 | 'Scottish Secretary John Reid is to be the subject of a full-scale inquiry by Westminster's Standards Commissioner over a claim that he used his MP's expenses to help fund Labour's campaign in the 1999 Holyrood elections in breach of electoral rules.' Michael Settle in the Herald, 22 nd March 2000. |  |
Labour's united front on its devastating defeat in the Ayr by-election was shattered last night as back-benchers called on the government to reassure pensioners and other traditional Labour supporters.
Donald Dewar, the First Minister, expressed disappointment yesterday, but dismissed the defeat as a mid-term protest vote and blamed Keep the Clause campaigners for drowning out Labour's message. John Reid, the Scottish Secretary, pointed the finger at the Scottish parliament when he said that voter's unrealistic expectations had caused disappointment.
Labour was knocked into third place as the Conservatives won Ayr ahead of the Scottish National party. William Hague, the Tory leader, said his party's first Scottish by-election win in 33 years had set them on course for victory at the next general election.
Labour's share of the vote slumped by 16 per cent from its showing at last year's Scottish election, and by 26 per cent on the general election result in 1997. The SNP recorded a 12.7 per cent swing from Labour.
Labour back-benchers said the 'inept' performance of Scottish Labour was to blame. 'Anyone in the Labour Party hierarchy who believes that new Labour is popular in Scotland should get out more,' Ian Davidson, the Labour MP for Glasgow Pollok, said.
Brian Donahoe, the MP for Cunninghame South, who campaigned in what had been Labour strongholds in Ayr, said pensioners had deserted the party in protest at the government's 75 rise in their pension. Ayr has a higher ageing population than most Scottish towns. He said that, while Labour's vote was not in melt-down, it 'wasn't far from it'.
He added: 'We've also got to recognise that there is a close link between Holyrood and Westminster and that one cannot be divorced from the other.
'We have been told by the electorate that we have got to examine what happened and come back with something that is easily understood by the pensioners themselves. We muddied the waters in the minds of the public, particularly pensioners, and we are just not going to get away with that.
'The government has got to give the pensioners a decent increase. They have got to come clean. We have got to have a post-mortem. We need an honest dialogue about what went wrong.'
Andy Kerr, the Labour campaign co-ordinator, said: 'It wasn't good timing or territory. It was a mid-term protest vote because people were unhappy about pensions, delivery issues. We have to take note of what is being said.'
Appearing alongside Mr Reid, Mr Dewar said hat the row over the repeal of Section 28, which bans the promotion of homosexuality in schools, had obscured Labour's message on jobs, health, education and the economy. 'We fought a good fight, but clearly there were many distractions. it has been difficult to get through in terms of presentation in this by-election of the basic issues on which we were campaigning.' he said
Keep the Clause campaigners opposed to the government's repeal of Section 28 hailed the result as a victory for their campaign. Jack Irvine, the campaign's director, said: 'Donald Dewar did not listen to the people of Scotland and his party paid the price at Ayr.'
Mr Reid said the 'excitement' and the 'radical nature' of the Scottish parliament had 'built up a level of expectation of delivery which seemed unrealistic. He said he had faced a number of complaints about the 75 p pension increase, but defended the government's position. 'You and I know that this is not the only thing that has been done. There's the free TV licences, the £100 fuel assistance, the reinstatement of free eye tests. These things are being done, but we have to communicate them better.'
Maureen O'Neil, the director of Age Concern, said there was growing disillusionment with Labour among pensioners throughout the country. 'There was an expectation that Labour would do something about pension levels, but the 75 p increase is derisory,' she said.
March 18 th 2000
Return to home page