That's it then, Labour has chosen a new functionary of its group in Parliament. From a field of three Labour has managed to choose the only one who has lost a Parliamentary seat (to the Conservatives who still hold the seat they took from him) and the one who devised that stunning Labour tactic in the budget of winning their amendment but abstaining on the vote. Marvellous!
Didn't take him long to tell his first lie. Here's a bit from his victory speech:
I was a founder member of the Scottish Parliament Labour created and my name is on the first legislation it ever passed.That'll come as a surprise to Jim Wallace who piloted the first legislation through Parliament (emergency legislation called the Mental Health (Public Safety and Appeals) Act). His deputy was Angus MacKay.
So was Iain Gray's name on the first regular piece of legislation to pass? Well, that was the Public Finance and Accountability Act which was introduced by Jack McConnell, supported by Jim Wallace, Wendy Alexander and Tom McCabe.
With a dedication to truth of that quality, Godammitgate will have a successor ...
Interesting theory there, but I think Labour politicians are worrying about a whole range of things at the moment, including whether their party can survive this bedlam into which it has fallen.
ReplyDeleteOh, there's so many things that could be said ...
ReplyDeleteAs you note the first bill was piloted through by Jim Wallace (and his name is the only one on the bill). To be fair to Iain Gray he did wind up the debate on day 1 (2nd September 1999). However, he had no involvement in the committee stage (which was on the floor of the whole Parliament) on 8th September 1999 when the only Executive representative to speak was Jim Wallace.
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