Posted Mar 20, 2021, 2:54 PM UTC
Absolutely ridiculous the way she has been treated
Labour in Scotland are in this weird position as they will never be more pro-Indy than the SNP, and they’ll never be seen as more pro-Union than the Tories. Independence is probably one of the most prominent issues in Scottish politics and I honestly don’t know how Labour overcome it without alienating the other side.
They don't need to take a stance on it at all.
They could just as easily choose to not take an official Yes/No position and make it clear that they support the democratic right of the Scottish electorate to hold a referendum if a majority of pro-Independence MSPs are elected to the Scottish Parliament.
Even in the smouldering remains of what was once Scottish Labour around 40% of remaining Labour voters support independence (with almost exactly the same opposed) yet they take an unabashedly pro-Union stance and come down hard on anyone even being seen as being too sympathetic towards independence which is just ridiculous considering it's supported by a majority of Scotland.
As you said, they are never going to out-Unionist the Tories and they will continue to wallow in irrelevance as long as they try to pander exclusively to the more right-leaning Unionist voting base.
I don’t think it’s possible to ignore an issue as big as Independence in Scotland, but I get what you’re saying.
Unfortunately, even “support the democratic right of the Scottish electorate to hold a reference of a majority of pro-Independence MSPs are elected to the Scottish Parliament” will be seized upon as then supporting independence. It’s not their fault, but it just isn’t feasible and the Tories/media will latch onto it and never let it go
It’s not their fault, but it just isn’t feasible and the Tories/media will latch onto it and never let it go
Ay, but when Labour is feart of whit the Tories will say, whit’s the point in Labour?
We need to do our hardest to break this debate away from the status quo vs independence. There are other solutions and we need to champion them.
Members choosing MPs and councillors is not a way to run a serious party. Centralisation needed to become a serious party
Is this another case of Labour having absolute contempt for membership democracy?
Democracy is a wonderful goal, but we have to make sure everyone agrees with what the leadership does before we can do it.
NoW iS nOt ThE tImE
Pretty much.
Labour leadership is very hostile towards those that hold any pro-Independence sentiment and rather than trying to understand it they just choose to crack down further and drive more people away.
Around 40% of remaining Scottish Labour voters support independence, I think it's absolutely mental that they continue to take such a hard-line stance despite plummeting to third place in the polls and still close to half of what remains supports independence.