Breaking: Kezia Dugdale steps down as Scottish Labour leader

[Ken Burch]

24. I know Callaghan's government itself was a trainwreck

And that Denis Healey's indefensible decision to accept an IMF bailout that forced large cuts in the welfare state did its own damage. I was a supporter of the Eighties Labour Left(and recall that Michael Foot would almost certainly have defeated the Tories after one term had it not been for the corporate-backed creation of the SDP-a party that had no reason to be born).

What I was saying there that forcing an election at the moment that motion forced it was the worst possible choice for Scotland, in addition to the grievous and still-unhealed wounds it inflicted on people in the rest of the UK. It made it impossible to stop the Tories from winning a majority(having the vote even in July rather than May might have made the difference). It caused the Poll Tax. It caused a massive increase in unemployment among Scots. It caused the crushing of unions throughout Scotland. Given that there was never any chance of Margaret Thatcher disregarding the 40% rule, and given that the SNP were nearly wiped out, what was the POINT in forcing an election?

And I brought up 1979 to make a point: You and others in Scotland bear long-term resentments and grudges towards Labour(some of which I share, at least when it comes to the pre-Corbyn era). Can you not see how a lot of people have just as much reason to resent the SNP for putting Margaret Thatcher into power as you feel about Corbyn not giving SNP government at Holyrood the credit it deserves?

(side note: I'm not sure where you were going with the complaint about Labour punishing people with higher incomes. You do realize it is impossible to do anything social democratic without imposing higher taxes on the rich? It would be far worse to increase VAT or impose other consumptive taxes, because those punish people with lower incomes).

And I don't claim that Corbyn is infallible...he's got his flaws and I'd recommend he read your posts in this thread...but is it an indefensible proposition to say that the man is a better leader for his party, represents a kinder and more compassionate politics, than anyone the PLP would allow on the leadership ballot if he stood down? That it would be a tragedy for all, including Scots, if Corbyn was replaced by somebody like Chuka Umunna or Yvette Cooper or maybe Liz Kendall? Is there anybody who could even possibly lead Labour that you actually think would be better for Scotland(given that Labour as a party is never going to simply vanish)?.

If I sound protective towards the guy, it's because most of the people in his own party who spent years trying to remove him as leader were reactionaries and that many remain apologists for the Irag/Afghanistan invasion. The ones who want him out want Labour to be massively to his right, want it to match the Tories nearly-cut-for-cut, want to keep taxes down on the rich and UK troops continually invading Arab/Muslim countries(while pretending that revived imperialism-which is what any UK military intervention would automatically be-can somehow be "progressive&quot .

You're going to keep voting SNP and I respect that...but I'm not going to apologize for supporting the first decent human being to lead the Labour Party in decades and the first one in generations who believes Labour should actually stand for something beyond power for power's sake.