Misplaced loyalty

FOR once Michael Kelly (Perspective, 22 December) provides some apparently objective commentary in deriding the undemocratic process of the recent Scottish Labour leadership election, while expressing his pessimism at the likely consequences of having a new leader without popular mandate but beholden to trade union leaders whose mind-sets are still rooted in the industrial revolution.

Regrettably, Mr Kelly cannot then help himself in following this analysis by descending into his negatively subjective views of the SNP, Tories and Liberal Democrats, before seemingly concluding that if he and other Labour Party supporters stick with Labour long enough, everything will some day turn rosy in the socialist garden once more!

This is not just foolhardy optimism on Mr Kelly’s part, it is illogical, and some might suggest irresponsible, given that some may be guided by this words. So, one may ask, on what does Mr Kelly base this remarkable loyalty to a party in such disarray? Is it some sudden personal religious revelation or a remarkable new vision for Scotland’s future?

No, in complete contradiction of his own criticism of the trade union leaders who supported the election of Johann Lamont, he sees the future of Scottish Labour in returning to the agenda of the early days of the Labour Party and continues to deny that it is this same dogged belief in a party that lost its socialist principles long ago that has betrayed “the poorer, less advantaged and less fortunate” in our society for decades.

Wake up, Mr Kelly, to what many have already deduced. If you are sincere about true democracy, justice and fairness in Scotland, especially for those less privileged than the majority, it is time to support unrestricted self-determination for Scotland and then to demonstrate in a non-dependent country that those with true socialist principles can significantly contribute to a better society for all of Scotland’s people.

As long as you are obsessed in the short term with the perceived failings of Alex Salmond and the SNP, you and those Labour supporters and politicians who are similarly obsessed will thankfully have a diminishing role to play in building Scotland’s long-term future.

Stan Grodynski

Longniddry

East Lothian