Labour MP Tom Harris quits media post over Hitler joke video called Joan’s Downfall, how ironic since it appears he engineered his own, now its Tom’s

Dear All

Recently Tom Harris stood to be the leader of the Labour Party in Scotland.

He came in last in a three horse race; he got less than 10% if memory serves me right.

Harris like me does a bit of blogging and tweeting, he is a controversial figure at times within the Labour Party, however; there are dangers in blogging as he has just put his foot in it.

He has had to step down from his internet adviser role after he posted a joke video portraying First Minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond as Hitler.

Tom Harris has apologised for his actions. He was only given the post of the party's new media guru after Johann Lamont was elected leader.

It was a short appointment.

His downfall was funnily enough using footage from 2004 movie, Downfall; many people have used this footage with the funniest being ‘in the bunker after Glasgow East’. This features a spoof on Gordon Brown going radio rental after John Mason won the Glasgow East by-election in 2008.

If you haven’t seen this spoof I highly recommend it, it had me in tears when I first watched it. Comedy has a part to play in politics as the SNP demonstrated with their spoof Life of Brian video but you have to be careful.

The SNP reacting to the Harris video have described it as "tasteless" and said it was "hugely embarrassing" for the Labour Party.

Mr Harris published his version of the video, titled "Joan's Downfall", following a row involving SNP MSP Joan McAlpine. She recently claimed unionist parties were being "anti-Scottish" in their attitude to the planned independence referendum.

This led Jackson Carlaw to issue a charge of political racism at her.

In hitting the bricks, the Labour MP for Glasgow South said:

"Having spoken to Johann, I have decided to step down from leading the party's social media review”.

An SNP spokesperson said:

“It is silly, negative nonsense like this that helps explain why Labour are in the doldrums in Scotland.”

I haven’t seen Harris’s spoof so I can’t comment on Harris’s version but as I previously blogged the indy referendum is going to be a nasty bad tempered affair on both sides.

Tom Harris’s Downfall video spoof was his downfall, how ironic.

In this short exchange of crossfire across no man’s land there was no one killed, but Tom Harris took one in an embarrassing position.

Surgeons are expected to operate later today to remove his foot from his mouth and Labour leader Johann Lamont’s boot from his ass, Ms. Lamont is currently experiencing pain from the incident but has been assured by hospital staff that she still qualifies for jelly and ice cream afterwards since it is an NHS operation.

Rumours she will ask for seconds remain pure speculation at this time as does a claim for new footwear damaged in the line of duty. She will be unable to claim this through MSP expenses since it is a party matter.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University