Scotland faces the prospect of two decades of Conservative rule after Labour leadership contender David Miliband admitted that his party could see itself in opposition for 18 years.
Mr Miliband was appearing alongside fellow leadership rivals in front of 600 party members in Manchester. The Labour MP said that each time Labour had lost a general election it had remained out of power between 14 and 18 years.
Scotland faces the prospect of two decades of Conservative rule after Labour leadership contender David Miliband admitted that his party could see itself in opposition for 18 years.
Mr Miliband was appearing alongside fellow leadership rivals in front of 600 party members in Manchester. The Labour MP said that each time Labour had lost a general election it had remained out of power between 14 and 18 years.
Mr Miliband pledged to try to buck the trend but acknowledged that history was not on Labour’s side, saying: “We could be out of power for a long time; history tells us we will.”
The admission follow comments earlier this month from Mr Miliband who insisted that Labour needed to revive in the South East of England if it was ever again to form a UK government.
Mr Miliband said then:
“In the three southern regions outside London we got 12 Labour MPs out of 210. As long as that is the case we will never have a Labour government again.”
This new admission from the man who is favourite to succeed Gordon Brown as Labour party leader brought stinging criticism from SNP MSP Kenny Gibson who accused Labour of taking Scottish votes for granted.
Mr Gibson said:
“Yet again David Miliband’s comments show that Labour just take Scotland for granted and believe people in Scotland will meekly accept a London Tory government.
“Just like in the 1980s, Labour are taking their voters in Scotland for granted whilst doing nothing to minimise the impact of Tory and Lib Dem cuts on Scotland’s economic future. And they arrogantly believe Scots will vote Labour whilst they sit back and let the Tories do the damage.
“The truth is Scotland has one Government too many and whether it’s the Tories or Labour at Westminster, Scottish issues are well down the priority list.
“David Miliband has let the cat out of the bag: a Labour party in London will focus on South-east England for re-election and take Scotland for granted – regardless of how many years that will take.
“It is only the SNP that is focussed exclusively on the concerns of the people of Scotland and on working for economic recovery in Scotland, against the impact of Tory/Lib Dem cuts.”
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