Labour critics are warned over kneejerk reactions

Published on Monday 16 May 2011 19:27

FORMER Scottish secretary Jim Murphy has appealed for unity within Labour ranks as the party attempts to rebuild in the aftermath of its election rout at the hands of the SNP.

Recriminations have begun in recent days, with officials at the Scottish party's John Smith House headquarters among those in the firing line.

And former Labour first minister Henry McLeish has said the party in Scotland must create its own identity, separate from the UK organisation, if it wants to make a comeback north of the Border.

Mr Murphy is heading a root-and-branch review of the party in Scotland, along with Lothians MSP Sarah Boyack.

Labour is facing up to life without some its key frontbenchers at Holyrood, including Andy Kerr and Des McNulty, who lost their seats.

Another former first minister Jack McConnell, now Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, said at the weekend that Westminster MPs should "voluntarily and collectively" withdraw from the process of selecting the new leader at Holyrood.

Glasgow South MP Tom Harris was the first to announce he would be following that advice, saying he would not using his nomination or voting rights as an MP in the forthcoming election of a new Labour leader in Scotland.

Mr Murphy, the MP for East Renfrewshire, said he would examine this issue in his review.

"I'll certainly listen to Jack (McConnell]," the shadow defence secretary said.

"The fact is, this is the first full day of the review into the Labour Party's defeat in the election.

"It would be wrong for me, on the first morning of that review, to announce the outcome of the review."

Mr Murphy said the exercise was about more than a leadership election.

He said: "The Labour Party's problems at the election to the Scottish Parliament are much more significant than whether I vote and who should be the next leader of the Scottish Labour Party at the parliament.

"It's about how did we lose connection with those voters and how do we reconnect and change to make that happen?

"The fact is that councillors, MSPs, MPs, party members, trade unions, we're in this together.

"If we form a circular firing squad, we'll get absolutely nowhere.

"It isn't about kneejerk reactions about individuals or about kneejerk reactions about rules. There will be no witch-hunt; there will be no recriminations.

"I, and Sarah Boyack, will follow the evidence. We'll come up with ideas and proposals to reform the Scottish Labour Party."

Mr Murphy, who was Scottish secretary in Gordon Brown's government, suggested defeat in the 5 May Holyrood elections had been down to the lack of a "compelling" message about the future of Scotland.

Current Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray announced he would step down from the role in the autumn following the SNP's landslide victory.

Lord McConnell warned last week that the new leader would have "real credibility problems" unless MPs withdrew from the selection process.

Meanwhile, other Labour figures have put their heads above the parapet to criticise the party's approach to the election.

Charlie Gordon, a former MSP and ex-leader of Glasgow City Council, said the party's attitude to local government "stinks" and backed calls for a referendum on independence. He also warned Labour councillors faced a "serious threat" in next summer's local government elections.

Mr McLeish has called for a distinctive identity for Scottish Labour. "We have to be able to show that within the union we are putting Scotland first in our policies and that's not inconsistent with what's happening in countries like Germany and other European countries where they have federal or confederal systems," he said.

"One of the key problems is the relationship between MPs and MSPs, and we need to make sure that in Scotland we develop a distinctive identity for Scottish Labour which will in turn require significant changes in the relationship with the UK party."

Labour suffered a remarkable turnaround in fortunes as the Holyrood campaign intensified.

The party had enjoyed double-digit poll leads as recently as March, but Alex Salmond's SNP swept to Holyrood's first majority when voters eventually went to the ballot box.

Derek MacKay, SNP MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, said: "Labour's election campaign was a shambles, from a manifesto which promised to 'abolish the failed Scottish Labour' to press releases which tried to lecture on economics without even being able to spell properly."

Mr Harris is the first Labour MP to announce he will abstain from the leadership election.

However, in his submission to the review, entitled "Scottish Labour 2.0: Reinventing Our Party", he said it would be "unrealistic and absurdly optimistic to believe that a change of leadership in Holyrood is enough to transform our electoral prospects".

He said: "Change will have to be far more profound and uncomfortable than that.

"But given Iain's announcement of his intention to step down in the autumn, we must address the issue, not only of who our leader in Scotland should be, but how that person is elected and what he is leader of. Labour needs a Scottish leader, not just a leader of our MSPs at Holyrood."

He also suggested the party may be best served by establishing "the principle that the party's Scottish leader should be an MSP, while the deputy leader should be drawn from the ranks of MPs".Mr Harris said the party leader should be elected on a "one member, one vote basis", removing the weighting accorded to MP and MSP votes and giving all Labour members an equal vote.

He also suggested the party re-introduce candidate vetting before they people can be nominated to fight a Holyrood seat, and that Labour should "copy the SNP's practice of using the regional lists to make sure our spokespersons and leading MSPs are returned to Holyrood".