Eddie Barnes: Alexander may grate on some in Scottish Labour, but it has to be said

Published on Wednesday 12 October 2011 23:54

DOUGLAS Alexander, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, is said to have spent much of the summer pondering his words on the future of Scottish politics today. It shows.

The speech he is giving this evening is a frank and unsparing account of the reasons behind his party’s humiliating defeat at the hands of the SNP in May.

From the man behind the party’s “Divorce is an Expensive Business” campaign in 1999, which sought to play on fears about independence, the change of tone is striking. Since then, Labour has allowed itself to wallow in the past, he argues. It had built itself up on the struggles of the 70s, 80s and 90s against the “villain Thatcherism”, in which it played the hero. But then a new country, buoyed on the boom of the noughties and a growing sense of confidence, moved on. Scottish Labour, however, carried on singing its old “hymns” to itself, he says, unaware that it was being watched by “an audience increasingly without personal knowledge of the tunes”. Staying in this comfort zone ensured the party did not feel the need to modernise, as did New Labour. When Alex Salmond came along to shake things up, it was disoriented and vulnerable.

Mr Alexander is by no means dismissive of Mr Salmond’s achievements – he acknowledges people saw the SNP as “broadly aligned with their values” in the election. But, he argues, “gleeful assertions of difference” as coined by the SNP aren’t what people are after either. Therefore, it is up to Scottish Labour to sell the message that chimes with people – to which SNP figures may argue they’re doing that already.

Mr Alexander’s critique of independence remains the same – but what is new about this lecture is his blunt assessment of Labour’s problems and the need for it to put a positive case forward.

The lecture will probably put some noses out of joint within Scottish Labour’s notoriously prickly ranks, but at least Mr Alexander has nailed the nature of their crisis to the door. However, what this lecture doesn’t do is resolve the more pressing question of who is going to answer Mr Alexander’s clarion call (Mr Alexander has ruled himself out for the vacant Scottish leader’s job). Today’s lecture provides a template for the beleaguered Scottish party. Who will be its face?

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pbyrne

Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 05:42 PM

Douglas Alexander ought to reconsider his dogmatic view of the independence issue. Is he sure that Labour's and his own opposition to the concept of an independent Scottish state is not itself just part of the party's anti-SNP obsession that he acknowledges? What is wrong with giving Scotland the same status within the EU as Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, etc.? Why does he feel that campaigning for equality with those other coutries is somehow incompatible with combating poverty? Mr Alexander, you know fine well that Scotland, as an EU Member State, could do far more to promote social democratic values than as a minority region of the UK.

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Lorem Ipsum

Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 01:39 PM

Wee Dougie squirming his way towards survival in the post-Brown world of Labour. Lest we forget, this is a political strategist with an impressive track record - of losing elections - in the 21st century. Pretty much the only election in which he played a major role and was on the winning side was Gordon Brown's campaign to be Labour leader. Hardly impressive, given there were no opponents! Coming out now saying "OK, our strategy's been crap for the past decade" takes some gall, given how much he's been involved with it. Dougie's most recent failure, of course, was as one of David Miliband's campaign co-ordinators (along with Murphy). There were rumours surrounding the recent reshuffle that Ed was tempted to ditch one of those two, so Dougie is presumably working hard to stay in favour now. This sort of speech is probably the nearest we'll see to him eating humble pie, in order to keep Ed sweet.

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The West Awake

Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 01:31 PM

"The lecture will probably put some noses out of joint within Scottish Labour’s notoriously prickly ranks" Wee Dougie is not a man who gives you the impression will go out on a limb, or indeed is motivated by principle rather than personal interest. No, if he is to espouse a new line tonight, my guess is it will be THE new line. Londons latest "take" on how to regain it's Scottish fiefdom. It will be the new orthodoxy and we can expect "Scottish" Labour to be instucted as to how it should be received. I listened to Dougie this morning, I am hopeful that Labours new firebreak against independence will be significant, Dougie indeed mentioned "home rule" - whatever that means. Dougie is a wee fly man, but he will be clever enough to realise that the days when the Scots are bought off with beads and mirrors or boogie man stories (like his "divorce is a costly business" guff for instance), are gone. Labours defences are crumbling, they are obviously in rearguard action here (pun intended).

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Controlthe money

Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 08:38 AM

Until you answer the Fiscal question the Scots will not trust Labour again. It seems you would rather leave control with the Teasury and the Tories than collect our revenues in Scotland using Scottish workers. Until the money control moves I'll vote for Salmond.

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Tennis C. Williams

Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 06:34 AM

#1 kendomacaroonbar, Double glazing saves heat loss and reduces noise coming from outside.

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Self Determination

Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 01:16 AM

Nowhere is it more evident of labour's total contempt for Scotland than the MSPs they now have in Holyrood. Labour have allowed their 5 th and 6 th rankers to win the list seats . Who amongst them is gonig to be the sacrificial.lambs on a Thursday? Watch FMQs today for more negative Labour tactics, Iain Gray only does pointy finger and negative. He is one of their better ones too ,lamont or MacIntosh??? You have got to be having a laugh. Throw in Ruth Davidson ,and Wee Willie Winkie, It is truly pathetic.

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Kendomacaroonbar

Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 01:02 AM

the question I posed may grate on him, but it has to be said.

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Kendomacaroonbar

Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 01:00 AM

Could he explain why he felt the justifiable need to claim £ 14,000 for double glazing on his expenses ?

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