If Only I'd Known...

About 15 years ago I got done for speeding. (I've been done twice since then too, but that's irrelevant here).

I was doing 45 mph. In Scotland, as it happens. I didn't know that the speed limit was 30. In fact, I didn't have a clue what the limit was.

Ignorance of the law is no defence, except in the eyes of Wendy Alexander. She doesn't seem too bothered that a £950 donation to her leadership campaign from a supporter based outside the UK broke the law, and certainly doesn't see it even as a resigning issue. "I am confident when all the facts are known I will be exonerated of any intentional wrongdoing", she's reported as saying. In other words, breaking the law's fine, as long as you didn't mean to do it. I wish I'd known that before I took my £60 fine and three points penalty on the chin.

And politicians wonder why the public has no respect for them.

Go, Girl !

Good to see The Divine Harriet getting onto the front foot over the donations thing.

She's making it quite clear that it was Chris Leslie, Gordon Brown's campaign co-ordinator, who pointed her team in the direction of Janet Kidd, despite the fact that Brown's team has already rejected money from her.

After Brown's reluctance to show his full support of Harriet in his press conference earlier in the week, it's hard to dispel the image of a front-bench team that's at war with itself. Seems to me that if Harriet goes down, she's going do all she can to take Brown with her.

And if she manages that, I'd struggle to think of a Labour politician who had ever done the nation a greater service.

Anything The English Can Do, The Scots Can Do Tae

I'm just going to quote this verbatim from the BBC, because I just haven got time to write up all of Labour's election offences in my own words...

"Wendy Alexander's campaign for the Scottish Labour leadership broke the law by accepting money from a Jersey-based businessman.

Her campaign manager, Tom McCabe, accepted there was a clear breach of donation rules when a cheque for £950 was accepted from developer Paul Green.

The MSP who sought the donation, Charlie Gordon, has quit as Labour's transport spokesman at Holyrood.

The party has reported the matter to the Electoral Commission.

During a press conference, Mr McCabe said the incident had cast a shadow over Ms Alexander's leadership campaign and that arrangements were being made to return the money.

It is illegal for people who are based off-shore to donate to a UK political party.

At first, Ms Alexander's campaign team said the money had been donated legitimately through a Glasgow company, but has now admitted that Mr Green's name was on the cheque."

Is there anyone in the Labour government who hasn't broken the law ?

There's Nothing Like An Inquiry To Get You Out Of A Hole

Iain Dale has a great take on the inquiry that Labour are setting up into their party funding fiasco. If you thought the Hutton Inquiry was a joke, wait till you hear this.

The Inquiry will be led by Lord Whitty, who used to be Labour Party General Secretary, scrutinised by Lord McClusky, who is a former Labour politician and will report to none other than Harriet Harman !

I think we already know how rigorous it's going to be...