AN SNP MP has warned his party not to argue Labour and the Tories are the same after the First Minister described them as a “replica” of each other.
Stewart McDonald, the MP for Glasgow South, said there was “much to critique Labour on” but urged his party not to “retreat to the comfort zone and the easy slogans”.
Instead, he said the SNP must offer a “real alternative to broken Westminster governance”.
Speaking at last week’s Progressive Britain conference, Labour leader Keir Starmer compared his efforts to reform the party to Tony Blair’s rewriting of Clause Four “on steroids”.
However, he was criticised for comments briefed to the press ahead of the speech in which he said he “didn’t care” if he sounded conservative when committing to preserving “precious things in our way of life”.
After the speech, Humza Yousaf tweeted: “This week, I accused Labour of being a pale imitation of the Tories, I was wrong, they are a replica.
This week, I accused Labour of being a pale imitation of the Tories, I was wrong, they are a replica. Whether it is the blue Tories or red Tories in No 10, they will continue policies that are harming Scotland. We need independence to protect our people.#VoteLabourGetTory pic.twitter.com/kOSLLlY5Rw
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) May 13, 2023
“Whether it is the blue Tories or red Tories in Number 10, they will continue to policies that are harming Scotland. We need independence to protect our people.”
The party has also challenged Labour to side with them on scrapping anti-protest legislation although Starmer’s party have previously said repealing the Public Order Bill is not one of their priorities should they win the next General Election.
Responding to a political commentator on Twitter, McDonald said: “We must critique Labour, of course, but after the disaster years of Boris and weeks of Truss, telling people Lab & Con are the same won’t get us far.
Much of this I agree with. We must critique Labour, of course, but after the disaster years of Boris and weeks of Truss, telling people Lab & Con are the same won’t get us far. We must show we can answer the economic, social and global insecurities reaching into every community. https://t.co/TCIDxNy9k3
— Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) May 15, 2023
“We must show we can answer the economic, social and global insecurities reaching into every community.
“And goodness, there is much to critique Labour on, and offer a strong alternative to, but we’ll only win if we can credibly answer the three common insecurities mentioned above, as part of an unashamedly pro-independence and EU platform. IMO (in my opinion) that’s where the winning coalition is.”
He continued: “If we retreat to the comfort zone and the easy slogans, we’ll lose. We can absolutely take this lot on, but only if (we) get it right. Let’s win on a platform of prosperity, fairness, resilience and independence in Europe.
“No matter how easy Labour might sometimes make it for us, we should resist easy soundbites and answers when the problems people are facing are complex.
“Let us engage in solving those problems and offering a real alternative to broken Westminster governance.”
