LABOUR MPs are being encouraged by senior party insiders not to keep mentioning the word “Scotland” but, instead, refer to individual Scottish towns and cities.
Senior figures in Scottish Labour, who yesterday welcomed Jeremy Corbyn to Edinburgh and Glasgow on his first visit north of the border since becoming the party's UK leader, are worried that by continually referring to Scotland and not specific places, their colleagues at Westminster are bolstering the SNP’s separatist mindset.
One source explained: “You don’t hear MPs keep on talking about ‘England’ but, rather, the places in England like Manchester and Birmingham. This should be the case with Scotland. By keep referring to Scotland instead of individual places, some of our people are playing to the Nationalist agenda. We’re all part of the UK, after all.”
Mr Corbyn used his Scottish visit to insist Labour and not the SNP were the party of working people and that, unlike the Nationalists, Labour had “real” commitment to opposing Tory austerity.
With 60,000 people having joined his party in the last two weeks, the smiling leader told journalists outside the Holyrood Parliament: “We’re doing great.”
He made clear there was “no question” that Kezia Dugdale was in full charge of Labour in Scotland and he would be working alongside her to begin the fightback in next May’s Scottish parliamentary elections.
However, the row over Trident overshadowed Mr Corbyn’s Scottish visit.
He argued there was “a lot of opportunity to bring people together” on the issue but the party leader’s declaration that he would not push the nuclear button under any circumstances has dismayed frontbench colleagues with some believing he has undermined the internal debate.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon claimed the row underlined just how “bitterly divided” Labour was on the key issue.
Meantime, Lord Sugar, star of the BBC TV’s The Apprentice, has urged people to “move to China" if Mr Corbyn ever got the keys to Downing Street.
The 68-year-old peer, who resigned from Labour following the General Election because of the party’s "negative business policies", said: "If they ever got anywhere near electing him and him being the prime minister, then we should all move to China or somewhere like that and let this place just rot."
He balked at the prospect of not just Mr Corbyn becoming prime minister but also Labour’s Sadiq Khan winning next year’s London Mayoral election, adding: “If you want the market to stop, then you’ve got Batman and Robin in those two.”
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