Boorish Behaviour
The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has come out with the following, rather dignified statement in the wake of attempts, by some, to use family connections as the basis for attacking their political opponents:
“I don’t think one should ever start on the family connections one way or the other.
“Everybody makes their own mind up, everybody makes their own decisions and I would never involve myself in that sort of argument.
“Tony Benn and I were very close, very close friends for 30, 40 years. We talked to each other a great deal and we were great friends. I was with him shortly before he died talking about prospects for the world and prospects for peace and I’m very sad that he’s gone.
“He taught me a great deal, he taught an awful lot of other people a great deal, and he did something that I haven’t done: he kept a good diary of everything he did and learnt from it so perhaps I should do the same.”
I imagine that, on reflection, the SNP's Alex Salmond must now be feeling like a bit of a chump.
Boorish Behaviour (05/12/15)
I generally admired Alex Salmond while he was SNP leader and Scotland's First Minister, but ever since he stood down from these positions to become just another backbench MP/MSP I think Mr Salmond has rather lost his touch.
No more so than with his remarks the other day in which he said that Tony Benn would be 'birlin' in his grave at the speech from his son Hilary in the House of Commons, when he spoke in favour of extending military strikes against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, as Labour's shadow defence spokesperson
Rather unwisely, in my view, Alex Salmond has stuck to his guns and refused to apologise, as if he knows the mind of the former Labour politician even better than the Benn family themselves.
I tweeted about this myself at the time and was encouraged to see at least one SNP MP in Stewart McDonald stand up to this kind of boorish behaviour.
Emily Benn @Emily_Benn
@georgeeaton @AlexSalmond Mr Salmond, Your comments are both deeply offensive and simply untrue. I hope you reflect and retract them
Mark Irvine @Mark1957
Alex Salmond and Hilary Benn are both politicians, but the SNP MP is wrong to invoke HB's father to score points in a political disagreement
Stewart McDonald MP @StewartMcDonald
I voted differently to Hillary Benn. Using his father's death to make a political point - "spinning in his grave" - is repulsive.
@georgeeaton @AlexSalmond Mr Salmond, Your comments are both deeply offensive and simply untrue. I hope you reflect and retract them
Mark Irvine @Mark1957
Alex Salmond and Hilary Benn are both politicians, but the SNP MP is wrong to invoke HB's father to score points in a political disagreement
Stewart McDonald MP @StewartMcDonald
I voted differently to Hillary Benn. Using his father's death to make a political point - "spinning in his grave" - is repulsive.
