Nervous Breakdown
The near total wipe-out of Scottish Labour MPs at the 2015 Westminster election has robbed the party of some sensible figures such as Tom Harris who suggests that Labour is having a 'nervous breakdown' which might leave them in the political wilderness for 10 or 15 years.
The way things are going I think that's highly likely.
Labour 'having a nervous breakdown' says Tom Harris
BBC Scotland politics
Tom Harris was the Labour MP for Glasgow South until he lost his seat in May
A former Scottish Labour MP has said his party could be out of power for more than a decade.
Tom Harris told BBC Scotland that Labour was having a "nervous breakdown" as it struggled to come to terms with election defeats.
The party is without a leader across the UK and in Scotland.
Mr Harris said none of the candidates for the UK leadership would be able to repair the party's problems north of the border quickly.
The former Glasgow South MP, who lost his seat at the election in May, said the UK leader needed a broad appeal.
He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "There is no one candidate full stop who could repair what happened in Scotland. I think that is a far more complicated, complex problem."
A former Scottish Labour MP has said his party could be out of power for more than a decade.
Tom Harris told BBC Scotland that Labour was having a "nervous breakdown" as it struggled to come to terms with election defeats.
The party is without a leader across the UK and in Scotland.
Mr Harris said none of the candidates for the UK leadership would be able to repair the party's problems north of the border quickly.
The former Glasgow South MP, who lost his seat at the election in May, said the UK leader needed a broad appeal.
He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "There is no one candidate full stop who could repair what happened in Scotland. I think that is a far more complicated, complex problem."
'Emotional reaction'
Mr Harris said he liked both the contenders for the Scottish leadership - Kezia Dugdale and Ken Macintosh - but "the whole contest in Scotland looks like two bald men fighting over a comb".
The former MP said: "What is happening is what happens to the Labour party just about every generation - every 25 or 30 years - when we get thrown out of power we have an emotional reaction.
"This is different from the nervous breakdown the party had in the 50s, which is different from the nervous breakdown we had in the 80s, this is a nervous breakdown of a totally different order.
"The danger is that the result will be exactly the same, that we will exclude ourselves from government for the next 10 or 15 years or even longer than that."
He said many Labour party members were not comfortable with the compromises that had to be made to be in government.
Mr Harris said: "That's why Jeremy Corbyn is doing so well because he offers this principled, red-blooded socialism which most of his backers understand would exclude him from office as prime minister but nevertheless they support him because it makes them feel good."
