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”
Julia
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPolitical_compass&ei=zU01VeCwOMmXauXFgJgC&usg=AFQjCNG8l3EFqKqFuh7m0gmRDnHffSwUhw&sig2=QfiT0FPlv9E02k66juQXuw&bvm=bv.91071109,d.d2s
JAMES MCGIBBON
Try doing what is right and admit to the SNP hypocrisy and their helping the Tories. Stop this nonsense that you will not help the Tories in the future. Just be honest. I know it is difficult but do try. And if you are ever up dancing to the Proclaimers, “Linwood no more” then remember your nats had a hand in it. No need to apologise.
Malcolm X
SNP mirror the future of Politics as do Plaid Cymru.
The equivalent to them in England would be TUSC and The Green Party (the latter, who still need to catch up in realistic, deliverable policies and could take a lot from the SNP).
At heart, the main question is Independence – and not to be fooled by the main parties scare tactics – we all know, if it didn’t benefit England for Scotland to go it alone – Lab/Lib/Cons would be packing there bags for the Scots without hesitation.
At the end of the day, Cameron can snarl and whine all he wants. If Scots decide to walk away from the union, Scotland will walk away – and they have every right to do so.
Scottish Independence isn’t what Cameron is worried about though – neither are Labour, thanks to the FPTP system that’s allowed a two party monopoly for far too long.
Its Westminster’s grip on the throat of the British people and the big businesses who’ve made each of these party’s, millionaires with second homes and second kitchens that worries the elite who govern us.
Nicola Sturgeon, Leanne Wood and Natalie Bennett represent a new hope for British people and signals a death knell to the iron grip the big business and lobbies have held for decades over us – and with it hopefully the death of the Great British Sell-off that Thatcher started, Blair continued and Cameron expedited.
Ed Milliband has ONE chance to redeem a Labour Party that long stopped being a party of the People, having taken us into illegal wars, selling arms to countries with some of the worst Human Rights records and selling off our nations assets and burdening our children with debts we couldn’t even begin to imagine as they start off in life.
Get on board Ed, Nicola put her hand out. Take it! Work with the new welcome faces of British politics..
Or we will get you OUT.
Julia
What an amazing trick the SNP pulled off. They managed to dupe one of the most left wing parts of the UK into voting for the “Evil Nats”. They created a cult that traps more and more people every year. Do you really believe that?
I’ll leave you one last thought – how will you explain the rejection of the Westminster Parties by Scotland on the 7th. May. It will not be my opinion it will be a nations opinion and judgement of neoliberal values.
I can’t change the world. I can’t change the UK but I can help to change Scotland.
I’m off now to play some proclaimers music.
JAMES MCGIBBON
I would reckon most Scots or indeed anyone else has a clue what neoliberal means. But do enjoy the music and think of Scotland.