 | 'A poll in the Scotsman put the SNP on 41%, Labour on 37%, the Conservatives on 14% and Liberal Democrats on 7%. The North East Scotland seat has always been marginal. In 1984, the Tories held onto it, but lost it to Labour in 1989, who had a majority of 2,613.' BBC News, 26 th November 1998. |  |
Senior figures in the Scottish party believe the onslaught on Scottish independence and the SNP by cabinet big hitters gave the Nationalists twice the coverage they would otherwise have received.
Labour's change of heart came as SNP leader Alex Salmond claimed that the North-east result would lead to the SNP becoming the biggest party in the Scottish parliament in next May's elections - with the ability to form an administration.
Labour is also to examine how it can win back the support of disillusioned Old Labour activists and motivate its less experienced New Labour members, after it emerged that the party was unable to man polling stations in Aberdeen and campaign intensively on the ground.
Labour strategists are treating the defeat as a warning that they risk losing seats across Scotland, including Glasgow Govan and Ochil, unless they can mobilise their foot soldiers. The party dispatched Defence Secretary George Robertson, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Mandelson, Chancellor Gordon Brown and prime Minister Tony Blair to Scotland in the run-up to the vote.
But their claims, variously that a separate Scotland would introduce conscription and be required to renegotiate membership of the European Union, are regarded by some senior figures with hindsight as 'over the top' and counter productive.
'We gave the Nats double coverage with over-the-top attacks on them all the time. We actually managed to make our devolution settlement sound like an appendage to the debate,' said a government source. 'We need to sell a much more positive line on bread and butter issues that voters care about, like health, jobs and housing, and involve local parties, trade unionists and councillors.'
Last night left-wing Labour MP John McAllion launched a scathing attack on the party's campaign tactics in Scotland and said: 'I don't think attacking Scotland is a good idea.'
'There has been far too much independence rubbishing. We should be trying to make the case for Scotland and Britain, not rubbishing an independent Scotland.'
The shift of campaigning emphasis is expected to be signalled when Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar delivers his St Andrew's Day speech tomorrow focusing on what Holyrood will mean for Scotland. He will state 'Expect us to oppose those who would seek to sour the settlement to dismantle it. This is not hysteria, this is common sense.'
Downing Street and Labour's HQ in Millbank are said to be livid about the scale of the defeat and want details of the post-mortem which the party in Scotland is compiling.
Blairites believe the Scottish party leadership made a fatal blunder by allowing a GMB trade unionist with little political experience to stand in return for the union bankrolling the campaign.
Kathleen Walker Shaw's performance, marked by gaffes about Nationalist racism and her place of birth, is regarded to have been partly responsible for the 9 % collapse in Labour's vote.
Senior Labour figures are also blaming Dewar for a lack of political leadership during the campaign.
Leading left-wingers have also warned that the 7 % swing to the SNP demands a shift back to a more socialist approach if Labour is to stem an exodus of core supporters to the Nationalists next year.
A Labour spokeswoman insisted the strategy would not change dramatically, though it would work hard to try to get across a more positive message than it had been associated with in the media.
Salmond claimed Labour 'scaremongering' had backfired and activists were becoming increasingly alienated.
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