Salmond’s home rule plan will rob Scots of savings says Murphy
ALEX Salmond’s new plan for ‘home rule’ will threaten the savings of ordinary people, Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy warned yesterday.
He said the former First Minister’s demand for the devolution of all domestic matters and taxation apart from foreign affairs and defence would present ‘a new threat to Scotland’s pensions’.
Writing in today’s Scottish Mail on Sunday, Mr Murphy also accuses Mr Salmond of ‘having second thoughts’ about his resignation as First Minister, and of trying to ‘get his hands on the steering wheel of the SNP again’.
He claims SNP success in May’s General Election and the 2016 Scot- tish elections would again put Scotland’s place in the UK at risk.
In a newspaper interview last week, Mr Salmond said he would demand his version of ‘home rule’ in return for propping up a Labour Government at Westminster.
But Mr Murphy said: ‘Think, for just a moment, about what that proposal really means: an end to the UK-wide pensions system, where taxes raised across the whole of the UK pay toward the pensions of Scots; an end to the UK-wide welfare system, that makes sure the vulnerable in our country get the support they need; an end to the Barnett Formula, which means Scotland gets a higher share of public money to invest in our schools and hospitals.
‘And it means Scotland alone taking on the risks of the government’s budget being overly reliant on volatile oil revenue.
‘Just when Scotland thought we had seen off the risks of the SNP, Alex Salmond is back with a vengeance with a new threat to Scotland’s pensions.’
In a strongly-worded attack on the former SNP leader, Mr Murphy also claimed Mr Salmond is refusing to allow Nicola Sturgeon to run her party, saying he made ‘a big strategic mistake’ by announcing the Nationalists’ General Election strategy.
‘He showed everyone in Scotland that he’s not content with being a back-seat driver,’ said Mr Murphy. ‘He gives every impression of someone who wants to jump in the front and get his hands on the steering wheel of the SNP again.
‘What should have been an announcement by the current First Minister and leader of the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon, was made by the former leader of the SNP. Who is really in charge?’
Meanwhile, Mr Murphy yesterday signed off a radical change to Scottish Labour’s constitution, which now states the party will work ‘for the patriotic interest’ of the people of Scotland and for a ‘permanent and powerful Scottish parliament’.
SNP deputy leader Stewart Hosie said: ‘Labour are shouting from the sidelines while the SNP and the Scottish Government are taking action to support our NHS, our public services and to secure a strong future for our oil and gas industry.’
‘A new threat to Scotland’s pensions’