UK and Scotland must put aside constitutional politics to rebuild post-Covid country – Ian Murray

Labour’s current priority is helping to defeat the coronavirus crisis but it must then build a new kind of politics, writes Ian Murray MP.

Ian Murray says Labour needs to recover in Scotland to challenge for power at Westminster (Picture: John Devlin)

The first thing I did when I was appointed to Labour’s new shadow cabinet was to have a conversation with Scottish Secretary Alister Jack.

I offered my support in the fight against coronavirus, because at this troubling time it is important for politicians to be working together.

We are all missing our friends and family who we may not see again for some weeks, and all of our lives are about to fundamentally change. Many are having sleepless nights about how bills will be paid or how to keep their businesses going.

The impact of the coronavirus outbreak will be felt long after the immediate crisis facing our country. Last week, the respected Strathclyde University Fraser of Allander Institute estimated that if lockdown measures continue for a three-month period, the Scottish economy could shrink by a quarter.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has made similar devastating predictions for jobs and livelihoods. We will need a whole-country response to recover as quickly as possible and that means we can’t go back to the same old politics.

This crisis is teaching us again the value of community, of solidarity and pulling together towards a common goal. The politics that emerges from this crisis has to reflect that.

The right thing to do

The only priority for governments, long after lockdown measures are lifted, will be to protect and restore people’s jobs and livelihoods.

Constitutional politics has to be set aside by both the UK and Scottish Governments and replaced with a shared national mission of rebuilding our country.

Right now, Labour’s job is to act in the national interest and support the UK and Scottish governments where that is the right thing to do. I will do that and Keir Starmer has led that charge.

But that doesn’t absolve the UK or Scottish governments of criticism or scrutiny. We must take on the issues of lack of protective equipment for our NHS, care workers and frontline staff; the slow response to testing; the businesses and workers still falling through the gaps of support schemes, despite partial U-turns; and the trouble getting Scots home from abroad. All huge issues that must be tackled head-on.

Keir Starmer has become Labour leader amid an unprecedented crisis, and I was proud to be asked to serve in his Shadow Cabinet.

I know he’s the right leader for the Labour Party and he will work tirelessly and selflessly with others to help the country through this period and then offer a credible Labour alternative government platform.

Elections are the last thing on people’s minds today, but it is an inescapable fact that the road to a Labour government runs through Scotland.

To achieve a majority of just one would require a 13 per cent swing – greater than Tony Blair’s historic achievement in 1997 or Clement Attlee’s in 1945. The reality is that Labour simply cannot return to power across the UK without first winning more MPs in Scotland.

When I launched my campaign to be deputy leader of the UK Labour Party, I did so to ensure that Scotland was part of the debate.

At every hustings and in every interview, I reminded the party – and perhaps even bored the party - how important it is to recover in Scotland.

I got the message across. A message I will now continue to make around the Shadow Cabinet table.

Building a new politics

I look forward to working with Keir and our refreshed leadership team in Scotland with Richard Leonard and Jackie Baillie to unite our party around our historic values of solidarity and internationalism, equality and fairness.

The Labour Party is a party for everyone in every nation and region of the UK. We believe in pooling and sharing resources between communities, so that no family, wherever they happen to live, is left behind. That is more important post the coronavirus crisis than ever before. We must work together across borders.

That’s one reason why, in the Labour Party, we’re not nationalists.

We will be clear on our constitutional position: we will fight for Scotland to have a bigger say but will oppose leaving the UK and oppose an unwanted and divisive second independence referendum. We don’t agree with the ends, so why would we agree with the means?

The last person who failed to follow that simple principle was David Cameron, and look at the mess he created with Brexit.

For the immediate future, Labour’s priority will be defeating the coronavirus. When this is over, it will fall to Labour and to Keir Starmer to build the new politics that will emerge from this crisis that shows a positive future for all.

We will rise to this challenge and help shape a new future.

Ian Murray MP is Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary

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