Party was unable to fight a November poll

SCOTTISH Labour are suffering from a cash and staffing crisis so severe they would not have been able to mount an effective general election campaign last month.

Documents say this "serious situation" has left Labour with only six staff, none of whom has any "policy, press or communications capacity".

They also claim the SNP won the Holyrood election because voters believed Labour were a "London-led operation".

Details of the papers, which focus on Scottish Labour's readiness for a UK election, will be published in tomorrow's issue of Holyrood magazine.

Labour have tried to put a brave face on election defeat to the SNP in May, with senior figures claiming the party is ready to move on, but the leaked papers make it clear that this is not the case.

One briefing document, according to the magazine, states that the party is facing a staffing crisis and was not ready for a general election this year: "By the end of November, Scottish Labour will be left with only six staff. Of these, the team will have no policy, press or communications capacity, and only one organiser with more than one year's experience on the staff.

"This serious situation will leave a party staff too understrength and short-handed to effectively tackle the range of tasks required to produce an effective general election campaign in Scotland."

Scottish Labour's financial problems are also addressed: "In addition to a staffing deficit, Scottish Labour also lack the capital resources to effectively prepare for UK elections following the high levels of expenditure on May's campaigns. If we do not address this problem, the party will not be able to offer a coherent election campaigning service to MPs at a general election."

The documents, which the magazine says are on the party's headed notepaper, also criticise Labour's Holyrood election campaign. One notes: "In May, we were out-organised by the SNP and the voters believed ours was a London-led operation. The Scottish Labour Party must now present a Scottish Labour machine to the electorate, targeting the seats that are vulnerable in the post-SNP Holyrood world and not simply those vulnerable against a traditional Labour/Tory analysis."

Holyrood magazine also claims the document recommends that the party needs to "establish firmly that Labour has learned from May 07 and has re-engaged, with elected representatives in every tier of government listening to Scottish voters".

In addition, the documents shed light on how Labour's Holyrood leader, Wendy Alexander, intends to reform and rebrand the party.

She is planning to to launch a "multiple strand consultation programme", with the results expected to be available around Christmas.

This will feed into a motion to be tabled at the next Scottish Labour conference, which will focus on renewing the party's aims and objectives.

Alexander is also planning to develop a Scottish Communications Centre as a way of driving and recording voter contacts, as well as launching an online "viral publicity campaign".

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: "This is not a Labour Party document. It is riddled with inaccuracies and has clearly not been written by anyone who worked on the election campaign, or indeed works for the Scottish Labour Party."

An SNP spokesman said: "It is ironic that in the same weekend as Labour are at long last conceding the economic strength of an independent Scotland, they should be facing the disastrous consequences of their dependence on London for funding and organisation."