Scottish Labour: beyond the Referendum

After a relatively quiet year in political terms in 2013 – no national elections, not many by-elections - we have three major political challenges over the next 3 years.

The Independence Referendum in September 2014, a UK General Election in May 2015 and the next Scottish Parliament elections in May 2016.

The big challenge, of course, is to win a resounding vote against separation this year.

The 2015 and 2016 elections will be very different if the YES campaign is successful.  It’s tempting to ignore them for now for that reason.  I’ll argue here that  its exactly by being clear about what Labour will set out to achieve if elected in 2015 and 216 that we give ourselves the best chance of a resounding NO vote in September.

To listen to the pundits and read the polls, you'd think it was a done deal.  The case against independence seems compelling.  Confusion about the pound, doubts about EU membership, risks to jobs and pensions.  And that’s just the headlines.

But I don’t think it’s that simple.

In fact, I think we risk the political equivalent of sleep-walking into independence.

Because there are 10s of thousands of people who I don’t think will vote with their heads on 18th September but with their hearts.  Who have heard all the arguments - probably even agree with them - but may still pause in the polling booth, pencil over the two boxes, and just wonder.... what if?

Because there are an awful lot of people out there who are fed up with how government works - or doesn’t work - for them.  People who are fed up with politics and politicians of all parties.  People who don’t even vote.  People who may be persuaded, just once, to vote for a change, regardless of the risks. 

That’s who the SNP will mobilise and spend their election money-chest to target this year.

People who will vote with their hearts. 

People who want a better, different, Scotland than is on offer from the main parties right now.

We need to win those hearts.

We need to win those hearts not just for one vote, but to vote Labour again in 2015 and 2016.

So what is the Independence Referendum really about?

The SNP seem to be making it about what form of government can best deliver what the people of Scotland need.   Their argument, simply put, is that an independent Scotland can run its own affairs in the best interests of Scots than a Westminster government with a different agenda.

And while we endure the baleful effects on living standards of a Tory/LibDem Coalition driving through its, free market, small government, anti public sector, benefits cutting agenda that’s a powerful argument.

We hear much talk from the YES Campaign about democracy, about delivering a government for Scotland that better reflects the will of the people of Scotland than now.

But it’s not a joined up UK that is holding Scotland back. 

It’s the SNP who want to put it all at risk by a leap of faith into the unknown.

Everything will be fine in an independent Scotland because the SNP will make it so.

Europe will fast-track our EU membership because it’s the will of the Scottish people.

The rest of the UK will agree to a sterling zone because it’s in THEIR interests, whilst Scotland competes for jobs and investments with an Irish-style low tax policy for big corporates.

The SNP know this.  But in pursuit of their own ideology they are ready to plunge Scotland into years of economic uncertainty. 

In pursuit of their own interest they will not take some of the actions they could take now to mitigate some of the worst effects of the Tory/LibDem coalition.

They talk about project fear and project hope. 

But it’s what they are proposing that risks plunging Scotland into a generation of fear, uncertainty and doubt.

But I don’t think it’s good enough just to challenge the SNP to be more honest.

We need to challenge the SNP, get them off their moral high-horse about democracy and start to explain why they are ready to take such huge risks with all our economic futures.  

As Labour politicians and activists we need to start getting angry with the SNP about the risks they are taking with the economic and social lives of most Scots.

The Better Together campaign of course has to spell out all that is wrong with the Yes campaign’s arguments.  But as a working arrangement of Labour, Tory, LibDem and Independent politicians and activists, it’s limited in its ability to really spell out positive alternatives.

I’ve shared Better Together platforms with Danny Alexander, but my view of a post-referendum Scotland and UK is very different from his and those of his “quad” colleagues.  

Contemplating another Tory/LibDem Coalition after 2015, it’s tempting to flirt with the idea of an independent Scotland.  How different would a Scottish Labour Party be then?  Or would we need a new party?  Independent Labour Party anyone?

But this baleful coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats is only there because the Labour party ran out of ideas and popular support. Post Iraq, post the credit crunch, post the banking collapse.

We need a Vision for a post-referendum Labour Scotland

The Labour Party needs to talk a lot more about how things would be different after a NO vote in 2014.

What will our priorities be? What new policies will we promote, what will we actually do if elected into power in 2015 and 2016?

I’ve argued before about the need for a positive Labour vision for a post referendum Scotland.

What does that actually mean?

It should start with a clear statement of what we believe in as a Labour Party.

A fair, equal and socially just society.

A society where there are always decent jobs which pay a living wage for those that need or want to work.   A society which abhors the waste of young people not able to find work or proper training and wants a government determined to tackle it.

A socially just society where the right to a decent standard of living is recognised for all and provided for based on need rather than earning power.

A society which places a high value on its public services, freely available to all when they are needed and is prepared to fund excellence and not just a safety net.

A sustainable society, committed not just to sustainable energy but to maintaining and protecting diverse communities across the country, urban and rural.

A society which values the role of government in delivering economic and social benefits for us all, because the free market, left to itself will not do so.

Scottish Labour need to be talking much more about what kind of society and government it wants to deliver post the referendum and the elections of 2015 and 2016.

We need some big ideas and some new policies that give people a clear view of what a post-Referendum, Labour-governed Scotland could be like.  Big, ambitious ideas.

Here are some ideas from my list:

·        a commitment to a living wage for all public and private sector employees, backed up by changes to public sector procurement practices to ensure that any business bidding for a public sector contract will pay it

·        establishing a network of regional banks – maybe by breaking up RBS whilst we still own it – that can provide lending and services based on the needs of the local economy not global competition.  This works well in Germany.

·        requiring major private sector companies whose decisions impact the lives of thousands to appoint trade union representatives as non-execs on their Boards.  

·        bringing ScotRail under public control in the same way as East Coast, which is running well and generating income for the government (and opposing the sell-off of East Coast as well), then using that power to develop joined up public transport services – especially in rural areas – that reduce the dependency on cars    

·        extending Labour’s proposed control of gas and electricity prices to all fuels – including petrol and diesel at garages – using a public pricing indicator where private firms have to justify rises above this or why they are not reducing prices when it falls

·        not replacing Trident.  A policy which saves us a huge amount of money and gives us the moral high- ground to argue for a non-nuclear weapon world.

Some of these are policies the Scottish Parliament can already pursue if it wanted to.

Others will need co-operation, and argument, with a Labour Government at Westminster.

Creating jobs, building economic security, promoting equal opportunity and funding decent public services are what anyone in this country should expect from a left of centre government, whether run from Westminster or Holyrood.

There is a line in the Internationale which sums this up.

"Freedom is just privilege extended if not enjoyed by one and all". 

Scotland can be one of the best small countries in the world to live and work in. 

A free and equal country, where everyone enjoys the benefits of those values.

We already have a Scottish Parliament with the power to do so much.

We need to win a resounding NO vote in 2014.

And then we need to use that power.