Scottish Labour leadership contender Iain Gray: 'We must rediscover the shared values that make us Labour'

Published on Saturday 26 July 2008 20:02

Scottish Labour leadership contender Iain Gray sets out his vision for a party coming to terms with defeat in Glasgow.

A GREEK poet wrote "he who learns must suffer". Glasgow East was a terrible result for Scottish Labour and we have certainly suffered. Now we must use the forthcoming leadership debate to ensure that we learn.

Margaret Curran was an excellent candidate because it was clear that she cared – ferociously – about the people of Glasgow. Yet many voters who believed that Margaret cared about them simply did not feel that Labour cared.

In 2007 Labour canvassers, when asked "why should we vote Labour?", would not have been able to give a straightforward reason. We had many achievements to point to, but all elections are about the future, and the electorate wanted to feel that we understood their lives, that we shared their concerns and that we were on their side. They wanted to know that we cared. We have failed to persuade enough of them that we do.

We must share the aspirations of the electorate for themselves, their families, their community and for Scotland, and we must demonstrate that, in clear language, in our actions and with conviction.

Building fresh trust in Labour must involve every member, from the youngest new activist to the most senior of our elected politicians. We must rediscover the shared values that make us Labour, and resolve the differences between Labour MPs and MSPs, MSPs and councillors, and elected members and party members – differences that have bedeviled recent years. This does not mean there will not be disagreements and debate – actually we should have more of those. Disagreement and debate are the birthplace of ideas.

It certainly does not mean retreating to any kind of comfort zone, if there is such a thing. It means refocusing on our common purpose and expressing it with rediscovered passion.

Many Labour MPs, MSPs and councillors reading this will protest that they are in touch with their voters and communities on a daily basis. They are correct, and the party leadership must listen harder to what they are saying.

I think they will say that constitutional change is not the people's preoccupation and it should not be ours. It was right to call Alex Salmond's bluff to get this out of the way quickly, but that is not going to happen. Scottish Labour should never be afraid of the verdict of the Scottish people in an independence referendum, but that referendum should ask a straightforward, honest and fair question. The Referendum Bill the SNP has published fails this basic test and we should not support it.

The SNP wins people over in spite of independence, not because of it. We are not losing the independence argument with the SNP. We are losing the argument on aspiration and who will best run Scotland. If we are to demonstrate to voters that we share their frustrations and their hopes, then we must hold the SNP administration to account more effectively. Many people in 2007 wanted change and believed the promises made by the SNP represented that change.

Yet in just 15 months we have seen promise after promise broken on police numbers, on class sizes, on grants for first-time buyers and on student debt. The SNP is failing the people of Scotland, and we should be leading the way in holding it to account for its failures. This is the immediate challenge for Scottish Labour.

At the same time, Labour should clearly articulate a vision of the Scotland it wants to see – a Scotland that meets the challenges of the 21st century through raising levels of education and skills, that supports families and communities building a better life for themselves, that constantly raises the quality of life of the elderly and the disabled, and that is tough on those who undermine all this through crime, bigotry or exploitation.

People succeed, even in the most difficult of circumstances, where they work together to make a better life for themselves, their families and their communities. I have seen that in countries around the world, and I see it every day in Scotland. These are the values at the heart of Labour's politics, and they are worth fighting for.

Iain Gray is Labour MSP for East Lothian