A few points:
1) Contrary to Margaret Curran, it was entirely plain to me that the Westminster deal “loyalty test” in the SNP vetting process related entirely to a possible deal with Labour. There was no discussion of any possible deal with the Tories.
Personally I am just as opposed to the Red Tories as the Blue Tories and their extremely similar austerity agendas.
2) It has been widely circulated that the reason for my disqualification from the approved candidates’ list was articles written on this blog or speeches made during the Yes campaign. At no stage during either the vetting or appeal process was there any mention of this blog or of anything else I had ever said or written. So if that was indeed the reason, they failed to address it with me.
3) The same is true with regard to those claiming the circumstance of my divorce ten years ago was the reason. There was no mention at all of my personal life at any stage.
4) I have been given no other explanation in writing or orally other than an email with the single sentence:
“While you showed excellent qualities, you could not give a full commitment on group discipline issues, and for that reason the Panel could not recommend approval.”
So to those saying they wish to hear both sides of the story; so do I. I have told you all I know. I am I think entitled to the assumption that the reason was the one stated, rather than the myriad alternative reasons people are putting so much effort into promoting.
Craig. Take no notice of these hateful people who are trying to hurt you by smearing you and by making false allegations. Nobody believes them.
Because of your writing Margaret Curran was able to spread her lies. You have proved that “you could not give a full commitment on group discipline issues” Despite the weaknesses and the personal problems and types whom there are involved as professional politicians they got it right.
Why don’t you just get over it. You are merely an unnecessary distraction in the fight to get a lot of MPs elected. We need electoral cannon fodder. We need troops out on the ground. We have got this one window to get something done before the 70,000 new members of the Party begin introversion and take the Party somewhere that the old guard might not like.
Ultimately we will have to make an understanding with a Government at Westminster. You may not like it, I do not like it, but that is what the Scottish People said when 55% of them got it wrong. Now they have the opportunity to redeem themselves and do something for Scotland.
Perhaps it would have been better just to accept you didn’t get the job. Your reaction to your rejection possibly outlines the reasons you were turned down. Hopefully Labour won’t be able to do any damage with their ludicrous claim. Time will tell. All the best x
Of course the traditionally hands off Nicola Sturgeon, or even Mr Sturgeon, will have had no role in this decision whatsoever.
“Personally I am just as opposed to the Red Tories as the Blue Tories and their extremely similar austerity agendas.”
I doubt it – you do seem to have something of a personal animus to certain Labour figures.
These couple of posts on the detail of Craig’s non-selection make interesting reading but the detail perhaps obscures the main point to some extent.
Back in November when Craig announced that he wanted to be chosen as a candidate – and even before that – the SNP was regularly lauded on here as something superior, on the ethical and moral levels, to the normal, run of the mill political parties.
Those who didn’t believe that kept very quiet. Except for me, of course.
Behold the general thrust of the comments on on this and the previous two threads! Those threads are pulullating with comments from people whose handles have never been seen before on CM, all of which are saying, essentially, that the SNP IS – AND INDEED HAS TO BE – a political party like any other. Such comments are epitomised by the following very recent offering:
“Craig Murray was – correctly – rejected as a candidate. Of all the times, this is the time for tight discipline, focus on the objective, and tight team work.”
Where were all these voices back in November, when Craig announced his intentions?
Hence the idiots on this blog are those who were lauding the SNP to the skies THEN..
….and the villains on this blog are those who knew differently but kept silent THEN and who are vociferous in justifying the SNP’s action TODAY.
Hope that’s clear.
And I would remind those who accuse Craig of throwing his toys out of the pram of the following few words from his November 2014 lead-in post:
“I should be delighted to hear from any constituency seeking a candidate; otherwise I am going to be living in Scotland and still working flat out for independence, irrespective of whether I hold any position or not.”
Resident Dissident
“Of course the traditionally hands off Nicola Sturgeon, or even Mr Sturgeon,…”
____________
Is there a male sturgeon?
Perhaps M
Perhaps Mary could do some of her famous digging and post whatever she finds out?
CANCEL ABOVE !!
Habbabkuk has put his recently acquired internet skills to good account …and dug.
“Mr Sturgeon” – aka Mr Peter Murrell – has been the Chief Executive of the SNP for over 10 years now.
His 2011 salary was £109.000; this fell to £77.000 on 2012 and was omitted from the SNP accounts for 2013.
PM – a member of the Scottish Parliament earns over £100.000.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Now, if I were a certain regular commenter of the female persuasion, I would be tempted to let certain words and expressions like “nepotism”, “keep it in the family” and “TROUGHERS!” cross my lips.
Bit since I’m not, I won’t. 🙂
Six in a row. A record. Included is yet more crowing.
You must be exhausted by this unholy row Craig, what a waste of energy and how self defeating of the SNP, wanting to be shiny, untouchable and ‘the Scotsman’ friendly, rather than humane and open to their membership.
