Gordon Brown’s plan to save the Union actually makes the case for leaving
by After so much build-up, the long promised Labour UK reform plan has been published to an underwhelming fanfare.
Having promised Scotland federalism in 2014, former party leader Gordon Brown is promising even less in 2022.
Instead of providing Scotland with a democratic route-map to self-determination, the former Prime Minister joined current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in promising nothing to end their antidemocratic denial of a referendum on Scotland’s future.
And having promised an end to the House of Lords more than 100 years ago, Labour can’t even commit to that convincingly today.
Their ‘new’ paper outlines what they claim to be a vision for democratising and empowering all parts of the UK, giving power to local communities and investment across the nations.
The main takeaway from the launch of Labour’s sodden squib of a 'major policy paper' is the contempt shown for the views of the people of Scotland
It exposes the hypocrisy of Labour’s previous promises and rhetoric, and demonstrates again that they can’t be trusted. pic.twitter.com/o4XAr4NbfZ— Graeme Dey (@GraemeDeyMSP) December 5, 2022
Except that is a million miles way from what is actually required.
Given that two of Scotland’s biggest challenges relate to population decline and relative economic under-performance because of poor UK decision-making, you would have thought these would have been addressed in the Brown plan, except they are not.
There are no proposals for immigration powers to even match the provinces of Canada or transformational economic powers to substantially boost growth.
The proposals fail totally to deliver the real change Scotland needs.
Control of immigration, full fiscal powers, a way back into the European Union and more need to be in our hands.
Labour has proven that only independence can deliver the democratic and economic powers that we need along with the ability to rejoin the EU.