EDINBURGH, May 15 (RIA Novosti), Mark Hirst – UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Scotland will persuade many opposition Labour Party supporters to back Scottish independence, a senior political journalist and commentator has told RIA Novosti.
Derek Bateman has been covering news and current affairs for the BBC and other media organizations for over 45 years, but believes Conservative Prime Minister Cameron’s endorsement on Thursday of former Labour leader John Smith, who died 20 years ago, is a mistake.
Bateman suspects the idea came from Labour Shadow Foreign Minister Douglas Alexander MP who has recently been given a more prominent role in the anti-independence Better Together campaign.
“Douglas Alexander is trying to relate the campaign to Labour’s strengths and to a Scot, John Smith, who would have been Prime Minister had he lived,” Bateman told RIA Novosti. “But it doesn’t do Labour any good on the ground to hear a Conservative leader praise their dead leader.”
Bateman points to the “toxic” perception of the Conservative Party in Scotland and told RIA Novosti that publicly aligning the Conservatives and the Labour Party could lead to more support for the pro-Scottish independence campaign.
“It links Labour with the Tories and connects them to the current government austerity measures which is death on a stick for Labour,” Bateman added.
“Labour voters are seriously wobbling on independence and threatening to win it for Yes. Any link with top-ranking – rich and toff – Tories who are slashing spending is easy meat for the Yes campaign,” Bateman told RIA Novosti.
The Labour Party declined to comment on whether Cameron’s office had consulted them before exploiting the memory of the late John Smith MP.