‘Why don’t you just get over it. You are merely an unnecessary distraction in the fight to get a lot of MPs elected.’
I wonder what you have been doing during the Independence campaign Andrew, because going by your compromise stance here you sat at home waiting for it all to happen to you, or you vote for the NO campaign in the hope that the SNP would then align itself with Murphy’s gang.
Rejecting central expertise, such as Craigs, expertise one would need at Westminster, is akin to asking for a blindfold before entering a maze.
Further, your passion for backside scratching is admirable and you want to do it at Westminster, together with a party that has played Scotland like a fiddle, over and over again.
The SNP’s same as it ever was prospect for young voters is untenable and their involvement in the Yes campaign can only be described as an eyewash, dubious.
The SNP has taken its focus away from Independence and like a chimp trying to hit a Westminster dart board is now on a hi9t an miss course.
Andrew is very likely privy to the deals done with Jim Murphy,. the breakfast table is laid and ready.
One of the most prominent features of our party political landscape is their ability to use the electoral system for their aims and objectives alone, the sole reason for the hardship Independent candidates fare during election campaigns. Cheating and fraudulent use of the electoral system, much thanks to a useless electoral commission which is unable to stop fraudsters and careerist politicians to make out that they have won fair and square.
Off course. as long as the established power structure behind out political parties are fed their appanage, these party politicians can monger as they see fit, and nothing will change the status quo will reign.
Sadly all those young and enthusiastic new members, who signed up with the SNP under false pretences will be devastated that they are working for Labour when they are asked to deliver leaflets and talk to people at the doorstep and it is to be seen how many will want to do this for a smug upper echelon which is undermined by unionists in their midst.
Now excuse me I have to carry water for two miles, the 21st century reality in Britain, main water burst and not enough bowser’s to go round.
The SNP wants Scottish Independence?…hahahahaha delivered by Labour?, not on your Nelly.
Craig.
There is a fundamental human weakness holding this country and a lot of busineses back.
It is the EGO.
Most people will not employ someone who is smarter than themselves, they feel threatened, insecure.
A friend who writes books, a bit of guru, self help type. Told a story about how he liked to “edit” his own books. He did not like anyone else interfering with his creation. Until one day he was introduced to a “professional editor” who charged $30.00 per hour. My friend charged $150.00 per hour for a one to one session. A no brainer he said, and, as it turned out the professional editor did a better job as well as freeing up his time to make even more money.
Every organisation is jealous of people like you because of your obvious qualities that they lack. You would take away the limelight from them. What they do not see is, that you would increase their standing as the Party that brought in Craig Murray, who brought more success to the Independence Campaigne.
Organisatios that operate this way are limited to the ability of the person/s at the top, and suffer from “inertia” very quickly. They become dull and uninteresting to those whom they are trying to attract.
I’ll say it again “start your own Party” unless, you have something else you want to do. After all, it is your life.
Craig, consider all this much-ado-about-nothing good publicity for yourself as a writer. Writing is your forte, combine that with your proven integrity and people are ready to listen to you directly. Stick to the knitting and you can access the audience, and create influence, without a party platform. Even being an independent MP is a distraction. Why not create a much larger impact on the millions of people living unaware in utter confusion?
As for the important aspect of the economics, this would be a far less risky approach than standing for elections as an independent. Turn your attention and focus on the issues of the day rather than delving into history. There is a whole generation pushing through that are disillusioned with politics. Why lock yourself up in the prison of one party? You are a free spirit, why not give that the air it needs to flourish and speak/write /communicate in freedom?
One last point to make this observation holistic — as in WHOLE, not some idiotic ‘New Age’ interpretation. Like all of us humans, you suffer. Holistic living and thinking begins with the basics of one’s physical health. Politics would not leave you with the time to attend to yourself. Forgive me for being publicly personal, but you cannot ignore your physical health nor can you escape from it by chasing, apparently, noble pursuits. You need to attend to this in order to create your inward mind-body balance from which flows a genuine harmony, a certain ‘state’ from where you do what you do effortlessly. In that there is a letting-go of history, psychologically, where your messages will contain a confident immediacy feeding into the change that you seek. Forget Scottish nationalism. Forget every ‘ism. There’s a much wider battle happening out there and its a-raging.
Join forces with Assange, Manning, Snowden, maybe even Brand, to create influence. Save Brand, you are perhaps the freest of them all. For humanity’s sake, and for the sake of more Goodness and Truth in the World and in our societies, LEVERAGE IT!
While the Devil is in the detail, the Angels are in the Big Picture. The World is at a strategic inflection point, you are at a strategic inflection point; MARRY THEM!
habbakuk, you’re rubbing it in, sheer glee and spite now, but then, we knew all the while what you are made of.
And you are still stalking Mary knowing full well of the challenges she is facing, you are scum boy No.1
“Six in a row. A record. Included is yet more crowing.”
Mary I see that you’re still the constant sourpuss that you are. Please go have a wank and let us get on with the conversation. You’re way, way out of your depth here. Sycophants are the last thing that Craig needs at this time.
