's health and averts our gaze from that which causes most damage to our society and those who profit from it. Among them the predations of unfettered capitalism; the low wages; the tax avoidance of our largest corporations; the health inequality and the instincts of a Labour Government to build a multi-billion-pound war economy intended to soften us to the inevitability of war with Russia. We needed to be reminded that Scotland's legal and political establishment, lobbied by the Scottish Police Federation, have spent years and a lot of money seeking to undermine the public inquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh, who died in police custody in Kirkcaldy ten years ago. And how this has been accompanied by a campaign to defame him and destroy his family. Aamer Anwer, his family's lawyer, claimed they had 'treated his colour as a weapon'. We all needed to be reminded about the Park Inn Incident on June 26, 2020 in Glasgow. This was the mass stabbing by asylum-seeker Bahreddin Adam which left six people wounded. He was eventually killed by police, the first time they'd shot and killed anyone since 1969 in Scotland. Bahreddin Adam had made 72 calls to various social services before he snapped. This was in the midst of the Covid pandemic where asylum seekers were detained in hotels, isolated, neglected and treated like caged animals by a liberal political administration who talk big about racism but which pay a suite of private facilities companies millions to take these poor people off their hands. At conferences such as these there are always workshops and the trick is to separate the genuinely interesting ones from those organised by groups which seek to hitch their own questionable agendas to something virtuous: in this case the good fight against racism. On Saturday, I dropped into one featuring a documentary called 72 Calls: The Park Inn Incident, in which survivors of the attack spoke with compassion about Bahreddin Adam and the mental despair that they and he had endured while being moved around like livestock. It also exposed Britain's inhumane asylum system whose main purpose seems to be to dehumanise and degrade other human beings so much that it will send a message to other poor souls. The conference featured debates and workshops (Image: Gordon Terris) These people are expected to live on a daily allowance of £9 which hasn't risen in 25 years. Their often-remote locations seemed designed to deter connecting with local communities and the prospect of being ordered to move location at a few minutes' notice disrupts children's education. Far Right groups target communities where asylum hostels are known to exist to spread lies and disinformation about their luxury conditions. And when a Labour Prime Minister makes speeches about Britain being an "island of strangers" they're emboldened. This event is happening in the middle of a district which bears the names of the countries and communities that Britain ransacked and then sold into slavery. Our continuing wars of adventure throughout the last two centuries have literally caused the geopolitical upheaval that brings many of these people to our shores. I'd welcome them all and call it restorative justice. Someone has to pay for what we did to their countries. And if we're that generation then so be it. I heard, Sabir Zazai, Chief Executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, speak much more softly and authentically about how to combat racism than most of the sloganeers waving their fists for likes in the opening session. Mr Zazai cited the race riots in Southport and north England as what can happen when you dehumanise an entire race on their colour country of origin. 'Women wearing scarves are now feeling unsafe,' said Mr Zazai. 'They ask us the dreaded question: 'is it safe for us to go out' or 'will my accommodation be attacked'. This is new.' Read more Refugees and migrants ran small businesses and added to Scotland's arts and culture with their food and music, he reminded us. 'We need to fight back with love and compassion. Let's get to know each other better. Offering people sanctuary and protection can be unifying and uplifting for a community. Treat them as fellow human beings. Tell them that Scotland is as much their home as ours.' Earlier, Matt Kerr rebuked his own party leader for his Enoch Powell rhetoric. 'I'll tell you something,' he said. 'We need to refuse to be strangers by talking to the person next to you and holding their hand. You pick them up when they need it. That's life. That's the antidote to all of this. That's where it begins. You start in your community. You have the conversations with your family, with your friends and it'll be difficult but have courage and stand together.' It's just that, in the hands of a political and trade union class who have dehumanised working-class feminists and who are mocking once more the practice of Christianity, the anti-racism message rings hollow. The Stand up to Racism campaign has never been more important, but some of its loudest and entitled messengers are its worst ambassadors. Kevin McKenna is a Herald writer and columnist and is Scottish Feature Writer of the Year. This year is his 40th in newspapers. Among his paltry list of professional achievements is that he's never been approached by any political party or lobbying firm to be on their payroll.
