01/11/2015 Scottish Labour Party Conference

The autumn colours of the River T are an unfamiliar backdrop for

Scottish Labour was Mike autumn Conference. Delegates usually get

together in these bring but summer saw the election of two new Labour

leaders, Jeremy Corbyn and Kezia Dugdale in Scotland. I next March,

the party will be just weeks away from the Holyrood election and there

is a 30 point polling gap to close between now and then so they have

gathered here in Perth to kick-start a long campaign. Scottish Labour has

been trying to reinvent itself ever since Joanne Larman quit as leader

leaning the UK party for treating Scotland like our branch office.

Brian Taylor project to Kezia Dugdale that whatever Scottish

Labour decided it would always be trumped by Westminster. - Johann

Lamont. This Conference but strongly worded motions to cancel Trident,

1989 Herald 13th March, and an unyielding message to Mr Neil

Kinnock at the weekend that he must not abandon the commitment to

unilateral disarmament. 1988, evening News 6th of March, the

Scottish Labour Party today snubbed Tony Blair by refusing to scrap

Britain was Mike nuclear deterrent. I can give you many cases where the

Scottish Labour Party voted against Trident. They never took notice.

That is like say the SNP do not have a opinion on

That is like say the SNP do not have make it more democratic.

That is like say the SNP do not have covered them, it might be a while in

your past or possibly before you were born as an example of some of

them but the Scottish Labour Party voted repeatedly for nuclear

disarmament and that was over as far as I am away, ignored, we still have

Trident on the Clyde. Bhoy the Scottish Labour Party Conference

Trident on the Clyde. Bhoy the and Scottish Labour Party is

coordinating in solidarity with one another. Jeremy Corbyn then turned

specifically to the politics of last week and the tax credit to beat in

the house of lords. 1300 per year will be taken from a quarter of a

million families across Scotland from next April. Across the UK as a

whole beast tax credit cuts will put another 200,000 children into

poverty. Have a million more children are already in poverty than

you were in 2010. How can we rest when the government is trying to

dismantle the support for working people that we deal Labour Party and

Labour government would tempt place. Why should our members in the house

of Lord not take action to force the hands of the government as they did

this week. Eventually he saw Pope in Labour Party might future in the

energy debate. In the referendum last year 85% of people don't vote

because the stakes were very high. The new regardless of how people go

to do would be a dramatic effect on the future of this nation. I believe

all politics today, not just constitutional politics, is

important. He stakes are high. When we vote for the government as we are

seeing with the Tories, these have an impact on people's lives. This is

true across Scotland. Let's build that caving, inclusive society where

everybody matters, everybody is included, every child can fulfil

ambitions and dreams. That is our mission, that is our mission, that

is the Labour vision. Thank you very much. Earlier in the day the general

secretary of the ST UC offered a stern rebuke to those who suggested

the policies of the new leader where extremist. It is not extreme to be

against 's deputy, it is not extreme to be pro-trade union, it is not

extreme to believe that reducing competitiveness can be

complementary. It is not extreme to believe in progressive taxation or

if we want high quality public services we all might have two p a

bit more tax. It certainly is not extreme to question the morality or

if his sake of spending ?167 billion on Trident renewal. The French would

think it extreme not too happy publicly owned and run real system.

The Germans would think it extreme not to support manufacturing or not

to recognise the central role of trade unions or collective

bargaining or not to require countries to pay 30% corporation

tax. The Scandinavians would think it strange not to have a high level

of union membership or two pay higher taxes for better public

services. The Norwegians would think it not extreme to have a state owned

oil company and it is ironic we have someone else's state owned company

running our railway or operating our nuclear power stations or to

advocate public ownership of transport, energy utilities is

considered by some to be the on the Peel in the UK. The next referendum

on the future of the UK will be on whether to remain in the EU. The

labouring movement for staying in hell a fringe movement. Deeper

co-operation has allowed the left in the UK to join forces with our

European counterparts and to achieve protection for workers across 28

member states, that is quite something, able achievement, we

should celebrate that. It is lengthening the left in Europe I

believe, would not serve the objectives of the progresses but

rather we can our attempts to affect change to the many, not the few. The

UK leaving the European Union would deprive the left of one voice to

benefit one continent. Being part of the European community has

undoubtedly changed our society. It has brought investment for our

workers on maternity and paternity pay and often my favourite one, the

right to paid holiday. Local companies like Nissan and Siemens

all choosing to set up shop in Britain because of our continued EU

membership. The challenge for Europe is best, we are one 20th of the

world'spopulation with 20% of the world's wealth, that cannot

continue. Wealth is moving east. The rise of China, meant countries close

behind. We have two ensure a competitive union so we have the

best products officially produced without lowering wages or standard

of living. We must not accept Britain just falls behind.

