Friday, October 31, 2014

Open letter to Terry Summers: Scotland is not the same country politically as it was before the 18th September and neither is England, the Scottish Labour Party has to evolve into the new political landscape


















Dear Terry

“Wouldn't creating and autonomous Scottish Labour Party be a validation of the separatists assesrtion that scotland is different and should be governed differently than the rUk?”

No, what it would show is that the Labour Party has understood that the Scotland pre 18th September doesn’t exist anymore, the challenge is to face up to the new reality, this has nothing to do with what the SNP are doing, it’s about what is going on in the voters’ minds.

Terry, they want real change, not talk of change, not soundbytes and not being ignored.

“It is obvious that the Scottish Labour Party needs new and better leadership and that a charismatic and talented politician such as Jim Murphy could be a spear head for a renewal”.

It would be a mistake to think that one man could turn Labour round, the problem is a cultural thing, Labour never had anyone to challenge them, they never had to adapt, and while they didn’t they could just ignore people and do their own thing. Those days are coming to an end, seriously why vote for someone who will not represent you, it is almost like squandering your vote.

“Given that 55% of the Scottish population have just voted to remain in the UK and reject the separatists arguments, it is incredible that the leaderships of the Scottish Labour, Conservative and Lib Dems have allowed Yessers to have the political space and time to set the agenda and act as if they were the winners and continue to push for Independence”.

People voted No because the Yes Crowd came to the public without a prepared case, what do you think if they had the knowledge of what statehood actually entails, if they had gone down the road of a Scottish currency, if they had gone pro Faslane, if they had said the BBC would remain state broadcaster and addressed all the other huge mistakes.

It could have been a different story, their arrogance and stupidity killed indy for them.

“I don't disagree with your point that the SNP lacks talent, I would just add to that the same is true of the other three main parties, they have won the war and are busily losing the peace”.
And winning the peace requires those party not just to listen but to act on voters concerns, Ukip’s rise down south shows that trouble exists on both sides of the border, forget the referendum entirely for a moment and consider why the people have been ignored.

We have a political elite who have pushed their agendas to the detriment of ordinary people because they thought they were there to ‘manage’ people as their ‘rulers’ and not what they were elected to be their representatives.

And Terry, this is goes across all parties, some people elected to public office aren’t just lazy bastards; they really don’t have any interest in helping people.

Scotland is not the same country politically as it was before the 18th September and neither is England.

Of the contenders for leadership of the Scottish Labour Party, Jim Murphy stands out, but what does it say that there is so little talent in the MSP ranks?

Where is Labour's big thinkers of radical change?

Change is nothing to fear, if they don't then things will become rather difficult.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

2 comments:

Terry Summers said...

George.
Thanks for taking the time to address my comments in such detail. I am genuinely honoured to have an open letter addressed to me.
I am not a politician, nor a member of a political party. nor do I claim any expertise or insight into the political zeitgeist of the Scottish electorate.
I have followed your blog for about a year and have been impressed by your ability to predict the way that the Scottish Electorate would react to the Independence question. I therefore must respect your views as expressed in your open letter.
I voted No on both head and heart reasons. My head told me that the economic case had/could not be made and that Salmond/Sturgeon/Swinney et al were playing a three card trick. My heart told me that my country was the UK and to chop a peice off would be like losing a limb.
Speaking personally. promises of more powers and Vows played no part in my decision, but I agree that having promised more powers for Holyrood, then these must be provided and quickly.
Lord Smith's commission are working on this, but how many and which new powers will be enough to satisfy the Scottish Electorate.
If the people,as the polls show, are turning their backs on Labour on the basis that Labour aren't addressing their aspirations/listening/representing them. Why then are they flocking to the SNP wno have spent the last three + years in government not doing the job they were paid for and spending all their time, and using Government money, pursuing their independence agenda.
I am genuinely perplexed by the poor performance of the Unionist parties post referendum.
cheers
Terry

G Laird said...

Dear Terry

There are a lot of people involved in politics, sadly they don't know a lot about politics.

On both sides of the border matters will become very interesting, the disquiet about how the political class operated to their own benefit and interest has come back to haunt them.

What is needed is a return to the ethos of public service and a more diverse political community.

The current problem's of Labour didn't happen over night, they festered over decades, trying reading my stuff on the Labour Councillors of Shame.

I wrote that stuff while in the SNP, after banging on about it, Labour seemed to get the message and chopped 20 in Glasgow.

I see the problem, and identify the solution, ahead of time, others just run face first into the wall.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University