Dugdale warns pro-EU campaigners against complacency
Kezia Dugdale has warned pro-EU supporters in Scotland not to get complacent despite strong poll ratings for a Remain vote in the upcoming referendum.
Kezia Dugdale has warned pro-EU supporters in Scotland not to get complacent despite strong poll ratings for a Remain vote in the upcoming referendum.
The Scottish Labour leader made the warning as she prepares to formally launch the Labour In campaign in Scotland.
Ms Dugdale will be joined by Alan Johnson, chairman of Labour In for Britain, to make a "positive case for staying in the EU".
A referendum on the UK's membership of the EU will be held on June 23.
A recent Survation poll put the Remain vote in Scotland at 76%, while the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said 68% of businesspeople would vote to stay in.
Campaigners believe the strength of the Remain vote in Scotland could be a crucial factor with UK polls predicting a close result.
Ms Dugdale said: "The last few weeks have taught us again not to read polls as prediction, as if we needed another lesson after the general election. There's no such thing as a guaranteed win in politics. There can be no complacency when the future of our nation is at stake.
"We may be weary as a nation after three national campaigns in as many years, but we need to do it all over again in the next few weeks.
"We will make the case with passion and conviction."
The Scottish Labour leader believes that the economic case for continued membership is "overwhelming".
She added: "In this debate we must win the head arguments but they have to be combined with a story that reaches people's hearts.
"We will make the economic case: that trade with the EU is essential to Scottish jobs, second only to our domestic market in the UK.
"We will argue the case for workers' rights - that Europe guarantees basic standards at work for millions of Scottish workers, regardless of who is in government.
"We will argue that in a world of constant change and confusing new threats, we are more secure in bigger alliances than alone.
"We will make these arguments, but we will also argue that there is something beautiful about being part of this European family. It isn't found in the grey offices of officials in Brussels or in the columns of national balance sheets, but in lives made more colourful, more fulfilling and more exciting in the cities and towns of Scotland, the UK and 27 other nations."