Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

KEVIN PRINGLE: Decent enough plan Mr Brown, but Scotland deserves better

Gordon Brown makes some reasonable points in his new blueprint for Scotland in the UK, but Labour will have to do better than this timid plan.

Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown launching Labour's blueprint for Scotland in the UK. Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire.

This week’s report of the Labour Party commission on the UK’s future, chaired by the former prime minister, provided a service in laying bare the scandal of poverty.

The diagnosis of Britain’s economic and social inequality was much more compelling than the recommendations made for constitutional and political change, useful though these are.

Citing the internationally recognised evidence of Professor Philip McCann, Chair of Urban and Regional Economics at Manchester University, the commissioners reported themselves “shocked” to discover that: “Half the UK population live in areas no better off than the poorer parts of the former East Germany, poorer than parts of central and Eastern Europe.”

image shows the writer Kevin Pringle next to a quote: "Mr Brown’s report was a decent effort, but Scotland needs to go much further."

They went on: “He showed us that that half the population lives in areas where people are poorer than the US states of Mississippi and West Virginia and the quality of life is no better than in Tennessee and Alabama – some of the poorest states in the USA.”

This state of affairs will come as less of a shock to those who wake up in such blighted circumstances every day.

Gordon Brown is right to target de-centralisation – for Scotland and elsewhere

According to Professor McCann, no other large, developed country has as an economy as geographically unequal as the UK’s is across so many measures.

The Midlands and North of England score particularly badly on their low quality of life.

Labour’s commission is correct to identify that spreading political power and extending economic opportunity go hand in hand.

The UK’s centralised model of government is part and parcel of its unequal society.

Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer
Former prime minister Gordon Brown and Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer at the Edinburgh launch of the Commission on the UK’s Future report. Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

That is why Mr Brown’s prescription to reform how things are done at the centre – in Westminster and Whitehall – and to shift control out to the nations and regions, is the right way to start curing Britain’s dysfunctionality.

But there are three problems.

Labour won’t accept Brexit blame

First, for reasons of political expediency, the diagnosis is incomplete.

The report’s third sentence cites that the UK’s “immediate crisis” has been caused by “the aftermath of Covid, the war in Ukraine, energy price rises, and inflation.”

It isn’t credible to leave Brexit off this list.

Anti-Brexit protesters carrying EU flags and a placard saying 'Brexit still sucks'.
Keir Starmer says rejoining the EU would not fix the British economy. Image: Krisztian Elek/Story Picture Agency/Shutterstock.

Part of the solution to the UK’s woes should be at least joining the single European market.

But Labour doesn’t want to go there.

Didn’t Gordon Brown promise Scotland this in 2014?

Second, it was the same Mr Brown who assured us in the run-up to the independence referendum that the sort of reform he proposes now would happen then if the people of Scotland voted No.

As he said in August 2014: “We’re going to be, within a year or two, as close to a federal state as you can be in a country where one nation is 85% of the population.”

Gordon Brown during a campaign event for the Vote No campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum
Gordon Brown urged Scotland to vote No of the 2014 independence referendum. Image; Danny Lawson/PA Wire.

It turns out that “as close to” federalism is about as close as Earth is to the stars of Alpha Centauri: light years away.

If the UK still has to be fundamentally changed, it follows that this wasn’t done in the aftermath of the 2014 referendum.

The tax and welfare powers transferred from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament at that time were welcome.

But the centre was left wholly unreformed.

Scotland needs bolder change from Labour

Third, aside from abolishing the House of Lords (to be phased in at some point), the rest of the package, particularly as it relates to Scotland, was more ‘timid mouse’ than ‘lion rampant’.

Devolving the job centre network to Scotland makes sense.

But it should have happened long ago.

The recommendation that Holyrood could enter into agreements with other nations in devolved areas is bolder.

However, Scotland should be free to develop its own relationship with the EU, including being in the single market.

Mr Brown’s report was a decent effort, but Scotland needs to go much further.

Conversation