The Reader: Labour only has itself to blame for losing Scotland

Have your say Twitter: @ESTheReader  Email: thereader@standard.co.uk 
Under fire: Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard
Getty Images
9 August 2019
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Ayesha Hazarika, like many Scottish Labour supporters, is in a state of deep denial about the root causes of the precipitous decline in support for her party [“The nation risks another divisive break-up,” August 7]. Labour used to dominate Scotland but came fifth in the recent European election.

In 2014 Labour did indeed campaign for Scotland to stay in the UK; unfortunately, it did not have the strategic common sense to campaign separately from the Conservatives and subsequently paid a heavy price, compounded by the abject failure of all the Unionist parties to deliver the many promises made to secure what she rightly calls “a pyrrhic victory”, not least of which was “Vote No to guarantee Scotland’s EU membership”.

The economic risks of Scottish independence — which at least has two written blueprints publicly made available — are becoming less forbidding compared to the still-unplanned Brexit shambles that Scotland didn’t even vote for.
Robert Clark

EDITOR'S REPLY

Dear Robert

One reason Labour haemorrhaged support in Scotland was because it took its vote for granted and treated the party north of the border like a “branch office”, as former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont famously said. That lack of respect for Scottish Labour politicians and members was evidenced by shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who announced out of the blue, with no consultation, that Labour would not block IndyRef2.

Whatever your views on Scottish independence, surely you can see how unprofessional it was to drop such a significant constitutional bombshell without warning? You also seem to be in a state of denial about the fact that Scotland sent a clear message in 2014 that it wanted to remain in the United Kingdom.

You are right to be worried about the “unplanned shambles of Brexit” but many Scots feel the same way about independence, especially when there are many other problems to fix.

Ayesha Hazarika, Columnist

Clubs must better tackle hate crimes

With the new season kicking off, I have written to all London clubs in the Premier and football Leagues to ask what actions they are taking to address the under-reporting of hate-crime incidents on matchdays.

The results of a survey published by Hope not Hate revealed that half of all the UK football fans that responded had witnessed racist abuse. However, less than half of those surveyed were aware of how to report it.

We have seen some shocking hate crimes over the last few years in the capital’s stadiums, which sadly demonstrate that racism is on the rise in football once more, threatening to turn the beautiful game ugly.

Clubs should make sure that all Londoners feel safe and welcome when supporting their team. It is vital that all football clubs, of any size, put measures in place to root out and deter the small minority of fans who attend games with the intention of sowing division and hate.
Unmesh Desai AM
Labour Policing and Crime spokesman

Young are not the first to discover sex

Where is this mad idea coming from that the clitoris was discovered in 1992 [“The Orgasm Gap”, August 2]? My mother used to say the young always think they’re the first to discover sex but this is ridiculous.

It was on diagrams in several sex education books I read as a teenager in the Seventies, it featured in the feminist work Our Bodies, Ourselves (1970) and was mentioned on stage in Shirley Valentine (1986), written by Willy Russell, an early feminist.

There are countless more examples, but really, two of The Hotbed Collective are in their thirties and one’s in her forties — how can they know so little about their supposed specialist subject?
Stephanie Calman

Make restaurants mobile phone-free

Call me grumpy but I would love a list of those restaurants where there is little or no phone service so that I could frequent them.

Most Instagram food shots look like the ones you see advertising cheap food, usually outside a cheap restaurant — jaundiced omelettes and chips, that kind of thing. I’m sure most chefs would be horrified to see their food so poorly presented.

Going for a meal and not sitting next to someone with a trigger-happy thumb would be a veritable delight.
David Hill

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in