One Year On: Labour Proves Westminster Still Doesn’t Work for Scotland
A year ago today, many Scottish voters answered Labour’s call to vote the Conservatives out. They were promised change and a fairer society.
But after 12 months in office, it is obvious that changing the guard at Westminster does nothing for Scotland.
Believe in Scotland founder Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp said: “Real change, the kind that puts Scotland first and improves the lives of those who live here, won’t come from swapping blue for red, or red for a new shade of blue. It will only come from independence.”
Here are four key areas where Labour has set its course in a direction that is bad for Scotland.
1 - Labour’s policies are fueling poverty
An independent Scotland would rebalance things to create a fairer society with a wellbeing economy. But the UK government, whether under Labour or the Conservatives, is wedded to austerity policies that increase inequality.
Though forced to back down on welfare cuts and the withdrawal of the winter fuel payment from all but the poorest pensioners, they have wasted most of their year in office on these failed tactics instead of making the kinds of changes they promised.
The two-child cap remains in place. The Joseph Rowntree Trust estimates that close to half of all children in larger families in England are now in poverty.
Meanwhile, Scotland is doing better because of its “powerful and effective” measures such as the Scottish Child Payment. Scotland has seen a 12% drop in child poverty since introducing reduction targets into law in 2017, according to new research. There has been a reduction of 21,000 children living in relative poverty, while in the same period, England and Wales have seen a 15% rise, said the Big Issue.
But it is not possible for Scotland to truly tackle poverty and inequality without the full powers of independence.
2 - The UK’s energy system punishes Scotland
Energy production and the energy grid were privatised by UK governments that Scotland never voted for. The system that has grown up under the “free market” as a result is fundamentally unfair to Scots. Energy traders have manipulated the system so that they never get paid less than the price of gas.
Scottish businesses pay the highest energy bills in the world. Households pay more than most other parts of the UK for the energy they use.They pay more standing charges and the Highlands and Islands are penalised for not having access to the gas network - average bills are over £4000 a year.
Energy providers based in Scotland are also charged ten times more to access the national grid - while power companies near London are paid to connect. Instead of investing in the grid as a public good, Labour is pouring £30 billion into nuclear energy.
A key election promise to Scotland was a publicly owned energy company called GB Energy to be based in Aberdeen but very little has happened in reality. Its £8 billion budget has been reduced by more than a third to fund nuclear power which Scotland doesn’t want or need and much of the rest is being allocated by the Treasury.
It seems likely that Labour are about to bow to lobbying by private industry and say no to localised energy tariffs which could help address the unfairness that many Scots pay twice or three times the UK average in energy bills.
3 - Largely unelected Westminster claims sovereignty over Scotland
Scotland’s elected government was told by the UK’s Supreme Court it cannot call an independence referendum. The reason was that “democratic sovereignty” for Scotland lies with Westminster - where the House of Lords has more than half of the seats.
Former British PM Gordon Brown was tasked with a plan to save the Union. He concluded the way to avoid Scottish independence was to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected "Senate of the Nations and Regions".
But that plan was quickly abandoned by the Labour government who replaced it with tinkering around the edges, by removing the remaining group of hereditary peers.
That is an insignificant reform. The people appointed to sit in state over Scotland as life members of the House of Lords are no better and in some cases worse, more corrupt and more self-serving, than even the hereditary peers.
4 - Scotland has no say over pathetic Brexit “reset” or international trade deals
London makes poor trade deals that don’t serve Scotland’s interests - like opening the door to feed lot beef from the US to placate Donald Trump. Within the UK, Scotland has no voice. Scotland’s government is not given even the bare minimum of being informed about what is coming down the line.
The Labour Government made promises of a “reset” on Brexit but all they have gained is a pathetic fudge. There is no meaningful change, even on something as small as musicians touring. The EU has indicated that the UK can’t join the pan-European trading bloc. Labour is too afraid of Reform to rejoin the Customs Union.
Over time, the Brexit damage is not getting better but deepening. As the international trade environment gets more unstable, the UK is left isolated. EU members know they can freely trade with each other. Students and scientists don’t meet each other; bands don’t play European festivals; new businesses can’t export to Europe; international businesses are not attracted to the post-Brexit UK. Worst of all, Brexit hurts the life chances of young Scots.
Conclusion
After a year of Labour, the direction of travel is obvious. The UK government is set to “managed decline”. There is no big idea only half measures.
Believe in Scotland founder Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp said: “Labour campaigned on 'change' and won, but this wasn’t a vote for hope or a government with a plan to enact change. It was a vote to get rid of the Tories and now we’re left with more of the same.
“Reform is rising across England and even gaining ground in Scotland, as people search for real change. But real change, the kind that puts Scotland first and improves lives, comes from independence from a broken Britain and a Westminster Government that only ever sees Scotland as an afterthought until it is time to keep the lights on.
“Independence is the only way Scotland can change the future to a better one for everyone that calls Scotland home.”