Labour Party might only surviving Scottish MP is now the SkyDome

Scottish secretary and he told the Conference a moving story about how

it is possible to come from a humble background and rice to the top. I

want to tell you a story of an ordinarily Scottish boy from an

ordinarily Scottish family, this little boy was born and grew up in a

deprived areas. He had as much talent and potential if not

opportunity at the start of his life as anyone else. He had the

supportive and loving family, at the age of nine he had to deal with the

death of his family which was a horrible time for his family at his

mother pushed through determined to get them the best life she could,

work all hours and told her two sons there was nothing in life he could

not achieve. He grew up, went to a state school in one of the most

deprived areas of the city but got through school with good results,

why? Cause the school may have been deprived of resources but it was not

deprived of teachers who inspired, supported and encouraged him. Thanks

to those teachers in that school he got to university, the first-ever in

his family, he graduated, worked temporary jobs before packing it all

in and going it alone, starting his own micro-businesses. While they got

off the ground he moonlighted at the deception is to pay bills. I call

start-ups things did not always go smoothly or according to plan but

after a few years he was broadcasting on the Internet,

renovating buildings and turning them around. That could be anyone's

story but it just happens to be mined and is probably a story like

any of you in here today which reminds us no matter where you are

from or what you believe you can succeed. A delegate spoke from

personal experience and persuaded Conference to vote to end social

care charges. Why is it that I need help to go to toilet in hospital it

is free and I am damp rag to be part of the party who made it so that if

I need help to go to the toilet in my own home I have two people at it.

It was a Tory government to split social kid and I do not see this

often but they were right to do that because I would rather get help in

the community that I need and be able to come to Conference today

that had to stay in an institution out when they did it the worst

sneaky. He did not just change where care happened, they hived off bits

of it and bits we used to get for free we suddenly had to start paying

for. The abysmal line between health and social care, this SNP government

have resided over social care system in Scotland and I resided over a

social care system in Scotland that is in crisis. Instead of ending the

injustice they say the alibi justice. Instead of ending that

injustice they simply say reform them and make them fairer but how

can that be fair to have to gauge to get out of bed in the morning? - B.

Closing the school attainment gap between the least and most

successful school pupils is the priority of all parties but how do

you go about achieving that? That was the question the Joseph Rowntree

foundation asked at its fringe meeting. Currently the biggest

impact factor on how quickly a child in Scotland learns to read is the

amount of money his or her patients letter and that down. That is wrong.

In the 21st century we must do something about that.

The attainment gap matters, unemployment can beckon, you get low

income, it has health, psychological consequences and it also matters

because it means there is a pool of unexplored talents. We are missing

out on the future engineers, artists, entrepreneurs of the future

because so many children are not doing well in school. The geography

of poverty in Scotland is different in terms of education from poverty

in England or America. England and America property is zoned according

to schools. In Scotland it is not, Scotland has a more comprehensive

education system so 60% of kids who are living in poverty do not go to

school. Kezia Dugdale followed with startling statistics and a policy

announcement. If you are looked after kid, you are more likely to go

to jail than University, that should shock every person in the room. We

should not stand for that until it is turned around. There are 16,000

looked after kids in Scotland with that identity, 156 are studying at

higher education institutions. I have higher aspirations. One of the

policies I have released today and I will say more tomorrow is if you are

a looked after kid, a child who has had no real mum and dad in your life

is at the state, we recognise the state is your parent and it should

do a better job than it has done looking after your education. I have

said every child that wants to go to university will get a full grant,

you will not have to borrow a penny, that is a full grant of ?6,000 for

every year they are at university to make sure they can fulfil their

potential and not have to go into debt. On Saturday Kezia Dugdale made

her first speech as leader as the third Scottish woman leader she

focused part of her speech on equality. We need 147,000 more

engineers in Scotland by 2022. Just a fraction of those studying

engineering science and phonology are preparing for the jobs of the

future are women. Having three female leaders should mean we win

more victories for women. It can't mean we declare victory prematurely.

She turned her attention to the record of the SNP government. I say

to the SNP, after eight years in charge, I will judge you on your

record and I will judge you above all on your record on education.

APPLAUSE Every single one of the 6000

children who left a Scottish primary school this year on your watch

unable to read properly, that record disgraces this nation and it

constrains its future. APPLAUSE

The Scottish parliament will soon have new powers which give us the

chance to break with the Tories unfair taxes. At SNP conference John

Swinney was asked if he would make a different choice on tax credits than

the Tories. He offered only excuses saying they could not afford to do

it. If the SNP government can't even commit to doing things differently

from a Tory government, what does it say about their ambitions for

Scotland? We have a government in Scotland which looks at a problem

and sees only the politics. We need a government that looks at the

problem and sees possibilities. I see things differently. I don't look

to make political capital out of grievance, when I see a problem I

ask what can be done? Let me say today, to Scotland what we will do.

If the Tories do not see sense, Scottish Labour will stand for the

elections with a promise to restore the money Scottish families stand to

lose in this Tory tax rise on working families.

APPLAUSE The SNP have said they would cut the

tax paid on airline tickets, a policy which will eventually cost

?250 million a year. I know this is a policy which many will welcome,

not least the airport operators but I say this, a tax cut for those who

can all ready afford to shop for airline tickets cannot be

Scotland's priority when families cannot afford the weekly shop.

