Right way for Scots

Kezia Dugdale has one of the worst jobs in British politics: leader of Scottish Labour. It is true that the Tories and Liberal Democrats are also being eclipsed by the SNP, but explaining away the decline of Ms Dugdale’s party is far harder. Scotland used to be a Labour fiefdom. Now insiders are worried that they might come third in next May’s Holyrood elections. This weekend’s party conference will not have allayed their fears.

Scottish Labour has negotiated greater autonomy from its mother party, which sounds sensible. Who would want to be closely associated with Jeremy Corbyn? Ms Dugdale, however, has decided that while separation from the Corbyn brand is a good idea, its class war politics are still a winner. Hence the Scottish Labour Party pledges to roll back tax credit reforms and increase taxes on the middle class. It is in a race to the Left with the SNP, begging voters to “come home” to a true socialist movement.

This is very unlikely to work. For a start, it misreads the nationalist agenda. Yes, some SNP backers are disaffected socialists. But many of them are now committed to an ethnic or cultural nationalism that will not be bought off with electoral goodies. Moreover, the rest of the Scottish electorate is not necessarily that Left-wing. They would surely welcome a pragmatic alternative to the SNP that corrects its many mistakes on health care, policing and education.

Happily, they have the local Tories under Ruth Davidson – a witty, intelligent politician who wins respect from voters of all stripes. If Ms Davidson can show how Conservative ideas can reform public services and spur growth, she might replace Ms Dugdale as the main opponent to nationalism.