1. James, (Spud) Murphy A Stranger to Democracy
a. Murphy masqueraded as a defender of students when he was the president of the National Union of Students, and he did get his reward from New Labour for selling working class students out. He became the New Labour MP for East Renfrewshire.
b. Some students were well aware that Murphy did not have the interests of the NUS membership, particularly poor and working working class students close to his heart. Instead, they regarded him as a NUS president who actively supported the Labour government achieve its aims of introducing fees and loans for education. His style was dictatorial.
c. At Manchester University, only a select group of hand-picked Murphy supporters were able to question Murphy on his reasons for supporting the introduction of loans and education fees and the gradual elimination of grants. All other students raising their hands were ignored. In due time Murphy’s position became much clearer to an increasing number of students. In Leeds, Murphy was fortunate to escape unharmed when he drew the ire of many students on a Save Free Education Rally when they saw him in attendance.
d. At the time there was a rumour that Murphy would be rewarded by New Labour with the chance to contest a seat in Scotland for the Labour Party if he could succeed in pushing through the party’s introduction of education fees. For many students,this seemed too absurd and corrupt to be believed, and felt that the rumour was nothing more than just a rumour. However, time revealed the painful truth.
e. During Murphy’s presidency in 1995, the NUS dropped its opposition to the abolition of the student grant in line with the Labour Party’s policies. Subsequently he was condemned by a House of Commons Early Day Motion introduced by Ken Livingstone and signed by 17 Labour MPs for ‘intolerant and dictatorial behaviour’. The EDM also makes reference to his parliamentary ambitions.
f. This is the same opportunist Jim Murphy that later breezed his way to the top echlons of the labour Party, under the protection of Tony Blair. The demise of Blair has brought a halt to his ambition. Ed Miliband recently, “put him out to pasture” removing him from the, “top team”.
g. Desiring greater distance between the controlling labour Party machine, in England, Murphy was given a mini-coach and sent to Scotland with the express purpose of, “stirring the s***. Beware this guy, we nicknamed him, “The Undertaker”. Ignore his message. Vote, “Yes” to independence in the referendum.
2. The early day motion: MR JIM MURPHY AND THE NATIONAL UNION OF STUDENTS 12.06.1996
a. “That this House condemns the intolerant and dictatorial behaviour of the President of the National Union of Students, Mr Jim Murphy, who has unconstitutionally suspended NUS Vice President, Clive Lewis, because he took part, in a personal capacity, in an open debate at Queen Mary and Westfield College on the issues raised by the Campaign for Free Education; further notes that along with President Elect, Douglas Trainer, both men have warned NUS Executive member, Rose Woods, that if she attends the Scottish launch of the Campaign for Free Education she too will be suspended from the NUS Executive; reminds Mr Murphy and Mr Trainer that freedom of speech is a right in the United Kingdom, that they have no power to overturn the results of elections that went against their preferred candidates and that, whilst these methods are a common practice in dictatorships around the world, they are not acceptable behaviour from someone such as Mr Murphy who is putting himself forward as suitable for election to the House of Commons”.
3. Murphy The Welfare Minister
a. Murphy was Welfare minister in the last Government and oversaw the introduction of the Employment Support Allowance (ESA), etc, no mention by the faux anti-imperialists about that. He has simply never met a blairite policy or a party-line in his entire electoral life he didn’t agree with. Have a look at the rest of his voting record.
b. His office running costs alone (which exclude the staffing budget) are higher than the median household income in the section of his constituency that counts as Labour’s support base (Barrhead, as East Renfrewshire has previously been, in it’s past incarnations, a strong Tory seat). This is a Politician who, in the early years of his tenure claimed over £17,000 travel allowances, while 36% of his constituency live in the areas belong to the upper 25% of most deprived areas in the country.
4. Jim Murphy is the Labour MP for East Renfrewshire and shadow secretary of state for defence.
a. Voted very strongly for the Iraq war.
b. Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war.
c. Voted very strongly for a stricter asylum system.
d. Voted very strongly for Labour’s anti-terrorism laws.
5. Jim Murphy quotes;
a. Labour MP Jim Murphy said they had “lost the plot” and described the people as “angry and divisive”. “The nationalists’ attempts to bully broadcasters and boycott businesses is the last thing the independence debate needs. “More and more Scots are looking at their angry and divisive campaign and finding it a turn off. “The reason for the nationalists’ frustration is clear: after 80 years of campaigning to break up the UK and with just 80 days to go, patriotic Scots are still saying no thanks to their political project. “They are losing the big arguments and losing the plot in a big way. We have seen lots of online bullying by nationalists, now we are seeing real-world attempts to bully a broadcaster.”
6. May 11 2008: Debt of Honour Jim?
a. It seems there is nothing Jim Murphy, New Labour’s young man in Eastwood, will not do to support the Blairite cause – including wearing his debts with pride. The Scottish Grand Committee debate on further and higher education was treated to the revised history of New Murphy, the former student leader with student debts of honour. Things began well enough: he embarked on his long period as a student at Cardonald College in Glasgow where he took some Highers and was able to claim social security.
b. Then he attended Strathclyde University, “where I took out a student loan which I am still repaying. I became president of the National Union of Students. I then attended the Open University – I am also still repaying that fee – after which I attended Strathclyde University as a part-time student and paid a fee which I am again still repaying.”
c. Of course, Murphy added in triumphant defense of Government policy, he would have been exempt from one of these payments if only the recently announced support for part-time students had been in existence. And, of course, he might have been among the famous 40 per cent of students totally exempt from tuition fees because of similar New Labour wisdom. But on an MP’s salary of £40,000 a year plus generous expenses, his past is presumably catching up with him.
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=301753
7. February 1 2010: Jim Murphy – Scotland’s new Secretary of State says now is not the time to start writing the Labour Party’s obituary
a. Murphy would like to be seen as consensual but he is as tribal and partisan as the best of them. He adopts a chummy, sometimes daft-laddie approach to negotiations and interviews but don’t be fooled, he is a shrewd operator who has survived the rough and tumble of Westminster politics by sheer tenacity and working out when and who to nod in agreement with. Murphy puzzles Labour insiders. He is a bit of an enigma. No one is very sure what he stands for. There is no one big issue that you identify him with and even on the constitutional hot potato, he doesn’t appear to have a particularly strong emotional attachment either way other than it would be wrong to be independent.
b. There does appear to be a lack of political depth and the clue could be that he is the true professional politician, attracted by a career more than a conviction. When he took the Eastwood seat from the Tories in 1997, it was as much a surprise to him as everyone else and while he says he ‘won the seat by accident’, it’s no accident that you stand so the sentiment is disingenuous. He candidly admits to not feeling as if he belonged.
https://www.holyrood.com/articles/inside-track/interview-jim-murphy
8. March 14 2010: Jim Murphy Upgrades his Office on Taxpayers Money
a. You mean Jim (Spud) Murphy from the East End of Glasgow? The young student who, as an active member of the, Revolutionary Communist Party, was at least 10 streets further to the political left than Tommy Sheridan ???
b. More money has been spent on fixing up Dover House in London over the past two years than in the whole of the previous five years, it was disclosed yesterday. Public cash has gone on things like new carpets and oak floorboards, wall and ceiling decorations, a new fireplace, air conditioning, new cupboard doors and CCTV cameras.
c. Since 1999, a succession of Labour ministers have authorised more than £3.3million of “refurbishments” to the Scotland Office’s Whitehall headquarters, as well as its smaller Edinburgh base.
d. More than £1million was squandered in 2007/08 alone with a further £400,000 last year, leading to claims that the government “wasted” public money during the height of the economic crisis. http://www.scottishsundayexpress.co.uk/news/uk/162972/Labour-blows-1-4m-on-Jim-Murphy-manor
9. March 26 2010: Glasgow Council Corruption
a. Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has entered the Glasgow City Council scandal. Murphy has issued a statement to the press warning critics to, “stop knocking” the whole city of Glasgow, after the resignation of its disgraced council leader, Steven, “bin laden” Purcell. The, “critics” are calling for an independent inquiry into Labour controlled Glasgow City Council and its NGOs in regard to the awarding of contracts and jobs to Labour Party members.
b. In trying to distance the Labour Council of shame from Purcell, Murphy protecting the Labour Party said it was, “more than one individual”. Murphy then went on to link the Glasgow Labour Party with Glasgow by saying; “I just wish people would stop knocking Glasgow”.
c. People aren’t knocking Glasgow, they are asking serious questions about Labour’s practices. And those questions aren’t going away until answers are provided. Who got the millions of, (disappeared) pounds of Glasgow taxpayers’ money? It seems that Murphy doesn’t want people asking questions so is attempting to smear them by saying they are attacking the city.
d. That won’t wash and Glaswegian people aren’t that stupid Murphy despite what you think! The cry from the public and clean politicians is, “We have to find out whether this is serial fiddling or an orchestra of fiddlers.” http://glasgowunihumanrights.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/labour-mp-jim-murphy-thinks-glaswegians.html
10. September 5 2010: Labour to ‘ignore’ SNP during 2011 General Election
a. Labour is to adopt the controversial strategy of ignoring the SNP completely during the General Election campaign in Scotland, Jim Murphy, the Scottish Secretary, revealed today. Speaking to Caledonian Mercury, Mr Murphy said the Scottish Labour party was going to concentrate solely on the Tories during the campaign – even though the Nationalists represent the biggest threat to Labour in most seats around the country and the Tories have only one seat in Scotland. Mr Murphy, who will lead Labour’s election effort north of the Border, said: “We will focus on the Tories. The only rival we have to form a government is the Tory party. The Tories will be my number one priority, number two priority and number three priority. “The people of Scotland know – or almost everyone in Scotland knows – that the SNP are not in with a hope in this election. They are irrelevant.”
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pae5PJcsiw4J:caledonianmercury.com/tag/east-renfrewshire+&cd=26&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-a
11. September 10 2011: Revealed – Scottish Labour’s blueprint for survival is biggest shake-up in a century
a. Controversial proposals for change have been proposed after a four-month review of the party’s organisation in Scotland led by Murphy and MSP Sarah Boyack following Labour’s crushing defeat in the Holyrood election.
b. Insiders who have seen secret presentations by the pair say the plans amount to Labour’s biggest shake-up since 1918. It is expected to be backed and will see the Scottish leader take control of the whole party north of the Border for the first time.
c. Heading up a new management board, he or she will gain unprecedented powers over policy making, election strategy and hiring and firing key staff. They will also set policy in all areas devolved to the Scottish parliament, recognizing the present informal arrangements.
d. Interesting: Three year’s after completing the review, Murphy is to stand for election as leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, following the resignation of Johan Lamont. Forward planning with a vengeance. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/revealed—scottish-labours-blueprint-1081423
12. September 22 2011: Jim Murphy: Labour still loves Israel
a. Mr Murphy recently visited Israel as part of Labour’s review of defence policy, which he launched this week, and believed there were lessons to be learnt in the UK. “There is exceptional best practice in the way in which academia is linked to high-tech engineering, part of which can be defence,” he said.
