Labour old and new must unite around their leader and his progressive policies
THE two parties who thought they were pre-programmed to stroll triumphantly through the election campaign are, instead, plunged into bitter division about what went wrong. Theresa May’s ludicrous attempt at bonding with the DUP has compounded the chaos and made many Tories even more furious about the indignity of it all. Meanwhile, even the zombie-like discipline in the SNP has cracked in the face of an inescapable truth – that Nicola Sturgeon cost 21 of her MPs their jobs through her attempt to inflict IndyRef2 on a nation that does not want it. Retired generals, like Kenny MacAskill and Alex Neil, are stating unpalatable truths and calling for the removal of Scotland’s svengali Peter Murrell, SNP chief executive and Sturgeon’s husband. It will not end there. A few days ago, I wrote in the Record: “Flying around Scotland in a helicopter might give her a great sense of power and importance. But it might just be that the ground is shifting under her”. Even I did not appreciate how true that was. Sturgeon has shed the facades of compassion and competence to become a deeply divisive figure – more, even, than Salmond. I doubt she is capable of regaining anything like her previous standing. Against all predictions (including mine), it is only Labour who are congratulating themselves on results that exceeded expectations. But don’t go overboard – when the dust settles, Labour will still be in opposition and the Tories in government. Nobody can deny Jeremy Corbyn’s agenda and demeanour drew in large numbers of Labour votes that would not otherwise have been cast – perhaps even more than were alienated by the baggage he carried. Each faction can choose its own interpretation. Some will say that in the face of such an appalling Tory campaign, anyone but Jeremy would have won. Others will say Labour fell short only because the entire movement did not swing behind Corbyn. The indisputable truth is that 40 per cent of voters opted for Labour standing on a manifesto with many progressive policies conventional wisdom said were unsaleable.
That is what Labour should unite around. In my experience, most factional divisions in Labour politics are more about personalities and posturing than ideologies. “New” and “old” Labour tags compounded a misleading impression of competing objectives.
The temptation to go down that road again will, in some quarters, be strong and needs to be resisted. In order to win, rather than achieve glorious failure, Labour need to be a broad church who welcome both new converts and old believers.
In Scotland, there is now an opportunity to build on that same approach. The challenge remains great. Although they delivered seven seats, there was only a 2.8 per cent increase in the share of the vote and they are third behind the Tories.
Tactical voting brought gains but came at a cost. For example, in North Ayrshire and Arran – most of which I used to represent with healthy majorities – the Tories are now second as the perceived challengers to the Nationalists.
Labour’s progress depends on winning back far more voters from the SNP.
With IndyRef2 off the table, Scottish Labour now have a great chance to say what they are in favour of as well as what they are against. That should be the mission until the next Holyrood elections.
Let’s have creative, radical thinking on how to use the devolved powers to create a better Scottish society. As a one-issue party, that is what the SNP are devoid of.
United Labour with a radical manifesto can succeed by demonstrating that their mission is to improve the lives of working people and their families – not to bicker about the constitution.
Nor should they be afraid to take leaves out of Ruth Davidson’s book. She appears to have a clear idea about how to use the status of the Scottish party to exert influence over the UK Tory Government.
Her quick intervention in the face of the DUP tie-up was admirable. Her influence on Brexit could be profound and worth infinitely more to key sectors of the Scottish economy than pointless grandstanding by powerless SNP MPs.
The new group of Scottish Labour MPs should seek to exercise the same influence within their own party – not as pro or anti-Corbynites but as capable, constructive representatives of both Labour and Scotland.