As Scottish Labour regroups after the General Election, the temptation will be to focus on organisation and structure. Important though these are, the real question the party has to ask itself is – what is Scottish Labour for? After the 2007 and 2011 Scottish Parliament elections, Scottish Labour held reviews that gave detailed consideration to […]
Posts under ‘SNP’
What if David Miliband had won …
May 20th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.The polls were with Labour. The feedback on the doorstep was very encouraging. It looked like all the naysayers and the problems of the previous five years had been put to bed. Until that exit poll flashed up on the nation’s TV screens. It gave the Tories a clear lead, and one several seats away from […]
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The defeat of Scottish Labour – post rational politics or shifting plates?
May 15th, 2015 by Neil Findlay.So it wasn’t a tsunami, earthquake, tidal wave or landslide – it was all of them and as many other cataclysmic metaphors as you want to throw in. Scottish Labour was obliterated at the polls with majorities in the 10’s and 20’s of thousands wiped out at a stroke with only Ian Murray left clinging […]
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Labour’s SNP Lessons
May 14th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.The cataclysm came and Scottish Labour was obliterated. There are calls for Jim Murphy to go, calls that should be heeded for the good of the party. Yet what exactly happened in Scotland? We’ve visited some of the reasons, but there are wider points Labour needs to take on board from the SNP’s success that are […]
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The Tories won a tactical victory – not an endorsement of austerity
May 14th, 2015 by Mike Hedges.The general election result was not an endorsement of austerity but was a stunning Tory tactical success. The Tories adopted a policy of defending key marginal seats against Labour and UKIP and attacking in Liberal Democrat seats. The strategy worked and lead to a Tory majority government for the first time since 1992. This was […]
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The SNP offered hope, the Tories spread fear and loathing
May 10th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.We now know what happened, but why did it happen? How was it that an election campaign characterised by two different approaches, one upbeat, one defeated-looking; one that had momentum and enthusiasm and the other little more than desperate personal attacks, climaxed as it did? The result, which was unexpectedly very bad for Labour, is going to […]
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Is Keir Hardie turning in one grave as Jim Murphy digs another?
May 5th, 2015 by Jon Lansman.Last weekend, the Scotsman quoted unnamed Labour sources as confirming that Scottish Labour was effectively abandoning most Labour-held seats in Scotland by deciding to name just twelve seats it was trying to “rescue” from the SNP onslaught. The last time Labour did as badly as this in Scotland was 1931 when it won only 7 seats (though […]
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Minority government, Scotland and the grilling of Ed Miliband
May 1st, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.What did you think of last night’s grilling of the main party leaders? As much as I detest Dave and his Nick Clegg mini-me, I think they performed creditably by the criteria one judges media appearances. The Prime Minister was polished and a little bit sweaty, but his question dodging body swerves saw him through […]
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The new sectarian politics of Scotland and the demise of working class unity
Apr 30th, 2015 by Jon Lansman.Yesterday, canvasing the streets of Stevenston in North Ayrshire, a former Labour voter told me that the only way forward was for Scottish Labour and the SNP to merge. He meant it not as advice but as explanation of why he could not vote Labour. Some are hostile to Labour, others just confused. And even many of those […]
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What the SNP says versus what the SNP does
Apr 30th, 2015 by Manuel Cortes.Last week, when I spoke at the STUC Congress against the SNP putting both Scotrail and the Caledonian Sleeper in the hands of privateers, I said that actions speak far louder than words. Let’s face it, the SNP hardly misses an opportunity to argue that the public sector should play a key role in delivering […]
