Stuck in the Past
How prophetic does this post from the blog site archive look now as the political fall-out from Johann Lamont's resignation as Scottish Labour leader continues to tear the Labour Party apart.
If the Tories once merited the tag of the Nasty Party, I think Labour has gone one better and now deserves to be known as the Poisonous Party.
Stuck in the Past (10 September 2011)
The Daily Record brings the country momentous news this morning.
Apparently the Scottish Labour party is meeting today to consider bold new plans to breathe new life into the People's Party north of the border following its disastrous defeat at the Scottish Parliament elections in May.
Scottish Labour is out to show that the party has learned its lesson - that the 'new improved' Scottish Labour is different - bolder, more radical and energised - and that the party will demonstrate this by:
● Loosening ties with the UK Labour party
● Appointing a Scottish leader – who might not be an MSP – with unprecedented powers to shape policy and plan strategy north of the Border
● Kicking out long-serving MPs and MSPs and train a new generation of “top notch” candidates
● Reconnecting with the business world
● Hauling themselves into the 21st century by using social media for campaigning
Now I'll be genuinely interested to see who the next generation of 'top notch' candidates are as prospective councillors MPs and MSPs because at the moment the selection process is completely dominated by the trade unions.
Which brings me to the biggest and most obvious omission from the Labour shopping list of reforms - its institutional links with the the trade unions.
The fact of the matter is that in 2011 many more individual trade union members vote for the SNP in Scotland than vote for the Labour party.
Yet still the unions are Labour-only closed shops not just in terms of their policies and outlook, but also in terms of the people the unions recruit to senior positions.
Trade unions in Scotland are completely dominated by a tribal pro-Labour culture which is often hateful and antagonistic towards other political parties and explains why only Labour supporters and members get the top jobs.
When it comes to party politics trade unions in Scotland do not reflect or represent the views of ordinary union members, yet they continue to wield enormous influence, undue influence, as the Labour party's paymasters.
And until that democratic deficit is addressed Scottish Labour will remain stuck in the past.
Apparently the Scottish Labour party is meeting today to consider bold new plans to breathe new life into the People's Party north of the border following its disastrous defeat at the Scottish Parliament elections in May.
Scottish Labour is out to show that the party has learned its lesson - that the 'new improved' Scottish Labour is different - bolder, more radical and energised - and that the party will demonstrate this by:
● Loosening ties with the UK Labour party
● Appointing a Scottish leader – who might not be an MSP – with unprecedented powers to shape policy and plan strategy north of the Border
● Kicking out long-serving MPs and MSPs and train a new generation of “top notch” candidates
● Reconnecting with the business world
● Hauling themselves into the 21st century by using social media for campaigning
Now I'll be genuinely interested to see who the next generation of 'top notch' candidates are as prospective councillors MPs and MSPs because at the moment the selection process is completely dominated by the trade unions.
Which brings me to the biggest and most obvious omission from the Labour shopping list of reforms - its institutional links with the the trade unions.
The fact of the matter is that in 2011 many more individual trade union members vote for the SNP in Scotland than vote for the Labour party.
Yet still the unions are Labour-only closed shops not just in terms of their policies and outlook, but also in terms of the people the unions recruit to senior positions.
Trade unions in Scotland are completely dominated by a tribal pro-Labour culture which is often hateful and antagonistic towards other political parties and explains why only Labour supporters and members get the top jobs.
When it comes to party politics trade unions in Scotland do not reflect or represent the views of ordinary union members, yet they continue to wield enormous influence, undue influence, as the Labour party's paymasters.
And until that democratic deficit is addressed Scottish Labour will remain stuck in the past.
