The danger is that were like a limb of a tree, he said. If we grow any further, if Westminster doesnt move, the limb will break off and Scotland will be independent. Were talking about more powers, but unless theres a vision for Scotland within the Union well run out of powers to transfer from Westminster and well be heading towards independence. Labour in Scotland needs to get it. The public have got it and we can appeal to them if we do the things that I have suggested. McLeish, who was Labour First Minister in 2000, said Scottish Labour had to learn from First Minister Alex Salmond. Alex Salmond is able to get on with things without looking over his shoulder, he said. He has been populist, and in a sense he has acted as the party of Scotland. We could be the party of Scotland; we could be the party of radical constitutionalism, and we could also replace populism with progressive centre-left politics. This is not Albert Einsteins area of study, this is common sense. Why we have been in denial for so long, I dont know. More than a decade ago, McLeish said, Westminster raised concerns about the Scottish Executive rebranding itself unofficially as the Scottish Government. He said: I was First Minister when we decided to call ourselves a Scottish Government. That was greeted with some concern from Westminster, because how dare we call ourselves the Scottish Government when we were only an executive? He added: In recent times, theres no doubt in my mind there has been a massive disconnect between MPs at Westminster and Scotland, and also the UK Labour Party in Scotland. Its very much a real issue and without it being resolved I think there will be further problems ahead. McLeish said he had sympathy for Johann Lamont. I feel a sadness, disappointment, that she has gone in this way. Clearly any political leader has to take some responsibility for the condition of the party but the way this has happened, the pressure she has been under, the getting rid of a general secretary without knowledge - no-one could accept this. On the other hand what we have got to probe is why on earth the UK Labour Party has been behaving in such a way? Even if they didnt care about Scotland, what they should care about is the number of MPs they will have to send to London in 2015 to make sure Ed Miliband is the prime minister. That should have shaken them to the foundations. McLeish warned that if Scottish Labour did not manage to secure autonomy from Westminster, the country will face five years of Tory and Ukip rule, and urged Ed Miliband to step in and offer support. We have to show some humility now; we have to accept we have lost traction, McLeish said. Weve lost ground and we have to say to the Scottish people we want to win that back. We have to try and make sure we maximise on the number of MPs we send to Westminster - if not, we will end up with the worst of all worlds which will be Farage and Cameron doing another five years. Thats too much for Scots to contemplate and its going to be tough but, on the other hand, Ed Miliband should know the crisis we face here and he should be willing to help out. McLeish said he was open-minded about Lamonts successor but insisted Westminster had to be put firmly in second place. Westminster is in decline so anybody who wants the job has to change the mindset by putting Scotland first and Westminster actually a poor second. Comments Douglas Connor, Ediburgh Henry - We are wasting our time. We are not going to secure autonomy from Westminster. Autonomy by my understanding means that we should have all powers develved with the exception of Defence and Foreign Affairs. This is not going to happen man, nor is it good enough. You should know this by now. Do the decent thing and join the SNP. We need to take control of our destiny. This is a vision - the vision to create a fairer society, the vision to protect our identity as a nation. It is not about nationalism Henry. Vision and different identities make the world a more interesting place to live in. We dont, and will never have this as part of the UK. We dance to a corrupt, elitist, moribund, ephemral Westminster tune and it is getting worse. We need to get out. Let us take this route. It is the internationalist route. John Jamieson Maybe Henry MacLeish can explain how the Scottish Labour Party can seek independence from the United Kingdom Labour Party and at the same time advocate that Scotland must remain in the United kingdom ? If we are better together than surely the Scottish Labour Party has the same objectives as the United Kingdom Labour Party. The root problem arises from the unseemly and seamless integration of the Labour, Tory and LibDem Parties into the campaigning organisation Better Together which showed us that the objectives of all three parties were virtually identical. Alex Buchanan, Scotland Who will ever believe them. Previously labour were adamant that Lamont was in charge, even of the MPs. It now transpires through Lamonts admission that this claim was simply a lie. Peter Maitland, Edinburgh • Another day another piece from the Herald focused on Mr McLeish. I should think Mr McLeish has paid the SNP back more than sufficiently. Perhaps he should just join the SNP and get it over with. Andrew Clarke, inverclyde • Henry, Henry, wake up. You labourtory people just dont get it do you, as soon as u jumped into bed wit the libdumbs & the thatcher weans you were doomed to extinction in Scotland So forget building up the Scottish labourtory party because it will still be the same people involved. Sorry but this time its a NO from me John Dewar• Perhaps in all this Mr MacLeish would care to explain why, during his watch, the Scottish Government was willing to agree with Westminsters plan to move the Scottish marine boundary from Berwick to Carnoustie, losing us 6,000 square miles of the North Sea to England? Freedom of Information requests for explanation have been refused as not in the public interest.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 21:31:22 +0000
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