Confusion on policies behind Labour woes

Winning seats in Scotland is essential if Labour wants to return to government, a new report on the party’s 2019 election “meltdown” has concluded.

The report, by key party figures including former leader Ed Miliband, warned if Labour fails to “reverse its fortunes in Scotland in a significant way”, it would need a swing so large that it would oust Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg from his safe seat in North East Somerset to win a majority.

The 153-page report was produced by Labour Together – a network of party members, supporters and politicians – to examine the reasons for last year’s election defeat.

It said that in Scotland, Labour’s “confused” position on the key issues of both Brexit and a second Scottish independence referendum were damaging. Labour lost six of the seven seats it had won in 2017, with only Ian Murray managing to hold on in Edinburgh South.

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn