| Richard Leonard resigns as leader of Scottish Labour 16:19 - Jan 14 with 2115 views | tractordownsouth |
Shame it didn't work out for him, but probably the right thing to do because Labour were set to finish 3rd again, which is poor.
I know it won't happen but I genuinely think Gordon Brown would be a great shout as a short term option. His speech was credited by some as the winning moment for the unionists in the 2014 referendum, and he managed to increase the Labour vote in Scotland by 2.5% in 2010, despite the huge national swing away from the party.
I'm not a Scot but it seems like Labour suffers from a lack of recognisable figures within Scottish politics. If Brown were to lead Labour into becoming the main party of opposition to the SNP, he could then pass the leadership onto a new figure halfway through the parliamentary term, and the new leader would enjoy a bit more of the limelight.
Like I said, it's an unlikely idea (and probably unpopular on here) but I think there's method to my madness. |  |
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| Richard Leonard resigns as leader of Scottish Labour on 18:18 - Jan 14 with 372 views | Darth_Koont |
| Richard Leonard resigns as leader of Scottish Labour on 17:52 - Jan 14 by Darth_Koont |
I’ll see if I can find it. It’s pretty much what Brown said verbatim.
I’m not surprised it wasn’t picked up on more by our media. Puts the Blair Golden Age myth in a harsher, more realistic light and the Tory governments have been even worse. So nothing for the fanboys there. |
Here you go:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-51178628
“He said he regretted that in its 13 years in power, Labour had not done more to challenge regional disparities, saying its plans to devolve political and economic powers had been insufficient.”
But Google “gordon brown regional inequality” and have a skim through the other articles and statements he made. The thing is he really is absolutely right about the structural imbalance but that’s only more galling given Labour had 3 consecutive terms in power.
It’s the eternal disparity between the words and the actions of unionist politicians that is why Scotland will leave. And why making the case for the union and the interests of Scotland couldn’t be any hollower. Even from someone like Brown who actually understands the problem and the solution but still couldn’t deliver. |  |
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| Richard Leonard resigns as leader of Scottish Labour on 22:21 - Jan 14 with 320 views | tractordownsouth |
| Richard Leonard resigns as leader of Scottish Labour on 18:18 - Jan 14 by Darth_Koont |
Here you go:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-51178628
“He said he regretted that in its 13 years in power, Labour had not done more to challenge regional disparities, saying its plans to devolve political and economic powers had been insufficient.”
But Google “gordon brown regional inequality” and have a skim through the other articles and statements he made. The thing is he really is absolutely right about the structural imbalance but that’s only more galling given Labour had 3 consecutive terms in power.
It’s the eternal disparity between the words and the actions of unionist politicians that is why Scotland will leave. And why making the case for the union and the interests of Scotland couldn’t be any hollower. Even from someone like Brown who actually understands the problem and the solution but still couldn’t deliver. |
I think that's quite a fair assessment - while a lot of Brown's economic reforms benefited people from all areas (min wage, working tax credits) there still wasn't enough done for some of the poorer regions, including down here in Cornwall - transport links are sh1te for example.
As for your thing about Mea Culpa and the red wall, I think that would be a mistake - I can't think of a previous example where a party has said "we were sh1t last time but I promise we'll be better now" and won the election. Whilst the regional inequalities could have been narrowed further in 1997-2010, I think Labour has been too timid in mentioming its' achievments in the 2015/17/19 General Election campaigns - for all of Cameron's faults, he'd always promote the low unemployment figures as a big triumph but the list of Labour accomplishments was barely mentioned by the party's own campaign. By ignoring this, it just pushes the "they're all the same" narrative which creates apathy and drives support to whichever party Farage is leading.
The Tories have completely destroyed the red wall areas economically, yet they won them by offering a positive vision and not by talking about it the austerity they themselves were responsible for - the mere mention of it would have changed the narrative, and that's where they stumbled in 2017. Granted, the Tory campaign was mostly fibs, but had they spoken about the previous decade's cuts instead of the Brexit sunlit uplands, they wouldn't have done so well in those areas. The Labour Party's past is far from squeaky clean (I've disagreed with all of the leaderships at some point) but without being proud of its' past it won't be able to implement anything positive in the future. [Post edited 14 Jan 2021 22:22]
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| Richard Leonard resigns as leader of Scottish Labour on 12:44 - Jan 15 with 250 views | Darth_Koont |
| Richard Leonard resigns as leader of Scottish Labour on 22:21 - Jan 14 by tractordownsouth |
I think that's quite a fair assessment - while a lot of Brown's economic reforms benefited people from all areas (min wage, working tax credits) there still wasn't enough done for some of the poorer regions, including down here in Cornwall - transport links are sh1te for example.
As for your thing about Mea Culpa and the red wall, I think that would be a mistake - I can't think of a previous example where a party has said "we were sh1t last time but I promise we'll be better now" and won the election. Whilst the regional inequalities could have been narrowed further in 1997-2010, I think Labour has been too timid in mentioming its' achievments in the 2015/17/19 General Election campaigns - for all of Cameron's faults, he'd always promote the low unemployment figures as a big triumph but the list of Labour accomplishments was barely mentioned by the party's own campaign. By ignoring this, it just pushes the "they're all the same" narrative which creates apathy and drives support to whichever party Farage is leading.
The Tories have completely destroyed the red wall areas economically, yet they won them by offering a positive vision and not by talking about it the austerity they themselves were responsible for - the mere mention of it would have changed the narrative, and that's where they stumbled in 2017. Granted, the Tory campaign was mostly fibs, but had they spoken about the previous decade's cuts instead of the Brexit sunlit uplands, they wouldn't have done so well in those areas. The Labour Party's past is far from squeaky clean (I've disagreed with all of the leaderships at some point) but without being proud of its' past it won't be able to implement anything positive in the future. [Post edited 14 Jan 2021 22:22]
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Which is a depressing summary of how limited, dishonest and short-term our politicians are.
They don’t have to make a mea culpa the cornerstone of their campaign but it’s only by addressing these underlying issues like Brown does that Labour can offer a positive picture.
Better than Labour pitching right into the nationalism and identity politics that the Tories will use to deflect from their own record and deflect from the conversation we should be having. It’s empty politics or as I increasingly believe it’s the real politics of transparent careerists who have no genuine interest in the real problems and solutions.
I think technocratic, managerial competence to serve the establishment IS their pitch. But they’re absolutely living in the past and have already been outflanked by Scottish independence, Brexit, BLM, the Green movement and XR that are responses to these underlying problems in the UK. A genuine party of opposition would grasp that and take the lead rather than reacting years later by burying its head in the sand of performative politics and fighting the left. | |
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