Devolution is for everyone. A no vote will change all of Britain

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/14/scotland-has-shown-change-whole-country

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There can be no doubt that this referendum has changed Scotland. But it has not just changed Scotland; it will change Britain, because the thirst for democratic and economic change that has been heard from the people of Scotland will lead to change throughout Britain after 18 September.

Scottish Labour has set out a clear timetable for further devolution of income tax, social security, the work programme – a timetable we will deliver for a stronger Scottish parliament and a stronger Scotland. But this delivery plan for more powers that we have set out is the start of the change we need in where power lies.

Scotland has led the way, but devolution is not a project just for Scotland. Further devolution is coming to Wales, and Scotland's example will lead the way in changing how we are governed in England too.

That is why we have proposed changing the way we are governed in England, with extensive new devolution to local government from Cornwall to Cumbria. And the British state must change, from the House of Lords to us working and cooperating together in this newly devolved Britain. By voting no, Scotland can be part of this change in the way we are governed – changing our constitution not only for a stronger Scotland but so that it works for everyone in Britain.

But this mood of change is not just about how we are governed; crucially, it is about who we are governed for. This is the biggest lesson of all. People do not simply feel left out by politics; they feel left behind by our economy.

Whether people are voting no or yes, it is clear we cannot carry on with an economy that lets so many people down.

I have heard this message again and again as I have gone around Scotland in this campaign. I think of the worker on the minimum wage on Friday night, undecided how to vote, who felt things could not carry on as they were. I think of the man with his own removal business, whom I met in the street in Edinburgh, voting no, who said we had to create jobs for the young. I think of the woman I met who hadn't been in work for year after year. All of them are demanding change, change that must happen across the UK.

Because the people of Scotland should know that they have expressed the mood of change in this referendum, but it is shared across the UK, from south to north, east to west.

This campaign has shown that the Conservatives cannot speak for our whole country. And the SNP's plans simply to cut corporation tax to compete in a race to the bottom would do nothing to address these issues. We need a new government that can. And I believe Britain will elect a Labour government in May 2015.

The starting point of that government will be that we cannot carry on with a country too often run for just a few at the top. A country that so clearly doesn't work for everyday, working people. A Labour government will change it. This appetite for change has been building for a long time. We must and will meet it.

Scotland has a historic choice on Thursday. But even before the votes are cast the voice of Scotland has been heard, articulating the mood of change and national renewal we need.

With a no vote, things will not go back to the way things were after Thursday. Scotland has shown why we must change our whole country.

Throughout our history that is what we have done – from workers' rights to the NHS to the minimum wage.

That is what we can, we must and we will do again. We can do it together, and I urge the people of Scotland to vote no on Thursday so they can help lead that change across the UK.