Off With His 'Ed
The Labour party has been making a big hullabaloo over the beefed-up role of its next Scottish leader - an historic step in some ways.
Because it means that for the first time the leader of the UK party - Ed Miliband - will not be the head of Labour in Scotland.
So - the theory goes - the next Labour leader will be on equal terms with the party's biggest rival - the SNP and Alex Salmond.
King of the Midden - to put things another way.
But how true can this be when the real powerbrokers within the party - the trade unions - remain unreconstructed organisations which are still run and controlled from London.
The trade unions provide over 90% of Labour's funding these days - they also control 50% of the votes at party conference - so without the agreement of Britain's union bosses (the Bubs) - major changes can take place.
As Ed Miliband has found to his cost this week - when the Bubs vetoed his plans to 'refound' Labour and its bizarre system for electing party leaders.
The unions also dominate when it comes to the selection of Labour candidates - at every level.
Which explains why 'strange' people get parachuted in to fight certain seats - such as Anne Moffat (Picking) - who proved to be such a dud as the MP for East Lothian.
So unless and until the trade unions follow suit - the new powers devolved to the Scottish party leader - will exist more in theory than in practice.
In other words - the problem goes much deeper that just saying - 'off with his 'Ed'.
Because it means that for the first time the leader of the UK party - Ed Miliband - will not be the head of Labour in Scotland.
So - the theory goes - the next Labour leader will be on equal terms with the party's biggest rival - the SNP and Alex Salmond.
King of the Midden - to put things another way.
But how true can this be when the real powerbrokers within the party - the trade unions - remain unreconstructed organisations which are still run and controlled from London.
The trade unions provide over 90% of Labour's funding these days - they also control 50% of the votes at party conference - so without the agreement of Britain's union bosses (the Bubs) - major changes can take place.
As Ed Miliband has found to his cost this week - when the Bubs vetoed his plans to 'refound' Labour and its bizarre system for electing party leaders.
The unions also dominate when it comes to the selection of Labour candidates - at every level.
Which explains why 'strange' people get parachuted in to fight certain seats - such as Anne Moffat (Picking) - who proved to be such a dud as the MP for East Lothian.
So unless and until the trade unions follow suit - the new powers devolved to the Scottish party leader - will exist more in theory than in practice.
In other words - the problem goes much deeper that just saying - 'off with his 'Ed'.
