Commentary by Derek Bateman
YOU know it’s bad when even Professor John Curtice is saying: “Hey guys. Wake up and smell the coffee.”
I suspect though, that in the Murphy bunker, the Better Together refugees are sniffing the Ashcroft polls and filling their nostrils with the stench of corruption. “This one’s dead, boss…and this one. She’s a goner…so is he. Phew, what a stink.”
Gloomy polls can either motivate the hopeful to even greater effort or they can confirm the worst fears of all involved and cause a collective slump of the shoulders.
They won’t admit it, but all the signs are there of a party morale suffering from a kick in the stomach. The success of the Yes campaign in defeat, the relentless continuation of effort, the all-Scotland nationalist momentum in the polls, the mass expressions of support in the Nicola National Rock Tour… now the detail of selected constituencies reveals the aching truth – that on the streets of working class Scotland, the people Labour has taken for granted for generations have turned on them.
Click here to read Derek Bateman’s full column on Newsnet Scotland.