David Maddox: History repeated in bitter power struggle between Labour MPs and MSPs

ONE of the lessons of the Thatcher era was that Conservative success was almost guaranteed by Labour’s division and infighting.

Whether it was the gang of four walking out to form the Social Democratic Party, or Militant causing havoc at party conferences, the history of Labour in the 1980s was one of turmoil, which pinned it firmly as a party of opposition. You might think Labour would have learned a lesson. Not a bit of it.

In Westminster, there has been the sudden attack on Ed Miliband’s leadership by former prime minister Tony Blair and former defence secretary John Reid with Blairites in Miliband’s shadow ministerial team adding their voices in agreement – although always anonymously. They are unhappy with the direction of the party under Miliband, but the skirmishes in Westminster are nothing compared to the civil war in Scottish Labour.

Despite strenuous efforts to bring MSPs and MPs together, even teaming up a Scottish leader Johann Lamont with one of her best friends, Margaret Curran, as Westminster’s shadow Scottish Secretary, Labour north of the Border seems bent on mutual destruction. The metaphorical punches are flying between MSPs and MPs with what seems to be a genuine power struggle over who runs the party. It is no secret that shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy and Ms Lamont don’t see eye to eye, for example.

And over the weekend our sister paper, Scotland on Sunday, revealed that many Labour MPs are unhappy about Lamont’s devolution commission, which they think has come up with a “barking” idea of devolving all of income tax to Holyrood. There is a threat by MPs to boycott this weekend’s Scottish conference in Inverness and fury that they have not been consulted over the tax scheme, even though there are three Labour MPs on the commission.

The cause of division is clear. Labour MPs have more electoral success than Labour MSPs, so think they should make policy. MSPs think the Scottish party’s problems stem from Westminster.

Strangely, some of the most fed up MPs are not the old “anti-devolutiom dinosaurs” but among the new younger, pro-devolution 2010 intake.

An example of the divisions is a row last autumn over specialist media training sessions for MSPs from which MPs were excluded. Even Glasgow Central MP Anas Sarwar, the Scottish deputy leader, was barred and it has been claimed efforts were made to “hide” the training from Ms Curran.

According to one MP, the way the episode was handled by those close to Lamont has “poisoned” relations between MPs and MSPs, even though the £10,000 spent on it came from MSPs’ Holyrood funds.

Ironically, Scott Chisholm, who led the training, left his job at Sky after a brawl with a fellow presenter, so he knows about infighting and its consequences.