KEZIA Dugdale has declined to say whether or not a victory for Jeremy Corbyn in the UK Labour leadership contest would be good for Scottish Labour but stressed how she would be “delighted” to work with any of the four UK candidates.
Asked if her politics were closer to left-winger Mr Corbyn or to Blairite moderniser Liz Kendall, the new Scottish Labour leader replied: “I will work with whichever one of the four UK leadership candidates is successful. I don’t see the point of putting myself on a political spectrum…”
When it was pointed out how the SNP had benefited at the General Election from its anti-austerity stance, Ms Dugdale was asked directly if a victory for Mr Corbyn, whose political agenda is also based strongly on opposition to austerity, would be helpful to the party in Scotland, which at the General Election lost all but one of its 40 MPs.
The MSP replied that there were “lots of reasons” why the SNP had had such a good election and went on: “An end of the UK leadership contest would certainly be a help to Scotland. I’d be delighted to work with Jeremy Corbyn as I would be delighted to work with any of the UK candidates. So, let’s see what happens on September 12. I’m looking forward to getting the Labour Party back on the front foot across the whole of the United Kingdom.”
In July Labour MP Diane Abbott, a supporter of Mr Corbyn, noted: "We lost in Scotland to a party that was anti-austerity, in favour of universal benefits and in favour of scrapping Trident. We are ignoring the 40 seats we lost in Scotland…Jeremy is well-placed to get back some of those voters in Scotland. People should not sneer at Jeremy; he speaks for millions of people."
Ms Dugdale acknowledged the popularity of the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon in particular, describing the First Minister as the most powerful woman in British politics. But she pointed to the last major opinion poll in Scotland, which she noted had showed Scots did “not like the SNP’s record in government; there are substantial problems in our schools, in our health care service in terms of access to GPs or accident and emergency departments and indeed in the police, where we have just lost the Chief Constable. There are lots of problems in our backyard”.
It was noted how last month Ms Dugdale had said, when asked about the MP for Islington North, that she did “not want to spend my whole life just carping from the sidelines; so you have to convince me he can be Prime Minister”. Asked if she had changed her negative attitude towards the left-winger, the Scottish Labour leader suggested that that was the interviewer’s own interpretation of her remarks.
“I stand by the fact that I want to see a Labour government across the whole of the UK and want to work to that end. I don’t want to spend my political life in opposition because I want to deliver on the principles and the policies I have. I want to realise that fairer country, build a better education system that realises the chances of every child in the country.”
Ms Dugdale again stressed that she would be willing to work with whoever became leader of the UK party but stressed how the party in Scotland was led by her. “I decide what happens here in Scotland along with my Cabinet colleagues and the wider party. So, it’s my job to turn the Labour Party’s fortunes around in Scotland. I would be delighted to do that with whichever one of the four candidates is elected on September 12. Decisions are made here in Scotland by me.”
Asked if she was open to the renewal of the Trident nuclear submarine fleet, the party leader described herself as a multilateralist, noting: “So I would like to see an end to nuclear weapons. I’d like to see us do it together with diplomatic actions around the world.”
Asked if she would like to see the missiles removed from Scottish soil, Ms Dugdale replied: “We made moves at the weekend to have a democratic debate on the issue of Trident at our party conference; that’s a good thing. We need a heated debate.
“In reference to the UK contest…one thing Jeremy Corbyn is honest enough to say is if we were to scrap Trident, every single penny of that(money) saved would need to be reinvested to protect those (defence)jobs. I wish Nicola Sturgeon would say the same thing because she has spent the money that would be saved from scrapping Trident 10, 12 times over. So in that regard, Jeremy Corbyn has a lot to offer the UKwide debate.”
Mr Corbyn remains the bookies’ hot favourite to win the Labour crown when the result in announced in London on September 12.
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