McCluskey brands Labour arrogant over its support in Scotland

UNITE GENERAL Secretary Len McCluskey hit back yesterday after outgoing Scottish Labour Party leader Jim Murphy described him as a “destructive” force.

Mr McCluskey insisted it was Mr Murphy’s brand of Labour politics which had alienated the party’s supporters in Scotland leading to its decimation at the hands of the SNP.

He said: “I think, obviously, Jim is hurting and I can understand that.

“But he’s playing the same trick that right-wing media has played for a number of years, looking for a bogeyman as an excuse. I wasn’t the one who lost Scotland to the SNP.

“It wasn’t just Unite who called for him to step down – Unison, GMB and a growing number of MSPs – so he’s hurting at the moment, I understand that.

“I’ve never actually spoken to Jim, I’ve never had a conversation with him, therefore it’s not personal when right at the beginning of the Scottish leadership election I said it would be dangerous for Labour – in fact I think I said it would be a political death sentence – if Jim took it over.

“It wasn’t personal, it was because Jim has been at the epicen- tre of the ideology that has alienated the Scottish working class for years and years.”

He added: “The SNP have been gaining ground for years and Scottish Labour has displayed an arrogance that, unfortunately, led us to where we are at the General Election. I have a right to express a view on behalf of my members, the majority of my members voted for the SNP in the general election and unfortunately what I was predicting would happen came to pass. I was hoping it wouldn’t, I was hoping Jim would win back the trust of the Scottish working class.”