Those former Labour voters who put the Union before progressive politics and voted Tory have gone. They’re backing the Tories now to beat the SNP. It didn’t work. The SNP won by a landslide – 431 to 276 seats. Labour lost 112 seats to the Tories who campaigned on an explicitly Unionist agenda, nothing else.
The Scottish Labour party cannot win them back nor should it want them back. They weren’t real Labour people if they accept Tory policies such as the Bedroom Tax in return for preserving a Union with one of the most right-wing administrations we’ve seen for decades.
It’s time for Scottish Labour to embrace independence, move to the left of the SNP and start again. This way they can build a new party with a coherent and principled manifesto firmly placed on leftist values and over the next few decades come back as something Keir Hardie would admire.
Yet, here’s Kezia’s plan:
‘Kezia Dugdale shifts focus to unionism ahead of general election. Scottish Labour has moved to shore up its unionist vote in the wake of suffering losses to the Conservatives in the local elections last week….Ahead of the launch she urged voters to “send Nicola Sturgeon a message” to reject a referendum on June the 8th, exactly the same line as Davidson used ahead of the council elections.’
Labour for independence had 2 000 members in 2014. There’s potential support at the highest level in the party:
Scottish Labour deputy leader Rowley: “I have never considered myself a Unionist”
Talking-up Scotland 
“It’s time for Scottish Labour to embrace independence, move to the left of the SNP and start again.” I’ve thought that for some time now, but it requires imagination, leadership and courage, so instead we get Dugdale aping the Tories. It worked for Blair when he started wearing Tory clothes, but Dugdale’s no Tony Blair. Indeed, I fear she’s so out of her depth, “not waving, but drowning.” Of course, Labour’s Tory Lite was eventually rumbled and now they have no where to go, nothing distinctive to offer to differentiate them from the Tories, not an ounce of socialism in their souls. They won’t even oppose the disastrous own goal of Brexit.
As for those Scots who would rather live under May and her irredeemably nasty party than an independent Scotland in charge of it’s own affairs – well, words fail me.
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BB,Their hatred of the SNP is so deeply embedded that they would rather condemn their own country to who knows how many years of a UKIP lite (or maybe not so lite) government in Westminster than embrace independence.
The No More Referendums parties just want back to the “shots each” WM governments that gives them a sinecure for a few years followed by a fat pension coupled with a dead stoat round their neck.
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The ones who really hate the SNP, are they the defectors to the Tories? Those who remain don’t have to be friends with the SNP but try to be even better. Like with Corbyn’s Labour Party it’s a longer term project to rebuild.
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I doubt Rowley hates the SNP……. Him and Malcolm Chisolm seem too decent for today’s Scottish Branch of the Labour Party.
Did Ruthless write Dugdale’s plan?
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Maybe when they become even smaller, they’ll realise what they have to do.
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