Repeating
History? After the Scottish referendum in 2014 we noted the increased electoral supprt for the SNP and our minds in the Sempringahm office turned to British and Irish history. Between 1874 and 1910, the electoral era of the Second and the Third
Reform Acts, in the 7 elections of those years, the Irish Nationalists had
between 59 and 86 MPs and held the balance of power between the two main parties at that time,
the Conservatives and the Liberals. In the 2010-15 Parliament there are 40
Scottish constituency Labour MPs. If these constituencies do not return Labour
MPs the UK Labour Party has less chance having sufficient MPs to form a
government outright. Polling suggests that many and possibly most constituencies
who have a Labour MP will return a SNP candidate on 7 May. Thereby a situation
not unlike the parliaments of 1874-1910 will be created with the Scottish Nationalist
Party in a similar position to the Irish Nationalists 140-105 years ago.
Image
and the man. Russia’s new ‘tsar’ Vladimir Putin, not so terrible as Ivan IV, but
seen by the UK security services as creating a new cold war threat, presents
himself in publicity photos as an ‘alpha male’, bare chested in traditional Russian
male pursuits but he was beaten to that pose by some 90 years by Benito
Mussolini, leader of the Fasci di
Combattimento. Readers of this item in the September issue of new perspective, Vol 21, No 1 (page 22)
will have the benefit of evidential photos to illustrate the comment.
Contributor
Geoff Williams. Sempringham eLearning Office
