No doubt readers of this blog have been amused by the kerfuffle over the leadership election. Which anointed one won effecting so much after all.

It’s been 2 days and already the spinning is on overdrive. According to the Daily Sexpress

With brother David, he was surrounded frequently by socialist theoreticians and Labour activists while growing up in Primrose Hill, north London.

Stirring stuff. Man the barricades.

The Daily Hate Mail probably has some rant about how Labour will now be chucking Lords out of manors to fill it with gypsies or something but whilst checking I became too amused by this subheading Darling in swipe at Balls over Labour’s need for a ‘credible’ deficit plan to bother looking at their delusional rambling any further.

Iain Gray (that’s the Labour leader in Scotland by the way, you probably have as much chance of recognising him as Nick Clegg on May 1st.) has suddenly decided that the minimum wage should be raised. His colleagues probably forgot to bring it up during their 8 years in charge of Holyrood along with all the other reforms they will no doubt decide are really worthy now that they are out of power. He doesn’t really mention anything about the institutionalised age discrimination inbuilt into it by Labour though. That’s where your wage can jump up a pound overnight in your birthday for some yet to be explained or defended reason.

Jim McGovern meanwhile thinks that Ed will return Labour to traditional Labour values and move to the left. Given Labours history over the last few decades further moves to the right would be pretty difficult. It really would take a real lurch to the left to move them into the area of Social Democracy never mind anything further to the left.

Of course Jim McGovern will be aware of this given his voting record

• Voted very strongly against equal gay rights.
• Voted very strongly for Labour’s anti-terrorism laws.
• Voted very strongly for introducing ID cards.
• Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war.
• Voted moderately against laws to stop climate change.
• Voted to reduce abortion term limits.

Which really stands on its own. Or maybe his form of left-wing politics will be £700 desks and £200 DVD players for all.

The Guardian ran an amusing story through the week about the book which caused the bullying storm.

When Brown heard about a Blairite article which was pro-Tony Blair he is reported to have ranted

This is factionalism! This is Trotskyism! It’s fucking Trotskyism!

So there you have it lefty train-spotters, the definition of Trotskyism is writing an article in a popular newspaper praising the most right wing Prime Minister since Margaret Thatcher.

If you have discussed politics in the last 12 years and you will have undoubtably heard a comparison to Labour and the Tories that resulted in someone saying they are just the same.

You may have even heard it go one step further and a description of Labour as Blue Labour instead of New Labour.

Well the Lib Dems have went one further and re-branded themselves in blue.

If you’ve been saying for years that Labour, Tories and Lib Dems are all the same – it’s good to see one of those parties agree with you.

The SSP of course are a bit different. We don’t get donations from millionaire businessmen – so aren’t in their pocket. Our elected representatives take a reduced wage and as far as we know none ever had the public purse pay for building work on their castle.

In Dundee West we are of course aware of the cost of a DVD player and that computer desks shouldn’t cost you £800.

The media for a week has been full of stories of the outrageous expenses claims by MPs.

From tampons (for a man) to moat cleaning there is seemingly no receipt these parasites will not claim for at taxpayers expense.

This is not democracy.

David Cameron: Quick, someone grab a receipt, the peasents can pay for this meal

Democracy is not just crossing a box once every four years, it is also about transparency and accountability.

If the police won't get involved we'll have to catch the leaker ourselves.

The Scottish Socialist Party has a policy we call the Workers Wage. Our elected representatives take home no more than an amount linked to the average wage of working people. This helps keep your elected representatives linked to the life you lead – they know how much a council tax rise affects you because it affects them too.

There is no chance of any of our elected representatives having you pay for their chandeliers or moat cleaning and most don’t own their first home never mind second, third or gated estate.

Come June the 4th vote for a representative who will be representative of the lives of most people in Scotland – vote Scottish Socialist Party.

If they can’t even be trusted to not tamper with the boxes in their own internal elections how can we trust them not to do the same with ballot boxes at local and national level?

SSP members are reminded that the elections for the European candidate list will be taking place over the next week or so. The regional hustings in Dundee and Edinburgh are taking place this Sunday – contact your branch or branch secretary if you have not received details.

Following the Maryfield by election the make-up of Dundee City Council changed. Made up of 29 councillors, the SNP now had 14, one short of a majority and with an even stronger democratic mandate to take power. One independent councillor, Depute Lord Provost Ian Borthwick had previously stated that it was undemocratic for Labour (now 9) the Lib Dems (2) and Tories (3) to exclude the SNP from the convenership roles and being in charge.

The rumour mill was in full force and all eyes were on Borthwick to see if he would walk the walk having talked the talk. Distracted Dundonians didn’t expect the resignation of Lord Provost John Letford from the Labour councillors group and the party. This reduced the Labour group of councillors to 8 causing their spokesmen to go into a mud slinging rage.

