Dear All
When you make a mistake, you can either do two things
recognise it; or double down and keep making it. After SNP leader using the
Edinburgh Fringe for a sympathy vote, along comes Labour MP John McDonnell not
understanding Scottish politics. In what must be seen as a betrayal of the
Scottish Party and its leader Richard Leonard. We have McDonnell saying that a
Labour government should not block another futile Scottish independence
referendum.
So, why is McDonnell willing to stab the Scottish Party in
the back?
Well if you look at polling over sometime, the Scottish
Labour Party has done badly, in one poll; it said that the SNP would win 49
seats if there was a general election for Westminster .
Given the likelihood of a hung UK
parliament, it seems that in power politics, the Scottish Labour Party wouldn’t
count in the arithmetic of a Labour minority UK government with a possible deal
with the SNP. Scottish Labour sits on 11% for Westminster
voting intentions which is incredibly poor for a party once thee dominant force
in Scotland .
Scottish Labour has been thrown under the bus as John
McDonnell tried to justify the decision which he says UK leader
Jeremy Corbyn agrees with by a yarn about democracy.
He said:
"What I said yesterday, that was not picked up, is
actually what I want is a Labour Government, and let us demonstrate as a Labour
Government what we can do to transform people's lives. And if, after a few
years, people want to come back and say they want to test the water on an
independence referendum then fair enough, that's up to the Scottish people and
the Scottish Parliament. I'm not here to block a democratic exercise by any
means."
McDonnell added:
"For me, the priority is a Labour Government. If the
Scottish Parliament and the Scottish people determine that they want another
referendum, I'm not being set up by Nicola Sturgeon because that's
what she's trying to do. She's trying to say it's the big bad English yet again
trying to prevent us holding a referendum. No we're not. What we're saying is
it's unnecessary. We will campaign against having a referendum, but we are not
using parliamentary devices to block it — it's as simple as that."
The key part of his diatribe you should pick up on is, "For
me, the priority is a Labour Government”.
Which if that is a minority government propped up by the
SNP, the Scottish situation is firmly a distance second. This stance flatly
contradicts Scottish Labour's pledge not to grant Holyrood the power to
hold another referendum, and will be seen as another reason why the Scottish
Party should split from the main UK party. It seems that the Labour
Party likes the idea of Federalism, but in the meantime this is humiliation for
Scottish leader Richard Leonard.
What Labour Party supporting Unionists members and voters
will think of McDonnell’s unwanted and unhelpful statements is anyone’s guess
but to hazard a guess, I would say not very happy. I would also draw your
attention to the Kezia Dugdale statement where she said she could support
independence under certain circumstances, this lead to a flood of Labour voters
casting their votes for the Conservatives. Is history about to repeat itself at
Holyrood or Westminster
which ever comes first?
Leonard met with McDonnell yesterday and said he “made clear
to him that a second independence referendum is unwanted by the people of Scotland and
it is unnecessary”.
He added:
“The 2014 referendum was a once in a generation vote. There
is no economic case for independence, especially with the SNP’s new position
of ditching the pound and new policy of turbo-charged austerity to bear down on
the deficit.”
A dozen Scottish Labour general election candidates have now
released a joint statement insisting they “oppose another independence
referendum”. This would beg the obvious question of why it isn’t that 59 out of
59 Scottish Labour general election candidates signed the joint statement? I
suppose to be charitable time pressure of getting a statement out for going to
press could be the reason.
Martin Whitfield, Labour MP for East
Lothian , said it was “deeply disappointing that John McDonnell has
doubled down on his desire to ignore the party’s manifesto”. It is entirely
possible that Mr. Whitefield according to polling could lose his seat, but does
deeply disappointing really express the stupidity of the McDonnell
intervention? Whitefield branded it “an insult to Richard Leonard and the
entire Scottish Labour Party, which is working hard to win back the trust of
voters and help elect a Labour Government at Westminster ”. An issue for Scottish Labour is
trust, Whitefield rightly indentified that bunny.
In March, Richard Leonard in an attempt to win back Labour
voters who voted Conservative insisted a future Labour government would block a
second referendum, even if the Scottish Parliament requested the Section 30
power to hold it.
Speaking at the Fringe event, Mr McDonnell claimed Mr
Leonard "understands where I'm coming from".
I think many people understand exactly where Shadow
Chancellor John McDonnell is coming from, willing to sell out the Union under the guise of democracy. With things
exceptional bad in Scotland
for Labour, we shouldn’t forget the recent Brecon and Radnorshire by-election
result.
The Labour Party polled a miserable 5.3% of a 59.7% turnout.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has since accused
Labour of planning "a pact with the SNP in order to parachute Jeremy
Corbyn into Number 10" despite John McDonnell saying he would not have a
working arrangement with the SNP "because we're a socialist party; they
are not".
He added:
"My own view - I think they're Tories, it's as simple
as that, and I always have thought that."
Ruth Davidson added:
“The fact is this - Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell would
happily sell Scotland
down the river if they thought it could give them a sniff of power."
Finally, what John McDonnell did wasn’t just to undermine
the Scottish Labour Party and the leader Richard Leonard; he also undermined 59
prospective Labour Party Westminster candidates. A remarkable achievement in such a short
visit to Scotland
and in such a short time frame! What would be seen as a more remarkable
achievement would be if he became Chancellor of the Exchequer after the next Westminster election. McDonnell
claimed Mr Leonard "understands where I'm coming from" but to give
the George Laird view, it is important to let him know where he is going, not to
11 Downing Street
anytime soon.
Yours Sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
1 comment:
I can't see Labour being a serious challenge to the SNP in the near future. That also means, in my opinion, no Labour government. The only ones who have a fighting chance, in my opinion are the Tories (of all people), and not even then yet.
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