Lies and Labour

It has oft been the policy of the Labour Party to use division and dissembling as a political tool.

Witness last year when the deputy leader of the semi-autonomous Labour Party in Scotland, Johann Lamont, misled Parliament by using - in attempt to cause political embarrassment to the First Minister and the Government - a rape case which was no more than a figment of a sick imagination and totally fabricated. Rape Crisis Scotland condemned the story as perpetuating "the myth that women can’t be trusted when they speak out about being raped.

Under normal circumstances, a swift and unreserved apology for misleading Parliament would surely have sufficed. Sadly, Lamont refused to apologise. She refused to discuss whether she was aware that the case was fabricated before she raised it. This raises serious questions about her motives and her judgement.

Labour showed their disgust of Lamont's behaviour by appointing her leader despite the objections of their remaining 13,000 or so members.

It's another example of Labour refusing to apologise when they are clearly, utterly in the wrong. It's another example of Labour believing that they cannot possibly do wrong.

The Jackie Baillie fiasco is yet another example of this mindset that Labour cannot do any wrong because they are existentially right.

The privately-educated Labour MSP offered up what was little more than a pack of lies this week.

Baillie, who affects to know more about medicine than doctors, superciliously informed the nation that under the SNP government, hospital acquired infections (HAIs) had risen to the extent that Scotland was now the "Superbug capital of Europe".

In a surprise development, BBC Scotland reported her remarks verbatim: unresearched and uncritically (and several hours after it had been exposed as bunkum). Pacific Quay has developed a very worrying habit of treating Labour press statements as "news".

Sadly for Baillie and the Beeb, it transpires that her figures not only did not stand up to scrutiny but also referred to a period in which Labour were in Government.

It is worth noting that MRSA and C. difficile levels are at historically low levels in Scottish hospitals. But did Baillie congratulate our hard-working NHS staff for this magnificent achievement? Of course not - she impugned them, and lied about their performance.

But I suppose when you're discussing a Shadow Health Secretary who doesn't even know what Norovirus is actually called (see picture below), and who refuses to listen to the advice of medical people on medical matters, it's hardly a surprise.

And has an apology - much less a withdrawal - been forthcoming from Baillie? Of course not - she's a Labour MSP, so she can do no wrong. And if there was an incredible accomplishment from NHS staff under an SNP Government after the explosion of superbugs under Labour? Well, that's clearly not something to be proud of if it shows Labour in a bad light.

For the Labour Party it is and always has been the same priorities:

1. The Labour Party

2. The Union

3. Scotland

and to Hell with truth and decency