Tom Watson dramatically quits as Labour election campaign chief, the row over Falkirk MP selection scandal claims a high profile casualty, Eric Joyce’s ‘fists of fury’ episode still packs a punch, when in trouble Tom Watson decides to ‘hide up the back of the House of Commons’!

Dear All

When Eric Joyce threw the first punch in a Westminster Bar, it was an unfortunate event.

I have no idea how hard he can hit, but further down the line, the result of his ‘Fists of Fury’ have been quite dramatic.

Labour MP Tom Watson has resigned from his shadow cabinet role as the party's general election co-ordinator.

Watson was a rising star after the Murdoch Affair, and was on a roll; however, the West Bromwich East MP has been embroiled in a row about candidate selection in Falkirk.

Eric Joyce was the Labour MP for Falkirk, since he has left the Labour Party, there have been allegations that the Unite Union has tried to ‘fix’ the selection by allegedly loading the branch with union members.

And to make matters worse, Unite’s preferred candidate was also Tom Watson’s office manager.

In standing down from his role, Watson wrote that it was better for the "future unity" of the Labour Party that he resigned.

Tom Watson has become the first casualty of the Falkirk row, but he may not be the last, as to his preferred candidate and office manager, well, how they can continue in this contest is debatable now.

In his letter to Labour leader Ed Miliband, Mr Watson said he was not quitting because of "unattributed shadow cabinet briefings around the mess in Falkirk" but added:

"Though they don't help."

When people think something stinks and looking at this as an outsider, something certainly doesn’t look right or fair, you have to wonder.

Of course allegations of voting rigging aren’t just a Labour Party concern; stories periodically appear in the press of it happening in other political parties.

Tom Watson has been the thick of politics for some time; he was a close ally of Mr Blair's successor Gordon Brown.

The hall mark of Brown’s tenure and exit was back stabbing, Gordon Brown was the guy in the middle of a vast smear campaign against his enemies, but he had clean hands.

His baying mob was steeped in political blood and guts.

In politics it is best to be above board and play it straight, being ‘creative’ can be your downfall.

Tom Watson has decided to go hide up the back of the Commons to speak on personal interest matters, such as the surveillance state, drones, child abuse inquiries, and the aftermath of the phone hacking scandal.

And perhaps his own personal survival!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University