Drumlanrig

Published on 08/04/2012 00:00

Snippets from the past week in the political sphere

Fast-moving politicos hot to trot for charity

Big hand for the shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy and his Labour colleague Ken Macintosh, both of whom braved temperatures of up to 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit when they walked over hot coals for charity last week.

“My feet are still on fire,” shrieked Murphy after doing the challenge for the Targu Mures Trust for Romanian holocaust victims and the Jewish women’s movement Wizo UK.

“To anyone who hasn’t done this before... Don’t do it!” Murphy cried. “It is disastrous.”

Macintosh showed a little more sang-froid. “There was a lot of anticipation... a lot of nerves. But it was no worse than an election with the same outcome – survival,” he said.

MSP stands up to be counted at comedy gig

Some might take the entirely justified view that there are enough comedians at Holyrood without one of the MSPs feeling the need to indulge in a bit of stand-up. But that is exactly what the youthful SNP MSP Mark McDonald will do when he cracks a few funnies at a charity gig this summer.

McDonald, 31, who will be the star turn at an Aberdeen comedy club in June, is an old hand at the game, having done a bit of stand-up before arriving at Scotland’s best-known funny farm.

Nothing funny about politics for future voter

One might have thought McDonald’s experiences after a year as a new MSP at Holyrood might provide him with plenty of material. Or perhaps not... if the experiences of one schoolchild touring Holyrood are anything to go by.

The exasperated child was heard asking the guide: “Why do politicians laugh at things which aren’t funny in the chamber?”

Very good question. Perhaps the schoolkid had observed the Pavlovian laughter that comes from the SNP benches in response to Alex Salmond’s “witticisms”.

Haven’t we seen them somewhere before?

Perhaps it would be unfair to label them the “Holyrood has-beens”, but there is a familiar look to some of the candidates standing for election to Glasgow City Council in next month’s local government elections.

Former Labour MSPs Frank McAveety and Bill Butler, and Lib Dem ex-MSP Robert Brown are trying to re-enter politics at council level. In fairness, it is remarkable there aren’t more Holyrood rejects from Labour and the Lib Dems on the candidates’ list given the number unseated by the SNP during last year’s election.