Yesterday Jim Murphy has a nice lunch with some journalists and made a speech. In that speech he called for plans to build a super-prison for women in Scotland to be abandoned, as he believes too many women, and mothers in particular, are being imprisoned, contrary to the Scottish government's guidelines on women offenders. This is clearly an attempt by Mr Murphy to appeal to women voters, and it may well be successful for some who belive that mothers specifically should be dealt with in other ways, else you are effectively punishing their children as well. It's a tricky area, and not a problem that will be easily solved, since you need to balance the need for women who have broken the law to atone in some way with the needs of children for their mother.
Later in the speech Mr Murphy also claimed that he is not a Unionist and has never been a Unionist, Irn-Bru crates notwithstanding. Sorry, what? To revive a phrase commonly used during the referendum campaign, do you think our heads button up the back? You were doing so well, and now you've just revealed your willingness to say whatever you think people want to hear, even if it means rewriting history. We Scots have many faults, but a short memory isn't one of them.
Mr Murphy, you've just taken that too far.
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