THE current political mood in Scotland is pointing towards electoral catastrophe for the Labour Party. 

Poll after poll indicate a stubborn intention to vote SNP in the general election and rock Scottish Labour dominance in Westminster elections in a manner never seen before. 

Make no mistake, it will be unprecedented and historic if the predicted swing to the SNP materialises on May 7. 

Explaining and understanding this phenomenon is not overly complex. The Yes vote, perhaps as an emotional response to the No vote in September last year, has decided to wreak revenge and give Labour an electoral kick in the general election. 

Grassroots Yes voters have not gravitated to the Radical Independence Campaign, the Greens or the Scottish Socialist Party, and instead they have clearly coalesced around the SNP. 

So-called civic nationalism, as it turns out, is often just plain old nationalism which places its faith on our problems and material conditions only being sorted by us Scots and in redrawing a border.

That said, some might argue that for Labour the chickens are coming home to roost. 

Labour’s courting of so-called middle England, taking for granted its core support, the influence of new Labour, its managerialism, its acceptance of neoliberalism and inequality — let alone Iraq and Tony Blair — have all damaged voters’ perception of Labour.

There is weakened trust in Labour to be a party of radical progressive change, of substantive redistribution and ultimately of working people and working-class interests. 

Perhaps the seminal moment in Scotland was Labour’s involvement in the Better Together campaign with the Tories, who were at that very time indulging in an unprecedented onslaught against working people, public services and the welfare state. 

This involvement in Better Together may prove to have been a strategic mistake of immense and historic proportions.

Yet the move away from Labour towards nationalism comes at a time when the policies of the classless, big business-oriented SNP nationalism are being increasingly exposed. 

Its divisive brand of politics, focusing on national, rather than class, consciousness is unhealthy and potentially dangerous while economically it is all over the place, promising all things to all people. 

In the White Paper it was cuts to corporation tax and the Bank of England as the central bank that exposed the SNP’s defective economic strategy. 

Currently, its own figures show how full fiscal autonomy would have taken at least £6 billion out of the Scottish economy. 

These figures were calculated before the fall in oil prices, which the SNP said it wanted to build an independent Scotland around.

But raise any of this and apparently you are talking Scotland down. This suspension of critical analysis is also coming from so-called “civic Scotland.” 

It appears many, usually rational, people have embraced this kind of nationalist zeitgeist and chosen to ignore economic, as well as political, realities — one of which is the undeniably greater likelihood of a Tory government that we know is intent on turbo-charged austerity and an intensified attack on working people (coincidentally this would resemble the same level of austerity we would have if the SNP gets its way and achieves full fiscal autonomy). 

This is a kind of nihilism which seems more intent on revenge than in considering the impact of a Tory government on working people in Scotland and across Britain, especially as there are green shoots of progressive policies emerging from Labour in the run-up to the election. 

It is factually incorrect to say there is no difference in the prospectuses coming from Labour and the Tories. Redistributive policies such as raising the top rate of tax to 50p, the bankers’ bonus tax, the mansion tax, ending the non-dom loophole and the tax relief for wealthy pensioners as well as prioritising tackling tax avoidance are all good steps in the right direction. 

Similarly, the plans to repeal the Health and Social Care Act, to end zero-hours contracts and use the tax system and procurement to incentivise the paying of the living wage are all good and progressive policies, as are the plans to abolish the House of Lords and encourage public bids for railway franchises.

Despite these policies it seems the mood of Scotland is against Labour. But challenging this atmosphere shouldn’t mean taking an opportunist approach and playing the SNP at its own game of nationalism. 

The only way to ultimately restore and win back trust is if Labour chooses its own game, with a truly radical programme that enthuses people in Scotland and elsewhere in Britain.

So while green shoots are fine, so much more is needed. 

A long-term vision outlining what Labour is for would be a decent start, as would a rejection of austerity in its entirety. 

Labour should devise a radical programme that, for instance, proposes renationalisation of energy companies not just energy freezes, that plans for proactive renationalisation of the railways when franchises run out and commits to the remunicipalisation of the water companies that have siphoned off tens of billions since privatisation. 

Labour should also take advantage of record low interest rates and renegotiate the hugely expensive and flawed PFI contracts. 

On housing, Labour must embark on a huge social housebuilding programme, meeting a desperate social need while simultaneously creating jobs.

On defence, Labour should scrap any support for Trident renewal.

On welfare, the cruel and punitive sanctions regime should be abolished and the narrative changed to remind people that welfare is ultimately a social insurance scheme for people in need of help. 

On education, Labour should abolish tuition fees and not just reduce them from £9,000 to £6,000. In the workplace the living wage should be made the minimum wage as soon as possible and the unfair trade union laws should be repealed to rebalance the power relations in the workplace. 

The top rate of tax should be made much higher than 50p and the threshold should be lowered from earnings of £150,000. 

These are the type of brave redistributive politics that will rebalance our economy, help pay for some of these policies and restore Labour’s radical edge.

They would challenge the flawed and divisive politics of nationalism and restore people’s faith in Labour to be the party for the many not the few. 

• This article first appeared in the The Citizen, the Campaign for Socialism Journal.