Allan Grogan looks for new beginnings to return to old values

History may speak of the 2014 referendum as the turning point for Scotland. With a huge turnout to vote, record numbers attending public meetings, discussions on economy, oil and poverty everywhere you went. It is clear that Scotland has once again discovered its political voice. We should take great pride in this despite the result of the referendum. In truth, we ran closer than we could ever have imagined at the beginning of this campaign. Faced against the might of the British Establishment holding a 20 point lead and the mass media against us we were just under 400,000 votes off a historic victory.

But who were the winners and losers? Where did it all go wrong? You would imagine that the ‘no’ campaign would be celebrating after the 19 September. This is only partly true. For the Conservatives, it gave them a rare win in Scotland and the opportunity to put Ed Milliband on the backfoot with the proposal of devolution for England. For the Lib Dems it gave them … well a win, something they aren’t all that familiar with. What of Labour? They led the campaign, dominated the media side of the ‘No’ team, they were the face and voice of Better Together. Yet they have been anything but winners in this campaign.

In 2012 when this campaign started the Labour leadership in Scotland decided it would forgo democratic norms of giving their members a vote on how the party would campaign this referendum. In light of this democratic deficit, Labour for Independence was formed. Ironically, had Labour had the vote they would have won in a landslide with only 9% of Labour members planning to vote ‘yes’ at the time. Without this show of democracy, it allowed for the evolution of Labour for Independence to campaign for the opportunity that independence would bring not only to the people of Scotland but also an opportunity to see a return to a real Labour Party in Scotland, modern and progressive but beholden to its founding principles.

Instead, a ‘no’ vote will be seen as an endorsement of the Labour leadership in Scotland and how they defer to their masters at Westminster, namely, promoting right wing policies which have no place in the party of Bevan, Smith, Maxton and Hardie. Perhaps worse have been the actions of the leadership, the ‘something for nothing’ comments, the lies, and the scare stories. The indelible mark that will forever stain the soul of the Labour Party was seeing Johann Lamont smiling outside Asda after they asserted that food prices would rise in an independent Scotland. What a despicable act; to take pleasure from the notion that the working poor will struggle to put food on the table just because they dared to vote ‘yes’. It is little wonder that, thanks in part to Labour for Independence, 40% of Labour voters came out to vote for change by voting ‘yes’.

The uncomfortable reality of the party came into full view less than one week later, as it unveiled plans to cut Child Benefit in real terms and begin to backtrack on more powers for Scotland. This is the direction that the party I have supported since I was 8 years old is going in. This is why with a heavy heart I resigned my membership to the party on 23 September. I, along with thousands of others in Scotland, no longer feel Labour represent us, or even its own history. The irony of it all is that with a ‘yes’ vote we could have seen a return to a real Labour Party which most people would have voted for in Scotland. The party, particularly in this nation, is in deep decline, and I fear it may be permanent.

So if the winners really lost, did the losers really win? Despite not gaining their parties main goal, it would appear the result may have worked in the SNP’s favour. Many voters, attached to the Yes movement have joined the party to maintain that sense of belonging. Irony has been mentioned in this piece, but it is perhaps the ultimate irony that the party who lost the election for Yes, being unable to win their soft voting areas of Angus and Aberdeenshire, walked away with 40,000 new members and counting.

Many within the Yes movement now call on all ‘45%’ to stand behind the SNP to wipe out ‘new’ Labour. This would be working under the assumption that a Referendum 2 is imminent. The reality is we are looking at a generation before we will have that opportunity again. We need to address the issues of why those in real Labour areas voted ‘Yes’ and what will unite them. Who will provide a platform for their aspirations? The unfortunate truth for those who will support the SNP as a socially just party in 2015 is that despite the visceral hatred for Labour at the moment, they will push the line of ‘us or the Tories,’ and win a majority in Scotland in 2015. We need to think beyond this election or the next. We need to present the people of Scotland with a viable alternative to ‘new’ Labour, one that reflects the needs and aspirations of the working class, whether this be in the form of a new political party or a shift from a current one. We must readdress the balance to provide a home for the many, including myself who feel politically homeless.

In these last 30 months, the left has come together for the first time, united in a common purpose. We can achieve that again. It may be no longer possible to save the soul of the Labour Party but the great history and names within the party will live on. But they live on with those who hold true their ideals and beliefs. Not by having a red membership card. But there is still an opportunity. Perhaps, the left and Scotland, with a little patience can become the winners after all.

Allan Grogan is the former co-convenor of Labour for Independence