Keir Starmer has promised boosting the powers of the Scottish Parliament will be an early priority if he is Prime Minister.
In an exclusive interview with the Record, the Labour leader said a Government led by him would “settle” the issue of Scotland’s place in the UK without a referendum.
He also demanded the UK and Scottish Governments tackle the cost of living crisis and called for a general election to sweep out Boris Johnson from power.
Starmer spoke as Johnson’s future as PM hangs by a thread over the scandal of lockdown parties at Downing Street.
A report by civil servant Sue Gray has been delayed over concerns by the Metropolitan Police, which is also investigating the allegations.
“I want the Sue Gray report published in full as soon as possible, no redactions, no edits, no summaries, no parts left out,” Starmer said.
“I want the Metropolitan Police investigation completed as soon as possible as well.
“We’ve got a prime minister and a government that is totally paralysed by these allegations.”
He added: “The sooner there’s a general election, the better.”
Labour under Starmer is enjoying a poll lead over the Tories, but he knows has to take seats off the SNP if his party is to win a majority at Westminster.
Sitting in a cafe in Glasgow’s east end, Starmer said his approach to Scotland has three strands.
The first element is focusing on the cost of living crisis, which is clobbering Scots by way of rising food costs, soaring energy bills and looming national insurance increases.
He said: “We will bring forward a proposal that takes just under £200 off the bill of everybody and up to £600 off those on low and medium incomes.”
He claimed the Scottish and UK Governments are not doing enough: “I feel strongly that both Governments are looking the wrong way. Nicola Sturgeon is saying it’s the referendum bill that matters, [but] it should be the energy bill that matters. Johnson is spending his whole time defending himself against allegations of his own making.”
Starmer said the second element is making the “positive” case for the Union, which will involve reforming political institutions around the UK.
Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown will produce a report for Starmer and new powers for Holyrood are inevitable.
He said: “I’ve asked Gordon to look at the whole question of how we make the positive case for the Union, and that’s across the whole of the United Kingdom.”
“Obviously there is a red line, which is we want to hold the Union together. That’s very important.
“But otherwise I am open minded as to how we make the positive case for the Union.”
Asked whether he sees early implementation of the extra powers plan as an early priority for a Labour Government, he said:
“Yes, I do. I think it’s very important to settle that issue.”
He said: “We need change without a referendum, but we need change quickly.”
The final strand is Labour being able to persuade Scots they can boot out the Tories.
“We have to show we can win in Westminster and show the people in Glasgow and across Scotland that they are not forever stuck with a Tory Government at Westminster.”
“It’s very important to show that Labour can form the next Government.”
He contrasted his positive relationship with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar with the bad blood between Johnson and Douglas Ross, who called on the PM to quit:
“If you look at the way Anas and I work together, [it’s] a united team always in lockstop. Me properly respectful of Scottish Labour.
"Contrast that with the Tories, where you’ve got Jacob Rees-Mogg calling Douglas Ross a lightweight.
“I think that it shows disdain for Scotland and it is further evidence that the Conservative Party is not capable of holding the Union together."
Starmer is pleased with his visit to Glasgow, a city Labour once dominated politically but which is now strongly SNP.
He said: “We’ve been in the market, we’ve been walking around the streets.
"Every single person who has come up to me has said ‘you’ve got to get Johnson out’. Every single person. People recognise that we are now in a position to form a Labour Government.”
However, there is also nervousness within the party that Labour’s polling lead is not bigger.
With the Tory Government in freefall, Starmer should be miles in the lead, rather than yards.
He counters by saying Labour were twenty points behind the Tories when he took over as leader:
“We’re now in a position where we’re anything between five and eight, sometimes 10% ahead in the polls. That’s a climb of 25, nearly 30 points in the polls. That is a significant turnaround from a party that lost the 2019 election very, very badly.
“Have we got more to do? Of course, we’ve got more to do.”
His message to Scots is clear: “Only Labour can take out Boris Johnson and his Government.”
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