Kezia’s decision on Corbyn truly was courageous
ICAN see Sir Humphrey now, leather folder clutched to his chest, a worried look on his face and those favourite words of his: ‘Are you sure, minister? That would be a very courageous decision.’ Fans of TV’s Yes Minister would recognise Jim Hacker’s horror-struck expression as he realised what ‘courageous’ really meant.
Well, perhaps it is time Kezia Dugdale realised what ‘courageous’ really means as well, following her decision to back Owen Smith for the Labour leadership last week.
Principled? Certainly. Foolhardy? Probably. Courageous? I’m afraid so. Indeed, that one decision may be Ms Dugdale’s political equivalent of taking the revolver and the glass of whisky into the study.
The situation is pretty simple: Jeremy Corbyn is heading for victory in the Labour leadership election. And, when he wins, he will have a Scottish leader who not only refused to back him but actually endorsed his challenger.
That really does seem like the definition of career suicide on Ms Dugdale’s part.
Now, Mr Corbyn insisted last week that he was big enough to see past Ms Dugdale’s careless misdemeanour. He said he was disappointed but he believed in the autonomy of the Scottish Labour Party to make its own mistakes.
Really? Just how has Mr Corbyn reacted when opposed by others close by? He has sacked them, summarily.
Mr Corbyn has not just been schooled in the broken-glass fights of Left-wing politics, he has lived his whole life in this world. He is unlikely to forgive Ms Dugdale for her transgression when he is re-elected and he certainly won’t forget it.
So why did Ms Dugdale do it? During the last leadership contest she wisely stayed aloof from the battle, refusing to endorse anyone until the contest was over.
She could have done the same this time but she didn’t. Sources close to Ms Dugdale say this was a point of principle: that she felt so keenly that Mr Corbyn was leading the Labour Party in the wrong direction that she felt compelled to speak up.
Partly, this is because she is a close ally of Ian Murray, Scotland’s sole Labour MP, who is one of the many MPs to have openly rebelled against the Labour leader.
But the effects of her decision are likely to be long-lasting and could cause deep divisions, not just between the Scottish and UK Labour parties but within the Scottish Labour Party too.
This is because the Scottish party is already divided over this leadership contest. Ms Dugdale backs Mr Smith, as does Mr Murray.
Alex Rowley, Ms Dugdale’s deputy, supports Mr Corbyn, as does influential MSP Neil Findlay.
Mr Rowley is everything Ms Dugdale is not.
He is an old-time political manoeuvrer and fixer, a Left-winger who works the back rooms and the social clubs to build up support.
And, where Ms Dugdale is personable, articulate and media-friendly, Mr Rowley is, well, none of those things.
There was some loose speculation at the end of last week that Mr Rowley might launch a leadership bid against Ms Dugdale as soon as Mr Corbyn is returned as party leader, but that is unlikely to happen.
SOURCES close to Mr Rowley said he had ruled that out – not least because he would need the signatures of five fellow MSP co-conspirators to move against Ms Dugdale, and he hasn’t got the support for that. So Ms Dugdale will remain in place, desperately wounded, with a UK leader who doesn’t trust her and a deputy who wants her job.
This is hardly the stuff of amity and friendship but it is, unfortunately, characteristic of much of what goes on in the party of brothers and comrades. Ms Dugdale’s decision to endorse Mr Smith is doubly confusing when her personal relationship with Mr Corbyn is taken into account.
‘They get on really well, they have a really good relationship,’ said one insider of Ms Dugdale and Mr Corbyn.
Ms Dugdale insists that this leadership contest is all about electability, not personality, and she is right.
This is about whether anyone can get the Labour party back into power and the simple truth is that Mr Corbyn seems unable to do that.
Mr Corbyn spent two days at press events, a hustings and rallies in Scotland last week and every one was like a meeting of the Flat Earth Society.
The Labour leader made it clear he has some magnificent ideas on how to spend money but he doesn’t seem to have a clue on how it is generated.
The only mentions of business seemed to be when he talked of cracking down on tax avoidance or raising corporation tax.
This is the central delusion the Corbynistas are hiding behind, that somehow there is a money tree which can be harvested at any time.
Perhaps this is what Ms Dugdale realised.
Perhaps she came to the inescapable conclusion that Mr Corbyn is so hopeless electorally that she had no choice but to desert him.
So, on reflection, perhaps it wasn’t such a ‘courageous’ decision after all.
Perhaps Ms Dugdale looked at the way her party was going and decided that the future of her party was worth more than her leadership.
If that is the case, then her decision to back a likely loser was more than courageous, it was one of outstanding valour.
Indeed, one might corrupt the old saying to suggest that no greater love hath any politician than she that lays down her career for her party.
Because, if Mr Corbyn does win, then that may be exactly what Ms Dugdale finds she has done.