IT has been just another unedifying week in British politics. Filled with chaos, confusion, charge and countercharge.
. There were obtuse proceedings, debates about motions and amendments, and controversy over the role of the Speaker – all leaving the SNP feeling disrespected. Underlying all this was the mutual mistrust and jockeying for position between Labour and the SNP.
The current political landscape and the prospect of a UK Labour government makes this even more acute; exacerbated by the rising popularity of Labour in Scotland, with the SNP being on the back foot after 17 years inseats in 2019 and will struggle to achieve this against the pumped-up Labour challenge.
Jim Sillars was a young Labour MP first elected in a 1970 by-election, who observed how newly-elected Winnie Ewing spoke about Labour and Labour MPs.
This day 45 years later is still brought up by Labour figures, as the parliamentary vote led to the May 1979 election and election of Margaret Thatcher. Nick Cohen, formerly of The Observer, dragged it up last week after the antics in the House of Commons saying that this is just what you expect from “tartan Tories” who collaborated with the Tories to bring down a Labour government in 1979.
The long-running dispute between Labour and the SNP solidified and became more toxic in the 2014 independence referendum. A major point of fury for independence campaigners was Labour joining forces with the Tories in Better Together. This was widely seen as a betrayal of Scotland leading to the accusation that Labour were nothing better than “red Tories”.
Underneath all the rhetoric, both parties share common features including in places their obvious conservatism, control politics and top-down nature. Both have invoked at their peak the metaphor of “movement politics”. “The labour movement” used to be the central way that Labour thought of themselves and is still residually mentioned, with the SNP citing “the independence movement.” But both contain obvious tensions.
This issue produces tensions within the wider labour movement. Labour voters are overwhelmingly supportive, while the STUC and individual affiliated unions have shown their support for the party. This means this topic has traction and future possible movement. A final thought is that the similarities between Labour and the SNP are hardly surprising given their shared roots. The significant cost of the dance of mutual contempt and hostility between the two parties extends across most of the body politic of Scotland.
Across the developed world in the past 40 years, social democracy and the left have engaged in deep debates about the nature of theand political economy, how to support the diversity of civil society, the role of government, the state and public agency, the balance of well-being and economic growth, and issues of sustainability and thinking beyond the short-term.
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