I want to begin by saying thank you to Richard and the many Progress members who campaigned in Scotland during the election, particularly the people who joined Richard and other progress staff on the three seats challenge in April.
I’m not going to pretend that the election results last week weren’t difficult for us.
They were.
But I was clear nine months ago when I took this job on that this would not be a short term project.
There would be no quick fix.
Just as you have to look back some way to find the root of the problems we face today, I want us to commit to the long haul in how we take the party in Scotland back to a position where we can govern again.
And let’s be clear – that is our objective.
Not to simply stand up to the SNP or the Tories, but be in a position where we can be in power again.
In the short time that’s available today I want to do three things.
First, I want to say something about the political debate in Scotland today, our campaign and what it means for the rest of the U.K.
Second, I’ll argue that the centre-left in Scottish politics is now to be found in the anti-austerity programme that was contained in our manifesto, and that devolved politics means that we have to become more comfortable with difference in our policy approach across the UK.
And, finally, explore some of the opportunities that come with a minority government in Scotland.
Let me start by saying that our fight back is being made more difficult by the argument of unionism versus nationalism.
Last week’s election result wasn’t a rejection of Labour’s manifesto; it was a resurgence of those referendum arguments of the past.
I was determined to fight a campaign which was about the future. Some have said that was a mistake that you have to fight elections where the voters are, not where you’d hope that to be.
I disagree.
My job as leader isn’t to play the odds and scrape over the line, Scottish Labour’s problems are too deep rooted and too fundamental for that and perhaps caused in part by that one more heave approach.
My focus on the future was the principled and decent thing to do but I was also borne of political necessity.
Because there is no long term benefit for the Labour Party in Scotland – a centre-left nation – chasing tactical unionist votes from Conservatives.
Indeed fighting a campaign like that would put have put back Labour’s Scottish recovery, rather than brought it closer.
The campaign we’ve just seen the Tory party run in Scotland was deeply cynical and their success built on sand.
Post-election, Ruth Davidson has described the Scottish electorate as putting her on probation – I would argue should she do serious time for some of falsehoods she’s sold.
For example, she insisted that only the Tories would stand up for the union, despite the reality that her party have done more to undermine it that any other. From English votes for English Laws to the Bedroom Tax, the Trade Union Bill and now this Tory leadership contest that poses as an EU referendum – each action undermines that union every day.
I would argue that the campaign Ruth Davidson ran bore many of the same hallmarks of Lynton Crosby’s campaign for the Tories last year. Concentrate on a small group of swing voters and target them with a message rooted in fear and division.
Like last year, it was the threat of independence and the SNP that provided an appropriate bogey man.
This was the context we were faced with in this election and, in the long term interests of the party; we needed to put forward arguments that could win back SNP voters and those who voted yes in the referendum.
Because the truth is that without them, no matter how many tactical unionist votes we receive, we could never be the largest party in Scotland again.
Our argument for the future was rooted in a bold tax plan. This was both to concentrate minds on the new powers that are coming to the Scottish Parliament, but also because there is an economic and social imperative to invest more in our public services.
The deeply ingrained social problems of Scotland are well understood. However it used to also be understood that if you were poor in Scotland you would get a good education – The very idea of comprehensive education was Scotland’s gift to the world.
That has changed. The gap between the richest and the rest is growing in our schools. Education and skills spending has been cut by 10% in real terms since the SNP came to power.
Meanwhile spending on older people has increased. Free personal care and other universal benefits for older people were introduced by Labour and maintained by the SNP. Protecting NHS spending has become an article of faith with every party pledging above inflation increases.
This would be fine but the only vision offered by the SNP using their new tax powers is to offer tax cuts, notably by abolishing air passenger duty.
It means we have a political landscape where:
– we’re cutting investment in education and skills, the future of economic growth
– while promising to maintain and increase spending on older people.
– but only reducing the tax take
In the long term something has to give.
That’s why my new group and I have resolved not to rip up our manifesto after the election but to stand by it – to continue to make the case for how we can use the powers to make different choices in Scotland.
Waiting to be proved right when so much is going wrong isn’t good enough though. We owe it to our people, and the 500,000 that voted Labour, believing in our prospectus, to have a better strategy than simply the passage of time.
That brings me to my third and final point – how we build coalitions willing to support our plans.
In this election, our policies won popular support. 75% of people supported a 50p tax on the most well off and a majority supported increasing the basic rate of income tax to protect public services in 4 different polls.
The Greens and the Lib Dems also supported these policies – or were prepared to go further – and together our three parties won nearly 700,000 votes against the Tories’ half a million and the SNP’s million.
In this next Parliament, therefore, with the SNP reduced to a minority government, coalition building on an issue by issue basis is going to be crucial.
And when it comes to critical decisions on tax, the SNP will have a choice of joining with parties of the right or the centre left.
For our part, I’m clear that we will be a constructive opposition and do all we can to pull a timid and centre-right SNP government in the correct direction.
As a party, I want us to represent modernity and opportunity. To do that we need to keep our eyes firmly on the future, forever seeking progress.
West Dunbartonshire Councillor Martin Rooney 