New Labour leader makes first trip to Scotland after becoming Labour leader
JEREMY CORBYN has said that Scotland cannot afford an SNP Government intent on having “arguments of the past” ahead of his first trip to Edinburgh and Glasgow since becoming leader of the Labour party .
The comments come after Corbyn pledged to make Scottish Labour a force once again and said he knew people felt “disappointed” in the party recent performance.
Quoted in The Herald Corbyn said: “People can’t afford a Tory Government whose policies are making people work harder for less or an SNP Government that is intent on having the arguments of the past rather than looking to the future.
“It’s time for a Labour Government that would put our young people first and make sure that we are narrowing the gap between the richest and the rest,” he added.
Corbyn will first visit Edinburgh before making his way to Glasgow to meet with party activists and trade unionists.
He is expected to focus during the visit on the autonomy of the Scottish party in an attempt to quash accusations that the Scottish Party is nothing more than a “branch office” of the UK party, an accusation made by former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont.
Ahead of the trip he also reiterated his support for new Scottish leader Kezia Dugdale: “Under my leadership there will be no question about who is in charge of the Scottish Labour Party. Kezia Dugdale is leader of our party in Scotland and I will be working alongside her to win back support for Labour,” he said.
The trip comes ahead of the Scottish Labour conference to which motions will be submitted in favour of scrapping Trident. If successful the Scottish party would move in line with Corbyn’s views on the nuclear weapons system.
Picture courtesy of Bob Peters