Douglas Alexander has just told Andrew Neil that he will campaign for Scotland to stay in the union with ‘anybody else who wants to join me’. This opens up a difference with Alexander’s normally close political ally, Jim Murphy. Murphy, Scottish Secretary in the last Labour government and currently shadow defence secretary, recently declared that he wouldn’t share a platform with David Cameron during any referendum campaign.
When asked about this earlier in the day, Alexander said that he was more interested in making the argument about the value of the union rather than arranging the chairs. But Alexander does seem to hold a different position than Murphy on the question of whether Labour figures should campaign with Cameron or not.
During the interview, Alexander tried to laugh off recent reports of tensions in the shadow Cabinet and between him and Ed Balls in particular. He joked that ‘the cappuccino wars were a storm in a teacup’. He also said that Labour ‘must never go back to the destructive, factional political ambitions that made our time in government more difficult.’
When Andrew Neil pressed him on Ed Miliband’s relatively low poll ratings, Alexander conceded that ‘Ed has to take the opportunity this week’ to introduce himself to the public.
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