Today in a speech in London, I’ll publish the first in a series of papers on how Scottish Labour, working alongside our UK Labour colleagues, will deliver a stronger Scotland in a changing and modernising United Kingdom.
When I tasked my team with the work, the political backdrop to that request was a grim one. Across the UK, people were crying out for change and – in the wake of Covid – a real recovery.
Since then, the situation facing so many has become even more difficult, the cost of living crisis has left too many facing the impossible choice between heating and eating. Despite that, our political debate in Scotland is again dominated by talk of a second referendum.
Scotland is cursed with two bad governments who benefit from a political climate which seeks to maximise disagreements and disordered relationships across the UK.
Even before the pandemic, the Scottish economy suffered from low levels of growth, investment, productivity, limited domestic ownership, and labour market inequalities.
One in four children in Scotland currently live in poverty and 68 per cent of children in poverty live in a household where someone is in employment.
Scotland’s public services are being let down by an SNP government that has been in power for 15 years and has run out of ideas for improvement and reform.
Repeated campaigns for a referendum and constitutional disputes are used as a distraction from the SNP’s failures in government.
The challenges faced by Scottish society are treated as reasons to support separation from the UK, instead of issues in need of a Scottish Government solution.
Meanwhile, a Tory government in Westminster fails to deliver prosperity and opportunity, while riding roughshod over the devolution settlement. They have presided over a low wage, low growth economy.
These failings are not inevitable – they are created by two governments who are out of ideas and more interested in dividing than uniting people on this island.
Because the truth the Tories and SNP don’t want to talk about is that constitutional politics can never end poverty or inequality. It doesn’t put food on the table, build any schools, or train any nurses.
It cannot – alone – build a better nation. But, when both of Scotland’s governments stand to gain politically from the chaos of
division, it means bad government thrives and people pay the price. That – at the heart of it – is what my speech today is about.
It will call for a new legal duty of cooperation between UK and Scottish Governments – and structures to ensure they work together where they can and not against each other.
And we are proposing new joint governance councils – new models of intergovernment working, designed to heal the bad relationship that exists today.
All while fostering the creation of a modern, progressive and forward-looking UK. The political game-playing of recent years has wounded the devolution settlement.
We can put cooperation and not conflict at the heart of the UK to make sure every layer of government works for the people.
Labour can deliver change without needless division and put power, wealth and opportunity in the public’s hands.
Only Labour will deliver the reform that our politics needs and end the division created by the SNP. Only Labour will boot Boris Johnson out of government. And only Labour will unite our country to build a better future, for all of Scotland and the UK.
Failing those who need help most
Cancer remains Scotland’s biggest killer. Since becoming Labour leader, I have put improving cancer care and services at the heart of my programme. But this week, statistics showed that cancer waiting times are at the poorest levels since records began.
Shockingly, in the eight years Nicola Sturgeon has been First Minister, she has never met the 62-day standard for cancer treatment. We know that the earlier you are diagnosed, the earlier you start treatment, the more likely you are to survive.
For vital diagnostic tests, such as cancer, 78,310 patients have already waited more than the six-week standard. At this time last year, 44,516 people were waiting. That is an increase of 76 per cent.
When I told the First Minister that number last year, she said, and I quote: “This has been my focus and the focus of the Government literally seven days a week, sometimes what has felt like almost 24 hours a day… [and] that will be the case for as long as is necessary.”
But rather than tackle cancer and get our NHS back on track, Sturgeon wants to plunge us back into the divisive politics of independence. You can’t claim to stand up for Scotland while you are continually letting down those most in need of help.
Roe vs Wade has reverberated around the world
The US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs Wade has reverberated around the world.
We must never forget that women’s rights need to be protected and fought for. Here in Scotland, the issue is not settled.
After months of dither and delay, the SNP have said they now support protest buffer zones – but that means nothing without action.
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