Glasgow East Countdown

It is just as well for Labour that they have a million percent majority in Glasgow East, because they are trying their best to lose this by-election.

First there was the fiasco over selecting a candidate. Then when one was picked, she couldn’t remember which part of Glasgow she lived in. Now, even at 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning, when I am staggering from one side of Sauchiehall Street to the other, I still know where I live!

If that wasn’t enough, she tried to pull the wool over our eyes, by getting the endorsement of a “93 year old war hero”. The war hero turned out to be 67 and only 4 at the time of the said war.

Tony Blair ripped up by-election protocol when he used to visit by-election constituencies to lend “support” to the Labour candidate, but where is Gordon Brown on this occasion? Either he is extremely complacent, expecting a Labour landslide, or he is running scared.

Or maybe there is a third option. Maybe he is sitting in Drowning Street, sorry Downing Street, concocting bribes to ensure that the electorate vote in his favour and effectively keep him in a job. Like the freeze on the fuel tax announced this week.

The latest opinion poll showed that Labour had a 47 – 33 percent lead over the SNP. However both Political Betting and ASWAS seriously question the detail behind this poll. Maybe that is why Labour is canvassing the SNP candidate for his support for next Thursday!

I seriously doubt that the SNP will be able to pull off the 20 odd % swing needed to take this seat. But then again it wasn’t that long ago that the SNP came from nowhere to wrestle the reigns of power away from Labour at Holyrood.

So anything is possible!