AS if Scottish Labour didn't have enough troubles to deal with in their own ranks, now their UK colleagues are throwing them under the bus.
It seems the party's dismal electoral record under Richard Leonard (Note to Labour MPs reading this: He leads the party in Scotland) has not gone unnoticed.
The subject came up on Newsnight, as Labour MPs Kate Hoey and Siobhain McDonagh clashed over the party's Brexit policy.
Brexiteer Hoey said: “The seats that we have to win to form any kind of government are in those seats where if we change our policy to become Remain, abrogating the results of the referendum, we will not have a chance of forming the government, and Jeremy knows that, this is a Tom Watson…"
At that point, the presenter cut in: “And on the point you’ve just made, clearly that sort of policy in Scotland is going to mean you don’t get on?”
"Not necessarily," Hoey began, before McDonagh interjected: “I’m sorry, Kate, there isn’t a Scottish Labour MP who doesn’t think that we are going to be completely annihilated in Scotland if we carry out this."
Then Hoey delivered the blow: “Let’s be honest, we’ve been annihilated in Scotland before completely, so that won’t make much difference.”
The Newsnight segment was a fierce debate between the two, but here, McDonagh could only look on – she offered no comeback.
The branch office received just 9.3% of votes in the recent European election – the first time they had fallen below 20% and won no seats in Europe.
The 2015 General Election was Scottish Labour's worst-ever result, losing 40 of its 41 seats. In 2017, the party won seven seats – but polls predict it could be facing another wipe-out in the next.
It's a similarly bleak picture at Holyrood. The party has just 24 seats in the Parliament, and has been on a constant downward trend since the first Scottish election.
Given these facts, we'd be very interested in hearing Richard Leonard's response to Hoey's remarks...
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