b. Closer to home, he said he was deeply concerned by recent incidents of antisemitism in Scotland, including a Facebook page targeting Jewish residents of Giffnock in Renfrewshire and the racially aggravated attack on a Jewish student at St Andrews University.
c. Mr Murphy said the religious sectarianism of a minority of Catholics and Protestants in Scotland brought shame to the country, and should not be allowed to spread to other communities. “I take primary responsibility for making sure that this area, and the whole of Scotland, never allows the type of intolerance that occasionally poisons relations between a minority of Catholics and a minority of Protestants, to take root in an antagonism towards Jewish families.” http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/55188/jim-murphy-labour-still-loves-israel
13. September 8 2012: Jim Murphy, MP, sets a precedent by persuading the organizers of a Pro-Independence rally to ban a democratic socialist group from taking part
a Jim Murphy, MP, has just set a precedent by persuading the organizers of a Pro-Independence rally to ban a democratic socialist group form taking part. As they said in Nazi Europe, “who will they come for next“? Some young Tories set fire to an effigy of President Obama at St Andrew’s University a couple of years ago. Will he call on his Tory allies to be banned from Loyalist Unionist rallies?
b. Jim Murphy’s career began as a member of the “Revolutionary Communist Party” in Cardonald College, Glasgow. Yes, they could say that without laughing. He condemned Militant Labour for being, “reformists“. He was also active in the RCP’s, “Irish Freedom Movement” front, playing the sectarian game against the SNP and Scottish Independence.
The RCP has long since vanished, but some of their lecturers in the South of England survived writing articles and producing videos attacking socialists, peace activists, and Irish Republicans, for the English media. They were virulently against Scottish Independence and anti-Scottish, and quite racist with it.
c. As a “revolutionary” student leader he was largely responsible for destroying the Scottish Union of Students in favour of the English National Union of Students, who were unable to prevent Labour from introducing tuition fess and slashing their grants. He managed to leave university without graduating and step up as a career politician, adored by the Unionist media. He is also a member of the Labour Friends of Israel. Anywhere but Scotland. You can see where Mr Murphy’s career is continuing, albeit dropping the socialist pretense.
d. Our intention was never to embarrass the rally organizers, or the SNP. Mr Murphy has given the rally good publicity, but has long since ceased to be embarrassed by his Party’s history of incinerating thousands of people in Iraq, rather than a piece of cloth. Perhaps he could look into the Weapons of Mass Incineration, based on Scotland’s soil and show a bit of concern for the people he has left in mass poverty – the very reason for this rally being necessary in the first place.
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/james-murphy-mp-for-english-parliament.html
14. October 19 2012: MP’s Sub-let Their Taxpayer Paid Flats to Other MP’s
a. Jim Murphy, MP for Eastwood, and Russell Brown, the Dumfries MP, are to meet officials from the Commons Fees Office this week to discuss repayment. Mr Murphy has admitted the Commons paid the full rent for his constituency office while he was claiming half the rent from the Eastwood MSP, Ken Macintosh.
b. Mr Brown, who had the rent for his constituency office paid in full, received rent from the MSP Elaine Murray who is the new deputy minister for tourism, culture and sport. Miss Murray said it was inconceivable that Mr Brown would have “fiddled his expenses” and if there was any confusion it was because of the “lax systems at the Fees Office”.
c. A party spokesman said: “What these MPs did wrong was not returning this money, half the rent, to Westminster. They should have sent it back and asked for it to be forwarded to them for them to use to cover the costs of things like stationary and photocopying. “Instead they used the money themselves directly for this purpose, but they have receipts of purchase to show what it was spent on.
d. They accept they made a mistake with the rules.” It has also emerged that the Labour Party overcharged for the rent of an office being used by Anne McGuire, and shared by the MSP Sylvia Jackson. The entire office rent for April was billed to, and paid for by, both Westminster and the Scottish Parliament. A spokesman said: “There was a mistake.
e. The Fees Office is now aware of the mistake and the situation will be rectified in some way. We are being as honest as possible with this and are not trying to cover anything up.”
f. Pete Wishart, the Scottish National Party’s chief whip, said he intended to refer all three cases to Elizabeth Filkin, the Standards Commissioner. “If over-claiming on Westminster office expenses was a big enough offence to topple a First Minister, then the consequences for Jim Murphy and Russell Brown are extremely serious,” he said. Mr Murphy should consider his position as parliamentary aide to Helen Liddell, the Scottish Secretary, and Mr Brown should not be allowed to carry on as a member of the Westminster Standards Committee.
g. “No politician should get rich by the back of politics”, Jim Murphy MP (Sky News Interview Apr 2010) Ready reckoner provides evidence his claims totalled just over £1 million. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2220081/New-MPs-expenses-scandal-27-letting-London-homes-claiming-20-000-public-money-rent-elsewhere.html
15. January 17 2013:Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy addresses packed LFI panel debate on how to best promote a two state solution
a. Over 100 people gathered in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening to participate in the joint Labour Friends of Israel and We Believe in Israel debate on: How can we best promote renewed negotiations and a two state solution?
b. The panelists, led by Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy, called for renewed negotiations; passionately argued that a two state solution is the only viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; called for support and empowerment for the moderates; and condemned violence and extremism. http://www.lfi.org.uk/shadow-defence-secretary-jim-murphy-addresses-packed-lfi-panel-debate-on-how-to-best-promote-a-two-state-solution/
16. September 7 2013: Shouldn’t Jim Murphy resign over Unite allegations?
a. Yesterday evening the news broke that an internal inquiry by the Labour party had cleared both Unite and suspended party members Karie Murphy and Stephen Deans of any wrongdoing in the Falkirk candidate-selection row. A statement said: “Karie Murphy and Steve Deans, who were suspended, will now be reinstated as they have not been guilty of any wrongdoing. No organisation or individual has been found to have breached the rules as they stood at the time.”
b. It’s an open secret within the Labour party that shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy MP was key among those alleging wrong-doing in Falkirk. In an interview with the BBC back in July he said:
i. Something had gone really badly wrong in Falkirk when it came to the selection of the Labour candidate. I don’t blame the people locally – there’s clearly been some external interference.
ii. While trade unions are an important part of a society and our politics, there seems to be one trade union in particular that has well and truly overstepped the mark. It’s clear that Unite don’t run the Labour party – Ed Miliband does. And we should never confuse those two things.
c. Except, there is no evidence of ‘external interference’, especially by Unite the Union. There is also no evidence that Unite “overstepped the mark” in Falkirk, but Murphy is yet to retract his comments. http://liberalconspiracy.org/2013/09/07/will-jim-murphy-retract-his-allegations-against-unite-over-falkirk/
17. September 15 2012: Glasgow, Scotland March for Independence on Saturday, September 22nd in Edinburgh
a. It is our understanding that the Shadow Minister for War, James Murphy objected to the Scottish Republican Socialist Movement’s presence on the forthcoming cross party march for Independence on Saturday, September 22nd in Edinburgh.
b. He complained of pictures showing the burning of Union flags and “Terrorist Trials” on their web site. But their defense is that they are archives copied from the National Press showing old photographs of members of different groups gathered round said flags. There is no intention to burn flags at the Edinburgh rally. In any event individuals will be carrying Saltires, despite Unionist objections to the display of the national flag.
c. But, quite apart from the rally having nothing to with Mr Murphy, or his Unionist Party, he needs to be reminded that the Union flag is not called the “Butcher’s Apron” for nothing.
d. Mr Murphy’s War Party are incinerating people in Iraq and elsewhere, plus they are maintaining the biggest incinerating Nuclear Terror Weapon of all, Trident and basing it in Scotland to boot. http://www.scottishrepublicansocialistmovement.org/Pages/SRSMPressReleases.aspx
18. September 23 2013: Jim Murphy wants new law for attacks on armed forces
a. In case you don’t know who Jim Murphy is, he’s the current Labour Shadow Minister for Defense. I remember him as a particularly reactionary president of the National Union of Students, back in the days when the National Organization of Labour Students stitched up the presidency to ensure that the NUS continued to blindly serve the interests of the Labour Party’s upper echelons and provide a training job for future MPs and Cabinet Ministers.
b. Mr Murphy was then and still is one of those grim-faced machine politicians whose self-appointed job is to ensure that the Labour Party tacks ever to the right wing of politics. He has zero interest in the ordinary lives of this country’s citizens. I’ve never detected a shred of political principle on his part, merely a determination to submit to the prejudices of the Daily Mail, The Sun and The Telegraph. As Defense Shadow Minister, his role is to deify the military and ensure that we never stop spending billions on illegal weapons of mass destruction, driven by taunts that his party is ‘soft on defense’: he’s a spiritual grandson of Bevin et al.
c. This morning’s outrage is brought to you by Mr Murphy’s performance at the Labour Party conference, where he’s cynically utilized the brutal murder of young soldier Lee Rigby several months ago. Mr Murphy has announced that attacking a member of the armed forces is now to be a specific criminal offense.
d. The embarrassing thing about Murphy’s proposal is that it’s such a shameless exercise in headline-grabbing. He isn’t promising that a Labour Government will bring in this law. He’s going to table it in Parliament next month, from the opposition benches. He knows perfectly well that such bills never succeed. They run out of time. Governments defeat opposition bills simply for political reasons. That’s what Murphy wants: he can achieve headlines about uncaring Tories abandoning Our Boys. Either that, or the government adopts the Bill and declares itself the winner. I can’t see any Conservative politicians making the point about equal citizenship: they’ll wrap themselves in the flag at the first opportunity and another blow is struck against equality. So Murphy knows that this isn’t going to become law: he’s just after cheap headlines,
e. This is cynical, awful stuff. Murphy’s got no defensible principle and he’s reaching for the lowest form of tactical politics for short-term. I honestly thought that under Ed Miliband’s leadership, this kind of nonsense was a thing of the past. I know he’s under pressure to get some quick wins with the press, but he should be beyond this kind of rubbish. It’s the sort of nonsense that makes me ashamed to be a member of the party.
http://plashingvole.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/jim-murphy-affront-to-democracy.html
19. October 4 2013: Shadow Secretary of State Jim Murphy leads defence and security-focused delegation to Israel and the Palestinian territories
a. The Labour delegates, explored how to strengthen the bilateral strategic defence relationship; discussed how we can support each other against common challenges; and were briefed on the threats facing Israel as well as the security challenges in the Palestinian territories.
b. Joining Jim on the visit were LFI Chair Anne McGuire MP, LFI Chair in the Lords Baroness Ramsay, Shadow Defence Minister Gemma Doyle MP, LFI Vice Chair Louise Ellman MP, Pat Glass MP, Tristram Hunt MP, Steve Reed MP and PLP Chair Dave Watts MP.
