Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard will say that only “radical Labour governments” in the UK can deliver the change that communities in Scotland need in a conference speech.
Mr Leonard will use a keynote speech at The World Transformed conference in Liverpool to outline the socialist case for the UK, at an event chaired by former UK Labour leader Ed Miliband.
Scottish Labour said that a UK Labour government will deliver £70 billion of investment to Scotland over a decade.
Mr Leonard also outlines the need for democracy in the economy, with an interventionist industrial strategy and a “Macora law” to allow workers to buy their companies when they go up for sale or face closure.
Speaking ahead of the event Mr Leonard said: “Labour is the biggest political movement in Europe, and we have energised people across the UK with our clear anti-austerity policies. I want that movement to understand only radical Labour governments within the UK deliver the real change that communities in Scotland need.
“A UK Labour government will deliver £70 billion of investment to Scotland over a decade, but Scottish Labour in power in Holyrood will give working people more control.
“Scottish Labour is prepared to intervene, to plan and not simply rely on voluntary business pledges and Adam Smith’s invisible hand of the market but instead start to shift power from the market to working people.
“That means a Scottish industrial strategy, with forward planning, economic planning and also environmental planning to tackle humanity’s greatest challenge – climate change.
“We need democracy in our economy, not just when things go wrong, but to help things go right in the first place.”
The World Transformed is a separate conference held by Momentum alongside the Labour party conference.
Mr Leonard said: “Working people are the creators of the wealth – they should have new rights to own the wealth that they create.
“That is the kind of radical and real change that Labour stands for in Scotland. Democratic socialism, not nationalism, is what will transform Scotland into a country that works for the many, not the few.”
Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Murdo Fraser said: “Many of the things proposed here would simply damage economic growth in Scotland, and put off those who could be investing heavily here.
“Richard Leonard is living in a bygone era.
“He needs to ditch the misty-eyed nostalgia of the past and concentrate on policies that will actually make a positive impact on hardworking people in Scotland.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel