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| Rebecca Long-Bailey calls for greater powers for Scotland and Wales | Rebecca Long-Bailey calls for greater powers for Scotland and Wales |
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| Labour leadership candidate says assemblies should be on equal footing with Westminster | Labour leadership candidate says assemblies should be on equal footing with Westminster |
| Rebecca Long-Bailey has called for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments to be put on an equal footing with Westminster instead of being “servile” satellites. | Rebecca Long-Bailey has called for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments to be put on an equal footing with Westminster instead of being “servile” satellites. |
| Long-Bailey, who received the backing of Unite on Friday in the Labour leadership race, said Holyrood and the Welsh assembly needed to be as “autonomous and independent” as they could possibly be, as she backed further devolution to help Labour win back ground in Scotland in particular. | Long-Bailey, who received the backing of Unite on Friday in the Labour leadership race, said Holyrood and the Welsh assembly needed to be as “autonomous and independent” as they could possibly be, as she backed further devolution to help Labour win back ground in Scotland in particular. |
| Speaking at a leadership hustings, she said: “When we devolved power to Scotland, and indeed Wales, they were never meant to be a satellite government with Westminster being the king and them being servile under the bottom. They were meant to be on an equal footing. That’s what we need to push forward for. | Speaking at a leadership hustings, she said: “When we devolved power to Scotland, and indeed Wales, they were never meant to be a satellite government with Westminster being the king and them being servile under the bottom. They were meant to be on an equal footing. That’s what we need to push forward for. |
| “I’m always going to argue for the union. But I want our Scottish parliament and our Welsh parliament to feel as completely autonomous and independent as they possibly can whilst having that collaborative relationship with Westminster. That’s why we need to devolve real power – fiscal power, economic power and political power – to Wales and Scotland.” | “I’m always going to argue for the union. But I want our Scottish parliament and our Welsh parliament to feel as completely autonomous and independent as they possibly can whilst having that collaborative relationship with Westminster. That’s why we need to devolve real power – fiscal power, economic power and political power – to Wales and Scotland.” |
| She gave the answer at an Open Labour event in which she appeared alongside Lisa Nandy and Emily Thornberry. The frontrunner in the race, Keir Starmer, took the weekend off from campaigning because his mother-in-law had had an accident. | She gave the answer at an Open Labour event in which she appeared alongside Lisa Nandy and Emily Thornberry. The frontrunner in the race, Keir Starmer, took the weekend off from campaigning because his mother-in-law had had an accident. |
| Thornberry, who is struggling to make it into the final round of the contest, took a robust tone on Scotland as she pledged to take on the SNP on the grounds of their incompetence rather than constitutional issues. | Thornberry, who is struggling to make it into the final round of the contest, took a robust tone on Scotland as she pledged to take on the SNP on the grounds of their incompetence rather than constitutional issues. |
| “I hate the SNP. I think they are Tories wrapped up in nationalist clothing,” she said, to laughter and applause. “They’re not on the left. If they were on the left, how would it be that children in Scotland were now falling behind children in England when it comes to education? They have been in power for 10 years and they are hiding behind constitutional issues and they need to be held to account.” | “I hate the SNP. I think they are Tories wrapped up in nationalist clothing,” she said, to laughter and applause. “They’re not on the left. If they were on the left, how would it be that children in Scotland were now falling behind children in England when it comes to education? They have been in power for 10 years and they are hiding behind constitutional issues and they need to be held to account.” |
| Nandy said her approach would also be handing back more power to the regions and nations. “We can’t just keep treating Scotland like an afterthought in the Labour party,” she said. | Nandy said her approach would also be handing back more power to the regions and nations. “We can’t just keep treating Scotland like an afterthought in the Labour party,” she said. |
