I watched the Marra v Fagan TV debate so you didn't have to as the Scottish Labour contest got tetchy
The two men wanting to become the next Scottish Labour leader went on the attack in the STV Scotland Tonight debate.
The frontrunner to become the next Scottish Labour leader spent 30 minutes being battered by his opponent over his role in the party’s decimated support in a tetchy but ultimately fruitless televised debate.
Joe Fagan, who barely anyone’s ever heard off, went on the attack as he faced Michael Marra in the STV Scotland Tonight debate. If there was a victor of the debate, it would be Mr Fagan.
At the outset of the “cross-examination”, where the red on red attacks emerged, Mr Marra acknowledged he and Mr Fagan “agree on a lot” before each of the two men went on to warn an estimated 11,000 Scottish Labour members against putting their trust in their opponent.
Mr Fagan, who repeatedly reminded anyone watching he has run South Lanarkshire Council, tried to pin the election defeat and Labour past woes squarely at the door of Mr Marra.
The former council leader came out fighting, trying to put Mr Marra on the ropes about his role in the dismal May election.
“You were one of the authors of the manifesto that led us to that defeat in May”, Mr Fagan warned.
“The leader puts their stamp on it”, Mr Marra pleaded in response.
“Do you take any responsibility for the manifesto?”, Mr Fagan, growing in confidence, put to his rival.
“Of course I do”, Mr Marra admitted.
Next up, Mr Fagan, who apparently self-identifies as the “East Kilbride Obama”, had a dig about Mr Marra’s time as Labour’s finance spokesperson and for allowing two SNP budgets to pass by while sitting back and abstaining.
The fiery back and forth then turned to a stooshie about who was or wasn’t the continuity candidate as both men tried to distance themselves from Anas Sarwar - a man who in May told Scots who would be first minister and is now Scottish Labour leadership kryptonite.
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To anyone watching the debate, likely by accident, it would be hard to tell the two candidates apart, particularly as they had very little to say on what they would do if they actually became leader.
STV’s Colin Mackay gave the debate a bit of heat and bluntly asked what the candidates would do to ensure Scottish Labour “stop getting gubbed at elections” - a very fair point, given where they are. But we didn’t get any answer that either of these men would do anything dramatically different from Mr Sarwar’s and Jackie Baillie’s botched strategy.
After Mr Mackay barked at the MSPs over whether they would like to see any extra powers handed to Holyrood from Westminster, Mr Fagan blurted out that he would like additional “borrowing powers”.
He argued that the £5bn deficit could be helped if the Scottish government could borrow more cash.
But as it looked like we were going to get an actual policy, Mr Fagan ruined it.
“I’m not suggesting we borrow our way out of it”, he explained. Mr Fagan might be new to Holyrood, but he’s just like the rest of them.
Similarly, Mr Marra said that Westminster could give up more powers to tackle child poverty. But pressed over what that could look like, he might as well have shrugged his shoulders.
Scottish Labour has another month of this campaign to endure. Hopefully in the coming weeks, the candidates will be able to tell party members in the country what their leadership will look like. Currently, we all remain in the dark.
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