Is Labour finished in Scotland? There has been an assumption by many, particularly those in England, that the SNP behemoth will start to roll back at some stage; being in government in Holyrood will inevitably cause political gravity to take hold. Yet the SNP’s political humbling seems more remote than ever before, with a large gain in Westminster seats in December combining with huge polling leads for both themselves in Holyrood elections and for their side of the independence question itself. I believe Labour needs to strategically give up on Scotland – at least for now – if it wants to govern after the next general election and indeed, give themselves any prayer of winning big again in Scotland anytime in the future.
One of the things that led to Labour doing so poorly in the 2015 general election was the perceived threat of a Labour-SNP government, exploited perfectly by the Tories with their posters depicting Ed Miliband in the breast pocket of Alex Salmond.
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