Cheap Shots…
Ok, so the last post was a cheap shot, but there is a serious point here. The Devolution of government to Scotland and Wales has, by and large, been a success. Scotland’s electoral system, the Alternative Member System, also works. One of the biggest failures of New Labour in power was neglecting the logical conclusion – that England’s regions should also have similar powers, and that the power of Westminster should be scaled down.
The latest election campaign has highlighted a number of problems for Scottish Labour – it seems fixated on Westminster, and its highest profile figures are unwilling to work through the Assembly. The SNP, although not particularly attractive to many, at least have a great figurehead in Alex Salmond, and have been able to play to this strength. The machine nature of Scottish Labour, and its often public feuds over the years have meant that no leader has emerged to rival the late lamented Donald Dewar.
Should Labour continue in this vein, then we face a major problem when it comes to the next general election. That is supposing that Scotland is still part of the UK.
Yet the SNP have their own worries here. Should a Referendum be held, it is by no means certain that the result will go in favour of Independence. And do they really want to win it? Economically, it would be a huge problem for them, especially since Alex Salmond’s only alternative economic policy crashed and burned with Iceland…
What would Clement do? 