Well, as expected, I’ve returned to WH Smith and not the
House of Commons for employment. My area, like every other in Glasgow and
nearly every other in Scotland fell to the SNP on a massive majority and
massive swing.
No need for the arithmetic skills today, just political
opinion and election hindsight which I have now (with a serious lack of sleep since Thursday all be it) to try note down my post-election thoughts by party and the next
steps for the Independence movement in Scotland.
TORIES- A fantastic and unexpected result for the Tories. A
majority which looked impossible before the election and many people didn’t
fancy him to lead a Government at all post May with the arithmetic. For working
class people the length and breadth of the UK however, a disaster. Tory cuts
will be brutal, and we need to be ready to fight them and an upcoming in-out
referendum on Europe. Right wing mania till 2020
.
LABOUR- Pathetic. Lost England to the Tories by a massive
margin, with some big name casualties along the way including their own Shadow
Chancellor. Quite possibly one of the hardest results to take for Labour
activists given the polls suggested they were most likely to form a Government post-election
and will surely go down as one of the worst in the party’s history. An
unpopular and weak Tory Coalition slashing public services but a lack of
alternative and vision has left them with no sense of direction or purpose
south of the border. In Scotland, a toxic alliance with the Tories and a
Blairite warmonger appointed as leader were the final kiss of death. And still
he refuses to step down, if they don’t force him out, they can rule out doing
anything next year at Holyrood either. The case for an autonomous Labour party
here with a left wing leader never been clearer, but for me it’s a case of the
brand is now toxic. The UK leadership looks certain to go to a right winger in
the party, with my tip being shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna.
LIBERALS- Tuition fees and a lack of trust. All that really
needs said. Although notable and unexpected casualties including Vince Cable
and Simon Hughes. Clinging onto Orkney and Shetland and Clegg in Sheffield
Hallam a glimmer of light on a very dark night for them. Good luck to whoever
takes over the reins there, they’ll need it.
UKIP- Vote share very impressive but the FPTP system has been
their downfall. Loss of talisman leader in Nigel Farage adds to their
problems with the possibility of him returning after the summer which I
wouldn’t rule out. Didn’t have a good short campaign and perhaps peaked too
soon and were cast aside in the media frenzy over Nicola Sturgeon in the TV
debates. In a proportional system will do well, and will probably keep vast
amount of voter base throughout the country. May even have one eye on sending
lot of resources into bouncing back strongly in Holyrood next year to keep
momentum within the ranks.
SNP- A fantastic result. Bouncing back from referendum
defeat with a Labour whitewash across the country. Taking all 7 Glasgow seats
in particular is a real watershed moment in Scottish politics. However, its
essentially a feeble 56 as with a Tory majority they wont be able to exert any
influence at all or force any concessions. Leaves them with a decision to make on when to re-visit Independence, after being at pains to avoid it and effectively manage the British state.
For Scotland, after comprehensively rejecting the austerity consensus
of Westminster and booting out the Labour party on mass with the exception of
the folks of Edinburgh South, a bitter pill to swallow as David Cameron strolls
into Downing Street with more MP’s than before the election and with a mandate
of a majority government. In my opinion, the question of Independence returns
to the top of the agenda again.
Our communities, our NHS, our most vulnerable,
our disabled, our young people, our public sector workers and services, the
entire working class, cannot take 5 years of the democratically illegitimate,
most right wing government since Thatcher. An in out referendum on Europe,
repeal of the Human Rights Act, £12billon in welfare cuts, no benefits at all
for under 25s, and a further 5 years of savage cuts to public funds mean that
to not revisit the Independence question is to essentially abandon the Scottish
working class. For the left south of the border, it opens up an anti-austerity
narrative to another wise rabid right wing landscape and may be the only way to
force Cameron out of Downing St and trigger another election.
We need another
referendum before 2020, to save our communities, regardless of how well that
suits the SNP election strategy. If the SNP don’t take up the mantle of a
referendum in the next Parliament, it’s down to the left to keep it top of the
agenda. A challenge I’m most certainly up for pursuing.