20. February 26 2014: The red mist descended for Labour’s Jim Murphy as he saw SNP MP Pete Wishart counting Scottish Labour MPs taking part in the spare room subsidy vote this afternoon.
a. Murphy approached Wishart and told him to: “f**k off, f**k off, f**k off”. SNP sources are bewildered as to what might have sparked Murphy’s f-bombing because the pair have “not had words today, not this week, not this month”.
b. Murphy is a clown who thinks Scotland is his fiefdom and loses the rag with anyone who tries to suggest otherwise, according to his Scottish puppet on Scottish TV last night: “Scots are not genetically conditioned to make political decisions.”
c. Then there is his best pal and chair of the Scottish Advisory Committee at Westminster, Mr Davidson, who is happy threatening anyone who does not agree with him with a ‘doin’.
d. What you saw in Mr Murphy’s outburst is the stench of fear that his personal Westminster gravy train is heading ever faster towards the buffers and destruction in September 2014. Mr Wishart identifying the Scottish Labour MP’s who go into the ‘wrong side’ of the division will merely speed up that event. http://order-order.com/2014/02/26/jim-murphy-to-pete-wishart-fk-off-fk-off-fk-off/
21. June 28 2014: Scottish independence referendum campaign trail with Jim Murphy
a. Murphy also talks about Scotland having a home rule parliament, “which we’re going to get no matter who wins the next election”. He acknowledges later that “home rule is a much more powerful phrase than devolution”.
b. The same phrase was hammered home by Jack McConnell in a speech in Edinburgh earlier today, and it’s interesting to see it surfacing at this point in the campaign. After the speech, McConnell told journalists that the campaign had become unnecessarily polarised between nationalism and unionism.
c. “It doesn’t reflect modern Scotland,” he said. “It’s time for those of us who played such a big part in creating home rule inside the UK and also making it work to come out fighting for it.”
d. There’s an implication here that Labour is all too aware it has failed so far to make a strong enough case for what devolution has already achieved in Scotland, and how powerful its parliament already is, at a point when the three main parties have yet to reach any kind of consensus on the detail of what “more powers” after a no vote would look like.
e. This is in turn Scottish Labour’s failure, and rumours abound that leader Johann Lamont is on a shoogley peg. One notion gaining currency is that Murphy himself might move to Holyrood to lead the party.
f. At the end of his Falkirk event, Murphy insists that Holyrood is not in his plan. “I was elected to parliament before Holyrood existed. I want the chance to be in Ed Miliband’s cabinet,” he says. “I’m hoping to be in the next cabinet, that’s my plan.”
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/scottish-independence-blog/2014/jul/01/scottish-independence-referendum-campaign-trail-with-jim-murphy
22. July 30 2014: Isles’ MP says Jim Murphy is ‘scaremongering’ on Hebrides range
a. We do know that this is affordable because Scotland puts £3.5 billion into the UK Defence Budget, but only sees about £2.1 billion spent in Scotland.” He added: “Finally, scaremongering by Jim Murphy on the Hebrides Range shows how empty and negative the No Campaign is, they are offering nothing but more of the same.
b. “The range is totally unique – and is used by many countries. It cannot be moved – it offers the only place in Europe where over the horizon missile testing can be conducted. Therefore it is very important to Scotland and its allies and it would remain open.” http://www.stornowaygazette.co.uk/news/local-headlines/isles-mp-says-jim-murphy-is-scaremongering-on-hebrides-range-1-3493921
23. August 4 2014: Jim Murphy becomes a bellowing bullying blawhard against a wee pensioner
a. What an arrogant man, when he refused to answer the womans question she gave up. He is a professional to the end
24. August 22 2014: Jim arrived with his two Barr’s crates and got going on the microphone,
a. I Like Murphy, and enjoy his auld fashioned soap box politics/ hustings style, but he was shot doon many times on his performance in the street ootside Potobello toon hall . I was there,watching him, and the crowd was a good size with a good age mix. the usual nutter and his dug turned up, the polis took a back seat wi’ batons at the ready (joking) but he put his case with aplomb.
b. I was however, pretty peeved at the fact that he had his Labour badge, and his local Labour underlings (our MP ) hiding behind some fancy together flags wearing their labour badges for some reason, the lib/dem coulors were not on show but the Labour and Tory flags were side by side, much to my chagrin!.
c. It was the first time I had seen my Labour MP, (Sheila whateverhernameis) for 2 years! a week later oor Sheila suddenly appeared at ma door, asking if I had any local concerns! hard necked b, all of a sudden, the Labour party have woke up, and decided to play the auld…..we always vote labour card…..in East EDINBURGH. BUT, in my opinion they have missed the boat, forgetting the real facts that the present Scottish First Minister was the driving force when it came to free prescriptions, free travel to oap.s throughout Scotland, free bridge travel, free education to our youngsters etc etc. don’t think much of these were on offer when Henry McLeish and others were in a position to download that to the people of our wee country.
d. Ask Jim how the once great town of Greenock went from a population of 89,678 down to 44,245 and that was under a labour stewardship.so how is that a good thing ,while we are in the union this was allowed to happen and there was nothing the people of Scotland could do.we had to sit back and take it from Westminster .
e. I’m voting yes because i think Scotland has been held back with red tape and not having the power to make things better,we are not subsidized. http://raymcrobbie.com/2014/08/27/return-of-the-britnats/
25. September 22 2014: Speech by Jim Murphy MP to Labour’s Annual Conference 2014 in Manchester
a. And despite progress many of the same old problems remain. Poverty, too many locked out of education, modern day slavery, conflict and corruption. All pernicious for sure. But they are more of a consequence than a cause. They are symptoms of the real driving force of inequity – a fundamental imbalance of power.
b. Power is a bit like food – there is no shortage of it in the world but too much of it is focused in the wrong places. He must be referring to Glasgow. http://press.labour.org.uk/post/98134126994/speech-by-jim-murphy-mp-to-labours-annual-conference
26. October 27 2014: Murphy as leader would destroy Scottish Labour. Only one from the Left can save it
a. Jack McConnell, referring to Scottish labour Party autonomy, pointed out that “everyone believed the problem of authority over the party in Scotland had been resolved three years ago,” referring to the review of the Scottish party following party’s disastrous showing in the 2011 Holyrood elections.
b. Ironically that review was led by Jim Murphy. It was that review which recommended creating for the first time an elected leader of the whole Scottish party, and devolving responsibility to the Scottish party for all Scottish matters. That devolution has simply not happened, as was painfully obvious during the Falkirk fiasco last year when the Westminster leadership took precipitative action (prompted by Jim Murphy amongst others) which caused the party much damage.
c. And yet it was also Jim Murphy that has been conspiring with Douglas Alexander and other Westminster-based Blairites to ensure the downfall of Johann Lamont. It was they who persuaded Ed Miliband to intervene, making a mockery of that devolution and giving the SNP the opportunity to ridicule Scottish Labour.
d. That is why Iain McNicol forced the, “resignation” of Scottish party manager Ian Price. And that is why Johann Lamont would have been forced out anyway if she had not herself chosen to resign. Acting Scottish leader Anas Sarwar’s press release yesterday made clear the desire of the Westminster conspirators for Lamont to go through its, “praise” for her, “decision to put the interests of the Labour Party and the Labour movement ahead of her own“. Sarwar received a well-deserved grilling on Sunday Politics Scotland for this.
e. At a conference of the Scottish Campaign for Socialism attended by a hundred leading CLP and trade union activists, MSPs, MPs and Scottish party executive members, former MSP Bill Butler said of the forthcoming leadership election: Those who wielded the dagger should not inherit the crown”
f. And yet it is Jim Murphy, above all, who wielded the knife, and he who is now annointed by the Scottish Herald amongst others (not to mention favoured by the bookies) as the most likely winner. But it is not only because of his involvement in the latest skullduggery that renders Jim Murphy a particularly poor choice for Scottish leader. In January 2012, he set out his view of how the referendum campaign should be conducted:
g. He advocated the cooperation between the three “unionist” parties that became Better Together, shortly afterwards embedded in the campaign finance section of the Edinburgh agreement;
h. He opposed a second “devo max” option on the referendum ballot paper, describing it as a meaningless, “advertiser’s slogan“, an objection which was likewise reflected in the Edinburgh agreement;
i. Both of these decisions proved disastrous. The decision to campaign as Better Together in conjunction with the Coalition parties alienated large numbers of working class voters from Scottish Labour.The lack of a ‘more devolution’ option polarised working class opinion though that option was effectively revived in ‘the vow‘ agreed between the Westminster parties last month. Though that initiative, brokered by Gordon Brown who had not favoured Better Together, may have prevented Scotland voting ‘Yes’, it also allowed the Tories to backtrack and wrongfoot Labour, which further undermined Scottish Labour amongst some of its former working class supporters.
Murphy as leader would destroy Scottish Labour. Only one from the Left can save it
27. October 28 2014: Jim Murphy’s bid to lead the Scottish Labour Party has been dealt a devastating blow after it emerged he doesn’t hate one of the UK’s closest allies.
a. Mossad Murphy’, whose cover story involves him being MP for the Essex-in-exile constituency of East Renfrewshire, is in fact Bibi Netanyahu’s right-hand man in Scotland. http://news.stv.tv/scotland-decides/297496-devomax-daily-stephen-daisley-on-jim-murphy-and-the-state-of-israel/
28. 29 October 2014: Murphy – Is Murphy The Chosen One
a. In Jim Murphy, some believe that the party has found its super-sub. After his, “100 towns in 100 days” speaking tour made him a Unionist hero during the referendum campaign, the shadow international development secretary is regarded as having the stature necessary to first halt and then reverse the forward march of the SNP.
b. “He looks like a leader,” a supporter declared. A teetotal vegetarian (his one vice is Irn-Bru) who finished first among MPs in the 2013 London Marathon and the author of a well-received recent book on football, even his enemies concede that few politicians can equal his energy.
c. But those same figures argue that his personality, ideology and Westminster background make him ill-equipped for the task at hand. “He’s the Marmite-plus candidate,” one Labour MP told me, noting that his, “fraught relationship” with Douglas Alexander had, “got worse” during the referendum campaign. “Jim Murphy’s the last person you would want to heal the wounds of a divided party.”
d. The Labour MSP Malcolm Chisholm, meanwhile, warned that electing an MP as leader would, “turn a crisis into a catastrophe”. Under the party’s rules, Murphy is required to seek election to Holyrood by 5 May 2016 (the date of the next devolved contest) at the latest.
e. While unlikely to trigger a stand-alone by-election, several sources have suggested that he would aim to secure a seat in time for the general election, giving him a year to take on Nicola Sturgeon in the Holyrood chamber.
f. No Scottish Labour politician draws more opprobrium from nationalists than Murphy. To some in the party, this is proof that he is the one they fear the most. However, SNP sources deride this as wishful thinking. “He’s pro-[tuition] fees, pro-Iraq [war], pro-Trident, which are three of the things now embedded as part of the SNP’s moral and political identity,” one told me. “All of the worst aspects of Labour politics from an SNP perspective are wrapped up and embodied in Murphy. His election would hand the party a gift on a plate.”
