Anyone who wishes to see a left-leaning Labour government in England should be rooting firmly for a No vote.
Anyone who wishes to see a left-leaning Labour government in England should be rooting firmly for a No vote
One of the most often repeated assumptions about the impending Scottish independence referendum is that a Yes vote would effectively mean the end of the Labour party in the rest of the UK.
With a Yes vote Labour would ultimately lose 41 of its MPs, while the Conservatives would lose just one. This, so argue, would result in an inbuilt majority for the Conservatives.
First of all it’s important to point out that the doomsday scenario – Scotland becoming independent – would not banish Labour from the corridors of power in what’s left of the UK. Even without Scotland, Labour would still have won power in 1997, 2001 and 2005 – albeit with a reduced majority.
The Conservatives may have won a few of the more pivotal elections – 1964 for example – but there is very little to suggest that Labour would have been confined to the electoral wilderness. The party would simply have had smaller majorities when in power.
So in sum, fears on an ‘inbuilt Tory majority’ are overblown’.
Where an independent Scotland almost certainly would make a difference, however, is in the nature of the Labour governments we would see in what remained of the UK. Indeed, while it would be an exaggeration to talk of the death of Labour in the rest of the UK, a Yes vote would likely move Labour to the right in an attempt to win over English voters, who as a rule vote to the right of Scottish voters.
In other words, future Labour governments would look a lot more like Tony Blair than Ed Miliband. Which makes it all the more peculiar to see some English progressives cheering on the Yes camp. Anyone who wishes to see a left-leaning Labour government in England should be rooting firmly for a No vote.
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10 Responses to “Would independence mean a permanent Tory majority?”
Cole
What are you going on about?
InbredBlockhead
Soz guy? Thought it was kinda self explanatory. Ur, you struggle with English cuz, innit?
LondonLynne
Scotland have stirred up politics like never before in my lifetime.
This has given the British people a chance to change things which we have not managed to do via the ballot box.
See Owen Jones – PETITION FOR CHANGE
‘Fellow citizens: Whatever happens in Scotland Referendum, the status quo must end!’
Sign petition for change: http://www.change.org/p/fellow-citizens-whatever-happens-in-indyref-the-status-quo-must-end?
robertcp
People are saying that Scotland being independent would not make much difference apart from the results in 1964 and 1974. However, Labour only had one comfortable majority between 1945 and 1997. That was in 1966 and it would not have happened without the narrow victory in 1964, so Labour might have been out of power for more than 40 years!
InbredBlockhead
Essex County Council has been outed for
discriminating against young people of white British ethnicity.
The council was exposed for operating an
apprenticeship scheme which states that any employer who chooses a non-white
non-British over a white British apprentice will be rewarded with a subsidy and
a grant of £2,500.
The whistle was blown by the Managing
Director of recruitment agency Get Me Group, Ben Drain, who learnt of the policy
when searching for apprenticeship placements for young job seekers only to find
that they denied the opportunities on the ground of their race.
“I think it is outrageous that our own
council is discriminating against young white British people – and encouraging
employers to ‘positively’ discriminate against them,” exclaimed Mr
Drain.
Racial discrimination at local government
level has meant young white British people are finding it increasingly difficult
to secure work and build themselves a career.
The race discrimination plot thickens: In a
shameful denial of responsibility Essex County Council shrugged off accusations
of racial discrimination claiming that the Diversity in Apprenticeship (DIA)
initiative is a national programme funded by the National Apprenticeship Service
(NAS), and therefore out of their hands.
In the NAS report ‘Good practice Evaluation
of the Diversity in Apprenticeships Pilot’ describes their preferred apprentice
as ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’ a term referred to by the acronym
BAME.
Can you imagine the fallout if the BNP
modified its employment policy to provide grants and subsidies to any employer
putting young white British job seekers before any other ethnic group? One rule
for them, another one for us!