The Herald Scotland
27 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
'Voters feel ignored & betrayed by Scotland's political establishment'
This seems barely believable. I'd always imagined Reform to be a peculiarly English political force feeding mainly on the racial tensions that swirl south of the Border and which have never really been a feature of Scottish society. What gives in this region which had only lately been annexed in the devolved era by the SNP following generations of largely Labour control? Why are decent, cautious, working-class Scots, traditionally suspicious about end-of-the-pier chancers like Nigel Farage, now shuffling towards the party he leads? Read more We've been joined by Thomas Kerr, the most high-profile of recent Scottish Tory defections to Reform. Kerr, formerly head of the Conservative group on Glasgow City Council, is fresh from a lively appearance on BBC Scotland's Debate Night. There, he'd been harangued by representatives of the main parties who've all been quite palpably spooked by these upstarts. 'We're sensing an urgency among voters that something needs to be done to address their real problems and challenges, none of which are currently being addressed by Labour and the SNP,' says Lambie. 'There's growing resentment at the amount of money and time being spent on meeting Net Zero targets which are of only peripheral concern to families here, while NHS waiting lists get longer. They feel ignored by Scotland's political establishment.' Within minutes we're approached by an elderly lady. An exchange ensues which couldn't have been more telling than if it had been scripted. She's been a lifelong Labour voter but now feels 'betrayed by their attack on the winter fuel payment'. When she learns that Reform have pledged to restore this and to scrap the two-child benefit cap, she says the magic words: 'I'd consider voting for you.' A second woman stops for a chat. She didn't know much about Reform and had voted SNP at the last election, but she's keen to talk. 'I grew up in the Blackwood estate,' he tells her. 'Oh, my mum grew up there too,' she says. The candidate is keen not to be too vociferous in criticising his political opponents, sensing that such an approach is often counter-productive. 'They've had 18 years,' he says, 'and they haven't improved anything in this community.' She isn't disagreeing and I'm putting her down as a 'maybe'. In the course of the next two hours not a single person has declared for Labour or the SNP, but several are inclining towards Reform. 'What Labour voters are telling us follows a pattern,' he says. 'There's an overall feeling of betrayal. They're absolutely raging about what they see as an attack on pensioners over the heating allowance. Kevin McKenna joins Reform UK candidate Ross Lambie canvassing in Larkhall (Image: GordonTerris) 'The way the WASPI women have also been treated is also raised and they've clearly turned against Keir Starmer as a person. They also feel they've been taken for granted and when they find that we've pledged to lift the two-child benefit cap they're taking an interest in us.' As the afternoon progresses and a few more people stop to chat, I realise I am witnessing in real-time the worst nightmare of the Scottish Tories and the Scottish mainstream Left. Once, when Labour voters wanted to send a sharp message to their party they might have parked their votes temporarily with the Lib-Dems and maybe the Greens. In places like this, though, many now view these parties along with the SNP and elements in Labour as middle-class elites who can't hide their loathing for communities like these. For Labour, it's an even worse nightmare. These are their people, generations of whom backed them in the expectation Labour would always fight for their jobs and better services while providing a safety net for them in sickness, unemployment and old age. Labour, in turn, were comfortable in the knowledge that many in places like these could never vote for the Tories. But what if another party would came along with candidates raised in this community who weren't posh? A party like Reform would be the ethical alternative to voting Tory. Working-class people needn't apologise for choosing them. I also sense a dawning realisation amongst some of these voters that Scotland's governing party has been hijacked by a cohort who loathe the people who live in places like Larkhall and North Ayrshire and some of Glasgow's edgier neighbourhoods where family, faith and tradition have always maintained social cohesion and community. Reform candidate Ross Lambie canvassing (Image: Gordon Terris) Lambie rejects my suggestion that Reform's suite of newly-minted policies around social welfare are a bit opportunistic. 'Look, we want to have high birth rates in this country and to support families. It's all about choices. There's a sense that the ruling elite at Holyrood would prefer to prioritise a Net Zero obsession which contributes nothing to the lives of these people. 'What's also pleasing is that our support is not breaking along tribal or sectarian lines. We're receiving indications of approval, if not outright support, from people of all party political traditions who, for different reasons, all feel let down by the parties they've always voted for. They're willing to consider Reform because they sense we're actually listening to them instead of merely pretending.' When he talks about Net Zero he's on solid ground. Lambie says he's a successful architect who says he doesn't need to do politics. 'Once you strip out all the Net Zero requirements in building regulations it reduces the average price of a house by £30,000,' he says. 'The drive for reaching Net Zero punishes people who are striving to make a good life for themselves amidst rising living costs and wages which haven't caught up with them. Are our birth rates are so low because people don't have the confidence to start families? Is it because they don't feel good about our education system or flexible working patterns that would support making families?' There's a curious anomaly at work here, though. The falling birth rates present major social problems as baby-boomers approach old age. It's a gap that can be plugged by immigrant labour, but not when Nigel Farage is talking about Anas Sarwar's ethnicity after the Scottish Labour leader's calls for more Pakistani Scots to become involved in politics. This, after all, was the messaging of white, Catholic Irish immigrants in the post-war era: 'Get educated, get promoted, become influential.' Just what is it about Sarwar's messaging that seemed to have upset Nigel Farage so much? I sense that both Ross Lambie and Thomas Kerr are exasperated by Farage's comments. After all, Reform are doing a decent job of picking up disaffected Labour votes without making race an issue. I press Lambie on this. Farage's comments seem to covey something ugly. Read more 'I meet people like you and Thomas,' I tell him, 'and you both seem to be sound. But you must have winced when he starts talking about people's ethnic heritage. A lot of the people you want to level up are minorities who've previously been kept down: Black, Asian, Chinese, Afro-Caribbean, Gypsy, Irish...' Mr Lambie chooses his words carefully, managing to distance himself from his leader's comments without overtly criticising him. 