Scottish Labour is at risk of being “reduced to driftwood”, a former senior Labour Party in Scotland figure claimed. His Quotes:
* “The party’s stance on devolution will cost them during the referendum, the future of the party was more important than the future of the UK.”
* “While the wind of home rule blew, the Scottish Labour party was revealed as the most Westminster-centric of all Scottish parties and it was “damaged” by joining forces with the pro-union parties of Better Together during the referendum campaign.”
* “Rather than grasp the initiative on the agenda of new powers for the Scottish parliament, the Labour leadership saw the reforms only through the prism of what it would mean for a future Labour government at Westminster.”
* “The future of the United Kingdom was at stake but for Labour the future of the party was more important.”
* “It speaks to a belief that too many of our Scottish MPs regard Westminster as a way to escape Scottish politics rather than a way to represent Scotland.”
* “Some say the party has been damaged by joining with the coalition parties in Better Together. I think the real damage is that the Tories and the Liberal Democrats saw first hand that the ‘Labour machine’ didn’t exist.”
* “They even saw that some Labour figures were more willing to share a table with them than share the same airspace with their own Labour colleagues in Scotland”
Paul Sinclair, spin-doctor for former leader Johann Lamont and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown (STV News Dec 2014)
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