Scottish Labour must be bold in wake of election defeat, says leadership hopeful

Scottish Labour leadership hopeful Joe Fagan has told his party it needs “to be bold, to be confident” in the wake of a “painful” Holyrood election defeat three months ago.

The MSP – who was only elected to the Scottish Parliament in May – is one of three candidates running to replace Anas Sarwar, who dramatically quit to join the House of Lords and take up a post in Andy Burnham’s UK Government.

Standing against fellow MSPs Michael Marra and Monica Lennon, Fagan said he would take a different approach to heading up the party – holding open the prospect of Scottish Labour working with John Swinney’s SNP Government in Holyrood budget negotiations.

In the last two years, Labour has abstained on Budget votes in the Scottish Parliament, helping the minority SNP administration get its tax and spending proposals through.

However, Fagan said by doing this, Scottish Labour had “put politics and tactics ahead of real outcomes for working people”.

His comments came as he formally launched his campaign to be Scottish Labour leader in Glasgow on Friday morning, warning the party “suffered a painful defeat” in May and must “learn the lessons of where we have lost”.

The election saw just 17 Labour MSPs returned to Holyrood, the lowest number at any time since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999.

Fagan said they “cannot reduce ourselves to being a party of commentators”, as he said he would seek to use Budget talks to win “concessions” from the Scottish Government.

“For two Budgets in a row, while other parties forced concessions from the SNP, we sat on the sidelines,” he said.

“It is time now for Scottish Labour to be bold, to be confident and to shape what happens next.

“If I am elected leader, we will take a different approach, and it starts with a serious offer to John Swinney and the SNP Government.”

Fagan said he would set “five clear tests” for the SNP’s budget to assess “whether it will make a real difference to the lives of working people across Scotland”.

He told Mr Swinney that if he can “make serious progress” on these, Labour will “work with you to pass a budget”.

The first test will be improved funding for buses, with Mr Fagan demanding the Government provides the cash and make the necessary legal challenges to take buses “back under public control”.

He also called for a permanent £2 fare cap on single bus journeys in Scotland.

He said that although “hundreds of thousands of Scots rely on buses every day to get to work, to school, to hospital appointments and to see their families”, there are “too many communities losing out on services, with buses cut and passenger numbers down”.

As he launched his campaign, the GMB Scotland trade union announced it is endorsing Mr Fagan for the leader’s job.

Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, said: “All the candidates in the contest have strong Labour values and are clearly ambitious for the party but our political committee representing members believes Joe Fagan best represents their priorities.

“Scottish Labour is at a crossroads and this leadership contest must set the party’s future path with new ideas and fresh thinking.”

Speaking to reporters after his speech, Fagan said he did not support Scottish Labour separating from the UK party.

“I don’t think that’s a viable way forward,” he said. “Devolution, as Donald Dewar said, is about who we are and how we carry ourselves.

“I want to carry myself as leader of the Scottish Labour Party.

“Many years ago after a previous defeat, we created this role that I’m seeking to stand for just now. Previously the leader of the party in Scotland was simply the leader of the parliamentary group.

“They are now the leader of Scottish Labour. That’s the position I’m standing for and I will carry myself as the leader of the Labour Party in this nation.”