Weasel Words
Now the example given is about the Better Together campaign - an uncomplicated single issue campaign which is opposed to the proposition that Scotland should become an independent country.
Yet while the Chairperson of Scottish Labour babbles on about Scottish Labour's inability to work with the 'toxic' Tories - there are of course plenty of examples of Labour in Scottish councils doing deals with the Conservatives to form joint administrations - coalition councils along the same lines as the Coalition Government at Westminster.
South Lanarkshire, Stirling, Falkirk, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, East Dunbartonshire, and East Lothian Councils - for example.
And as for Labour not working with the Tories because of a 'cuts' agenda what sense does that make when the Labour leadership itself admits that if the party were back in power now - Labour would be making £7 out of every £8 worth of spending cuts planned by the Coalition Government at Westminster.
So, Bah Humbug' is all I can say, given the time of year.
Labour can't stick working with toxic Better Together
By Tom Gordon
MANY Labour activists "simply cannot stomach" working alongside the Conservatives in the pro-Union Better Together campaign, the chairman of Scottish Labour has admitted.
In comments which expose the tensions between the main partners in the No camp, Jackson Cullinane also claimed Scottish Labour had been "bounced" into its unwanted partnership with the Conservatives on the issue, and warned the alliance could come back "to haunt Labour in electoral terms".
And he said there was "frustration" that Better Together was seen to offer the status quo as the alternative to independence, when most people wanted greater devolution for Holyrood.
Cullinane last night stood by the remarks, which were made earlier this year but have only now emerged in a video posted on YouTube.
The comments also help explain why Labour and the Tories both have their own one-party No vehicles outside Better Together.
The Conservative Friends of the Union group was established last year, while United with Labour was created earlier this year.
The Cullinane video is another headache for Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont, already under pressure over the selection debacle in Falkirk. She helped launch Better Together with Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson in June 2012.
When she also helped launch Better Together Glasgow in August this year, Lamont underlined the unity of the campaign, saying: "Division is not a great Scottish tradition. But solidarity is."
However, speaking in February at a left-wing seminar, Cullinane, 51, who is also a political officer for the Unite union, said Better Together was a "source of frustration … in particular the fact that the Labour Party leadership appeared to bounce the party into that position.
"There was very little consultation with people beforehand … there certainly wasn't any in-depth discussion or consultation with the Scottish Executive Committee of the party."
He described the "concern" that the Better Together campaign aligns Labour with the Tories, saying: "At a local level, that's something that people just simply cannot stomach, that they've got to align themselves with people who have been taking potshots at them for very many years.
"The Tory brand is toxic in Scotland. At a time of deep cuts, at a time where the Thatcherite agenda is being promoted by them, [that] is something that may come back to haunt Labour in electoral terms."
A senior Tory said the party's activists felt Labour were "more tribal" than Conservatives, and Labour supporters were often reluctant to engage with others on Better Together.
"It seems a bit of a farce so far. And next year there's the Euro elections, when parties will be even less focused on Better Together."
SNP MSP Linda Fabiani said: "This attack on Johann Lamont's project by her own party chairman is a challenge to her authority.
"It shows that Labour are split from top to bottom by their alliance with the Tories in the No campaign. The reality is the No campaign is Tory-led and Westminster-led."
Cullinane last night stressed the remarks were made in a "personal capacity" and that there was no division between him and Lamont.
However, he confirmed that many party activists "can't bring themselves" to work with the Tories, and so a pro-devolution, Labour-only alternative had been created, in the form of United with Labour. He said he was not helping Better Together himself as his trade union, Unite, had not taken a position on the referendum.
He added: "As a trade unionist I do have concerns about being in any campaign alongside the Tories at a time when trade unions and communities are suffering under their austerity cuts agenda."
Responding for Better Together, Anas Sarwar, deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said: "Better Together is a cross-party and no-party campaign which brings together people who share the view that the best future for Scotland is working in partnership with our friends and colleagues in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"However, we recognise we need a distinct Labour voice in this campaign and that is why we launched United with Labour.
"The Labour movement has always believed in an idea bigger than independence and that is the pooling and sharing of resources so that we have services based on need, not nationality."
