Scottish Labour conference: Tories and SNP mean race to bottom, says Miliband
Scottish Labour conference: Tories and SNP mean race to bottom, says Miliband
(about 3 hours later)
Scottish independence and a Tory win at the next UK election would force the country into a "race to the bottom", Labour leader Ed Miliband will say.
Scottish independence and a Tory win at the next UK election would force the country into a "race to the bottom", Labour leader Ed Miliband has said.
Mr Miliband will argue such an outcome would leave Scotland and the rest of the UK having to compete on cutting taxes and wages to compete globally.
He told his party's Scottish conference the scenario would leave Scotland and the rest of the UK having to compete on cutting taxes and wages to compete.
He will make the comments in a speech to the Scottish Labour conference.
Mr Miliband said only Labour governments at Holyrood and Westminster could deliver for people in the UK.
His speech came ahead of September's Scottish independence referendum.
Pro-independence campaign Yes Scotland said Labour could not deliver "powers that people want and Scotland needs".
Pro-independence campaign Yes Scotland said Labour could not deliver "powers that people want and Scotland needs".
Labour members are gathering in Perth ahead of the Scottish independence referendum on 18 September when voters will be asked the Yes/No question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
Addressing delegates in Perth, Mr Miliband attacked the Scottish government for wanting to cut business tax, while refusing to match Labour's commitment to freeze energy prices and restoring the the 50p tax rate on income above £150,000.
Mr Miliband will attack the Scottish government, which wants to cut business tax, for refusing to match Labour's plans for an energy price freeze or restoration of the 50p tax rate on income above £150,000.
At the same time, the Labour leader said the UK government budget had failed to held young people, tackle the cost of living "crisis" and help hard-pressed families.
At the same time, he will say Scottish Labour has put forward new plans to strengthen the powers of the devolved Scottish Parliament, which would work with a Labour Westminster government to boost social justice across the UK.
In contrast, Mr Miliband said Scottish Labour had put forward plans to expand the Scottish Parliament's financial powers, which would work hand-in-hand with a Labour Westminster government boosting social justice across the UK.
The Labour leader will tell delegates in Perth: "Think how hard it would be to stop a race to the bottom happening if, on one island, we had a border running along the middle so we were divided in two.
Labour members gathered in Perth ahead of the Scottish independence referendum on 18 September when voters will be asked the Yes/No question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
"It would be two lanes in a race to the bottom - with David Cameron and Alex Salmond at the starting blocks - in which the only way they win is for you to lose.
Mr Miliband said of the Scottish first minister: "Alex Salmond used to claim he was a great social democrat. He can't anymore.
"If Scotland was to go independent, it would be a race to the bottom not just on tax rates, but on wage rates, on terms and conditions, on zero hours contracts, on taking on the energy companies, on reforming the banks.
"When he is advocating the race to the bottom that he used to condemn when it came from a Tory government.
"Those who can afford it will be paying less, while hard-working families across Scotland will pay more and see their services suffer."
"He has been exposed in this referendum argument.
Mr Miliband will say of the Scottish first minister: "Alex Salmond, who claims to be a great social democrat, would end up running the same race to the bottom that the Tories have embarked upon.
'Don't believe it'
"The SNP talk about social justice but they can't build it - because they can't be narrow nationalists and serve social justice at the same time."
The Labour leader continued: "This is the SNP vision of an independent Scotland - two lanes in the race to the bottom. David Cameron and Alex Salmond in the starting blocks.
Mr Miliband's speech will come after Scottish Labour this week unveiled a plan to increase the financial powers of the Scottish Parliament, after a referendum "No" vote.
"You can't build social justice if that is your approach."
The proposals included:
Mr Miliband also said he understood the "deep anger anger and frustration" with the current Tory-led UK government.
The Labour leader will say: "A Labour government for the UK and a Scottish Labour government will be two governments working together on common challenges - not wrestling against each other - but never resting until we have built the more just and equal society that every part of the United Kingdom should be."
But he said that was a feeling expressed across the UK, adding: "People should not believe the SNP argument that there is a Tory England and a progressive Scotland."
Mr Miliband will also pay tribute to former party leader and Scottish Labour MP John Smith, who died in 1994 at the age of 55.
'Deliberate policy'
"John Smith was a man who passionately believed in social justice in Scotland - and in the United Kingdom," he will say, adding: "Twenty years on, that flame of social justice still burns. And we can honour his legacy by winning the fight for Scotland to remain in the United Kingdom."
Blair Jenkins, who heads the pro-independence campaign group Yes Scotland, said he agreed with Mr Miliband's desire to create a country that was "fairer, socially just and more equal".
Mr Miliband will also use his speech in Perth to talk about his own links to Scotland, which saw his father train in the Royal Navy during World War Two at Inverkeithing.
However, he added: "But the reality is that the UK is one of the most unequal countries in the developed world. That's happened not by an act of God, but from deliberate policy decisions of successive Westminster governments over many decades of failure.
"I passionately believe in Scotland staying in the United Kingdom," he will say.
"Growing numbers of Labour supporters are realising that Westminster isn't working for Scotland and hasn't been for a very long time.
"It is a belief rooted in the history and bonds that we share together across this United Kingdom: a history that has enabled us to fight better for equality and social justice across this United Kingdom."
"That has not diminished their desire to build a better and fairer nation which is as strong today as it was when John Smith was Labour leader."
Yes Scotland Chief Executive Blair Jenkins attacked Labour's tax proposals and the party's argument that the Scottish Parliament should raise about 40% of its own revenues.
Mr Jenkins said: "It is clear that the Labour leadership cannot count - and that we cannot count on Labour to deliver the powers that people want and Scotland needs. Proposals which were already weak have been exposed as being even weaker.
"Under Labour's plans, Holyrood would raise in tax only 26% of what it spends - marginally more than the 22% already coming under the forthcoming Scotland Act.
"Within 48 hours of being released, Labour's totally inadequate and watered-down offer of more powers has collapsed quite spectacularly.
"This is not so much devo-more as a devo-mess which has only served to highlight the fact that only a 'Yes' vote in September can guarantee the powers that Scotland wants and needs."
