Labour MP Calls For "Powerhouse Parliament" In Scotland Bill
Labour wants Holyrood to have more power to redistribute wealth and address the affront to common decency'' of four Scottish families owning more than a fifth of the country, according to shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray.
Mr Murray said Labour's amendments to the Scotland Bill will create a powerhouse parliament fit for a modern and progressive Scotland''.
In an advance extract from his speech to the Scottish Labour conference in Perth, he said: Inequality and poverty in our society fell considerably during the last Labour government but it is persisting, and it is the children in the kind of area I grew up in who are bearing the brunt of it.
According to Oxfam Scotland, healthy life expectancy for the most deprived men and women in Scotland was 20 years shorter than in the least deprived.
Twenty years, conference. Just think about that for a moment.
Geographically, within Scotland, we have parts of the country that appear in the top 10 richest parts of the UK and the bottom 10. Some of them nestling next to each other. Poverty and prosperity; side by side.
In total, 730,000 of our fellow Scots are living in poverty.
Four families in Scotland are wealthier than the entire poorest 20% in our country. This is an affront to our common decency.''
He added: If the government accepts our changes to the Scotland Bill, we will have the power to create a new social security system in Scotland that responds to our circumstances.
We will have even more powers to deal with the deep problems of poverty and inequality in our society.
To make good on the promise ourselves that everyone should get the best start in life.
They will be powers that will allow us to take a different path, if we want. This is the powerhouse Parliament we were promised.
A Scottish Parliament fit for a modern and progressive Scotland. A Scottish Parliament with even more powers to make a difference.''