Sarwar is the man who could save Scottish Labour... and the Union

IF you want to understand why richard Leonard had to resign as Scottish Labour leader, there’s a recent poll that will assist you. Comres interrogated voters earlier this month on their opinion of the Central Scotland MSP.

they found 31 per cent neither favourable nor unfavourable and a further 28 per cent not sure enough to answer.

In all, six in ten Scots, presented with the name of the man at the helm of Scottish Labour for three years, either shrugged or took on a blank expression. there are witness protection programmes that don’t offer that level of anonymity.

In all, just 11 per cent were keen on the Left-wing ex-union organiser. A 2020 YouGov survey revealed that 15 per cent of Scotland thinks it likely ‘there are aliens living on earth’. More Scots believe in extra-terrestrial life on this planet than believe in richard Leonard.

I was often critical of him but there’s little sport to be had in kicking the man any further. he has done the right thing in standing down to make way for fresh blood and Scottish Labour could certainly do with a transfusion.

the party that once dominated Scottish politics without challenge is a pitiful creature to behold these days. In third place at holyrood, with just one MP at Westminster, haemorrhaging what voters remain, and utterly at a loss for how to turn things around.

It’s not as though there isn’t material to work with. there is an SnP government gaffe-happy in its handling of Covid-19 and a health Secretary with one foot out the door in the middle of a pandemic. even before the virus hit, cancer and mental health patients were habitually not treated within the nationalists’ own waiting time standard.

there is the grindingly slow progress on closing the attainment gap and the fact that what narrowing there has been is the result of better off pupils doing worse rather than worse-off pupils doing better. education Secretary John Swinney ought to be on the edge of his seat every day for fear that his latest pitfalls – on exams, ‘blended learning’, lack of support for pupils and teachers – cost him his job.

the SnP’s record on poverty and inequality is far from illustrious and their standard excuse (‘it’s all Westminster’s fault’) is a shoddy piece of dishonesty. the

UK Government has made mistakes, and for that it should be criticised, but as this is public policy and not a playground punch-up, something more substantive than ‘they started it’ is called for.

Businesses are at breaking point because of lockdown and only a fraction of the cash promised by Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has made its way into bank accounts. Small business owners have given their all, investing in distancing and cleanliness measures, only to be let down by government. If they could pay their bills in nicola Sturgeon tV appearances, they’d be able to retire.

Opportunity

there is a need for a party that makes the SnP confront its failings and attaches a political price to them. It’s a long time since Scottish Labour aspired to be such a party. Under the reign of the self-indulgent ideologues, Labour has preferred to talk (or shout) to itself, as though Keir hardie had set up a debate club that somehow got out of hand and started standing for Parliament.

the Labour Party does not exist for the soothing of its members’ egos or factional war games. It exists to make life better for ordinary people by creating a fairer society with opportunity for everyone.

For Scottish Labour to get back into practical politics it needs a sense of purpose, confidence in its principles, an appetite to fight and a strategy for shunting the constitutional question off the agenda. Before it can do any of that, it needs a new leader. And the first to put his head above the parapet is the choice for those who want to see Scottish Labour pick itself back up.

Anas Sarwar is young, ruthless, mediasavvy and brimming with ideas. he shows a lively commitment to public service and brings experience from both holyrood and Westminster, as well as a three-year stint as deputy to Johann Lamont. he can work the debating chamber and First Minister’s Questions like few others. he knows what gets headlines, what tugs heart-strings, what makes Sturgeon squirm. he’s against a second independence referendum and wants to move beyond arid constitutionalism.

Just as important as any of that is the question of values. Values are everything in Labour politics, as we saw in the past five years when the worst sort of values took hold of the party and corrupted it into something extreme and intolerant and prejudiced. Sarwar’s values are those of the Labour mainstream, where Labour is at its most vital and where it wins. he represents not just an opportunity for Labour to get back in the game but a reminder of why they play.

tories tempted to revel in their opponents’ misfortunes should pause, at least if they believe in the Union. the Conservatives alone cannot present the alternative to nationalism; there must be a party that speaks to traditional Labour voters. Whatever your ideology, it is to the benefit of the Union that there be a strong Labour Party to help take on the SnP.

Sarwar as leader could do more than that. While he is not going to reverse more than a decade of decline overnight, he would begin Labour’s long march back to relevance. If he is clever, he will avoid the constitutional trap by rejecting indyref2 firmly and early, then moving on to the issues that matter to the lives of ordinary Scots. the SnP has been allowed to set the agenda for long enough. It’s time to talk about what they don’t want to talk about: their record.

even then, disparaging the nationalists’ performance is not enough. Sarwar would have to set out what Scottish Labour was for and what Scotland would gain by giving the party another chance.

A drover’s dog knows Scottish Labour isn’t going to win the May elections, but the party membership faces a choice: terminal decline or a fightback. It’s in Scotland’s interests, not just Labour’s, that they make the right choice.