Nevermind
“habbakuk, you’re rubbing it in, sheer glee and spite now, but then, we knew all the while what you are made of.”
_________________
“Sheer glee” about Craig? Not at all, Ingo.
“Rubbing it in”? Well, after all the abuse and insults heaped on me over time, I think it’s very human to be pleased at having been right when all you geniuses were either silent or just plain wrong.
So either apologise or fuck off.
“And you are still stalking Mary”
_____________
Nevermind, you wouldn’t know what stalking is if it slapped you across the face with a wet kipper.
Habbabkuk, they just don’t ‘get it’, do they? These hanger-on geriatrics don’t realise the problems they have caused in the World. They don’t realise they have had their innings and not gotten anywhere. They don’t realise they are standing in the way.
Don’t expect them to appreciate the suppleness of our minds! 😉
Anyway, good to see you around, as always. Btw has Dreoilin been around lately?
Craig, sorry to have been absent from the blog during all this; something went wrong with my Internet connection.
Best wishes to you Craig.
Craig, please get someone to moderate your comments-stream, to exclude the idiots. It’s not readable as it stands.
RD:
“I doubt it – you do seem to have something of a personal animus to certain Labour figures.”
RD, being highly intelligent, you well know there are levels and levels and levels.
Perfectly understandable if Craig, now and again, betrays a greater active animosity towards Labour. After all, the impact of Blair’s misadventures at the turn of this century, which were clearly a wrong path to have taken for the Globe as a whole, are difficult to dismiss.
I did note, however, and i hope you did too, that Craig gave a back-handed compliment to Labour in a recent post where he indicated that the hostility he received and perceived from SNP top figures was something he didn’t get even from Jack Straw.
It is a time to be very fair with Craig.
Wish you well!
If they are looking at this blog, at the moment it’s only Habbabkuk and Resident Dissident propping up Craig. Everyone else is digging the dissident hole deeper.
Well done Habbabkuk. Your time has come. Keep going. What about 20 in a row to set the record? I’m sure you can manage it once you get in the flow.
These people, Craig, with whom you have had this unfortunate encounter can not distinguish between ‘means’ and ‘ends’ nor indeed the importance of being able to do so
EF Schumacher wrote
-Modern society prides itself on its pluralism which means that a large number of things are admissible a ‘good’ in themselves as ends rather than as means to an end. They are all of equal rank, to be accorded first priority.-
And the cause
-We are suffering from a metaphysical disease, and the cure must therefore be metaphysical. Education which fails to clarify our central convictions is mere training and indulgence. For it is our central convictions that are in disorder, and, as long as the present anti-metaphysical temper persists, the disorder will grow worse. Education, far from ranking as man’s greatest resource, will then be an agent of destruction, in accordance with the principle corruptio optimi pessima (the corruption of the best is the worst of all).-
We are probably doomed
Mary and Nevermind, as something of a friend (I hope) to each of you, please reconsider your replies to Habbabkuk on the basis of the specific comment(s) you’re replying to – I see no hostility toward Craig from Habbabkuk’s comments on this thread. Rather, Habbabkuk seems to have highlighted fickleness and lack of consistency in various people’s attitudes towards the SNP. Habbabkuk may be drawing attention to this as a more general phenomena within politics; a type of distortion within voting patterns over time, perhaps.
Habbabkuk, your treatment of Mary, here and at squonk.tk, most certainly could be seen as ‘cyberstalking’, and I feel that you should apologise for that.
I propose a cease-fire, followed by negotiation.
I can see why Craig Murray might be a problem in party political situations. I am highly suspicious of the whole idea of ‘party politics’ and think that if it can work at all, that won’t be until a fairer voting system has been put in place and all the people who thrived under the present system have been booted out and/or re-trained. When I was younger, people used to say the stultifying effect of party politics was useful because it slowed things down, preventing extremism and hasty decisions. Nowadays, I see those brakes can be used for pernicious purposes too. We need sweeping changes and the system prevents it by keeping out mavericks and strong characters(before anyone points to those commonly seen as strong characters under the current system, I’d better add that the arrogance of privilege does not count as stregth in my book). I wonder where we should be looking for positive change.
“I wonder where we should be looking for positive change.”
Perhaps within ourselves? Change, sadly, can only come one person at a time. There is no injectible that can be spread change by some kind of magical shot in the arm.
Craig
I’m no Christian, but there are SOME truths in the bible. One that springs to mind right now:
“Shake the dust from your feet and get out of here”. Take a leaf from Jesus book and do the same.
You’re worth more. Theirs? Jack Shit.
What people are thinking about is there own importance, power and influence within these institutions, and they spit out good people. As someone said above, jealousy, threat.
It’s just a job. Be crap and selfish like everyone else.
I know it’s not total, but basically jobs in this society are about having a brown nose. Then it’s amazing how far even utter scum can go.