Greens: Labour showing desperate lack of ideas for Scotland
Labour’s plan for a constitutional convention is a decade too late, and only displays the party's lack of coherent ideas on Scotland's future, the Scottish Greens have said.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for a constitutional convention, in a speech postponed last month because he was concentrating on Brexit.
Commenting, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “Labour’s ever-changing messages on the constitution offer no meaningful contribution to the constitutional debate. A decade ago a radical plan to reshape the UK might have taken the initiative. But in the absence of either competence or real democracy in the UK, it has become inevitable that more and more people would be ready for Scotland to go its own way. Even now, Labour have nothing to show for the time they've wasted, and have no plan to present.
“The fact that this speech was postponed to get Brexit done tells us everything about Labour’s priorities. Don’t forget this is a party that blocked the devolution of power over employment, drug laws and more, during the Smith Commission.
“Labour may still believe it's possible to transform the United Kingdom enough to persuade people in Scotland that it's worth staying in, but they seem more focused on fighting with the Tories for their share of a declining unionist vote. It’s no wonder more than a third of Labour voters in Scotland, and growing, are now ready to vote Yes to a new European Scotland charting its own progressive path.”