Welsh told the Hay Festival that he thought the political sea change was so great that Labour would not recover. Welsh said: "I think the Labour Party is finished in Scotland. There is no way back. I just don't think there is any way back for Labour in a unitary state. Their strength was being a regional party and building a coalition around inner-London and the de-industrialised areas of the Midlands and the north of England but that coalition building has fragmented and it won't happen in Scotland."