´óÏó´«Ã½

As someone who has never uttered a public word of criticism of our Labour
Government, far less ever cast a vote against it in the years that I have been
an MP, the concept of loyalty to my Party and our Leader is at the very heart of
my political beliefs.
As such, the greatest privilege in my life has been to serve as a Labour
Minister.
For me it is an article of faith that the worst day of a Labour Government is
better than the best day of a Tory or SNP one.
This has been borne out by the tremendous progress that we have seen over the
past 11 years in communities like my own in Inverclyde where regeneration is
replacing years of decay, caused in large measure by destructive Conservative
policies.
This is why I got into politics and why loyalty is a price well worth paying.
Yet despite our achievements, if surveys of public opinion and recent
by-elections are to be believed, we find ourselves in a position where we appear
to have fallen well behind a Tory opposition of quite breathtaking shallowness
with no answers to the challenges that our country faces, and an SNP
administration that has betrayed pensioners, students, home-owners and is
decimating the voluntary sector.
Of course Governments in all countries are facing problems and it would be
disingenuous to argue otherwise, but this is not the only challenge we face.
It was in this context that some colleagues requested nomination forms for a
leadership contest.
When asked my opinion I counselled against this as I argued that it could only
lead to further division and internal wrangling.
Nevertheless they went ahead, their names found their way into the public
domain, and, to my dismay, the current crisis began.
However it is the response to this action that has caused me most unhappiness.
Rather than seizing the opportunity to open out to the broader party membership
a discussion that is being held in private, our response as a government has
been to suggest that these were the actions of a tiny number of disaffected
people who have taken leave of their senses, are part of some larger plot and
are entirely unrepresentative of the PLP.
These were among the more charitable responses.
I do not believe any of these things to be the case, though I understand the
frustration of those good comrades who hold a different point of view.
In any event the debate is now on.
The issue of leadership and direction are being discussed and argued over, and
to go on denying it is hardly credible. I wish it were otherwise.
To that end I believe that the time has come to take the bull by the horns and
allow a leadership debate to run its course.
I know that it is incompatible to hold this view and to remain a serving
minister, and although it had not been my intention to resign, I have
reluctantly concluded that it is the only honourable course of action left
open.
Yours sincerely
David Cairns
Member of Parliament for Inverclyde"