Jimmy Reid

[blueboyno1]

Salmond said that Jimmy would have made a good MP ,i don't think so .Why ? because he would never have bent over and double crossed voters the same as they all do .He was better than any of them ,all they want to do is feather their own nest.Jimmy knew what it was to be a working man and having to work for a living.If it was not for the likes of him we would still be working down the pits for a dollar a week .

[Govangirl]

I so agree. All this talk about the best MP Scotland never had - thank God that lot never got their hands on him. Yet, on the other hand, Government needs the good guys. He made me feel so proud about being from Govan, from Glasgow and from Scotland but his great intellect, his oratorical skill and the understanding he had for the working man simply transcended politics.

There won't be another like him.

[blueboyno1]

Thats for sure .

[ionnsaigh]

A man of many colours.

[ionnsaigh]

Pink, blue, tartan.

[Dunc R]

Read Jimmys speech here

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 51285.html

[Govangirl]

Read Jimmys speech here

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 51285.html

And how relevant is that today? Astonishing. Do you know if there is anywhere to actually hear it?

[blueboyno1]

Tread carefully G.G. looks as if Ionnsaigh is on a fishing trip.

[Govangirl]

He needs better bait than that Blueboy!

[ionnsaigh]

Turncoat.

[bill]

Maybe someone could explain why he was never elected as an MP? Not as if he never stood for election to Parliament .I do know he claimed there was a witch hunt against him,but even the Tory candidate got more votes.So why?What is the story behind the accusations?

[blueboyno1]

Quite honestly i think it was the word communism that scared lots of people .I think they always associated it with Russia and China and it was unpatriotic to be a communist. He may have changed his party over the years ,but he would never be a Tory .If that made him a turncoat then so be it.

[bill]

I was intrigued by his references in the above clip and came up with this...................

"Everyone thought he would win Clydebank in the 1974 General Election, but it was not to be. If you are wondering what he was alluding to in the clip, the Catholic Church, encouraged by Labour, instructed its members to vote against Reid,who was a Communist.". . .An extract taken from..............

http://joanmcalpine.typepad.com/joan_mc ... in-in.html

[Bitter End]

Bill -- similar from the wikipedia -----
" It was a controversial campaign, the ballot paper described him as "Engineering Worker", which some thought was disguising his Communist identity. One Roman Catholic priest gave a sermon advising his parishioners only to vote for candidates who were consistent with Christian principles. In his speech at the count, Reid described his opponents as "Falangists"

[blueboyno1]

I remember one night a few years ago standing in the Galatea bar in Rothesay watching a Scotland game .I was stood next to Jimmy and started to talk to him about an uncle of mine ,who i am called after and was born in Campbeltown who was a good friend of Jimmies and corresponded with him for years . These two young guys were standing behind us and no matter if you knew Jimmy or not you always felt a sort of presence about him that he was someone ,if you know what i mean .One guy said to the other who is he ,the other replied that's Jimmy Reid the commie .Jimmy turned to me and said he would not know a commie if they bit him on the erse,these people he said think communism is when you get dragged out your bed during the night and sent to a work camp .