Friday 20 June 2003

Saraidh sian, a Ghranaidh Stailinn!

This wonderful piece of graffiti has appeared on the wall of Dover House, the Whitehall base of the now defunct Scotland Office (credit to the Scotsman diary - no link available to this item). Translated from the Gaelic we get:
"Farewell, Stalin's Granny."
Stalin's Granny was coined as a nickname for Helen Liddell who has recently been removed from the position of Secretary of State for Scotland. According to the Helen Liddell Fan Pages, nepotism is not exactly unknown in her part of the world:
For example, of the 21 councillors, as many as 5 had no relatives at all as council employees. The remaining 16 only had a total of 68 relatives between them as council employees.
So "Granny" has gone; it's a pity that Stalin's grandson, uncle, father, daughter-in-law and all too many cousins still infest the smoke-filled-rooms of Scottish politics.