I’m worried that people haven’t yet woken up to the fact the SNP are now a party of austerity .. that has been demonstrated by their new case for independence
McDonnell on his party’s battle to win over Scots voters and how Labour are laying out policies on workers’ rights, fighting cuts and investing in the economy to be ready to hit the campaign trail
SHADOW Chancellor John McDonnell has attacked the SNP’s Growth Commission for independence as a “dead-end paper that gives no hope to working people”.
In a damning assessment of the key plank for a new referendum campaign, left-winger McDonnell said the report on the economics of independence amounted to an attack on the prospects of ordinary Scots.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Record, McDonnell signalled Labour are gearing up for a new drive against independence – based on a progressive appeal to ordinary Scots.
He said: “I’m worried that people haven’t woken up to how the SNP are now an austerity party and this Growth Commission has demonstrated that.”
McDonnell spoke as Labour began clearing the decks and sharpening their own policy position in case of a snap election.
Winning seats in Scotland, where Labour have only seven MPs, is crucial to the party’s chances of gaining power at Westminster.
McDonnell has turned his fire on the SNP as he acknowledged more than a dozen key Scottish seats are in play in a battle for left-wing votes with the SNP.
He said: “These seats can make or break us. Scotland needs Labour because we can mobilise the resources of the whole of the UK to make sure Scotland has a great future.”
The nationalist report on the economic future of Scotland by SNP policy guru Andrew Wilson was given a soft launch in May and was then attacked by Scottish Labour as a cuts commission.
The party said proposals to cut Scotland’s deficit by almost twothirds over a decade would result in a level of austerity that not even George Osborne attempted.
McDonnell said: “It just lacks ambition and adventure for the country. As far as I can see, it will embed austerity and won’t provide the growth they want.
“These flexi-security proposals they’re putting forward, it just means insecure work, it means an extension of zero hours contracts and that means low pay.”
The SNP plan for an independent Scotland to pay £5billion to the UK to service debt was dismissed by the Shadow Chancellor, too.
He said: “We have a fiscal credibility rule to pay off the deficit in a realistic period but more importantly, investing in the economy and having a fair tax system.
“If it was us, we’d have a national investment bank with real resources, we’d extend trade union rights and restore them so people have a living wage. We’d give workers the right to buy companies with first refusal when they are sold on. We’d double the co-operative sector.
“All the ambition we’ve put forward for ordinary people is devoid from the SNP. Overall, they just lack ambition for the country.
“If I was going to mark this paper, it would be a fail, definitely.”
Just as the SNP plan to go to the membership with the Growth Commission over the summer, Labour are preparing detailed policies for government and grassroots local campaigning to shape their next manifesto.
McDonnell said: “You look at what Richard Leonard is putting forward. Tony Benn said we want an irreversible shift of power and
wealth to working people. We are adding to that, we’re adding public ownership as well, of energy, of the Royal Mail. Are the SNP going to back us on this?”
“We are preparing detailed plans for public ownership. We want workers to be on boards, of course, but we want them to have rights and profit sharing and the right to own companies who are often sold on with workers’ interests disregarded.”
The Shadow Chancellor declared that he wants the SNP to enter a debate with Labour on the “real future of Scotland”, slamming their patriotic appeal.
He said: “If the SNP want to continue to disguise their policies by an appeal to patriotism, people will see through them. Coming along here with a flag does not
If I was going to mark this paper, it would be a fail JOHN McDONNELL ON SNP GROWTH COMMISSION
provide the security I need, in fact you’re putting jobs at risk. I think people will see through the false hope the SNP offer.
“There are different form of patriotism. You can wrap yourself in a flag and come along with plans to impoverish people and grind the economy down but the real world starts to intrude and that is why the SNP have gone past their peak.”
On current polling, the SNP could go back up to almost 50 Scots MPs and Labour could be reduced again to just one in Scotland.
McDonnell responded: “Last year we were miles behind in Scotland at the beginning and if the campaign had gone on a few weeks more, we’d be in government now. I have a scepticism of polls but once we’re in a campaign period and there is legally obliged balanced broadcasting, we have an honest appraisal of our policies and people see honest, principled socialists, we will make advances.”
On leaving the EU, McDonnell makes it sound a lot like Labour are edging towards a soft Brexit – staying in the single market and customs union.
He said: “We’ve got to recognise the long-term interest of Scotland is in the UK but we have to recognise the referendum result. That’s democracy.
“But there is no way we want a Brexit that will damage jobs.
“At some stage, there will have to be a compromise. The Tories cannot compromise, the SNP cannot, Labour are the only party who can unify the country with a proper transition deal, as long as necessary, as short as possible, with a customs union and internal market benefits.”
Pitching the Shadow Chancellor’s dry economics and technical arguments against what he claims is the emotional appeal and the identity politics of the SNP is a big ask but McDonnell is sure Labour’s basic message will cut through.
He said: “My emotional connection is with my family, my community and my values, our shared interest and concerns. Of course we value community and nation but when it comes down to the real issues, the question people ask is, ‘Can I deliver when I go home tonight and give my family a decent quality of life?’
“There’s nothing in this Growth Commission that gives me confidence of that.”