General Election: 'Labour can't even do conspiracy well'

Published on Saturday 9 January 2010 10:21

THE theory that the longer you do something the better you become at it seems not to apply to politicians.

Certainly not to some in Labour who, despite the party being in government for nearly 13 years, sometimes act like novices.

It is hard to see last week's abortive putsch against Gordon Brown as anything other than inept and woefully timed. Coming no more than four months before the general election, it was rightly labelled a "suicide plot".

It already looked like Brown could not lead his party to a fourth victory before Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt strapped the political explosives to their chest and stepped into the busy marketplace of Westminster. The Prime Minister's chances of survival – and those of scores more Labour MPs – now look worse than the odds of there being a full racing card on Monday.

No-one in the governing party came out of this episode well: Brown looks exposed; his Cabinet looks unsupportive; the plotters look stupid.

The message is that Labour can't even do conspiracy well and the results are plain to see: a BBC poll yesterday found 60 per cent of voters regard Labour as the most divided party – and divided parties do not win elections.

The benefactors of all this are the Tories, whose bad start to the pre-election campaign has now been forgotten. But another poll may paint a different picture here in Scotland.

According to YouGov, Labour could actually gain two seats at the election, including winning back Glasgow East from the SNP. Latest polling suggests the Tories would also pick up two constituencies, with the SNP stuck on seven despite Alex Salmond's much-touted target of 20.

There is much to play for – and the YouGov poll was carried out before Labour's suicide plot. But it increasingly looks like we are in for a general election which could split the country along the Border in more ways than one.

Beat the litterati

THIS newspaper was supportive of the city council's crackdown on litter louts, which started last year.

Our streets are too easily choked with chip wrappers, tin cans and – most disgusting of all – discarded cigarette ends.

So we welcome the increase in the number of people being caught and fined for littering. If anything, the approximate doubling of numbers nicked is disappointing, given the resources involved. More please.