The intellectual hollowness of Scottish Labour

The implosion of the Scottish National Party has led Scottish Labour to dream again of one day returning to what it assumes is its birth right: the berth at the top of Scottish politics.

Humza Yousaf’s increasingly pyrrhic looking triumph in the contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon was met with much merriment in Labour ranks; one source quoted in the Times during the leadership contest bluntly said, ‘I hope Humza wins because he is fucking s****.’

Polling since Yousaf’s win has found that the SNP’s lead over Labour in Westminster seats has been slashed to five points. Any poll after this week’s arrest of the former SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell will also be worth watching.

Yet, it is increasingly hard to shift the perception that Scottish Labour are largely incidental to this supposed upswing in their fortunes. Much in the way that Keir Starmer has been the very definition of a lucky general, Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour has also been exceptionally fortunate.

A confluence of events – a clash of nationalist egos, the elevation of a profoundly unsuitable and unserious man to the top SNP job, and an independence activist making a complaint to Police Scotland in 2021 – have more to do with Labour getting in striking distance of the nationalists rather than Sarwar producing policies which have electrified the Scottish populace.

It would be churlish to continue without commending Sarwar for at least giving his party a semblance of credibility again. After the disastrous tenures of a collection of has-beens and no-hopers like Iain Gray, Kezia Dugdale and Richard Leonard, the former MP at least seems plausible as a potential first minister. Beyond Sarwar, however, the rest of the party’s group of MSPs are underwhelming at best – bar the odd exception such as Jackie Baillie, who makes tormenting nationalist ministers look like an art form.

If the gap continues to narrow between the SNP and Labour – not just in Westminster elections, but also at Holyrood – what will the answer be when people start to ask what a Sarwar-led administration would do differently from the SNP?

Based on current evidence, both are more similar than they would care to admit. After all, Sarwar whipped his MSPs to vote alongside the Greens and the SNP in favour of the calamitous Gender Recognition Reform Bill which has now been kyboshed by the Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack.

If Labour one day win at Holyrood, will Sarwar feel the need to pursue these sorts of policies? After all, the debates at Holyrood showed there is a self-righteous rump of MSPs in his party, such as Monica Lennon, who very much believe they are ‘on the right side of history’ about all this sort of stuff.

The tendency towards superficiality – the defining hallmark of Sturgeon era politics at Holyrood – is a contagion from which no party can seemingly escape from, Labour included. Many of the banalities and buzzwords in its most recent manifesto make Humza Yousaf’s blandishments about a ‘wellbeing economy’ sound deep and serious.

Where is the detail about what Labour will do to address the scandals and fundamental tarnishing of Scottish education, the health service and transport? How will growth be encouraged? 

Instead, the supposed big brains of the party have alighted on the traditional Scottish Labour solution for everything – more devolution. Orchestrated by Gordon Brown, seemingly not content with his own devolutionary project turbocharging nationalism the first time round, a Labour commission has produced a series of maddeningly incoherent recommendations, the standout being Holyrood would have the ability to strike international agreements in relation to devolved policy areas. Both Sarwar and Starmer endorsing this shows that the intellectual hollowness of Labour in Scotland may prove impossible to shift.

For the first time in recent memory, Scottish nationalism has seemed vulnerable. Ousting the nationalists and their Green fellow travellers at Holyrood is, deep down, the ultimate prize for every unionist. Labour are the best placed to do that. But if they win power, will they make it count? On the current evidence, they have a lot more to do.