New email leaks reveal Jack Straw was very grateful for Brexit, and for the most disgusting reason

[Denzil_DC]

17. Well, for a start,

Last edited Tue Sep 20, 2016, 07:37 AM - Edit history (1)

the SNP actively welcomed the massive surge in membership that followed the Independence Referendum, rather than trying to repel boarders as if they were some alien influx that warranted being insulted and denigrated as suspicious entryists. Many of those who joined were openly ex-Labour voters, if not party members. Some of them quickly went on to become MPs (like Tommy Sheppard) and MSPs.

There are the usual moans in some local SNP branches that too few of the new membership are willing to get actively involved or go on the doorsteps. I think that's a perennial problem in any campaigning organization, and was certainly a major cause for moaning when I was actively involved in my CLP and local CND group even way back in the 80s.

You can rail against or complain to each other as old hands about new members who behave like that, or bide your time and try to encourage them, help them gain the confidence to campaign, and even adapt and modernize the way a branch is run to better accommodate the new blood.

Guess which is likely to be the more effective tactic.