Leonard needs to remember that Tories are his enemy, not the SNP

alter significantly the pattern of health inequality in our most disadvantaged communities. More than 260,000 children in Scotland will wake up on Christmas morning experiencing the effects of multi-deprivation. Many of them will have crowded together with other members of their family in one room to ensure that not an ounce of fuel is wasted. Earlier this month the Labour MP Frank Field outlined to the House of Commons with a terrible eloquence the effects of the Government’s Universal Credit reforms on poor people. Mr Field, the chair of the work and pensions select committee, described how he had persuaded a man not to kill himself. Another man told him how a friend had invited him to a funeral “so they could finish off the food”.

Mr Field’s vivid accounts even caused the Tory MP Heidi Allen to weep when she got to her feet to respond. As a result of this unsanctioned bout of compassion she is probably undergoing intensive re-training at a Tory correctional facility near Chipping Norton.

The most important aspect of the Scottish Government baby boxes is the unwritten message that each possesses. This simply tells Scottish mothers and fathers, many of them financially hardpressed, that their Government cares about them and cares about this child that they have nurtured from conception and brought into the light of a harsh and unforgiving world. It tells them that they and their new baby matter. Effectively, they are a gift from the people of Scotland that comes with the message: “Come away in.”

The inclusion of a wide variety of baby products isn’t immediately going to change some bad habits, born out of ignorance or need, on how best to maintain the health of a new-born baby but it’s a start. The Tories, predictably,

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earlier this week. have complained about the £8m cost but this quantum is probably less than a month’s worth of tax avoidance by several of their biggest donors.

When the Government announced its plans Scottish Labour joined with the Tories (not an uncommon occurrence these days) in criticising them. “It was a missed opportunity,” they claimed, “to promote breastfeeding.” Rather, this was another missed opportunity by Scottish Labour simply to dispense with the tribalism, hold its hands up and agree that the baby boxes would do a lot more good than harm.

During the recent Scottish Labour leadership contest Richard Leonard indicated that he’d be dispensing with his party’s obsessive anti-independence rhetoric which had long ago begun to grate with many of its own members. Not the least of this is the tiresome nonsense propagated by their scarecrow wing that the independence referendum was “nasty and divisive”. If you want to see nasty and divisive look no further than the way Brexit is playing out in England.

On Thursday Mr Leonard took aim at the SNP over its record on the Scottish economy: wrong target; wrong argument. It seems that the quality of advice Labour is getting from its most senior advisers and spinners has not improved throughout the many recent changes of leadership. To Tory cheers, a familiar sound to the ears of recent Labour leaders, Mr Leonard seemed to be blaming the Scottish Government for job losses in industries over which Holyrood has no control, including at the distribution giant Amazon. He chided the SNP for giving Amazon public money, forgetting that Labour had previously granted them more.

Mr Leonard appears to be a politician who has been favoured with a significant amount of luck; an asset prized by the Emperor Napoleon above all others. He emerged from the shadows to take advantage of his predecessor’s unexpected resignation and subsequently benefitted from a lamentable leadership campaign by his rival, Anas Sarwar. His support for Jeremy Corbyn, once considered toxic, became sound at just the right time for him and he was thus able to corner the crucial trade union vote.

Mr Corbyn’s continuing popularity and Theresa May’s irreversible journey towards being regarded as the UK’s worst-ever Prime Minister has resulted in a bounce for Labour in Scotland. This has been reinforced by Ruth Davidson’s increasingly bizarre leadership of the Scottish Tories and the performance of their Scottish MPs who all look they’re auditioning for support roles in the re-make of Deliverance. This has all fallen nicely for Mr Leonard and has given him a run of good cards that none of his predecessors possessed.

Next year will be a crucial one in politics north and south of the Border. Mr Corbyn expects to be in Downing Street and the SNP is putting independence on the table once more. Mr Leonard needs to show good judgment and be more circumspect in his choice of targets in the months ahead.

His predecessors lost almost 40% of their support base in the manner in which it opposed Scottish independence, and by displaying a love for the Union flag that existed on the same level as Nigel Farage’s.

The new leader simply needs to remember that the Tories are Labour’s traditional enemies. He needs to reserve the main thrust of his obloquy for them and shrug off his predecessors’ obsession with the SNP.