Hate speak, the SNP and Labour

Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting today brought our attention to the Labour MP Tom Harris's description of the SNP Conference as a "hate fest".

As Jeff says, an odd choice of words. I immediately remembered listening to Osama Saeed speak at the conference on Saturday. He said he hoped the SNP would never share a platform with fascists - unlike the Labour's Jack Straw. For this he was applauded vigorously and the motion he was speaking for was carried without opposition.

By agreeing to debate with Nick Griffin on Question Time this Thursday, Mr Straw is helping to normalise the BNP,  who will present themselves as just another legitimate political option. A hate fest on on prime time if you like.

I didn't see much evidence of hatred at the conference. Another SNP motion drew attention to Shell Oil's disgraceful behaviour towards the people of the Niger Delta which Amnesty has condemned. If that counts as hatred I'd say the target was pretty deserving.  The two fringe events I attended were extremely ecumenical. Least I appear biased, the former Labour Party member and political conference veteran I travelled up with said he found the SNP annual Autumn gatherings much friendlier that those of Labour or the Tories.  I later mentioned this to a old pal, a trade union activist who also carried a Labour card for many years. How did she find Labour conferences? "Grim" she groaned "Absolutely grim."

Just to show that I am no hater, let's put it on record that I rather enjoy Tom Harris's blog. He deserves the plaudits he has received for it and is refreshingly open, even when it's not necessarily in his political interests. Recently he posted on his problems with an insurance company after some domestic calamity. He has my full sympathy. Perhap Tom still feels a bit grumpy about that, and is over-reacting to things, as we all do under pressure.

So to remind him what hate speak really sounds like, here is his Labour colleague Pauline McNeill's (un)gracious acceptance speech when she narrowly held her Glasgow Kelvin seat in 2007.

Comments

[joan mcalpine]

I don't know her personally but was really suprised at her election night behaviour as she always seemed to me to be a perfectly pleasant woman. Somebody observed to me at the weekend that Pauline was is never heard in public or on the media these days, despite now being Labour's culture spokesperson. Perhaps she's still trying to live down the embarrassment of that night!

[subrosa]

When I was a child I met far more articulate fishwives than Pauline McNeill. What is it about labour women they all have to bawl to make their point? I exclude Joanne Lamont from that comment btw.