3 March 2019

Scottish Labour’s annual conference in Dundee will lay the foundations for a radical Labour government that unites our communities rather than dividing them.

The conference, starting next Friday and running through to Sunday, will feature keynote speeches from Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard and UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Scottish Labour will use the conference to continue to develop radical, anti-austerity policies that deliver the investment Scotland needs to be a better and more equal country.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said:

“As leader of Scottish Labour I have stood shoulder to shoulder with trade union members battling for their jobs, for fair pay and workplace rights –from the EIS dispute and BIFAB, to railway workers and RBS staff.

“We have pressed for a Scottish budget that prioritises real change, making the case for tackling child poverty and rising inequality and for an end to austerity through investment not cuts in local services.

“Scottish Labour continues to lead campaigns against period poverty, for fairer public transport fares and for public ownership.

"We helped lead the movement against Donald Trump’s visit to Scotland.

"We have started to make the case for new ideas that can transform Scotland – with a wealth tax, a Mary Barbour Law to address out-of-control rents, and new forms of common ownership.

“We are laying the foundations for a radical Scottish Labour government, and building a campaigning party that will help us achieve that.

"And we stand ready to play our part in a General Election, so that we can get a Jeremy Corbyn-led government into power.

“Brexit, climate change, demographic changes and automation all bring new challenges.

"And as always the solutions are best found in the ideas of democratic socialism.

“In the twentieth anniversary year of the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, the gap between the aspiration for a better and more equal country and the daily reality for too many people in Scotland remains too wide.

“It is our job to right that wrong.”

Jeremy Corbyn said:

“I am proud that Scottish Labour offers a clear alternative to austerity under the Tories and the SNP. Labour will invest in our people, our communities, our public services and our industries.

“Scotland and the whole of the UK need a radical and transformative Labour government.

“A Labour government that will create high skilled and well paid jobs, strengthen our trade unions and workers’ rights, and end exploitative zero hours contracts.

“A Labour government that will invest £70 billion in Scotland over ten years and build an economy that works for the many, not the few.

“The real divide in our country is not between working class people who voted Remain or Leave in the EU referendum, or Yes or No for independence.

“The real divide is between the many who do the work, create the wealth and pay taxes – and the few, who set the rules, reap the rewards and so often dodge their taxes.

“Labour does not want to divide our communities.

We want to bring people together.”

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