McLeish: Labour is "in denial"!

Henry McLeish may already be well known for speaking out against his, apparent, own party, but this latest one is one which Labour ought to closely listen too! McLeish, writing in Holyrood Magazine, has said that the Labour party has fallen into a "culture of Denial" and that the party is failing to offer any real alternatives to Independence for Scotland! Whilst saying this, McLeish has also said that Labour could be out of power for a generation!

Referring to the recent highly successful and optimistic SNP conference in Inverness, McLeish stated that it showed "the political distance the SNP has travelled in the past decade and, in sharp contrast, how little political progress Labour has made since the election defeat in 2007"! Now if Iain Gray doesn't think this undermines his leadership and the Labour party in general then, frankly, it ought too! McLeish also writes "Seeking to transform the sovereignty and authority of Westminster, the SNP has used nationality and identity as a new focus for political and social cohesion and promotes new aspirations of nationhood which transcend traditional social and economic issues and problems. Scottish Labour's combination of a culture of denial and a failure to understand the ethos of nationality and identity could prove disastrous and keep Labour out of power for a generation if left unchecked".

Now of course Labours response to all this was to be expected, stating that the referendum is just an "obsession" of the SNP, despite the fact that a recent poll showed that more than 60% want a referendum! So Labour ought to take heed from Henry McLeish, or they might just lose Scotland for ever! (but thank god for that, eh!)