Land of Milk and Honey (for Gordon Jackson that is!)

Gordon Jackson MSP must be quite an intelligent guy. He is one of the leading Queens Counsels in the country (his fat wallet at taxpayers expense through legal aid will testify to that) and I can't imagine you reach that position without knowing a thing or two about a thing or two.

However he was giving the impression of being a complete and utter idiot on television earlier today. On the Politics Show he was filmed speaking at a meeting of the Orange Order (along with other politicians as well) on the union. What astonished me though was that he said that even if ending the union and going for independence would make his fellow Scots better off he would still oppose it.

This is staggering from a man who has reportedly earned over £200,000 annually in legal aid bills in several years whilst simultaneously drawing his MSP salary of over £50,000 as well. I can imagine how easy it must be to blithely state that he doesn't care if independence might make people better off earning around a quarter of a million pounds a year. However, it might seem an altogether different prospect to the one in four people in Scotland who lives in poverty at present. Indeed, representing (I use the term loosely for this character) the constituency of Glasgow Govan which contains pockets of real deprivation you think he would consider that helping people improve their financial means might be a good idea.

Perhaps Gordon Jackson was playing to his audience. The Orange Order is of course well known for being predominantly a heartily unionist bunch. However, you would think he might engage his brain before talking, as seems not to have happened on this occasion. One can only hope he keeps this up between now and 3rd May!