Labour has a job on its hands to claw back from the toxic image it seems to have with many voters in Scotland.
That’s not all Labour’s fault. For the Scottish National Party to deliver on its raison d’etre of independence it had to destroy what had been the dominant force in Scottish politics. Any other issue was secondary.
Of course, not every SNP voter wanted independence, nor are they all remainers. They have not all swallowed the SNP’s faux left-wing image. It is more complex. For many, it was about defeating the Tories and they probably envisaged the SNP bolstering Labour in a hung parliament.
But the fact is that huge numbers of previous Labour supporters voted for a manifesto with an independence referendum. Agree or not, that has to be respected. Those of us whose analysis of the economic facts would oppose the inevitable austerity of independence and ‘little Scotland’ nationalism, might be better saving those arguments for a referendum rather than for opposing one - despite the risk of it being just as divisive as the first one.
When it came to creating a toxic image, unfortunately Labour didn’t make it difficult. The ill-judged collusion with the Tories in the independence referendum, the patronising right wing taking votes for granted in ‘safe’ areas, and the drift towards a ‘middle ground’ that moved inexorably to the right all contributed. There were Labour councils implementing Tory cuts.
It doesn’t seem to matter that we now have SNP councils implementing SNP cuts. Or that we have a documented SNP vision for the future that embeds austerity in an independent Scotland. The damage has been done.
So, the lesson from the election is not Jeremy Corbyn as some would have us think. Neither is it just the media demonisation. They’ll do that with any Labour leader. But let’s be clear, the viciousness of that demonisation came from vested interests opposing the policies. That’s what they feared, not just the person.
It worked. In conversations, I encountered irrational hate for Corbyn from some, but thankfully also (mainly) young people who saw him as a beacon of hope.
So before we fall into the ‘Corbyn was the problem’ trap - promulgated by Labour’s disloyal right wing even during the election - let’s be clear that the press vitriol and the dubious performance of the BBC did have a tangible effect.
The solution to what Corbyn and diverse figures like Foot, Kinnock and Miliband endured is oft quoted as the Alastair Campbell and Blair partnership. Effective though this was in managing the media, it pandered to their right wing agenda so that Labour’s programme seemed little different from the Tories’.
I won’t deny the Blair/Brown achievements like halving child poverty, creating the minimum wage and tax credits, and mitigating the financial crash. But some of this was done quietly so as not to upset News International. All at the expense of the disastrous PFI legacy and the shame of needless deaths abroad and at home from an inexcusable war.
But sadly, even that analysis is irrelevant in today’s politics. Today, brexit will solve all ills in the north of England and independence will solve all ills in our dear Caledonia.
Encouraged by the media, many see politics as a dirty word. They do not see it impinging on their daily lives. They did not perceive Labour transforming their lives unless they were old enough to remember life without an NHS.
They did not believe this year’s radical manifesto (not all that ambitious compared to the post-war one but far more ambitious than the SNP’s) and more worryingly they associated Labour with Tory cuts. They were let down by Labour complacency in its heartlands, but we cannot ignore that populist xenophobia also played a part. In that, Labour has a duty to challenge and debate, not merely reflect.
In the end it was binary with simple solutions. Disaffection translated into black or white with no grey areas. It was - and for some time will be - difficult to focus on the root solutions to poverty, inequality and the destruction of public services. You are unionist or nationalist, brexit or remain, and everything else will sort itself out.
The big lesson and the one ray of hope is in the masses who engaged with Corbyn at rallies across the country. The young who grasped that the future is about ideas, the environment, compassion, equality and opportunity. That demographic will gradually become the majority that could change things radically, but only if they continue to have a beacon that offers them leadership.
It is a marathon not a sprint. A swing to the right in Labour now, chasing votes of the mythical silent majority, will not work in this binary world. Nurturing the ideas and ideals of the new generation, giving them a voice and the ammunition to spread the word in their communities, is the best option we have to avoid losing the socialist vision for a generation.
Educate, agitate and most of all organise. Now, where have I heard that before?
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