Labour party

I used to think that the feebleness of the scandals that occasionally brought down a minister or two in Edinburgh was matched only by the embarrassment one felt watching the Scottish press corps work itself into a frenzy in anticipation of feeding upon cheap cuts that properly corrupt countries would never consider feeding their dogs with. There's something similar in the air about the fund-raising scandal that is destroying Gordon Brown's government. Except, of course, that after a decade of mendacity, he deserves it. Still, the scandal itself - laundered campaign contributions and a ridiculous scramble in which everyone does their best to implicate everyone else - is scarcely of epic proportions.

Bob Marshall-Andrews, the independent-minded Labour MP for Medway is a Whip's nightmare. But he's the sort of stout citizen any parliament worth the name needs more of. Years ago, we received good value from him when we invited him to speak at my undergraduate debating society. So, it's nice to see that he's lost none of his waspishness. Via Iain Dale comes this assessment of our boyish Foreign Secretary: Labour backbenchers seem to be getting uneasy about David Miliband. In Quentin Letts's Daily Mail sketch today Medway MP Bob Marshall-Andrews describes Miliband as "this pillock* on his gap year**". Letts insists that Marshall-Andrews was sober when he said this and that he agreed to being quoted. *A foolish person. Someone with no clue. Derived from northern English slang for a penis.

Neil Harvey-Smith, gingerly returning to blogging after time in the Canadian wilderness, observes the latest example of Gordon Brown's cynicism. Today's message: he admires Margaret Thatcher very much. Yesterday's message: her "doctrinaire prejudice" failed Britain. That's not, incidentally, a view from 1983 but from a 1989 book he published titled, Where There Is Greed; Margaret Thatcher and the Betrayal of Britain's Future.

Interesting, though unsurprising, interview in today's Scotsman. Des Browne, the Secretary of State for Scotland, tells the paper's political editor Hamish Macdonell that there's no need for any talk about new powers for Holyrood. Move along now, please. Nothing to see here. Mr Browne delivers the standard Labour ministerial line: we'll have a consultation and "listen" to all views but our mind is made up. So what's the point? Score this as another victory for Alex Salmond. Wendy Alexander, the likely new leader of the Scottish Labour party, is understood to want a review of the devolution "settlement". It would be a surprise if she were not. She is a creature of the Scottish parliament, not Westminster. Like any bureaucracy or legislature, Holyrood has a natural desire for growth.

So, as expected Jack McConnell has resigned as leader of the Scottish Labour Party. A friend emails me the best, most accurate (albeit unintentionally so) reaction to this news: "Let's remember where he took this party from to where it is now and I think that's a great contribution not just for the Labour party but also for Scotland." Since McConnell inherited a party in power and leaves it in opposition, this is, for once, something Andy Kerr - Mr McConnell's Finance Minister - and I can agree on. Of course, the proof that Scotland needed a political revolution is found in the words "Finance Minister Andy Kerr". *A clown, a buffoon, someone who makes exasperating mistakes, misses open goals, shoots self in foot etc. Generally a clod and an idiot.