g. The prospect of the trade unions – and Unite in particular (whose recent animus towards Murphy dates from the Falkirk affair) – opening fire on him during the campaign is one that they relish. “Unless Ed can do a deal with them, the unions will cause problems for Jim,” one Labour figure warned.
h. As will the insurgent SNP and the wider nationalist movement. Under Sturgeon’s leadership, the party will move to the left, partly out of conviction (unlike Salmond, she is an unambiguous social democrat) and partly out of necessity. The 60,000 people who have joined the SNP since the referendum demand nothing less. In the new Scotland, where a young generation of writers, thinkers and activists define themselves by their constitutional radicalism, Labour faces forces that it can no longer control.
i. For now, the party draws consolation from the enduring unpopularity of the Tories in Scotland, as demonstrated during the referendum campaign. By framing the general election as a choice between a Conservative government or a Labour government, it hopes to prevent critical losses to the nationalists.
j. First, Labour needs to win the right to be heard again. After the public bloodletting of the past weeks, the contrast between the ineptitude of Scottish Labour and the ruthless competence of the SNP has never been greater. The electorate could yet respond by inflicting even greater harm on Labour. http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/10/fall-reluctant-leader-inside-story-scottish-labours-crisis
29. October 30 2014: Murphy: Decisions on Scottish Labour will be made in Scotland
I’m applying of course in this contest for the privilege to be the leader of the Scottish Labour Party but the actual job I’m looking to fill is First Minister of Scotland.” http://news.stv.tv/scotland-decides/297792-jim-murphy-decisions-on-scottish-labour-party-will-be-made-in-scotland/
30. October 30 2014: Friend of Israel Seeks leadership of Scottish Labour
a. Jim Murphy is a strong supporter of Israel. He is the Labour Member of Parliament for the constituency of East Renfrewshire, which has almost as many rich Jewish folks as Tel Aviv. East Renfrewshire has almost half of Scotland’s Jewish population. Jim Murphy hopes to become the Leader of the Scottish Labour Party. http://aanirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/friend-of-israel-seeks-leadership.html
31. 30 October 2014: Jim Murphy rejects “Blairite” label but cautions against shift to the left
a. I want to come up with a sensible Labour answer to Scotland’s problems and that is about doing things differently here. This isn’t a blueprint of taking whatever they do in London and trying to apply it in Scotland.” http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/10/jim-murphy-rejects-blairite-label-cautions-against-shift-left
32. October 30 2014: Jim Murphy hopes to become first minister of Scotland
a. Asked about the controversy over the UK party’s control over the Scottish party – which included the sacking last week of Scottish party general secretary, Ian Price, without Lamont’s agreement – Murphy said: “I am going to go to into this in a lot more detail during the contest. “But I will hire and fire who I want.
b. I am big enough and ugly enough and I am not going to be pushed around by anyone. If I am leader it is not for anyone else, in any other part of the United Kingdom, to tell me who I can employ in the Scottish Labour party.
c. I want more autonomy for the Scottish Labour party.” He added: “I think it is time for a fresh start for the Scottish Labour party,” he said. “I am proud of the Labour party and I am proud of Scotland – but I am not satisfied. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/30/jim-murphy-hopes-first-minister-scotland
33. November 1 2014: We didn’t listen” – Jim Murphy launches campaign with apology to the Scottish people
a. Too late for apologies from Murphy. Labour politicians like Murphy were only too happy to do the Tories’ dirty work during the referendum. Labour seems to be equally willing to support the Tories’ policies of WMD renewal and welfare cuts.
b. Nobody in Scotland believes a word Murphy says anymore. “Scottish” Labour have only themselves to blame. Does it really think parachuting in a London Labour Blairite will improve its reputation in Scotland? http://labourlist.org/2014/11/we-didnt-listen-jim-murphy-launches-campaign-with-apology-to-the-scottish-people/
34. November 1 2014: Race to lead Labour: Unions support Findlay as big names back Murphy
a. Scotland’s largest trade union Unison has joined transport union Aslef in backing Mr Findlay, while Unite poured scorn on Mr Murphy’s campaign launch in Edinburgh in this morning. Former Chancellor and Better Together chairman Alistair Darling turned out in support of Mr Murphy, alongside MSPs John Pentland, James Kelly and Hanzala Malik and Glasgow City Council leader Gordon Matheson.
b. Mr Murphy said he wants to reclaim Labour as, “the national party of Scotland”, insisting he will hold all of the seats that two polls last week predicted Labour would lose spectacularly, and reverse the growing appetite for another independence referendum. Separate polls for The Times and STV predicted Labour would lose a quarter of their Scottish MPs at best, and could be on course to lose 90% leaving a rump of just four.
c. Yesterday, Mr Findlay insisted Labour is in trouble unless it comes forward with policies that people “recognize as Labour”. Unite said today that they are finding it “extremely difficult to find much hope” in what Mr Murphy is offering so far.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/scottish-politics/race-to-lead-labour-unions-support-findlay-as-big-names-back-murphy.1414855053
35. November 1 2014: Murphy must apologise for voting for Iraq war
a. Jim Murphy voted with Tony Blair in the House of Commons in 2003 in favour of the disastrous war in Iraq – despite the principled opposition of other Scottish Labour MPs, such as Robin Cook, and despite 100,000 people marching against it in Scotland and over a million taking to the streets in London. The war resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, including 179 British service personnel.
b. “Iraq is a much more significant matter than Labour’s poor record in Scotland, given the appalling loss of life and damage it has done to the region and wider international system. “People in Scotland time and again made clear their opposition to the illegal Iraq war that Jim Murphy’s vote helped to usher in. “The Iraq invasion was New Labour’s war – driven by Tony Blair and underpinned by a dodgy dossier and the false prospectus of weapons of mass destruction. Can Jim Murphy at long last apologize for his support for the Iraq war? “If Mr Murphy cannot bring himself to apologize for his party’s biggest failing, then any apology he makes for lesser matters will ring hollow.”