'I absolutely agree with you,' he says. 'Reform's position on this has always been that we believe in merit. People should get promotion and work on merit. It should not matter what age they are, whether a man or a woman, or what ethnicity they are. 'Whereas SNP and Labour, they have gone down this rabbit hole of DEI [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] and want to try and socially engineer the make up of companies and governments and councils. We just do not believe in that. 'You judge Reform based on the people in it like me, from a working-class background. My parents are from the council estate just down the road.' At this point, Thomas Kerr is trying to source a couple of copies of the Daily Record. On today's front page it carries a picture of John Swinney and his personal message to voters: 'Labour can't win this by-election so if you want to beat Reform the only way to stop them is vote SNP.' It's a clumsy and desperate stunt transmitting fear. Today, in these streets, there's a growing sense of voting Reform to stop the SNP. Kevin McKenna is a Herald writer and columnist and is Scottish Feature Writer of the Year. This year is his 40th in newspapers. Among his paltry list of professional achievements is that he's never been approached by any political party or lobbying firm to be on their payroll.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
How Queen Elizabeth II clashed with Prince Philip over the televising of her coronation
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip clashed over plans to televise her coronation, a royal insider has revealed. While the black and white footage was grainy, the BBC 's live broadcast was an incredible feat which took months of preparation and attracted 27million viewers. But if the Queen's original wish had been honoured, it would not have been televised. This position was supported by the then-prime minister Winston Churchill and the Queen Mother but there remained one vocal supporter of opening up Westminster Abbey to the cameras - Prince Philip. Philip and Elizabeth butted heads over the issue, according to royal author Andrew Morton. He wrote: 'On this crucial matter she butted heads with her husband, who chaired the coronation committee. 'He wanted to let daylight in on the magic, believing that televising the ceremony would make the monarchy relevant to a new generation and herald a new, dynamic Elizabethan Age.' But Philip was overruled and it was announced that the coronation would not be broadcast. However, 'people power' convinced the Queen to U-turn. Morton, in his book Elizabeth & Margaret, added: 'For once people power - with the eager support of of the television manufacturers - won the day. 'Ministers and MPs were overwhelmed with an avalanche of mail protesting against the decision to keep the cameras out of the abbey.' Royal commentator Alexander Larman wrote in his book Power and Glory: 'So overwhelming and consistent was the outcry, ably communicated to their elected representatives, that in October 1952, it was stated that in view of the "serious public disappointment", the sacred event would need to be broadcast live.' By then Elizabeth had a change of heart and said: 'All her subjects should have an opportunity of seeing [the coronation].' Preparations took on a new life after this decision, with TV stations needing to be built across the country to ensure all could watch the historic occasion. The Duke of Edinburgh kneels in front of the Queen. The BBC's live broadcast was an incredible feat which took months of preparation Plans were even made to show the event in France for the Duke and Duchess of WIndsor's benefit, according to Hugo Vickers in his book Coronation: The Crowning of Elizabeth II. Westminster Abbey also had to be kitted out with all the latest technology. This included four cameras mounted across the ceiling and 26 microphones placed close to the throne. John Snagge was given the role of commentating for BBC Home Service radio, while RIchard Dimbleby led the TV coverage. According to Vickers, concerns about the logistics of the broadcast continued to be raised. 'Snagge was worried about what he would do if the Queen fainted under the heavy robes and hot lights or if a peer carrying the regalia should fall over,' he wrote. In the end, the coronation went off without a hitch. Churches installed their own TVs so congregations across the country could 'surround the Queen with their prayers'. For royals fans across the pond, recordings of the coronation were flown in bombers to Canada and the United States. The coronation brought to the throne a picture of youth, hope, innocence and beauty in one compelling mix. Upwards of 45,000 troops from 50 countries lined the four-mile procession route, designed so three million spectators could witness the New Elizabethan age's dawn. Some 8,000 guests crammed into Westminster Abbey, falling into silence as Elizabeth gave her Coronation Oath. On The Mall, a million spectators cheered themselves hoarse when she stepped on to the Buckingham Palace balcony. All this for one modest, 25-year-old woman. Even today, despite King Charles's historic coronation two years ago, it remains a high point - a piece of magic which could never be replicated. The renowned author Dame Rebecca West was overawed by the spectacle, describing Elizabeth as 'the emblem of the state, the symbol of our national life, the guardian of our self-respect'. Writer Nancy Mitford put it more jauntily: 'How much NICER to have a young queen than that very dull old man!' While the nation celebrated with thousands of street parties, in the ancient walls of Westminster Abbey an act of immense sobriety was taking place. 'She was consecrated,' said Canon John Andrew, the senior chaplain, 'and that makes her Queen. It is the most solemn thing that has ever happened in her life. She cannot abdicate. She is there until death.' And many who witnessed the broadcast view the coronation as one of the most memorable days in their own lives.
