I have been reading some comments which made me sad while at the same time they cheered me up. They concerned a man who used to be Jimmy Reid.
It seems that he was seen out canvassing for the SNP in Glasgow East, how far can someone fall ? how low can someone get ? I hear you ask, do you remember the guy who used to be Jimmy Reid ? I remember him well I was there at the time and I did all the marching and chanting along with the others. We had several people who were stars of the movement and Reid was the big star, Jimmy Airlie, was his superior but quieter. Reid was good, he could “talk with Kings and not lose the common touch” a product of the Scottish Communist Party and many of it’s fine members and working class educators and organisers, the right man at the right time.
He seemed to be never off the radio and television, never out of the papers but, somewhere along the line the shift took place, ever so slowly at first, so slowly in fact that even he would not have seen it, some did, quite simply he was beginning to become the story and the end was inevitable. He wasn’t the first and he won’t be the last to be seduced by fame and adulation, in 'jig time' he had left the CP and narrowly missed a seat in the commons standing in Dundee under the Labour ticket, by this time he was already despised by many former comrades. Seeing him on Parkinson left me with mixed feelings, the first time we cheered, after that his appearances brought embarrassment, he became show biz.
His deterioration was such that most people thought he was no longer with us, he didn’t get to the top and like many others he turned on former allies in his bitterness and now finds himself in the SNP, a party and a philosophy which was and should have remained anathema to him, he still loves the cameras and the interviews but the crowds behind are now looking at a curiosity and sniggering, from Internationalism to the narrowest nationalism is a demeaning journey but he was unable to stop the decline.
My first sentence stated how his appearance cheered me up so I must explain, it’s not because I revel in his present plight it’s because the SNP are clutching at straws by allowing him into the limelight, I take no joy in seeing him like this, a shell of a man who makes former comrades cross the road, he is more to be pitied than despised.
I remember the great Joe Luis the 'Brown Bomber' he finished up opening doors as a 'greeter' for visitors at Ceasars Palace Hotel.
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18 comments:
I've known Jimmy for many a long year and you for a few less. Have a wee look in the mirror and see what we all see - a grossly overweight, washed up, pathetic, tenth rate toon cooncillor. What have you achived in your misterable, bitter, hate filled wee life ?
Jimmy is a great guy who knows the score.
Rather than leaving Labour, isn't it the case the new Labour left Jimmy Reid. He has stuck to his socialist principles whilst Labour have become anathema to his beliefs.
Whilst you pretend the Labour party is still the same as the one you joined and try to paint the SNP as tartan tories, it's plain for the world to see that the SNP now represents the best chance of a social democracy in Scotland.
It is the SNP government which has curbed the right to buy council homes, abolished student fees, cut prescription charges, extended free personal care, frozen council tax.
It is Alex Salmond who has moved to scrap PFI, end private sector involvement in NHS health care, save local hospital accident and emergency units, promote renewable energy, oppose Trident and the war in Iraq.
What have Labour been doing in this time? Abolishing the 10p tax rate. Renewing Trident. Sending our young men to die in Iraq and Afghanistan. Detaining children in prisons after subjecting their families to dawn raids...
So, as you state in an earlier post, unless Labour return to those cherished values of social democracy, Jimmy Reid won't be the last socialist to find succour with the SNP, and Glasgow East won't be the last bloody nose for a party out of touch with it's roots.
(The Incorrigible Plagiarist) 12:42
Far too long, repetitive and unoriginal, very tired stuff but.
Reid abandoned his principals a long time ago and he has no beliefs worth mentioning.
Council Houses ? A stunt, that horse bolted a long time ago.
Students ? Badly let down by the SNP.
Prescription charges ? Another stunt good for the middle classes the poor were already exempt.
Free personal care ? A shambles which will be shelved.
Council Tax ? The cruellest deception of all, vital services to the poor and needy will suffer and disappear, look at the SNP in Renfrewshire.
Scrap PFI are you that stupid ? It’s being replaced by an similar scheme.
A&E units ? A populist stunt which puts votes before people’s welfare, a scandal.
Renewable energy ? Everyone promotes that.
Trident ? has to go, what is your vision of defence under independence ?
Iraq ? A mistake which went badly wrong, what would Scotland do about Iraq under independence ?
What have Labour been doing ? Labour have done a good job over the last 11 years, the poorest members of society have benefited from Labour which is as it should be.
Children and families in dawn raids, this is yesterday’s story which children and families and which prisons ?
Is this what passes for political debate with you ? Do you not get bored with regurgitating the same nonsense all the time ?
Please, please shorten it, honestly you are not that important.
(Anonymous) 31/07/08
AS if poor Jimmy doesn’t have enough to cope with he has clowns like you in his corner.
Please, please shorten it, honestly you are not that important.
Thank-such a lengthy response to my unworthy views. There's no way anyone could accuse you of the arrogance that has all but brought Labour to it's knees in recent times. If only we could sweep those tired old viewpoints under the carpet, wouldn't it all be rosy in the garden of Labour.
Interesting though that even
Labour activists with strong Labour family connections see fit to hail the SNP saving of local A&E units and lambasting Kerr for his part in that particular debacle.
Interesting to note that you have obviously paid absolutely no heed to the overwhelming support from the BMA on this issue. Perhaps the opinions of the medical authorities are of no interest to specialist in emergency care such as yourself, all gleaned from reading one, now discredited, report.
Iraq a costly mistake! Well done! Have you explained this to Rose Gentle and all the other grieving families wondering why we're there in the first place?
Labour have done a good job over the last 11 years, the poorest members of society have benefited from Labour which is as it should be.
