Mcdonnell: Extra £70bn to Holyrood if Labour wins next election
SCOTLAND would be handed an additional £70 billion over 10 years under a Labour government, the shadow chancellor has said.
John Mcdonnell pledged a raft of investments as he addressed Scottish Labour’s conference in Dundee.
He accused the Scottish Government of being “a conveyor belt for Tory cuts” – and insisted his party offered a new path through socialism.
He said: “Both north and south of the Border, lives have been destroyed and millions left in despair thanks to the failed economic dogma of neoliberalism and austerity.
“Austerity was always a political choice, not an economic necessity. The Tories and the SNP chose austerity. We choose socialism.”
Mr Mcdonnell said Labour’s investment plans included £20bn in capital from a Scottish Investment Bank.
An extra £20bn would also be unlocked through a “National Transformation Fund”, while £30bn would come from Barnett consequentials – cash linked to spending decisions taken by the UK.
Mr Mcdonnell also pledged to bring high-speed rail to Scotland, as well as rebuilding “crumbling infrastructure”.
Addressing delegates on the last day of the conference, he said marginal seats in Scotland held the key to victory at the next election.
He said: “Only by working together across Britain can Labour confront austerity, and launch a new political era. We began to do that in the General Election last year, when we saw six new Scottish Labour MPS.
“This was among the many other electoral victories thanks to Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and inspiring manifesto.
“And of course with your hard work and idealism we came so close to winning so many more Scottish seats that are now considered marginal. It is these seats that will hold the key to us winning the next election.
“Scotland will decide whether we have a Labour or Tory government. You will be the people who will make a difference.” He added: “Taken
together, our commitments over a decade could mean an additional £70bn for the Scottish economy.
“That’s £70bn of potentially additional spending to support a Scottish industrial strategy, to support renewable energy generation, to build more houses, create jobs, and support growth.
“That’s why we need Labour governments – in London and Edinburgh – to reverse the damage that has been done to Scotland.”
He compared the spending from Labour’s planned UK Investment bank with the SNP’S “measly £340 million’’ of initial capital for the “so-called Scottish Investment Bank’’.
He told the Nationalists: “If you are going to steal our ideas, for goodness’ sake do it with a bit of style.’’
Mr Mcdonnell said a “new society” was in sight across the UK, adding: “A society which is –in other words – socialist.”
Last week, Mr Corbyn sparked controversy after he insisted his party’s Brexit vision must include barriers to prevent employers “being able to import cheap agency labour”.
The UK leader argued any deal with the EU must be compatible with Labour’s radical socialist programme.
Meanwhile, Scottish leader Richard Leonard outlined his “mission” to “fundamentally change” the economic system on Saturday.
He said the party would lodge new legislation to reform the private rented sector – while also banning any future private finance deals.