Scottish Labour, the Dugdale Mistake: Labour leader Richard Leonard says Labour won't bankroll Kezia Dugdale legal defence again, “The decision has been made and the decision will not change”, delegates at UK Labour conference in Liverpool blocked by party bosses from having a vote to help Kezia Dugdale, a party not unified cannot become a government either at Holyrood or Westminster

Dear All

One of the better Star Trek movies without a doubt is the Wrath of Khan, the classic quote which made movie history was:

“Ah, Kirk, my old friend, do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us 'Revenge is a dish that is best served cold?' It is very cold ...in space”.

Although fiction can sometimes intimate life, the abandonment of Kezia Dugdale by the Labour Party is a rather squalid affair. There are two Labour Parties, the official Labour Party under the control of the Corbyn faction, and the ‘shadow’ Labour Party. ‘Shadow’ Labour are playing the long game, well they really don’t have any choice, the new gatekeepers are loyal to Jeremy Corbyn.

One of the mistakes that Kezia Dugdale did rather early in the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn was to not back him as leader, and as I keep saying, when people do things, there are consequences. While Kezia was leader of Scottish Labour, this wasn’t a problem, when she stepped down and became a rank and file MSP, it was! Kezia should never have gone for the leadership, some people aren't suited to the role, and if you couple it with her wrong choices in backing the wrong causes, disaster soon followed.

From Corbyn to Trump to Brexit, Kezia was wrong as history unfolded, in the case of Trump, she compounded the mistake by going to back Hillary Clinton in her election, which beggars belief when you research the Clintons.

I wasn’t originally planning to do another Kezia post straight after the last one but what I wanted to highlight ‘lack of unity’ in Scottish Labour. In an election, any party which goes into it with a lack of unity has a serious problem, especially if it is known in the public domain.

Kezia Dugdale’s replacement as leader is Richard Leonard, I voted for him over Anas Sarwar, it wasn’t a hard decision, Anas by words out of his own mouth convinced me that he wasn’t the man to lead the Party.

Richard Leonard as Scottish Labour leader has said the Labour Party will not restart its financial support for Kezia Dugdale in her legal fight. What Leonard has effectively said is that his predecessor was on her own, left to sink or swim!

He said:

“The decision has been made and the decision will not change.”

So, is this leadership?

Well, it is a decision, but outside the context of the case, it was a bad decision, Richard Leonard, pro Corbyn has decided to leave behind Kezia Dugdale, pro Blairite, this will not engender unity, especially when you think that 2021 election needs a united party to campaign. As the ‘third party’ in Scotland, it will take a huge effort to get Scottish Labour out of the position that it is in. I would think that the current strategy at Scottish Labour HQ seems to be hoping the SNP keep losing support for them to get results rather than work for it. This isn’t a winning strategy to adopt, it is narrow thinking, 2017 in Glasgow, only one Labour MP elected, the guy I campaigned for incidentally, it was a hard fight with little help, but what it did have was a team unified and with purpose.  

One thing about the 2021 election is that it is a three way race for minority government, unless something dramatic changes between now and then. The Scottish Conservatives remain in a better position politically and financially than the Labour Party, they will do a huge push to go for government.

In the press coverage of this election, you will probably see the stage set as a battle between Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson, it is doubtful that people will be taking an interest in others.

Richard Leonard had an open opportunity to support Kezia Dugdale although I doubt how that case will end in her favour, but he should have used her predicament as a ‘loss leader’.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leader

Instead by turning his face to the wind, he is seen by many of his MSP colleagues as doing what they see as a politically-motivated “betrayal”.

  

Pro-Corbyn successor, Jennie Formby cancelled the arrangement after legal fees in the case reached almost £100,000 but Richard Leonard should have known and then fought for the big picture. The big picture is that Scottish Labour needs a good result in 2021 in Scotland in order to have a better chance in the 2022 Westminster election where Scottish seats are needed if there is any chance of a Labour Government.

So, for a few quid invested, Richard Leonard might have got a united-ish Scottish Party, a better shot at Holyrood and Westminster, but he didn’t go big picture, he made a massive mistake. You think he might have clicked when delegates at UK Labour conference in Liverpool tried to force a vote on the issue to help Ms Dugdale, but were rebuffed by party bosses.

Finally, in the recent candidate selection for Glasgow South West, I was denied a vote on who is to be the candidate, I wasn’t sent a voting form, and I wasn’t told about the hustings event where you get to question people who are standing as candidates. Although this rather nasty and squalid contest has come to an end, the bad taste it leaves about how the ‘Corbyn’ candidate was selected won’t be forgotten. I wonder if the Labour Party can’t generate loyalty at the bottom or the top of the party then how are they to convince the electorate to see them as a Holyrood or Westminster government in waiting.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University