Labour will implement Smith Commission proposals in first Queen’s Speech, pledges Miliband

Ed Miliband today said that the vow he made to radically devolve powers to Holyrood during the referendum campaign had been ‘signed, sealed and delivered’ by the publication of the Smith Commission’s report yesterday. He told an audience in Glasgow this morning that Labour would fully implement the proposals set out by the report in the first Queen’s Speech if elected next year.

You can read Mark Ferguson’s take on the Smith Commission’s report here.

Miliband said:

“A vow was signed during the referendum campaign. It was sealed by the votes of the Scottish people. It was delivered by the Smith Commission. It has been signed. It has been sealed. It has been delivered. Elect a Labour Government in May and we will implement the Smith Commission in our first Queen’s Speech. This is my promise to the people of Scotland.”

Labour will hope that by promising such extensive new powers they will be able to recoup some of the support lost in Scotland since the referendum in September. Numerous polls over the last two months have shown Labour trailing the SNP by very large margins, and research has shown that around a third of people who backed Labour in 2010 could have voted for independence.

The biggest talking point of Labour’s pledge is likely to be the devolution of income tax powers to the Scottish Parliament, an issue which has been a bone of contention in the Party recently. Last month, Gordon Brown appeared to be against the idea, while Alistair Darling laid out his opposition to the proposal at the beginning of the week. However, on Tuesday sources suggested that Labour’s official line could be more favourable towards this major shift, and Jim Murphy announced his support – although that did not stop LabourList readers opposing the devolution in our weekly survey. Ed Miliband’s speech today appears to confirm that Labour are now firmly behind it.

The Labour leader also attempted to reach out to those who had voted Yes due to dissatisfaction with the UK Government, by making a new vow to build a “more equal country”: