Wendy Alexander: The Best They've Got.

Guido has a round-up of (some) of the corruption stories involving our beloved leaders. Lots to choose from, but the one that stands out for me is the story that the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Wendy Alexander, is facing prosecution for illegal donations. However, unlike Hain, she doesn’t have the decency to stand down.*

Still, according to The Times, she is being supported:

"She was buoyed by robust declarations of support from her Labour group of MSPs at Holyrood and from other key figures in the Scottish party, some of whom hinted that they believe the standards watchdog who has referred her case to prosecutors is guilty of a "stitch-up"."

Evidently I have misunderstood the definition of stitch-up. I thought that it was where someone innocent was framed for something they didn’t do. Whereas clearly it means "politician being prosecuted for accepting an illegal donation." That’s me corrected!

But there is perhaps a more pragmatic, and more depressing, reason why Alexander is being supported whereas Hain was (eventually) hung out to dry.

"However, some of her backbench MSPs also admitted that she had to stay in post because there is no obvious candidate to succeed her."

Nice, there we have it. The calibre of candidates with the Scottish Labour Party is so poor that even if you are facing prosecution for corrupt funding, you are still a viable candidate for the leadership. It is a bit like Derek Conway being elected Tory leader. The excuse that there is no obvious candidate to succeed her is not only not good enough, but also a staggering indictment of the state of the Scottish Labour Party.

*"Hain" and "decency" in the same sentence is something I never thought I’d see on this blog. Unless separated by the words "has absolutely no".