36. November 2 2014: Jim Murphy quits shadow cabinet
a. Speaking to BBC 5 Live’s Pienaar’s Politics programme, Mr Murphy said: “I want to dedicate myself full-time to changing Scotland and changing the Scottish Labour Party. “It’s difficult to do that and to serve in the Shadow Cabinet, and therefore after talking to Ed Miliband over the past couple of days I’ve decided to stand down from the shadow cabinet.”
b. Confirming her deputy leadership candidacy on Twitter, Ms Dugdale said: “Delighted to have secured enough nominations for deputy leader to be on ballot – will be saying much more tomorrow”. She is regarded as being a rising star within Scottish Labour, and had been seen as a potential candidate for the party leadership before ruling herself out soon after Ms Lamont quit. The Lothians MSP is currently Labour’s education spokeswoman in the Scottish Parliament. Seven of the 11 MPs and MSPs to have nominated her for deputy leader have also nominated Mr Murphy for the leadership job. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-29870846
37. November 2 2014: Jim Murphy: The key passage in his speech will spell out the need to avoid the, ‘quicksand of continual apology’ about Labour’s past
a. Labour won’t win next time, (2015) by joining others in claiming how bad Labour was last time. We should be proud of so much of what we achieved, from the National Minimum Wage to cutting crime to our social reforms on disability and equality. Future success has to be built on the firm foundations of the rigorous type of policy review that Ed Miliband has initiated rather than the quicksand of continual apology.
http://www.u.tv/news/Jim-Murphy-avoid-quicksand-of-continual-apology-about-Labours-past/282a9c4b-9372-4933-960d-f669738b97f7
38. November 2 2014: Labour’s mafioso back-stabbing in Scotland makes Macbeth look like Mrs Brown’s Boys, says DAMIAN McBRIDE, and could be the death of the Union
a. Judging by appearances, Jim Murphy, the MP for East Renfrewshire, would not be your first choice to carry a big weight. Normally, Scotland’s male politicians pack some heft, but Slim Jim wears the hollow look of a long-distance runner – no surprise that he completed his first London Marathon last year in three and a half hours. But when the teetotaller put his name forward to take over the Scottish Labour Party this week, he took on his narrow shoulders the futures of Ed Miliband, David Cameron, British politics, and the very Union itself.
b. Labour is paying a heavy price for leading the recent campaign against independence, and persuading the Scottish people they’d be better off voting ‘No’. Its core voters in cities such as Glasgow and Dundee felt betrayed by the party standing on a platform with the hated Tories. Having done so, Labour is now held accountable for delivering the cross-party promises of further devolution made in that frantic fortnight before the vote. Every day those promises remain undelivered, the clamour grows that Miliband’s party has deceived Scotland into rejecting independence.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2817346/As-Ed-faces-disaster-north-border-Labour-s-mafioso-stabbing-Scotland-makes-Macbeth-look-like-Mrs-Brown-s-Boys-death-Union.html
39. Annual Cost Travel, Accommodation, Subsistence, Office Rental & Running Costs – 2004-2014
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10453/jim_murphy/east_renfrewshire
2004-2009
http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/jim-murphy/
2010-2011
Accommodation £11,513 (6 Months Rent of Flat, Hotel Accommodation, Rates, Council Tax)
Constituency £9,456 (Office Rental, Rates, Services. Telephones, Insurances)
General Admin £8,960 (£1,300 Cellphone Rental, £1,900 Stationery, £2,256 Telephone System Rental, £1,239 Photocopy rental & charges, £470 Surveyor Costs, £2000 Staff contingency)
Travel £14,837 (travel by air, car, rail, taxi)
Staffing £21397 (Pooled staff professional fees)
Total £68215
2011-2012
Accommodation £11,948 (Rent of Flat 8 months)
Constituency £20,679 (6 months Office Rental & Rates, £1500 Stationery/Adv, £1400 Photocopier Rental, £10,000 Shared Office Costs)
General Admin £1,456 (Telephone Rental, Mobile Phone Rental, Stationery)
Travel £25,528 (£23,500 MP Travel by Air, Car, Rail, Taxi + £2,500 Staff Travel & Accommodation Costs)
Staffing £21,035 (Pooled staff Professional fees)
Total £95,550
2012-2013
Accommodation £22,554 (14 Months Rent of flat London + ancillary costs)
Constituency £18,240 (£8,377 Office Rent/Rates, £1,806 Telephone Rental, £1790 Stationery, £1,300 Insurances/Trg/Professional Fees, £4120 Shared Office Costs)
Staffing £35,939 (Pooled staff Professional fees)
Travel £18,938 (£14,989 MP Travel by Air, Car, Rail, Taxi + £2,200 Staff Travel & Accommodation Costs)
Total £80,767
2013-2014
Accommodation £19,953 (Rent of Flat London 12 months + Ancillary Costs)
Constituency £22,195 (£10,384 Office Rent/Rates/Ins, £2653 Stationery, £2,150 Photocopier Rental, £1,100 Prof Fees, £1,784 Office Running Costs)
Travel £16,553 (£15,353 (MP Travel by Air, Car, Rail, Taxi + £1,200 Staff Travel & Accommodation Costs)
Staffing £138,268
Total £196,969
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