The Downfall of Tom Harris

Smell that?

That's the smell of the shattered, twisted wreckage of a political train wreck first thing in the morning.

I suppose the particularly amusing thing about the end of Tom Harris' career is that it is entirely self-imposed. Harris, the extremist Unionist MP for Glasgow South, has made something of a niche for himself, and has a self-image as a sort of Labour superhero, seeking out imaginary "Cybernats" in their dark corners, shining light at them, and making them scurry away.

The problem for Harris is that such creatures were entirely a figment of an imagination which got more and more incredible as time went on and his descent into paranoid delusion continued apace.

The nadir of Harris' political dabblings came when protests were held outside a special Labour Party conference held in Glasgow before Hallowe'en last. Harris breathlessly took to Twitter to inform the nation of the racist nature of the banners held up by these bullying nationalists.

"End English rule", Harris reported one of the banners said, adding for good measure that the chaps holding them "looked more like BNP than SNP, to be honest". Of course, Harris would know more than most what BNP people look like, the vast majority of their voters being Labour people.

Disgusting, if true, and a complete departure from the non-ethnic civic nationalism pursued so successfully by the Scottish nationalist movement.

The problem, of course, was that it was another Harris delusion. Well - I say delusion: I mean an outright, blatant lie, designed to harm the nationalist movement and get his name into the papers as he languished fifth in a three-horse race for the Labour leadership (he eventually scored less than 8% of the votes). Photographic evidence showed that the banners recommended an end to London rule. A subtle, but important difference that Harris was well aware of.

One could go on and on with examples of Harris' lies, or examples of his playing the man instead of the ball. He is vicious and vindictive, filled with hate, and empty of principle.

That's why it is so wonderfully laugh-inducing that his political career came to an end after he attacked SNP MSP Joan McAlpine for her observation that the Dependentist parties were behaving in an anti-Scottish manner. He chose, deliberately, to "misunderstand" her accurate remarks as an attack on people, not behaviour.

Bizarrely, he then thought it was a good idea to post - on YouTube - a video depicting First Minister Alex Salmond as Adolf Hitler. Suffice it to say that comparing the democratically-elected leader of a small European nation to a genocidal maniac and mass murderer - wasn't considered the most appropriate behaviour for Scottish Labour's "digital czar".

Johann Lamont agreed. Harris has been fired, his month or so of relevance finished, and his political career with it.

Back to being a Cyberned for Uncle Tom now.