A RACE FOR SECOND PLACE

Labour’s war on middle classes as Tories overtake them in the polls

LABOUR yesterday declared war on the middle classes by launching the party’s ‘most radical manifesto ever’ – in a desperate bid to avoid total wipeout in the forthcoming Scottish elections.

As a new poll suggested Labour could end up in third place – behind the SNP and the Tories – Scottish leader Kezia Dugdale unveiled plans to hammer all workers with tax rises and put the country hun- dreds of millions of pounds into debt in order to spend more on welfare and benefits.

In a speech to her party’s spring conference in Glasgow, she repeatedly described herself as a ‘socialist’ and claimed that her plans would ‘end austerity in Scotland’. But a poll revealed that Labour is facing another humiliation in May’s Scottish elections and is even set to lose its crown as the main opposition to the Tories.

Labour strategists also unveiled plans to drop its focus on key constituencies and instead fight for regional list votes across Scotland as they attempt to cling on to their seats at Holyrood.

According to a poll published yesterday, the SNP is now on course to win an astonishing 70 of Holyrood’s 129 seats, with the Tories set to win 22 and Labour trailing on 21.

Speaking to around 400 delegates yesterday, Miss Dugdale said: ‘In this election it is Labour who are rising to this moment in Scotland’s history, it is Labour who have the vision for our new powerful parliament, it is Labour who see the possibilities for radical change. We are the ones with ambition for Scotland.’

Miss Dugdale said that she wants to define the period where the Scottish parliament secures new powers as a time of ‘radical policies and financial responsibility’.

But she said her proposals would lead to all taxpayers being asked to pay more, with a commitment to setting income tax rates in all bands – including the basic rate – 1p higher than south of the Border in every year of the next parliament.

She also said that she would veto George Osborne’s plans to increase the rate at which people pay the 40p higher rate of tax and would not follow Nicola Sturgeon’s plan to cut the amount of tax people pay on air travel.

Labour will also borrow more than £100million a year to help offset spending cuts. And it also pledged to ensure that taxes are never lowered when public services are being cut in the lifetime of the next parliament.

With the money raised, it pledged increases in carers’ allowance, a doubling of grants for new mums with low incomes, the complete abolition of the bedroom tax, a commitment that patients would get a GP surgery appointment within 48 hours and a liv-

‘The SNP are too comfortable in power’

ing wage for care workers. Miss Dugdale also said she would ensure cancer patients get an appointment with a specialist within a fortnight of a GP suspecting cancer and would increase investment in mental health services.

As a raft of speakers tried to portray Labour as more Left-wing than the SNP yesterday, Miss Dugdale said: ‘Let me speak directly to the voters who aren’t yet convinced – after a decade sat in ministerial offices, the SNP are too comfortable in power and they’re being too cautious with their powers.

‘If you want more accountable government, more radical government, if you want a government that is less interested in taking selfies and more interested in taking on the establishment, then consider giving your first or second votes to the Labour Party.’

Yesterday’s Survation poll showed that Labour and the Tories are tied on 18 per cent for the regional list vote. On the constituency vote, Labour sits on 20 per cent, compared to 16 per cent for the Tories.

Brian Roy, Scottish Labour’s general secretary, told activists that the election will ‘not be a traditional key seat campaign’. Instead, Labour will focus on targeting key voters who could be crucial in determining the results of constituency seats and regional lists.

But when he referred to target voters, he made no mention of middleincome families.

He said: ‘These are some of the crucial voters Labour has to win back from the SNP in May: families with children renting better quality housing from social landlords; families supporting adults and children where expenditure can exceed income living on a tight budget; older social renters settled in communities where employment is hard to find; lower-income workers whose adult children are still living at home because they can’t afford to move out, leaving space limited; and ambitious 20 and 30-somethings trying to get a foothold in their careers.

‘The SNP told these voters that they were the only alternative to Tory austerity, that they would fight to stop the cuts. Instead, we have another five years of Tory cuts. They feel let down, they want a parliament to deliver the change that Scotland needs. These are the key voters that will determine the election result for Labour in May.’

SNP business convener Derek MacKay said: ‘Miss Dugdale’s speech showed why a vote for the SNP is so important to keep Scotland moving forward. On the day the opinion polls showed Labour lagging behind the Tories these are simply empty promises from a party that openly admits it is campaigning for second place and has abandoned constituencies across the country.’

Tory MSP Alex Johnstone said: ‘It seems Kezia Dugdale wants to drag Labour back into the ruinous mindset that landed this country in so much trouble.’