WILL Labour impose a three-line whip on MPs to back the triggering of Article 50, the start point for Britain abandoning its membership of the EU? At one stage it seemed so, with leader Jeremy Corbyn indicating in a TV interview yesterday that MPs would be asked to vote with the Government on Article 50 when the issue comes before parliament.
But then came a clarification, of sorts. While Labour accepts and respects the referendum result and the leadership will not seek to block Article 50, Mr Corbyn has yet to decide whether that will mean a three-line whip.
Either way, it appears that Labour’s only Scottish MP, Ian Murray, will not support his leader’s call for members to vote for triggering Article 50.
Regardless of his strengths, it is Mr Corbyn’s misfortune that they increasingly appear calamitously ill-matched to present circumstances. That is Labour’s misfortune too.
At a time when constitutional issues are to the fore, Mr Corbyn is weak on Scotland. He speaks little, if at all, to Mr Murray and has had to appoint a shadow Scottish secretary from the north of England. He has only recently taken on an expert adviser on Scottish issues.
When party discipline is needed more than ever, he has little authority and an inability to enforce it, or even be clear about what is required of his MPs.
Meanwhile, with the Brexit agenda the most important political crisis in the UK for a generation, he is still held culpable by many Labour supporters for his low profile in the referendum campaign and seems unable to clearly articulate Labour’s position or even his own personal view..
This fed into a poor performance at Prime Minister’s Question Time this week, in which his attempted jokes fell flat against a prime minister riding high after her “hard” Brexit speech the day before.
That speech pleased the Tory Right and was positively reviewed in the media, despite its clear inadequacies in relation to key questions, including the position of Scotland in the EU exit.
All of this confusion leads to great concern in the party about the impact it is having on Labour’s electability. Indeed, with the latest UK opinion poll confirming that Labour is 17 points behind the Conservatives at present, that concern is understandable.
Supporters say Labour’s weakness in Scotland has an impact on its prospects in England too, with some voters recoiling from backing a party that appears unable to win power without an alliance with the SNP.
Mr Corbyn will appear In Glasgow on a platform with Kezia Dugdale, with tension still characterising the relationship between the Scottish Labour leader and her UK counterpart.
The constitution is expected to be the topic of his speech, with clarity needed about whether or not he supports Ms Dugdale’s proposals for a renewed Act of Union to create a federal UK. That may be too much to hope for. In such circumstances, it is worth pondering whether his visit to Glasgow today will cause more harm to Labour in Scotland than good.
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