A stooshie kicked off today in the small and shadowy enclave of the world that is Scottish Labour twitter. The reason for anger was this article by Kevin Meagher on ‘Labour Uncut’ entitled Why aren’t we furious with the Scottish party?

Let me state at the outset, that there are a number of underlying important points made in this article. I agree with them many of them to some extent, and indeed mI have written about in the past. I do not think we have developed a textured or nuanced enough response to Scottish Nationalism. I do not think that we have been positive or visionary enough in the way we do politics for a long time.

I have some serious issues though with the hyperbolic and inflammatory language used, and many of the underlying assumptions the article rests on.

“How did it come to this? How did Labour ‘lose’ Scotland and by doing so, make it improbable the party will win a general election any time before the advent of commercial space travel?”

I’m not sure whether this is the writer’s intention or not, but his wording is consistent with a frustrating dynamic for Labour activists in Scotland. Scottish politics does not, and did not exist to send the UK party fifty or so MPs to sit in the Commons. The Scottish Parliament controls our schools, and our hospitals . It impacts on economic development and oversees cultural policy. It matters. Without unfairly misrepresenting Mr Meagher, there is no sense of regret here that we lack Labour representation in these areas, just that we’ve let the side down in getting in some bodies to the Strangers’ Bar. If Scottish Labour has sometimes been chippy with colleagues down South, and it has, then one of the reasons might be that there was no real interest in the distinct political culture and institutions emerging in Scotland.

‘And why aren’t we angrier with the bunglers in the Scottish party who frittered away Labour’s position?’

Scottish Labour politicians and staffers have made mistakes in the past. Sure. They aren’t the only ones. Should we have been taking notes when the Ed Stone was unveiled? Should we have had tartan buses after the success of the pink ones?

We’ve been too negative, yes. I don’t remember many UK Labour politicians however, making the hairs stand up on the back of my neck while their oratory sought for the sunny uplands. The article reads as if Scottish Labour is an autonomous organisation North of the Wall, which has resisted the sensible entreaties of the enlightened sages from Kings Landing imploring us to improve. Remember, the dynamics of Scottish Labour have been impacted by the dynamics of the UK Labour Party. In a direct sense, in 2007, many of the staffers who helped run that campaign were sent up from London. They had a hand in what was ultimately a defeat.

Moreover, the accusation has been made that Scottish Labour was run as the personal fiefdom of Gordon Brown for many years. We can debate how accurate that actually was, but it certainly has some truth. This was one of the consequences of the Shakespearean psycho-drama between Brown and Blair. Many talented people didn’t run for the Scottish Parliament under Scottish Labour for many years, yes. Yet the systems that have encouraged and funnelled talent have been dictated by decisions in London as much as Glasgow.

We have been too angry. We have been too negative. Yet this is a blog that attempts to address that by being angry and negative.

Let’s take this line “… the steaming turd that is the Scottish Labour party.”

This isn’t incisive analysis. This is just mean spirited. Let us remember what has happened last week. Scottish Parliament researchers lost their jobs last week. Activists gave up weeks, if not months of their time, and they got hammered. They deserve better than an article that doesn’t read like a rousing call to action, or even a well intentioned wake-up call, but a screed of indulgent sniping.

And let’s answer the final the blog’s titular question? “Why aren’t we furious with the Scottish party?”

Who is the “we” here? I thought we were a UK wide collectivist party build on the principles of solidarity. Or is this the Labour political equivalent of Andy Murray — UK Labour when we win, but Scottish Labour when we lose? The reality is that Scottish Labour has made lots of mistakes, but they are not unique, they are ones that have been repeated across the UK. Labour politics has failures, but these ultimately are shared failures.

And nobody should be furious, because it will achieve nothing. The ultimate tragedy of this blog is its futility. It is interesting that Labour Uncut, a website that reminds us that if we want to reach out to voters and persuade them, then demonising and insulting them probably won’t help. Whether the process is reaching out to a floating Tory voter, or a fellow party member, insulting them is not the best way to illicit a positive response.

I want Scottish Labour to succeed again. I do want us to be a party filled with “fiery, confident, visionary, and, above all, optimistic leaders…people who believe in something, can clearly articulate it, fight for it and galvanise people behind them.” Yet the fuel on which we build the fire of such a movement cannot be simmering sectarian resentment. If we want to sound hopeful in our politics, hopeful about what Scotland and the UK can be, then we must remain hopeful about each other. Anger and bitterness will get us nowhere.

I think it is important that evidently smart and motivated people like Mr Meagher join the conversation about what Scottish Labour does next. But that discourse has to be rooted in the understanding that the Scottish electorate is never going to believe in us again, if we have so clearly and vocally stopped believing in each other.

Mr Meagher, don’t bitch, organise.