Here’s what Jim Murphy was doing in the run-up to Iraq

From the BBC News archives in March 2002…

A fine head of hair. Still quite sinister though…

After the No vote

In this, the first in a series of articles exploring the post-referendum settlement, we meet several ordinary Scots who breathed a sigh of relief on the morning of September 19th.

Margaret, 55, from Glasgow East

Margaret from Glasgow East

Margaret had worked in Edinburgh for years, before deciding in 2010 to apply for a new job in London.

“I was really scared that all the time I’d put into my career was going to count for nothing”, she explained. “I finally secured myself a huge pension and a cosy retirement down here where it matters, after slogging away for years in the regional office. It’s all well and good saying the poor and the needy would have been better off, but I have to think about my own career.”

Jim, 47, from East Renfrewshire

Jim from Renfrewshire

Jim worked for the National Union of Students in the 1990s, before taking up a job in London in 1997.

“On a personal level, a Yes vote would have been disastrous”, Jim told us. “Just now I’m earning a basic salary of £66,396 plus expenses in 2013/14 of £196,969.33, so obviously I’m bloody delighted that things turned out the way they did.”

“Hopefully my work over the last few months will stand me in good stead for another promotion soon enough.”

Gordon, 63, from Kirkaldy

Gordon from Kirkaldy

Gordon worked in London from 1983 until his semi-retirement in 2010.

“I basically stopped showing up for my day job in 2010”, Gordon told us, “so now I spend time giving after-dinner speeches. I’ve made over a million pounds on the side this way, so obviously I don’t want my stature to be diminished by a silly idea like Alex Salmond’s.”

 

In our next article, we’ll meet some of the less well-off Scots, whom the referendum result has condemned to a future of food banks, illegal wars and marginalisation…