Scottish Labour split on whether to hate Tories or SNP more
SADIQ Khan’s incendiary comparison between Scottish nationalism and racism reflects a broader divide in Kezia Dugdale’s party. As Scottish Labour drowns in the hellbroth of third place, the key split is not left and right, Kez versus Jez, or on which variety of federalism to back.
The disagreement is based on gut instinct.
Tent one has Scottish Labour figures who loath the SNP more than the Tories – and camp two includes those who believe the Conservatives, not the SNP, will always be the bigger enemy.
The divide has huge ramifications for Scottish Labour strategy.
The Nat-bashers want a firm anti- independence stance, defend the Better Together alliance with the Tories, and mutter privately that they would enter into a similar arrangement again.
They are also relaxed about striking town hall deals with the Conservatives after May’s local authority elections and, behind the scenes, urge Dugdale to win back voters lost to Ruth Davidson. For them, the 45 per cent of voters who supported independence are long gone.
These individuals sympathise with the Khan analysis and believe all nationalism is toxic. On social media their target is the SNP Government, not the Tory administration.
Part of this attitude is based on a fury that Labour, for so long the dominant force in Scottish politics,
has been humiliated by the SNP. A sizeable proportion of Labour elders are embittered and find it impossible to accept their diminished status.
Members of camp two see the SNP as fake social democrats, but believe the Tories do far more damage to their communities.
Crucially, they refuse to write off the 45 per cent and believe radical social and economic policies could win them over.
Dugdale, despite her zig-zag political strategy, is ultimately in camp two, but many of the advisers and supporters who whisper in her ear are firmly on the anti-SNP wing.
The Holyrood debate on Brexit earlier this month confirmed these tensions. Dugdale wanted to back the SNP Government on opposing Article 50, but faced opposition within her own parliamentary ranks.
Some of the dissent came from left-wingers who are sceptical of the European Union, but prominent figures on the right also questioned Dugdale’s approach on the grounds that it might validate Nicola Sturgeon’s position. The leader got her way, but only after a round of blood-letting.
The divide is not new. An SNP veteran once told me of comments made by a devo-sceptic Labour figure in the 1970s: “Better a Tory Government in London than a Labour assembly in Edinburgh.”
In defining what her party is for politically, Dugdale also must be clear to voters about who it is she is against.