they thought it was all over...

picked this up when I came back from holiday, Mr Salter still described as Vice-Chair of the Labour Party (which he is not) in the Telegraph, having glanced and put it to one side to read later while I was there, oddly enough the Montenegro beaches had more allure than a Telegraph blog.  However, I have belatedly read the thing, part of which deserves a little light fisking:

In fact, it took the disastrous decision to invade Iraq disastrous, huh?  why didn't you vote against it then?  why did you abstain and tell everyone in Reading you had voted against?  Answer that.  before the third party could make any real advances and even some of these were reversed at the recent election. It is not much more than an accident of electoral arithmetic, arising from Cameron’s failure to land a killer blow on a weakened and poorly led Labour Party weakened by what? and if poorly led why were you so vociferous in your defence of Gordon Brown?, that some parts of our great nation are now ruled by Liberal ministers for the first time in nearly a century. you what?  ministers don't "rule parts of our great nation", they form part of a government.  I think you are talking about the Con-Dem coalition in Reading.  Hein?

there is now an excellent opportunity for Labour if they resigned your membership have you?  "they" now is it?  don't have a vote in the process? select a new leader capable of articulating new and distinctive policy priorities that are attractive to younger voters in particular. I almost fell asleep reading the second half of that - what would those "policy priorities" be then?  still waiting

For me the decision to back Ed Miliband is a no-brainer. I have watched this guy in action in tough ministerial meetings at Energy and Climate Change as well as at the dispatch box. He is a sharp, warm and intelligent communicator he is a white bloke, what's good enough for the Reading party is good enough nationally and, although with cabinet experience, he does not smell of the tired old Blair-Brown divisions that will haunt his main rivals. The younger Miliband is a genuine environmentalist, although he should have resigned over the third Heathrow runway, why?  It was government policy and he was in government and this is an issue which will return to prominence and exercises more newer voters than old.
But irrespective of whoever gets to lead my party "my" oh you are still a member then, make your mind up, for me life has already moved on. I’m now based for a while on the other side of the world in Sydney, in a country where Labour it is spelled Labor over there, if you are going into the public prints at least check your facts, otherwise you will look an utter tit.  Oh.  is in power both nationally and in a majority of the states until November this year at the latest it would seem if you pay any attention to Australian politics.  Oh. Two-party tribal politics is not only alive and kicking down here, it is in-yer-face, complete with some choice expletives. what does this mean?  that if you use cuss words you get better politics?

So its goodbye to the brave new world of coalition politics in Britain, to yet another Labour leadership contest yet another? the last Labour leadership change was not a contest but a coronation.  The last Labour leadership contest was in 1994, some 16 years ago, and most of us have recovered from that one by now and, I’m afraid, to Daily Telegraph blogs. it's the worst kind of self-importance to attach welcome or regret to any blog or posting thereon.  A blog is just the expression of views by a person, who does not get paid to write it.  Oh.  I’ve enjoyed covering the election period for a newspaper from the other side of the political tracks. Its been fun to occasionally read so let's get this straight.  You don't actually read all the comments on your blog?  It is broadcast only, not a dialogue?  Oh.  some of the more rabid comments from the not so brave, anonymous standard bearers of the Right I doubt that even the looniest commenters on the Telegraph blogs would describe themselves as standard-bearers for anything, but it is now time to retreat back to our respective comfort zones.  Is that right?  but your own comfort zone has disappeared, hasn't it Martin?  No chance now of the the corrupt little clique at the heart of the Reading Labour Group providing you with the sinecure they had promised.  The shredders didn't quite reach everything you know.  So now you are unemployed in Australia.  And not even doing anything political there, where the Labor Party would probably have welcomed your input.  So long as you spelt their name right.