THIS has been one of the more interesting weeks in UK politics.
Jeremy Corbyn, as was pointed out by James Kelly in yesterday’s National, introduces an air of unpredictability.
How will his massive mandate from party members impact on the future of Scottish Labour? How will his role as leader of the opposition affect next year’s Scottish Parliament elections? How will it affect a future referendum on independence?
There are plenty of pundits speculating and, well, doing what it is that pundits do. Ultimately, they can only guess. And their guesses have not been great of late.
The political class all, to a man, said there was no chance Corbyn would win. He did, and he won big.
Corbyn has now appointed his team. We can understand his argument that not having a woman in one of the four “great offices of state” has to more to do with how we view government. That education and health are not in the 21st century viewed as great offices of state is, as Corbyn rightly points out, rather antediluvian.
It is worth pointing out that although there are 16 women and 15 men in the Cabinet, only ten of the women are Cabinet ministers. The other six just attend Cabinet. Twelve men are cabinet ministers, three attend Cabinet. A minor difference perhaps. But one worth noting.
It’s also worth noting that both Sky and BBC news say Angela Eagle was only made First Minister of State at about midnight last night when Corbyn’s team realised they were, in their own words, “taking a fair amount of **** out there about women” on Twitter.
There is a lot of hope behind Corbyn.
There is a hope that his rejection of the shibboleth of austerity politics can usher in a new way of working. That he and his party can hold David Cameron’s government to account in a way that Labour have not managed to do in the last five years.
There is a hope that he can team up with the SNP, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and others to defeat Government bills.
There is a hope that Corbyn’s opposition is one of action. There should be no sitting on the hands, as there was when the Tory’s draconian welfare bill went before the House in July. Indeed, if Corbyn wants to identify a point where he stopped being an outsider candidate and became a possible leader in waiting, it may be that disastrous decision by Harriet Harman and his three opponents in the leadership race.
Corbyn will be in Scotland later this week.
So far the politics of Scotland have held little interest for the Islington MP. Given his announcements thus far, we think Scotland may hold interest for him yet.
We wait with great interest to hear what he has to say on Trident, on the EU referendum, on the Scotland Bill and more.
Jeremy Corbyn criticised for giving top shadow cabinet jobs to men
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here