| Meanwhile, Angela Rayner, the frontrunner to become deputy leader, called for Labour peers to be elected rather than chosen by the leadership. | Meanwhile, Angela Rayner, the frontrunner to become deputy leader, called for Labour peers to be elected rather than chosen by the leadership. |
| The shadow education secretary said the whole system of peerages needed to change, but in the meantime “our leader should not be appointing people into the Lords. Our democratic structures here should be putting people into the Lords.” | The shadow education secretary said the whole system of peerages needed to change, but in the meantime “our leader should not be appointing people into the Lords. Our democratic structures here should be putting people into the Lords.” |
| Jeremy Corbyn is expected to nominate the former Commons Speaker John Bercow and his own former chief of staff Karie Murphy for peerages. Bercow has been accused of bullying staff, which he denies, and Murphy is under scrutiny over her role in Labour’s disastrous election campaign. | Jeremy Corbyn is expected to nominate the former Commons Speaker John Bercow and his own former chief of staff Karie Murphy for peerages. Bercow has been accused of bullying staff, which he denies, and Murphy is under scrutiny over her role in Labour’s disastrous election campaign. |
| Earlier, Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, said he would say “good riddance” to any Labour MPs deciding to leave the party if Long-Bailey becomes leader. In a round of broadcast interviews he praised Long-Bailey’s “brains and brilliance” and said he blamed Labour’s election defeat “virtually solely” on the party backing a second referendum on Brexit. | |
| Asked about council leaders quoted in a Guardian article who said Long-Bailey was a “continuity Corbyn” candidate, McCluskey said there were “lots of these leaders who are anti-Corbyn, so of course they’ll try to stick Rebecca with the same tags and that’s deeply unfair of them.” | Asked about council leaders quoted in a Guardian article who said Long-Bailey was a “continuity Corbyn” candidate, McCluskey said there were “lots of these leaders who are anti-Corbyn, so of course they’ll try to stick Rebecca with the same tags and that’s deeply unfair of them.” |
| He said it was Brexit that had dented Labour’s popularity, not the leader, as Corbyn had been “loved” two years ago. | He said it was Brexit that had dented Labour’s popularity, not the leader, as Corbyn had been “loved” two years ago. |
| McCluskey also claimed there was no doubt that Corbyn’s opponents “used the antisemitism issue” to undermine him, prompting criticism from some Labour MPs that he was failing to accept the depth of the problem. | |
| He said he agreed that Labour had “never handled the antisemitism issue correctly”, and he said he had no problem with acknowledging that “lots of people were genuinely concerned”. | He said he agreed that Labour had “never handled the antisemitism issue correctly”, and he said he had no problem with acknowledging that “lots of people were genuinely concerned”. |
| However, he said there were “others who were disingenous” and had acted in a “despicable” way to undermine Corbyn’s leadership. | However, he said there were “others who were disingenous” and had acted in a “despicable” way to undermine Corbyn’s leadership. |
| McCluskey defended Richard Burgon and Dawn Butler, two deputy leadership candidates, over their refusal to sign up to a 10-point plan to tackle antisemitism published by the Board of Deputies of British Jews. | McCluskey defended Richard Burgon and Dawn Butler, two deputy leadership candidates, over their refusal to sign up to a 10-point plan to tackle antisemitism published by the Board of Deputies of British Jews. |
| The party is preparing to receive the conclusions of an Equalities and Human Rights Commission investigation into its handling of antisemitism. | The party is preparing to receive the conclusions of an Equalities and Human Rights Commission investigation into its handling of antisemitism. |
| Two Labour MPs, Catherine McKinnell and Wes Streeting, expressed disapproval at McCluskey’s assessment of the situation. Streeting said: “I’m absolutely convinced that those who dismissed antisemitism concerns as ‘mood music’ and sought to downplay, dismiss and delegitimatise concerns are part of the problem, not those of us who’ve consistently challenged antisemitism.” | Two Labour MPs, Catherine McKinnell and Wes Streeting, expressed disapproval at McCluskey’s assessment of the situation. Streeting said: “I’m absolutely convinced that those who dismissed antisemitism concerns as ‘mood music’ and sought to downplay, dismiss and delegitimatise concerns are part of the problem, not those of us who’ve consistently challenged antisemitism.” |