MESSAGES OF INTENT Dugdale battle cry as she insists Labour has a vision for future
KEZIA DUGDALE is the latest leader to tell people Labour has changed. She has had next to no time to prepare for a Scottish election and to avoid another humiliating defeat. However, she knew how much of a task reversing Labour’s electoral performance would be.
She said: “When I put my name forward for this job I had to be sure I knew I had a plan to turn things around and part of that is about having a much clearer sense of who we are and what we stand for.
“Our tax policy is real evidence we have changed, because it is honest, it’s brave, it’s bold.
“It’s about asking the richest people in society to pay a bit more in tax so we can protect our public services. I think that’s really strong evidence we have changed.”
If Ms Dugdale is to avoid disaster she will have to stem the SNP tide that swept the country last year. Holding seats in yes voting Glasgow, where three MSPs are fighting to survive, would be a sign of progress.
She said: “You need to understand why lots of people in Glasgow voted yes. I believe there are two types of people who voted yes, those who define themselves as nationalists and there’s those who desperately wanted Scotland to make different choices from the Tories.”
The Better Together campaign with the Tories still haunts Labour.
Kezia Dugdale says she understands the anger people felt but says she is now making a Labour case that yes voters can identify with.
She said: “The great myth of the referendum for me was that independence was the only way to change things and part of the appeal I’m making in this election is, whether you were yes or no, take a look at Labour plans to use the new powers of the parliament to make different choices from the Tories.
“I believe the majority of people who voted yes did so because they wanted to end austerity and we have the chance to do that ourselves now in Scotland – all it takes is the political will to do it.”
She is “frustrated” with Nicola Sturgeon as “last year’s anti-austerity champion prepared to ask the rich to pay more tax but is now i mposing austerity refusing to tax the rich.”
She is keen to set the record straight on NHS spending when asked if her plans produce less cash for the health service stating both party’s plans are identical.
She said: “The total budget for the NHS under Labour would be in the region of £14billion, that’s an extra £2bn for the NHS.”
On spending UK consequentials she said she made it clear in speeches it would be spent on health.
Instead she turns again to SNP plans which Labour argue would result in billions of pounds of cuts. Even though the Tories are aiming to overtake Labour as the official opposition, Ms Dugdale’s sights are fixed on Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP, not Ruth Davidson. She is more concerned with winning back voters from the SNP, not losing to the Tories.
Back to Nicola Sturgeon, she says: “What Nicola needs to be honest about is the reality that she is set to make £3bn worth of cuts. Glasgow’s share of those is £337 million, £600 less per person on services in this city.
“The different philosophy you’ve got under my leadership is the belief that we should have a universal set of social rights and some people should pay more for them than others.
“I can afford to keep university tuition free and redress the cut in bursary the SNP have imposed on the poorest students.
“I can afford to have free prescriptions and invest more money on mental health because I’m prepared to say those with the broadest shoulders should pay a bit more tax.”
She is heartened by polls that show the tax rise plan is popular and can help reclaim Labour as the opposition to Tory austerity. She adds: “We have a chance to make different choices from the Tories and we should grasp it.”