McLeish: Labour Party 'in denial'

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A former Labour first minister has claimed the party has fallen into a "culture of denial" since losing the 2007 Holyrood election.

Writing in Holyrood Magazine, Henry McLeish warned Labour could be out of power for a generation if it failed to offer an alternative to independence.

The SNP said the views undermined Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray,

Labour said it was dedicated to tackling recession, rather than constitutional change nobody wanted.

In the article, Mr McLeish said the SNP's recent annual conference in Inverness had highlighted "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".

'Saving banks'

He urged Labour to redefine what it stood for by enthusing Scottish voters with a vision for the future.

Mr McLeish wrote: "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.

"That is why things have to change."

In response, a Labour spokesman said issues such as the economy and crime were more important to voters than constitutional reform.

"The SNP may be obsessed with a referendum nobody wants and a National Conversation no one is listening to, but it is the economy that counts," said the spokesman.

"People appreciate it was Labour that intervened with £37bn to save Scotland's bank and our economy and are best placed to get us out of recession."

Mr McLeish, who served as first minister for just over a year following the death of Donald Dewar, quit the job in 2001 after a controversy over expenses for his Westminster constituency office.