Labour in Scotland was plunged into further turmoil on two fronts yesterday with the latest opinion poll showing a big nationalist advance over the past month and the party facing an embarrassing rebellion in another council hit by sleaze allegations.
Coping with the latest survey by ICM, which put the SNP and Labour neck-and-neck for next year's elections to an Edinburgh Parliament, was bad enough. But growing support for independence - 56 per cent of Scots now want to break with Britain - sent shock waves through the party at a time when it is attempting to head off more damaging publicity in the council chamber.
In England, where the government faces little opposition, the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, has managed to draw a line between New Labour and scandal-hit councils by portraying them as fiefdoms run by "another" party - which happens to be old Labour.
North of the border, in the parochialism of Scottish politics where there is a strong, left-leaning nationalist opposition, the government has had no such luck. All the evidence points to voters turning away from Labour in droves as the party deals ham-fistedly with local scandals from Renfrewshire to Glasgow and now North Lanarkshire.
A few weeks ago, as North Lanarkshire Council was attempting to discover how its works department "lost" £4.6 million - and why a plumber earned over £54,000 a year and a lollipop man a reported £17,500 for a 10-hour week - voters took their revenge. In a council by-election, the SNP unseated Labour with a 36 per cent swing - one of the largest votes ever recorded against the party.
Damaged by a string of allegations about North Lanarkshire, and a series of lurid tabloid headlines, the government and the party hierarchy took what it thought was decisive action. The Scottish Secretary, Mr Donald Dewar, ordered an inquiry into the council's works department while Mr Alex Rowley, the new general secretary of the Scottish party, told the council leader, Mr Harry McGuigan, to step down in the interests of New Labour.
But Mr McGuigan, encouraged by Glasgow's beleaguered Lord Provost Pat Lally - who this week won his fight to remain as first citizen after being earlier told to leave his post - yesterday refused to budge.
In an interview with the Guardian, he claimed he was the victim of character assassination, hit back at the party hierarchy, and said he should not take the blame for the deficit - blaming "gross incompetence", and worse, elsewhere in the council. "I accept responsibility but not culpability," he added. "Elected members knew completely nothing about this."
Although the council's Labour group rejected a vote of no confidence in Mr McGuigan by 36 votes to 17, the party has no power to force him out. With bitter memories of events in Glasgow, following a string of unsubstantiated sleaze allegations which badly damaged Labour's image, it could well bide its time while external auditors examine North Lanarkshire's finances.
This week in Glasgow Labour made a humiliating climbdown by withdrawing unspecified disciplinary charges against Mr Lally - who in turn accused the Labour leadership of being "scoundrels" and "political pygmies".
In January the party found that Mr Lally and the deputy provost, Mr Alex Mosson, were apparently guilty of breaching Labour's rules with the "catch-all" charge of bringing the party into disrepute. Three months earlier they were suspended, along with seven other councillors.
But Scotland's Court of Session lifted the suspensions while granting a judicial review of the party's disciplinary process. The main case was finally due to be heard next week. Based on legal advice, Labour has decided not to press ahead with a challenge.
"The problem seems to be that the party in London, determined to present a fresh image of New Labour, failed to take account of Scotland's distinctive legal system," an MP said. "This is not England."
PA adds:
Labour has maintained a huge opinion poll lead over the Conservatives, according to the latest survey published last night.
The MORI poll for the Times today puts the Labour advantage at 29 points - unchanged since late May.
Mr Tony Blair's party is up one point on 56 per cent, the Tories are also up a point at 27 per cent. The Liberal Democrats are down one on 13 per cent.
Some 1,760 adults were interviewed by MORI between June 25th to 30th, 1998.