However, a couple of views from inside the belly of the whale (I'm still a member). The self-harm that Labour inflicted on themselves by being seen to ally with the Tories cannot be minimised. For many Labour voters, that was a true Animal Farm moment. I can't see anyone on board at the moment who is going to change that perception. In a Westminster election it doesn't take Labour voters switching to the SNP to make a difference in the outcome, it just takes Labour voters not voting.
As with the referendum, the anti-Labour voters have a strong motivation to get out and vote. Labour supporters? Not so much. If you run the numbers on a General Election turnout of 30% going to 45%, and that additional 15% being anti-coalition (and here I mean the Lib/Lab/Tory coalition we've seen for the last couple of years in Scotland) then things become very interesting indeed.
When it comes to voting, though, I don't know where I'll go. Some of my friends are in that surge of new SNP members - not just from Labour, but from the LDs too. I can't see myself joining the SNP though, any more than I can see myself joining the Greens or the SSP. I also can't see myself staying part of the Labour party - this week's baying support for pursuing Poll-Tax non-payers has been the final straw for me.
I would put my name to a pro-Scotland party, though, or a coalition of such parties. That would require a new kind of politics in Scotland. One where the Yes vote identified as a single force at the GE. I don't think this is totally out of the question. Normally I'd say that it couldn't be done, but right now?
There's a feeling that just about anything is possible.
no subject
However, a couple of views from inside the belly of the whale (I'm still a member). The self-harm that Labour inflicted on themselves by being seen to ally with the Tories cannot be minimised. For many Labour voters, that was a true Animal Farm moment. I can't see anyone on board at the moment who is going to change that perception. In a Westminster election it doesn't take Labour voters switching to the SNP to make a difference in the outcome, it just takes Labour voters not voting.
As with the referendum, the anti-Labour voters have a strong motivation to get out and vote. Labour supporters? Not so much. If you run the numbers on a General Election turnout of 30% going to 45%, and that additional 15% being anti-coalition (and here I mean the Lib/Lab/Tory coalition we've seen for the last couple of years in Scotland) then things become very interesting indeed.
When it comes to voting, though, I don't know where I'll go. Some of my friends are in that surge of new SNP members - not just from Labour, but from the LDs too. I can't see myself joining the SNP though, any more than I can see myself joining the Greens or the SSP. I also can't see myself staying part of the Labour party - this week's baying support for pursuing Poll-Tax non-payers has been the final straw for me.
I would put my name to a pro-Scotland party, though, or a coalition of such parties. That would require a new kind of politics in Scotland. One where the Yes vote identified as a single force at the GE. I don't think this is totally out of the question. Normally I'd say that it couldn't be done, but right now?
There's a feeling that just about anything is possible.