Time to get behind Richard Leonard

 It should come as no surprise that Richard Leonard’s leadership has come under attack from people who never wanted him as leader in the first place, as we can draw on similarities with how Jeremy Corbyn has been treated. However, this is more to do with MSPs selfishly looking at their own positions on the Scottish Labour’s parliamentary list and which leader would give them the best opportunity to remain high on that list.

 

In seven months time we will be in the midst of a Scottish Parliamentary election campaign and there are some in the party intent in taking the us into a civil war where the Party may never recover and in which the foot soldiers, ie ordinary members, get used as cannon fodder for the self-preservation society. This is not acceptable

 

Let’s be clear, political light weights, James Kelly, Jenny Marra, Daniel Johnstone et al, are testing the waters on behalf of a silent elite of so-called ‘centrists or moderates’ intent in making the party, in Scotland, more unionist than the Tories.

 

Unknown Labour MSP Daniel Johnstone said "It is time to recognise the situation we are in and for Richard to step down." The situation that we are in has been inherited by previous leaders and it was Kezia Dugdale that took us into third place behind the Tories at the last Scottish election. These people are trying to con party members into thinking that they are the solution instead of the problem, when they have presided over continual decline for more than 20 years.

 

When it comes to elections, there is only one issue of any importance to those casting their vote, and that is, the constitutional question. Our pro unionist stance is widely unpopular among the Scottish working class, as a cumulative response to the Thatcher years, the last years of Blair/Brown and the last ten years of austerity under Cameron, May and now Johnston.

 

Where else would you have a government that has overseen the third worse covid19 rate in Europe, who has overseen the crisis in our care homes, the exam fiasco, local government funding scandal thrive? Where else would you see that government’s popularity increase?

 

The problem is that the unionist vote is being spread out between Labour, the Tories and the LibDems, and because the issue over the constitution is not going away, our campaigning is more about who is the better unionist? Sottish Labour is fighting for that vote, and therefore, we are not laying a glove on the SNP. That is the reality of our position in Scottish politics and we are losing that battle badly. Richard is trying to change that by offering a different devolution proposition. An offer that would not only give more powers to the Scottish Parliament, but also more powers to democratically elected local authorities. It would give people a more control over the economy and their industry and society. These are things worth fighting for and not the distraction of a leadership contest that will only serve the vanity of a few deluded individuals.

 

Wake up, our socialist ideas are popular among the populace. So let us back Richard and see where it takes us.

 

If we fail, we may need to ask a different question on our future or face extinction.

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