According to Jim McGovern, Letford has overnight lost all his principles. Ironically he mocks him for previously stating what was at his core – Labour and the Trade Union Movement. He falsely concludes that because he left Labour this can no longer be true. It may be no longer true, but it is also possible that if he still has this at his core that’s the very reason he can no longer stay in the Labour Party. Twenty Four hours later his vitriolic attack had changed into the Labour losing an argument position of Draw the line under it and move on

Kevin Keenan, leader of the Labour group of councillors flip flopped all week long. From publicly requesting Letfords return to the Labour group (now unprincipled or not) to in desperation trying to hold an olive branch to the SNP by pledging to support one of their councillors to be made Lord Provost. Whether both these plans could be carried out at the same time was irrelevant, they were pure spin from the Labour group.

Other local Labour members from former councillors Jill Shimi, Chic Farquhar and former rent a quote MP Ernie Ross were wheeled out to sling mud too.

What’s interesting about those slinging the mud is only one of them is a Labour councillor. The other seven councillors have been strangely silent on the proposed change in administration.

The last twist in the saga before the council meeting to redraw up power was some claims about an OBE. Letford insists Kevin Keenan had urged him to stand down and he would arrange for him to have an OBE. A series of denials from those involved make it unclear what actually happened, but this would have been a large carrot to someone Keenan described as the biggest unionist I know. That Letford sees his best chance to be the Queens representative in the city has more chance by supporting the SNP than it does Labour says something about both of those parties. For Labour it is the final signpost in their demise in the city. For the SNP it shows how their politics lie on both independence and republicanism if they are making deals with the biggest unionist known to the leader of the Labour Party in order to keep the chains of office.

Ernie Ross had also made the bizarre claim that Labour are a democratic socialist party. Wrong on both counts Mr Ross! Why are the Labour Party fighting over the chains of office rather than trying to break them when in power if either of these propositions were true?

The two independents, Borthwick and Letford were expected to vote with the SNP, keeping their Depute/Lord Provost roles.

At the council meeting Ian Borthwick proposed to delay the meeting to try and have a majority administration of everyone. Apparently the recession means this is necessary. The issue that flagged up this change was not the economy going in to recession but the Lord Provost resigning from his former party. Seconded by the Tories it was lost to the votes of the SNP and John Letford.

The SNP had put forward this idea in 2003 and 2007, as had John Letford in private. Now it looked like the SNP would be in power, the undemocratic coalition who had kept them out of power and looked like losing it suddenly warmed to the idea.

The SNP then proposed John Letford and Ian Borthwick for Lord Provost and Depute as expected. Labour countered with a proposal for one of their councillors to be Lord Provost. Their third preference for the position in a week.

The SNP proposal won through with the support on John Letford with The Tories and Ian Borthwick abstaining.

Immediately all the Labour councillors raised their dissent at the decision. They subsequently opposed the decision to label committees as X Opposition instead of Labour, Lib Democrat etc. It should be pointed out that 20 minutes previously they had demanded the council choose from across the board for the best people for positions but were having trouble with doing that amongst the opposition – showing how unworkable their proposal was in the first place.

What does this mean for the people of Dundee. Well we have finally removed Labour from office, although at what cost? Look next door to Angus to see the actions of the SNP in power. They were one of the longest to hold out to the Nursery Nurses and gave one of the worst offers.

More recently they are attempting to claw back half a days wages from teachers. These teachers left school on an in service day due to the heavy snow. Buses were stopping and schools were closing across Dundee and the surrounding area. People were being advised left and right to get home safely whilst they could. The Council were holding a meeting in Forfar and decided to abandon it and go home as it was too dangerous for them to stay in the town. The teachers in Forfar apparently were in no danger of being stranded and should not have. (see comment below)

Or in other words, as happened in transition nationally between Tories and Labour in 1997, expect no noticeable positive difference.

Beating both the BBC and SNP to the news – the Lord Provost and Depute Lord Provost are staying as John Letford and Ian Borthwick. Borthwick did not vote for himself as Depute!

The proposal from SNP for Borthwick and Letford to stay in their roles and the SNP to take convenership roles won 15 votes, the SNP and John Letford. The Labour proposal with Richard McCready as Lord Provost won 10 votes, Labour and The Liberal Democrats. The Tories and Ian Borthwick abstained.

The people of Dundee can now look forward to an even more anti-trade union administration than the discredited former regime.

Due to the resignation of a Labour councillor in Dundee for the Maryfield ward a by-election has been triggered. The BBC are reporting this as being held on the 12th March.

Craig Murray (Rector of Dundee University) made a short post on Glasgow East

Hurray for Glasgow East

Apparently some commenter objected to his personal attack on Margaret Curran. He then responds explaining why he gave up civility on party politics, particularly in relation to the Labour Party. Why Margaret Curran is the cheerleader for a party which supports torture.

Margaret Curran is a lot better off than thousands of very real women, who were just as human as her, and whose lives the illegal wars of New Labour have destroyed.

It is worth remembering that Labours appalling policies haven’t just attacked the poorest members of society in Glasgow East or Dundee East, but throughout the world too, mainly in the name of “The War On Terror”.

John McAllion has written an article about the resignation of Wendy Alexander as leader of the Labour MSP’s.

It can be found on the SSP site here