Calum Macdonald is my ex-MP

Almost, but not quite.

It's a hell of a job, but if you can't take losing, don't put your head above the parapet.

Dignified in defeat, Alasdair should be taking notes. If there was a swing against Calum, Almo's facing a landslide.

I didn't expect that result; nor did Calum by the look of his face.

Congrats to the Rev and to Angus MacNeil for removing an obstacle to progress.

(Apologies to REM)

Calum - you haven't been to Scalpay and you haven't been in contact with anyone about the factory closure.

Now you aren't welcome - and that comes from the workers in the factory and their family who are voting to get you out.

I've just seen that the factory was opened by Henry "Muddle, not a fiddle" MacLeish. Whatever happened to him?

There is no doubt in my mind, Calum is away.

OCV (Rev Hargreaves) is going to remove his majority; wind farms protestors are going to destroy it; and, disillusionment with Labour is going to give the SNP the seat.

The Bookie is offering good odds, and I'm away to rob him. :-))))

A friend in Harris phoned this morning about the news about Stolt. His job has gone, and his prospects in Harris are minimal.

Assuming closure is announced today, he's leaving for the mainland and taking his family with him; pulling the kids out of school, and he doesn't expect to be back.

He's held down a minimum wage job just to remain here, and has now been kicked in the teeth.

"Calum promised to do everything, and did nothing", he said. "The EU import duty is too little too late - the industry was lost when control passed to the Norwegians, and our politicians did nothing".

"Still", he added sardonically, "When we go, unemployment in the islands will fall; there will be fewer children in poverty; and fewer claiming Tax Credits. All good things according to Calum."

He knows he can sell the family croft house for a fortune to retirees, but if he does that he'll never ever be able to come back. Nor will his kids.

Is this what we want for our islands???

I was visiting my cousin in Stornoway when a poorly-produced scabby red leaflet was pushed through the door.

My cousin, who works for the Comhairle, read the contents and exploded: "Calum is claiming credit for the roads, the schools PFI and the new house building!!! All that work has been done with our department and funded by the Scottish Executive and that [expletive deleted] tosser hasn't had anything to do with it. [Expletives deleted] didn't have anything to do with the job creation either."

Ooops, another lost vote.

BTW, the leaflet looked and felt like a quickly cobbled together photocopy, and screamed of desperation. What is going on??

As if Calum hadn't enough problems .....

It looks like the Scottish Executive will prevent the public objecting to major planning issues, such as the Lewis Wind Power scheme, or - heaven forbid - a nuclear power station for Lewis.

As Brian Wilson seems to be pushing both renewables and nuclear, it looks like the public may be prevented from objecting to either of his schemes.

This week's WHFP does, I think, catch the mood of the moment in the Western Isles.

The WHFP has never failed to endorse a Labour candidate, so their view on the Western Isles is therefore even more surprising - the SNP will probably win, but Calum might hold on if the SNP vote doesn't turn out.

Somewhat hysterically (which tells you a lot about the groundswell) Calum is described as a "sceptic" on large scale windfarms. This will come as news to objectors who will rememebr Calum's unquestioning support for wind farms. It was only later that Calum starting pushing community ownership, as his website testifies.
(Declare an interest: I'm likely to be able to see the turbines from my window, should they be built)
Calum's view has varied as the public opposition has grown, and only when he misjudged the mood did he become a convinced sceptic.

When I thought it couldn't get worse!!!!

Over the weekend I got my first approach from a Labour activist and family friend. Not only did he assume that I was voting for Calum, but he made no attempt to persuade me how to vote. I had always voted Labour (as far as he knew) and I always would. When I got a bit angry about his asssumptions and about Iraq he assumed I was taking the p*ss and laughed at me.

Then when he realised I was serious, he told me to vote Labour as Tony wasn't going to be leader for long.

What sort of message is that to try to sell to your core voters? My mother heard it all and was appalled, and has vowed never to vote Labour again.

Now the cover-up is falling apaprt. Do they really think that the public can't see the pathetic squirming and lying as they pretend that their position has not changed.

It really is disgusting to watch.