Earlier this week, Shadow Scotland Secretary Margaret Curran announced that a Labour government would put forward a “Home Rule Bill” for Scotland within 100 days of the general election. Ed Miliband is in Glasgow today – along with Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy – and he’ll be reiterating that pledge, as well as promising to immediately devolve power over the Work Programme to Scotland. Here’s what Miliband is expected to say in Glasgow this morning:
“We have kept our promise and we have delivered the Vow.
“Just as in 1997, devolution will be one of the first things on our agenda for the next Labour Government.
“Jim Murphy is already leading the agenda in Scotland.
“He’s getting to grips with the problems in Scotland’s NHS with his plan for 1,000 new nurses.
“He has set out a plan to deal with damaging job losses in the oil and gas sector.
“And he’s talking about how Labour will use the new powers to deal with unemployment and get our young people back to work.
“We will put the Home Rule Bill before Parliament in the first 100 days of the next Labour Government.
“This Bill will give Scotland the powers that were promised over jobs, welfare and tax.
“But we want to go faster. Scotland needs the job creating powers that the Smith Agreement promised. And Scotland needs them now. Next month, Labour will force a vote on our Bill to pass these powers now.
“If that’s not accepted, we will devolve control over the work programme immediately on taking power, so Scotland has the tools it needs to put people back to work.
“This will be real Home Rule for Scotland in the 21st Century, giving Scotland the powers it needs.”
This is the first time Miliband and Murphy will have appeared together in public since Murphy became Scottish Labour leader. Murphy of course served in Miliband’s UK Shadow Cabinet in the Defence and DFID briefs (the latter role widely considered a demotion from the former role). How the two men now work together now though is likely to decide who ends in in Downing Street in May…
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