We're all doomed...

Magnus Linklater writes in The Times about Gordon Brown:

"The truth is that he has never been at home with the so-called “Lanarkshire Labour” establishment and is regarded by it with deep suspicion. Unlike John Smith, who represented the Lanarkshire constituency of Monklands and could call on all the old council and party connections he needed, Mr Brown is an East Coaster, who cut his teeth on student politics at Edinburgh, where he was a firebrand rather than a party loyalist, an intellectual, not a hack. His tenure as student-rector of the university — a role in which I currently take the closest interest — was characterised by running battles with the academic hierarchy, and open warfare with its Vice-Chancellor. None of this would have recommended him in the eyes of a party machine that regarded organisation and discipline as the highest virtues.
When, therefore, it came to the leadership contest in 1994, Scottish MPs expressed their doubts about him, and Jack McConnell, now First Minister in Scotland, but then general secretary of the party, campaigned for Mr Blair — an act of betrayal that Mr Brown has never properly forgiven.
As Chancellor, he has done little, in Labour eyes, to bridge that gap. In Dunfermline, which is his political backyard, the number of Labour MPs who came to his aid during the by-election was remarkably small and in the aftermath of defeat there have been bitter recriminations from the Brown camp. He in turn has been accused by members of the Scottish party of overstepping the mark and attempting to impose policy over matters that have been devolved to the Scottish Parliament. "

All of this is true enough but it says more about the West of Scotland labour mafia than about Gordon Brown. The Lanarkshire power base of the Labour Party colluded in (if not actively promoted) the destruction of McLeish, another East coast politician. It has never been comfortable with intellectuals (or even people with a modicum of sense), so Wendy Alexander was sidelined. Donald Dewar was tolerated but sniped at from behind his back. But now the party in Scotland is dominated by the less than towering figures of McConnell, Jamieson, Kerr, McCabe and Curran, whose only interest lies in maintaining their access to Ministerial limos. Has any of these five ever had an original thought? Was any of them seen in Dunfermline recently? Only McConnell who went for a walk in the park rather than share a press conference with the Chancellor. I say this with a heavy heart but the Labour Party in Scotland now stands for mediocrity.