Scottish Labour leader promises "socialist" road

[YKTMX]

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2157004.0.0.php



WENDY ALEXANDER YESTERDAY USED HER first conference speech as Labour leader to insist she would counter the SNP with "socialist" policies.
She told delegates at Aviemore that Labour would tackle the "right-wing" Nationalists from the left.
But her speech was nearly upstaged after new rows blew up over party funding and comments allegedly attributed to her spokesman.
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A minute from Alexander's constituency party claimed her team ran a "shambolic" re-election campaign last year that ran up "serious debts".
Her press aide, Simon Pia, also had to clarify remarks he made about presiding officer Alex Fergusson.
Alexander's speech to the Scottish Labour conference was her first as leader and focused on sharpening the differences between her party and the Scottish Nationalists.
She declined to mention her recent fundraising problems and stressed the difference between the SNP and Labour was "Socialist against Nationalist".
She said of her rivals: "When you strip away the spin it's clear where the SNP stand. It is not on the side of those who believe in progressive taxation and public spending but with those who favour tax cuts for the rich and what's left for the rest."
Alexander also attacked the SNP government's "national conversation" - the consultation on constitutional change - by describing it as "an invitation for every flag-burning blogger to rant and rave, blame everything on the English, and all at the taxpayers' expense".
She also reaffirmed her commitment to internal reform for Scottish Labour and floated the idea of US-style primaries for selecting candidates.

"We all know Labour candidates are sometimes chosen by only a handful of activists. Is there another way?" she asked. "Could we not look across the Atlantic to their caucuses and primary system and see if there is a way to give all local Labour supporters a say in who represents them."



This is rather desperate and funny given Alexander's long standing commitment to the "New Labour" project, but an interesting turn nonetheless. It cements the FACT that Scottish society as a whole is far to the Left of the United Kingdom in general. We now have the prospect of a "socialist" opposition to a radical social democratic government.

What this will consist in is harder to know. Interested to hear what the Scottish comrades think of this.

[BOZG]

Maybe I misunderstood but you consider the SNP a radical socialist democratic government?

[YKTMX]

Maybe I misunderstood but you consider the SNP a radical socialist democratic government?


I meant "social democratic" not "socialist democratic", a mistake I've now put right - cheers.

[Demogorgon]

Next the BNP will be trying to sell themselves as anti-racists:laugh:

All it comes down to is Alexander trying to paint her opposition to council tax reform as being concerned that wealthy retired people and those making money of unearned income won't have to pay anything. Granted those are genuine concerns but they aren't her real reasons for opposing the change. Dressing her support for regressive taxes up as "socialist" is just a way of appealing to the heartlands.

That is a more general thing she will try and do as well. There are plenty of ex-members of Labour around and they all have more or less the same reason for leaving. She knows she needs their support back and will make utterly hypocritical statements to do so.

She also knows fine well that the SNP won the election, not because people wanted independence but because they presented themselves as to the Left of Labour. Labour loves to talk of "Tartan Tories" but we all now that the SNP definitely ran a left wing campaign and Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon are both capable of sounding like far-leftists when they think the audience will appreciate it. In Government what they have done is hardly left wing per se, but it is sure as Hell more left wing than anything Labour has done since Harold Wilson was Prime Minister. Alexander knows that this is popular (just look at the opinion polls) and that to win any popularity she is going to have to sound more left wing still. The fact that her policies are obviously to the right is hardly going to stop her, she is a politician after all.

Scottish Labour has been caught up for the past fifteen years in the Blairite notion of capturing the "centre ground" whatever the hell that is. That might appeal to Middle England and admittedly has won Labour three General elections but it isn't what Scots want to here. Alex Salmond knows that and took advantage of it to win power. Alexander has suddenly realised it too, several years too late and is scrabbling to make up lost ground.

Don't expect event he vaguest of leftist shifts in her policy. You will hear her cal for more support for pensioners or the disabled a bit more than usual, but that is just what opposition parties do. Do expect her however play up old fashioned Labour values. They will sing "The Red Flag" again, she will try and be friendly with Trade Unionists. A tenner says Neil Kinnock will address the Scottish Labour conference next year, but there is no chance at all of a move to the left. Brown would never allow it.

[Andy Bowden]

Yeah, I found it quite interesting as well. There was an advert for the Scottish Labour conference which mentioned Keir Hardie - something I don't think I've ever seen them do before.

And when the SNP/Liberals tried to shut down loads of Edinburgh schools, Scottish Labour had a "Stop the cuts" campaign that was, on a cosmetic basis, more in line with what the Socialist Left usually does. It didn't really exist on a large scale though.

I think Scottish Labour have been getting kicked about the shop by Salmond and the SNP for months so they need to do and say something that is at least different from the SNP and is vaguely positive, instead of scaremongering about independence.

But theres also a wider issue in that despite Labour getting beaten last year, they still held on to their heartlands in Glasgow. They still command mass working class support in the central belt, and could use "Socialist" rhetoric to defend the Union.

So yeah, YKTMX is right that it shows that Scotland is to the Left of the UK as a whole, that the Labour Party would try and use "Socialism" as a vote winner. But I don't think it will damage the Socialist Left in Scotland (SSP and Solidarity), as

a) Its bollocks, Labour have still tried to do in striking social care and day care workers in Glasgow in the past year, and

b) Scottish Labour is no longer a mass party of activists as it was in the 80s. Your not going to see Scottish Labour party members do a stall the way you will see the SSP/Solidarity/CWI/SWP do.

What it will mean is Labour counterposing independence to vague "Social Justice" aspirations, and attacking any SNP (albeit accurately, though not dissimilar to their own) thatcherite cuts, and supporting the Union on that basis.

Thats why its important in my opinion that the SSP can win support for an independent Socialist Republic in Scotland on real, material terms that workers face; but also defending and supporting the Scottish Parliament having complete powers as even without Socialism it would still be a democratic advance - the same way the devolved parliament was better than direct and unaccountable rule from Westminster.

[spartan]

This is why Scottish and Welsh independence might not be a bad thing after all seeing as these regions are always solidly left wing when voting.

The trouble of course is that our constituencies dont return alot of MP's so whenever the Conservatives get just over half the constituencies in England (Which is often) then the entire UK all have to have a Conservative government (Despite the fact that the majority of Scotland and Wales didnt vote for them).

How is that Democracy?

Either the constituencies are redrawn so that there are equal electoral districts all over the country or independence for these left leaning regions will be looked on as a good alternative to make the British isles in general more left wing.

[Wanted Man]

Yeah, these kind of things seem to happen within the old social-democratic parties on occasion. Here, in September last year, the 68-year-old former minister Jan Pronk launched a campaign for the chairman position of the Labour Party, on a "red" platform. Usually, these types fade away, and the "New Labour" and similar third way politics become even more entrenched.

[Die Neue Zeit]

Off topic, genuine national-liberation movements in Scotland and Wales would help Irish reunification on a republican-socialist basis (http://www.revleft.com/vb/ed-moloney-freedom-t74543/index.html), and could trigger a left-ward shift in England itself.

Back on topic, Scotland, I think, has one ace in its stack of cards: offshore oil.