The ‘Quiet War’ in Scottish Labour, why is it that Scottish Labour’s right wing think that after voters deserted the party with them in charge, they have the answers to Labour’s Scottish problems, Labour candidate for Inverclyde Martin McCluskey comes up with a plan called, ‘Our plan to save Scottish Labour’, why couldn’t he do that when he was political director for Kezia Dugdale

Dear All

Have you noticed that the people who led the Scottish Labour Party to ruin are very good and quick about offering advice to fix it? One of the guys who apparently knows how to fix it is, Martin McCluskey, he was the political director for previously Scottish Labour Kezia Dugdale. What is interesting is that although support for Scottish Labour was dropping, under Kezia Dugdale, it was like a freight train hurtling down the tracks out of control.

Kezia Dugdale couldn’t make a compelling vision for Scotland to excite the voters with Martin McCluskey as her political director.

The ‘right’ of the Scottish Labour Party has a plan, which has a snappy title, ‘our plan to save Scottish Labour’. If you think back to the time of Jim Murphy and Kezia Dugdale in charge, you will remember their announcement that they had ‘fixed’ the Scottish Labour Party. If you then take into consideration the result of the Westminster 2015 election, you would have your doubts about that declaration.

In the 2015 election, the party launched with two policies straight away, one campaign against the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act, and campaigning for people to get an alcoholic drink at a football game.

At the time, I asked the question; was this the most pressing social justice issue in Scotland?

I asked why is the Scottish Labour Party offering the electorate some policy bread crumbs? Why would you launch a campaign for public office based on tat? When I read this, I was convinced the direction of travel for the party was backwards.

Come election 2015, the Scottish Labour Party got politically mauled at the ballot box, ending up with a single MP in Scotland. What saved Labour MP Ian Murray’s bacon was his work in supporting a football club in crisis. The worst disaster in an election for the Labour Party in 100 years, 2017 snap election saw a minor rebirth, but the party couldn’t make double digits in seats.

It appears the Scottish Labour Party strategy was to wait till people fell out with the SNP at the ballot box, then hail retaking some seats as a turning point. 

In Glasgow, the only seat won by Scottish Labour was Glasgow North East, a seat which didn’t exactly get help from HQ in a meaningful way, help went to East Renfrewshire which I predicted the Scottish Labour Party wouldn’t take, and they didn’t.

So, what is the ‘our plan to save Scottish Labour’ well at it heart is a massive mistake, support staying in the EU. 

The Scottish Labour’s right wing want to stay in the 'anti worker, anti country 'EU organization. After sitting on the fence, which didn’t work, the Scottish Labour Party then goes on to pick the next wrong choice in disrespecting the 2016 referendum vote.

Martin McCluskey apparently goes onto say that “we need to communicate a consistent, principled and unequivocal stance on independence and Brexit”.

Where exactly is the principled and unequivocal stance when you want to disrespect the 2016 vote?

In case, people like Martin McCluskey don’t grasp what is going on, the direction of travel of the UK is still to leave the European Union. His former boss, Kezia Dugdale had a track record of being wrong on so many issues from Brexit to Trump; it wasn’t even funny to watch. When the history of the Scottish Labour Party is written, the time of rapid decline was from 2007 to date right through the party levels.

Martin McCluskey also says that to deliver real change for our country, we need real change in our party.

My question is this, why didn’t he do this as Kezia Dugdale’s political director when she was in charge?

Anyway of what Martin McCluskey has wrote, the part which has most worth is the section where he states:

“First, to deliver real change for our country, we need real change in our party.Better ideas and organisation will only take us so far – the mindset of the Scottish Labour Party has to change as well. One place to start is to break out of the bubbles of Westminster and Holyrood. What happens in both these places matters to the party, but in opposition we need to draw from talent from across our movement. There are many more councillors, activists, trade unionists and members than there are MPs and MSPs. We should broaden the members of Scottish Labour’s shadow ministerial team by bringing in councillors and members with relevant experience. Having voices from outside Holyrood at Scottish Labour’s top table would be valuable as we begin to develop a manifesto for 2021”.

The problems that Scottish Labour has goes well beyond, what McCluskey mentions. To build a successful organisation, you need a strong grassroots base that is politically active. The Scottish Labour Party isn’t able at present to run a successful campaign as the European Elections rather painfully showed. 

The lost of all MEPs was embarrassing but the vote share of 9.5% was a real disaster of mega proportions. David Martin should never have lost his seat. He was 35 years an MEP, he gets bumped in part caught out by Brexit anger and also by withering of support from the working class vote, he did his job, he did nothing wrong.

Scottish Labour needs a new campaign model, and while they stick to business as usual, the SNP will continue to dominate. While the party remains too Holyrood focused, they will also tread water. A real problem is that the Scottish Labour Party struggles badly to get members to be activists, this is something which needs to be repeatedly said.

Under Martin McCluskey, he wants people to stand and a doorstep and explain why in effect, we don't want to honour a democratic vote. 

And while the ‘quiet war’ between the Momentum crowd and the progressives rages on, the Scottish Labour Party remains divided.  

An example of the the ' quiet war' is that Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has suffered a huge blow after a key ally was ousted from her position on the party’s ruling body. Mary Fee, who sits on Labour’s Scottish Executive Committee as chair of its group of MSPs, was defeated in a vote after being challenged for the role by Jackie Baillie.

Left-wing MSP Neil Findlay said on Twitter:

“I am absolutely disgusted that @MaryFeeMSP has been removed as Scottish Labour group chair.”

Why, there is an election and she lost, what is there to be disgusted about?

The Euro result was Labour’s worst result north of the border since 1910, and immediately led to calls for Mr Leonard to consider his position. That being said, we should remember that in reality we are talking about two seats.

Two seats!

The result of 2015 Westminster was more damaging for the party.

Finally, I don’t see people like Martin McCluskey as the solution to Scottish Labour’s problems, the real driver for change must come from Richard Leonard, the Scottish leader. The place that Richard Leonard needs to start is to rebuild the grassroots foundations, he needs members to be activists, and activists to be better trained. Activists need better training and education, which is paid lip service to in the party. Then Richard Leonard needs to work his way up through every level of the party to ensure that CLPs are working their area properly and have something to offer people in terms of help, advice and a vision.

At an informal Labour meeting, I asked the question, where is Scottish Labour's Nye Bevan moment now?

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University