Breaking up UK ‘worse than Brexit’
TEARING Scotland out of the UK would be an act of ‘economic vandalism’ more damaging than Brexit, Kezia Dugdale declared yesterday.
The Scottish Labour leader warned against holding another ‘bruising and divisive’ independence referendum campaign.
And she insisted she is proud to have helped secure a ‘decisive’ No vote in 2014, saying the Union is ‘worth fighting for’.
She also unveiled plans for a new ‘Act of Union’ which would lead to a series of new powers being devolved to Holyrood, including fisheries and the minimum wage.
At an event in London, Miss Dugdale said: ‘The Tories want Scotland in the UK and out of Europe, and the SNP want Scotland in the EU, but out of the UK.
‘Continuing to pull our country in each of these directions risks breaking the Union once and for all. Yet the prospectus for independence in 2016 is, in fact, far weaker than what was proposed in 2014.
‘In the last referendum, the SNP wanted to break the political union, but their argument was that the economic union between Scotland and the rest of the UK could be maintained. In other words, we would continue trading freely, we would continue to use the pound and the Bank of England would continue with its role in monetary policy.
‘Today, we are faced with an SNP blueprint which would see us out of the UK single market, an uncertain future with Europe, the adoption of a separate Scottish currency and the need for the establishment of a new central bank.
‘This would be an act of economic vandalism far greater than even Tory Brexit has handed us.’
Miss Dugdale, who has previously been accused of wobbling over her support for Scotland’s place in the UK, attempted to make her most pro-Union speech to help prevent a second independence poll.
She said: ‘The UK provides the redistribution of wealth
‘Heal our divided society’
that defines our entire Labour movement, and it provides the protection for public finance in Scotland that comes from being part of something larger, something worth fighting for.’
She claimed that a more federal approach would help the UK ‘heal our divided society’ following the Brexit and Scottish independence votes.
She set out her plan for a new Act of Union, with increased powers for Holyrood, Cardiff Bay, Stormont and the English regions.
The new powers should include some of the responsibilities which will return to the UK after Brexit, as well as agriculture and workers’ rights, including control of the minimum wage.
She has written to Theresa May to call for a ‘people’s constitutional convention’ to decide on a ‘new political settlement’ for the whole country. ‘It is time for a new Act of Union to safeguard our family of nations for generations to come,’ said Miss Dugdale.
Her plans won the support of Lord Alistair Darling, who led the Better Together campaign. He said a constitutional convention can ‘deliver the settlement the whole country now needs’.
Scottish Tory chief whip John Lamont said: ‘Kezia Dugdale has performed a complete U-turn on her previous position on Brexit; first backing a separate Scottish deal, now apparently opposing one. This only goes to show how Scottish Labour has lost its bearings on the constitution.’