APPLAUSE The SNP have squeezed health

spending by more than the Tories in England. I say it again because it

is hard to believe. Even this Tory government, the most hostile to the

NHS in a generation, has increased spending on the NHS in England more

than the SNP have in Scotland. Isn't that shameful? As the population

gets older, we want parents and grandparents to have a regular

friendly face with a time to care for them. Let's make caring a career

that more will choose for the longer term. I can announce today Scottish

Labour will guarantee a real living wage for care workers. It is

Labour's mission that those post-war babies born to the NHS will be cared

for into their 70s and beyond with the dignity and respect they

deserve. By people with time to care. And by improving care, we will

relieve the pressure on the front line NHS. The SNP are starting to

make the mistakes we did when we dominated Scottish politics. And

whilst the SNP went from strength to strength, they increasingly arrogant

way they exercise their strength, that has been their choice. Freedom

of Information requests are refused, Parliamentary questions are

stonewalled, journalists come under attack for simply asking difficult

questions. At first Minister's Questions whatever issue I raised,

the response has been the same complacent answer. Look at our poll

ratings. Friends in a modern democracy we need a government in

Scotland spends more time explaining itself and less time congratulating

itself. APPLAUSE

In this world nothing is certain except death and taxes, or so they

say. But did we think about how we are taxed and do anything more about

how we could be taxed differently? Should we even be contemplating the

joy of tax? Good or ethical tax systems is one in which people give

cheerfully in recognition of that which has been graciously given to

us, we need to challenge things like the idea the poorest and most

vulnerable are a burden. And at the cost of supporting them is what is

to blame for this country is financial situation. We have to

challenge the unfair rhetoric which contrasts hard-working families with

benefits scroungers. Which blames and demeans and stigmatises. And we

all ready no there is more in work poverty than out of work poverty. We

have to challenge it is a good thing to avoid paying tax, taxes are a

dirty word and the lower tax you pay the better. The tendency to divide

people into tax payers ants -- service users, one group who pay the

tax and another group which use the services. We are all taxpayers

whether by direct taxation or indirect taxation and we are all

service users as well. And I think we have to challenge the convenient

brushing aside for tax avoidance by wealthy companies and individuals,

we say of the 100 largest companies in the UK, 98% use tax havens to

hide their profits. There was a fire in Glasgow in the south of the

bridge, an old building, the biggest fire in Glasgow for 20 years. I

wanted to find out who owns the building, it was owned by company in

Belfast. I went to the website to see how much the building was worth

in terms of rental value, four or ?5,000 which would equate to

?200,000 a year. In our wisdom, we have chosen to provide 100% relief

to empty industrial buildings and therefore the tax was not paid. Over

ten years, Glasgow City Council was short of ?2.5 million but the

property still expects the fire brigade to come out, the police to

maintain public order and the courts to be available to adjudicate

liabilities on insurance. And property owners rely on the Army and

navy and air force to defend the country.

Kezia Dugdale was elected on a promise to open up debate to

ordinary party members over towards the end of conference delegates have

tackled the issue of Trident renewal. This is a life or death

decision. We can choose to squander resources, squander talents,

squandered a chance to build a different and better future by

choosing a greater capacity to dismantle death. Or instead we can

invest and choose to invest in our communities and skills and building

an economy that can deliver the kind of society we want to see for

ourselves and our children the conference, let's choose life, the

change you want in the world, let's cancel Trident renewal. Conference,

I believe in multilateral nuclear disarmament, I do not believe giving

up our nuclear weapons in isolation will trigger other nations to reduce

their number. As for the SNP, this is the party that believes simply

moving Trident from the Clyde, if you hundred miles south of the

border to England is appropriate. That is NIMBY is on a national scale

and the worst kind of gesture politics. The truth is the SNP don't

want to talk about jobs, they make false promises, on the one hand you

have Angus Robertson pledging to spend all the money on defence on

the other hand you have an array of SNP backbencher is promising to

spend the money time after time after time. The media recently

decried Jeremy Corbyn for saying he would not push the nuclear button.

Apparently in the minds of tabloid journalists, not being willing to

wipe out millions of your fellow human beings is a sign of weakness.

Conference, I will support someone who works for peace, justice and

human rights any day over someone who is willing to cause nuclear

Armageddon. We are told the motion recognises the importance to jobs.

The fact is, it is disingenuous. What you are asking us to do is --

as a trade union is to vote other members out of skilled work and into

non-jobs. This debate is a nonsense and frankly it is an utter

indulgence. We have closed dozens of yards, we have closed thousands of

factories up and down this country and people have seen what actually

happens, high skilled well-paid union jobs replaced by part-time low

skilled low-paid part-time work. In the end of the vote was more than

70% in favour of not renewing Trident. I think the vote and the

scope of the vote in trenches opposition to Trident. In practice,

I remember in the 80s and 90s and conferences routinely voted against

Trident, it made a difference. What may be different this

Trident, it made a difference. What left is they

Trident, it made a difference. What Restoring tax credits and putting

added tax on those who are middle and higher income earners. In doing

so she is trying to challenge the SNP to get

so she is trying to challenge the debate about what powers Hollywood

should