LABOUR needs to abandon its “attack-style politics” and become the party of Scottish Home Rule if it is to survive north of the Border, a leading figure in the party has warned, following its disastrous result at the General Election.
Alex Rowley, the MSP for Cowdenbeath, said in a hard-hitting article for The National: “We need to move beyond tinkering with party rules and learn the lessons from sister parties across Europe where there is strong federal system. It is crucial we take a far greater degree of control of the policy and decision-making, while remaining committed to being part of a wider UK party where appropriate.
“We need to become the party of Scottish Home Rule and our opening salvo to Westminster and the UK Labour Party must be that the current relationship between Scotland and the rest of the UK is untenable and will require radical change.”
If last week’s result was repeated in the Holyrood election next May, he said Labour would lose all seven of its constituency MSPs and may not even win back its 31 list seats if the Greens performed well.
“Even with a disastrous low of 24 per cent of the vote, the PR system would be kinder to us than first past the post and we would get somewhere in the region of 31 list seats while the SNP would have around 74 seats. However, that does not take into account the fact the Greens and others may do better. Thirty-one seats for Labour may well be very ambitious.”
Rowley also hit out at moves within Scottish Labour to review list rules, which give sitting MSPs a priority, saying this was futile and the party needed to take more-drastic action to reconnect with its former supporters.
The calls, not popular among MSPs, are being made by those who want to give former MPs– including some of the 40 who lost their Westminster seats this month – a chance to get a seat at Holyrood.
“If, by May 2016, we have been unable to progress from the current all-time low, my view is we will just sink even lower. Some may well save their careers for a wee bit longer, but the party will not survive,” he said.
Rowley, who stood down from leader Jim Murphy’s front bench team last week, defended the comment made by former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont that the party north of the Border was treated like a “branch office” by London – and called for much greater autonomy for the Scottish party.
“Some were rather annoyed about Johann’ Lamont’s comment last year ... I have heard many say this is not a description they recognise,” he said.
“However, I recognise it and believe it must be addressed in order for Labour in Scotland to move forward with a more progressive approach that sets the future agenda.”
Rowley, a close ally of the former prime minister Gordon Brown, also insisted on the need to speak up for working people and be open regarding policies on Trident and welfare.
He said Labour should work positively with the SNP on issues the parties agreed on and hold the Scottish Government to account when it had “failed to deliver”.
“The party should exist not to oppose the SNP but to address the issues in our communities and bring about a more-inclusive and prosperous country. The attack-style politics is not working,” he wrote.
“On the constitution, we must move away from the politics of fear to the politics of hope and ambition through pressing the case for further devolution and setting out how we will use the powers both in Edinburgh and in London to deliver our vision.”
Rowley is the first Labour figure to write for The National since the election. His article today follows a hard-hitting intervention earlier this week by Duncan McNeil, Labour MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, who criticised the review Murphy was currently carrying out and urged the party to delay any leadership contest until the autumn until the party had carried out a wider conversation with Scots during the summer.
Rowley is among a growing number of senior Labour figures to support the move for more autonomy for the party in Scotland.
UK leadership candidate Andy Burnham recently said there was “a case” for the Scottish Labour Party operating completely separately north of the Border.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here