David Maddox: Internal politics is casting a shadow over Labour on both sides of the Border. How will Ed Miliband act?

THERE was much chuntering last week among Scottish Labour MPs about a strong-willed woman politician called Maggie.

Ed Miliband. Picture: Getty

While the cost of the funeral for Baroness Thatcher was causing some displeasure, the Maggie in question was in fact Margaret Curran, Labour’s shadow Scottish Secretary who has become one of the focal points in a feud between MPs and MSPs.

For those outside the soap opera that is Scottish Labour’s internal squabbles, it may seem odd that the knives have been sharpened for Ms Curran who will be taking the lead for her party at Scottish questions in the Commons this week. She is no shrinking violet. She has held the difficult line of Labour’s need to attack the UK coalition while also keeping up the fight against the SNP on the referendum. She is a former MSP who gets Holyrood and devolution and who has flourished at Westminster.

So what is there to complain about? Well, it is her long and close friendship with Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont which is the problem. The view of several MPs is that Ms Curran is too friendly with Ms Lamont. They believe she needs to be more of a critical colleague but she is not. Essentially, Ms Curran is an easier target for the discontents in Westminster. In the tough world of internal Labour politics, while Ms Lamont is an elected leader of the Scottish party and hard to displace, her friend is far more vulnerable.

And after the income tax devolution fiasco which had Labour MPs up in arms ahead of last weekend’s Scottish conference, some now want a shadow Scottish Secretary who is more willing to get tough with Ms Lamont and the MSPs. The off-the-record briefings have seen suggestions that Ms Curran may even be replaced in Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet reshuffle. There was even talk of the Scottish party deputy leader, Anas Sarwar, getting the shadow Scottish Secretary job, although that seems unlikely.

Much of the opposition to the idea of devolving all of income tax appeared last week to be focussed around shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy, whose own preferred candidate for Scottish leader, Ken Macintosh, lost to Ms Lamont. Ms Curran also backed Ed Miliband for the leadership and not his brother David, whose campaign was run by Mr Murphy.

In a fortnight where Ed Miliband’s leadership has also come under sustained attack by Tony Blair and the Blairites, there is a feeling that some of the Scottish row has its roots in a battle between different wings of the party across the UK. But there is a wider devo-sceptic issue as well.

The fate of Ms Curran is an interesting one for Mr Miliband. He chose her after sacking the then shadow Scottish Secretary, Ann McKechin, when the shadow cabinet election rules were changed and gave him a free hand.

So does he bow to pressure from MPs in his party or stick by the woman who backed him for the leadership? Ms Curran’s fate could become a question of Mr Miliband’s own authority.