by Christian Wright

Nottingham University’s Mark Stuart in an article on nottspolitics : “Let’s assume David Cameron… look[s] likely to win a small majority in England. Such is the anti-Conservative sentiment in Scotland, the more likely it appears Cameron will win in England, the greater likelihood of the Scots switching from SNP back to Labour as polling day nears.”

That’s what Labour hopes will happen, hence the completely disingenuous “largest party forms the government” trope (rather than the party/parties that can construct a parliamentary majority).

However, that conventional wisdom is not backed by the polling data that indicate voters see the SNP as a bulwark against Labour neo-liberal policies once in government.

Since the SNP will only back a Labour government and will have no truck with the Tories, a vote for the SNP is a vote for a Labour government that will deliver authentic old-Labour policies. No seat won from Labour by the SNP will help Cameron in any way.

The central question in the minds of constituents dominating this election is: “Which candidate do I trust to put Scotland’s interests first before party and before personal enrichment?”

A large percentage of traditional Labour voters who have made the leap to SNP have done so because they see Labour as populated by Tory-lite self-serving careerists masquerading as socialists. Labour in Scotland are not called the Red Tories for nothing.

The London-commentariat consensus that Jim Murphy was the man to lead Labour back to pre-eminence in Scotland, evinced a cartoon understanding of the Scottish political dynamic. The installation of a Blairite New Labour, pro-privatisation, pro-Iraq war, establishment place man, signalled loud and clear to Scots, Labour’s inability to reform itself, or even to understand the nature of its own morbidity.

Both Labour and the LibDems are facing an extinction-level event at this General Election for a reason. During the referendum they fear bombed us, bullied us, belittled us, lied to us, defamed us worldwide. They sowed the wind, and on May 7 2015, they will reap the whirlwind.