Post-Referendum Inverclyde: A Savage Journey Into The Heart Of Labour’s Darkness. These are perilous times for Labour. In the Scottish Referendum, four areas with Yes majorities – Dundee (57.3 per cent), Glasgow (53.5 per cent), West Dunbartonshire (54 per cent) and North Lanarkshire (51.1 per cent) – all share two important characteristics: first, with the exception of Dundee, they are all traditionally Labour heartlands; and second, they house some of Scotland’s most severe areas of poverty – which, in theory, should be Labour’s bread and butter issue. The closest of the marginal No-voting constituencies was Inverclyde (50.1 per cent), an area with a proud industrial heritage which was destroyed around the same time as much of the rest of Scotland’s heavy industries. Inverclyde is also a strong Labour constituency with some of the highest unemployment rates in Scotland and where recent indications suggest that 26 per cent of its children live in abject poverty. Inverclyde Labour leaders no doubt indulged in a session of back-slapping when the results on September 18 were announced – and why not? They had, after all, won the battle for Inverclyde, albeit by a mere 86 votes. Yet their efforts to win this battle may end up costing them the war. In Inverclyde, the marvellous Yes campaigners there have maintained their energy and are planning to mobilise this to break the Labour stranglehold on the constituency in 2015. This is a familiar message that is indicative of the unrelenting deterioration of ‘Labour Scotland’. So what is Labour Scotland? According to political commentators Eric Shaw and Gerry Hassan, Labour Scotland relied on three main pillars: council housing, trade unionism and local government. During the 1960s, more than 50 per cent of Scots lived in council houses, and that gave Labour a huge support base, particularly in the west of Scotland ‘heartlands’. The majority of Scottish workers were also members of trade unions during the 20th century, which promoted Labour values from union meetings to the shop floor (the ‘labour movement’). Furthermore, Labour’s dominance over local government guaranteed that networks of influence and patronage prevented any other political group from presenting a challenge. How times have changed. Labour may take the glory of being the party that delivered devolution, but they still don’t quite seem to understand it. After fifteen years of devolution, Scottish Labour has offered little in the way of distinctive policies other than vehemently disagreeing with anything that is proposed by the SNP. Moreover, proportional representation in local government has shattered Labour’s local power base, union power has greatly deteriorated and only 15 per cent of Scots now live in council homes. Political historians may well look to the referendum and see the straw that finally broke the back of Labour Scotland. We saw reports of mortgage costs soaring, jobs fleeing, the financial sector ‘doing a Houdini’, supermarket prices rising, mobile phone roaming charges on mainland Britain and another Great Depression looming. Unforgivably, at the heart of this blitzkrieg of fear, hearsay and downright lies was the Labour party, whose performance during the referendum campaign was nothing other than debauched self-interest, and an utter betrayal of all of its founding principles. No more can the party credibly assert to be the party of the people. The acquiescence of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls in George Osborne’s condescension of the entire Scottish nation with currency threats during the referendum campaign was difficult enough to observe, but Labour’s repeated failure of imagination and spirit to oppose the ‘attack the weak and the vulnerable’ austerity programme of the Tories is an outrage. Labour’s existing primary function is not to represent or fight for the values of working people, but rather to channel the votes of working people to support the neoliberal agenda for the economy emanating from the bowels of the City of London. Through discussions at meetings in town halls and at street stalls during and after the referendum campaign, I have heard so often that Labour has abandoned this country. I used to agree with this statement, but I have had to correct myself. Labour has not abandoned Scotland; they have abandoned themselves. They are in denial of both the political landscape they now inhabit and of the fact the majority of the Scottish electorate has not shuffled to the right along with them. They are suffering a profound identity crisis that can only be understood when your 57-year-old uncle George dons leather trousers and takes an interest in buying a Harley Davidson. Sure, the family maintains its ‘it’s just a phase’ stance, but how long is the situation allowed to endure before uncle George inevitably crashes the bike, or insists on wearing the leathers so much that people just stare and shake their heads in quiet pity? Ed Miliband’s pitiful attempt at a show of solidarity with the Scottish electorate by asking English councils to fly the saltire above their buildings before the referendum in September was a symptom and excellent illustration of how out of touch the party, both here in Scotland and in Westminster, are with ordinary Scots who are having to face difficult choices between heating their homes or feeding their families. The referendum gave hope to people who felt they had no voice in civic Scotland; it encouraged them to dream that a new future was possible – to live in a nation underpinned by solidarity, fairness and social justice. By missing this glaring point, by way of their part in the media-led psychological terror campaign during the referendum, by their commitment to attacking the weakest in society through austerity, Labour now speak for all that is cruel and stupid and vicious in the Unionist character. They have become the pigs in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. So what now? At the time of writing, debates rage on about the constitutional framework of the Union. More devolution, English votes for English laws; in reality it matters little. Scotland’s future is a blank canvass. Alex Salmond said this situation was “redolent of political opportunities” for the nation. Many of his supporters were understandably disappointed when he announced his stepping down from the role of First Minister. Yet he timed his departure perfectly to herald the new generation that has taken over Scotland after the Yes campaign. The 45 per cent may have been naïve of the challenges, at times even over-confident of their chances, but they were young, multicultural and radical, and more than anything else, they were ready for change. Can the same be said for Labour? I ask, of course, a rhetorical question. Images of Labour politicians cosying up to Tories and joining forces against the Yes movement will not so easily be forgotten in Scotland, and will damage them more than the transparency of their policies. These are interesting times, and admittedly the waters are uncharted, though the unprecedented increase in membership of the SNP, Greens and SSP suggests that something is happening in Scotland beyond the control of the Unionist parties. Perhaps Inverclyde should be seen as a microcosm of Labour Scotland. Membership of the SNP in the area has risen by 500 per cent, while the local Yes campaign is gearing up its preparations for the 2015 General Election and 2016 Scottish Parliamentary Elections. Even the Green Party, once considered a mere protest vote, now has enough of a presence in the area to hold a branch meeting. Sporadic independence groups are appearing in numbers – Inverclyde for Independence, Inverclyde Independence Party, and Greenock Says Yes are just some examples of this new, diverse movement who have been roused by the referendum. Not to mention those who do not wish to join in any movement or party political endeavor, but have indicated that their days as resolute Labour voters are in the past. If Inverclyde is to be taken as the microcosm of Labour Scotland then, in blunt terms, Labour is toast. Now, who’s got the marmalade?
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 10:35:29 +0000
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