Saturday 25 July 2015

VISIT FROM THE VICEROY


So, yesterday the ever-inept David Mundell (Fluffy Muddle as Munguin calls him), having accepted an invitation from Trussel Trust, turned up to open their new food bank in Dumfries.

There are so many stories about the bold boy's disastrous day, I don't know where to start.

But I'll direct you to this account of his visit and its background written by the manager of First Base, the independent food bank that operates in the town. I'd urge you to read it. Mark writes very amusingly!

I also urge you to read the "Scottish" Daily Mail's account of the event, which is literally quite unbelievable. 

And if your blood pressure with stand it, some of the comments from their readers. Clearly these people swallow the lies that their chosen newspaper lays out for them on a daily basis. 

Here's an example:


Strange how the SNP take no responsibility as normal. They are the Government here not Tory party. . They have the power in Scotland. This is their core support out their [sic] Everybody's fault in the world apart from themselves. The true face of the nationalists. Bitter angry and full of hate. These people need to take a look as [sic] Ms Sturgeon and Co. That is [sic] any off [sic] them can leave London for 5 minutes and visit their constituency. At least Mr Mundall [sic] has the courage to show his face.

Erm, yes, if only for a few minutes!

The Mail's headline screams that the Scottish Nasty Party (yes, it says that... It's clearly competing to take over where the "Daily Sport" laid off) strikes again.

By the time you get down to the sub headlines (the bullet points for the hard of thinking) it has admitted that it is anti-austerity campaigners who were responsible, although it can't help but add, yet again, for the benefit of the dim, that that includes the SNP. 

I'd take being anti-austerity as a badge of honour, but it seems that being against people starving is a bad thing in the eyes of the good Lord Rothermere's Mail.

The account goes on to say that these activists (again stating that they included SNP people, without saying who else was there) forced him (Fluffy) to flee by the back door. 

But the video shows that what appears to have forced him to leave the place in such a hurry, was a polite question from a lady who was in the building, asking why he had accepted the invitation from Trussel Trust to be involved in this food bank, but had refused a request by First Base to visit their food bank. (See mark's story for all the details.)

According to the Mail Mundell looked visibly shaken. It's not my place to offer advice to the great and the good...or indeed Fluffy... but, if a polite question like that has the effect of visibly shaking you, then maybe politics, or any other job which is public facing, is not for you.

Our own Arbroath was at the event, and has provided Munguin with links to some of the articles that covered the story. She was herself interviewed by numerous organisations including television! 

As she points out in the comments of the last story (linked above), it seems that Mundell is not even the MP for the location of the food bank, and that that may be a protocol faux pas.

Maybe some of you can help in this matter. I've a dim recollection that MPs are not permitted to take part in public affairs in any constituency other than their own, unless invited to do so by the member for that constituency. In the case of ministers (which by default, if not merit, Fluffy is), whose jobs clearly involve national or pan national responsibility, whilst they can appear officially in any constituency, it is considered good manners to get permission from the serving MP and to invite him or her to join them at the event.

It would be interesting to know if that's true or it I dreamed it. And of course, if the MP was invited to come along...

Oh, and it's worth noting that in Mark's story he points out that there was a spread laid on for the people at the launch. 

How ironic is that? 

Can't help feeling that a food bank should have been saving every bit of it food for people who needed it, not for overpaid MPs and thier retinues, with ministerial salaries and expenses to keep them in ice cream.

Incidentally, for those of you who didn't read the whole of Mark Frankland's article, he goes on to talk about the perilous financial state of First Base.

In order to survive it needs another £15,000 before January, and it has no obvious way of raising that money.  So Mark, who is, as well as being a food bank manager, an author, has written a novel "The Great Food Bank Siege" which will be published on Amazon Kindle in a few weeks time at the price of £2,99 to raise some money.

Munguin will be buying a copy!

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Terrifying mob of middle aged people shouting "shame on you", and plenty of police to keep them away from the sainted viceroy.

16 comments:

  1. Oh you did have to finish it off with a picture of Ruth "burly men in Annan" Davidson , didn't you! I read the mail's comments though not the article and am still washing out my brain. I noticed one of tje links printed Arbroath's age - how very ungallant of them. And ffs described her as "wheelchair bound". Now either she has some weird "50 shades of grey" thing going on or perhaps more likely someone needs to deliver some disability awareness training. Wheelchair user, mate!

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  2. wouldn't worry too much P.P. my shoulders ... oops sorry my partner has just reminded me it is my HEAD ... can take it. My head has grown somewhat since my wee bimble along to Dumfries yesterday ... apparently! LOL

    Some weird "50 shades of grey" thing going on ... Hmmm interesting and kinky ... 50 makes of wheelchairs perhaps? I think that could be the making of a good second volume to 50 shades of Grey ... don't you think? LOL

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    1. well I did wonder what was binding you to your wheelchair! I ruled out handcuffs since you weren't arrested :-) But you Borders folk are a breed apart from us central belters, so who knows what binding materials you have to hand...

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    2. You two should write a comedy skit!

      That's gold stuff!

      BTW, what is it that the MSM has with age?

      A Dundee Man (23); a Glasgow woman (27), the witness (47)... why, what possible difference does it make?

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    3. Arbroath: Any further info on whether he was outside his constituency, and whether he broke any conventions?

