Summary
IN CARVING out a distinctive persona from the problematic morass that is the party at Westminster, Scottish Labour has a daunting task. But this is what Cathy Jamieson, the deputy leader of the Labour group in Scotland, made clear yesterday the party here should do. She would like to see Scottish Labour distance itself from the crisis at the UK level. And she wants the 2007 local government elections and the elections to the Holyrood parliament to be fought on Labour's record here in Scotland. But as the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has found, getting voters to focus on results and achievements at local level can be inordinately difficult when public attention is fixed on the failings - personal or political - of high profile Westminster Cabinet ministers.
Mr Blair's radical Cabinet reshuffle has not quelled the critics on the government back benches. Indeed, about 50 Labour MPs have signed a letter giving Mr Blair just a few weeks to set out a clear timetable for his departure. At the same time, two more Scottish voices have been promoted to high-level positions in the Cabinet - Des Browne as Secretary of State for Defence, and Douglas Alexander as Secretary of State for Transport, in addition to those of John Reid (promoted to Home Secretary) and Alistair Darling, now Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Convincing Scottish voters that Scottish Labour's conduct and competence is separate and distinct from a Westminster Cabinet with so many Scottish voices will be difficult enough. When one further considers that the Cabinet has taken on a more Blairite tinge, and that Scottish Labour is not at all so sympathetic to the Blairite agenda, especially in the reform of the great spending departments of health and education, then the task of separating the two different Scots- accented messages in voter minds to achieve a trend-bucking set of results in Scotland may prove extraordinarily difficult.See the full content of this document
Extract
Leader: Scottish Focus On Scottish Votes
Even without these challenges, Ms Jamieson has an uphill climb. She is absolutely right to insist that the local and Holyrood elections next year be fought on the recor...
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