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Gordon Brown: independent Scotland would not be more equal or progressive | Gordon Brown: independent Scotland would not be more equal or progressive |
(35 minutes later) | |
Scotland would not be a more equal or progressive country if it votes for independence, Gordon Brown has warned. | Scotland would not be a more equal or progressive country if it votes for independence, Gordon Brown has warned. |
The former prime minister said people should forget the notion that an independent Scotland would be "some kind of northern light for a new form of social democracy" because Alex Salmond's policies would not redistribute wealth or give Scots control of their economy. | |
Brown also criticised the SNP leader's claim that he would hold on to the pound in the event of independence, saying it would make Scotland a "semi-colonial" outpost with no say over interest rates. | |
Brown said: "All you need to do is look at the policies of the SNP to be clear that there is no redistributive impulse. There is no suggestion income inequality would be less. They've got this great proposal for reducing business taxation, the biggest beneficiaries of which would be the privatised utilities, whose prices we want to freeze. Don't look to the SNP for some kind of social democratic easy way out for people who believe in progressive politics and don't think that's happening in the rest of the UK at the moment." | |
His comments appear to sound a warning to left-leaning Scots who may be tempted to vote for independence rather than risk getting a Tory government in London next year. | |
Brown made the remarks at the Guardian offices in London as he set out the case for greater cooperation between all the four countries of the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. He argued that the rise of nationalist forces in Scotland were less about a quarrel with England than a failure to create a British identity and deal with the challenges of globalisation. | Brown made the remarks at the Guardian offices in London as he set out the case for greater cooperation between all the four countries of the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. He argued that the rise of nationalist forces in Scotland were less about a quarrel with England than a failure to create a British identity and deal with the challenges of globalisation. |
"Unless we have a clear idea of what interdependence means, not just within Britain, but Europe and the rest of the world, then nationalist movements, protectionism and xenophobia will be very powerful … We must have a view of how we can manage globalisation, which is what the biggest issue is facing the UK, about he we can expose the fact nation states alone cannot solve these problems, whether it's climate change or financial stability or growth," said the former Labour leader | "Unless we have a clear idea of what interdependence means, not just within Britain, but Europe and the rest of the world, then nationalist movements, protectionism and xenophobia will be very powerful … We must have a view of how we can manage globalisation, which is what the biggest issue is facing the UK, about he we can expose the fact nation states alone cannot solve these problems, whether it's climate change or financial stability or growth," said the former Labour leader |
He added: "Globalisation needs a human face. It should have been [Barack] Obama. Obama should have represented how the world should come together in the modern era. Unfortunately, it is not. There has got to be a sense that there is leadership for global co-operation in the world." | |
Asked whether Ed Miliband, was doing a good enough job to convince Scots that he would be prime minister next year, Brown said both | |
the Labour leader and Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, were making a "pretty strong argument" for the UK to stay together. | |
Pressed on whether he had a "sneaking admiration" for Salmond as a politician, Brown answered: "Well he's won an election, which is more than I managed." | |
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