There will be a lot of people in other parts of the UK who are very cross with Scotland this morning, and confused that in the independence referendum just months ago they decided to stay in the UK, then they send almost exclusively SNP MPs to Westminster.
It is wrong to be cross with Scotland and there is no need for confusion. Coming from a Welsh constituency probably helps me understand.
So let’s deal with those two points in reverse.
First, the referendum decision was decisive and I am sure the Scottish people did view that as the end of the matter for a generation. That is not the reason for the SNP’s success yesterday, it is not a “surge of nationalism”.
In Wales, we also have a nationalist party, Plaid Cymru (PC). For UK issues, the electorate trusts Labour to represent them. But for Welsh issues, I have repeatedly seen Labour voters voting for the determinedly “Welsh party”, as they see it – albeit mistakenly – which is why PC is so disproportionately strong in the Welsh Assembly.
Rather than trust loyal supporters to understand the socialist arguments for the UK, Labour aligned itself too closely with the Tories over the independence referendum, “talking down” to voters. Then, after the referendum, Labour in London foisted upon Scottish Labour an openly Blairite leader, the clear message being that he would simply march the electors on Westminster to win the General Election.
First a betrayal, then to be taken for granted and just used as pawns in the bigger fight, the Scottish people saw their decision to stay within the UK rewarded by no-one actually listening to their wants and needs.
So the Scottish people have done what I have seen people do in Wales many times, turn to the nationalists as a party which is at least determined to stand up for Scotland. The SNP’s prime objective is as irrelevant to the immediate question as it has been for many decades: they want someone to speak for the Scottish people NOW.
The blame should be placed squarely where it belongs: with a Labour leadership that ignores its members in all parts of the UK when they tell the Party it needs to offer the British people an alternative to – not a watered down version of – the Tories, to stand up for people in the way they expect of Labour.
Blame the Labour leadership who think they have to have the media’s permission to govern, instead of trusting the electorate to embrace policies befitting the Labour Party.
When the people obviously are unhappy with energy, communications and transport companies ripping them off, almost completely unregulated, the answer is not a 15 month electricity prices freeze. When pay is driven down and people forced to accept whatever insecure employment they are offered, the answer is not to raise the minimum wage by 30p a year to 2020. When the NHS is being carved up for privateers, the answer is not to trim back some of the more obvious profiteering.
It is difficult to see how Labour can rebuild in Scotland, but a good start would be to begin to shape policies that offer a real alternative to government for the rich.