Has the wealth gap between the richest 20% and poorest 20% widened or got less under 11 years of London Labour rule?
(It's a rhetorical question for 2 reasons.
1. We both know it has widened and 2. You're incapable of answering simple straightforward questions like this)
(The Incorrigible Plagiarist) 14:28
I didn’t read your link but I’m assuming you mean Dempsey, he was the same as Sturgeon votes before the people’s welfare. Using that weakens your argument.
The BMA ? Kerr was advised by experts, if Kerr and Labour were interested in only winning votes, we would not have suggested the highly sensitive issue of removing A & E units, that is a massive point which blows you away but, you will not admit it.
I have been sickened by the way that you and others have used and manipulated that poor woman Mrs. Gentle you really are beneath contempt.
Well said Mr/Ms anonymous and the incorrigble plagiarist.
Terry is indeed what you both describe. Unfortunately he has his head in the sand and cannot, I fear, face up to reality.
He obviously has no pride in himself - have a look at him as you say - and he has not the intelligence to understand where his beloved Labour Party has gone.
He probably won't publish this, sad to say.
If Ried has abandoned his principles, what does that say about Brown, Bliar (oops sorry!) Blair and the rest of the miserable lot who sold the working classes down the drain for a few middle england votes!
"Scrap PFI? Are you that stupid" - well, as we have already established, PFI/PPP will cost Renfrewshire Council £8 million a year until, ummm, 2036 & for what? Sub-standard new boxes, which are supposed to be schools.
Looks like we need a better system of financing capital projects then.
(Anonymous) 17:52
Limp.
(Allan) 18:25
"Scrap PFI? Are you that stupid" I made the point that the SNP were replacing it with a similar system, did you miss that ?
“Sub-standard new boxes, which are supposed to be schools” That will be the ones that the SNP are queuing up to get pictured opening and claiming the credit for. While undermining education in Renfrewshire with their savage cuts.
Terry. What a nasty wee article. What a nasty 'wee'(in every sense except the physical) man you are.
We all have different political views and we should tolerate these as best we can (indeed, your devotion to 'Labour' is almost touching in it's childishness).
What we shouldn't tolerate is the sort of fascistic dogmatism you display on your blog.
You're an embarrassment man.
David Park.
(Anonymous) 02/08/08
“Titter ye nought” Mr./Mrs. Anonymous the fools are those who choose to stand on the sidelines and sneer, do you keep any spare money you have got in a shoe box under your bed or do you use a capitalist bank/building society like the rest of us ?
“Sub-standard new boxes, which are supposed to be schools” That will be the ones that the SNP are queuing up to get pictured opening and claiming the credit for...
And? While i have voted SNP at the last couple of elections, i wouldn't call myself an SNP voter. If they continue down the road that New Labor have gone down , then they too will lose my vote. At the moment the jury is out on them.
New Labour on the other hand, the jury is back, and the verdict is not good. Though my verdict on them came when Blair felt the need to jet to Australia in 1996 and beg for Murdoch's approval. Sorry i cant vote for a party that does that.
face it, because Reid and many others have. Labour is dead. The replacement party, New Labour is about to crack open. The question is, are you on the side of the people or the Blairite/Brownite (they are the same anyway!) coalition?
The BMA ? Kerr was advised by experts,
Yes, a single report by a Cancer specialist, making recommendations to centralise A&E services, which fits well with the Centralising instincts of the Labour party.
if Kerr and Labour were interested in only winning votes,
I think we've all seen what happens when you start to take the voters for granted.
we would not have suggested the highly sensitive issue of removing A & E units,
If there had been proper scrutiny of the report, before rushing ahead to announce we were buying big shiny things that go beep for a big central hospital, someone may have paid heed to the overwhelming evidence that it is the immediacy of A&E care that is the most important factor in stabilising trauma patients.
The central point in David Kerr's report regarding the big shiny hospital is in fact only relevant in a small number of cases, and probably negated by the extra time taken to get to the Centralised service.
that is a massive point which blows you away but, you will not admit it.
So, your argument seems to be that because Labour didn't care what the public and the BMA wanted, we should concede that they must be in the right?
Think again councillor. By the people and for the people.
I have been sickened by the way that you and others have used and manipulated that poor woman Mrs. Gentle you really are beneath contempt.
I'm not sure how I've manipulated Rose Gentle, but I can understand how her name would make you feel sick. A working-class Glasgow mother standing up for herself, not prepared to accept that her son is just another bit of collateral damage on Tony's ego trip. Not prepared to have a govt. whitewash over her son's death. I admire her greatly and as a Socialist with anti-war leanings, so should you. Never mind using your leadership's tag-lines to tarnish the fact that this woman is prepared to stand up for her son's memory against the government lies and incompetence that led to his death.
(The Incorrigible Plagiarist) 09:08
All this to say nothing new, try this.
Labour were prepared risk votes by doing what they believed was right the SNP weren’t.
Mrs. Gentle ? As I said beneath contempt.
You should try brevity, you are not that important.
(Allan) 03/08/08
Please try to find something new or original, this is getting really boring, trying to come across as some kind of political heavy weight only makes you look stupid when you come away with this drivel.
You should try brevity, you are not that important.
New Labour arrogance at it's best. Thought you were supposed to be listening and learning... What are the issues that have most turned the public away from this travesty of a govt. ? Apparently though, we're all just wrong! Classic.
This is a gem from another thread though:
trying to come across as some kind of political heavy weight only makes you look stupid when you come away with this drivel.
Have you got a fringe venue?
(The Incorrigible Plagiarist) 13:01
Much better, still room for improvement though.
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