In seeking to put as much distance between it and the SNP as possible, Labour is alienating potential voters in Scotland
Writing for the Scotsman over the weekend, Jon Curtice of Strathclyde University had a dire warning for Labour: “Rather than beginning to puncture the nationalist balloon, Scottish Labour is if anything falling even further behind the nationalists in the polls.”
Labour’s problem is that they are playing to the Tory tune. In seeking to put as much distance between it and the SNP as possible, the party is effectively alienating pro-independence supporters who previously voted Labour. In the process they are choking off the only viable option to a stable Labour-led government that can go on for a full Parliament.
Politics has changed – and potentially for good. The UK is fractured; but rather than embracing Scottish voters and seeking to tie the SNP to the difficult decisions to come, Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems are slowly prising the Scottish-England border apart.
All of that aside, what of the content of the SNP’s manifesto, which Nicola Sturgeon today declared to be ‘bursting with ideas and ambition’?
At its heart is a commitment to bring an end to austerity. What it dubs a ‘modest’ spending increase of 0.5 per cent a year would, the manifesto argues, enable at least £140 billion extra investment in the economy and in public services. On the basis of an analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Labour could potential sign up to such a plan and still meet its fiscal targets.
On housing, the SNP commit to the construction of 100,000 new affordable homes a year each year and to increasing the minimum wage to £8.70 an hour by 2020 (Labour has committed to increasing it to ‘more than £8 an hour by October 2019’).
Restoration of the 50p top income tax rate mirrors the commitment made by Labour. It would also be difficult to find a Labour politician willing to argue against an increase in the Employment Allowance, or to support the £3 billion cut in disability support which, the SNP argues, ‘threatens to cut the income of a million disabled people by more than £1,000 a year’.
For the rest of the day, politicians of the major parties will be doing their utmost to undermine the SNP. In reality, however, the differences between the SNP’s plans and Labour’s are not as stark as some in Miliband’s circle might have you believe.
Ed Jacobs is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter
55 Responses to “The differences between Labour and the SNP are smaller than you think”
Gary Scott
We had a referendum on voting reform during the course of this parliament, it was rejected. Holyrood itself, though, is elected by proportional representation. The ‘problem’ is that it leads, almost inevitably, to coalitions. This is unlikely to get support from parties that benefit from FPTP. To be fair, SNP in Holyrood actually have a majority – this is almost unheard of in this type of system though.
So, be careful what you wish for…
Gary Scott
True. Their policy of non cooperation led directly to an SNP majority. The public didn’t appreciate Labour making power plays instead of decent policies and voted for SNP in enormous numbers. In a proportional representation system a majority is a rarity but refusing to cooperate AT ALL in any kind of deal renders the body near useless. Those responsible were never disciplined by the party and have carried on in the same vein. This is part of the reason that Labour has been brought to its knees.
Norfolk29
How can you manage not to mention Trident. If EM agreed to a coalition with the SNP they would fail to gain in England the 40 seats they will lose in Scotland. Nicola would be delighted. Labour would never recover in Scotland, which would obtain Home Rule under the Tories. Can you not see that this is the strategy. Just ignore the tactics and concentrate on the real objective, which is Home Rule.
Jim Bennett
The SNP are committed to Single Transferable Vote which is much fairer than the voting reform which was put to a referendum by the coalition. Labour wouldn’t support it though. It would permanently lock them out as well as giving UKIP around 75 seats.
Jim Bennett
Interesting article on a similar theme outlining 5 areas of agreement and 5 areas of disagreement between the SNP and Labour: https://commonspace.scot/articles/1093/snp-manifesto-5-policies-snp-and-labour-agree-on-and-5-they-disagree-on