Actually, foreigner though I am, I was disappointed to hear this lunchtime that Chuka Ummuna was withdrawing from the race. From what I have seen, he seems a most impressive individual who would have been an absolute shark at PM’s Question Time, and a solid leader of the sort that Labour will need to recover. There has been some speculation that Chuka might have been worried that one of the Tory yobloid newspapers was lined up to prepare a typically responsible article of an unhelpful nature - “Chuka in eight-in-a-bed Islamaniac sex orgy bomb plot shock horror”, or something of the sort. I hope not - because his withdrawal from the leadership race will not stop Sid Snot and his friends from printing such stuff at any stage.
Pity about Ed - very bright man, and had the courage of his convictions, but was prone to the occasional stupid mistake (bacon sambos, things Carved in Stone …). Was his main problem an unfortunate resemblance to Wallace … or was it Gromit ? A pity, anyway. Electoral politics these days can be so superficial.
As for the “Flower of Scotland” - I have mentioned somewhere In Here that Ms Sturgeon was a force to be reckoned with. She has already shown passion for her cause the equal of her predecessor allied with what appears to be greatly superior acuity and astuteness. It may take a bit longer - but they haven’t gone away, you know …
Yours from the Spider’s Cave, JR.
