HUMZA Yousaf launched the SNP’S General Election campaign on Friday by promising to work with the expected incoming Labour government at Westminster. I feel he has missed a trick here.
It would appear, from recent opinion polls, that the Labour Party is breathing down the SNP’s neck and could well take many of its seats. I don’t feel that offering to work with the Labour Party is sufficient to stop this slide back to Labour.
The performance of the SNP over the past few years, along with the strong desire, especially in Scotland, to get the Tories out of office, explains the problem. I would suggest that what the SNP needs to do is as follows.
READ MORE: Scottish independence support can only rise with focus on living standards, says SNP MP
Make it clear that the SNP will support the Labour Party in getting into power at Westminster, without any initial preconditions, but that that support would be withdrawn if negotiations to at least strengthen devolution had not started within, say, two years. That offer of support could maybe be adjusted to say that this would only be given if the Labour Party was unable to achieve a majority without SNP help.
What would this achieve? It would make it clear to the Scottish electorate that voting Labour would not be required to get the Tories removed from office as Scotland’s SNP MPs would be voting to ensure that happened anyway. At the same time this would indicate the possibility that devolution might well be strengthened – something even Scottish Labour MPs, under Starmer’s direction, would be unlikely to demand.
READ MORE: Perhaps the Yes campaign should now focus on these two objectives
This would also nullify any statements by Labour that they would not do any deals with the SNP – as the SNP would not, initially, be demanding anything for its support. There are many other steps the SNP could take to improve its chances at the next General Election but the above would be a good start.
Yousaf has often pointed out that a Labour government at Westminster will only be replaced by another Tory government, after five or ten years, and that only independence reduces the possibility of that to almost zero. A right wing, Starmer-led, Labour government might well get a second term – but that will not do anything to fix Scotland’s economic problems. On the other hand, a left-wing Labour government will most likely be replaced by a new Tory government after only one term. The SNP need to make more of this reality and make it clear that voting Labour is simply a waste of time if real, long-term change is to be made.
Dave McCartney
Benderloch
IT seems, these days, that Brian Lawson finds fault with the SNP/Scottish Government almost as often as Douglas Ross does. That is his prerogative, of course, but I have to confess I was surprised when I read his latest gripe regarding the consultation on banning conversion therapy (Letters, Jan 12). I would hope if he has read Judith Duffy’s article about this issue in Sunday’s paper he may now be more sympathetic towards any proposed legislation. After all, what is “ham-fisted” and “divisive” about tackling something which does people harm?
Alan Woodcock
Dundee
THERE is a new public consultation on planned laws to ban LGBT conversion therapy in Scotland and issues are being carefully explored. Though they’re entitled to make their case, religious leaders such as The Christian Institute’s Simon Calvert have shrilly responded indicating a fear of the criminalisation of “innocent mainstream Christian teaching on sexual ethics”. “Sexual ethics”! How dare they bring their religion-based judgements to someone else’s love life!
Neil Barber
Edinburgh Secular Society
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