Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Chris McCall

Scottish Labour urged to 'grasp the nettle' and back second independence vote

A former trade union boss has warned Labour’s “stagnation” in Scotland could make the idea of the party winning the next Westminster election "impossible".

Len McCluskey - who spent a decade leading the UK’s largest union, urged party chiefs north of the border to "grasp the nettle" and back holding a second independence vote.

He made the plea as he called on Anas Sarwar to adopt a more "imaginative approach" to policy, warning that without a change of tack “Labour could be lost to another generation in Scotland”.

McCluskey - speaking during a visit to Scotland to promote his recent autobiography - believes a general election could take place in October next year.

He said: “The reality is that if an election is called next year, as we stand at the moment, Labour will make very few if any gains in Scotland, therefore the idea of a Labour overall majority in Westminster is impossible.

Len McCluskey is the former boss of Unite the Union (Getty Images)

“Labour can not win an overall majority in Westminster without Scotland.

“It can achieve a hung parliament, and as a minority it can form a government, although to do that Keir Starmer would have to win back the red wall seats in England and I struggle to see how he is going to do that.”

McCluskey - who was a strong supporter of Jeremy Corbyn - said he was "deeply worried about the Labour Party under the leadership of Keir Starmer".

He added: “The Scottish Labour Party is in a worse position that the rest of the national Labour Party, the Scottish Labour Party is stagnating and has done for a while now.

“It is completely out of touch with ordinary working class people in Scotland, we have lost thousands, droves and droves of Labour voters have moved over to the SNP.

“And that has been going on for some years now, Scottish Labour weren’t listening to the trade unions, they certainly weren’t listening to me when I was general secretary and telling them to wake up and smell the coffee.”

McCluskey said he had predicted Labour would lose “significant numbers” of seats in Scotland in the 2015 election – when it ended up with just one MP.

And he claimed since then “nothing” has changed within the party.

“I believe Scottish Labour really needs to grasp the nettle, they need to talk about independence question,” he stated.

“They should support a second referendum, even if they are not declaring at this stage whether they support independence or not.

“But they have to have an imaginative approach, they should, in my view, embrace the concept of federalism and devo-max, to try to breath some new life back into the party, otherwise Labour could be lost to another generation in Scotland.”

He continued: “I know comrades in Scotland can say, ‘what the hell has it got do to with you, keep your nose out’ but Scotland is very close to my heart.

“I come from Liverpool, I’ve got Scottish blood in me, and all my life I have looked up to Scotland and the radicalism of Scotland. It breaks my heart what is happening at the moment, as all I see is stagnation.

“That is what is stamped on the foreheads of literally all the leaders of Scottish Labour. And I appeal to them to rub that stagnation off, start to talk about imaginative, radical alternatives.”

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “We have a good relationship with our trade unions and are doing the hard work necessary to rebuild the Scottish Labour Party.

“Mr McCluskey is a private citizen and is entitled to his views on a range of issues.”

To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.