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  3. Well I for one am not telling you now what it is that I use to do all this binding stuff! Munguin might get some fanciful ideas about how best to control Tris! LOL

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    1. EEEEEEK... he's already got some... not to pleasant I might tell you.

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  4. Tris

    We will always need foodbanks for emergencies but the amount of need in this country is a national shame. The reasons we need them are obvious to everyone but the Tories who choose just to ignore the facts, as well as doing away with child poverty , it won't be long be long before they just stop announcing any figures at all with the backing of labour.

    Muddle is just plainly out of his depth, if Cameron could have gotten away with appointing someone from the House of the living Dead he would have, but he didn't risk it so we have Muddle who is just a joke. Every time I hear him speak you just know that he is not all there when it comes to being Scotland man in the cabinet. We have always suffered from really crap Scottish Secretaries but he makes Carmichael look good. I didn't mind Moore too much, didn't agree with much of what he said, but I did think he was a decent man overall as far as MPs go.

    The simple fact is though that the Tories just don't care, it doesn't effect them or their supporters, they won't ever recover in Scotland and they got their short term no vote so right now they can get England the way they want it in preparation for the break up of the UK which is coming sooner than many think.

    The more people suffer the sooner the demands for Ref 2 will start. It will need to be in the manifesto for the elections next year for the SNP and I would not be surprised if there are people in the party working on where they went wrong the last time. I suspect that the campaign the next time will be better run and better organised with a lot of clearer answers to the questions that killed the last one like currency and bank etc. But either way we are going to have to suffer the attacks of the Tories for a while yet and it will get worse, I read somewhere that IDS no longer needs to take any benefit changes to parliament anymore, thanks Labour you pricks, and can cut benefits anytime he wants now. What a country to live in .

    Bruce

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    1. Yes. I think he's the worst SoS ever, and we've had some bad ones..but my memory doesn't go THAT far back. I think some of Thatchers were total aliens!

      I believe you are right. I'm sure it's limited what he can change, but they have given a mad lying psychopath the right to hurt poor people as he sees fit...

      What?

      Yes, I am so desperate to get away from them, and I see no possible betterment with Labour ... because even if JC gets in they will get rid of him... that I think we should probably grab the chance while we can.

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  5. Ref report in Daily mail : Unbelievably juvenile sub headlines..a wind up surely?

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    1. Apparently the real thing... but totally unprofessional and yes, juvenile.

      I didn't think the crowd was that intimidating.' I don;t know where the reported got the message that there was SNP people in the crowd...although to be fair with over half the country having voted for them, I suspect that in any crowd on more than 5 there's bound to be some SNP. But who were the others?

      Might they have been Labour supporters... not the Kenall supporting type, but proper Labour, who are incensed by the idea that in one of the rich countries of the world that can afford virtually non stop wars, there are children going to bed hungry, thanks to people like Muddle?

      Could they be Scottish Socialists?

      Could they be Greens?

      Could they be Liberal Democrats?

      Could they even possibly be Tories that don't enjoy starving the poor to death. They do exist.

      Or maybe they were just non political types ...

      The Daily Mail, in an effort to suck up to the hard right, will say anything and their terminally dim, sour faced, vinegar temperament readers appear to enjoy it.


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  6. I don't know what the actual crowd numbers were yesterday Tris cause I've read figures varying from 30 to 200. What I will say though is that the crowd, no matter the actual size, consisted of Dumfries and Galloway Trade Unionists, Communists, about 7 or SNP members that I know of and the rest were apolitical as far as I know and lets face I don't know much! LOL

    From the pictures here there appears to be in excess of 30 around his wee car when he slithered away however that is not all the protesters because there were at least another 30, me included, who were round the front just to make sure he didn't slither out the front. I think this must make around 70 protesters as a minimum at the protest yesterday. No I didn't use the BBC calculator to count the protester numbers either! LOL

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  7. Erm ... I have heard that it is always a good idea to actually include the link to a post when you make reference to it ... DOH! LOL

    http://stockpix.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/David-Mundell-Food-Bank-Dumfries-24-July-2015/G0000sikaStvvATk/I0000mskz.lTGNow

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    1. Yep, I'd say there are about 30 people there. They didn't much look to me like a dangerous mob. Some children, a few youngish adults, some middle aged and a few elderly people. Not a bad cross section!

      Clearly the Mail didn't want to be bothered with too much research. It often ruins a good story.

      Thanks for all the info: Munguin's intrepid reporter!!!!

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  8. Curtsey's and doffs my hat! LOL

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  9. I have little time for Mundell, and food banks should not exist. Nor should we be provide overseas aid until our own poverty is sorted.

    The Daily Mail is also exaggerating the crowds and "bully-boy" tactics as well.

    But there is an underlying danger. Any activist, regardless of their political affiliation (many appear to be left of Castro), is being checked out by the media, especially by right wingers. Any hint of a relationship with the SNP - photos with leaders is a favourite - and it will be splashed out with none-too subtle hints of the SNP leadership behind these protests, when there clearly is not.

    But as with any politician keen to be pictured with as many people as possible, the odd fruitcake sneaks in, and all of a sudden it's Nicola's fault, when she has been trying damned hard to distance the SNP from the more extreme activists out there. There's bugger all she can do to prevent this, apart from kicking those undesirables out of the SNP.

    Too many of these seem to have come from the Scottish Socialists, who blew their own party up. I'll argue that while most people in Scotland are in favour of a centre-left government, they do not want far left policies, which are as damaging as Tory policies.

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