Dear All
The Silver bullet to kill off the SNP is to
reduce poverty in Scotland, increase social mobility and opportunities for
people right across the job and educational spectrums. The SNP used grievance to tap into the working
class vote traditional held by the Scottish Labour Party. Scotland for decades
voted Labour while at the same time being socially conservative. Yesterday saw
the publication of a yougov poll for voter intentions for Westminster.
The news wasn’t good for the Labour Party;
they polled fourth on 11%. The Brexit Party polled 12% and this is a party in
Scotland effectively doing nothing with no support network in place. Despite a
new leader in Richard Leonard from the ‘left’, Scottish Labour is in a slump,
what are they doing about it? Pretty much nothing because no one knows where to
start who runs the party and how to start real reforms!
Politics is like football; when the team is
failing you bring in new players, new team management and new direction. Do you
get a sense that is happening with the Scottish operation? If you can’t run a
party, what chance do you have to run a government or country?
Take away poverty and the SNP loses a huge
number of voters.
In politics, some people wrong think both
in Labour and Conservatives that if they were separate from their main UK
operation, everything would be rosy in the garden. People, in their opinion
would vote for them because decisions would be made in Scotland. People don’t
vote on that basis, they don’t care where decisions are made but they do care
that the decisions benefit them.
Would decisions made in Scotland by the
Holyrood political class be better?
No!
Holyrood is a second rate parliament jam packed
with third rate politicians despite 20 years in operation, wisdom hasn’t
arrived at that location. Can you
remember the big changes that benefited Scotland in those 20 years, mostly no,
and mostly everything which was passed by Holyrood, you can’t remember.
Back in the day, Murdo Fraser, pre Davidson
leadership and mini revival thought the way to get back on a sound footing was
to split from the UK party. The Conservatives
slump in Scotland ended because of independence, but more specifically
the disastrous leadership of Kezia Dugdale as Scottish Labour Leader. She said
she could in certain circumstances vote for independence. This led Scottish
Labour unionist voters to switch and vote Conservative. It was a lucky break
for the Scottish Conservatives and another bad break for Scottish Labour.
Now, Murdo Fraser is back with his idea to
split from the main party, he favours a Canadian model”, the formation of a
separate centre-right party to contest Holyrood elections which he
thinks could boost Unionist votes at the next poll. He previously suggested
setting up a new centre-right force when he ran for the Scottish Tory
leadership in 2011, some of his ideas where take up by Ruth Davidson. The
election of Boris Johnson has made an impression in Scotland, of course the SNP
hate him as displayed by the overtly un-gracious act by Nicola Sturgeon on the
steps of Bute House. But despite Murdo’s idea gaining fresh impetus, this idea
doesn’t appear to be a flyer for Ruth Davidson. To say she is lukewarm is an
understatement.
So, how does the Canadian model work?
Murdo said:
“The Conservative Party of
Canada, despite its electoral successes at a federal level, does not contest
elections to the Quebec National Assembly. Instead, Quebec Conservatives vote
for the Quebec Liberal Party, which despite its name has been independent of
the Canadian Liberals – the party of Justin Trudeau – since 1955, and sits
somewhat to their right on economic issues.”
Murdo added the notion of different
political parties at different levels “is the norm across Canada” but to
transplant a new system into Scotland may have start up problems. One thing the
Scottish Conservatives need to be is in sole charge of Scottish policy even it
if differs hugely from the UK Party. Instead of Liberal Conservatism, the
Scottish Conservatives need more social Conservatism.
Scotland is at its heart traditionally a socially
conservative country in nature, always has been always will be for the majority.
Murdo Fraser also touched on the upcoming
Holyrood election of 2021, to win it, parties will need to have policies, plans
and new politicians which the SNP cannot deliver. Ruth Davidson needs to be
able to deliver what Nicola Sturgeon cannot in terms of devolution.
A better Scotland, not just saying she will
deliver a better Scotland, actually delivering it.
If there was a Labour Government in
Westminster, Richard Leonard would have the same opportunity that Ruth Davidson
has, but unless there is an early general election, his chances are less
favourable.
“The
key battleground ahead for us is 2021 – the Scottish Parliament elections where a victory for the SNP with a
majority of seats at Holyrood for pro-independence parties will lead to them
claiming a mandate for a second referendum”.
Something I have previously blogged on.
Murdo added:
“The priority for unionists, of all
parties, must be to defeat them in that objective”.
Well to defeat them, the idea of waving a
flag won’t be enough, someone has to cut into their voter based hard.
Murdo continued:
“The lesson of politics in Quebec is that
when the forces of federalism come together they can see off the threat of
separation. If it worked there, it could work here.”
Finally, there is no chance of Murdo’s
ideas getting a hearing in this current part of the electoral cycle, there isn’t
the time. Whether his ideas get taken up post 2021 depends on whether he can
canvass enough support, but there is another event which could change the
political landscape in the UK, the Brexit question. Fundamentally, the SNP are
beatable because they aren’t a party of government as their record shows, but
to oust them will take more than flag waving and rhetoric, those days are long
gone.
We live in an age where parties must deliver,
and if they don’t, they won’t be going anywhere except backwards.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
1 comment:
I think possibly the party would be better splitting and having Scottish Conservatives. Although I must admit I wouldn’t want to see Murdo Fraser returned to Holyrood. I like Ruth Davidson, she has kept the party afloat in my opinion. I see no other political talent amongst her flock. We do not seem to have anything in common with any of the Westminster Conservatives. My Conservative MP is an utter disgrace, a nasty, rude, looks down her nose kind of person, she will lose her seat for sure if a general election is called and deservedly so. They have started picking candidates for 2021 and one so far announced is current Councillor Braden Davy and his coat of many colours. Career politician nothing more. I doubt he’ll take a seat. Ruth needs better candidates than this or we will definitely see the rise of SNP when we want to see the end of them. It makes me feel quite ill the thought of having to endure another 5 years of hearing and seeing her.
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