LONDON: Johann Lamont, leader of the opposition Labour Party in Scotland, quit yesterday, branding the wider UK party leadership “dinosaurs” who failed to grasp how the independence referendum had changed Scottish politics.
Lamont said the party in Scotland needed greater autonomy as more powers are transferred from London to Edinburgh following the narrowly-contested referendum.
And her resignation with immediate effect highlights deep divisions within the left-of-centre party, led by Ed Miliband, ahead of Britain’s May 2015 general election.
In last month’s referendum, Scotland voted by 55 percent to 45 percent to remain in the United Kingdom. The pro-independence campaign was led by the Scottish National Party (SNP), the governing party in Scotland, while Labour favoured staying within the union. “Scotland has chosen home rule — not London rule,” Lamont told the Daily Record newspaper.
“The Labour Party must recognise that the Scottish party has to be autonomous and not just a branch office of a party based in London. “There is a danger of Scottish politics being between two sets of dinosaurs ... the Nationalists who can’t accept they were rejected by the people, and some colleagues at Westminster who think nothing has changed.”
Lamont said she had been critically undermined by the central party. “Any leader whose general secretary can be removed by London without any consultation is in an untenable position,” she said.
The 57-year-old added: “This has been orchestrated by people who do not understand the politics they are facing. Scotland has changed forever after the referendum.”
AFP
