THE plan for a more autonomous Scottish Labour Party has been branded a “dog’s dinner” that will fail to get the full support of the Shadow Cabinet at Westminster.
While insiders close to Kezia Dugdale insist she has won broad backing from her UK colleagues and that she is determined to press ahead with the necessary changes in order to “put to bed” the notion that Scottish Labour is a branch office of the party’s London HQ, senior sources claimed there was little detail in the proposals.
It was also said that colleagues north and south of the border were annoyed by the lack of consultation before the joint statement of intent was made by the Scottish leader with Jeremy Corbyn, her UK counterpart on Monday.
“You can’t just tell people this is how it’s going to be without any discussion,” declared a senior party source.
“There is a deal of anger in the Shadow Cabinet and the Parliamentary Labour Party(PLP) about the way it is being handled. Kezia is jumping further than devolution, creating an SDLP for Scotland; that’s where the tension lies. It’s a dog’s dinner.”
Concerns have been raised about how more autonomy would lead to an increase in internal cross-border conflicts on policy, which would need to be resolved before election campaigns in order not to confuse Scottish voters.
It was also claimed there was a growing tension within Labour ranks in England that the Scottish party continued to be bankrolled heavily from south of the Border. One estimate is that Scottish Labour received £2 million from the UK party coffers in the last 12 months.
“People are getting sick of being told how the Scottish party wants more autonomy but then turns round and asks for a bag load of money,” said one source.
Ms Dugdale, who addressed this week's PLP in the House of Commons, insists that the “federal” solution to creating a more autonomous Scottish Labour Party is not a threat to the UK party but will “sustain” it and lead to a greater debate about how Labour is organised in England.
The Lothian MSP is due to set out details of how a more autonomous Scottish Labour would use the enhanced tax and welfare powers being transferred to Holyrood in her keynote speech at the party’s conference in Perth this weekend. Mr Corbyn is due to attend from Friday and will give a keynote speech.
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