Speaking of lengthy and extremely boring replies here's one for you Goldfinch
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'SNP in the 1930's - Scottish jobs for Scottish Citizens - Irish go back to Ireland.'
Any actual evidence that the SNP ever said this Goldfinch? Can't find a single reference or quote anywhere on the net to back up any part of this claim. Not a single instance that the party ever held such a position or a single quote from any SNP member espousing such a view. Not having a go at you personally but it's a pretty damning accusation to make and I'd like to see some hard evidence before I accept such a claim as fact.
Also I'd just like to point out that the Labour Party itself isn't exactly squeaky clean when it comes to anti-immigrant sentiment. From the Labour Party founder and icon Keir Hardie who had some extreme anti-immigrant views himself, to Labour Party MP Oswald Mosley who established the British Union of Fascists and more recently there was Gordon Brown's 'British jobs for British worker's' rhetoric. I'm also sure you would find other examples of anti-immigrant rhetoric and other questionable views coming from people within the Labour Party if you wanted to go looking for it. So I think it's fair to say that any Labour politician or supporter pointing an accusing finger at others for trying to gain votes by targeting immigrants maybe need to reflect on their own party's history a wee bit.
'No Celtic forum should be slagging Labour'
Why not? Labour sit in coalition with the Tories in Scottish councils up and down the country. They have more Orange Order members as councillors than any other party in Scotland and therefore it's no surprise that some Labour run councils have been awarding public money to the Orange Order at a time when they've been complaining of austerity cuts and their budgets being at breaking point. And what about the fact that a Labour controlled Glasgow City Council not only conspired with Labour affiliated union bosses to deny their own workers proper recompense when it was exposed that they had been denying those workers fair and equal pay for years but they then spent millions in taxpayer's money to fight those workers through the courts to deny them proper compensation. If that wasn't bad enough what's even more shameful is the fact that when they lost Glasgow City Council to the SNP in the council elections they then, with the help of those same Labour affiliated union bosses, had the brass neck to organise a strike on behalf of those workers demanding that the new SNP led council immediately and without delay compensate the very same workers they themselves had been denying compensation to for over a decade!
Add to the mix that they've shamefully abstained on Tory welfare cuts at Westminster (some of which btw they have vowed to keep in place if they ever regained power) that have devastated the lives of the poor and disabled while consistently voting down additional powers being devolved to the Scottish Parliament that, could in part go some way to help alleviate some of the worst of the Tories austerity policies, then these are just a handful of reasons why the Labour Party should be getting 'slagged' and not just on Celtic forums.
Labour have served the Catholic community?
I think saying that the Labour Party has 'served' the Catholic community is stretching things a bit. Whilst I'd agree that the Labour Party originally set out to represent and protect those at the lower end of society and that both they and the Catholic community have historically had shared values when it came to certain social issues these issues were never specific to Catholics alone so Labour weren't exactly 'serving' the Catholic community but more the wider working class community as a whole. Also this was a mutually beneficial arrangement so let's not pretend this was a wholly altruistic act on Labour's part as they were rewarded with Catholic votes in return for taking on issues that were not just specific to Catholics.
In fact I think it's fair to say that Labour did a disservice to Catholics in certain areas. During Labour's near 60 year reign as the 'only party in Scotland' they not only ignored anti-Irish racism and anti-Catholic sentiment in society but it was during this time that Catholics were routinely discriminated against in the workplace, were paid less in some sectors and systematically kept out of management positions meaning their earning potential was limited? Why didn't Labour and the unions step in when that was common practice?
Truth is rather than 'serving' the Catholic community Labour expertly walked the fine line of the religious divide in Scotland as a way of maximising their own voter base. They couldn't afford to alienate either side of the divide so they chose to bury their heads in the sand and pretend certain issues didn't exist while they concentrated on tackling the issues that affected the wider working class. Maybe they believed this was for the greater good but let's not kid ourselves that they were champions of the Catholic communities of Scotland.
I don't say any of this lightly, I say this as a former Labour voter from a family where supporting Labour was almost like a religion in itself. Whatever noble objectives Labour once had they are all but gone these days and all that's left is the recent and not so recent unpalatable truth that they are opportunistic chancers who'll portray themselves as all things to all men/women to get themselves into power. For that reason I will continue to vote SNP and use them as a vehicle to achieve Independence. After that all bets are off and my vote will be up for grabs, who knows maybe then we'll get a Labour Party worth voting for.
HH mate