As an ex-Trot, I’ve got previous when it comes to looking at reality and laughing in its face. I’ve been running through those memories … hope that the far left might work together constructively … that a new workers’ party was a go-er … that the paper I used to sell was improving … in […]
Posts Tagged ‘Scotland’
Labour’s Scottish bloodbath … And what needs to be done about it
Feb 5th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.
Miliband and Murphy must apologise for ‘Better Together’
Feb 4th, 2015 by Jon Lansman.It is clearer this morning than it has ever been. Lord Ashworth’s polls leave us in no doubt that the threat to Labour from the SNP that has been forecast by other polls is very real. If Labour loses this election, it will have lost it primarily in Scotland. Douglas Alexander and Margaret Curran stand […]
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The case for fully devolving housing benefit to the Scottish government
Feb 3rd, 2015 by Dave Watson.UNISON’s case for the full devolution of housing benefit has been supported by the respected think tank IPPR. Scotland needs all the policy levers to effectively address our housing crisis. The command paper ‘Scotland in the United Kingdom: An enduring settlement‘, (love an optimistic title!) sets out the legislative provisions to enact the Smith Commission […]
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There are better things to be doing than playing the patriot game
Jan 20th, 2015 by Stephen Low.“To these ends we work for the patriotic interest of the people of Scotland” runs part of a suggested new aims and values statement (Clause 4 – renumbered from Clause 2 for marketing purposes) that we are being asked to endorse at Scottish Conference in March. As a party and a movement we can do […]
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Jim Murphy and saving Scottish Labour
Dec 17th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.The victories of Jim Murphy and Kezia Dugdale in the Scottish Labour leadership elections have invited much comment. Some of it warm and friendly, but a great deal not. Indeed, soon after Saturday’s results were announced obituaries (like this) have been pouring in from the left. True, many who are so minded wish Scottish Labour […]
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Two cheers for the Smith Commission
Nov 30th, 2014 by Dave Watson.The Smith Commission report is an important step forward on the devolution journey, even if many of us who support further devolution will be disappointed over its omissions. First of all let’s dispose of the political froth. It’s impossible to know if the ‘vow’ has been delivered as, other than a newspaper headline, it was […]
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Is Scotland’s Radical Independence movement a Class act?
Nov 27th, 2014 by Cailean Gallagher.There was a touch of class about last weekend’s Radical Independence conference (RIC): slick presentation, businesslike suits, and bold stage-lighting that shone a pinkish tint on the pale faces that packed the Clyde Auditorium one bright November day. If the job was to give RIC a new sheen, the organisers can be pleased with the result. There […]
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Neil Findlay launches new charter of workers rights
Nov 26th, 2014 by Jon Lansman.Neil Findlay has today launched a new charter for workers rights in Scotland “to make work fit for the 21st century”. If he wins the leadership, he promises Scottish Labour will reconnect with working Scotland and put practical policies in place to make a difference to people’s lives from day one. The charter includes calls for greater […]
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The polls provide clear evidence that Findlay can reach the parts Murphy can’t
Nov 25th, 2014 by Jon Lansman.It is true that Jim Murphy has a higher media profile than Neil Findlay, but rarely in a leadership election do we have such good evidence that one candidate in the running cannot win over the voters Labour needs whilst the other has the policies they support. This matters if Ed Miliband is to have […]
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New Labour got Scottish Labour into the hole it’s in. Only Neil Findlay can dig it out
Nov 24th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Recall the Scottish independence referendum? Can you remember the panic when a few polls put the Yes camp in the lead? Politics is a fickle business but surely that was burned on every Westminster psyche. Dozens of Labour MPs should remember it. They tramped north of Hadrian’s Wall to tell the fine people of Scotland […]
