Labour trying to ‘destroy’ PR vote

In 2003, the system delivered all seven Green MSPs, all six SSP MSPs and Margo MacDonald, the Independent Lothians MSP. Under plans from the SNP and LibDems, it would disappear, while Labour wants the end of a separate vote for list MSPs. The SSP said Labour wanted to "destroy" proportional representation (PR) at the Scottish Parliament, while the Greens said Labour was "running scared of the new politics".

Letter to Herald

Don't Let Labour Narrow Scottish Democracy

HARD on the heels of obtaining a 67-seat majority at Westminster with only 35% of the vote, New Labour now wants to slash any significant proportionality in the Scottish Parliament. In its submission to the Arbuthnott Commission, New Labour is arguing for three to four members to be elected from new multi-member constituencies under the STV system. This seems precisely designed, at present levels of support, to try to ensure that the four establishment parties of Labour, LibDems, SNP and Conservatives would hold a monopoly on the election of MSPs. At a stroke, the Scottish Green Party and Scottish Socialist Party would be largely excluded from the Scottish Parliament.

That the exclusion of these two parties would produce a democratic deficit is self-evident. In the election just past, the four establishment parties had a near-monopoly of national media coverage in Scotland, partly due to a BBC ruling which boosts incumbents and hobbles aspirants. As a result there was a pitiful lack of public debate on the vital issues of mitigating climate change and redistributing wealth, issues of principle and urgency which these two parties hold dear.

In 1991, at the Labour conference in Aberdeen, I seconded the first-ever successful Labour motion on PR, which stated that "seats gained in a Scottish Parliament should be broadly proportional to votes cast". Labour was not prepared to move to full proportionality at that time. The Scottish Parliament has 129 seats; to be fully proportional, it would need 146.

Now New Labour wants Arbuthnott to bow the knee and diminish proportionality in the Scottish Parliament. The main reason given is the usual pettifogging nonsense about "two classes of MSP". If New Labour gets its way, there will certainly be two new classes of MSP: those who have obtained or retained their place by arguing for a narrowing of democracy; and those who would have been elected for the Green and Socialist parties, but who will instead have to increase their street presence to drive their message home.

John Aberdein, Scottish Socialist Party candidate, Orkney and Shetland, Quoys, Hoy, Orkney.